DIETHER, plagued by his conscience, ran after the young miss– who was dragged away by his father’s personal knights– and asked her about Sonata Florin’s urgent situation.

[“May I know what happened to Lady Florin, Miss?”]

[“Of course, Commander Hexford. Actually, Nata went undercover to catch a group of dangerous slave traders. She’s posing as a ‘flower’ in the Carnation Pavilion.”]

He knew ‘flower’ was a euphemism for ‘prostitute.’

But he didn’t know what the Carnation Pavilion was.

Fortunately, the young miss explained without him having to ask.

[“There are five pavilions in the Red-light District. We call it ‘pavilions,’ but it’s pretty similar to how higher nobles have their own territories. Anyway, our pavilion is called the ‘Marigold Pavilion,’ and our ‘matriarch’ is Madam Margo. We are the richest and the safest pavilion, thanks to Nata. But the Carnation Pavilion is the opposite– it’s the poorest and the most dangerous place in the district.”]

[“And Lady Florin is headed there alone to deal with the slave traders?”]

[“What else could we do? The royal knights don’t care about the Red-light District. Before Nata came to the district, we had to pay mercenaries for our protection.”]

He couldn’t say anything to defend the royal knights, so he just changed the topic.

[“Miss, tell me more about Lady Florin’s undercover mission and where to find her.”]

And that was how Diether ended up in the Carnation Pavilion.

The streets in that area were practically empty, except for some junkies who looked too high to even recognize the commander of the Avari Holy Knights.

Fortunately, the ‘pavilion’ was easy to find since it was just a big yet rundown restaurant.

There were some small-fry mercenaries who tried to stop him. But they were knocked out easily by his Aura alone.

He didn’t need to pull out his Holy Sword at all.

A Swordmaster like him could use his Aura like a weapon since it could suffocate people weaker than him.

He was fully prepared to do the same thing to the slave traders inside.

But he kind of panicked when he saw a man holding Sonata Florin’s hand.

He was also surprised that he recognized her right away even though she dyed her hair black. But he was even more surprised when his body moved on its own. Before he knew it, he was already holding Sonata Florin’s wrist while glaring at the slave trader.

“How dare you touch my fiancée?”

First of all, he was just as surprised as Sonata Florin because of what he said.

[Why did I call her my fiancée? Is it because I’m looking for a justification for coming to her rescue? I mean, I do feel guilty that my father abandoned Lady Florin just because I broke off our engagement.]

The slave trader let go of Sonata’s hand, then he raised his hands in surrender. “Commander Hexford, I don’t know why you’re here. But aren’t you going to get in trouble if people find out that the commander of the Avari Holy Knights stepped foot in the Red-light District?”

Diether flinched because he remembered the ‘Oath of Purity’ as a Holy Knight.

That meant Holy Knights weren’t supposed to engage in any sexual activities until marriage.

If people found out that the commander of the Avari Holy Knights was in the Red-light District, he would get in trouble.

[I can’t lose this position since I have to stick close to Francine in order to find Celeste.]

Sonata Florin gently nudged him. “My lord, did anyone else see you on your way here?”

Diether shook his head. “This place is practically empty. If your friend didn't tell me where to find you, I wouldn't even think about looking for you here.”

“Very well,” Sonata Florin said, then her eyes wandered around the room. “I guess we just have to get rid of the witnesses here.”

The bastards in the room shivered in fear.

“Lady Florin, is there a way to shut them up?”

Sonata Florin smiled at him. “Commander, the dead can’t talk. To be honest, I was planning to commit mass murder tonight anyway.”

“Do these people deserve to die without a proper trial?”

“Mr. Simon and those nasty old men have sexually assaulted at least two children, the youngest being only seven years old. I have solid proof, but these bastards are being protected by higher nobles. Hence, I thought it would be faster to just kill them instead of bringing them to the court.”

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Diether’s sky-blue eyes glowed menacingly. “Alright, let’s just kill them all.”

In his book, anyone who touched children inappropriately deserved to die the worst way possible– no questions asked.

[Human rights don’t apply to monsters wearing human skin.]

“You can’t be serious, commander,” the slave trader said, laughing nervously. “You’re the commander of the Avari Holy Knights. How could you speak about killing people lightly–”

The bastard finally stopped yapping when his head got cut off from his neck, then his severed head rolled down the floor.

Diether didn’t pull out his Holy Sword.

He took out his dagger– the weapon he would often use for his, uh, unofficial activities– and used it to behead the slave trader. Of course, he applied a bit of Mana in the dagger to make a clean cut.

To be honest, he thought nobody noticed his movements until he saw Sonata Florin smiling at him knowingly.

Right.

[Lady Florin is at least a Sword Expert so, of course, she could see my movements.]

“Ah, I’m sorry,” Diether said when he realized that Sonata Florin’s white robe was sullied with fresh blood. “I’ll pay for your clothes.”

The young lady just looked at him, obviously amused.

He started to feel awkward, so he changed the topic.

“Lady Florin, how do we get rid of the bodies?” Diether asked curiously. “I have a bad habit of dismembering my targets since that’s what I do to the monsters I catch, so…”

“Let’s burn the corpses to ashes later,” Sonata Florin answered while walking towards the old men who were yelling, crying, and begging while pressed against the wall. “You see, Commander, I’m into pottery. I can add their ashes to a glaze mix as a dry ingredient.”

