Chapter 101

She woke up to a commotion.

This time she hadn’t been taken to a hospital because there was no external injury. She opened her eyes to find herself in a room at the knight headquarters. The problem was that the headquarters was much noisier than usual.

And it was because of:

“That’s absurd!”

“Don’t talk nonsense!”

“Watch your mouth!”

“Tell those guys to watch their mouths first!”

It was an argument that was close to a fight.

Rodella frowned and sat up.

And then.

“The commander being suspended? Tell them to stop talking nonsense!”

She had to listen to news that would be absurd even with a clear mind, while her head was still hazy.

What?!

* * *

“Vice Commander, Commander Latine has been suspended!”

“I heard.”

The news also reached Aivert.

He had been holed up in the vice commander’s office only after confirming with the doctors that Rodella was fine. At first, he also wondered what kind of nonsense it was.

Rodella would probably also ask what kind of crazy talk it was if she heard it…

“What does that mean?”

Ah, yes. She heard it.

Just as he expected.

From far beyond the vice commander’s office, the sound of a window being flung open was heard, followed by Rodella’s surprised question.

And a similar answer to what she must have heard came from the knight standing behind Aivert.

“As of this moment, not only is he prohibited from approaching the headquarters and branch buildings, but he is also prohibited from approaching any knight personally.”

It meant they couldn’t even go to the knights’ home territories.

Aivert narrowed his eyes.

This meant that the movements of the Azure Knights were tied up, let alone Latine Modilac’s own movements.

“Didn’t you say an audit had been launched on the commander’s mansion?”

“Yes. They say it was done in an instant.”

At that, Aivert narrowed his eyes.

“The Administration Bureau…”

The head of the department was Chancellor Ameris, but considering that the majority of the department was made up of the aristocratic faction, it was remarkable that she had that much control.

Even now, if the will of the entire Administration Bureau differed from Ameris’s, external departments still prioritized Ameris’s will.

This was different from a situation where they couldn’t ignore the louder voices of nobles in matters concerning nobles.

But the problem was that Ameris couldn’t have had a hand in this matter.

Even if they weren’t meeting privately now, they were always trying to get her to fall from power by bringing up her old friendship with Latine and accusing her of giving him special favors.

Moreover, one of the main duties of the Administration Bureau was to monitor the knights from the start.

In that sense, the Administration Bureau’s “raid” on the Modilac mansion was perfectly legal.

And it was also a complete surprise.

Since no one in the Administration Bureau had ever been bold enough to think of raiding the knight commander’s mansion.

Who would dare to do something that was ‘technically possible by authority but feared of the consequences’?

Unless the political situation was as it was now.

“…”

It was at that moment that Aivert narrowed his eyes.

Rodella must have gone downstairs already, as he saw her run out of the headquarters.

“…!”

Aivert flinched and started to follow her without realizing it, but then stopped.

He then clenched his hand and pulled back the curtains.

—Whoosh!

The windows of the vice commander’s office must have become bright all at once, visible even from a distance.

To be precise, it was visible to the guards from the Administration Bureau outside, who couldn’t help but be conscious of him.

—…!

Sure enough, the guard outside the window clearly flinched after making eye contact with him.

And Rodella soon arrived in front of him.

She took a breath and looked like she was about to leave the headquarters.

She was probably headed to where Sir Latine was.

The guard seemed to try to stop her, raising his hand, but then subtly lowered it.

“…”

It was after he had made eye contact with Aivert again.

Aivert, who had been glaring at them with his arms crossed, only averted his gaze after Rodella had safely passed through.

And in the end, he did not leave the room.

* * *

Around the time the monster war ended, the Emperor and Chancellor Ameris had created sufficient means to check and manage the rapidly growing power of the knights.

One of them was the management of the knights through the vice secretary of the Administration Bureau.

Even if the Emperor was the law, the law could restrain them in moments when his eyes did not reach.

It was a structure that allowed for constant surveillance of the military unless it was an emergency.

Naturally, the knights were subject to both regular and irregular audits.

The problem was that this had never included the commander’s mansion.

And that was hitting them right in a weak spot.

Ryan Diepelt, who carried out the task, was absolutely beaming.

“You’ve done a great job. Well done.”

This was because the Duke of Benerix was so satisfied.

He wouldn’t end up like Malik Bran!

It was the moment his desire for survival shined.

The audit of Latine Modilac’s mansion.

He had originally planned to find some small flaw to disrupt the work of the Azure Knights.

But lo and behold, they found something big, but not really.

The Administration Bureau members who went in for the audit had taken the bait perfectly.

“The food expenses are too high for the number of servants.”

They were way too high!

Since the food nobles ate was expensive, it would have been natural, but the problem was that Latine Modilac was not one to enjoy luxury and rarely invited guests to his mansion.

And would a noble share expensive food with his servants?

Of course, Latine was a person who shared, but the members of the Administration Bureau, who were nobles by birth, could not possibly understand that.

“Didn’t he bring knights over privately to feed them?!”

At that accusation, the youngest maid of the Modilac family said,

“They sometimes come over, but it’s never in a bad way…”

Because she added that, he became a person who had brought people over and fed them anyway.

In other words, he became a knight commander who had ‘privately met with and formed relationships with knights.’

And the aristocratic faction of the Administration Bureau, including Ryan, succeeded in blowing that up like this:

“How could the Azure Knights, who must only obey the Emperor’s orders, have private relationships?!”

“If they get so close privately, couldn’t the troops be mobilized for the Modilac family’s affairs later on?!”

Latine had no intention of illegally mobilizing troops, let alone privately mobilizing the knights, but that was none of the aristocratic faction’s business.

“We need to confirm for what purpose and how often they had meals together.”

And Latine, who heard this series of nonsense, eventually became furious.

Don’t you people eat either?!

Is it a crime to feed the kids something!?

But he barely managed to swallow those words.

It was because of the advice of his friend, Ameris, which remained in his head even when he was completely enraged.

“If you don’t want to get into political or legal trouble, it’s best to swallow the words that come to mind when you’re angry.”

Thanks to that, the aristocratic faction’s second plan, which was to ‘seize on any clash that occurs when Latine argues back,’ failed.

But the aristocratic faction attached all sorts of other things to the accusations.

“And is this prize money being properly funded from the knight’s internal funds?”

They were talking about the money given to the knights when they reduced property damage.

Of course, it had been perfectly accounted for in the ledgers so there would be no problems, but the Administration Bureau still seized on it.

They claimed that giving money at all was suspicious.

Even though the Red Knights were taking the nation’s money and sharing it among themselves as prize money.

So the conclusion that came out was this:

“Until the suspicions of Sir Latine Modilac, the commander of the Azure Knights, privately using troops are cleared up, we must block his contact with the knights and suspend his command.”

And the person who received the thick report that Ryan presented while saying that was,

“…I will look into it.”

It was Ameris.