“Hmm…”
Adonis, who had been half-asleep while leaning against a rough boulder, scratched his ear.
His ear was itching strangely. Was someone talking about him behind his back?
“No one’s left alive to talk badly about a dead man… How odd.”
As Adonis stretched out a little, his joints cracked and groaned.
He might’ve looked like a child on the outside, but inside, he was an aging relic.
Even a luxurious bed left him stiff in the morning—so falling asleep on a rock like this… it was a miracle his body hadn’t screamed sooner.
“…This is torture.”
He wanted nothing more than to stretch out with a long yawn, but now wasn’t the time.
He was in the middle of secretly tracking the knights.
Tap tap—
Adonis peeked his head out from behind the boulder.
In the distance, three knights were nodding off beside a campfire—Pjol, Bickerd, and Redington.
‘Judging by the state of the fire, it’s been about thirty minutes. They’ll be on the move again soon.’
There wasn’t much time for the pursuer, but the same went for the ones being pursued.
Thirty minutes was more than enough rest.
As he gazed at the dwindling flames, Adonis recalled a conversation he’d had with Caron a few hours ago.
“You’re going to deliberately let the knights go?”
“Yes. It’ll be troublesome, but I’ll need you to cover them from behind.”
Watching the instructors’ backs wasn’t a problem.
They were the youth who would one day lead the Empire. For someone like him, an old man, protecting them was the most natural thing in the world.
But still—
“What prompted this choice? It’s not like you.”
Most people thought of Caron as a cold-blooded man who acted without hesitation.
But that was far from the truth. Caron was the exact opposite.
‘He’s a man of deep sentiment and careful calculation.’
He was known as a fearsome interrogator simply because he could break people quickly—but in reality, his patience ran deep.
He preferred to wait—let his prey wear themselves out before going in for the kill.
That was Caron’s true nature.
Even in this case, if he took his time, he could have slowly removed the knights from the suspect list and found the true culprit within a month or two.
‘But to let the entire knight order loose in a situation like this?’
There were only two possibilities.
Either he’d come up with a better method than waiting—
“Or someone gave you specific orders?”
“…”
“So it’s the latter. There aren’t many people who can give you orders. It’s not like the Emperor would intervene in something this minor, and Elester is at the Academy, which only leaves…”
Adonis’s eyes narrowed.
“Dwener. That guy, huh.”
“…”
Caron said nothing. But that silence was all the answer he needed.
“You two have been awfully close lately. Should I be jealous?”
“…You’ve been looking after Principal Dwener yourself, haven’t you?”
“Oh, I see. You’re saying I started it first, huh?”
Adonis did occasionally visit Dwener and help with his training when bored.
From Dwener’s perspective, it was more like surviving a natural disaster than training, though.
Since Adonis always kept his face hidden and pretended to be a nobody, Dwener’s complaints usually ended up directed at Caron.
“He keeps begging me to make you go easy on him. Do you know how much I’ve had to put up with?”
“Should I be sorry? But I can’t help enjoying it when my ex suffers.”
“…I’m just going to tell him you’re Douglas.”
“My bad. That joke went too far. But still, it’s true you’ve grown close to him, haven’t you?”
“Not in the slightest.”
Caron replied with complete indifference. But that wasn’t enough to put an end to Adonis’s curiosity.
“It really is fascinating. That Caron would open up to someone. And someone you’ve known for just over a year, at that.”
Adonis’s golden eyes gleamed faintly. Caron stared directly back.
‘He suspects something.’
‘He’s not thinking about the Evil-Slaying Group, but he’s definitely picked up on something between me and Dwener.’
As expected, he wasn’t just some old man. But then again—
Caron wasn’t ordinary either.
“You should know better than anyone—I’ve never opened my heart to anyone.”
“And that’s exactly why I’m asking. Be honest with me. I’m pretty open-minded, you know. Who cares if it’s between men, or if one of you is ancient? If the feeling’s right, it’s right.”
“…Give me a moment. I’ll go cut off that bastard’s head right now.”
