Chapter 148

〈 Chapter 149 〉 Black Knights (1)

*

The Royal Castle of the Leim Kingdom was composed of two buildings.

The inner castle where the royal family lived and the outer castle surrounding it.

And between the inner and outer castles, there were other buildings.

One of those buildings was a tower that had been built to imprison high-ranking criminals since ancient times.

However, now the underground prison of the royal palace was completely full, and ordinary people had long been starting to be locked up in that tower as well.

In that tower, whose significance had completely faded, she was trapped.

Lying on the floor, she blankly stared at the ceiling.

She muttered words that made no sense.

She didn’t even glance at the captain of the knights who had come to see her.

To her, the captain said,

“You’ve become even more beautiful in my absence, Princess.”

Though her hair wasn’t as long as the fake princess’s, compared to her faded and brittle locks, Elsie’s hair had a vibrant golden wave feel to it.

Her youthful face had matured enough to be called a woman, yet her skin remained as fair as ever. But she remained unaware of the countless wounds hidden beneath her clothes.

And above all…

Feeling the captain’s gaze sweeping over her body, Elsie suppressed the nausea that was rising from within and said,

“Princess? Don’t you have another princess now?”

At those words, the captain sighed.

“Are you referring to that fake princess?”

“So you’re even admitting she’s fake with your own mouth now.”

“Of course. She’s merely something wearing human skin, not worthy of being called a person.”

Though anger surged within her at his hypocrisy, she also knew it wasn’t the time yet.

Just a little longer, she thought.

If she waited just a bit longer, the time would come.

“So, what is it that you want to say?”

The captain had been hanging around in front of the prison.

He definitely had something he wanted to say.

If so, she wished he would just quickly say what he wanted and leave.

She tried to keep her gaze fixed on the ceiling, but the disgusting face kept creeping into her peripheral vision.

“Wanting to say, do you know your current situation, princess?”

“I know. I lost to the fake princess and got locked up in prison.”

“Then do you realize I can do whatever I want with your life?”

She had no way of knowing.

That wasn’t even true to begin with.

It was the fake princess who had allowed her to live, not the captain.

And likewise, it was the fake princess who could kill her, not the captain.

But there was no need to provoke that here.

“So, what do you want me to do?”

“Actually, I regretted letting you go. Although I commanded to kill you upon finding you after having let you slip away, I regretted it. If only I had held onto you and made you mine…”

You crazy bastard.

The one who had said that someone was merely something wearing human skin was talking about himself.

There was no way he could think like that without feeling regret.

“But to think fate is so amusing. You came back on your own two feet. If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have approved of the fake princess either.”

Finishing that sentence, he chuckled momentarily as if losing his sanity.

He had an expression that looked happy yet slightly regretful.

Yet, in terms of being a lunatic, there wasn’t much difference.

Elsie looked at him with cold eyes and said,

“So what you want is me?”

Finally, the captain stopped that unpleasant smile.

Leaning against the bars, he said,

“That’s correct. If you give yourself to me, I will eliminate that monster-like fake princess. In that case, you might be able to save your life too.”

At first glance, it might sound like a sweet condition.

In fact, submitting to the captain right after the coup was one of her options.

However, to her, the one fully aware of all the facts, it was simply repulsive.

‘You’re going to eliminate the fake princess? You?’

That was nonsense.

The fake princess was not a mundane being as he thought.

And at this point, having lost once and purposely gotten caught, she had no intention of submitting to a captain like him.

‘Even if it meant my death.’

Whether she died or not, not succumbing to such a guy was more important than staying alive.

For a moment, the thought of which of those two choices she should take crossed Allen’s mind, but at least from her perspective, the former seemed better.

After all, she trusted Allen, so she shouldn’t have to worry about that.

So she said to the captain,

“Get lost.”

“What?”

“I said get lost. You perverted creep.”

Instantly, the captain’s face flushed red.

His hands tightened around the bars.

“Princess, it seems you still don’t grasp the situation.”

He said threateningly.

“I am the only one who can save you. That means I am the only one who can kill you too.”

But Elsie answered without caring.

“If you’re so confident, why don’t you come inside? A captain afraid of a woman won’t even step into the cage.”

The determination in her eyes was unmistakable.

It was a calm ferocity, like a beast hidden within.

Though she was still now, the moment her opponent stepped into the cage, she would kill them right away.

“You little…”

In reality, the captain couldn’t enter the cage.

He had heard of her rumors, that she had rampaged as the Masked Hero, and had known it firsthand.

Thus, he had no choice but to step back from the bars and said,

“Fine, you clearly don’t grasp the seriousness of your situation yet. Let’s see if you remain so calm until the festival.”

He kicked the bars as a warning and turned to leave.

Now that his figure had disappeared from her sight, Elsie smiled and said,

“Much better.”

*

“How long has it been since I’ve breathed fresh air…”

It was Yusera, who had come outside after almost a week.

It happened to be during the festival, and with the Masked Hero captured, curfew had returned to normal, so I thought it was fine to take her out.

After all, there were no suspicions due to her being a recently arrived hero.

‘This is thanks to Elsie’s plan for the time being.’

And her plan was about to play an important role at the place I was headed.

