“...No wonder.”

“What is it, Medrauta?” Riku asked, frowning.

“It’s a poison made from the root of jansem, a plant that only grows in the empire,” Medrauta explained.

As a knight, she had been forced to learn and memorize all sorts of poisons commonly used throughout the empire. While it was a topic that she’d thought was useless since a proper knight would never allow for their charge to be poisoned or employ poison themselves, she now found herself thankful for not falling asleep in class.

Medrauta set her implements aside, retrieving a bottle of alcohol and cloth from her bag. In order to determine what sort of poison Sakura had been affected by, Medrauta had been forced to draw a small amount of blood from the foreign noblewoman.

While Riku observed the silver-haired knight sanitize and bandage the small wound on her lady’s palm where blood had been drawn, he grit his teeth, cursing himself for his own incompetence. As Sakura’s knight, he should have been able to protect her from being poisoned in the first place, and failing that, he should’ve known how to treat her.

“...Thank you, Dame Medrauta. I am forever in your debt.” Riku bowed his head.

“Are you now?” Medrauta raised an eyebrow. She could feel Sakura’s hand tug lightly against her sleeve, but she paid the noblewoman no mind. The knight already knew what the foreigner’s intentions were, after all. “In that case, I’d like to cash in immediately.”

“I... What would you have me do?”

“It’s simple, really. Remain as Lady Sakura’s knight and don’t embarrass yourself any further by proposing your resignation once the two of you are alone.”

Medrauta’s words had struck him harder than any physical blow could’ve. Riku flinched, speechless for a moment. “I... I wasn’t—”

“You were.” Medrauta met the foreign knight’s gaze, her unwavering blue eyes hard and sharp like cut sapphires.

As a knight, she understood the feelings of failure festering in Riku’s heart and the burdens that they brought. Even now, she was mentally berating herself for allowing Viviane to be put into the dangerous situation with that man from aboveground, but Medrauta had sworn that they would never be separated again. No matter how much she hated herself for her mistakes, she would not seek to renounce her vow. The only option she had was to push herself and improve.

“...Fine. You’re right.” Riku admitted. “But I have good reason to do so. I... My unpreparedness nearly cost my lady her life. If it were any other noblewoman, they would have perished already. Lady Sakura was only capable of surviving for this long due to the technique that her family developed. Worse yet, I’ve left my lady’s life in the hands of another knight...”

“Not so,” Medrauta said as she began returning the medical supplies to her bag. “I merely identified the type of poison that she’d been subject to. I haven’t treated the poison at all.”

“W-What!?” Riku exclaimed. “Why not!? She may still be capable of walking now, but if—”

“Calm down, Sir Riku. Do you really think I would take away your opportunity to reclaim the honor that you’ve lost?” Medrauta shook her head. “You seem to have forgotten that I too am a knight.”

“T-Then...”

“Indeed. You will be the one who concocts and administers the cure to Lady Sakura. You... do know how to brew an antidote, yes?”

“Of course!” Riku responded in a rather heated tone, the tips of his ears red from embarrassment.

He’d been prepared to utter a retort, but stopped himself the moment he saw the smirk on Medrauta’s face, realizing that the silver-haired knight was merely trying to rile him up as a form of encouragement. Instead, he merely clicked his tongue in annoyance.

“...So where must I go to obtain the ingredients for this antidote?”

“Helfried.”

Both Medrauta and Riku turned to Viviane, surprised at her sudden insertion into the conversation. The blonde noblewoman reached into her bag almost delicately, rummaging through its heavy contents until she managed to find the tome she required.

Contrary to clothes and other fineries that would’ve better befitted a lady’s luggage, Viviane had chosen to bring with her a detailed encyclopedia on the Revelo duchy among other books. Though she had Medrauta as her tour guide, it was the first time she’d actually visited another duchy and she thought it might come in handy sooner or later.

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Plus, as an avid reader, she wasn’t willing to sacrifice her reading time even if she was sent on a mission. After all, she had managed to secure the next volume of Our Flower Garden—the most popular romance novel in the empire—just before leaving and she wasn’t going to let it go unread.

“The ingredients required are alsam nectar, feldin seeds, and a ground petal from a blinhda flower. The closest location where all three ingredients can be found is in Helfried.” Viviane explained as she stopped on a page and laid the book next to the two knights.

The page she had flipped to displayed a double-spread map of the Revelo duchy. Though the map was slightly dated, it wasn’t an issue since the relevant locations were still accurately placed. Viviane tapped on the city of Helfried, drawing Medrauta and Riku’s attention.

