The Knight Commander of the Second Male Lead [Novel] Chapter 75

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 75

Chapter Title: An Unnamed Relationship

-----------------------------------------------------------------

He tried not to take for granted the fact that she was naturally by his side, but he couldn't help the way his nerves stood on end whenever her gaze turned elsewhere.

Strictly speaking, she wasn't family, nor was she his lover. He couldn't even call her a childhood friend.

Yet there was no doubt that they were each other's closest existence.

An unnamed

unnameable

relationship.

Adrian thought of Paradiv and unconsciously furrowed his brow a little.

He didn't like it.

Neither the idiotic confession nor the actions that followed.

But as the Rubaenu Duke, there was no need to pick a fight with him.

Nina had clearly rejected him.

'She rejected him.'

But was the plan to make her his girlfriend still in play?

Adrian irritably drummed his fingertips on the desk, then shook his head.

Now was the time to focus on other matters.

As he skimmed the notes from his spies, Adrian narrowed his eyes.

'Consecutive disappearances.'

He looked at another sheet of paper.

'And the Sages' Gathering.'

Overlapping the papers slightly, Adrian fell deep into thought.

The Sages' Gathering was similar to the Isle of Sages in the capital but different.

Since the Isle of Sages was an island too far from the capital, they had opened branches in major cities, and these were called the Sages' Gatherings.

It was said to have started as gatherings of sages scattered across the continent, but now they even had proper buildings.

Sages, spiritists, and priests maintained a delicate relationship.

The temple did not believe in spirits, viewing them as beings that could corrupt at any moment.

They considered the sages' abilities as god-given and treated them leniently. Of course, they warned that the use of those abilities required caution.

The sages believed the temple's meddling hindered their free research and took great interest in spirits.

Spiritists held a neutral stance, but since they believed god had created the spirits, they tended to lean toward the temple.

It was a relationship where they bit at each other.

However, since spiritists were so rare, they were set aside, and regardless of the state between the Isle of Sages and the temple, there was at minimum some exchange between them.

The Sages' Gatherings served as the gateway for such external interactions.

Compared to the closed-off, research-obsessed Isle of Sages, these were places more open to communication with the outside.

'But these gatherings overlap.'

The gathering locations moved from place to place. They rarely held events at the main branches for security reasons, or so they said, and sometimes claimed it was to follow tradition.

Yet the locations of these gatherings were subtly close to the sites of the disappearances.

'I need to investigate further.'

Adrian folded the paper, then unfolded it again.

He stared blankly at the paper.

A not-bad idea occurred to him.

Nina was savoring a rare day of freedom on her day off.

Following Adrian's advice to rest occasionally amid her duties, she wasn't solely responsible for his protection and was rotating shifts with others.

Unlike usual, Nina had let her hair down long and tied it with a vivid hairband.

This was because, the first time she had shown up in casual clothes with pigtails, people at the shops kept asking, "Are you perhaps Knight Nina?"

Being famous was fine, but when resting, she wanted to do so without drawing attention.

Wearing a bright tunic and long boots, with her long hair flowing, Nina strode briskly through the capital. She had wrapped a bandage around her right wrist to hide her spirit mark.

'Gaudy, bustling, definitely dizzying to the eyes—why does it feel so familiar?'

Nina looked around here and there. It was a new place, so she should have been exclaiming "Wow!" left and right, but it felt oddly familiar.

Was it because of past memories, or because she had read the original novel so diligently?

'Huh?'

At that moment, on the edge of her vision, extremely colorful hair passed by—impossible to miss.

Blond like gold hammered thin.

'Randell?'

Was he in the capital?

Surprised, she turned around, but the blond hair was no longer in sight. However, her sharp eyes spotted a hooded figure.

The height and build resembled Randell's. As Nina turned and quickened her steps toward it, someone grabbed her shoulder from behind.

Startled, she whipped her head around, and her face crumpled completely.

It was Benzel.

"Let go."

Nina said, glancing sidelong at the hooded figure receding into the distance.

