Cadel could tell that Yozen was offended. The smile still played at the corners of his mouth, but the air around him had turned cold. The brief flicker of interest had long since turned to unpleasant hostility.

Cadel knew he’d touched a sensitive spot of Yozen’s, but he had no intention of backing down. He had the strength to stay alive, and he had Kunra’s protection.

As long as he had faith, there was no reason to panic.

“I’m sure you have your own standards for assassination, and I’m not going to mess with them. I’m not going to try to find value in a human being you deem unworthy of life. But my Knight Order will protect humans.”

“…….”

“Slaying monsters, slaughtering demons that threaten humans. I won’t stop you if you want to assassinate a pig that lives among humans, but that shouldn’t be your first priority.”

If people do bring in an assassin, they’ll usually use him as their shadow to do the dirty work that they can’t do themselves. It could be killing a competitor, or torturing and blackmailing for a cause.

But Cadel had no competitors he wanted to kill, no information he wanted to blackmail. He just wanted an exceptional warrior to serve in the coming Demon War.

Yozen rubbed his lips together as if pondering Cadel’s words, then tilted his head sharply.

“Why would I?”

Yozen’s careless hand reached out. Firm fingertips stroked down Cadel’s cheek, over his neckline and collarbone, down to his chest.

Why did this guy keep groping people’s bodies? Cadel felt a little irritated, but he tried to remain nonchalant.

Yozen placed a hand over Cadel’s heart and spoke with a chuckle.

“I know I’m strong, and I’ve had offers to join before, though I’ve never talked to them face to face like you have.”

“I guess you turned them all down. I see you still don’t belong anywhere.”

“They were all places that didn’t fit my purpose, and…… there was nothing special about them.”

He raked his fingernails across Cadel’s chest and narrowed his eyes slightly.

“I know why you want me, now tell me why I should want you.”

If it was that kind of reason, Cadel had a few in mind. That was, of course, before he realized who Yozen really was.

Cadel had a rough guess as to what Yozen’s purpose was. Regenerating waste that couldn’t function as a human being through death.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t bring himself to participate in the slaughter. Killing wasn’t something he was comfortable with, and he wasn’t willing to go out and kill a gluttonous human.

But that didn’t mean Yozen and his values were diametrically opposed. They were back to back, albeit from different directions. They started from the same place.

When Cadel recognized this, Yozen’s spirit, which had been shrinking in front of him, began to cheer up little by little. He was able to vaguely see his existence.

“If you join, you will be able to save a lot more people than you can with the current method.”

“…….”

“If the only humans you want to save are those tormented by their own kind, then my offer will not appeal to you. Someone will need revenge, and I have no intention of depriving the world of the Shadow Envoy, even while ignoring their hatred.”

Yozen’s smile faded as his hand dropped away. Cadel looked into Yozen’s bandaged eyes. The pupils barely moved beneath the closed lids.

“What I can give you is a chance to make a new choice. A right, not a left, at a fork in the road you’ve already traveled once. I can give you the chance to tread the ground that seemed forever untreadable. As you know, it’s easy to go from good to bad, but it’s pretty hard to do the opposite. And I have the power to make it happen.”

Not being able to feel the gaze of the person in front of him created a strange tension. Cadel couldn’t read his expression, couldn’t infer his thoughts. The only way to gauge Yozen’s reaction was to pick up the shallow strands of emotion floating in the air and weave them together.

At the very least, he could tell that Yozen’s mood had softened a bit.

“I’ll think about it.”

“You’re surprisingly quick on the uptake. You’d better answer me soon, I’m a busy man.”

Yozen burst out laughing at Cadel’s joke, but it was true. Why would he try to handle the important task of recruiting the last knight while heading to his destination?

Good.”

Yozen nodded leisurely and took a step in front of Cadel. The distance, which was already close, narrowed to not even an inch. The moment when Cadel felt pressured and was about to step back.

“I’ll come find you soon. If you can stop my attack then, you will get your answer.”

“……What?”

“It doesn’t matter if you leave this country, I have your face and name memorized, and I can find you wherever you are.”

