The Returnee Wants Peace

“Who’s there! Reveal yourself!”

“…It’s, it’s Lady Roshanak. Lady Roshanak!”

Her face wasn’t clearly visible as she was wearing something like a hood.

However, they could tell from the light-colored hair peeking out from the hood, her small stature, and the metal weapon called a ‘gun’ in her hand.

The knights tensed as they realized her identity. After all, Lady Roshanak’s combat ability was recognized as excellent by everyone.

At that moment, she suddenly disappeared as if sinking into the ground.

“Oh!”

Bang! Bang!

Right after that, gunshots rang out, and two knights instantly collapsed, splattering blood.

A deadly attack from an unknown direction.

Moreover, seeing her immediately engage in combat without a word, her determination to end it here was evident.

Realizing this, the Knight Commander hurriedly spoke.

“Lady Roshanak! There seems to be a misunderstanding. Stop for a moment!”

He lowered his sword tip as if to show he had no intention to fight. At this, the attack stopped momentarily, and Rosha revealed herself.

The sight of her suddenly appearing at close range as if a veil had been lifted startled them briefly.

The Commander, maintaining a seemingly composed face, continued speaking.

“I understand you were shocked to see Lady Marian covered in blood. However, she made statements insulting the Imperial Family and even resisted the immediate execution by Imperial Knights.”

“…Insult?”

“That’s right. Lady Roshanak, you are an Empire’s Guardian Knight directly appointed by His Majesty the Emperor. Even if you are young, you should know what is important as a knight.”

“…”

“But for a Guardian Knight who should protect the Empire and the Imperial Family to attack none other than Imperial Knights. Are you in your right mind?”

The Knight Commander gradually raised his voice. While doing so, he secretly rolled his eyes, scanning the surroundings and thinking.

‘What are the patrols doing that no one is coming?’

This area was close to the patrol route.

While the sound of clashing swords might be overlooked, noise from gunshots should have prompted them to come check at least once!

Of course, the Commander couldn’t know.

That Rosha had spread a magic barrier to block the noise before firing her gun.

And then,

As Rosha carefully looked over the knights, she muttered quietly.

“Imperial Knights? Where are there any Imperial Knights here?”

A cold voice. An unusually oppressive aura emanating from her small frame.

The informal speech suddenly didn’t matter at all. Overwhelmed by the atmosphere she exuded, the Commander asked a beat late.

“What do you mean-“

“All I see are monsters.”

“…What did you say?”

“I said all I see are monsters.”

Hearing Rosha’s words, Marian snapped to her senses and tried to stop her.

Given her own terrible condition, she understood the desire to kill them, but they were still Imperial Knights. If not careful, this could be construed as treason.

‘It’s better to end it with me.’

At that moment.

Marian, who unconsciously turned her head towards the knights Rosha was pointing at, froze in place.

The wounded areas of those who had been bleeding from gunshots were now completely healed.

“This is…”

Marian, looking at them with an unbelieving face, shifted her gaze.

An explanation was needed. However, the Knight Commander’s face, who should provide the explanation, was rigidly frozen.

The knights who had been lying on the ground slowly got up and asked.

“Commander. What should we do?”

“This seems to be an unexpected situation…”

A moment of silence followed.

The Commander, pondering while receiving the knights’ gazes, eventually nodded slightly. Then, adjusting his grip on the sword, he suddenly thrust it like a beam of light.

Towards Rosha.

“…Child!”

It was an incredibly fast thrust that seemed almost inhuman.

Marian, who suddenly noticed a blazing sword energy extending from the sword, quickly turned her head. With her injured body, all she could do was warn.

At that moment-

Kagagak!

A man appeared as if mist seeping into the air, embracing Rosha and stretching his hand forward. The Commander’s attack trembled and barely stopped in front of his hand.

Seeing this scene, Rosha muttered as if grumbling.

“I could have blocked it myself.”

“I know. But consider my position watching from the side.”

Marian, hearing their conversation, let out a sigh of relief.

Although he had a somewhat lecherous side, having a high-ranking noble like Duke Echerzen appear at this point would certainly be helpful.

