In the square in front of the church, a sizable crowd had already gathered.
At this time of day, the streets were usually nearly deserted, so the only reason for people to assemble here was obvious.
The Knight Order had caught a cultist!
In Ashen City, no one didn’t despise the cults.
Due to its remote location and lack of strategic importance, this place had become a haven for cultists to run rampant.
Everyone living here had suffered under the cult’s curse, and only recently, after a cult leader was killed, had the cult activities quieted down somewhat.
Now, the captured cultist had naturally become the target of their pent-up rage.
Kesi Te was the newly appointed Grandmaster of the Ashen Knight Order, and he was visibly excited.
Ever since being assigned to this godforsaken place, he had been scheming on how to leave.
He never expected today’s achievement to fall right into his lap.
He knew very well that the cult leader was rumored to have hidden a forbidden tome.
If he could get his hands on it, he wouldn’t have to stay stuck in this hellhole.
Fortunately, it seemed the cult leader’s daughter might know something.
Thinking this, Kesi Te gave a glance to the Knights beside him.
Two immediately understood and brought forward a young girl under guard.
“Miss, if you truthfully tell us where your father hid that thing, I will apply for leniency on your behalf.”
Kelisi sized the girl up from head to toe.
“My father is not a cultist! Neither am I!”
Elvie struggled fiercely, her aura flaring to Second Rank.
Kelisi’s eyes brightened at the sight, his expression thoughtful.
At her age, already reaching Second Rank—most likely, that forbidden item was on her person.
Was it something that could rapidly enhance strength…
With that in mind, Kelisi narrowed his eyes and turned slightly, gesturing around with a smile, “Then, what do you think? Do they believe you are or not?”
Elvie looked up, stunned.
“Cultist scum, just die already!”
“Ugh! So unlucky!”
“A cultist wants to be a Knight? In your dreams!”
All sorts of filthy insults rained down on her, along with hateful glances that made Elvie’s hands and feet go numb.
She opened her mouth to say she wasn’t a cultist, nor was her father, but the words wouldn’t come out.
Even if she said it… would it really help?
Was her father… really a cultist?
Elvie felt dazed, doubting herself for the first time.
She didn’t understand why everyone hated her so much.
She only wanted to become a Knight like her father, only wanted to make her master proud.
Why…
“Could it be that all of us are wrong?”
Kelisi continued calmly, “If you refuse to confess, we might have to talk to people around you.”
At this, panic finally flickered across Elvie’s face.
She didn’t want to cause trouble for her master.
Just that morning, she had sworn she’d get first place. If her master saw her like this now, he would definitely be disappointed.
Thinking of her master’s disappointed expression, Elvie grew even more flustered.
Kelisi sharply noticed her expression change and immediately seized the opportunity: “If you confess and tell us where that thing is, I can guarantee leniency.”
Elvie’s gaze turned vacant.
Confess…?
Did she have any other choice?
She felt utterly alone in the world, isolated and helpless, as if she had fallen back into her beggar days.
Fear of the future weighed so heavily that she could barely breathe.
“As long as you tell me, I won’t bother anyone around you.”
Kelixi’s coaxing voice whispered in her ear.
“I…”
Elvie instinctively opened her mouth but was cut off before she could speak.
“What crime has she committed?”
A gust of wind swept through, and a cold voice rang out across the square, silencing the crowd as if the wind had swallowed their voices.
Kelisi instinctively took two steps back, gripping his longsword tightly, his gaze sharp as he looked at the man before him—who was holding a… dessert?
“You are…”
At that moment, the two Knights who had been holding Elvie suddenly collapsed without a sound.
To silently incapacitate two Third Rank Knights under these conditions, the man was at least Sixth Rank, someone who wielded the same rule fragments as himself.
An assassin class?
Yet the man’s eyes did not look at Kelisi but lowered to the girl in his arms, saying softly, “Sorry, master is late.”
Hearing the familiar voice, the last thread of Elvie’s defense finally broke.
