Chapter 6

She had clearly identified herself as a knight of the Imperial Fifth Knight Order, but whether she had lied about her affiliation or wasn’t actually a knight, he couldn’t find anyone matching her description within the knight order.

The only female, a spy, was someone whose face he hadn’t even seen yet. The vice-commander only said she was in another region carrying out a mission, without giving a definite answer about when the spy would return to the knight order.

Rihirt felt frustrated by the situation that kept being delayed. He had to admit it. The fact that he was looking forward to meeting her again.

He had been walking for so long that it had grown dark outside. Rihirt turned around and began retracing his steps. But he soon encountered a problem. Among the three branching corridors, he couldn’t remember exactly which direction he had come from.

After pausing briefly to consider, he entered the right corridor. As he silently continued walking…

A small sound of something falling echoed through the empty corridor.

Rihirt stopped and looked back. Something small had fallen onto the corridor floor. He approached and picked it up. It was a piece of broken walnut shell.

This was quite suspicious for something that suddenly fell in an empty corridor. Just as he was staring at the tree outside the window, another small shell piece fell with a “tock” sound, a bit further away.

Rihirt looked up at the high ceiling where it had fallen from. It seemed like someone was deliberately dropping things from above.

He stood still, not taking his eyes off the ceiling. Shortly after, a ceiling tile slightly lifted a bit further away, and something fell through that narrow gap.

It was another nut shell piece. Rihirt thought that whoever was above the ceiling might be dropping these to guide him.

He obediently followed the pieces. After walking for some time, when the familiar corridor scenery leading to the commander’s office appeared, he raised his head toward the high ceiling.

“Thank you.”

His quiet voice filled the corridor, but no answer came.

“Are you perhaps the spy here?”

But he continued to ask without taking his eyes off the ceiling. Although he wasn’t one to believe in fate or intuition, he somehow felt that the person up there might be the one he was looking for.

Just as he was waiting for an answer from above the ceiling, careful not to miss even the faintest voice…

“Commander!”

Oddly enough, the answer came from far away. At this interruption, Rihirt closed his mouth and took his eyes off the ceiling.

“The vice-commander is looking for you. There are documents that need to be processed urgently……”

The administrator who had rushed over continued speaking while standing behind him. But after facing the knight commander who had turned around, he had no choice but to close his mouth.

Cold eyes that could overwhelm anyone were directed at the administrator. During that brief moment of eye contact, the administrator had to contemplate all sorts of reflections on whether he had committed some great discourtesy.

Rihirt took his eyes off the administrator and shifted his gaze back to the ceiling. But whoever had been there seemed to have left, as there was no longer any presence felt.

He felt disappointed, like a boy who had lost sight of a small herbivore that had been almost within reach. Of course, outwardly he maintained a cold, expressionless face without recognizing this feeling.

After maintaining silence for a moment, Rihirt moved ahead, leaving the administrator behind. All while holding a handful of nut shells he had collected on the way.

⁕⁕⁕

“Are you certain she’s in another territory?”

This was the question that flew at Kalif when he visited the next morning to report on work matters. He couldn’t understand why the consistently taciturn knight commander was so persistently asking about Anasha.

“Commander. I apologize, but I didn’t understand your question. May I ask what you’re referring to?”

Although he quickly caught on to what the commander was asking, he pretended not to know and questioned him back. During that brief moment, Kalif quickly scanned him to see if he had noticed anything.

As it was difficult to read anything from his expression, Kalif was scrutinizing the surroundings with eagle eyes for any clues when he noticed the nut shell pieces scattered along the edge of the wide desk.

“I’m talking about the knight order’s exclusive spy.”

“Ah. That person… should arrive at the knight order by this afternoon at the earliest, I believe.”

“Are you certain?”

“Yes.”

In front of those emotionless blue eyes, Kalif smoothly pulled his skin into a smile. Fortunately, the knight commander didn’t seem to catch anything suspicious as he shifted his gaze and began flipping through documents.

‘Phew……’

Inwardly relieved, Kalif rushed to the training ground as soon as his business was finished. He found her leisurely chatting with a knight near the training ground.

“Sir Anasha!”

