Chapter 611

“How dare you, a mere spy—!”

The man who had just been slapped across the face glared fiercely.

Madam Danit had caught a clue in the word “spy.” It was clear the royalist faction had discovered the issue with the inferior weapons. Otherwise, there would be no reason to threaten Kayla’s safety.

The man sneered as he looked down at her, but Danit paid him no mind and struck his other cheek again.

Smack!

“How dare you spout such nonsense? Spy? Who do you think has kept you alive all this time to talk to me like that?”

“Are you out of your mind?”

One slap might be forgiven, but not two. Just as the man reached to grab Danit’s hair—

“Ahem. Let’s settle this with words, shall we?”

Nakina firmly grabbed the man’s arm, stopping him.

That was why Danit could speak so boldly. No matter how many men attacked, they couldn’t overpower a single mage. And standing behind her was the head of the Magic Department himself. As the lady of the Hallinga dukedom and overseer of Burgos’s weapons trade, she had every reason to believe her safety was guaranteed.

Hale, curious about the commotion, loosened his cigarette and glanced around.

“Settle this with words? After I just took two hits?”

“Let the past be the past. What matters is what comes next. Lady Kayla—is she here?”

“No, damn it. But who the hell do you think you are, talking down to me like that?”

Smack!

The man roughly shook off Nakina’s hand and raised his other fist.

Nakina lightly placed two fingers on his forehead—

“Want a flick on the forehead?”

Ziiing! Ziiing! Bang!

She released a small burst of magic.

“Ugh!”

The burly man collapsed unconscious, but Nakina’s tone was casual, as if nothing had happened, raising an eyebrow.

The soldiers tightened their grip on their weapons, surrounding the three of them, ready to spring into action.

“So this is the fuss. The lady has returned.”

At that moment, royalist faction leaders appeared from inside the mansion. Could Kayla be with them? Danit’s eyes darted quickly, but her daughter was nowhere to be seen.

“Care to explain what’s going on here?”

“What’s there to explain? You know full well.”

One of the royalist leaders tossed a sword in front of Danit. It was one of the inferior weapons supplied by Hallinga.

Danit slowly lifted her cold gaze, and the royalists stared back. The elder leader, who seemed to be the main figure, glanced at Nakina and Hale.

“Mages, you are to stay out of this. You serve the Emperor, not Hallinga. This is a noble’s problem, manipulating Burgos. If you get involved, it will be seen as the Emperor’s will. Is it truly the Emperor’s wish to push the people of Burgos, who defend Rankvis’s legitimacy, into the abyss?”

It was true—the Emperor’s will. The royalists knew this well. Hallinga and Burgos had traded weapons for ten years. That such an incident happened during wartime could only mean the palace was involved.

But openly declaring this was a different matter altogether.

“The royalists have already decided they cannot oppose Bariel. So they intend to cut down the troublesome Hallinga family. Since Hallinga is the most powerful dukedom in Bariel, taking them down might give the palace a chance to negotiate.”

Hale crushed his cigarette between his teeth and glanced at Nakina. She seemed to be thinking the same thing.

“Hallinga uses the royalists as a stepping stone for their ambitions, and the royalists want to drag Hallinga down to negotiate with the palace? Is that right?”

“The process may be unclear, but the goal is the same.”

“So, what should we do, Captain?”

Judging from the royalist leader’s words, if they handed over Lady Danit willingly, there might be room for negotiation over the occupation of Kalamath. Avoiding unnecessary bloodshed and opening the gates peacefully would ease the war’s toll on both sides.

But asking outright would put Danit’s safety at risk.

“Wait a moment.”

While Hale and Nakina pondered, Danit sensed the shift in atmosphere and opened and closed her fan. The gesture seemed to sever any alliance between the royalists and the mages.

“You keep calling me a spy, which is highly offensive. What exactly is the problem with the weapons? Let’s hear it.”

“What did you say?”

“Speak up with that big mouth of yours.”

Danit’s feigned ignorance was absurd. Kayla was already captured—who knew what kind of confession had been forced out of her? Hale and Nakina doubted such a tactic would work, but one of the leaders’ eyes twitched slightly.

“Madam Danit, your shamelessness is truly disgusting. You say that even after seeing these cheap, faulty weapons?”

“Cheap? Faulty? Ha! What nonsense. Have you forgotten? It was your own royalist troops who transported the weapons from Bariel here. You lot were saved from going into battle empty-handed, and now you complain?”

With a swift motion, Danit picked up a sword lying on the ground.

“If there’s a problem with the goods, shouldn’t you investigate everyone involved and clearly identify the fault? I’ve traded with Burgos for ten years—ten whole years! How long have those who transported the weapons been around?”

The supply officer, suddenly singled out, shook his hands nervously.

