Chapter 392 – Trends

000

“Huh-! So, the one who leaked the information was actually an assassin from the Empire, and he tried to fight them after dragging us out?”

“Yes Yes…”

Among the intelligence articles who returned to the base, he is the eldest.

Silent Stukhoop puts Cleon and Iona in the interrogation room and sits down to talk while sipping tea.

The old man, who had already passed 70 and was looking at 80, had lost all his hair and his face his was full of wrinkles.

Even his teeth were barely intact, though he was an undeniably old man who had a hard time running around.

Thirty years ago, in the war between the kingdom and the empire, he was the only knight of the legendary intelligence agency that could stand up to the spies of the empire.

Even after the war ended, he continued to remain in the intelligence agency, and was Talchek’s advisor and a grandfather-like figure to Iona.

In particular, his legendary anecdote is that he was deliberately captured by enemies for an operation and tortured until allies arrived-

About 14 hours. Even while he was tortured, such as having his index finger cut off, a thorn stuck in his eyelid, and his body his being held in a pharynx.

An anecdote about not providing information to them while keeping his mouth firmly shut.

It was also the reason why he got the nickname ‘silence’.

“What a crazy bitch! Even if I was 10 years younger! I’d catch him right away and throw him into a dark room! Hey Iona, this old man. When he was younger, he knew how to use a dagger.” I could climb the walls of the city with two daggers. I mean, I fought a lot with the assassins of the time. I didn’t cut them at random like your father, Talchek, but this old man was pretty good at it.” It just came to my mind when I was talking about it. I said before-“

Although he himself was a person who liked to talk in private to the extent that the nickname of silence was colorless.

Anyway, immediately after Evelyn left Cleon the message of Ishtal and disappeared.

Thanks to her false information her obtained from her, the intelligence knights who had been wandering around in vain saw Iona, who had already quit the intelligence agency, and Cleon, her person her to watch out for her, when they returned.

Besides, there are signs of battle, so it was natural for them to react sensitively.

When Iona explained the situation, the knights of the intelligence agency also showed a puzzled look, and first of all, they entrusted the response of the two to Old Man Stukhup, who had the longest career in the intelligence agency.

Cleon had heard from Talchek before about the person in front of him – Stukhoop.

Talchek in his youth- So, Talchek in his days when he was still traveling with Lesia said that he was in debt to just three people.

First, Lesia.

She was a gladiator slave of the Empire, and she was the one who brought her out of the pit. A character she gave herself a reason for living as a goal to take down.

The second is Esca.

In a duel with the slave trainer who trained her in the past, it was Esca’s divine magic that saved Talchek from being poisoned to death.

Lastly, Stukov.

He had a wide network as the kingdom’s best spy, and he said that he once found his hometown his, where he had forgotten even Talcheck.

The village had already been demolished by the Empire’s policy, but it is said that Talchek saw the graves of his parents there.

Of course, the location was not an ordinary place, so deep in the empire, it was considered impossible for a kingdom person to even set foot during a war.

Cleon was also interested in Stukhoop, who moved to such a place as if he were visiting his house.

Having received Cleon’s gaze, Stukhoop stopped talking and turned his gaze away from Iona to Cleon.

“I thought I was getting some funny looks, but you’re right. Tal Chek told me before. He’s picking up some funny kids and raising them as her apprentice.”

“That gorilla seems to have spread things about me all over the place.”

Stukhoop raised an eyebrow at Cleon’s story of her.

“Yes. Every time I talk about you, you become so lively that I think of you when I was younger. That much means that you were a precious existence to him.”

At the unexpected answer, Cleon blinked his eyes in surprise, then turned his head.

“…It’s a story that makes me feel hot.”

“What, are you ashamed?”

To the old man’s mischievous story, Cleon answered while averting his eyes to her.

“…Just. I can’t imagine that person talking like that.”

“It’s not like that. He … Realized himself as a gladiator slave, and later came to be called the Sword Saint. Will he be able to leave his mark on this world … There was great anxiety.”

Stukhoop continued with words that sounded like he would spit out a bitter voice if Talcheck heard it right away.

As for Iona herself, she was just smiling quietly as if she had heard such a story from him.

“But. He was a lucky man. Even if he stayed still, he met two people who would be his mark. It was as if a man without a wife had two children.”

