Chapter 391 – Suggestions

Cleon left the Battlemaids’ gymnasium and passed through the main gate of the Tromeia Mansion once again.

Leaving behind the guards who greeted him, Cleon took out the piece of paper Lavita had given him from his pocket her and unfolded it.

It was written there in scrawl.

‘Pay attention to the trend of the Knights of the Kingdom’

At first glance, it was a sentence whose meaning was unknown, but Cleon looked at it and frowned.

The Kingdom Knights are an organization that is in a position to escort the marching ranks together with Cleon for the time being on this march.

Of course, as I talked to Rampart in the morning, there was no way they were looking at Cleon well, and there was a high possibility that they would be perceived as a hindrance.

But even so, it was difficult to think that the Knights, a group that symbolizes the kingdom’s justice, would try to harm Cleon in a place where other people’s eyes were focused.

‘Trends of the Knights of the Kingdom… I’m sorry.’

[What are you going to do?]

“I have no choice but to trust her information her. Where I originally wanted to go… They should have already left by this time.”

Thanks to the sparring with Lavita, Cleon’s schedule to visit Esca has been disrupted, but now that it has happened, he thinks that it might be better to investigate the Knights rather than borrowing the power of the Church.

“…Let’s go. If you mark the knights, you need the strength of ‘them’.”

When Cleon thinks that far, the place he originally intended to go to is not the Great Hall in the center of the capital, but the secret base in the basement of an old bookstore where he and Iona wrote a letter of reflection.

It is the home of Iona’s former employer, the Kingdom Information Knights.

[But they are also named ‘Information’, but aren’t they the Knights of the Kingdom? Can you believe it?]

“Intelligence Knights and Kingdom Knights have different tendencies. … Originally, intelligence articles were an organization created by conscripting mainly commoners who could hide in various places as secret agents of the kingdom. There is no choice but to have a difference of opinion with the nobles.”

Of course, it wasn’t that there were no nobles among them, but they were much better than the Knights of the Kingdom, which were united by elitism.

Even so, if they are friendly to Cleon, that’s another story.

At least, with Iona, there might be a level of willingness to listen.

Cleon immediately uses telepathy through imprinting to talk to Iona, who will be watching for suspicious people walking around the capital with Lyla.

[Indeed… Are you going to borrow the power of the intelligence agency to find out the movement of the knights of the kingdom? All right, I’ll go now. Let’s meet in front of the bookstore.]

Iona listens to Cleon and she decides to meet him without the slightest hesitation.

[There are many people from the intelligence agency who are away from work today in preparation for the march, but… Information will be gathered around those who remain at the base, so there will be something caught.]

Cleon agrees with her, and he quickly walks down a familiar street to an old bookstore in a deserted place.

[… ? What… Something is strange… ]

After a while, a voice came from Iona.

[What’s up?]

[…No. First of all, let’s meet in front of the bookstore. I’ll talk about it there.]

When Cleon, feeling something uneasy about her words her, accelerated her steps her, Iona stood at her entrance her, wearing her casual clothes and hiding her light armor, waiting for Cleon.

“Cleon. This way.”

When she lightly handed her voice to Cleon and brought her towards her, Iona sneakily looked inside the entrance of the bookstore.

“…When I came before, remember?”

“Ah. It was after I returned from Horseshoe Mountain.”

At Cleon’s words her, Iona nodded her head.

“… At the entrance of this bookstore, originally, at least one person should reside. Whether as a clerk or as a customer. That way, it doesn’t look unnatural.”

“… It’s strange that there are only customers without a clerk, but… Anyway, so?”

In response to his question of her, Iona quietly raises her finger and points to the inside of her bookstore. Only then does Cleon notice that she does not feel the slightest movement inside her bookstore her.

“…There is a risk that civilians will accidentally step in and notice the underground facilities, so no one can be there.”

“Did you check the basement?”

Iona shook her head from side to side at Cleon’s question her.

It’s a wise decision, because if something happened underground due to an enemy invasion, she might have been dangerous alone.

“Galatea.”

[I don’t feel any magical response. Both on the ground and underground.]

“Then… I guess I’ll have to go and check it out for myself.”

Saying so, Cleon pulled out a sword from his waist.

When Iona also pulled out her iron sword, which she had kept for light armament, the two of them signaled each other with their eyes and went through the entrance of the bookstore.

“… “

As soon as Cleon entered the bookstore, he felt uncomfortable with the unnaturally quiet scene.

When I visited before, it was neatly organized, but I got the feeling that it was a space where people lived, but now it is as tidy as it was then…

As if looking at the overly tidy floor and the walls and bookshelves to the extent that one would think that it is not a place where people live, one gets the impression that the site has been preserved in that way.

“…If anyone attacked here, they must be pros.”

Cleon, on the contrary, got goosebumps at such a perfect job.

