chapter 37
The girl watched everything.
The Emperor watched the scene where the new knight, whom he had ordered to monitor his every move, was unilaterally mocking his opponent during a duel with another knight commander.
I watched him, a rookie who had just joined the Order, defeat the Commander of the Knights who served His Majesty the Emperor, as if it were a given.
I watched the clean attack movements without any unnecessary details, the defensive movements that deflected all attacks, and the continuous movements that flowed like water.
And the Emperor watched it all.
"… … Have you checked everything, Your Majesty?"
On a tree overlooking the entire training ground, a girl with a black hood pulled over her upper body and wearing black leather clothes underneath muttered to the air.
Blink, her eyes blinked once against her will. The girl nodded as if she understood.
Beneath the eyelids, a pair of sharp golden eyes shone.
The girl bowed her head politely into the empty space, then lowered her head even deeper as if someone was giving her an order.
"Yes, I understand, Your Majesty. I will do as Your Majesty wishes."
This time, the girl blinked her eyes of her own volition. When they opened again, the place where her golden eyes had been was empty.
Literally, it meant that there was nothing where the pupils should be. There were only two empty black eye sockets, which gave the viewer the creepy feeling.
Even though she couldn't see anything in front of her, the girl slowly began to descend from the tree, stepping on and holding onto each branch with familiar hand and foot movements.
There was no fumbling or flailing. At first glance, the sight seemed more stable than that of an ordinary two-eyed person.
After a while, the girl who had been sitting on the ground quietly lowered her posture. Then, without moving, she listened to the sounds around her.
The sound of the wind blowing through the trees. The sound of leaves rustling. The sound of branches swaying back and forth. The sound of the girl herself breathing in and out.
No other human sounds were heard.
This time, it was fortunate that there was no need to deal with the witness. The girl thought as she prepared to take it out if necessary, and she neatly sharpened the dagger that had been hidden under her wrist and put it in her waistband.
The girl's attire was extremely deformed. She wore a black hood pulled all the way over her head, and a black leather suit that clung tightly to her body.
As for the bottom, she wore tight leather pants that were shorter than men's boxer briefs and it was hard to tell if they were underwear or pants, so the line of her pelvis was clearly visible.
Even though she clearly wasn't wearing shoes, her feet were strangely clean.
'There are still no people...'
The girl, who had once again confirmed by voice that there was no one around, took off the necklace, held it in her hand, and activated it. It was an artifact that His Majesty the Emperor had given her.
The clothes he was wearing began to change. The hood, leather armor, and leather pants that had a clean, high-quality feel were gone. Instead, a tattered, extremely dirty piece of cloth appeared.
As the hood disappeared, the hair that had been neatly hidden inside bloomed. Black hair that barely reached her shoulders, contrasting with her pale skin, swung around her neck.
The girl was naked.
Her small chest, collarbone line, firm abdomen, soft sides, feminine private parts, and slender thighs were all exposed, but there was no sign of shame on her face.
The girl briefly pressed down on the piece of cloth with a nearby rock, then threw herself onto the dirt floor and rolled around with all her might, covering herself in dust. The dirt and sand clung to her.
After rolling around like that for a while, I got up. The girl who had been neat and tidy just a moment ago was gone, and all I could see was a dirty girl with disheveled hair and a body covered in dirt and dust.
'I need to work on my clothes too.'
The girl, who had become a beggar in an instant, picked up a piece of cloth that had been crushed by a stone and rolled it mercilessly on the dirt floor. When she was done, the piece of cloth looked like rags.
I wrapped it around my body. I covered my thighs, my waist, my chest, my arms, my shoulders. The last part I wrapped around my head, hiding my face and my hair.
'Perfect.'
Although she could not see it with her own eyes, the girl was confident that she looked no different from a beggar on the street.
True to her confidence, the girl's current appearance was indistinguishable from that type of person.
It was hard to imagine that just a moment ago, she had been spying on someone, wearing the finest leather clothes and showing off her beauty that could not be hidden.
The only difference, if any, is that despite being a beggar covered in dirt, he was unable to hide his uniquely pretty facial features.
The girl searched around and snapped off a branch of a suitable thickness and length. She swung it around in the air. This branch seemed like it would be good enough to use as a walking stick.