“Here. Helfried is between Orinth and Dietrich, meaning it’ll take around a day for us to get there assuming we journey unimpeded, but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Even if soldiers come to intercept us, I doubt they’ll be able to take on two knights at once.”

Medrauta nodded, impressed at Viviane’s expansive knowledge. Viviane had been reading the book intermittently throughout their journey, and though it contained a wide range of helpful geographical information such as herb varieties in certain regions, it didn’t exactly cover poison or antidote recipes.

“...How in the world did you even know the antidote for jensam poison?” Medrauta asked. As far as she knew, such topics weren’t exactly part of the curriculum for nobles at Avalyne Academy and

“It’s a pretty commonly used poison in the empire,” Viviane shrugged. “My mother used it a lot for her... activities. We always needed to keep a few bottles around the house just in case.”

Medrauta nodded in understanding. “Ah. That makes sense.”

Riku frowned, a flicker of confusion passing through his eyes. He wasn’t exactly sure why a duke’s wife would be using something like poison frequently or why she needed antidotes, but he didn’t think that it was an appropriate time to ask. There were more pressing issues, after all.

“We should head there immediately, then. I imagine it will take some time for me to gather the ingredients.” Riku said.

“More importantly, the sun’s beginning to set. I think the coachman’s gonna get nervous if we’re not back by then. It’s not like there’s an inn to stay at here in Orinth anyway,” Medrauta remarked.

“...And it’s not like I’d be willing to stay in one either.” Viviane said, touching a hand to her neck almost unconsciously. It’d only been a little over an hour since they’d left the man on the surface and the memory of the glass shard being held against her neck was still fresh in Viviane’s mind.

Medrauta nodded in agreement to Viviane’s statement and stood up, picking up her bag and walking closer to the entrance to give Sakura and Riku some room. Due to its underground nature, the room they were in was rather small, and it certainly wasn’t built to house four people at once. They’d managed to cram themselves inside, but it’d be difficult for Riku to help Sakura move around if they were all crowding the bed.

“We’ll wait outside,” Viviane said considerately. Though she still hadn’t really had a chance to speak with Sakura yet, she understood that it was far more important for the noblewoman to get treatment before anything else. Besides, there’ll be plenty of time for us to catch up once she’s better!

“Oh, good idea, Viviane. I bet Jack’s getting bored out there anyway.” Medrauta grinned as she opened the door carefully, making sure that the area outside was clear before allowing Viviane to step through. After what happened with the man on the surface, she wasn’t going to let her lady walk in front of her so long as they remained in this lawless city.

“So, how’d everything go?” Jack asked. He was leaning against the wall and taking intermittent swigs from a bottle that he’d somehow managed to find while Viviane and Medrauta had been inside the room. The pair didn’t know what was inside, but it smelled rather foul.

“We’re going to be leaving immediately. Can you guide us back to the surface?” Viviane asked.

Jack nodded slowly. “I can. Not the best time for it, though.”

“It’s urgent.”

“...Right. Well, I s’pose we’ll just have to take the gamble, then.”

Medrauta frowned. She didn’t like where this was going. “Gamble? What gamble?”

The moment she saw the grin that split Jack’s face, Medrauta regretted asking at all. In fact, she could already tell that whatever the man was going to say would not only be inconvenient, but highly unpleasant.

“Tell me, miss knight... Have you ever heard of the Rat King before?”

Medrauta froze. There wasn’t a single knight in the entire empire who wasn’t aware of the Rat King’s tale. Rumored to be a former knight who had been exiled for some heinous crime several years back, the “Rat King” was a warrior of tremendous talent and fierce temper who quickly rose to prominence amongst those who dwelled in the empire’s underbelly.

In fact, his exploits were so gruesome and cruel that they made their way to the surface, eventually even forcing the Imperial Knights to execute a formal search for the man. While many knights in the Imperial Order claimed to have encountered or even fought the Rat King, none had actually succeeded in capturing him. Instead, they only returned with grievous injuries.

Medrauta swallowed, nodding. “...Yeah. Of course I have.”

Jack’s smile only widened. “Then you should know when the sun begins to set... That’s when the Rat King roams these halls.”

That sole statement made Medrauta hesitate, but only for a second. She had stared death in the face before and survived. She alone stood against the witch with her lady’s aid, and right now, Viviane was beside her. Gently, she took Viviane’s hand into her own and squeezed it gently, drawing courage from her lady’s touch.

She had stood strong even in the face of a witch. Compared to that, a mere king of rats was nothing. Medrauta returned Jack’s grin with a confident smirk of her own.

“We’ll take our chances.”