These things are hard to notice until you come up close and check them out.

“Iona. When was the last time you contacted them?”

“About a week ago… It is. When Victory Day approaches, the people of the intelligence agency get busy, too… I was also doing other things.”

If that’s the case, something might have happened to them during the period of not contacting Iona.

It is a story that no one noticed even though the kingdom’s intelligence agency had been suspended for up to a week.

When Cleon and Iona notice, Iona shuts her mouth for a moment, and then she talks to Cleon.

“…Intelligence Knights, those who handle the affairs of the Kingdom in the dark. Intelligence warfare- no, they are experts in espionage warfare. If such an intelligence agency collapsed, maybe even the higher up in the kingdom didn’t notice.”

“—I hope it’s Kiwoo. Maybe, because the headquarters was moved to another place.”

At Cleon’s words, Iona also nodded.

After all, Iona is now a civilian.

She is the body that quit the intelligence agency.

Even if they were relocating the agency’s base, she had no reason to let Iona know.

Iona, hoping that my thoughts would be correct, she carefully took out and inserted her books in the order she remembered, behind the counter in her bookstore.

Then, jerk. A sound is heard, the floor of the bookstore moves and the door leading to the basement opens, through which Cleon had passed before.

“… “

Iona hoped that this door would not open.

If the intelligence agencies had moved their bases elsewhere, they would have taken steps to ensure that these secret entrances would no longer be open.

They’re pros, and they can’t leave anything like this behind.

“Iona. Backwards.”

Cleon, concerned about the sight of her who might be below her, ‘her sight of her, which I can only call a misfortune to Iona’, tries to protect her, but Iona shakes her head.

“It’s okay. I am determined.”

Her face was uneasy, but as if she had made up her mind somewhere, just like when she fought her father her in the past, Cleon nodded her head and stood beside her, carefully descending the stairs.

The light from the magic lamp that illuminated the middle of her stairs did not even show a sign of going out, and as she went downstairs, cold sweat flowed from her hands her clenched into fists.

One step, one step.

As you go down, what you see is a familiar but unfamiliar old nest.

And. The last step, the moment they came down to the ground, the two of them felt that something was very wrong and looked back down the stairs.

Then- thump! While making a sound, the secret door at the top of the stairs that connects to the bookstore closes.

“Is it a trap!”

Cleon clicks her tongue and tries to climb the stairs quickly, but-

“Cleon!”

The next moment, feeling something flying behind him, he pulled out the Galatea on his back and cut it off.

Ionado and Cleon are also quiet. When she sees something flying towards her – she realizes that it is the blade of a plainclothes sword.

“Eveline… !”

When Cleon realizes her true identity, what crawls out of the shadows is an assassin who has competed with swords before—

He is also Rubera’s teacher, and an existence that can be said to be a remnant of the empire.

“Whoops… It was a kind of bet on where he would come from, between Daeshinjeon and this place. I guess I’m lucky.”

Evelyn, who pulled out her plain clothes sword and brought it back to her side her, smiled wickedly.

“Iona! She is an assassin!”

“… Yes, I know. Evelyn. The existence that was the eighth blade of the empire. … And a woman who was defeated by her father her, and the value of that sword’s name has fallen.”

Iona draws her sword and confronts her with her Cleon her.

At Iona’s words her, which were apparently close to her provocation her, Evelyn’s expression her under the mask she’s wearing is distorted.

However, it would be Cleon and Io rather than Evelyn who should have a distorted expression.

Why is she in the base of this kingdom’s agency intelligence?

What about the other articles?

Cleon opened her mouth, remembering the meeting with her last night at Adamant.

“Are you also impatient and moving ahead of time?”

“My killing you is different from the request. If you are asked to choose during construction, it must be something related to ‘sa’. Oh sure. The girl over there… She’s the gorilla’s daughter? It’s the first time we’ve met in person.”

Cleon narrows her eyes at her words.

Was she aware of Iona’s existence of her? More than you think.

It was a question she knew, but she hadn’t touched her until now.

And – another question if you ask me.

The sword she wielded—the plain clothes sword—originally had beast-like eyes embedded in it, and it was an object from which dark magic constantly leaked out.

However, I could n’t feel a single bit of her magical power her, let alone those black eyes she was holding in her hand her.

“—Your weapon… “

“… “

When Cleon tried to point her weapon at her, Evelyn gave a chuckle and lashed her plainclothes sword to the ground like a whip.

“He’s not your usual guy”

“Of course. That sword radiates magical power, so if you hold it, you guys will sense it, right? All of the ‘tools’ brought today are non-magical items.”

After hearing her words of her, Cleon quietly asked Galatea a question in his heart of her.

[…Really?]

[Certainly, I don’t feel that magical power. The other person should know better that it is difficult to deal with straight attacks from the front, right? Be careful Cleon, there must be something.]

