T/N: To better clarify as well as serving as a reminder, Garuel’s left eye is often referred to as ‘reversed eye’ or ‘evil eye’ because the sclera (the white part of a normal eye) is black. Both of his pupils are purple.

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“……You look fine, and you’re in a good mood.”

“Oh no, are you disappointed? Well, as you know, I have the resilience of a demon.”

Garuel casually put an arm around Cadel’s shoulders and looked around. He seemed to have recovered somewhat.

“Other subordinates…… No, should I call them comrades now? I don’t see them. I thought they’d all be huddled together.”

“Why did you fake your disappearance?”

He should be relieved to see Garuel alive and well, but Cadel also felt a tinge of anger at the sight of him, as relaxed as ever.

Garuel said, genuinely puzzled, meeting Cadel’s cold glare as he swatted Garuel’s hand away.

“You say you want me? There are only two ways to take something from someone else. Either fight against the original owner and win or steal it without the owner’s knowledge. Sir, can you defeat the Twilight Knight Order and the White Kingdom for me?”

“That—”

“You can’t do it. However, I don’t think secretly stealing would suit your temperament. I got out of there myself. In times like this, I think we should give praise.”

Garuel was not wrong. His position was the Commander of the Knight Order, who was sent by the White Kingdom to the Empire as its own ambassador. What if such a person were to declare overnight that he would join a Knight Order in a foreign country, and even just as a member? It would put the Empire in an awkward position, not to mention the King’s permission.

That was why Cadel was also curious about the method when Garuel first said that he would arrange his position on his own. Because no matter how much he thought about it, Cadel couldn’t come up with a plausible solution.

When Cadel pursed his lips, unable to come up with a response, Garuel sighed softly and took a few steps back.

“You’re feeling a little guilty, aren’t you?”

“……Sir Modeleine is desperately searching for you. Day and night, with no rest.”

“I guess so. He was a good friend who remained loyal to the end, even to a commander like this. So, he will be able to become a much better commander than me.”

“Is that the conclusion?”

“This is the conclusion.”

The two men’s gazes met in a brief silence. Cadel looked into Garuel’s unreadable eyes and saw that he was indeed unaffected. It was as if he had already created a complete separation between him and the Twilight Knight Order.

How could that be? The Twilight Knight Order was a valuable group that he had led as commander for a long time. He showed an irresponsible attitude after learning of his birth, but that was also in order to naturally transfer authority to Modeleine, whom he had chosen as his successor.

Cadel couldn’t understand him, couldn’t guess. If it had been him, Cadel would have been tormented by the thought of his subordinates searching for him. He would have resented the situation, and he would have hesitated over his options. But how.

“What are you planning? The Twilight Knight Order will never stop searching, and even if they don’t find you, how do you intend to function in the Scarlet Scales Knight Order? You can’t hide your identity forever, can you?”

“That’s for Sir Cadel to figure out, right?”

“What……?”

“I took care of the departure issue myself, so I guess it’s up to my new commander to take care of the rest.”

“No, what, after doing things like this…….”

Cadel opened his mouth to speak in disbelief for a moment, and then Garuel gently cupped Cadel’s lowered jaw with a flick of his eye.

“I have faith that your bright destiny will somehow resolve this situation.”

* * * 

“So— Sir Garuel, who was said to be missing, wasn’t really missing, and the reason he faked his disappearance was so that he could step down as the commander of the Twilight Knight Order and……become a member of the Scarlet Scales Knight Order?”

“That’s right, Sir Lumen. It would be neat if I added the reason why I had no choice but to take this extreme method.”

Currently, the Scarlet Scales Knight Order was gathered in the mountains, facing the absurdity of the situation.

Sitting down on a rock, Garuel removed the eye patch that had been covering his left eye the entire time in the presence of the Knight Order looking at him.

“I don’t have the time or inclination to go into detail, so I’ll just say this. I have demon blood. I was getting tired of being the commander of the Holy Knight Order in this form, and Sir Cadel, realizing my true identity, offered me a position. I accepted, and this disappearance is the result.”

Despite Garuel’s bland explanation, the reveal was quite shocking. At least to Lumen and Van, who hadn’t the faintest idea of his identity. The two men were frozen in place, unable to take their eyes off Garuel’s reversed eye, which glowed even more sinisterly in the shade of the trees.

