SWY 139

That the knight guarding Iris – whom Sharhan had assumed dead at his uncle’s word– was alive, left him overwhelmed with joy. But unlike Sharhan, who was visibly moved, Rael remained wary.

It was only natural, given that a stranger had suddenly rushed toward him. Realizing how it must have looked, Sharhan came to a halt and quickly identified himself.

“I’m Sharhan, Iris’s older brother.”

At that, Rael’s guarded expression softened. In its place bloomed the joy of reuniting with someone he had long heard about.

“The young lady spoke often about her older brother. She adored you, spoke of you every day, and always counted the days until your return. I suppose that’s why, even though we’ve just met, you feel familiar to me. I’m Rael.”

At the mention of Iris chattering about him, longing squeezed Sharhan’s chest. Iris had always clung to him, endlessly talking his ear off. His eyes stung with rising emotion, and he clenched his jaw to steady himself.

Lestel quietly came to his side and rubbed his back as if to comfort him. That gentle touch calmed the storm inside.

“Thank you for protecting Iris.”

“No. I’m sorry. I failed to protect her to the end.”

Rael bowed deeply to Lestel. A knight’s duty was to protect their charge, even at the cost of their own life.

Though Rael was a free knight without affiliation to any house or land, he took pride in his title more than most. That was why failing to protect Iris weighed so heavily on him.

“I heard Iris is at Ailun Castle.”

Rael’s eyes widened in surprise at Sharhan’s words.

“That’s something I barely managed to learn after much digging… How did you know?”

“A local lord’s daughter visited Ailun Castle recently for a brief errand. She said she saw Iris there.”

“I see. The knights who took the young lady belonged to the Kaios family, so I originally assumed they took her to Katun. But when I learned she was brought here instead, I began keeping watch near the castle.”

“Were you… planning to rescue her?”

“Yes. As long as I live, I must protect her. That’s what it means to be a knight.”

“Thank you.”

Technically, Rael had only been hired and had no obligation to stick around. No one would have blamed him if he’d turned his back on bad luck. And yet, he had stayed near the castle, hoping to save her. Sharhan was both grateful and ashamed.

As a subtle gesture of thanks, Sharhan gently squeezed and released Lestel’s fingers, grateful he had assigned a proper knight to Iris.

“Let’s continue this inside. Sir Rael, please come in.”

Kuph, who had been waiting for a chance to interrupt, seized the moment and spoke up quickly. Only then did Sharhan realize they’d been standing at the door all this time, and he stepped back a little awkwardly.

Then he noticed Rael limping slowly as he entered and widened his eyes.

“I was wounded in a skirmish with the Kaios knights,” Rael explained, noticing Sharhan’s gaze and looking slightly embarrassed.

The memory of his uncle saying Rael had been discarded while bleeding heavily came rushing back, and Sharhan’s chest tightened.

Even an ordinary person might have despaired from such a wound, but Rael was a knight. Accepting the loss of full mobility couldn’t have been easy. And yet, he remained steadfast in his duty. That alone was worthy of admiration.

“I… I don’t even know how to thank you. I’m truly grateful and also deeply sorry…”

His voice cracked and failed to carry the rest of his words. Rael waved it off gently.

“No need for thanks. I only got hurt doing what I was supposed to do. I’m a knight. It’s our duty to be injured or die in service of those we protect. I may be limping now, but at least I lived. It’s only a bit inconvenient, nothing more, so please don’t trouble yourself over it.”

“Even so…”

“More importantly, do you plan to go rescue Lady Iris?”

“Yes. I have to bring her back.”

“If you’ll allow someone like me to accompany you… I’ll go too. I may not be as quick as I once was and might even hold you back.”

“It’s I who should be asking you for help. Thank you, truly.”

Sharhan bowed deeply, full of sincerity. His upper body bent to nearly a right angle. He had never bowed this way to anyone in his life.

Flustered, Rael quickly helped him straighten back up.

“You really don’t have to do that. The real problem is figuring out how to get into the castle. No matter how loudly the people outside cry, the gates won’t open. Even when the dead swarm and tear the people apart, the guards just watch from the walls. What kind of lord does that?! A marquis has a duty to protect his people! The Ailun Marquis is truly scum–”

Kuph cleared his throat loudly.

“What is it? You don’t want to hear that because he was once your master?”

Rael’s voice was firm, bordering on rebuke.

“I don’t mind for myself, but you should refrain from insulting the Marquis in front of the Young Master.”

“Young Master?”

“Lord Lestel. He’s the heir to House Ailun.”

“You are an Ailun?”

Lestel hadn’t shared his identity when hiring Rael, but now he nodded.

“My name is Lestel Ailun, and yes, the Marquis is indeed scum.”

“Y-Young Master!”

“Butler, don’t you agree?”

Kuph responded with another awkward cough. In truth, he likely harbored his own resentment toward the Marquis.

“The situation at the castle gates looked dangerous.”

Sharhan’s comment made Kuph look at him with gratitude.

“You’re right. No matter how careful they try to be, when people gather, noise is inevitable, and that draws the corpses. I’ve heard of several such incidents already.”

“Just like Sir Rael said, the corpses swarm, people scream and scatter, others fight back… Chaos unfolds again and again. And after each such disaster, the area falls silent for a while, but eventually survivors return.”

Kuph sighed, frustrated. Still, he understood why they risked everything to gather at the gates. The outside world was hell.

Starving to death or waiting in vain for the gates to open, only to be eaten alive, either way, the end was the same.

After a moment of silence, Rael looked at Lestel.

“Is there any way into the castle?”

Lestel shook his head.

“The only options are scaling the walls or breaking down the gates.”

But the walls were twice Lestel’s height, and they were made of smooth stone, nearly impossible to climb. The gates were even worse, reinforced for defense. Breaking them down was out of the question unless they had mana explosives.

Just as Sharhan briefly thought of Parel, Rael asked Lestel,

“Is there a secret passage? Most royal palaces and noble castles have them, meant for emergency escape. The castle of Lord Derman, who knighted me, had one. When we lost the land war, I used it to escape with his heir.”

That heir had later taken his own life, unable to bear the trauma of losing both his land and family. Afterward, Rael chose to become a free knight instead of serving another noble.

“A secret passage… do you know if there is one?”

Rael’s idea sounded promising, and Sharhan looked at Lestel with a flicker of hope.

“There might be… but I don’t know of any.”

Sharhan’s shoulders slumped in disappointment when–

“There is one!”

Kuph suddenly shouted. But he quickly added, before anyone could get too hopeful,

“I don’t know where it is. But I remember my father once mentioning a secret passage in the castle.”

Even if it existed, not knowing its location made it useless. Kuph looked sheepishly around at the disappointed faces, until something struck him and he snapped his fingers.

“Maybe Adam knows.”

“Mernang’s son?”

Lestel looked puzzled at the unexpected name. Why would the gardener’s son know about this?

“Yes. I’m not certain, but I heard that Mernang’s ancestor helped build the castle and was executed instead of rewarded. Supposedly, it was because he helped create a secret area that was never meant to be revealed. Maybe that was the secret passage.”

After all, the most certain way to keep a secret was to kill the one who knew it.