SOTBW - 71

Najane stood still in the hallway until she could no longer hear the sound of Zelter descending the stairs. He was truly a strange person. Had he become mentally unstable due to the overwhelming work at the administration? The way his gaze had swept over her body sent a chill down her spine.

Shaking her shoulders slightly, Najane opened the commander’s office door again. She had been late for training because of Zelter. As she placed the document tied with a ribbon on the desk, she glanced out the window. The knights were gathered in the training grounds.

She had been late last time too, and now again. As she hurriedly left the main building, she saw Daniel tying his bootlaces under the shade and called out to her to hurry.

For the knights, sparring was the main form of training. They would practice swordsmanship with their fellow knights, and when Maximón called, they would show off what they had been working on. However, because the order of sparring was predetermined, if someone was late, the burden fell on the other knights who had to make up for the delay.

Fortunately, today’s sparring partner was Daniel. Najane apologized repeatedly and picked up a wooden sword. Maximón, who had been watching Jacob’s sparring, glanced over at Najane as she arrived late. It seemed like he was curious about why she had been delayed.

Najane had to report the news that Zelter had brought. Although it was bad news, she remained calm. There was no reason to be sad. Whether someone was kidnapped or threatened with death, she could overcome it easily.

If she shrank back from situations like this, it would only lead to running away. Najane could no longer flee, and she didn’t want to. With her as the target, could Luna be safe? Thinking of Luna made her resolve even stronger. If she continued to hide, everything that was to come would unfold exactly as those who targeted her desired.

After Maximón finished sparring with Jacob, he approached Najane. She asked Daniel for understanding and spoke with Maximón. She informed him of the prisoners’ suicides due to a mistake by the guards and that Zelter, a member of the Noctis administration, had visited the commander’s office to share the news.

Maximón frowned slightly as he listened to Najane’s calm report. The suicides of the prisoners weren’t that surprising. He had expected it to happen sooner or later. He had already sensed the unusual loyalty the prisoners had toward Nathan through their tortures.

The reason Maximón frowned was because of Zelter, the administrator.

When he had seen Zelter leave the knights’ headquarters, there had been only servants carrying boxes and maids scattering sand on the frozen paths. Although it was quick to reach the main gate by horse or carriage, it was quite a walk for an average person.

When Maximón had been standing at the entrance, there had been no sign of anyone approaching. There was another issue as well. Why had the guards allowed Zelter in alone?

The guards were supposed to inspect all visitors, except for merchants who had frequented Romsoa for a long time, and accompany them to the building. After the Lucas incident, Maximón had thought they had been retrained, but was the discipline slipping again?

Just then, the knights who had been sparring suddenly looked in a certain direction. Sensing the presence of a stranger, Maximón glanced behind him. A guard was coming down from the training ground with someone else. Maximón observed the faces of the two, then looked down at Najane.

But Najane was staring at the approaching stranger with a puzzled expression. Maximón silently followed her gaze. She was staring at a man coming down with the guard. Najane tugged at Maximón’s sleeve as if embarrassed.

“Commander, that’s him. It’s Zelter from the Noctis administration.”

At Najane’s words, Maximón looked at the stranger again. The man seemed to be unfamiliar with visiting the knights’ headquarters, as he kept glancing at the guard, looking somewhat intimidated.

“Did he come back because he forgot something?”

Najane muttered, tilting her head.

“When you met him, was he accompanied by a guard?”

“No, he was alone. He looked like he had rushed here, panting…”

The guard and Zelter approached Maximón. The guard bowed respectfully and explained the situation.

“The Noctis administration sent someone with urgent news for the commander.”

In that instant, both Maximón and Najane’s expressions subtly shifted. It seemed they had an idea of what Zelter was going to say. Maximón looked at Zelter awkwardly standing behind the guard.

Zelter appeared to be about twenty or twenty-one, with fair skin and a plump build, likely from a wealthy family. He seemed out of place, as though he wasn’t accustomed to running errands or working efficiently like an official. He looked somewhat awkward for a government worker.

Maximón gave Najane a quick glance. It was a silent question: “Is that the person you met?” Najane nodded knowingly. Just then, Zelter, still nervously fidgeting, stood before them. It seemed he had already heard the rumors about Maximón at Noctis Fortress, as his eyes were wide with fear.

“Ah, hello, Commander. I have something to report regarding the prisoners we transferred to Noctis this morning…”

“They committed suicide, didn’t they?”

Before Zelter could finish his sentence, Maximón cut in. Zelter blinked rapidly, clearly startled by the question.

“Ah, yes, yes. That’s right. How did you…”

Zelter seemed genuinely surprised, as if he had been caught in a lie. His shock was not feigned but entirely sincere.

This was strange. Najane clearly remembered meeting Zelter in front of the commander’s office, where he had told her that the prisoners had committed suicide. So why was he repeating the same statement here?

A feeling of discomfort crept down Maximón’s back. With a baffled expression, Najane addressed Zelter.

“Mr. Zelter, you told me in front of the commander’s office that the prisoners had committed suicide.”