Anasha, who had been sitting on a tree, was startled by the shout calling her name and fell from the tree. Of course, her landing was as light as a feather settling down.

“You scared me to death!”

Anasha looked up sharply at Kalif. His face wore a grim expression that looked like he might crush her at any moment.

“I told you countless times not to catch the commander’s eye, and yet……”

“Wait. I’m scared.”

Anasha retreated slightly.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

But she was caught and pulled back right in front of him. Before the lecture could begin, Anasha quickly opened her mouth to defend herself.

“I swear I’ve never been seen by the new commander! There’s no way he could have seen me!”

“So you admit you did go near the commander. What were you thinking giving him those nut scraps?”

“Scraps?! That was my precious food!”

“Regardless!”

When a piercing glare shot at her, Anasha became intimidated.

“…Anyway, I was in the ceiling. And he seemed lost, so I thought I’d help him by dropping some nuts……”

“By dropping them?”

“I was just showing him the way.”

“Just showing him the way?”

His tone suggested he found it absurd. Kalif pressed his forehead with one hand, then continued with a sigh.

“Go to the commander’s office this afternoon.”

“What?! You said you’d monitor the situation for me! Wasn’t I supposed to be somewhere else until then?”

“That excuse is now invalid since you’ve already revealed yourself.”

“I never revealed myself. How would he know it was me!”

“Logically, who else would be above the ceiling if not a spy? I think there’s a limit to how much more you can deny this. Anyway, I believe I’ve done as much as I could. Blame your own careless actions.”

With a refreshingly bright smile that seemed relieved, Kalif turned his back. Anasha quickly grabbed the hem of his uniform.

“How can you abandon me like this!”

“Abandon you? I never picked you up in the first place!”

“That’s too cruel. You said you’d help me think about this!”

“Figure, it, out, by, yourself. If you understand, let go.”

“I can’t let go! My pinky fingernail is at stake!”

“You two look close.”

Elvin, who had been watching the two from a step away, commented.

“Don’t go!”

Anasha shouted, but Kalif had already removed her hand from his body.

“Ah!”

By a hair’s breadth, Anasha lost her grip on him. She considered chasing after him and persistently clinging to him, but he probably wouldn’t help her even then. There was a greater possibility that she would only receive a lecture. So what remained was…

“Elv……”

“Sorry. Break time’s over.”

Abandoned even by Elvin (who had simply returned because training time had begun), Anasha stood alone in that spot for a while. After briefly feeling dejected that there was no one to help her, she moved her feet with determination.

⁕⁕⁕

Rihirt, who had returned to the commander’s office after observing the knights’ training, processed documents without even a moment’s rest. His platinum blonde hair, which had been slightly damp, dried naturally, and fatigue began to show in his focused gaze.

After processing all the documents, he closed the file and stared out the window. The sun was gradually setting.

The woman he had expected to meet before sunset still hadn’t appeared.

Rihirt was convinced she was the knight order’s spy. Considering her small build that seemed too petite for a knight, the way she easily opened the prison door, and her exceptionally nimble movements, she was more likely to be a spy than a knight.

And yesterday, the person in the ceiling must have been her as well.

Until now, the knight vice-commander had said she wasn’t here, but Rihirt was certain that was a lie. And he thought the reason for this lie might have been at her request.

The fact that she didn’t reveal herself to him yesterday, along with everything else, suggested she was deliberately avoiding him.

‘Is it inconvenient for her to reveal herself?’

But if she needed to hide her identity, she shouldn’t have revealed her affiliation. Lost in deep thought, he unconsciously tapped the desk.

At that moment, something suddenly fell in front of him with a “thud” sound. Rihirt reacted quite quickly, but his hand had only just reached the sword handle. If it had been an enemy attack, he would have received a fatal wound by a hair’s breadth.

However, he was surprised for a different reason. Although black cloth covered the area below her eyes, Rihirt could immediately recognize who was before him.

“It’s a misunderstanding! I wasn’t, uh, spying on you!”

Anasha, who was even more surprised than him, fumbled and rolled off the desk.

Rihirt stood up. Before he could take a step toward her, the woman quickly got to her feet and turned her back.