Well, it's a little busy, isn't it?　To be honest, I was a little nervous about this town in the mountains, but this one's not going to be boring!
You're a simple girl. You're a simple man. My uncle was depressed just because he didn't have the ocean.

　Two men walked into the guildhouse-cum-tavern and walked towards the counter, showing opposite reactions.

　The boisterous one was a dark brown-skinned man who seemed to be born with dark brown skin, dressed with the front of his clothes open, as if to show off his muscular body.

　The other, who looks melancholy, is fairer in nature but darker with a tan, looking at least a year older than Mark and exuding a vaguely weary air.

　Both have darker skin, but the latter is much paler in color than the former.

　When the noisy man acknowledged Marida's appearance, he rushed up to her in a very good mood, but when he noticed Mark's presence at the counter seat, he turned his attention toward her.

'Oh!'　Mark, man!　You're really over here!　It's nice to see a familiar face!　But if you're leaving the east, ...... you don't think you messed up and got kicked out, do you?
'Chandler ...... that can't be true. I mean, are you, by any chance, the one sent from Akabane (Akabane)?　I don't know who they're picking, but I'll have to put in a protest later.

　In front of Mark and the brown-skinned man, who were exchanging unreserved words in a self-serving manner, Erica whispered to Mark in a whisper with a questioning look on her face.

'Um, do you know each other?'
Sort of.

　With plenty of echoes of reluctant acquaintance, Mark decided to introduce this man, who had been making a lot of noise earlier, to Erica and the others.

''I'm Chandler of the Akabane Knights. Believe it or not, he's a knight from a family with a certain amount of prestige. Truly unbelievable.
Are you saying that Melissa's relatives in the East belong to this group?　It doesn't look like that at all: ......
''Naturally. The mission of the Akabane Knights is to protect the south. Their job is to be on guard against the Southern Islands, which are located south of the Westland Continent, and to escort the trade ships passing through that area. The ratio of southern members is also quite high.

　As Erica said, the Akabane family, which originated in the Eastern Continent, is a family line that can be considered the founder of the Akabane Knights.

　However, unlike the Knights of the Dragon King, who limit their members to their relatives only, they recruit members from a wide range of groups, just like other knightly orders, so the members of the Eastern Continent descent are only a small percentage.

　In terms of proportions, rather, it could even be said that the southerners who are of southern descent or who have migrated to the Southern Islands are the largest.

''But you know them, right?　The Purple Jade in charge of the East and the one in charge of the South, aren't their jurisdictions too far apart physically?
''Not really. The ships that trade with the eastern continent would travel halfway around the continent southward through a seaway that would take them around the King's Capital and the continent beyond.''
Ah, ...... So we're neighbors in terms of the mission ......, so it wouldn't be surprising if we knew each other, right?

　The eastern part of this continent is the frontier of the Westland Kingdom, if we speak plainly.

　The road network is poor and there aren't many large towns, so the southbound sea routes are more important for the distribution of goods than the land routes.

　As a result, the Purple Jade Knights in charge of the eastern end of the continent and the Akabane Knights in charge of the southern end of the continent have a close relationship with each other, passing on the task of guarding trade ships.

　Incidentally, the remaining knights in charge of the western end are called the Blue Shark Knights.

　The southbound passage that supports the kingdom is protected by the cooperation of the three knightly orders ...... it sounds good, but in reality, the further west you go, the more important it is, and the size of the knightly order is proportional to the reality.

''Hey, hey, it's lonely being out of the mosquito net, isn't it?''

　As they were whispering to each other, Chandler, who had been left out of the conversation, interrupted himself.

'You can't keep it in the corner either. So many beautiful places, how did you get to know them?　I'm jealous, totally.

　Erica is clearly unfamiliar and wary of Chandler's frivolous remarks, while Sylvia and Marida, the signature girls of the customer service, pass it off in a familiar manner.

　The drunken Alexia laughed with a fond (blotto) reply that such things happen, and the sincere Leila continued to eat, pretending she hadn't heard it completely.

'...... You do know that the new Commander has a weapons store as his day job, right?　I'm from your side. I just happened to run into them today.
The only way to do that is to give up on talking to them. I don't want to follow the footsteps of that old man who got his hands on the leader's girl and got blown away.

　Out of the corner of Chandler's eye, the other knight who had come in with him was chilling and drinking in the corner of the shop.

'Wait a minute. I'm telling you it's a frame-up. Uncle didn't do that, and he wasn't sent there as a punishment, right?　After all, it would be rude to the Commander here if we treated him like a shipwreck destination.

　Mark said nothing, but turned to Chandler and asked for a detailed explanation.

'I heard him complaining in the carriage coming this way. Oh, that old man there is also a knight who is sent to the White Wolf Knights. Ulysses of the Blue Shark Knights, I think.
So now the Knights of the Southbound Passage are all here. You're here earlier than I expected.

　Asking Marida, who was a professional, to follow up on Ulysses, Mark decided to get the details from Chandler for now.

'You're the only two who came? 'Who else?'
"Oh, ...... I don't know much about it, but there were a lot of creepy guys on board. And they're escorted by a silver-winged knight.
'......?　You didn't ask who was there?
It was weird. He said himself that his destination was Green Hollow, and if the Silverwingers are sticking together, at least there's no line between them and dangerous people.

　That's certainly true.

　The Silverwing Knights, who are in charge of maintaining security, include escorting dignitaries as part of their duties, just as they were before their brother (Luke) was given the White Wolf family name.

　On the other hand, the "creepy people" as Chandler calls them are people that the Silver Winged Knights recognize the need for escorting, and they are unlikely to be those who would do any harm to Green Hollow.

　If this is an escort of criminals and dangerous people, Chandler, who seems to have been riding in a large carriage, would not be oblivious to the horrific nature of the security detail.

'There were two people being escorted. "Two of the guys being guarded, both of them covering their skin in a weird way. It's a good thing that they are so well dressed, but they covered their heads entirely in a white mask.

　As soon as Chandler explained that, Leila, who had been listening to the conversation so far, suddenly dropped her spoon and turned her face to look at him in surprise as her red eyes widened.

'The Silver Winged Knights ...... white masked ......, that can't be ......!










　-- Mark Easton left for an errand and often.

　As a member of the regular order, Sophia, who was the only one left in the White Wolf Knights headquarters as a member of the regular order, was answering guests with a strange appearance in the reception room.

　One was a sorcerer-like figure who covered his entire body with a bizarrely ornate robe and hid his face with a simple pattern of patterned eyes dyed out in the front droop.

　The other is a nobleman, well-dressed, with white gloves and a white mask covering his bare skin.

　Facing two people who would have been immediately eliminated as suspicious if they had not received a formal letter of introduction, Sophia opened the conversation in a calm manner.

''It's a pleasure to meet you for the first time. Valentine Argentia-sama. We never imagined that the clan leading the Silver Wing Knights would come.''