Cleon fell silent for a moment, then he quietly added.

“…Three.”

“Hmm?”

At Cleon’s words, he seemed to be thinking about something.

“What Talchek left behind is three. I, Iona. And, another one… Well, originally it could have been four. That guy, a little… Went astray.”

When Cleon answered, thinking about the past ties he and Iona had buried in the mountains, Stukhoop raised his eyebrows, then opened his mouth again.

“Well. Okay. Yes, Talcheq’s disciple. Cleon. You know that you’re in a very difficult situation right now, right?”

At his words, Cleon turned around and looked back at him, making eye contact with him quietly.

Seeing him not shaking his head left or right or up or down, Stu Koop frowned.

“‘This level is nothing.’ Is it… Well, the spirit that a young guy can show is something that makes you think a lot. Especially if you’re my friend’s disciple. Guess why you’re here. Let’s see. ‘I came to hear a story about the Knights of the Kingdom’.”

“As expected, the kingdom’s number one information article. Do you know just by looking at it?”

To Cleon’s words, Stukhoop replied with a chuckle.

“Everything is a conclusion drawn from prepared materials. I have a lot of friends, like ‘the owner of the antique shop’.”

Cleon looks at Stukhoop while spitting out a laugh at those words.

“Okay. I’ll tell you. But I’m also in a position to receive food from the palace. From my standpoint, I’ll try to distinguish between what I can tell you and what I need to filter out.”

“That’s fine. The rest, I’ll decide on my own.”

When Cleon answered, Stu Koop licked his lips and seemed to think for a moment.

And then, he talks to Iona and Cleon like this.

“The Knights of the Kingdom are now divided into factions with ‘two nobles’.”

Cleon thinks for a moment at the action of Stukufu, who raises the index fingers of each hand one by one.

“Do you know who one is?”

“The one who can give orders to the kingdom’s knights is the Minister of Defense, Sir Percys. But I can’t believe he’s forming a faction… Is it Sir Sethos who has a lot of support from the soldiers?”

At Cleon’s answer, Stu Khufu snaps his fingers.

Does that mean it’s correct?

“Yes. After the suppression of the previous rebellion, Lord Sethos has acquired a level of authority and position that is considered equal to that of his older brother Lord Percys. He does not use it openly in public. His power is the greatest duke in this kingdom called the Minister of Defense. Even compared to his strength, he doesn’t lag behind at all. He’s a clever man. Talchek always hated him.”

Cleon continues to listen to the story, thinking that this new fact cannot be conveyed to Aruru.

“Then, who is the other person? If he is a nobleman with power comparable to that of the Minister of Defense.”

“…Regent. The kingdom’s gatekeeper. It’s Sir Hellion Regent, right?”

To Stu Koop’s words, Cleon replies and the old man puts his hand on the desk and nods his head.

“To be precise. It is an aristocratic coalition centered on Sir Hellion Regent.”

Cleon nodded his head as if he understood his words.

Among the forces existing in the royal palace, if one were to choose the group with the largest base, there were families that had made the Chaldearis family king at the time of the founding of the kingdom.

Tromeia and Regent were also among those families, and naturally, the ‘Tromeia’ family, the only one among them to produce a warrior with a holy sword, was in charge of the kingdom’s military authority.

Even then, even now, the existence of a ‘hero’ was recognized and treated as a powerful weapon of war.

However, holding a sword with military authority means that sometimes the sword faces outward, but it may happen that it faces inward.

The nobles felt the need to check the Tromeia family, and organized their own private soldiers and young materials into one to escort the king and the knights under his command.

This is the origin of the current Kingdom Knights.

At that time, except for the Tromeia family, there were three families with great power.

One of these families was the Regent, and the other two fell into disrepair.

Families whose names are not even properly left in the history books.

However, because Li Gent needed to keep the Tromeia family in check, which might run out of control someday, he continued to attract other nobles and continue the confrontation between the forces.

At this time, it was the Noble Alliance that united around Regent and waged a political war with the Tromeia family.

It is said that the alliance of nobles is still centered on the three families, and only the head of each family knows which families are the other two families except Regent.

“The fact that the movement of the Knights is disorganized means that there are signs that the faction fight will intensify? A physical clash or something…”

“I don’t do anything rude like that. Knights of the kingdom always care about things like respectability. Being from a noble family… I guess it’s something like pride.”