“No, no. She’s just a crazy woman running her mouth.”

“Everyone knows, don’t they? That someone inside the army has been siphoning off supplies for profit, big or small. During wartime, it was hushed up to protect morale, but two years ago, those involved were punished. You all remember—the five bodies hung at Kalamath’s gates.”

Some soldiers sold off supplies to support their families or bartered with outsiders. Everyone with a family did it to some extent.

But once, someone stole entire crates for profit, and as Danit said, those caught were executed under military law.

“Who knows if the Hallinga weapons were swapped out for these cheap knockoffs? Are you really that sure?”

Danit’s firm stance drew bitter laughter from the royalist nobles.

“Stop the theatrics, madam. You’ve lost all dignity. If the supply officer was involved, you wouldn’t have noticed? Don’t forget, you and your daughter were the ones who first inspected the weapons upon arrival at Kalamath.”

“The weapons we inspected then were definitely top quality. That’s why I say this. Captain of the Magic Department, test this.”

Danit handed the sword she’d picked up to Hale, nodding as if to say, “Go ahead.” Hale hesitated briefly, then struck the sword against the wall.

Ching!

Clang!

He struck hard several times, but the sword didn’t break easily. Among the cheap weapons was a small number of high-grade blades. Danit raised her head proudly.

“The weapons my daughter and I inspected were definitely top quality.”

“Don’t spout nonsense. Looks like you found a decent sword after all. No matter how much you struggle, you won’t get away. You can’t cover the sky with your palm.”

“Exactly! And if she’s truly not a spy, why did Kayla run away?”

“Since she confessed, you’d better kneel before Burgos and apologize. Remembering old ties, we might spare her life.”

You can’t cover the sky with your palm, but you can blind their eyes. Danit opened her fan with a flourish, letting the breeze play through her hair. Now was the crucial moment.

“…She confessed?”

“Yes.”

“Then bring her here. Show her to me.”

A confession? Don’t be ridiculous. Kayla would never, ever confess. Danit pointed with her fan, as if she’d caught them in a lie.

“I won’t believe it until I see Kayla confess with my own eyes. If she didn’t, then what exactly did she confess to? This is the worst kind of slander!”

If Kayla were brought before her, everything would be easier—confirming her safety, even rescuing her through magic. Though the mages seemed hesitant, Danit was confident she could persuade them. So, show me my daughter. Danit’s eyes flashed as she glared at the royalist leaders.

They seemed to catch on to her plan and began whispering among themselves.

“Ahem. That’s not possible.”

“Why not? Didn’t you say she confessed? If you suspect me—or the Hallinga family—without evidence, you insult the palace that granted you your business rights. Let me remind you again: I have just come from an audience with His Majesty, the Emperor of the Great Empire Bariel.”

Danit’s bold declaration made the royalists’ faces harden.

The wizards remained silent, just as they had from the start, watching the situation unfold without adding a single word. But what if the narrative shifted to Vargas stirring up accusations to strike down the Holrin family? How would the emperor interpret that?

“All this fuss over just one sword, madam,” someone remarked.

“It’s only natural to make a fuss when you’re wronged. Otherwise, who would even listen to you?”

“Seems like there were some decent weapons mixed in among the low-quality ones. But we’ve already confirmed that a significant number of the soldiers’ weapons here are faulty. Investigations are underway inside the gates of Kalamath Castle as well. According to the latest reports coming in, Madam Danit, the count has already passed a thousand.”

Hail and Nakina glanced at the lady. Judging by how things were unfolding, the ‘game’ Danit was setting up looked quite effective. In other words, that claim about Vargas’s royalist faction deliberately spreading false accusations—

Whether it was true or not didn’t matter. What mattered was that it served a purpose.

“Perhaps we should take the lady and the royalist nobles with us for now? I think Ian would be more than willing to handle that.”

“I agree.”

It was also the only way to protect Madam Danit without provoking the royalist faction’s backlash.

Just as the two were about to step forward, Madam Danit pointed her fan at a royalist leader.

“You said over a thousand?”

“Yes. There’s no denying it.”

“I never intended to deny it in the first place. If the Holrin family’s fault caused defects in the weapons, then they must pay the price.”

Look at that. What kind of trick was this? When the royalist leader frowned, Madam Danit quickly added, raising her voice:

“That is, if those weapons were indeed supplied by the Holrin family.”

“What are you implying?”

“The Holrin family personally crafts all their weapons using their own unique techniques. If I examine them myself, I can determine whether the problem arose during transport or if it originated with the Holrin family.”

She twirled her fan lightly as she gave her order.

“We will conduct a full inspection. Collect all the weapons and bring them back. I will verify them myself and take responsibility. Royalists, just as you wish.”