Chapter 9: The Interruption (Part 2)
Inside the door, it was unexpectedly quiet.
Yet, there were quite a few folks packed in here.
In the spacious stone house, there were people standing, moving around, some trembling as they were dragged to kneel, and others lying on the ground with cracked skulls. The knights, swords at their waists, were keeping an eye on a dozen or so ragged merchants, herding them into a tight group at the side of the room. Most of them looked a bit dazed, with a few even quietly crying and others as pale as ghosts. The whole scene was a chaotic mix, tinged with the faint smell of bl**d.
In the center of the room stood a round table, and scattered around it were some people, though the empty chairs in front seemed to be shunned by all. The only one confidently seated at the main spot was a middle-aged knight, his armor gleaming and his hair slicked back, emanating an air of authority. Beside him stood two middle-aged men, humble yet exuding a wealthy aura. The knight held a thick stack of parchment and tossed some over to one of the men while speaking, “Get these contracts…”
Then he lifted his head at the commotion, spotting me stepping through the door, his expression pausing for a moment. “Hmm?”
At that instant, everyone’s eyes zeroed in on me, and the already quiet room suddenly felt a bit awkwardly charged.
“Uh…”
I spoke softly, my feet still moving, brushing off those gazes as I casually scanned the surroundings, making a beeline for the round table. Just a few steps in, the nearby knights suddenly snapped to attention.
“Who goes there!”
“How dare you—”
Suddenly, a blade was drawn in a dramatic ‘clang-clang-clang’ sound, swooping towards me. I quickly sidestepped, dodging it effortlessly, and with a swift motion, I delivered a light punch right to the knight’s gut. With a ‘thud,’ his armor crumpled inwards, and he was sent flying backward, careening through the crowd and eliciting a wave of gasps as he crashed into the stone wall, sliding down to a quiet end.
This outrageous scene left the other knights—who had been gearing up to charge—frozen in place.
In the next beat, amidst everyone’s shocked stares, my small figure seemed to vanish from sight. The room erupted in chaos again, and several merchants by the table stumbled back in a panic, knocking over chairs. And there, right in front of the seated knight, a cloaked figure had appeared as if from thin air, one hand pulling back their hood, casting a lofty gaze down upon him.
“I’m here looking for someone.”
The voice was clear and melodious, but it carried an undertone of command, like a threat.
I came looking for someone, just thought I’d let you know. If you’re not cooperative, this might not end well for you—Rodris, the group leader of the Sixth Knights Order, slowly raised his head. To him, those words sounded like a declaration.
And oh boy, was he furious.
It had been years since anyone dared to speak to him like that.
“…Who are you?”
He asked in a low voice, his sharp gaze focused intently on the face mostly hidden by the cloak, as if trying to discern her identity.
But he couldn’t see it clearly.
This man…
Upon a closer look, had an air of authority reminiscent of my father… although he fell far short of that mark. He must be the leading knight here, right?
So, is this whole mess courtesy of his orders?
I idly wondered, giving him just a fleeting glance before moving on, scanning around the round table in search of the sailmaster… and I soon spotted him tucked away in a corner of the stone house.
He was standing with a group of shipbuilders, and like everyone else, he was wide-eyed and incredulous, staring at me as if he’d seen a ghost. The navigator of the “Calivelle” stood next to him, and so did the captain…
Oh, the captain was down.
His hand was bandaged, and there was bl**d beneath him… but he was still breathing, his chest heaving with each breath.
“Didn’t you hear me asking you a question?”
The surrounding knights seemed ready to make a move, but the knight leader waved them off with a hand, his voice steady as he turned to the two bewildered, richly-dressed middle-aged men, saying, “It’s alright, you two step back.” As they retreated, he casually tapped the table at my feet, displaying the aura of someone in charge.
“Nice skills, and quite bold of you to stride in like this… You must be quite young, right? Just a girl, but so formidable. Still, with a bit of modesty, not showing your full face? Isn’t that a tad lacking in guts? Not planning to tell me your name, are you?”
“Are you sure you want to know?”
I shot back, not really caring about his words, aiming to cut the chatter short. I pointed toward the sailmaster, “That doesn’t concern you; I’m taking them with me.”
At this, the middle-aged knight raised an eyebrow.
He didn’t glance in the direction I was pointing, continuing to look at me with a smirk on his face. “Oh? Is that your goal?”
“Isn’t it allowed?”
I tilted my head, feigning innocence.
“…Ah hahahaha.”
The knight leader suddenly burst into laughter, though it quickly turned serious again. “Well, it’s not impossible…”
He rapped his knuckles on the table again. “But, what’s the price?”
“Price?”
“Yeah, the price.” He paused, eyeing me with a grin, “You barged in here, interrupted my council, disrupted the gentlemen of the currency exchange, and injured my knight… In less than three minutes, you’ve committed quite a few transgressions, and you think you can just waltz out of here?”
A chilling, slightly threatening smile spread across his face: “That would be a bit too simple, don’t you think?”
Too simple, huh?
I stared at his smile.
The delicate lips peeking from beneath the hood curved into a slight smirk.
“…Well, that’s true.”
As if it would be that easy to let someone go…
He’s no pushover.
Bang!
Suddenly, a deafening crash echoed throughout the stone house!
In Rodris’s eyes, the bold, seemingly skilled, and possibly young girl who had barged in, now wore that familiar mocking smile—a smile he recognized all too well, one of those “I’m in control and don’t care about anyone” grins he often wore himself. As soon as that smile appeared, Rodris realized things were going south.
But instinctively, he thought there might be an ambush outside or some unexpected variables in the room. Just when he turned to check the situation, the girl’s foot shifted on the table, and then came a sound like an explosion, splintering the table into pieces. In the gust of wind created by the blast, the cloaked girl vanished once again. His heart sank, and he raised a hand to protect against the flying wood splinters. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the girl reappear behind the closest knight.
She actually wanted to take out all the knights here…
How ridiculous!
Yet that thought barely lingered in his mind for half a second.
