Chapter 22
So, the performance rivalry between the two knight orders began.
But Latine was confident.
It was time to show the results of Dame Syveric’s special training!
He would flatten the Red Knights’ noses—
No, flatten them so thoroughly they’d be forced to breathe through their mouths!
Tacking on that dad-joke quip in his mind, Latine left the imperial palace with a satisfied look on his face.
* * *
After leaving the main palace, Latine quietly headed not to the Azure Knights’ headquarters, but to their western branch.
There, the mages had been researching an object ever since the “Thousand Faces” had slipped away three times from the Red Knights and nearly once from the Azure Knights as well.
“Commander! Sir! Glory to you!”
The mages all stood and saluted at once upon seeing him.
Latine waved a hand.
“Yelling like that just wastes energy. Save it for the battlefield. For now, focus on your research.”
He glanced at their table.
As a pure swordsman, he had no idea what all those documents and magical diagrams meant.
“How’s it coming?” he asked. The mages replied with confident expressions.
“Perfect timing, sir. The current progress is…”
The most senior mage stepped forward and launched into a lengthy magical explanation.
Of course, most of it bounced right off Latine’s ears.
But his efficient ears and brain caught the only part that mattered: “…which means it’ll be completed tonight!”
“Excellent. Keep it up.”
He turned to leave, knowing from experience that interrupting mages mid-focus never ended well.
Not long after, two pieces of news reached him.
One was, of course, the completion of that object.
The other—
A sighting of the *Thousand Faces*, the very person it was meant for!
“Everything’s falling into place!”
Was luck finally turning in his favor in middle age!?
Rejoicing, Latine summoned the key members of the order.
Gathered were himself, Vice-Commander Aivert, Quartermaster Rodella, and several veteran knights who each led their own units.
“There’s been a sighting of the ‘Thousand Faces.’”
He spoke in a firm voice, carrying a mysterious box in his arms.
“The Thousand Faces?”
“We’re allowed to pursue it regardless of jurisdiction now, right?”
The knights responded immediately.
They already knew the Emperor’s orders from Latine, and they were fired up.
This was an all-out performance rivalry with the Red Knights!
Aivert’s eyes narrowed.
“That’s right. And conveniently, we…”
He grinned and placed the box on the table.
All eyes locked onto it.
“The enhanced magical handcuffs we requested from the branch are finally complete.”
“Ooooh!”
The knights erupted in cheers and immediately asked, “What are they?”
Most of them were sword-wielders through and through—anything with the word “magic” might as well have been a foreign language.
Aivert explained simply,
“They’re cuffs that alter their mana flow constantly. No one except the creator can undo them. Think of them like a vault—you need a special key to open them.”
They’d been designed after the standard magical cuffs had failed—easily broken by Thousand Faces.
Rodella glanced at Aivert.
‘He explains things surprisingly well.’
“At last!”
Regardless of the technical details, the knights were in awe at one thing: They might finally catch Thousand Faces.
The villain who had even shaken the capital to its core, who rampaged across the empire indiscriminately—noble or commoner.
He had murdered dozens, injured countless more, and his motive was horrifyingly simple and cruel:
“For fun.”
Because of that senseless motive, no one could predict the next victim or location. People lived in constant fear.
Naturally, the Emperor was desperate to see him caught.
For the Azure Knights, bringing him to justice was absolutely essential—
Primarily for the sake of the innocent.
But also—
“If we catch this bastard, we can finally crush the Red Knights’ arrogance…!”
We have to be the ones to catch him! We can’t let him slip away!
If the Red Knights caught him first, those arrogant snobs would never shut up.
All their eyes burned with fierce determination.
“He was spotted near the town of Laite, and since he’s human…”
Latine unfolded a map and firmly tapped a spot.
Then he drew a large circle with his finger.
“He’ll need to eat and sleep within this area. That means he’ll have to stay put for at least half a day.”
At last, he raised a clenched fist and declared boldly.
“Then, as proud knights of the Empire’s Azure Order—our mission is to strike while the iron’s hot! We move fast and close in while the bastard eats and rests during that half-day window!”
“Uwooooooooh!!”
The knights roared in response, cheering at Latine’s words.
Rodella was dumbfounded.
‘Half a day just to get there?’
So, what, knights don’t eat or rest? Were they not human?
Of course, this wasn’t the time or place to raise objections, so she kept her thoughts to herself.
But just then, Latine turned to her and said, “I’m counting on you. You know what I mean, right?”
“…You mean keeping the destruction to a minimum, right?”
Rodella snapped back to attention and answered.
Among the still-cheering knights, Latine gave a quiet nod.
“Please… save my wallet. I’ve reached my limit.”
Rodella was speechless.
No one told him to pay for the Azure Knights’ messes out of pocket. But every time his knights caused damage, Latine had stepped in and covered the costs himself.
‘Really, for all his grumbling, he does care about the Azure Knights.’
Rodella smiled.
When she was little, a famous mercenary commander had visited the Syveric frontier.
She only learned who he was afterward, so the impression was faint—but one thing she remembered clearly: He cared for his men like they were his own life.
Just like now.
‘He really is a good person.’
“Understood.”
Rodella chuckled and looked up at Aivert.
‘If you just behave, the damage drops way down. Got that?’
She mouthed the words at him. Aivert just shrugged in response.
“Alright! The operation’s codename is…”
Latine’s eyes gleamed.
“‘Fighting Spirit!’”
“…?”
Rodella’s jaw dropped at the absurd operation name.
‘All that emotion from earlier? Gone in a puff.’
Aivert, expecting that reaction, explained calmly,
“If the name gives away the mission’s content, it’s no good.”
Rodella looked up at him.
But even he had a clear ‘this name is ridiculous’ expression.
“…You’ve really learned how to play the political game, huh.”
“……”
Aivert couldn’t exactly admit he just didn’t want to look lame in front of her—so he simply nodded.
The operation would begin the next afternoon.
“Fighting Spirit” was a top-priority mission, involving only a handpicked elite team chosen personally by Latine and Aivert.
* * *
The wagons heading toward the target location all had one thing in common:
They were old, worn-down, and scrappy—nothing anyone would associate with a knight order.
But inside them were some of the finest knights in the Empire, along with mages who would track the mana of Thousand Faces.
—Rattle!
Among them was a particular wagon carrying Rodella and Aivert.