In fact, I could have walked around like a normal person without anything like this, but for what I was going to do from now on, I had to look like a normal blind person.
'His Majesty's last order was... ... to keep a close eye on the new knight without letting anyone know my identity at all costs.'
The golden knight was just bait anyway. There was no way he would really keep such a fool on guard duty. He seemed to be excited about being given an important job, but His Majesty didn't even expect it anyway.
Just one thing. If he sent it to the Knights of the Silver Dawn, he would be unable to overcome his own personality and would find fault with the new recruit, and the Emperor's plan was right.
Thanks to this, I was able to observe the skills of the new reporters even more closely, so I felt like my job was done.
The girl, who had covered even the lower part of her face with the remaining cloth, began to move forward, holding a small wooden bowl in one hand and deliberately leaning on her cane.
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I left the small forest inside the city and slowly entered an alleyway along the path I had memorized while standing on the tree. I heard people around me whispering about the girl.
Of course I didn't care at all. I came down here to look at you with those eyes.
'think.'
A girl stopped at the end of an alley, leaned against the wall, crouched on the floor, and hugged her knees to her chest, placing a wooden bowl in front of her.
To anyone who saw him, he looked like a perfect beggar begging for money, but of course, his real intention was not to beg.
'Those knight commanders pass by here regularly.'
This was the conclusion I reached after observing the entire city for two days with my 'eyes'. The knight commanders patrolling the city always took the same route. And the road right next to this one was that route.
They just started patrolling, so they'll be passing through soon. The girl kept her head down, feeling the ground vibrate softly with each step people took.
I deliberately chose the place with the least amount of people. Except for a few beggars, there were hardly any people passing by.
I have already memorized their strides and voices. Now all that's left is to wait.
'....'
How long had it been since I had buried my face between my knees, waiting, feeling only the vibrations of the ground, when I finally heard a voice from far away that I remembered.
The girl pricked up her ears and listened carefully to the voice. It was a cold and calm voice.
'Iris is on the right. Erica is on the left.'
Finally, the girl, having finished her task, quietly got up, holding a cane in one hand and an empty wooden bowl in the other.
The girl, who had been quietly standing against the wall waiting for the knight commanders to approach, jumped in front of Iris and Erica just before they passed the alley.
"Whoa!"
And then, he bumped into Erica and rolled on the floor on purpose. He rolled on the floor, breaking the cane and not forgetting to throw the wooden bowl far away.
"Huh, huh? What just happened—"
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please forgive me! I'm sorry!"
Before Erica could even begin to comprehend the situation, the girl lay flat on the floor, bowing her head and trembling in an attempt to look as pitiful as possible.
Erica froze as she saw the girl shaking like an aspen leaf with her head bowed, and Iris, who was carrying the wooden bowl that had rolled away, also froze.
"Hey… … You don't have to be so nervous. I don't have any plans."
Erica said carefully.
The girl raised her head with a very sad expression. Erica and Iris flinched as they saw a face with only two black holes where her eyes should be.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I, I haven't eaten anything for a few days, so I'm hungry… … ."
Erika and Iris looked at each other awkwardly. She was a girl who couldn't even see. Of course, Erika or Iris should have noticed it first and avoided it. It was clearly their mistake.
"… … What should I do, Iris?"
"Me too… … I'm not sure. Since it's our fault, I think we should help."
"Then should I take you to the castle? Since you haven't eaten anything for several days, I'll tell you to fill your stomach at the restaurant first."
"That would be best. I'll take care of the remaining areas. Erica, you take this girl to the castle."
"Okay, Iris. Uh… girl? Can you stand up?"
The girl, who had heard that she would be taken to the castle, lowered her head and raised the corners of her mouth so that they would not see her.
Erica and Iris too. They were shocked by her appearance and the girl's pitiful and pathetic apology, so they were too focused on comforting her and didn't notice one thing.
No matter how suddenly it appeared, Erica was not the type of person to collide with a beggar. If it had been an ordinary beggar, Erica would have noticed it first and easily avoided it.
The fact that this accident happened because the girl in front of them approached them so quickly and stealthily that even their intuition could not detect it.
Those two didn't even notice.