A powerful impact coursed through his entire body, and his consciousness slowly surfaced. The moment his thoughts returned, the first thing Hugh did wasn't to scream or open his eyes.
Keeping them closed, he observed his surroundings without letting on that he had awakened. The Zeroth Knights were elites, subjected to all manner of training. Setting aside their Mana Material absorption capacity, when it came to accident response, they were second to none — not even to Treasure Hunters.
He regulated his breathing and took stock of the situation. His limbs moved. He didn't appear to be restrained. The dull ache lingering at the base of his neck was probably the main cause of his blackout.
He hadn't been careless. And yet, he hadn't even had time to counterattack. He didn't need to deduce who had done it. In a public thoroughfare like that, there were very few opponents who would strike a knight down without hesitation.
He had heard she was fierce and quick to draw, but the Mourning Specter — he never expected it to go this far. His assessment had been far too naive.
He steadied his breathing. The pain in his neck remained, but there didn't seem to be any bleeding. His fingertips moved as expected. No matter how Peerless Shadow operated, it seemed she wouldn't kill someone who had approached with a smile by launching a surprise attack.
The situation shouldn't be bad. Even punishment that would break an ordinary knight, even treatment severe enough to make someone fly into a rage — Hugh could endure it. After all, there had never been a noble who could deal well with Thousand Transformations before. He should have anticipated this level of obstacle…
He could do this. As he was telling himself that, a conversation reached Hugh's ears.
"Klye, this guy… he was looking at me with dirty eyes! He's definitely your enemy, right? Right?"
"?!? Huh?? Looking at me? Looking at me?"
"He… he's a fake pretty boy… fake…"
Liliz Smart's voice, rough and aggressive. A man's deflated voice, and a girl's bewildered voice.
Hugh's body was kicked with considerable force, sending him rolling across the floor. Then a foot clad in a cold Treasure Weapon boot stomped down on him hard. The special alloy armor — permitted only for the Zeroth Knights — creaked under the strain. She looked slender but possessed tremendous strength. Even among the Zeroth Knights, the highest-level knight order in existence, there were hardly any who could crush armor with sheer force alone.
Enduring the pain while pretending to remain unconscious, Hugh heard a heated voice.
"Hey, right? The fact that you're wearing a guard's outfit means you're not some nobody, right? It's not like I'm trying to kill you, but your eyes were weird — you're definitely an enemy, right?"
"Sister, c-calm down — calm down —"
What was she… talking about?
Hugh had only been looking. Granted, he did have ulterior motives, but he hadn't directed anything resembling murderous intent or even hostility at her. Weird eyes… really?
He had wondered whether there was some reason he'd been attacked, but he couldn't understand it at all. There were plenty of people who would stare at others in a place like that — did she always go around doing this?
He quickly suppressed the questions that had flared up in a flash. No good — he had to produce results no matter what. Chief Franz surely didn't expect anything from Hugh, but precisely because of that, achieving something here was meaningful.
Think. Making excuses alone wouldn't cut it — he had to find a way to get through this berserker's onslaught…
"Shut it, Tee! Hey! Klye, this is a great catch, right? Look, look, Klye! This guy — he's pretending to be unconscious when he's already awake! He's definitely up to no good!"
"?!?"
He'd been found out!?
The force of the stomp increased further, and Hugh hastily cracked his eyelids open. He tried to shift his position on instinct, but the vice-like pressure from above didn't allow even the slightest movement.
He couldn't breathe properly. Painful breaths escaped through his parted lips. What came into his field of vision were Liliz's glinting eyes, the black-haired girl who was her disciple — and a black-haired young man slumped deep into a sofa, wearing a somewhat vacant expression.
For an instant, Hugh forgot the pain. A plain-looking, unremarkable black-haired man who didn't seem particularly strong at first glance. The description matched what Chief Franz had told him about Thousand Transformations' characteristics, but even knowing that ahead of time, the young man simply didn't look like a Level 8.
This was — he couldn't bring himself to flatter him. Hugh, who had come prepared to throw away his pride and grovel. Hugh, who had heaped praise on every fool he'd ever met until they glowed. He couldn't find a single redeeming quality!
It was a perfect disguise… no — was this even really a disguise at all?
The information circulating about Thousand Transformations was far less than what was known about other high-level Hunters. Especially regarding his appearance, almost nothing had ever been said — and now he understood the reason perfectly. There was simply nothing noteworthy to report.
For that matter, no one would believe you if you described a Level 8 Hunter as a plain, forgettable black-haired, dark-eyed man, and it would only cast doubt on the judgment of whoever made the claim.
