“Do you know something?”
At the two’s odd reaction, Van asked. However, Dwyne and Kyle, who’d glanced at each other once, only shook their heads. Van carefully observed the two.
“Oh, Holy Knight! Following God’s will, I shall join you in punishing the demons!”
Meanwhile, this sudden commotion was being settled half-heartedly. Maro, who’d insisted on returning immediately, had now suddenly come forward saying he’d fight demons together if it was with a Holy Knight.
“……”
“Then let’s end it here.”
“Yes, I’ll be going back now.”
Having heard Maro’s solemn declaration, people began getting up from their seats one by one. Even Van left the room, saying he needed to lay the sleeping Rowy on the bed, and only Dwyne and Kyle remained in front of Edner. As soon as everyone had left the room, Kyle asked Edner.
“Vice-Commander, what happened?”
“What do you mean?”
“The coin.”
“Coin?”
“The one you mentioned before.”
“……”
However, even at Kyle’s question, Edner still showed no reaction.
‘Something is strange.’
After exchanging glances with Dwyne briefly, Kyle spoke up once more.
“The coin you said you found in the Penter Mountains before.”
“Hm? Ah, that one.”
Edner finally nodded.
“Do you still have it?”
“No, I don’t. I don’t know why you keep asking about that. It’s nothing.”
“…I understand. Then we’ll take our leave as well.”
“Alright.”
With those words, Edner buried his face in the map again. After watching him for a moment, Kyle and Dwyne turned around and left through the door.
* * *
“Something’s strange.”
“Right?”
Walking down the corridor, Kyle and Dwyne talked quietly.
“He definitely said it was a suspicious coin at first….”
Hmm, now that I look at it, it really is suspicious. Just as the two were thinking that and nodding, it happened.
“A suspicious coin?”
“Eek, you scared me!”
At Van appearing as soon as they turned the corridor, Dwyne jumped up in surprise.
“What the!”
Having screamed, Dwyne felt embarrassed about being too surprised and subtly glanced back at Kyle. But Kyle also had a quite surprised expression. For himself that was one thing, but for even Kyle, a swordsman who’d surpassed the peak, to not sense his presence, then….
‘Was it magic?’
Dwyne looked at Rowy, who was yawning while being carried on Van’s back, with newfound eyes. For high-ranking knights to not notice his presence at all, he was indeed an amazing mage. Even while Dwyne was admiring this, Van kept asking about the coin endlessly.
“Is it true that Sir Edner picked up a coin?”
“So you were eavesdropping on the conversation.”
Kyle said with an uncomfortable expression. However, Van only persistently pressed for answers.
“If you’ve heard about the coin, please tell me in detail.”
“……”
“Huh? What coin?”
Eventually Kyle, his brow deeply furrowed, revealed what he’d heard.
“…He said he found it in the Penter Mountains.”
“Inside a cave?”
“Hm? How did you know?”
However, instead of answering those words, Van suddenly thrust Rowy, who he’d been carrying on his back, at Kyle.
“Hm? What?”
At the sudden movement, Rowy, who’d been dozing, fell limply into Kyle’s arms in bewilderment.
“What is it?”
“What the….”
Both Kyle, who’d caught Rowy in a fluster, and Rowy, who’d been caught, crumpled their faces. But that was only for a moment.
“…Hey! What are you doing!”
“Hey!”
Van suddenly drew his sword and strode toward the room where Edner was.
“What are you doing, hurry and chase him!”
“Huh? Oh!”
While the flustered Kyle and Dwyne fumbled about, Van was already opening the door. The two quickly chased after him.
By the time Dwyne and Kyle, holding Rowy, entered the room—all three of them—Van and Edner were already in full confrontation.
“What is the meaning of this?”
To Van, who’d suddenly burst in with his sword drawn, Edner spoke in a cold voice. However, Van still wasn’t putting away his sword.
“You picked up a coin?”
“……”
“Can I see that coin?”
“I threw it away.”
“……”
“It’s nothing. I don’t understand why everyone keeps looking for that coin.”
Edner’s tone was as calm as usual. Van carefully observed such an Edner. Then he looked at Dwyne and Kyle who’d followed him and asked.
