Under that extremely severe questioning, Lita wanted to turn around again, but once more was stopped by the dinner knife pressed against her neck.
The person standing behind Lita, threatening her with the dinner knife, seemed about to go further. The cold blade scraped along Lita’s neck, then pressed against her throat.
Even if others were slow to react, it was impossible not to notice someone holding a knife to another’s neck. The lively atmosphere suddenly became tinged with strangeness.
Several people sitting nearby instantly sobered up from their excitement, pretending nothing was wrong as they backed away, spreading out with Lita’s table as the center.
The most nervous person was the tavern owner. His bearded face was now whiter than the snow of the Northlands.
It was normal for a few drunk people to cause trouble in a tavern—just make them pay afterward. But having a knife at the neck of a Crest Knight was no small matter. Even if no actual throat was slit, the incident alone would likely shut down his shop.
But he didn’t dare act recklessly. If he did something wrong and startled the person, escalating the situation, he would never be able to clear his name. At that point, not only would his shop be gone, but he himself would be held accountable!
Lita already knew the other party meant no harm. If they really wanted to slit her throat, using a small dagger would be more convenient. At least they would use the blade edge, not the flat side. Moreover, a strand of red hair from the person behind her had already drifted past the edge of her vision several times. She couldn’t think of anyone else who would talk to her like this and have fiery red hair.
Although she hadn’t heard that voice in a while, her memory hadn’t deteriorated despite everything she’d been through.
“How dare you speak to a Crest Knight like that, and now threaten me? You’ve got some nerve.” Lita snorted coldly.
“Your life is in my hands right now, and you’re still being so cocky!” The person pressed the blade closer.
“If you dare, slit my throat right now!” Lita stuck her neck out.
“That won’t do!”
“Why not?”
“How could I bear to slit your throat? Who would drink with me then?”
The red-haired girl threw the dinner knife onto the table, hooked her arm around Lita’s shoulder, and sat down beside her. Only then did she seem to realize something and asked, “Wait, your current status… Is it bad for me to joke like this?”
More than one person in the room breathed a sigh of relief, especially the tavern owner. The relief made his legs go weak, and he nearly collapsed. Although the joke was a bit mean and scary, it was their personal matter. Such things weren’t uncommon in taverns—drunken jokes that were either too light or too heavy. Seeing that things were fine, everyone started drinking again.
Lita glared at the red-haired girl beside her, whose cheeks were as red as a shrimp roasted crispy over fire. She nudged her with an elbow. “You actually know this joke was inappropriate? If someone else saw that, they wouldn’t be wrong to arrest you!”
“Hehehehe.” The girl drunkenly leaned toward Lita’s shoulder, but just before contact, she suddenly changed direction and thumped her forehead on the table.
“Still drinking, and you’re already this drunk!” Lita helped her up. “So, why did you come to the Royal Capital, Momoka?”
The red-haired spearwoman Momoka, whom Lita had met in Solus City, let out a long, confused sound that only a drunk could make. Then she shook her sweat-dampened hair. “Isn’t the second round of exams coming up soon? I came a few days early to take them! Since it hasn’t started yet, I have to enjoy life in the Royal Capital! What about you? What’s your story?”
Second round of exams?
Oh, right, that was a thing.
After returning from the Northlands, Lita had been immediately enfeoffed, and then it was a straight line between classes. She had almost forgotten about the Holy Knight Examination.
“Ah, it’s a long story.” Lita thought about her legendary experiences in the Royal Capital and sighed.
“It’s fine, it’s fine!” Momoka shook her head and raised her hand high. “We have plenty of time to talk! Hey! Boss! Another six beers! The best kind!”
Lita wasn’t looking down on others just because she had become a Crest Knight, and Momoka didn’t seem to have grown distant because of it either.
Maybe she would have when sober? But right now, she was so drunk she couldn’t even sit without holding onto Lita or the table, so she probably didn’t care about such details. If she did care, she wouldn’t have made that excessive joke with the dinner knife.