That place was a building of the knights located outside of the royal castle, just like the Reedval Mansion.

I merely came to this small, shabby building following the information I received from the Reedval Mansion, and it didn’t even have a flag hanging.

‘Black Knights.’

While the Royal Knights dealt with the royal family’s affairs publicly, the Black Knights primarily took on dirty work they didn’t want the public to know about.

I knocked on the door of the Black Knights’ building.

However, there was a rule to how I knocked.

I had learned this at the Reedval Mansion as well.

Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock.

Then a voice came from inside.

“What’s the matter?”

It was a somewhat rough voice.

The atmosphere was different from that of the Reedval Mansion.

But I answered bravely.

“I want to meet the captain of the knights.”

“The captain? For what purpose?”

“The real Masked Hero wishes to talk with him.”

“The real Masked Hero…?”

“Yes, not the princess disguised as a Masked Hero, but the genuine article.”

After a brief silence, laughter could be heard.

Then footsteps approached, and the door was opened.

“Interesting fellow.”

A tall man dressed entirely in black appeared.

He introduced himself like this.

“Yeah, I’m the captain.”

*

“Where have all the other members gone?”

The Black Knights’ building was strangely empty.

The only one there was the man who had introduced himself as the Black Knights’ captain.

And he was sitting on the sofa across from me, wearing a relaxed expression.

“The members? I sent them all home. They don’t have any work here now, after all.”

“No work means…”

“We’re originally a knight order that only receives direct orders from the royal family. When the royal family fell, the orders ceased as well. Other knight orders have started to take on the dirty work, so we’re not needed anymore.”

“I see.”

Moreover, the Black Knights primarily handled jobs executed on the field, so their public image wasn’t good.

After the successful coup, the Royal Knights likely hesitated to employ the Black Knights while working hard to project a positive image through generous patronage.

They had skillfully apprehended rebellious forces under the excuse of national isolation.

“So, what do you want to say to me? The real Masked Hero?”

“I’ll be direct. I’d like you to gather the members of the Black Knights and help me with the enemy knights.”

At my words, the smile on his face twisted slightly.

“The enemy knights? You’re not referring to that foolish plan, are you?”

It seemed that the head of the Reedval family had already tried to persuade him.

And at that time, he had rejected the plan.

“Go back and tell them my thoughts haven’t changed.”

But this time, it wasn’t about that plan.

“No, it’s different from that plan. I even thought the plan was foolish, so I made some revisions.”

It might not be just a little.

But regardless, it was certainly a different operation than before.

So I thought it was worth a shot to persuade him again.

“Revised, huh?”

“Yes, the plan you heard was to use the tunnels beneath the Leim Kingdom.”

“Right.”

However, that plan had been changed.

“The new plan is a frontal assault.”

“A frontal assault?”

Before he could let out a derisive laugh, I continued.

“We will breach the castle. We’ll handle the demon kings inside ourselves. Then you’ll just need to deal with the knights who have lost their power due to the festival.”

A rush of words laid out like the plan.

It wasn’t particularly complex, but one by one, the elements could seem absurd.

However, I was the one wearing the most serious expression.

Therefore, it seemed the captain realized I wasn’t joking.

He likely knew that the current Royal Knights depended on external power, such as that of the demon kings.

But he probably didn’t expect I would know that.

“Who are you…?”

“I’m the Masked Hero.”

“I can believe that. With you here, it wouldn’t be strange to call you the Masked Hero. But…”

He continued with serious eyes.

“That alone won’t allow me to help you.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“For the past three years, the knights returned to their homes. Since our knight order is not even listed, they could awkwardly assimilate back into everyday life. Most of them are peacefully living, having children or opening shops.”

It was true; maybe they were among the ordinary people I had met since coming to the kingdom.

Considering that, I continued to listen to him.

“Of course, they know in their hearts what the situation in the kingdom is. Though the kingdom seems peaceful, it is slowly collapsing. And everyone likely shares the same hope: if possible, to save the kingdom. After all, our Black Knights wouldn’t even be an order without loyalty to the kingdom.”

Yet, the reality didn’t allow them.

“There wasn’t a way for us to reclaim the kingdom. It was clear that, as you said, external forces were involved. Furthermore, the plan brought over from the enemy knights had a success probability that was exceedingly bleak. No, it was impossible. That’s why I rejected her plan, as the lives of the members were far too valuable to risk on something like that.”

Thus, he pointed at me and said,

“So, if you want our help, you need to prove it. Prove that your plan is worth betting the lives of the members. If you can truly break the walls and face the demon kings, then name a name that proves it.”

A name, huh…

In fact, I wouldn’t be the one breaking the walls; Yusera would primarily handle that.

What was important was whether I could face the demon kings.

‘High-ranking Hero Allen Pleuk?’

He would know that a high-ranking hero might be capable of facing a demon king.

However, I had no certainty that he would be convinced.

After all, Allen Pleuk’s name didn’t necessarily convey the will to protect the Leim Kingdom.

So I needed a name filled with power and genuine determination to protect the Leim Kingdom.

That name had actually been prepared in advance.

“The last knight of the Leim Kingdom.”

As soon as that name was uttered, the captain’s eyes widened.

“I have inherited his sword.”

*