“Did you see what that coin looked like?”
“Hm? It was just a silver coin.”
“I told you it’s nothing.”
The moment Edner spoke again, Van charged at Edner. It happened in the blink of an eye.
Clang!
So fast that Rowy, still hanging limply from Kyle, didn’t even see Van move. However, his opponent was the vice-commander of the Flame Knights—he wouldn’t go down that easily. Having lightly deflected Van’s sword, Edner stood up.
“The coin. Vice-Commander.”
“…You’ve gone mad.”
At the sudden situation, Dwyne and Kyle also moved. Kyle sent Rowy to the back, and Dwyne drew his sword in that gap. However, even in the situation flowing with tense tension, Van was calm.
“I know you didn’t throw it away. Where is it?”
“What? You attacked the Vice-Commander over some measly coin? Are you dying to get killed?”
Kyle growled. Van still didn’t move, his sword pointed at Edner.
“Are you really going to fight the Vice-Commander right now?”
“What is this all of a sudden?”
“Don’t you dare attack Van!”
With even Rowy joining in, the situation became more and more chaotic. However, Van was an expert at this.
“Did you really throw away the coin?”
That is, dealing with people possessed by demons.
“……”
“The coin. Vice-Commander. The coin.”
Van continuously reminded Edner about the coin. However, whenever the coin was mentioned, Edner would close his mouth. By this point, that awkward silence definitely looked strange even to the others’ eyes.
“No, the Vice-Commander said he threw it away. Are you saying he’s lying? What’s so important about some coin!”
Dwyne raised his voice, not knowing what to do. However, Edner still only repeated the same words.
“It’s nothing.”
If it were the usual Edner, he definitely wouldn’t have let off someone who pointed a sword at him. Yet Edner kept repeating only that it was nothing. That strange attitude heightened the tension. Of course, Rowy squawking from behind also contributed to that tension.
“If you so much as touch Van with your sword tip!”
“Ah, Rowy-nim! It’s dangerous, so please stay still!”
“Move! Let go of this!”
Unable to help it, Kyle retreated to the back to hold down the bouncing Rowy. Dwyne filled that spot instead. However, Van’s gaze was focused solely on Edner from beginning to end.
“Stop it. You don’t think you can do anything to the Vice-Commander, do you? Besides, there’s no one here to help you. At this rate, you’ll have to face all the Flame Knights….”
“Me! I’ll help you!”
“……”
…And we can’t even tie him up somewhere. Dwyne looked at Rowy with coldly cooled eyes as he quickly cut in. However, Rowy was serious.
“You’re the ones who’ll have to face me!”
Blue magical power formed and dispersed repeatedly above Rowy’s magical tool. He was planning to use magic if need be.
‘…To be honest, that one’s scarier than this guy.’
Dwyne, who knew the power of that magic better than anyone, looked forward again with a pale expression. However… Edner, who could settle this chaos, still didn’t move.
“A coin.”
“Yes, you remember? The coin.”
“I remember. A coin with a goat engraved on it.”
A goat? Kyle, who’d seen the coin directly though briefly, tilted his head at those words.
‘…Wasn’t it just a worn coin with nothing engraved on it?’
However, Edner was still only repeating that he’d thrown away the coin.
“If it’s that, I really did throw it away. It was nothing but I felt so strange… I already left it in Velstra, so it’s probably unrelated to this matter.”
“If that’s true, where did you throw it?”
“I left it at the inn. That’s all.”
Edner shook his head with an instantly exhausted expression. However, Van still seemed to have something bothering him.
“…If that’s true, today’s monster rampage shouldn’t have happened.”
“Are you saying the monster rampage happened because of that coin? It really is noth—”
BOOM!
However… before Edner could finish saying it was nothing, a loud roar erupted from outside. At the roar heard in that instant, everyone’s attention turned outside. And at that moment, a Flame Knights member burst through the door with urgent steps.
“Vice-Commander! You need to come out for a moment!”
“What is it?”
“Monsters are suddenly swarming! They keep ramming their bodies against the barrier… If the barrier breaks at this rate….”
BOOM!
Once more, a loud roar echoed from outside. Having exchanged glances, they rushed outside.
