Chapter 34: Arcana

(Trigger warning! Rape and sexual assault)

Veramood headed to the drawing-room without changing his clothes due to the unexpected guests.

“Sigrid?”

“Don’t call me that friendly.”

“What’s up?”

“Is what you said before still valid?”

Veramood opened his eyes widely and then took off his leather gloves. His forehead was still sweating as he was in the middle of training when Sigrid came.

“recruitment? Of course. Why? Why did you suddenly change your mind?”

Sigrid breathed in and out heavily. “Before that i want to ask you something.”

“Wow, aren’t you completely ignoring me? But what is it?”

“Why did you become the captain of the 1st squad Imperial Knight?”

‘What kind of question is this?’ Veramood tilted his head. But he saw Sigrid’s eyes. She was serious.

So he answered lightly.

“Because it’s something i could do. And..”

He shrugged his shoulder.

“Those guys wanted it no matter what. 1st squad kids.”

“Is that so?” Sigrid nodded. She then convinced. “Then it’s okay if it’s temporary.—please appoint me as a member of the 1st squad Imperial Knight from now on.”

The words thinned Veramood’s eyes. He looked at Sigird as if his eyes were examining, then he said, “Okay, I, Veramood Lunatil, appoint Sigrid Ankertna as a member of the 1st squad Imperial Knight temporarily from now on. Done?”

“Thank you.”

Veramood grabbed Sigrid’s arm as she was going to go out. He whispered in her ear.

“If there’s anyone you want to kill, tell me.”

“I do what I can do.”

Veramood smiled hearing Sigrid’s answer. He then let go of her arm. “It means you have someone to kill.”

Sigrid did not answer. She then greeted him in a knight manner and left his mansion.

Her horse would catch eyes, so she gave money to a nearby coachman to guard her horse, and walked on foot.

Count Oren’s mansion was not that big. Even though he was a count and lived in a rural area in District 1, his money could not live up in District 1. It was District 1. Even its rural area was not an area that many people could not save money.

Sigrid glanced at the Count’s house and found a familiar silhouette.

“Morris?”

Morris jumped up as someone whispered from behind him.

“Si, Sig!”

“What is going on here?”

“It is you.”

The two looked at each other blankly.

Sigrid raised an eyebrow. “Seria?”

“You too?”

“Uh-huh.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’ll go into the Count’s mansion and find Seria, then I’m going to watch.”

“What?”

“And when I found those guys attacking Seria, I would promptly dispose them.”

“What?”

“It’s temporary, but I have two privileges because I’m part of imperial knight.”

“What?”

“The right to investigate a mansion without notice and the right to dispose anyone on the spot.”

“...”

Sigrid shrugged, looking at how wide Morris opened his mouth.

“Both are legitimate rights. It’s the right given to the imperial knight.”

“And what are you going to do?”

“And..”

Sigrid recalled what she heard from Rowen green earlier.

“I’m going to make you lie.”

“Can you tell me something properly?”

Sigrid nodded her head hearing Morris words.

*

Sigrid changed into black clothes inside the garden.

Morris was blushing and desperately told her not to change her clothes in the garden but to no avail.

“It’s okay, you can’t see me,” she dismissed Morris request, changed her clothes quickly, and slid into Count Oren’s mansion.

‘It’s not an illegal house break. Because members of Imperial Knight have the power to expedite investigations.’

She had the right to enter any mansion at will. While recalling the rights she could use, Sigrid climbed up the wall and shoved her body into an open window. Everything was a piece of cake. Recalling the blueprint of the mansion she had seen earlier, Sigrid found an underground vent window.

“Is the girl okay?”

“It’s okay. But no, I don’t know if she would be okay today. The Count will taste her soon.”

“He likes to have sex and beat those girls. Did you see the previous slave girls? Their faces was hard to recognizes because all the facial bones were dented.”

“Shhh, be quiet.”

After getting a bit of information from the vent, Sigrid went further inside.

‘Usually criminal facilities are in underground. For soundproofing. And the nobles like luxurious things, so they won’t like their rooms to have smell stale. Then, a room with a large vent hose in the basement would be a suitable place for that kind of activity.”

That was Sigrid’s thought. And that thought was right. Through the gap in the vent, Sigrid was able to find a luxurious room that she couldn’t believe, it was an underground type of room. Except for the tiled floors and strange tools. And Seria was tied to the bed in the middle.

Sigrid held her breath and watched the situation.

‘Enemy.’

She waited until he came.

‘Enemy.’

Recalling those words, Sigrid had a strange feeling. She has never had an enemy. And in fact, neither enemy nor ally needed her. She lived according to her master’s wishes. If her master told her to cut, she cut it, and if her master told her to fight, she would fight. It wasn’t that she had any bad feelings towards anyone. It was just an order, so she followed it.

‘So I didn’t have any friends. But—’

Friend—

Friend—

‘I see.’

Sigrid in that kind of situation—crouching in a vent, waiting for the enemy to come in—felt her heart pounding because of a realization. Her cheeks flared up.

‘Morris, Alkerto, Rowen green, and Marisuez, are also friends.’

They run to her because they were worried. They saved her. She never realized it before because she was crazy. Now upon realizing it, Sigrid suddenly felt like she was about to cry,

‘There are people who she could help and ask for help.’

Sigrid smiled happily for a moment, then hardened her face quickly as she heard the door open.

Seria, lying stiff on the bed, began to struggle like crazy.

Sigrid slowly began to push open the vent. The detachable vent cover for smooth cleaning made her work easier.

Count Oren smiled and approached Seria.

“Your guardian is dead. There is no one to protext you. You can’t escape my hand.”

“Uhhhhhhhhh! Eum! Eum!”

A suppressed scream escaped from between Seria’s gags.

Count Oren reached out and unlocked Seria’s bridle.

“Well.. if you don’t scream, it’ll lose the excitement.”

He loved giving women some love with his fists. He liked their face full of pain and fear and exhausted because of crying and resisting in a situation where they could not rebel against him and was unable to move.

“Because hitting over clothes is boring.”

Count Oren reached out his hand and began to tear Seria’s clothes.

“NO!! ARCANA!! ARCANA!! HELP ME!! HELP ME!!”

Seria cried and yell at the top of one’s lungs.

The sound of clothes ripping, and her scream further boosted Count Oren’s excitement.

“Make more noise, scream more! Make more noi—?”

The last word did not come out of his mouth. Count Oren had no idea what had happened.

Seria widened her eyes and looked at Count Oren’s neck. Blood dripped from the pure white blade that pierced his neck.

Count Oren lowered his eyes and could see the blade of a sword through his neck. When he opened his mouth, blood came out.

That was it.

Sigrid pulled her sword out of his neck. And before Count Oren’s body fell to Seria, she caught him and pushed him to the side.

Seria opened her mouth, but Sigrid covered her mouth with her hand and then lowered her mask. Seeing Sigrid’s face, Seria felt the tension in her body released and her strength draining from her body.

Feeling Seria was calmed, Sigrid slowly lifted her hand away from Seria’s mouth.

“With the power of summary judgement given to me by the Emperor as a member of the Imperial Knight, Count Oren, who kidnapped, imprison, and rape free citizens, was caught and executed properly at the scene.”