Shortly after the conversation with Bruno, the Silver Winged Knights' convoy arrived and drove off with Bruno and the wreckage of the doll on board.

　At the same time, a young blonde knight dressed in stylish clothes gets out of the carriage.

　It's a good idea to have a good time with them.

"Geez, brother ......
Hi, Alma. I'm so sorry to hear about your situation. You're in the middle of a date and it's a disaster.
It's not like that!

　Garnett is talking back to Carmine's words with a volume of voice that the other knights can't hear, and that can't be called serious or teasing.

　Since they're his own brother and sister, he's not quite reserved in his response to Garnett.

　Unlike his fellow knights, he doesn't have to hide his identity, which seems to be a big deal.

The best thing about this is the fact that it's not just a matter of time before you'll be able to get your hands on it. I'm going to drive the group's carriage tonight. I'd be happy to hear many things while I'm there.
You don't have to!
'You're terrible. You didn't even get to attend the evening party, so you can at least tell me a story.

　I watch the exchange between Garnett and Carmine with a wry smile and decide to share the carriage that Carmine has been riding in.

　Me and Garnett sit next to each other in the sturdy four-seater carriage, and Carmine sits down on the seat in front of it.

　As the carriage starts to drive off without much of a vibration, Carmine opens his mouth again.

'I'm really glad. This is going to go round in the best way possible.

　It had a gentler tone to it, almost as if it was different from the mischievous tone he had used earlier.

'Are you talking about the case?'
No way. It has to be you guys.

　Garnet shushes meekly.
　Carmine gives her sister a loving look.

"...... Mr. Luke. It's not just a matter of time before you'll be able to get your hands on a new one. I'm not going to be the only one who can do that.
Yes, I'll take care of it.

　He remembered the time when Carmine had visited Green Hollow once in the name of a vacation.

　At that time, Carmine had been concerned about Garnett's feelings anyway.

　The girl who had rarely smiled even in front of her relatives since she lost her mother when she was a child - Carmine had told me that she had a carefree smile on her face in front of me.

　And that if she followed her mother and mourned for me as well, she might break my heart this time.

　Nevertheless, I was on the brink of death right in front of Garnett during a battle with the Demon King Gandalf in the Demon King's Castle Realm under Green Hollow.

　I can't afford to do that again.
　With that resolve in mind, I looked straight at Carmine's face and replied.

'Thanks. Garnett also try not to bother Luke-kun as much as possible. I don't mind if you spoil him and embarrass him, though.
No one does that. f*ck. ......

　Garnett was looking out of the dark window with his cheekbones on the window ledge, when he suddenly raised his eyebrows with a questioning look on his face.

'Hey, what's wrong with the street? You're going in the opposite direction from our villa.
'What?　Is that right?

　I had no idea about the land about the royal capital, and it was getting dark outside, so I had no idea, but if Garnett, who could almost be considered a local, says so.

　When I returned my gaze to Carmine to ask for an explanation, Carmine changed the subject with a serious expression, typical of a Knight Commander, before I could say anything.

''I apologize for taking so long to check. Luke-kun, I have a favor to ask of you. It's an important request related to the Night Ripper (Night Ripper) incident.
'Wait a minute, brother. I thought you couldn't ask the white wolf's for help until His Majesty returned.
'I don't think we can afford to pause for a whole day under these circumstances. I'm prepared to accept His Majesty's scolding. I've decided that I'm going to tear up the paper on my own account.

　I don't know what the circumstances are, but apparently it was not a good idea to ask for my help.

　I could sense that Carmine was trying to push the envelope in order to solve the case, so I decided to respond to his resolve.

'Can you tell me more about ......?'
Thank you. Of course, you can refuse to do so after you've heard. In that case, I'll have you diverted to our annexe at once.

　Carmine prefaced his request for cooperation with me by talking about the premise of the request in turn.

'You probably have minimal information about the Night Ripper (Night Ripper) incident, so let me explain from there. You haven't given Garnett much detail either, have you?
I'm not in charge of the case, you know. And since I'm still on duty as a security guard, you don't want me to get involved in your business by telling me what's going on.
'Yes, it's the right thing to do as a Knight of the Silverwing. I'll fill in the missing information.

　-- According to Carmine, only about half of the actual victims of the Night Ripper (Night Ripper) have been released to the public for a variety of reasons.

　The first case is two dismembered corpses that have been dismembered to the point where their identities are unknown.
　Initially, they were misidentified as one body, and even after it turned out to be two, they were not released to the public.

　The second incident involved a current A-ranked adventurer who was killed, but at this point it wasn't thought to be a series of murders.
　It was this incident that came up in the conversation with Roy, 'One of the victims was an A-rank adventurer, so it was a pretty big deal.

　The third incident's victim was a former A-rank adventurer who held a key position in the Adventurer's Guild.
　It seems that this was a request from the guild to keep the incident under wraps, and I couldn't help but be surprised.

　The fourth and fifth incidents were the killing of a former A-rank adventurer who had retired long ago.
　It was only after the news spread that they were former adventurers that they were discovered to be former adventurers, so the guild couldn't cover up the incident itself, and they had to keep the fact that they were former adventurers a secret.

''And then there's the sixth incident, which was unpublished until just a few days ago. I had refrained from disclosing the information for a few days after it occurred, but as expected, there were too many witnesses to hide the corpse, so I couldn't hide it. I think it was in today's paper. ...... You look like you didn't know that.
Yeah, well, ...... I had a lot to do yesterday and today, so I wasn't really settled in.

　I won't tell you why I was so busy.

　It was not a reason to say with a sober face that he was in a state of mind not to look through the pages of the paper that might contain gloomy news.

The sixth case has long been suspected as a copycat, and the confession of Bruno the Bloodied Blade has convinced me of that. Now if we can only find out the identity of the victims of the first case, we might be able to establish what the victims have in common.
'They're all A-rated adventurers, whether active or retired.
'Exactly. Of course, I'm doing my best to find out what else we have in common. For example, a request I received, or a dungeon I've dived into before.
"...... That guy's in big trouble again. ......

　Even though I'm an outsider, I can't help but feel sorry for them for the sheer volume of work that can be expected.

　Just imagining that multiple adventurers - even veterans who have risen to the rank of A - have gathered a huge number of request acceptance records and dungeon challenge applications, and referring to them to find common ground with each other, makes me almost dizzy.

''Thanks for your sympathy. I'd like to give the subordinates I've entrusted with the task a good workout later. Anyway, it's a task I'd like to ask you to do for me: ......

　A carriage enters the grounds of some large building and stops there.
　It's a place I've seen before - the main entrance to the Wan-To-Many Temple of the King's Capital.

''The corpses of the two victims of the first incident that are magically stored in the Temple of Wantu, the royal capital, by magical means. I want you to [restore] them. If I know their faces, at least, I'll be able to examine them as much as I can.