Her grievances flooded forth like a tide, her eyes instantly wet as she choked out, “Ma… Master, I’m not… not a cultist, and neither is Dad… but they all say I am…”
The girl poured out her sorrow, her choked voice clear in the quiet square.
“Yes, you’re not.”
Leon let the girl lean against his chest, gently patting her back until she cried herself to exhaustion and fell asleep in his arms, seemingly the only place where she felt truly safe.
After soothing little Elvie, Leon glanced around and addressed the onlookers, “Do you all really think she’s a cultist?”
Though Leon’s voice was soft, it carried clearly with the wind to every ear.
Perhaps due to the overwhelming presence he exuded, no one dared answer.
A few slipped away furtively.
Leon recognized them—it was the same group from the first time he met Elvie—and with that, he quickly understood the situation.
“You have no proof she is a cultist. Just because someone said so, you drove a teenage girl to this.”
“Where is the difference between you and the cult?”
“Her father was a cultist, so she must be one? That makes no sense.”
Leon’s tone was calm, like a teacher’s.
He pulled a badge from his pocket and tossed it to Kelisi, saying, “I am the former Deputy Commander of the Royal Capital Guard Knights.”
Kelisi examined the badge carefully, and after a moment, under the gaze of the crowd, his expression darkened as he nodded, “It’s real…”
Damn it! How could such a big shot appear in this godforsaken place!
Kelisi’s face darkened as he handed the badge back.
Leon slipped the badge into his pocket and casually pointed at someone nearby: “What if I say you are a cultist?”
The person pointed at immediately panicked, stammering, “I… I’m not…”
“But I’m a Knight, and I think my words carry weight, don’t they?”
Leon’s voice remained steady as he continued, “So how will you prove you’re not a cultist?”
The person looked flustered, racking their brain but unable to say a word.
The crowd also fell silent.
Because they realized that if accused, they too could not prove their innocence; their only advantage over Elvie was that their fathers were not cult leaders.
“So you nearly killed a girl over baseless accusations, didn’t you?”
At Leon’s words, shame flushed the faces of the onlookers as they finally realized how foolish their actions had been.
“Of course, the problem isn’t with you.”
Leon turned to Kelisi.
“As Grandmaster of the Knight Order, what crime is it to hold a public trial without solid evidence?”
“Stripping the Knight title… banishment to a fortress…”
Kelisi’s face drained of color.
He knew the former Deputy Commander of the Royal Capital Guard Knights must have powerful backing—not someone he could afford to provoke.
He hadn’t expected his reckless haste to have such grave consequences.
Leon glanced at the girl in his arms, the marks on her face evident, then looked at Kelisi: “She just cried.”
“Uh… what?”
Kelisi was momentarily stunned, not understanding why the Royal Capital Knight suddenly changed the subject.
“As her master, I think it’s reasonable for me to give you a beating.”
Leon muttered softly, “After all, I’m very protective…”
Kelisi’s pupils constricted sharply, ready to react, when suddenly a heavy blow struck his abdomen, sending him flying back until he crashed into the church wall, coming to a halt.
Stones scattered everywhere, burying him beneath the rubble.
“Cough, cough, cough…”
Kelisi clawed his way out, feeling like every bone in his body was about to shatter, eyes full of terror.
When the man struck, Kelisi, a Sixth Rank, hadn’t even been able to react—if the blow had been fatal, he wouldn’t have survived.
But when he looked back to the crowd, the man and the girl had already disappeared.
The Knights around hurried forward to carefully support their fallen commander.
Kelisi’s expression was complicated; he deeply regretted having trusted a random passerby’s words. Now it was clear—the girl could not possibly be the cult leader’s daughter!
All he could do now was hope that the Royal Capital Knight would not make things harder for him after delivering that kick.
He grit his teeth and shouted to the Knights beside him, “Arrest the scumbag who reported this earlier! Charge them with spreading rumors!”
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