Iona points her sword at her and asks questions as Cleon remains silent as he examines Evelyn’s hidden numbers of her.

“Where have the other knights gone?”

“Well? By now, wouldn’t it be running hard somewhere else? After receiving an anonymous tip that there are survivors of the old imperial spy agency.”

Iona frowned at Evelyn’s words her, but she let out a sigh at the same time.

In other words, the articles of the intelligence agency were not particularly attacked by Evelyn.

“You’re the one who directed the outside, right?”

“Yeah. You guys won’t come in if you don’t make it look suspicious. Actually, I was only targeting Cleon-if Cleon comes here, she will inevitably come with you. And… Expectations have become reality.”

Although they are upset, both Cleon and Iona groan at the fact that the situation itself went according to Evelyn’s intention to her.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t have time to hang out with you. This side is busy preparing for the march.”

“It’s fair. Don’t worry, you may not have it, but there’s plenty of time left over here.”

Considering that Evelyn’s appearance her was momentarily shook.

The next moment, her figure jumps out of thin air.

‘Fast…! Even more than when we fought in the previous room!’

Cleon hurriedly raises her sword to defend it, but Evelyn’s tactic of swinging her sword from a different angle repeatedly creates gaps in Cleon’s defense of her.

‘Besides, plain clothes sword… The sword’s trajectory is not straight, but curves and continues to stiffen the body… ‘

I thought about using magic while clicking my tongue, but Cleon clicks his tongue while looking at the surrounding terrain.

This is the underground base of the intelligence agency. Corridors were narrowly built to perform minimal functions.

Using magic with high destructive power or a wide range, there was even a danger of the underground collapsing.

Besides- the assassins’ spider-like movements shine in this terrain.

Keeping moving while kicking the hard ground that your hands or feet touch is similar to when Cleon caught the masked woman of the Exiled Church not long ago in the rift of the other dimension.

It creates an environment where Evelynn can continue to accelerate without stopping.

This narrow underground corridor has been turned into a ‘slaughter trap’ by Evelyn, who has been waiting for a seat in advance.

Iona also holds a sword and tries to block her combo her, but-

“You don’t seem to have inherited much of Talchek’s swordsmanship… There are so many gaps.”

Evelyn’s joyful voice was heard, and at the same time, blood gushed from Iona’s shoulder to her.

“Kuh… !”

“Iona!”

As expected, she and Iona don’t have a good fighting style.

It is a book that Iona analyzes the war situation, puts out her checkmate, and puts the conclusion-the optimal number-which she has reached based on her accumulated evidence of her.

Evelyn’s attack, which does not give her a chance to grasp her situation and pushes her with a quick attack, distracts Iona’s concentration of her.

The wound was shallow, but just as there is a saying that dust can become a mountain when it accumulates, even small wounds can become fatal if they accumulate.

Cleon decides that, first of all, she must do something to protect Iona.

‘I tried to conserve magic, but…’

“Galatea! 1-minute limited development!”

[Okay…!]

As soon as Cleon’s words are finished, when Galatea’s answer comes back, the black magic flowing from the sword turns into black armor that covers Cleon.

At the same time as protecting his body her, the magic power that makes up his armor her pulls his body like a puppet’s thread, and the speed of his thoughts her dominates the speed of his body her.

Galatea, wrapped in a black gust of wind, flashes the magic light that leaves an afterimage.

Kagagagak! And a resounding sound as sharp whirlpools carve through the narrow walls.

And soon, they collide with Galatea and Evelyn’s plain clothes sword.

“That figure… It’s cool, just like the demonic sword emperor.”

“Noisy…! A woman like a ghost from the past!”

As Galatea collides with her plainclothes sword, it unleashes an explosion of her magical powers her.

“Wow!?”

With that shock, when the chain connecting the blades of the plain clothes sword broke, she let out a surprised voice, no matter how Evelynn she was, as if she was taken aback by the situation.

As it is, towards Evelynn whose defenses have collapsed, if Cleon swings his sword again-

“Ahaha! Wait! Surrender!”

Evelynn raised both hands and let go of the hilt of her plainclothes sword.

Cleon dropped the sword he was wielding and stopped.

“Chit…”

I could have just cut it off with the one I just had.

He clicked his tongue at his softness her, which reflexively stopped his hand her.

I could see that Evelyn was smiling at herself under her mask.

“Come now…!”

Iona, too, did not put her sword in her to cut her, but Evelyn spoke to her with her hands raised.

“Calm down, daughter of Talchek. I didn’t really kill or hurt anyone. I just made a little fuss.”

Despite Evelyn’s words, Iona did not let go of her stern expression.

“—It might be like that today. Considering what happened before and in the future, I think it would be better to cut you now.”

