“So, why did the Dukedom establish a Military Department?”
While walking to Lily’s house, Katy suddenly threw out a question.
Gray turned his head with an expression as if he had just heard a child’s sleep-talk.
“The Military Department, as the name suggests, is for dealing with war.”
“War? With whom? The Demon Race is sealed within the Labyrinth. Shouldn’t humans be united and friendly?”
Meeting the young girl’s innocent blue eyes, Gray felt his conscience being sharply pricked by something, so he subconsciously looked away.
How was he supposed to say it?
Tell her that it had been less than twenty years since the Allied Forces and the Demon Race signed the Peace Treaty before the flames of war were rekindled on the Kala Continent.
The multi-racial alliance that was once unbreakable against the Demon Race had collapsed during the twenty years since they lost their common enemy.
After humans occupied the vast majority of the continent’s habitable areas with the speed of a sweeping wind, greed and arrogance crawled out from their very marrow.
Because of the barriers of geography, language, and interests, the humans—who were never a monolith to begin with—quickly split into multiple nations.
Leading them was the Noble Union, where the Dukedom was located.
They possessed overwhelming military power and arrogantly defined what civilization was.
Then there was the mysterious Khanate in the southern desert, the Sea God Tribes by the western coast… regardless of faith or skin color, as long as they did not submit to the Noble Union, only two outcomes awaited them: being conquered, or already having been conquered.
Peace?
Such a thing had only lasted for a fragile twenty years in human history following the Peace Treaty with the Demon Race.
“United and friendly…”
Gray gave a bitter smile, his voice low.
“Does Miss Katy really believe in such things?”
“Mhm, because our Black Crow Squad is a model of unity and friendship.”
Seeing Gray’s helpless, lowered gaze, Katy reached out and poked his cheek.
The warm smile on her face made it difficult for Gray to continue thinking about the dark side of civilization.
He reached out to grab her finger, but she let out a soft laugh and dodged.
“If it’s Miss Katy, then I do believe the Black Crow Squad can become like that.”
“Mr. Gray, I’m a bit curious. Was the atmosphere in your previous team very serious?”
Katy seemed to have thought of something and looked at him with curiosity.
Gray scratched his eyebrow and sighed.
This girl’s curiosity toward the Dawn Blade was truly unyielding.
But it was also strange.
Although the Dawn Blade had already disbanded, it was still one of the most brilliant stars among the Hero teams of the Duchy of Navel.
It might not be a household name, but it was certainly well-known.
And Katy, who had previously claimed to be incredibly interested in the adventures of Heroes, didn’t even know the composition of the Dawn Blade’s members?
One should know that they were once called the “textbook example of a team.”
Seeing the young man’s iron-gray eyes staring straight at her, Katy swallowed nervously.
‘Wh-what’s wrong? Did that question just expose something?’
The girl had no idea that she had just made a mistake that would be considered common knowledge for a local Hero of the Dukedom.
But precisely because she didn’t even know she had made a mistake, her blue eyes still reflected a clear, ignorant light.
This caused Gray to have the illusion that he was overthinking things.
“It wasn’t exactly serious. It’s just that most people were very earnest when it came to the Labyrinth.”
Pre-labyrinth meetings and post-exploration reviews… these matters, which were already somewhat distant for Gray, surfaced in his mind again as he reminisced.
“Mhm, I can tell. Mr. Gray was also quite serious about the Ghost Ship Labyrinth last time.”
Gray wanted to argue that it was different.
After all, that was not only Katy’s debut battle, but also because it was far too dangerous for an E-level Priest to be in a Star Glimmer Level Labyrinth.
But she seemed able to read his mind, placing her finger against his lips before he could speak.
“No arguing from the person who hung his Return Crystal on the Captain.”
“…Miss Katy actually noticed that?”
Gray hesitated for a moment and didn’t stubbornly argue back, though his surprise at Katy grew a bit more in his heart.
“Hmph~ I am the Captain. How could the little movements of my team members escape my eyes?”
“You’re amazing. You don’t seem like a rookie E-level Priest at all.”
—Wait!
Katy’s unfinished bragging was abruptly interrupted.
The arrogance that had just begun to flare up was instantly doused with a bucket of water.
“…Actually, it was Sister Lily. She told me when she was helping me organize my gear after we returned from the Labyrinth.”
She quickly fabricated a non-existent scenario to shift Gray’s attention back to the missing clerk.
At the mention of Lily’s name, Gray looked up.
The two of them had just reached the residential area in the south of the city.
Knox was not large.
A normal person could probably walk around it in half a day.
To save time, Gray had paid for a carriage, and the driver had taken them all the way from the branch of the Pioneer Covenant Association in the east to the entrance of the residential area.
Before the two of them could take out the personal information sheet they had gotten from Lily’s friend at the Association to find her address, Gray already heard sounds that didn’t belong here.
Creeeeeak, creeeeeak.
It was the groan of gears grinding against each other in military alchemical machinery that lacked lubrication.
Hiss— Ha—
It was the sound of life-support devices breathing on the Dragon Knights who had undergone modification surgery.
Gray’s heart sank.
He had just been thinking that it would be best if Katy didn’t come into contact with the dark side of the Dukedom or the entire Noble Union so soon, and yet the conflict of that dark side had already arrived right in front of them.
“The place where everyone is gathered ahead seems to be where Sister Lily lives. Let’s go take a look!”
Faced with the girl’s urging, he didn’t rush to agree.
Instead, he took a deep breath and adjusted the position of the hilt at his waist.
Whether it was the Military Department soldiers who held standard equipment and liked to win by numbers, or the Dragon Knights who were soaked in chemical vats by the Church and turned into war machines through surgery and magic—none of them were easy to deal with.
If Katy truly represented qualities like unity and friendship, which were already quite scarce nowadays, then he had to become the sharp blade by her side to cut down every bit of filth and evil reaching out from the darkness.
“Yes, let’s go.”
***
Katy followed behind her Warrior, squeezing through the noisy crowd of onlookers.
She finally saw what everyone was watching.
Two armed guards stood in front of Lily’s door, looking as if they were facing a great enemy.
Only a few meters away from them was a… well, a very strange-looking mechanical man?
For a moment, she couldn’t think of a suitable name for the thing in front of her.
Its lower half didn’t have legs, but was a mechanical chassis connected to four metal limbs, looking like a giant steel spider.
And atop this chassis, the upper half of a human torso was grafted.
That body was wrapped tightly in heavy, enchanted plate armor, revealing only a face wearing a breathing mask.
Countless tubes were plugged into the back of his head and spine, connecting to the steam engine on his back.
“Mr. Gray, what is that…?”
“That is a Dragon Knight.”
Facing Katy, who was tugging at his sleeve from behind, Gray lowered his voice.
“The masterpiece the Church is proud of—war machines created from the bodies of terminally injured fanatics through Forbidden Alchemy.”
“Eh? I thought the Saint Knights and Inquisitors in the Cathedral were the Church’s warriors.”
Faced with the girl’s surprise, Gray let out a helpless sigh.
Normally, the existence of Saint Knights was reasonable because they were needed to protect the safety of the Church.
The existence of Inquisitors was also barely justifiable, as there were always heretics who didn’t believe in the Goddess and thought about causing trouble.
But Dragon Knights… Gray really couldn’t think of a reason to justify these half-human, half-mechanical entities.
He couldn’t exactly say that the Church had raised a private army capable of rivaling an entire army corps just because they didn’t get along with the Military Department.
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