Chapter 207: New Formation, Unit 6 (2)
“An emergency support request!?”
“What the hell? Why is that suddenly going off in Winterer?”
The members of the White Armored Dragon Cavalry were visibly flustered.
Signals like that were usually only seen on battlefields.
Could it be an enemy ambush?
“What are you idiots doing!? Grab your swords already!”
At the shouting of the squad leaders, the members moved in a rush.
As they activated their magic and expelled the alcohol from their systems, the White Dragon’s Nest was instantly filled with the stench of liquor.
“What on earth is happening for everyone to act like this?”
Only Bracken failed to grasp the situation, grabbing Theo for answers.
But he, too, hardened his expression, realizing that this was an emergency.
“We’re not sure either. But it seems someone is trying to stage a terrorist attack against us, taking advantage of the chaos caused by the Soaring Dragon Battle.”
Terror.
At that word, Bracken’s face twisted even further.
“There’s no better time to plot mischief than during a commotion. We’ll help as well.”
“Thank you.”
The White Armored Dragon Cavalry and the Ranke swordsmen hurried into action.
* * *
“How the hell are you handling this!? How did you fail to stop it…!”
Depth lashed out with a contorted face, and Diego hurriedly bowed his head.
“It was my mistake. I sincerely apologize.”
“Soon, the Judgment Hall, Central Hall, and even those White Armored Dragon Cavalry worms will swarm in! Damn it!”
Depth irritably kicked the wall.
Being an ordinary man without any training in swordsmanship or magic, his kick left no mark.
But even that made Diego’s heart sink.
His resentment and contempt toward his half-brother grew even stronger.
‘You are truly useless to this family until the end, Selperd! I should’ve killed you back then and tossed your body into a pigsty!’
Depth and Diego’s goal was, in fact, quite simple.
—Turning Selperd into a spy.
They planned to leash Selperd by exploiting his maternal family’s weakness, forcing him to observe Theo, the heir, from up close. At the right moment, they would use him as a hidden dagger against Theo.
However, if Selperd refused their offer, they were prepared to forcibly seal him away.
There was no need to risk killing him.
Disposing of a corpse in a crowded place like this would be troublesome, and if it was discovered that he was a White Armored Dragon Cavalry member, things would only become more complicated.
Besides, their grand scheme was set to unfold at midnight tonight.
As the finals of the Soaring Dragon Battle unfolded, the atmosphere among the people had reached its peak.
They only needed to buy time until then, so there was no real cause for concern.
But of all times, Selperd had to make the first move in the middle of the ‘forced seal’ process!
Just before he was trapped in the subspace, Selperd must have realized the situation—he set off the signal flare first.
Because of that, people outside the room were murmuring, wondering what was happening, and by now, onlookers were quickly gathering around the building.
“Shouldn’t we conceal our identities and get out of here right now…!”
“There are too many eyes on us! Have you already forgotten whose territory this is?”
With such a large crowd forming, escaping was nearly impossible.
Too many had already witnessed the Gardner swordsmen arriving here.
In the end, Diego could do nothing but press his lips together, unable to retrieve anything from this situation.
If he uttered even one more foolish word, Depth’s gaze of contempt would surely fall on him.
“If only we could shift attention onto someone else…! Wait a moment? Shifting attention?”
Depth, muttering to himself, suddenly came to a realization.
He burst into laughter and slapped Diego’s shoulder.
“Hahahaha! Even your dumb nonsense has its uses sometimes!”
Diego’s face briefly twisted, but he quickly schooled his expression and cautiously asked,
“What… do you mean?”
“What else.”
Depth whispered something, and Diego’s face lit up.
* * *
-What the hell is going on?
-I don’t know. Does anyone here know anything?
-The way it spread, it definitely looks like a White Armored Dragon Cavalry signal flare…
-Huh? White Armored Dragon Cavalry? Why the hell would those guys set one off here?
-Some people saw Gardner swordsmen going inside with a few members of the White Armored Dragon Cavalry to eat together.
In front of White Wildfire, a large crowd had already gathered.
With the already heated Soaring Dragon Battle drawing people in, the streets were full to begin with.
And now, with such a loud disturbance occurring out of nowhere, it was inevitable that people would flock over.
On top of that, rumors spread that this incident might involve the White Armored Dragon Cavalry, whose reputation had been skyrocketing lately.
Before long, the number of onlookers swelled even further.
Yet, not a single person among them considered the possibility of danger inside Winterer.
And why would they?
This was the heart of Ragnar.
A sacred ground untouched even by Troyban for over a thousand years.
So, rather than concern, the people’s faces were filled with curiosity.
-Shouldn’t we at least call in the Judgment Knights? Or maybe the Central Hall’s Patrol Swordsmen?
Right at that moment—
Piiiik! Piiik!
“Everyone, step back!”
“We don’t know what dangers may be present, so please move at least 100 meters away.”
Several Patrol Swordsmen, essentially Winterer’s police force, blew their whistles and pushed the crowd back.
“What the hell is going on?”
“No idea. Some members of the White Armored Dragon Cavalry and Gardner family went inside to eat, but after the signal flare went off, they haven’t responded, and there’s been complete silence since.”
“Hah… As if we didn’t already have enough work to deal with. What a mess.”