Lita spoke slowly while drinking, and Momoka listened seriously. Although Lita had to hold back on some parts, there was still plenty she could share. A few people nearby eavesdropped, but in a tavern where at least ten people claimed to have killed dragons, Lita’s restrained story just sounded like boasting. Even if someone recognized her, they wouldn’t pay much attention—this was Lita’s private life, and no one would disturb a Crest Knight’s privacy.
“That’s pretty much it. What about you?”
“Me? My story isn’t as legendary as yours. I heard about your affairs even from a thousand miles away.” Momoka said drunkenly. “After leaving Solus City, I went home and trained for a while. Then I decided to head to the Royal Capital early, so I wouldn’t be late for the exam. So here I am.”
“Ah, training…” Lita sighed. “Lady Cecilia found me so many teachers, making me learn this and that every day. I’m exhausted.”
“Yeah, I’m actually a bit jealous of you, but it’s obvious to everyone that you and Her Royal Highness the Fourth Princess have something special. Besides, you’re pretty impressive to be able to study all that patiently. I couldn’t do it, no way.”
What do you talk about in a tavern? Your own trivial matters. Lita listened to Momoka complain about her father, who had squandered the family fortune raising a Dream Demon, and then Lita shared her experience of getting hit on the head with a big wooden stick.
As they chatted, the topic somehow drifted to the tavern. Lita casually mentioned the Beautiful Pheasant incident and explained why she had come here today.
But Lita wasn’t surprised that Momoka was here. That girl carried beer wherever she went. Even when Lita was unfamiliar with Solus City, Momoka had already found the best taverns. Not running into her would have been more unusual.
“Oh, by the way, I noticed something on my way here.” Mentioning those things, Momoka suddenly seemed to recall something. “I noticed that bandits seem to have increased recently, but they don’t really look like bandits.”
“Don’t look like bandits? What do you mean?” Lita didn’t understand the logic of bandits not looking like bandits, and she just took it as Momoka’s drunken rambling.
But Momoka explained mysteriously, “Lots of villages have either been abandoned or had groups of people flee. I suspect those people became bandits. What do you think?”
Lita thought for a moment. The group that had attacked the Beautiful Pheasant earlier were exactly like that—they only cared about Claire’s clothes and lute, not about her at all. Though it was a bit of a stereotype, there really weren’t many bandits throughout history who robbed for money but not for sex.
Unless, as Momoka said, these people were at the point where survival was so hard that they could only think about staying alive.
Lita remembered that Cecilia had said something similar before, but then Cecilia got curious about why Lita’s pony was named Pearl, and the topic got sidetracked. Lita never had a chance to follow up.
“So these people abandoned their villages and became bandits? Why?” Lita had some ideas of her own. Images of that mysterious, powerful-looking Piper and that mushroom-covered village with no men floated to mind.
“Well, that’s where those people looking for Glen come in.” Momoka replied.
“Looking for Glen? I’ve only heard of Glen.”
“Searching! Glen! Don’t interrupt my train of thought. Wait, where was I?”
Lita pressed her lips together and waited as Momoka scratched her head and gulped down a third of her beer, as if that would revive her memory. Momoka recalled the past, and after a while, she slapped her palm with a fist.
“I remember now. Recently, there’s been a group of people—no, not exactly a group, but a group.”
“What a mess. Listening to you is like listening to you. Maybe you should think again?” Lita suggested.
“No, no, you don’t understand. There’s this group—yeah, a group.” Momoka emphasized.
“Don’t interrupt! I mean, these people all act alone, and each one is pretty skilled. They’re spreading chaos everywhere, but their goal sounds ridiculous. They seem to be searching for a certain Lord Glen hidden somewhere in the world. Apparently, this Glen is hiding among the crowd.”
What was that? The Under-Ice Melulu Group? They were also looking for the Iron Barrel Zombie?
But Amelia had mentioned something about a Glen Faction, so that was probably what she meant.
“Yeah, that’s the group. They’re causing trouble all over the Kingdom. Nobody knows how they assembled, who commands them, or even if they really exist.” Momoka burped. “But I heard that Her Royal Highness the Third Princess was killed by them.”