While everyone was murmuring among themselves, Kishiar opened his mouth with a face that hadn’t lost its smile.

“That’s quite interesting. I’d like to hear more.”

“Well, you see...”

Durney rubbed his forehead and furrowed his brows. He slowly continued, trying to recall everything in as much detail as possible.

“As you know, Mick came here right after stopping by the South to assist the Duke. Officially, it was to inspect ongoing business, but in truth, it was because the northern branches of the Shuden Merchant Group had urgently requested a visit from the leader. There were repeated incidents involving some wandering merchants clashing with Shuden’s people.”

Not all merchant groups operated with solid headquarters. Many small outfits roamed from place to place, selling assorted goods to make a living day by day. These kinds of merchants often sold trinkets that were uncommon in the local area but considered mundane elsewhere, and so they rarely clashed with established groups like Shuden.

But the group in question had been impersonating Shuden by selling counterfeit goods under their name. They kept to smaller territories to avoid detection, but their mistake was choosing to operate near Shuden’s actual stronghold in the northern city of Peleta.

Shuden merchants, upon discovering goods sold under their name, of course, didn’t let it slide. However, the fake merchants shamelessly fled each town the moment trouble started, only to pop up in another small territory and continue the same scheme. After this went on for quite some time, the Shuden merchants decided it was beyond their ability to handle alone.

That was why Mick had rushed back to oversee things personally.

“Mick told me he’d seen other peddlers selling junk under the guise of famous merchant names before. Usually, if they were caught and handed over to the local guards, they’d vanish after being given a harsh enough warning. But this group, he said, was unusually slippery and persistent. So the report was escalated.”

“And that’s when you went along with him?”

“Yes. If we had heard about it before Mick got involved, we would’ve helped from the start. I felt sorry that we hadn’t, so I went with him. I also spoke to Weliven and brought several knights along.”

“I remember. You requested my permission to accompany Mick’s group with some knights for a few days to ensure his safety.”

Weliven nodded as he added:

“We searched the territories where those wanderers had been. But we couldn’t find anyone.”

Once the knights of Peleta began to act, rumors must have spread. The wandering merchants vanished without a trace. Even after combing through all reported sightings, it was the same story.

“Mick believed they were terrified of the knights and ran with their tails tucked. After a few days with no signs of them, we assumed they were gone for good and withdrew. Mick left as well. That’s all there was to it.”

Until they revisited those territories on the map, marked again in red.

“...”

After the story ended, Kishiar turned his gaze toward Yuder in silence. Yuder gave the slightest nod in response to the gaze that met his.

That tiny signal alone was enough for the two to know they were thinking the same thing.

‘Suspicious merchants. And anomalies. The combination is far too reminiscent of those Southern Nation traders... and someone like Aton.’

Kishiar folded his arms and spoke again.

“I have a few questions, Durney.”

“Yes.”

“What kind of items were those wandering merchants selling? Did you hear anything about their appearance?”

At a glance, it seemed like a trivial question. But Durney, with that characteristic Peletan trust in Kishiar, answered earnestly.

“I heard they mostly sold tools like ropes and stakes, or charms and ornaments made from monster byproducts. The quality was so poor that people even questioned whether they were made from real monster materials at all—but since Shuden is known for that kind of merchandise, they probably said so to sell more easily.”

“Hm.”

“And about their appearance... there wasn’t much to go on besides that they looked ordinary. I heard they kept their faces and bodies mostly covered. But if they were new to the northern winter, wouldn’t it be stranger if they didn’t dress like that?”

“That’s true.”

“They spoke perfect continental standard, without any trace of a regional accent. So it was hard to guess where they might have come from.”

Kishiar let out a long breath. He looked around at his retainers as if having reached a conclusion.

“It’s hard to say for certain just yet, but I suspect those responsible for the incidents in the South may also be roaming around here.”

“What?”

A look of surprise spread across the faces of the retainers.

“If we can recover the items those wanderers sold and examine them, we’ll have a clearer answer. But for now, I doubt this suspicion will change.”

The silence, heavy with shock, was first broken by Weliven, face dark and grim. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

“So what the Duke is saying... is that some bastard is trying to turn our North into another South?”

Durney followed up immediately.

“Is it those merchant bastards? Should we catch them, skin them, and toss them into the sea?”

Their intensity was palpable. These were the same people who had protected the estate in Kishiar’s absence and fended off assassination attempts by Duke Diarca as if they were nothing. Their pride must have run deep. Now that they realized the anomalies might not be natural but man-made, their fury was enormous.

Even Shuseiner, who had been gracefully holding a teapot to refill cups, now wore a cold and hardened expression. Given how gentle and courteous she had always been before Yuder, her current look felt startlingly unfamiliar.

But Yuder, if /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ anything, felt a stronger sense of kinship with the people of Peleta because of it. Their ferocity and outrage came from confidence in their own abilities and pride in Peleta. He deeply appreciated the honest expressions and sharp gazes of those who understood the weight of what they protected.

At that moment, a soldier outside knocked on the door and called loudly.

“Duke. Guests from the Northern Cavalry Branch are requesting an audience.”

‘From the Northern branch?’

Kishiar lifted his hand to grant them entry into the meeting room. Soon, a few figures wearing black uniforms appeared. They were all members of the first generation Cavalry dispatched to the North—those who had remained at the branch rather than deploying to the South.

The one who stepped forward as their representative bowed.

“Commander, it’s good to see you.”

“Ishias. It’s been a while.”

“Yes. I’d been hoping to see you again once I heard you’d be visiting the estate, but I never imagined it would be under these circumstances.”

Ishias Keltara. The only notable thing about her affiliation with the Cavalry was that she had once been selected for the Red Stone Recovery Unit in a previous life, only to quietly resign afterward. She hadn’t been chosen this time, so naturally, there had been no reason for her to stand out again. Yuder had once suspected something unusual about her and the other past members of the Recovery Unit, but in the end, he’d dismissed it.

That changed slightly right before the second recruitment round, when they were assigning personnel to regional branches. All the former members of the Recovery Unit, including Ishias, had applied to go to the North.

It turned out they were either originally from the North, had close contacts there, or had personal reasons to go. From appearances alone, it had been hard to guess they’d choose the North, so it had come as a surprise.

Now that he thought about it, perhaps the Kishiar of his previous life had selected people connected to nearby regions so that if anything went wrong, he could “deal with them” quickly and easily.

‘If there’s no need to pick outstanding talent, that’s the more efficient route.’

Ishias gave Yuder, seated beside Kishiar, a faint look of recognition but didn’t offer a greeting. Both of them understood well that no matter how happy the reunion, this wasn’t the time for casual talk—so Yuder didn’t mind. In fact, if she had greeted him, he might’ve said something about it later.

“We came as soon as we heard news of an anomaly in Peleta. If you require our help, please command us.”

“Reassuring to hear. The situation has settled for now, but it’s still a time to remain vigilant. The fact that you arrived before we even called for you will make everything much smoother on our end.”

The retainers of Peleta didn’t seem surprised by the arrival of the Northern branch members. It appeared they were already familiar. After instructing that the Northern branch be briefed on the current situation, Kishiar adjourned the meeting.

“We’ll resume once the necessary matters have been dealt with and the information becomes more concrete. It’ll only be a few hours—take the time to eat and rest in the meantime.”

“Understood.”