“Just a joke. My apologies.”
Receiving the apology, Caron let out a sigh inwardly.
The Emperor and this old man were both hopelessly addicted to dopamine.
“I only ask because your behavior lately has been suspicious. Taking advice from an incompetent principal, really?”
“I only acted because the plan he presented was better than mine.”
“You think that bald relic still has a brain? Last I checked, he only had a few strands of hair left and a pile of stubborn pride. You’re the one who told me that.”
“…”
“My bad. Go on. I’ll listen.”
Any more teasing, and Caron really might storm off.
As mentioned before, Adonis knew Caron better than most.
That’s right—despite his appearance, he was surprisingly thin-skinned.
Another lesser-known side of Caron.
When Adonis closed his mouth, Caron began his explanation.
“…That’s all. Any questions?”
“Dwener’s the one who proposed this operation?”
“Yes.”
Adonis was genuinely impressed.
It wasn’t perfect, but it was solid.
A plan that significantly reduced the time needed—what would’ve taken one or two months had been compressed.
It also cut off the “escape beyond the territory” variable.
And it prevented the deaths of innocent scapegoats during that time.
A rather excellent plan overall.
But what he liked most was that it would sharpen the real combat instincts of both students and instructors.
“Safety is still the biggest concern, though.”
“That’s why I came to you, Adonis.”
“I see. Understood.”
If he and Caron got involved, then casualties could practically be ruled out.
They also had Lowell, the instructors, and talented students like Zero.
“Alright then. Let’s do our best.”
“Thank you. I’ll make sure Victoria is positioned somewhere safe, so no need to worry.”
“Thanks for the consideration.”
Caron bowed slightly—then vanished in an instant.
The space left behind was quiet, filled only with the faint glow of Adonis’s golden eyes.
‘He’s definitely hiding something… but I have no idea what.’
If Caron were manipulating Dwener, he wouldn’t be suspicious of their relationship at all.
Caron had manipulated others plenty of times before.
‘But this time… it’s Dwener who’s controlling Caron.’
Which could only mean they’d made some kind of deal.
But with no money, no information, no influence, and not even a decent head of hair… what could Dwener possibly have offered in return?
“Dwener… he’s turning out to be far more interesting than I thought.”
Adonis didn’t know what it was. He just hoped it wasn’t some kind of forbidden love(?).
The next morning, at dawn.
Adonis sensed a large group of people moving all at once.
It was the Trash Knights. The operation had begun.
‘A secret underground tunnel… That’s going to make tracking difficult.’
He could feel the confusion from the rat scouts that had been waiting to trail them.
The passage was narrow, and since it ran in a straight line, there was a high chance they’d be discovered if they followed directly.
They would still pursue, of course—but it wouldn’t be immediate.
‘If they emerge outside the village, I can track them again…’
But if the tunnel led straight to the mines, there was nothing he could do about it.
As he kept watch from high above—
“Hm?”
He spotted some suspicious individuals. It wasn’t hard to figure out who they were.
‘They’re the ones who orchestrated the kidnapping. What’s this about?’
He had expected them to stay with the knights. But instead, they were acting independently.
After a brief pause, Adonis began following them.
“How are we supposed to convince them?”
“Just do it well.”
“…That’s exactly what I’m asking—how do you do it well?”
“You just do it well.”
“Agh! You little—”
“Eek! He’s having another Anger Control Disorder episode!”
From the conversation alone, Adonis could tell. They were planning to persuade the other knights.
Of course, it could’ve just been talk.
True courage only counts when it’s acted upon.
Bravery that stays inside your heart doesn’t change a thing.
‘But if they do find the courage to act…’
They might be able to change it all.
Themselves. Their comrades. Trash Village. And maybe—
This entire world.
“They ran away… Are those guys even knights?”
“Well, at least we don’t have to worry about a surprise attack anymore.”
After hearing the report that the knights had fled, the students were ordered to stand by in the plaza.
As the wait dragged on, conversations naturally began to flow.