An attack? Why would he need to go through all that bullsh*t to get an answer? Flustered, Cadel tried to correct his ridiculous plan.

“……Yozen?”

Literally, in the blink of an eye, Yozen was gone. Even when Cadel looked around, he couldn’t see a hair of his head in the dark forest.

“I’m not going to die if I can’t stop it, right……?”

No answer came to his timid question. Cadel stood there for a long time, until Kunra’s warning of human activity forced him to leave.

* * *

The news of Count Keinstein’s death traveled quickly. Everywhere, people talked about the Count’s death and his past behavior. Most rejoiced in the Count’s death, saying things like, ‘He deserved it’.

Now that the Shadow Envoy’s target was dead, the remaining nobles naturally let their guard down. The Scarlet Scales Knight Order hired by them also returned to their quarters as soon as they learned of the Count’s death.

“I almost killed them all out of boredom. It was hard to hold it in, darling!”

Lydon ran into Cadel’s arms as soon as he saw him, and though his twice the size made it difficult to hold him, he didn’t seem to mind.

Cadel stroked Lydon’s silky hair out of habit and looked around at the men he hadn’t seen in days. They all looked healthy and unharmed. Cadel himself had been treated separately by another healer before coming here, so he was apparently fine.

“Good work, guys. Everything okay?”

“I was bored enough to wish something had happened on my side, though not on yours, Knight Commander.”

“I don’t know if you’re lucky or unlucky that he showed up on your side, Leader. What happened to the recruitment……? I don’t see any new faces.”

While Garuel and Lumen reported on the mission they’d been free for, Vann forced Lydon away from Cadel, who was half clinging to him. Cadel let out a low sigh, feeling the warmth recede.

“It didn’t go well, and I didn’t get a definitive answer.”

“I thought you guys had already talked about that? Though he’d have to be pretty insightless to pass up a chance to join Commander.”

In order to lead his subordinates to Dunkelhai, he faked Yozen’s arrival. Naturally, they were expecting a new recruit, and it was a bit of a surprise.

Cadel scratched his cheeks in shame at the thought of putting his men through so much trouble.

“He, he’ll have to think about it. You know, that guy’s true identity is the ‘Shadow Envoy’, right? We’ve talked about it in the past……. Anyway, it’s done, and I’m sorry it didn’t work out.”

“Isn’t that the kind of line your subordinates are supposed to say? You’re soft, Knight Commander.”

“It doesn’t matter if Commander’s soft or hard, he’s competent, so don’t criticize him.”

“……I find that kind of context-free commentary from Sir Van hilarious.”

Fortunately, no subordinates complained about the ambiguity of the recruitment. Cadel assumed it was due to the generosity of his subordinates, but in reality, it was only because no one except Garuel welcomed the new member.

Even Garuel was only curious about the Shadow Envoy. With the exception of Cadel, everyone was pretty happy with the outcome.

“So we’re just going to sit here and wait for the Shadow Envoy’s answer? Do we have a deadline?”

“I’ll get the answer myself, but we won’t wait here, we’ll go straight to the Inte Snowfields. We’ve taken up quite a bit more time than expected.”

Cadel didn’t tell them that the only way to get answers was to stop Yozen’s attack. He didn’t want to get his subordinates involved, and he didn’t want them to know the truth because it would only increase their animosity toward Yozen. If he was going to be a member, he was going to have to get along with everyone.

‘I’m not going to die trying to stop him alone.’

He had ominous visions of enduring without help and meeting a horrible end, but technically he wasn’t alone. With the power of the Kunra, instant death could be avoided at all costs. With his help, Cadel planned to prepare for the attack, even if it was from a distance.

Cadel spoke up, hiding his nervousness.

“We’ll get what we need today, and we’ll be on the move tomorrow. I don’t need to tell you what the conditions will be like in the snow. Let’s keep our wits together and make sure no one gets hurt.”

Aside from Yozen’s problems, a new main quest was on the horizon. Garuel’s presence had brought a great deal of stability to the Knight Order, but they couldn’t let their guard down.

The presence of Cadel Lytos, the intensity of the system, all of it. He had to keep everything covered and hope for success.