“…”
In front of the room where the special envoys were staying.
Rudell and his party were speechless as they watched the bodies on stretchers being covered with white cloth.
The death of a special envoy before the meeting.
Its meaning was simple.
“The Church of the Eaters of Death…”
It meant that their minions were hiding here as well.
“What now?”
“Well… for now, we should just keep an eye on the situation.”
As the stretchers carrying the special envoys’ bodies disappeared down the hallway, Rudell replied to Leje’s question like that.
With the death of the envoy, the meeting was canceled.
What would happen next was something even Rudell couldn’t dare to guess.
Just as Rudell was lost in thought about the future…
“Huh?”
“What’s wrong?”
Leje’s puzzled voice spilled out as she gazed down the hallway, and at the same time, Rudell turned his head to follow her gaze.
What caught his eyes was a group of fully armed soldiers coming towards them.
What on earth could be happening?
While Rudell and his party were watching the scene in confusion…
“Don’t move!”
“Huh…?”
The soldiers surrounded them, shouting loudly and aiming their spears at them.
“…”
“Eek!?”
“What the heck is this…?”
“What’s going on so suddenly?”
Naturally, Rudell and his party could only voice their bewilderment at the soldiers’ actions.
Leje and Kurt reached for their weapons, while Silphier and Eleor surveyed their surroundings with tense expressions.
“Everyone, calm down!”
If they resisted here, the consequences would truly be irreversible.
Thinking it best to hear the situation first, Rudell shouted that to his party, raised his hands, and approached the officer to ask.
“What on earth is going on?”
“I’m arresting you on charges of murdering the special envoys and the nobility of the Empire.”
“Charges of murdering special envoys? Us!? What kind of nonsense is this?!!”
Leje growled with the expression as if she would pounce at any moment at the officer’s words, but Rudell calmly asked the officer once more.
“Do you have any evidence? If you accuse a hero without proof, you won’t be in a safe position either.”
A hero’s status is generally known to be just below that of the Pope of the Holy Kingdom.
Under the Pope.
When considering it as a typical nation, it could be seen as a position equivalent to a member of the royal family or an heir.
Accusing such a hero without any evidence is nothing less than declaring war on the Holy Kingdom.
But…
“I have evidence.”
“Huh? What do you mean by that…”
This time, Rudell couldn’t help but make a grimace.
What kind of evidence?
As those thoughts swirled, Rudell looked at the officer, who pulled something out of his pouch and showed it to Rudell.
“This is…”
“This is an item that came from your lodging.”
It was, without a doubt, a dagger with dried blood on it.
“This isn’t our item.”
“Wait, this isn’t our item! This is a false accusation!”
“Y-yeah! It’s a false accusation!”
“I will officially protest to the Empire about this when we return to the Holy Kingdom.”
“That’s not for me to decide. I received orders and I will carry them out. If you resist, you’ll have to face bloodshed.”
Naturally, Rudell and his party had never seen this item before.
With faces flushed with anger, they protested towards the officer, but he simply replied and drew his sword.
And…
“Alright, let’s just go along for now.”
Rudell, watching the situation unfold, said that.
“Rudell!?”
“Let’s just do as they say for now; we can clear our name later.”
At Rudell’s reaction, Leje spoke in a flustered voice, but there was nothing Rudell could do.
If they refused arrest here, the entire negotiations would go up in smoke.
Moreover, it would inevitably create an irreparable rift between the Empire, the Kingdom, and the Holy Kingdom.
If such a situation arose, even gathering the full strength of the continent wouldn’t suffice. The consequences that would follow were all too clear.
“Then what happens to Dagruul and the others?”
“They are also facing accusations. Just like Rudellheit, they will also be detained.”
“Hmm…”
At the officer’s calm response, Rudell let out a low groan.
No matter how great a warrior Dagruul might be from the Nord tribe, they were clearly in enemy territory.
Plus, since this place was used as a military fortress, they had enough power to detain him.
