Chapter 71: His Shadow is Everywhere

When Ch’en finally hauled herself out of the sprawling, maze-like sewers of the Grand Knight Territory, having carefully planted the Doctor’s mysterious little devices at every designated coordinate, she was greeted by a rather absurd sight.

Nearl was sitting casually on the dirt, hugging a heavy bag full of unplaced machinery to her chest. The golden-haired Kuranta was leaning forward, listening with rapt, sparkling attention to a ragged old man boasting loudly about “how the Radiant Knight single-handedly crushed the Ursus-Leithanien coalition.”

Ch’en stared. ‘?’

Was this legendary Infected Knight champion… actually this much of a narcissist?

Feeling the intense weight of the Lung’s gaze, Nearl suddenly realized how this looked. She whipped her head around, her cheeks flushing a faint pink as she scrambled to explain. “Uh… I haven’t actually heard these particular stories before! I just found his telling of it very interesting!”

It would have been better if she had just kept her mouth shut. Her frantic defense only made her look exactly like an arrogant knight who radiated holy light 24/7 while eagerly eating up her own fan-fiction.

“Just give them to me,” Ch’en sighed, reaching out a gloved hand to signal for the bag of mechanical parts. “I’ll finish placing them for you.”

Nearl blinked, looking at her calm, temporary partner in mild surprise. Ch’en simply turned around, adjusting the heavy bag over her shoulder. “The Doctor asked me to pass along a message. He said to go ahead and do whatever you want. Most of our people have already evacuated the city, and no matter how much trouble you manage to cause, it won’t even come close to the sheer scale of the mess he’s about to stir up.”

Watching the Lung’s retreating back disappear around the next dimly lit corner, Nearl pressed a hand against her eye socket. A soft exhale escaped her lips, as if a massive, invisible psychological burden had just been lifted from her shoulders.

“Old sir,” Nearl asked with a warm, gentle smile, slowly turning her attention back to the animated storyteller. “If the Radiant Knight could return to Kazimierz… would you still go to watch her matches?”

The old man’s boasting ground to a halt. He hesitated, his weathered face falling into a complicated grimace. “I would… but she’d be better off staying away. This place… this city is no longer suitable for the Infected.”

Nearl shook her head. Even though she knew this ragged audience member—a man who couldn’t even afford the cheapest seat in the arena stands—might not fully understand, she still offered him a quiet, earnest explanation.

“It is precisely because of the suffocating darkness in Kazimierz that she chose to become the knight who pierces through the night.” Her golden eyes shone with quiet resolve. “She will return. Very soon.”

Meanwhile, at the Nearl family residence.

Even though Maria felt a heavy knot of guilt twisting in her stomach, she stood her ground, planting her boots firmly in front of Młynar. “I also want to register for the Kazimierz Major!”

Młynar stared at her, his deadpan expression barely twitching. “And you expect me to believe you haven’t been colluding with him in secret? Are you truly that impatient to claim the title of the Nearl family head?”

Maria winced. She knew that bringing ‘him’ up at a time like this was practically a confession, but her conscience was clear! Even if her uncle suspected her of conspiring with the Doctor, he didn’t have a single shred of evidence!

She puffed out her chest, summoning every ounce of her courage. “This is a decision I made of my own free will! It has absolutely nothing to do with him! I went and registered all by myself. Even without his help, I still want to step into the arena and restore the honor of the Nearl family!”

Also, had the atmosphere in their home really deteriorated to the point where they didn’t even need to say the Doctor’s name out loud for everyone to know exactly who ‘he’ was?!

Młynar didn’t buy a single word of it. His cold, cynical gaze cut right to the core of the issue. “Then do enlighten me. Without the official household registration book—which is currently in his hands—how exactly did you manage to register as a legitimate member of the Nearl family?”

Maria froze. ‘…Oh no. I’ve talked myself straight into a corner!’

Panic flared, followed instantly by a desperate, bright idea. She spun around and yanked a sword out of her heavy backpack, holding it up like a shield. “Uncle, this… this really is my own decision! I can prove my resolve to you right here and now with my swordsmanship!”

Młynar’s eyes narrowed dangerously, his irritation finally breaking through his stoic facade. “Didn’t you tell me that my sword was also stolen by the Doctor?”

And she still had the nerve to claim they weren’t colluding in private!

Maria looked down at her hands. The blood drained from her face as she realized her catastrophic mistake. Oh no. She had pulled out the wrong weapon. She was holding her uncle’s stolen sword.

“No, wait, this is a misunderstanding! Uncle, Uncle, please listen to me! I really just want to participate in the Major! Eep—! Neigh—!”

