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Th-then, what are you doing?

Oh... Usually people stop asking when I answer like that. You...

Never mind. I screwed something up a while ago and now I have to deal with it.

Five Knight-Assassins were made while hunting a target. Then they disappeared.

The Armorless Union w-went missing?

...Are you really prepared to know the truth?

I... I have no other choice.

Really.

Pay close attention to the 'Pinus Sylvestris Knightclub' then. They're more than just competition knights. They openly... oppose the Armorless Union.

...The Radiant Knight has returned?

Word on the street is she descended from the skies and rescued Maria.

Rescued?

The Knights Association... No, it probably came from higher up. They arranged that match for Maria. The audience all believed that it was just a thrilling performance, but those with discerning eyes could tell...

They were going at it for real. If the Radiant Knight was any later, Maria would be dead.

...Are they giving up the game already?

Maybe we gave them more credit than they deserved. These things happen in every season of the Major——They don't care.

What they care about doesn't matter. I never expected them to understand, but to think they don't even want to keep up appearances...

What's important is that in Kazimierz, no one cares.

They're telling people we're out of competition for a while because of a training accident...

...That's ugly.

'That's ugly.'

...Pfft. Hahahaha. Hey, what the hell's up with that? Isn't that totally good for us?

If they had gone through the National Council instead of scurrying around in the dark, we'd really be in trouble.

You... You let yourself go after just relaxing for a bit.

Mhmm... Our opponents couldn't wait any longer and acted first, but ended up giving us the win instead. How could I not be happy?

When those two finish their jobs, we'll finally get to the main point.

What? Didn't you get your fill in the arena?

Tch...... The more I cross weapons with that trash, the more I hate those knight nobles. What disgusts me the most is that I used to be one of them.

*Sigh* So complicated.

They don't have a penny's worth of dignity or faith. The knight nobles are total sellouts now.

Don't get yourself worked up. This topic always does that to you. Don't worry, they'll get what's coming to them.

Though, before that, we should straighten out the enemy right in front of us.

——The Armorless Union.

We'll expose them out in the open for all to see, yeah?

Hey Margaret, how long has it been since you've been home?

Your room is still as it used to be! I clean it all the time... Oh, I think we sold the furniture though...

B-but, it's fine! At least——

Maria, just seeing you all makes me feel like I've returned home.

...Margaret.

Maria, your equipment...

Oh! I went and borrowed your old stuff... Hehe, how is it? Fits me nicely, right?

Yeah, it's a nice fit. You've really grown up.

Hehe... I'm as tall as you now.

You've worked hard, truly. I wasn't able to talk with you properly in the arena earlier...... I've really missed you, Maria.

Ehh... Sis, you're making me embarrassed...

You've fought alone until now, but you survived, you've persisted.

I was aware what kind of impact my decision back then would have on Uncle and you, but I never thought that you would——

Margaret!

There's something you absolutely have to do, that you'd never back down from, right?

...Yeah.

Then you didn't do anything wrong!

Besides... I was never able to become like you, tough inside and out...

But I've started to understand. At least, I can think about what Aunt Zofia has always said... I can think about what a knight truly is.

Even though I still couldn't become like you... I've been able to get where I am today, with everyone's help!

If there were ever any beliefs that I held on to, they came from you! Because I too am a member of the Nearl family!

B-But, Margaret, you can't ever leave again, not like how you left six years ago...

I'll follow you this time, no matter what happens to us in the end... I, I believe in you.

Maria, you... Heh, you've really grown up.

...E-Ehh? Where did all of that come from...?

Anyway, just go upstairs and have a look——

...Margaret.

Uncle... this is...

Keep quiet.

Margaret. What did you come back for?

Don't you know what it means for you to appear here?

You rescued Maria... But why did you return to Kazimierz?

Do you know how much your father and grandfather sacrificed to 'send you out'?

Yet you dare to appear here so brazenly... Do you think that the Association and the corporations aren't watching your every step?

...I will join the Major.

Impossible.

I will retake the glory that belongs to the knights.

Glory is meaningless.

Meaning is in the eye of the beholder.

Kazimierz has changed. They have changed.

—Yet I'm still here. We're all still here.

Don't be greedy... Margaret.

I imagined you would calm down after leaving Kazimierz... But this is your answer?

You're wasting my time.

Uncle...

Enough.

In the time I've spent talking to you, a mountain of documents has piled up waiting for me to handle. Don't interrupt my work...

Leave Kazimierz before things turn worse. You've made a life for yourself elsewhere, just don't come back anymore.

Uncle! How can you say that?!

Maria.

Margaret...

Uncle Młynar, I understand your decision. I still respect you just as I did back then.

I also hope for your support.

—Understand?

You know nothing of what I've seen, what I've done. Yet you still hold on to your idealistic thoughts...

I was once lucky enough to catch a glimpse of hope. I have also experienced the shadow of war.

I'm merely choosing to continue believing in my faith, and to fight for it.

...Kazimierz will not change one bit, no matter how much the Radiant Knight sacrifices, no matter how much she wins.

Of course. Of that, I'm very clear.

Even so...

Even so.

...Draw your blade, Margaret.

U-Uncle?!

If you insist on being so stubborn, I have no choice but to to teach you how to 'give up' the hard way. To fall by my blade is far better than falling into the shadow of the Armorless Union.

...As you wish.

Those stupid competition knights are just a bunch of trash willing to be manipulated for the sake of money.