Lydon, on the other hand, who already knew Garuel’s identity by scent, merely yawned with a bored expression on his face. In truth, it didn’t matter to him whether Garuel was a commander or a half-demon. He was only mildly disappointed that he hadn’t been able to simply kill the ugly bastard attached to Cadel on the day of the appointment ceremony.

“Well, it feels refreshing to reveal your identity from the start, right?”

Cadel stared wordlessly at Garuel, who was grinning from ear to ear. More accurately, he was half-fazed by this goal-striking situation.

‘It’s the same as Lumen’s situation. He made a big deal about joining the Scarlet Scales Knight Order, but the system window notifying the joining did not actually pop up.’

In Lumen’s case, he suspected his anxious emotional state had something to do with it, and Cadel provided the reassurance he lacked. With that, the system window officially recognized Lumen’s joining.

However, unlike Lumen, Garuel seemed very confident and even urged Cadel to fix the accident he had caused so that he could properly serve as a knight.

‘It seems that my connection with the Twilight Knight Order must be completely severed. ……How can that fool make the situation so twisted?’

Cadel thought Garuel would just wag his tail prettily without doing anything ugly until the end. The culprit was Cadel himself, for he vaguely believed in Garuel, not knowing he would resort to extreme measures.

‘That’s right. In the first place, there was no way he could peacefully resign from his position as commander when he was dispatched as a representative of the White Kingdom. I can’t think of a better way. Part of the reason was that I spoke hastily because I wanted to accelerate the recruitment period.’

Was it ultimately his own karma? With a heavy sigh, Cadel pushed himself up from his rough crouch on the dirt floor.

He was followed by Van and Lumen, who remained silent with grave expressions on their faces, Lydon, whose long yawn had brought tears to his eyes, and Garuel, who seemed to be the only one in good spirits.

“Although much of the explanation has been omitted, it is true. I admire Sir Garuel’s abilities, and I think he’s exactly what we need in the Knight Order. I plan to somehow get him into the Knight Order. So, I want you to think together about what you can do to get a new healer without conflict.”

In all other matters, it was Cadel’s sole prerogative to decide who joined the Knight Order. They could complain if they didn’t like the newcomer, but they couldn’t refuse. And knowing that, Van and Lumen had no choice but to accept the arrival of a half-demon half-breed into the Knight Order.

Van made a grunting sound and rubbed the corner of his mouth, while Lumen wiped his forehead impatiently. Lydon, on the other hand, seemed unperturbed by anything.

“You can use the ‘Wings of Illusion’ that you used on me, right? If you just change his appearance, he won’t be recognized anyway.”

“Not a bad method. But that’s just a temporary solution, just like it was in your situation. Sir Garuel is a person who knows how to use not only demonic energy but also light magic. Since he was a famous person, his swordsmanship and fighting styles would have been well known. It’s not the only artifact or magic tool in the world that can change one’s appearance, so it’s sure to raise suspicion at some point.”

Cadel himself was currently hiding his hair and eye color, and while it might have gotten him out of the immediate crisis, it wasn’t enough.

“There’s not much we can do to make Sir Garuel an official member.”

After a long moment of silence, Lumen spoke heavily. He consciously shifted his gaze away from Garuel’s reversed eye to stare at Cadel.

“Either reveal his identity to the Twilight Knight Order now and leave the matter of dismissal as commander to the White Kingdom or make Garuel Monzasi of the White Kingdom completely dead.”

“Personally, I like the latter, Sir Lumen.”

Lumen waited for Cadel’s answer, ignoring the grin Garuel directed at him. Cadel looked at each of his subordinates in turn with a dark face, then ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

No matter how much he thought about it, that was the only way that came to mind. A way to get Garuel out without hurting the Twilight Knight Order or interfering with the White Kingdom. Such a method did not exist, at least not at present.

Given time, another breakthrough might be possible, but unfortunately for Cadel, there was no time to spare. He wanted Garuel Monzasi now, and he needed him, for the quest ahead would desperately require the presence of a healer like him.

Even Cadel could not help but choose the security of his own over a complete stranger. He was not a saint who loved all equally.

Finally convinced, Cadel spoke in a liberated voice.

“All right. Let’s kill him.”