Of course, at least a dozen of them would need to be taken down first.
“Before being detained, could you let me speak with Dagruul? I want to resolve this as peacefully as possible.”
“I want to resolve this as peacefully as possible.”
“Well, that sounds good.”
The officer seemed to be worried about that part too, nodding at Rudell’s words.
Rudell, who was thinking about what might happen if he got rejected, let out a sigh of relief and followed the officer to the room where Dagruul was staying.
– Crash!!
As expected, the moment Rudell arrived at the door, the door was smashed, and several knights, looking like a wreck, were thrown out.
Then, from inside the room, the loud sounds began with the characteristic battle cries of the Nord tribe.
“Dagruul!”
Seeing that scene, Rudell rushed into the room and shouted at Dagruul, who was busy punching a knight in his armor.
“I knew this would happen! I shouldn’t have trusted the Empire! Get ready! We’re getting out of here!!”
“Calm down for a moment!! This is a misunderstanding!!”
“A misunderstanding?! Are you really saying that after seeing this situation?!”
Shouting that, Dagruul pointed at the fallen Imperial knights around.
It seemed that a battle had indeed taken place, as swords that appeared to belong to them were scattered about.
“Please listen to me! Someone has framed us! We can resolve the misunderstanding, but if we miss this chance, the Nord tribe will be finished!!”
“I’d rather die honorably as a warrior!!”
True to his Nord nature, Dagruul started shouting and rampaging.
Just as Rudell was contemplating whether to use a more drastic method…
“Ugh!!”
“Ugh!?”
Leje, having broken the shackles on her hands with sheer force, rushed at Dagruul and hit him in the back of the head.
Perhaps it was because he never expected an ally to attack him.
Dagruul fell over, eyes rolling back, and the knights still standing approached him and tied his body with chains.
“Will this do?”
“Well done.”
Rudell didn’t want to resort to such rough methods, but this was the only way to prevent the situation from worsening.
If it weren’t for the shackles on her hands, he would have wanted to pat Leje on the head.
“Breaking handcuffs with bare hands…”
“I’m sorry. I’ll pay for this…”
Meanwhile, a low groan escaped the officer watching the scene, and Rudell let out an awkward laugh.
Groaning sounds flowed out, and Rudell let out an awkward laugh.
“You don’t need to do that. We received help, after all. I will do my best to clear your charges as soon as possible.”
“I really hope that happens.”
Even though Rudell said that, he was clearly thinking it wouldn’t be easy.
He had no idea how many of the church’s minions were hiding in this fortress, and in the worst case, the entire fortress might be under the church’s control.
Of course, the possibility of the situation worsening to that extent was quite low, but it was not a situation to feel at ease.
“Then, this way.”
Leaving behind the sight of several knights straining to move Dagruul, the officer began to walk, and Rudell and his party followed.
After walking for about ten minutes, Rudell and his group emerged outside the fortress and headed toward the huge tower on one side of the fortress.
Inside the tower, which seemed to be used as a prison.
Rudell and his party climbed the tower’s stairs and arrived at a cell that appeared to be used for imprisoning nobles.
“For the time being, you can stay here. If you need anything, just let me know at any time.”
“Yes, I will.”
Rudell said this politely to the bowing officer, while the officer and knights who took Dagruul to the opposite cell headed down the stairs.
With the sound of footsteps, the officer and knights completely disappeared from view.
-Kaang!!
“Phew, I was suffocating with this on.”
At the same time, Leje smashed the handcuffs and released the cuffs of Rudell and the other party members.
“By the way, are you really going to just sit here?”
“Of course not.”
In response to her follow-up question, Rudell relaxed his wrists with a faint smile.
Since the church’s minions might be scheming somewhere in the fortress, the option of just sitting and waiting was practically non-existent for Rudell from the very beginning.
“First, let’s wait until nightfall.”
For now, all they could do was wait for the right moment.
With that thought, Rudell approached the window and looked down at the scenery of the fortress visible outside.
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