It is easy to slash the helpless Evelynn.

However, she is an assassin who cooperates with Ishtal – Astarothe.

Anyway, if she’s going to die, she’ll open the dimensional door there again and run away.

In order to block the expansion of the dimensional gate, it was necessary for an archmage the size of Lyla to spread a small area that covered the surrounding area with magic.

Unfortunately, it was impossible for Cleon and Iona to do that level of work.

“What did you want to do? Armament wasn’t all that great. Were you really waiting here with the intention of dealing with both me and Iona at the same time?”

“Ugh~ How is it? What. I just wanted to tell the story that Ishtal ordered me to tell.”

“…From Ishtal?”

As the head of Astarote, she who has been disturbing Iona and Cleon many times until now, why now? To themselves?

“Tell me.”

When Cleon speaks in her cold voice as if commanding, Evelyn answers him by quietly lowering her arm.

“Cleon. The Exiled Church is connected to ‘an aristocrat’. And, 10 years ago, that aristocrat asked the church to throw the hero Lesia into the rift of another dimension.”

At her words, Cleon’s expression hardened.

It was the same with Iona who became surprised.

“If you cooperate with our leader-Ishtal. Not only will she tell you who the noble is she, but she also said that she intends to cooperate in protecting ‘Princess Amelia’.”

Evelyn continued her words as if to enjoy Cleon’s reaction to her.

[Hehe…]

Galatea let out her voice as if Evelyn’s words her were interesting, and her black magical armor her covering Cleon’s body her disappeared.

“What do you want to do…? To begin with, Cleon. You are not a human to be in such a brightly lit place. ‘Somehow’, ‘unfortunately’, you are there. …You are a magician of the Dark Demon clan. Originally, a ‘villain’. You’re more suitable than anyone else?”

As Evelyn held out her hand, Cleon shut her mouth for a moment.

Iona looks at Cleon as if she is worried.

The reason why Cleon tried to roam the world as an adventurer – Ishtar, who said he would tell Cleon the existence that made the culprit.

If Cleon finds out who he is – he might dream of revenge.

And, for the crime of killing a nobleman of the kingdom, he will be chased by the kingdom.

“…Cleon-“

When Iona calls for Cleon to stop, Cleon opens her mouth.

“—Tell me that you refuse.”

“—Hehe…”

After hearing Cleon’s answer her, Evelyn’s body her trembled and her voice her leaked out.

“Yeah? That’s unexpected. She’s been in the shiny place for so long, maybe her hair has been dyed there?”

At Evelyn’s provocation, Cleon points her Galatea at her and talks.

“First. I know who the noble is, and no matter what I do to that noble, Lesia will not come back. I still need a position in the kingdom. If I need revenge, I will investigate myself.”

Cleon spoke, spreading her index finger and then her middle finger.

“Second… Your very existence her is a threat to Amelia. There’s no reason for her Amelia’s enemies her, you guys, to get help escorting her.”

Finally, the ring finger her is extended.

“—And, lastly. I don’t believe you guys. You guys have already deceived countless people. You have dug into the gaps of the weak. There are still plenty of men who haven’t returned from a woman’s body. In that situation, your Where do you trust me to accept that offer?”

After hearing Cleon’s words, Evelyn did not respond.

“…Yes. Then there’s nothing we can do. It’s just finding a day where I can kill all of you, including Amelia.”

The next moment, I felt the shaking of space behind Evelyn’s body in her.

This is a feeling that I have felt before, just before the dimensional gate opens.

Cleon puts her hand in the grip of her sword her, but then shakes her head.

“Ah, that’s right. One more thing. There’s a fact I haven’t told you.”

As if Evelyn had barely remembered, she spoke.

“…Your old bad relationship may finally bloom and hold you back. Cleon.”

“…A long-standing bad relationship?”

Without understanding the true meaning of her words her, her figure her disappears.

Cleon looked at Iona’s shoulder her, which her Evelynn her had cut off, taking her eyes off her.

“Iona, are you okay?”

“Yes, I…But Cleon. You-“

Iona was unable to speak after that.

It was because Cleon’s face was her, unlike what she said herself earlier, was mixed with conflict somewhere.

“…Cleon.”

“…”

“… Trust your colleagues.”

At Iona’s words, Cleon gave a slightly surprised expression. She immediately answers her.

“…Of course. I still believe in it. Everyone. —So, I can go on the road that leads to Lesia.”

Iona nodded to Cleon’s answer.

At that time-

“Damn it. Was the information false…!”

The voice heard from the top of the stairs, Cleon and Iona looked at each other and then towards the stairs.

Soon, when the secret door at the top of the stairs opens and people hear the sound of people rushing in-

“…First of all, let’s come up with some sentences on how to explain it.”

“…That would be nice.”

At Cleon’s words, Iona smiled wryly and nodded.