Published: August 10, 2026
Mio had guided us to the northern edge of Ildanaf Island.
It was an iron ore excavation site. It must once have been bustling, with many miners and their families living here, because there were traces of houses and commercial buildings. But now there was no one. It was nothing but silent and dark... a deserted village, a ghost town.
When I asked how she had found it, and by what means, Mio silently pointed at the ground.
The soft earth was covered in footprints. They were absurdly large, sinking so deep they looked gouged out. ...A group of about ten people in full armor. I understood at once and followed after her.
It was only Cyrus, me, and Yan, still bound up, who went along. Mr. Hadwell and Mr. Angelo had gone to the Dutchman mansion. If the two kidnapped people had been rescued, then there was no time to care about anything else. That was perfectly reasonable.
After we continued through the deserted village for a while, an eerie sight eventually came into view. In the middle of the town lined with abandoned houses stood a group of full-armor soldiers. And for some reason, all of them were sitting on the ground.
As we approached, I could see, between the gaps in their armor, the flashy patterned cloth that was traditional among Oracle merchants. No doubt about it. It was the same group that had once broken into Granado Castle and hung Thomas up.
Cyrus immediately tried to draw his sword, but Mio stopped him.
"It's all right. Their 'superior' has already been subdued."
"...Superior?"
As we talked and drew closer, we found someone familiar.
"Thomas! You came all the way here too?"
When I called out, Thomas, the gatekeeper of our castle, smiled and waved back. He had tied up the men who had once strangled him and was holding the rope like reins.
Beside him was another familiar face.
Smaller and slimmer than the group in full armor, but with shining silver-white hair and a pure white knight's uniform, he was impossible to miss.
"Lord Ruifeng!"
"Yeah. Long time no see."
Lord Ruifeng smiled.
Long time no see? We had only parted at the pier yesterday. It was just like him to say something like that, joking as usual, but his expression was somehow different from normal.
His white skin looked even paler than usual, as if he were drained of color, and even his ice-blue eyes seemed clouded.
"Lord Ruifeng, why are you here...? The letter I sent out this morning only mentioned the Dutchman family."
"Hm? That letter must have crossed paths with something else. Last night, I happened to meet Mio-chan and the others in the post town. So at dawn, I came to this island and started asking around about where the 'armed soldiers' had gone."
As he said that, he glanced to the side... at the soldiers.
"These guys are definitely former knights of Dilz. After being discharged, they became private soldiers for my brother, Crown Prince Lionel."
Under their glare, the armed group let out a frightened gasp.
...I see. So it really was.
The mastermind this time—the one controlling Yan and supplying him with malice toward Cyrus and soldiers—was Crown Prince Lionel...!
I had suspected that Yan's behavior was not driven by trade profits as a merchant, but by personal resentment and revenge against Cyrus. Even so, Yan should have had no reason to hate Cyrus, so his motive had remained a mystery. But if the mastermind was Lionel, and if Yan's actions were following Lionel's will, then everything made perfect sense.
Lionel hated Cyrus. Three years ago—no, long before that. For a very long time.
Lord Ruifeng glared at the soldiers and sneered.
"Even if they were hired by Oracle merchants, as long as they're Dilz people, they'll be judged under Dilz law. If they commit treason against the current knight commander, who is also the Third Prince, they won't get off lightly, not even their whole families. When I told them that, every single one of them laid down their swords and surrendered. They're the same as Yan—empty 'moving armor' with no convictions at all."
"...Where is their 'king'?"