He had heard that human ashes had many uses, but he didn’t expect Sonata Florin to have such a quirky hobby of using human ashes as a glaze mix for her pottery.

“Your hobby is quite fascinating, Lady Florin.”

Ah.

[Why am I smiling?]

Diether was about to cover his mouth with his hand when Sonata Florin suddenly turned around.

And the young lady was looking at him with a smile on her face.

But that smile quickly disappeared when a sharp object pierced through her neck. It was a slightly thick rod with a sharp end.

[A needle rod…?]

Diether’s eyes widened in shock. “Lady Florin!”

He tried to catch Sonata Florin, but she pushed him away using her purple Aura.

To say that he was shocked when he got pushed back would be an understatement. He even had to dig his heels deep into the floor just to stop himself from hitting the wall behind. The already cracked tiles on the floor got more wrecked as a result.

[I was… pushed back…?]

It was the first time it happened since he became a Swordmaster.

He thought Sonata Florin was still on a Sword Expert level because she didn’t pursue a career in knighthood. But he obviously thought wrong.

[Does it mean Lady Florin is also on the same level as me?]

Diether’s thoughts were interrupted when he noticed a dark figure behind Sonata Florin.

The masked man was covered in an all-black ensemble, but there was a familiar red crest on the black robe.

[Isn’t that the crest of the Scorpion Assassin Guild?]

The assassin grabbed Sonata Florin by the hair. “I’ll get rid of this woman and that Holy Knight,” he said to the old men who looked relieved by the assassin’s appearance. “You may escape now, dear customers.”

As if.

Diether touched his scabbard, ready to draw his Holy Sword. But he stopped when Sonata Florin suddenly laughed.

Yes, the young lady laughed while the needle was still stuck in her throat.

“I was waiting for you, bastard,” Sonata Florin said, pulling out the needle rod from her throat as if it was nothing. “I knew your guild is involved with Mr. Simon’s business.”

Diether flinched when blood sprayed from the hole in Sonata Florin’s throat.

[She shouldn’t have done that…]

He didn’t understand why Sonata Florin pulled out the weapon from her throat when she was supposed to be– at least– a Sword Expert.

But he soon realized why the young lady didn’t have any qualms with what she did.

As soon as Sonata Florin’s blood splattered on the assassin, the assassin suddenly gasped as if getting hit by blood knocked the wind out of him.

The assassin eventually fell to his knees while clutching his chest tight– then he vomited.

Diether also noticed that the hole in Sonata Florin’s throat had already closed up.

[How could she heal so fast?]

While he was too stunned to react, Sonata Florin moved once again.

She opened her hand, then the pool of blood on the floor began to move like a vibrating little puddle. Soon enough, the blood drifted up while taking a strange form. Much to his surprise, the final form was a small pickaxe– and it was made from Sonata Florin’s blood.

[It looks like a toy, though…]

His thoughts were once again interrupted by what Sonata Florin did next: she drop-kicked the assassin at the back of his head– immediately knocking him unconscious.

Then he belatedly realized something.

[Lady Florin didn’t need me to rescue her at all.]

Diether felt embarrassed for thinking that Sonata Florin needed him.

“My lord, let’s get this done and over with,” Sonata Florin said, smiling at him. “There are kids waiting for us to rescue them.”

Well, that was a good cause.

Diether turned to the old men who looked too shocked to move, then his anger was reignited. “Alright, Lady Florin. Let’s finish them quickly.”

After Diether and Sonata Florin were done, blood and severed limbs filled the room.

***

“MY LORD, please watch over this bastard for me,” Sonata said as she kicked the unconscious assassin in Diether’s direction. “I need him alive, so please don’t let him kill himself once he wakes up.”

They just got out of the restaurant’s secret back door.

And, right now, they were in an empty lot. There was a carriage covered in black magic in front of them.

[That’s my goal right there.]

Diether looked confused at first, but he nodded. “Alright. But don’t we need a mage to break the black magic first before approaching the carriage?”

“That level of black magic is easy to break.”

“Huh? I’m no mage, but even I could tell that the black magic in there would injure even a Swordmaster like me.”

She just smiled at the commander before she excused herself.

Then she walked towards the carriage engulfed in black magic.

She could tell that anyone who was foolish enough to touch the carriage would explode. It was a pretty effective black magic.

[But it’s nothing my blood can’t handle.]

Sonata casually threw the pickaxe made from her blood.

Her blood weapon hit an invisible barrier, and the contact was followed by a sound similar to breaking glass. It would have exploded if her pickaxe was an ordinary weapon. But since it was made of her blood, the black mage was simply nullified.

When her pickaxe ‘melted’ and vanished into thin air, the black magic also disappeared just like that.

She didn’t waste any more time and opened the carriage.

As expected, there were at least eight little girls inside– all in a terrible state.

[Those bastards deserve their gory death.]

Sonata hid her anger, then she smiled at the children who were looking at her with dead eyes. “Let’s eat some warm and delicious food, kids.”