“What shocks me more is that Nade turned out to be Baron Kelven.”
“You actually believe that ridiculous rumor? Nade, the Baron? That’s absurd!”
“Tsk tsk, you need to start facing reality. Or is it that you just can’t accept you fell for Baron Kelven?”
“T-That’s not it! It’s just… the whole idea is nonsense!”
“This is why you don’t judge people by their looks. It’s what’s inside that counts!”
“What a joke. The inside’s just as filthy as the outside! Don’t insult love!”
Fights were breaking out all across the plaza.
Normally, the Vice President, Rodelin, would’ve stepped in and shut it all down in seconds.
But not today.
She wasn’t in her right mind.
Click click click click click!
Rodelin was gnawing on her nails and clenching her teeth. Her nails were already ruined beyond recognition.
“The tracking… Has there been no update?”
“They should’ve located her by now.”
By estimating with the help of the rat scouts and the trace-scent Lowell had released when she was kidnapped, her location had likely been confirmed.
“Then why are we just standing around? We should be sending in support!”
“The inside of the mine is a maze, and we need to seal off the escape routes efficiently.”
The strategy was to completely block off all exits, then have Caron and the instructors break into the enemy base, force a surrender with the kidnapped Lowell still inside.
That was the core of the operation.
“The knights who ran off will run right into us at the branch points.”
Exactly. We really didn’t have much to do.
Since instructors were stationed at the branch points near the enemy’s stronghold, there was no need to worry about student safety either.
And yet, Rodelin was trembling with anxiety.
“Still… while we’re just standing here, my sister is…”
It was because of Lowell.
Rodelin knew her sister had been kidnapped on purpose to infiltrate and attack from the inside—
But that didn’t ease her worry one bit.
“Please, calm down. It’s all part of the plan.”
“But still…”
“There’s still plenty of time before Baron Kelven absorbs another soul. Given the difficulty of securing sacrifices, we can be sure they’ll hold her until the very end. You know that better than anyone.”
“…Right. My apologies. I got a little too worked up.”
But her words didn’t match her body language.
Maybe because she’d already chewed off every last fingernail—she started trembling in her legs instead.
Honestly, this much was still kind of cute.
The real problem was—
“Mi-Mine… L-Labyrinth… N-No escapeeeeee!”
The pufferfish rabbit, Rezé, was also showing serious signs of panic.
Serious enough to vibrate like a malfunctioning phone.
Bzzzzzz!
Shiver shiver shiver!
One side had a vibrating rabbit. The other had a sister-obsessed wreck.
With both of them freaking out beside me, my body started trembling too.
“Haa… I think I’m starting to get the hang of this. It actually feels pretty good.”
Luna, Rezé’s master, was too busy training [Abyss] to care.
Seriously, can someone stop training and take their damn rabbit back already?!
At this point, I had no choice. I had to start vibrating in sync with them!
If I matched their frequency, maybe it would feel like I wasn’t shaking anymore?
Yes! As a liberal arts student, this line of reasoning made perfect sense.
Bzzzz!
Drrrrr!
Shiver shiver shiver!
Just as I was embracing the vibration rhythm and becoming one with the tremors—
Smack!
Someone whacked me on the head.
That angle. That power. That pain!
I didn’t even need to look.
It was the Empire’s number-one Rat, Caron’s signature flick.
“I probably don’t need to ask, but I’ll ask anyway. What exactly were you doing just now?”
“Keke, let’s just say… I was tuning my vibration frequency.”
“…”
Caron gave me the look one would give to a cockroach, then brushed past me.
He stood at the center of the plaza and spoke.
“I’ll now explain the operation.”
–TL Notes–
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Well well,Asonis will help those three knights become heroes! The trigger for Adonis disappearance was Dark beast squad rescuing Dolores and neutralize these three!
I wonder whether Pjol and the others have accumulated too much death flag?
I have a feeling Daike will also do something amazing soon! Maybe protect Pjol feom certain death? Join the gang when they take on the boss of this episode?