Cleon shuts up for a moment at his words her.

Information received from Lavita – Pay attention to the movement of the Knights.

And, if you think about the specificity of the day on which the march of the Victory Day takes place.

One of those two factions- or maybe both are plotting something.

All he could think of was that there was a high possibility that he and Amelia would get caught up in it.

“Can we stop solving riddles?”

When Cleon says so, Iona also talks while looking at Stukhoop.

“…Please, Mr. Stukhoop. If things go wrong, there will be irreparable sacrifices.”

“It’s an irreversible sacrifice…”

Stukhoop seemed to be thinking about something for a while at Iona’s words to her.

“Irona is an irreversible sacrifice. It has already happened many times in this kingdom.”

And, as he said that in a somewhat dry voice, his eyes seemed to see something different from the two people sitting in front of him.

“To tell you one thing. Just because the two factions are at odds doesn’t mean that one side is on your side. Cleon. Rather, both sides can be said to be your enemies.”

Cleon nodded quietly at his words.

Both of them have good reasons.

There is no need to think deeply about Regent’s reason, it must be the cause of what happened yesterday.

Setos must have been related to Alvein.

“What are they trying to do by using you? How can they use you, most certainly, to trouble you and the opposing faction at the same time?”

Cleon thought about something for a while at his words.

Suddenly, I wake up from the thoughts that run through my head.

“…One thing. Let’s make an assumption. It is the most ‘terrible assumption’ in the kingdom.”

Stukhoop speaks.

“If. If the Crown Prince, who is not in a sound state, enlists an adventurer—and a clan of dark demons—to escort the sacred victory ceremony. If the worst case scenario of someone from the royal family being murdered—”

What can be seen in Stukov’s deep eyes is a warning to Cleon.

“Who are you going to put that responsibility on?”

“──”

Iona looked up at Cleon at the story.

“It’s not a story of ‘just protect it’. Cleon. This isn’t that simple. The main pillar of this escort is the Knights of the Royal Noble Union. I’m in charge of it. That means that if there is a problem with the escort this time, Cleon, together with you, we can eliminate the aristocratic union as ‘unhappy’ at the same time.”

“—But then, the noble union will also help Cleon… “

When Iona said that, Cleon shook his head.

“No. …The Noble Union seems to have the same idea. I have a close relationship with the Tromeia family. …In many ways. This time I happened to work with the Noble Union, but I thought I was originally a human belonging to the Tromeia family. It wouldn’t be strange if it happened.”

“That’s it. Your fate is holding you back.”

At Cleon’s words, Stukhoop closed his mouth as if he was sorry.

“If something happens during the escort mission… The Knights of the Alliance of Nobles will treat me as a human belonging to House Tromeia… At the same time as causing great damage to the faction, the country can also eliminate the obstruction .”

“…”

“Didn’t she hear from her? Last night, she left this castle, and that she had better not come back.”

Stukov talks while looking at Cleon.

“The capital – the kingdom is not a place worth protecting so much. Cleon. It’s not too late. … Take his comrades and leave the capital.”

Cleon clenches his fist at the old man’s words.

“… No. I’m sorry Stukhoop. That’s impossible.”

“Is it to protect Princess Amelia?”

Cleon shook his head at his words.

“Of course, there’s that. Even running away is a weakness. Because you get the stigma of running away in refusal of the royal palace’s orders.”

Cleon is silent for a moment, then looks back at Stukhoop.

“—I don’t run away. To begin with, I’m not swinging my sword to protect the capital or kingdom. I’m a magician. I’m used to being hated by people.”

Iona took Cleon’s hand.

“…I don’t hate you or not, Cleon.”

“Ah. I know. Because they’re colleagues.”

Cleon turns around. …Suddenly, the time for the march to begin was approaching.

“Until now, you can think of it as a well-played board by the two knights… But, there is always a way to flip it.”

“Hoo.”

To Cleon’s words, Stukhoop reacted as if he was having fun.

“Then let me watch. The last-minute flip you prepared.”

“…Of course.”

As Cleon leaves the room while leaving such words behind, Iona follows carefully.

Stu Koop drank the cold tea with a bitter face and spoke quietly as if calling out to his old friend.

“You look a lot like him. …Your precious disciple.”

It seemed like a snort was coming from somewhere.