Eventually, the knights who had passed out woke up and the backup that Colin had gone to call for arrived, bringing the commotion in the back alley of the warehouse district to a complete halt.

　The wreckage of the mysterious doll and Bruno, who had received minimal treatment, were both incapacitated by both physical and magical restraints.

　The wreckage has already not moved, and it doesn't seem to be a problem without restraint, but they must have taken the precautionary measures with safety in mind first.

''It's a pleasure to meet you for the first time. You must be Luke-dono of the White Wolf Forest.

　One of the knights who had been responding to the fight spoke to me with relief.

I am deeply grateful for your help. I'm sorry to trouble you again, but could you please explain the situation in detail?

　Those two knights should have no idea what happened in the battle afterwards, since Bruno was made to fall into a coma just before he regained consciousness and destroyed the doll.

　The only people who know that are me, Garnett, and Bruno.

　Naturally Bruno will be interrogated later, but since that guy may not be able to speak up properly, he wants to hear an explanation from us as well.

　I'm willing to cooperate with the investigation. In fact, I think it's the natural thing to do.

　But there was one thing I had to be concerned about.

'Well, of course I'd like to cooperate, but ......

　He casually gives Garnett a sideways glance while slurring his words.

　If I were to explain what happened while they were in a coma, I would also have to tell you that Garnett engaged Bruno and defeated him.

　Is this really something that is acceptable to talk about to the silver-winged knight?

　It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're going to say.

It's a good idea to have a look at the actual face of the group, so they won't notice if you don't tell them. I'm not going to be able to tell.
'You're throwing the whole thing at me. I can't help it. ......

　It was easy to forget because he was completely used to his true face, but Garnett, while acting as a knight, was basically hiding his true face with his helmet.

　As I was quickly thinking of an excuse, thinking that that would be manageable, one of the young knights who had arrived with reinforcements mouthed off something that would ruin the premise in a big way.

...... that?　You ...... no, I mean you ...... no, no way you ...... no, no way you ......

　Garnett's drawn-out smile and shaking shoulders freaks out, and he drips cold sweat in an amusingly sloppy manner.

　You can tell in an instant what's going on, even if it's not explained.
　Like the liaison officer of all times, the knight who had shown his true face for the sake of his duties must have rushed to this scene by some coincidence.

　The young knight has a look on his face as if he wants to say something, and Garnett is desperately trying to maintain an unconcerned face.

　It seems that this guy is indeed not going to be able to mend with a suitable excuse.

　If it's not done well, either his gender will be found out or he'll get a reputation for his cross-dressing habits.

　In that case, it's best to say the book(s) and(s) here.

　When the young knight was about to call out to Garnett after troubling himself, I didn't hesitate to grab Garnett's shoulders and hug him side-by-side without hesitation.

'Do you not know. This is Miss Alma of the Argentia family. I only thought that the matter of the recent evening party was a rumor in the group.
Argentean?
'Ah!　Ah!　I beg your pardon!

　The oldest knight in the place shouted loudly and pulled the young knight away with all his might.

''What's going on, squad leader?''
You, sir, that's not very nice. That young lady is the Lord Commander's sister, and Luke is her fiancé.
'Yeah!　That's not ......, but that one is the rumored Miss Alma ......!　I see, if you're a brother and sister, that's ...... Oh no, it's nothing.

　The young knight received an explanation from the older knight by the wall in the back alley and seemed to be completely convinced.

　-- Apparently, the excuse was successful.

　In order to deceive them that 'this girl is not Garnet Argentea of the Silver Wing Knights' in the current situation, they had to deceive even the few knights who knew Garnet's true face.

　It's too painful to assume that it's an empty imitation of someone else, but if it's the 'twin sister' that is supposed to exist, it's a different story.

　

　Moreover, the young lady named Alma Argentia, due to the fact that she usually works as a knight garnet, does not appear in public much and her personality is not known.

　Even if you twisted the convenient information that 'nobody knew about it, but the sister of the knight commander was excellent in martial arts' into it, there would be no one who would be suspicious.

　After all, the daughter of a warrior gate only practices martial arts as an avocation.

　No matter how old-fashioned the previous leader of the group may be, this much should be accepted without any discomfort.

''I'm not engaged yet. I was told to wait until I was more firmly established.''

　For now, I deny the rumored tail fin and turn my attention to Garnett, who has remained rigid ever since I hugged his shoulder.

'Is that right?　It would mean you (Alma) were a hidden martial artist, but I think that's the best way to misrepresent it.
"...... Heh?　Oh, yeah, I know.

　The voice of the reply was a little upbeat.

　I knew I'd startled you by hugging your shoulder without your consent.

"So you're still holding my shoulder ......?
It's not natural to let him go.
Yeah, well, maybe so, but ......

　Garnett scurries around looking like he can't stand to be there.

...... These are all my colleagues. It's a good idea to dress like this in front of them, no matter how unnoticed they are ......, you know what I mean?　Or rather, split up.
'Oh ...... that's definitely a tough one.'

　If you put yourself in my position, it's a situation where you are guaranteed to want to run away at once.

　You can't do anything about it, so I'm going to ask permission to pull out for today, and I'm going to talk to an older knight who looks like a field commander.

'I'm sorry. It's late, and I'd like to take Alma to her mansion.
'That won't be necessary. I sent Commander Carmine a few minutes ago with an errand boy. It will be safer for you than for the two of you to go home.
'Oh, yes ......'

　Mission failure. The cause is pure goodness over there.

　As Garnett sneakily kicked his legs, the knight who was watching Bruno, who was restrained, spoke up.

'Squad leader!　The suspect has regained consciousness!