The Chief Inspector scratched the back of his head irritably.
With the influx of travelers, managing and overseeing everything was already overwhelming.
And now, they had to deal with yet another distraction over something that might not even be significant.
But what choice did they have?
A report had been made, and the people involved were far beyond the patrol’s jurisdiction.
Maybe it was just a minor dispute.
If possible, they needed to settle things quickly and move on—or just hand it over to the Judgment Hall.
“Sigh… Let’s head inside.”
The Chief Inspector crushed his cigarette against the ground and motioned for his subordinates to follow him into the restaurant.
Just then—
KWOAAAAANG!
CRASH—!
A massive explosion erupted from the third floor, sending shards of shattered glass and fragments of stone raining down below.
“KYAAAAAAH!”
“W-what the hell is happening!?”
The onlookers recoiled in shock, their gazes snapping upward toward the third floor.
A gaping hole had been blasted into the wall, black smoke pouring out in thick plumes.
Something—or someone—was making a desperate escape.
The Chief Inspector’s eyes darted toward the scene.
“Gardner?”
Swordsmen clad in blood-red armor.
They were unmistakably the Blood Wolf Swordsmen, the pride of the Six Snow Families’ Gardner.
But each and every one of them bore the same look of defeat, their bodies covered in wounds both large and small.
As if they had just endured a brutal battle.
-Blood Wolf Swordsmen?
-That’s Diego Gardner! The heir of the Gardner family!
-Why does he look like that?
Among the crowd, some recognized Diego’s face.
He muttered to himself as he gazed at the second floor, now reduced to ruins.
“Selperd… What the hell have you done…?”
His voice was filled with barely restrained fury.
After lingering for a moment, he and the other Blood Wolf Swordsmen hastily fled the scene.
The Patrol Swordsmen attempted to pursue them, but the Chief Inspector raised a hand to stop them.
“Everyone, halt! Hand the Gardner group over to the Judgment Hall, and we’ll investigate the scene!”
There was no point in chasing them—Patrol Swordsmen simply didn’t have the skills to keep up.
Instead, the best course of action was to quickly assess the situation and gather information.
They hurriedly ascended to the third floor.
“…What a mess.”
The Chief Inspector let out a low sigh as he examined the scene, his gaze trailing over the scorch marks and sword slashes left behind.
It was horrific—the kind of destruction only a fight to the death could leave behind.
And the amount of blood splattered everywhere… It was almost unbelievable that no one had died.
-Huh? Someone else is coming.
-Gasp!
-That person…!
Once again, commotion erupted outside.
“Uh, C-Chief Inspector!”
“What is it? Can’t you see we’re in the middle of assessing the situation?”
“T-that, t-that is…!”
The Chief Inspector was about to scold his subordinate, who kept tugging at his sleeve in a panic—
Until he saw the group that had just appeared.
He inhaled sharply.
“I appreciate your hard work.”
Step.
A young man strode forward, bowing his head slightly in greeting.
His face was so stunningly beautiful that, for a moment, the Chief Inspector thought he might be a woman.
A striking image seared into his mind like a brand.
“L-lord—Young Lord!?”
And it wasn’t just him.
The group behind him was impossible for anyone in Winterer not to recognize.
The squad leaders of the White Armored Dragon Cavalry—
And even the head of House Ranke!
‘Why are these people gathered here all at once!?’
It felt like a bomb had just dropped in front of him.
“May I examine the scene personally?”
“O-of course…”
The Chief Inspector, feeling oddly intimidated, stepped aside.
Theo carefully began inspecting the area with a serious expression.
“Do you see anything?”
Gorito asked, but Theo only gave a silent nod, offering no further response.
He was too focused to speak.
Because of that, even though the others had countless questions, they remained silent.
So as not to disturb him.
-What exactly is he seeing?
-I have no idea.
-Guess we just have to wait.
The squad leaders felt a sense of frustration.
They had been through countless battles—but only on the battlefield.
They had never encountered a situation quite like this.
So no matter how much they examined the surroundings, all they could determine was that a fight had broken out between the White Armored Dragon Cavalry and Gardner.
Nothing else.
The only one observing Theo with genuine curiosity was Bracken.
‘Damn, he really is ridiculously good-looking. But does he actually know anything?’
Meanwhile, the Chief Inspector was also seeing Theo up close for the first time, which left him with a strange feeling.
He had exactly two impressions of Theo.
First, a positive one—he was undoubtedly handsome.
Second, a negative one—he had no idea what this boy could actually do.
And naturally, the second impression held far more weight.
As far as he knew, Theo was only sixteen—just a rookie.
Sure, he might be an outstanding warrior on the battlefield, but this situation required keen observation and vast knowledge.
How could a sixteen-year-old possibly handle something like this?
Was he just trying to look important? The Chief Inspector even had the blasphemous thought that Theo might just be posturing.
What he didn’t know, however, was that Theo had far more experience than him—having lived as an operative in the Intelligence Bureau for years.
After a long silence—
Theo, his gaze now cold and unreadable, turned to Bracken.
“Lord Ranke, you mentioned that you had something to tell me regarding Gardner. Would it be alright if I asked you about it here?”
To Theo’s eyes—
The entire scene was bathed in blue.