After a brief, chaotic scuffle of clattering metal and panicked shouting, Młynar slowly sheathed his own blade. He stood on the porch, his expression entirely blank as he watched his niece literally gallop away on all fours like a startled foal, carrying her ridiculously heavy package as she bolted out of the courtyard like a streak of lightning.

“Yo, feeling sorry for the kid? Why are you still acting so insincere?” A dark-skinned bounty hunter materialized from the shadows behind Młynar, chuckling as he clapped a hand on the Kuranta’s tense shoulder.

“You clearly don’t want her entering that meat-grinder of an arena to face all those corporate schemes, yet you stand there pretending you don’t care about the family honor,” Toran Cash teased his old acquaintance, spreading his hands in a gesture of mock helplessness. “You’re just bullying her because she’s young and naive, and you’re too lazy to even come up with a decent lie to keep her safe.”

Młynar didn’t respond, his gaze still fixed on the empty street.

“In the past, you never would have let her run off so easily, especially with the city in this state…” Toran leaned in, a smirk playing on his lips. “Has that deep-frozen boss of yours really left you this hopelessly obsessed? Has he completely stripped away your judgment?”

Młynar shot him a glacial side-glance and casually shifted his grip, making a deliberate move to draw his sword again.

Toran instantly threw his hands up and scrambled back several paces, a bead of cold sweat rolling down his neck. “Hey, hey, hey! You were the one who complained to me about this in the first place! I’m just repeating your exact own views from back then! Why are you actually trying to hack me to pieces?!”

Młynar slowly pushed the blade back into its scabbard, the metallic click echoing in the quiet courtyard. “That is because you do not understand him.”

“Oh?”

“He promised me that he would not drag Maria into his mess. Therefore, she will absolutely not be in any life-threatening danger in the arena. Going now can simply be considered a rare, practical training experience.”

“How can you be so incredibly sure?” Toran raised an eyebrow. “Did he swear a blood oath or something?”

“Because he has already decided to drag me into it instead.”

Toran rubbed his temples. He felt like he had been doing nothing but sighing ever since he started dealing with this stubborn, mule-headed friend of his again.

What was even more depressing was the realization that he, too, had been violently sucked into this massive, terrifying whirlpool. “Alright, I won’t tease you anymore. I’m actually just here to deliver a message from your dear Commander.”

Toran reached into his coat and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “He said that this Major won’t reach its scheduled conclusion. He wants you to escort the non-combatant personnel of Rhodes Island out of Kazimierz before everything goes to hell. There are two kids among them as well. Let me see…”

Toran squinted at the note, admiring the elegant, flowing handwriting before his expression twisted into utter confusion.

[Add two more unlucky kids to the evacuation list. One is named Tyran, and the other is named… Mai Sakurajima? No, wait, what on earth did he search for using my PRTS terminal?!]

The latter half of the sentence was violently crossed out with two frantic, heavy diagonal lines, as if the writer had panicked. Right below it, the name [Elijah] was scribbled in crooked, childish handwriting.

Toran let out a low whistle. “Whoa. This kid sounds exactly like you back in your glory days, just making up random aliases on the fly!”

Honestly, the entirety of Kazimierz was starting to look like the Doctor’s personal, loose collection of Młynar-like figures.

The new Młynar by blood was the Maria who had just galloped away in a panic. The new Młynar in essence was the Patriot, who was currently terrifying the entire knight arena. The new Młynar by habit was that genius-namer kid who scribbled on the note. And the Młynar who was hopelessly obsessed with the Doctor was Gravel, who rarely left his side.

It seemed there was no place left for the original Młynar.

Toran glanced at Młynar’s hand, which was still resting casually on his sword hilt, and wisely decided to keep that particular observation to himself.

“There is one last thing. He wants you to ensure that after the non-combatants have safely evacuated…” Toran paused, recalling the utterly bizarre request from the evil, hooded mastermind. He suddenly felt a bit unconfident saying it out loud. “…you go and sit on a specific park bench for him?”

To Toran’s absolute shock, Młynar nodded readily.

“Wait, you’re just agreeing to that? You don’t doubt me at all?” Toran asked, bewildered.

Młynar nodded calmly, his golden eyes reflecting the darkening sky. “Because that request is far too bizarre. Even if you were trying to play a joke on me, you lack the imagination to come up with something so absurd.”

Above them, thick, bruised clouds had fully gathered over the sprawling skyline of Kazimierz. The fading light was swallowed by the encroaching gloom, the air growing heavy and damp.

It looked like it was about to rain.

[Rhodes’s Note:

Enjoying the operation so far, Doctor?

(This daily grind literally pays the landship’s rent! 🙇‍♂️):

Massive thanks for reading and supporting the operation!]