Thousand Transformations' gaze was directed at Hugh, but he wasn't really looking at him.
That serene expression — or, to put it negatively, the face of someone thinking about absolutely nothing — was unsettling to watch.
The ultimate "can't-be-bothered" face that no amount of flattery could reach.
What should he do? What was the right move? How could he curry favor with this man, escape this predicament, and achieve his goal?
Besides — why wasn't this man saying a single thing when his Party member was stomping on an innocent knight!? Hugh tried to raise his trembling fingertips, barely managing to lift them slightly, and tapped the floor. That was when Thousand Transformations finally stirred.
Wearing a vacant, empty smile, he looked at Liliz.
"Good, good. Good job. You did well, Liliz. Good girl, good girl."
"Heheh? Really? I did well?"
"Mm-hm. That's right."
This was a sight that even Hugh, who had seen all manner of Parties over the years, had never witnessed before.
There was a widespread image of Treasure Hunters as rough and uncouth, but among high-level Hunters, that wasn't necessarily the case. The certification level granted by the Explorer's Guild served as a guarantee of a Treasure Hunter's power and was one of the Explorer's Guild's pillars. Generally, the Explorer's Guild didn't grant high levels to members with serious personality issues. Many high-level Hunters were Solo, but those who led a Party almost always exercised perfect discipline through sheer charisma.
And yet — "Good girl, good girl"? "Mm-hm, that's right"?
This couldn't even be called discipline.
"Good, good, good, Liliz, good girl, good girl. Good, good, good."
"Hehehe. You know, I really wanted you to bring this one along, Klye!"
"There, there, good girl, good girl… that's enough talking."
"Then can I have a cursed item too? Like Luke or Lucia got?"
"There, there, good girl… there, there… good, good…"
The oppressive feeling vanished. Hugh pushed himself upright while clutching his chest, and what came into his view was Klye, with dead eyes, mindlessly stroking Liliz's head.
In that moment, Hugh genuinely felt as though he'd been struck by lightning.
Klye wore only a smile on his lips while his hand stroked her head in a mechanical, almost robotic manner — and Liliz's eyes blazed with life and vitality. Liliz was a Thief with skills sharp enough to read someone's true intentions from their gaze (though whether she read them correctly was debatable), so there was no way she could fail to notice Klye's state.
And yet, this reaction — that a battle maniac who could knock out Hugh in his full Zeroth Knight regalia without a moment's hesitation could change her attitude this drastically — what kind of power was this?!
Hugh, too, had worn many masks in his life and clawed his way to the top. That was exactly why he understood. Acting to manipulate people was difficult, but manipulating without acting was on a different level entirely — and to do it this carelessly yet still control someone so freely…
By what means had he trained Peerless Shadow to this degree?!
Forget gathering intelligence or whatever the mission was — in that moment, Hugh felt he finally understood why Thousand Transformations was spoken of as both a brilliant strategist and an incomprehensible enigma. The reason Hugh had always been fawned over was that his own abilities were valued — but what on earth made this man so adored?! What was it about him that Peerless Shadow liked so much?!
"My master wants to meet you too, Klye! Will you come?"
"There, there, good girl, Liliz, you're so good… there, there."
"N-nothing about that was good, Mastaa…"
Completely unmoved by the black-haired girl who looked utterly creeped out. The gentle smile and the flat voice — there was no mistaking it.
This Klye Andrich — he wasn't listening at all!
And he was expressing the fact that he wasn't listening through his entire body language. Even the most seasoned noble or merchant couldn't pull off an attitude like this. For that matter, they'd have no reason to.
Was this — the peculiarity of being Level 8?!
This thoroughly practiced, completely unmotivated attitude — and Liliz's devotion, unshaken even by that — hadn't been cultivated overnight.
He wanted to know. This power was different from any ruler's technique he had ever encountered; it was from an entirely different dimension. And with this skill, surely Hugh could climb even higher.
He wanted to know the secret of this power! If he stayed near this man, would he be able to understand its true nature? Could he make it his own?
Klye continued stroking Liliz's head while completely abandoning thought, yet to Hugh he now looked like a great man.
Then — for the first time — Klye's eyes settled on Hugh. He blinked slowly for a while, then gave a large nod and spoke to Liliz.
"Good, good, good, Liliz… go back where you belong."
"Aww, Klye, what about the cursed item?"
"Good girl, good girl…"
"What about my master?"
"…Good girl!"
Despite appearing to have absolutely no conversation going through whatsoever, Liliz peeled herself away from him and cleared the space. Klye wore a wry smile and crossed his legs with a kind of unhurried elegance.