“Eh? Me? That’s impossible. I’ve never met you before…”

Zelter waved his hands in denial. By now, the knights who had been sparring stopped and were watching Najane and Zelter. Belshua, who had been facing off with another knight, briefly lowered his sword and stared at Najane.

Najane, still standing beside Maximón, was engaged in conversation with Zelter, but her expression was so unusual that everyone couldn’t help but continue to watch. Belshua instinctively sensed that something beyond his control was happening.

After excusing himself from the sparring session, Belshua approached Maximón and Najane. As he got closer, he overheard Zelter, who appeared to be extremely embarrassed by all the attention, trying to explain himself.

“I... I’ve just arrived at the Romsoa Knights. I’m not sure what you mean... Perhaps you mistook me for someone else? The guard showed me the way, and I came down to the training ground... I didn’t even get close to the commander’s office. I swear.”

As Zelter denied the truth, Najane’s face twisted in confusion. Why was he pretending not to know her when they had met earlier? Frustrated, Najane spoke again.

“You gave me the documents about Commander Maximón and Nathan Armunzen’s trial earlier, just a while ago. Don’t you remember? You even warned me not to use too much sword energy. You said we’d meet again.”

But Zelter, with a face redder than a tomato, vigorously shook his head. Najane couldn’t understand the situation. Even though the atmosphere was slightly different from when they had met outside the commander’s office, there was no doubt this was the same Zelter she had spoken with earlier—the very same person standing before her now.

She ran a hand through her hair and let out a dry, incredulous laugh. It was clear that Zelter wasn’t getting the situation either.

Zelter, on the verge of tears, repeatedly stammered, “I... I really don’t know what you mean. I’ve just arrived here…”

Najane watched Zelter in confusion before turning her head. The knights who had been sparring had now put down their swords and were observing her intently.

At that moment, Najane felt a wave of doubt emanating from their eyes. Zelter was so forcefully and sincerely denying having met her that the knights seemed to think she might have mistaken him for someone else.

A sense of betrayal washed over Najane. The knights seemed to believe that she was complicating things unnecessarily by being confused. As dozens of skeptical gazes fixed on her, she felt her blood drain from her face.

But in truth, the knights had been watching the conversation between Najane and Zelter without much thought. They weren’t particularly curious about what was happening or why this strange conversation was taking place. They didn’t have the slightest bit of curiosity about it. While they weren’t as powerful as Maximón, they weren’t the sharpest thinkers either, other than when it came to fighting Serith.

However, their eyes and expressions were often fierce, and so, unintentionally, they might have been glaring at Najane with harsh looks. In fact, a few knights stared at her as though they didn’t understand why she was acting the way she was. Their expressions seemed to say that she was making a fuss over something that could have been dealt with quietly.

As a result, Najane froze at the spot. At that moment, a large hand appeared in her line of sight. She turned around to see the familiar black gloves. It was Maximón. He looked at her with his usual steady gaze. Najane muttered under her breath, as if in protest.

“I clearly met Zelter in front of the commander’s office and heard the news about the prisoners committing suicide. It’s true, Commander.”

“You’re uneasy.”

“Because Zelter is denying he ever met me…”

“I believe you.”

Maximón’s answer was flat but firm.

“Do you really believe me?”

“If you were lying, I would have noticed.”

Najane couldn’t help but laugh softly at his words. Now that she thought about it, she had never been able to lie to Maximón without him catching on.

“What if I purposefully lied to you? What would you do?”

“Then I’d pretend to be deceived.”

“But you’ve never pretended not to notice my lies before.”

“I’ll pretend to be deceived from now on. If you really intend to lie to me, there must be a good reason for it.”

Maximón turned to look at Zelter. Was there any reason to hide the fact that he had spoken with Najane? He was certain there wasn’t. No fool would go out of their way to hide something as trivial as a conversation. Perhaps if they had shared some deeply secret discussion, it might be different.

The news of the prisoners’ suicides would soon spread through the knightly orders. More importantly, while their deaths were somewhat unfortunate, they weren’t so disappointing as to be enraging.

Lost in thought, Maximón shot a glare at the knights. The ones who had been watching the situation with their swords lowered hurriedly returned to their places. They deliberately let out loud battle cries to pretend to continue sparring. Maximón watched the knights awkwardly swinging their wooden swords before shaking his head and sorting through his thoughts.

He trusted Najane implicitly, which is why he was suspicious of Zelter. But Zelter had been telling the truth from the beginning. This, too, seemed strange to Maximón. If it had only been a casual conversation, what reason would Zelter have to so desperately deny Najane’s claim?

Maximón glanced at the guard.

“Has he been with you since the front gate?”

“Yes. I led him straight to the training grounds. He didn’t stop anywhere else.”

The guard spoke only the truth.

Maximón opened his mouth to ask Zelter another question but then closed it. Zelter looked as though he might burst into tears at any moment. There was nothing more irritating than a grown man crying like a child. Maximón sighed and gestured for the guard.

“Send him back now.”