"What brings you here?"

"What brings me? I'm just browsing shops. If nothing's up, I'm going."

As Nina shook him off and tried to walk away, he didn't release her.

"What?"

Irritated, Nina turned to glare at him, and Benzel asked with a serious face.

"Was it you who sent the letter?"

"What letter?"

Her expression one of confusion, his face furrowed slightly.

"Not you?"

The hooded figure vanished into the crowd. If it was Randell, he'd contact her soon enough.

Nina decided to focus here and get rid of him quickly.

"So, what letter?"

"I got a letter saying to come to the square at this time. And since you're here..."

"You just come rushing out to every letter like that?"

At Nina's question, Benzels face twisted sharply.

"I thought it was from you..."

"No, why would I write something like that to you? More than that, why did you think it was me...? Wait, did someone impersonate me?"

As Nina's face grew serious, Benzel looked at her oddly.

"It was an anonymous letter saying, 'Recalling our recent meeting.'"

"What? So it's not even impersonating me."

"The only recent meeting I can recall is with you."

"Sure, it's hard to have two such unlucky meetings, but isn't assuming it's me based on that a bit too much of a leap?"

"What did you say?"

"Don't pretend you didn't hear with those good ears of yours."

Nina sighed.

"More than that, isn't it the person you met at the ball? Why on earth would I want to meet you? Unless it's for a duel."

Benzel's face twisted.

"I thought the same back then, but you should drop that insufferably arrogant tone."

"This is just my natural way of speaking. If it feels arrogant to you, maybe it's because you've been steeped too much in authoritarianism?"

"The fact that I'm tolerating your impudent remarks means..."

He couldn't finish. Nina's fist had connected with his gut.

In an instant, they were pressed close.

"I'm warning you— if you're going to badmouth the Young Master in front of me, you'd better be prepared for the consequences."

Seeing her chilling voice and sunken eyes, Benzel blinked in surprise.

'I missed her movement.'

No matter how off-guard he was, they had been close.

Yet he hadn't reacted at all until he felt her fist hit his stomach.

Benzel was momentarily speechless, then exhaled and said,

"My mistake."

"Apology?"

"I'm sorry."

"Good. Don't let there be a second time."

Nina crossed her arms as she spoke, and Benzel looked at her again.

Seeing her loyalty to her lord, she seemed like a proper knight.

He straightened up and spoke politely.

"Regarding our last meeting, I was the one lacking..."

"Huh?"

Nina made a strange noise and walked past him. Benzel sighed. It seemed he had been mistaken.

"Can't you at least listen when someone's talking?"

As he grabbed her arm while she walked, he staggered and nearly fell, pulled along.

'What strength...?'

Nina stopped, scowled fiercely, and shook him off as she said,

"Don't touch me carelessly. Don't you know manners when dealing with a lady?"

"You'd have to be a lady first."

"Ah, damn it. I missed it because of you."

"Missed what?"

"A heretic."

"What?"

Benzel's voice sharpened. He quickly scanned the surroundings and lowered his voice.

"Heretic? How—"

"Kyaaah!"

"Uwaaak!"

"It's a monster!"

"Belak! It's a Belak!"

Before he could finish, piercing screams split the square first. Benzel felt chills run through his body as he whipped his gaze around.

"Damn it! I finally get a day off today!"

Nina shouted upon seeing the massive centipede rearing up.

People were fleeing from the centipede in a frenzy, and with the square so crowded, they tangled and tumbled over each other.

Nina cut against the flow like a salmon swimming upstream, pulled a ribbon from her pocket, and began tying her hair into pigtails.

Once her hair was tied, she lightly helped up a woman who had nearly been trampled.

People tried to shove past her, but instead, those who bumped into Nina were the ones who fell.

"Are you okay?"

"Y-Yes. K-Knight Nina!!"

The moment she saw the silver pigtails, the woman cried out, and Nina grinned.

"Yes, yes. I'm Nina of the Rubaenu family."

After confirming the woman had stood properly, Nina turned and started running the opposite way.