In that moment, what filled Hugh's chest was deep reverence. His body straightened of its own accord, his palms pressed flat to the floor, and he lowered his head.
"Klye — please make me your disciple."
"Ahh, disciple, disciple, yeah. Mm-hm, that's right… huh?"
With a voice more vacant than any he had ever produced, Thousand Transformations responded to Hugh, who had — for once — forgotten his name, his composure, and everything else, and thrown himself into a full prostration on the floor.
§ § § How on earth had things ended up like this? Looking down at the knight bowing so deeply, I could only blink in a kind of daze, half-convinced I'd lost my grip on reality.
It had been quite some time since I'd come to the imperial capital, and people had asked me to make them my disciple before, but having a knight I didn't even know prostrate himself before me — that was a first.
Moreover, I hadn't particularly done anything this time. Trying to hide my bewilderment, I glanced around and caught eyes with Tino, who had come along with Liliz. Tino looked just as confused as I felt, and hastily spoke up.
"A-amazing, Mastaa… without doing anything at all, you made a proud knight of the Zeroth Knights kneel in prostration… as expected of… a Level 8…"
Rather than praising me, shouldn't she be questioning this person's sanity…? There was a distinct possibility Liliz had hit him too hard on the head when she grabbed him and dragged him here.
But Liliz herself wore a strangely smug expression. She'd knocked a knight unconscious and brought him here for no good reason, and yet she was perfectly chipper as always.
Leaving the still-prostrating, nameless knight to his own devices for the moment, I turned to deal with Liliz.
"Like I said earlier, what happened with Luke was a coincidence. The staff I gave Lucia just happened that way too… If you go saying 'I want one too,' I'm in a bind. I can't give you things I haven't earned."
Apparently Liliz had heard about the Luke incident and decided it was unfair that I was only doting on Luke. How old are you again?
Calm down. Everything you're saying is completely wrong.
I gave Luke the magical sword by pure coincidence, and it wasn't a reward or anything. What I gave Lucia wasn't a cursed item. And knocking out a knight and dragging him here isn't an achievement!!
There were too many things to retort to that I was already exhausted. And why was she going out of her way to seek trouble like this? She'd just been through a miserable time at the Martial Emperor Festival — where did all this vitality come from?
Every time Liliz went on a rampage, it would give Franz a headache. Did she even realize that?
Despite my plea, Liliz's expression didn't change. Her beautiful eyes sparkled with expectation. She was thinking I'd bring her more trouble once again. That was a terrible form of trust to have.
The Luke incident must have inflated her expectations. I'd known her since we were children — when Liliz got like this, no words could reach her.
I reached out my arm in peace of mind and scratched her head vigorously, thinking *memories, be gone.* "There, there, Liliz, there there there."
"Mmmph…"
What a terrible case of collateral damage. In the end, Liliz punching this knight would somehow circle back and become my fault too… I just knew it.
Tino watched her sister and me with flushed cheeks. And the knight in question staggered to his feet, eyes wide to their limit, trembling with emotion as he spoke.
"A-Amazing… This is… the Level 8 art of heart control…"
"Somehow, everyone around me is such a weirdo."
"…I-I'll refrain from commenting, Mastaa."
How on earth did he see that as heart control? If there were a method for controlling Liliz, I'd want to know it myself.
Fatigue washed over me, and I let out an involuntary sigh. Taking this in some way, the young man snapped his spine straight and saluted with an expression so dignified that any woman would swoon at the sight.
"I apologize for the late introduction. Hugh Legrand, member of the Zeroth Knight Order. By order of Chief Franz, I am now placed under your command. Please give me any orders you see fit!"
Well, that was unexpected… I hadn't been told anything about this? Wait, was it normal for a member of a knight order to be placed under someone's command? He'd heard of cases where they cooperated as partners on investigations, but how did things go from there to a formal knight being placed entirely under command?
And even if he was being proper now, it couldn't make up for the points he'd lost earlier. I wasn't saying anything because there was a real chance Liliz's punch had ruined things beyond repair.
Even receiving my suspicion-laden gaze, Hugh didn't change his expression. If it were me, the pressure would have made me look away. As expected of an elite knight.
Hmph… so Franz, you're planning to put me to work, aren't you? You've got some nerve. Didn't he know that an incompetent who actually works hard is the most troublesome kind of person?
No one would understand this, but I — with firm, unwavering conviction — had been doing absolutely nothing!
I crossed my arms, tapped my elbow with a fingertip, and put on a hard-boiled smile.
"…I see. Understood. Then for now, go find a cursed item to give Liliz."