However, the situation didn’t unfold as she thought.

Grr-

A threatening sound emerged from deep in the Imperial Knights’ throats.

Just as she thought she had misheard, their bodies began to grow gradually.

Crack, crack crack.

Along with the sound of bones transforming, spike-like protrusions emerged from their arms and legs. Their skin color rapidly turned pale before darkening to gray, and their heartbeats became abnormally fast.

Although they seemed to retain some reason, they growled softly with glowing red eyes.

It was… closer to a demon than a human.

“Since when…”

Marian, unable to continue speaking due to shock, shouted towards the Commander.

“Since when could Imperial Knights transform into demons?!”

There was no answer. The Knight Commander had also begun to change slowly.

“Don’t interfere… disappear!”

He swung his sword with his eyes glowing red. It was even faster than before.

However, Rosha wasn’t particularly surprised.

“Unfortunately, as an Empire’s Guardian Knight, I have no choice but to eliminate the demons roaming the capital.”

“Nonsense!”

The Commander, who retorted immediately, displayed a tyrannical swordsmanship.

Not just him, but all the knights showed similar patterns, and although their precision had decreased from before, the power and speed imbued in their swords were truly overwhelming.

However.

‘Why… even with such power, is it not enough?’

An excellent magician and an ability user who controls space.

The combination of Lady Roshanak and Duke Echerzen was something at a level not easily broken.

Under their solid joint attack, the knights they had brought gradually decreased one by one.

Moreover, even the corpses disappeared!

Swish-

Seeing the corpse of a subordinate who had just fallen disappear as if swallowed by the air, it was clear the Duke was responsible.

‘This can’t happen.’

Today’s events must not be known.

He had to stop it, even if it meant using the last resort.

The Commander might not have known, but his thoughts were already reaching an extreme conclusion, half voluntarily and half involuntarily.

“Eeek…!”

He retreated a few steps and curled his body. His entire body turned red and his skin bulged up.

It was a sign of explosion.

“Froy!”

Before Rosha could call out, he hurriedly surrounded the Commander with his ability and signaled with his eyes. Rosha also created several layers of barriers.

———!

There was no loud explosion sound because one of the barriers was for noise cancellation. However, a tremendous amount of dust rose inside the barrier, and the air trembled finely.

As the explosion subsided.

Marian, supporting herself with her sword, looked at the deeply cratered ground.

No human form could be found.

“…I trusted him too much. He was once a decent person.”

Although she had made up her mind, she kept thinking it was already too late.

After looking at the ground with pained eyes for a while, Marian eventually turned her head towards Rosha. After all, the living are far more important than the dead.

But…

“…Child?”

Marian, who narrowed her eyes as Rosha’s figure was not clearly visible, soon realized that her own vision was blurring.

She briefly felt her shoulder hitting the ground before her consciousness faded away.

It was a faint.

* * *

“It’s anemia. Primarily due to blood loss, but her body has also weakened a bit due to the prohibition and the battle.”

“…”

“Anyway, the treatment is done, so if she rests for a while, she’ll be able to get up safely.”

“Thank you, Prince.”

By coincidence or not, there was a luxury lodging where Nardil was staying near the alley where the battle took place.

He said he felt a strange magical movement during his night training and came to check.

It couldn’t have been better for the injured Marian, with a secluded private house and Nardil’s entourage including a doctor and a shaman.

“By the way… what will you do now?”

“What?”

“The Imperial Family won’t just let this slide now that the Knight Commander is dead.”

Nardil, standing next to the bed where Marian lay, asked with his arms crossed.

After hearing a rough account of what happened, he recommended staying quietly in another region for a while, but Froy had a different idea.

“Given this situation, now is our only chance. Once it’s known that the Knight Commander is dead, security will become even tighter.”

“So what kind of opportunity?”

Nardil asked dubiously.

Rosha smiled with a slightly puzzled expression. No matter how she thought about it, Froy’s suggestion was a bit extreme, but… it wasn’t impossible.

Eventually, she sighed and confessed the truth.

“An opportunity to infiltrate the Imperial Palace and uncover secrets.”