NOVEL NEXT Chapter 10: Lockdown
People who were confused or curious, gathered at the source of the voice.
Upon coming to the vicinity, they saw a group of armored knights who wore a full metal plate painted with gold layer.
The captain, who wore no helm, had a scar on his left eye, his grey hairs showing his age, and an emblem in the center of his chest plate depicting a roaring lion.
He was draped with a red cape as he looked at the crowd sternly with resolute eyes.
After seeing a sizable crowd has gathered, he opened his mouth.
"Hear this commoners! The news of Baron Aaden, the direct descendant of Duke Charles Windhelm, has been assassinated. Therefore, the duke has ordered a lockdown in this city until the culprit has been found!" His thunderous voice echoed throughout the city square.
Though this lockdown being acted 1 month after his death was odd, the cause of the long delay could be explained due to the vast distance between Broad Meadow and The Capital.
Without rushing, a horse ride between the two places will take 2 weeks until the news of one of his children's death arrives to the Duke.
'Things had just started to become peaceful. My past karma seems to have followed me here.' Blade thought internally.
Most commoners knew why the knights were gathering the commoners instead of the wealthier nobles; they knew of the Baron's devilish action but didn't do anything about it.
It is not until his death that they finally acknowledged that the connection between the assassins and a commoner is likely to be an act of revenge.
'Should I overthrow the King and become an Emperor once more?' Blade absentmindedly thought before throwing the notion away.
She is not what she used to be and does not want to lead a life of action once more. Living a normal life seems to have shown many pleasures she has yet to discover, or maybe she is scared to be bored once more after reaching the peak, wasting her life away on a dream she knew was pointless.
The captain looked at the crowd's reaction, most containing a hint of shock at the word "lockdown", which meant people could not enter or exit, blocking trade routes and adventurers making money from hunting monsters.
The crowd cried in protest, but most were restrained as the entourage of fully armored knights blocked them.
A couple of words later, the crowd was dismissed, and most people cursed them under their breath as the knights went to investigate the mansion where Baron resided and was eventually assassinated.
Walking back to her house, Blade saw a familiar figure sneaking behind her.
"What do you want?" She turned to Kanski who was disappointed getting caught so easily.
"Aww, do you have eyes behind you or something? It's like you can see anything within a certain radius around you." Kanski turned to look at her blindfold and realized something.
"Ah, so that's how you always 'see' me." He nodded in understanding.
"You expanded your mana to feel the terrains around you! Though it's weird, I never felt your mana touching me." With a proud face, Kanski finally solved the 1 month untold mystery of Blade.
Blade, who was quietly listening, decided to leave as it seemed Kanski was only here to greet her.
"Wait wait wait, I want to talk to you about the 'thing'." His eyes pointed at the knight who was leaving for the mansion.
"Why not visit my house? My sister has been dying for you to taste her new dish. You won't let her down, will you?" Remembering How Kanski's sister's dish was always delicious and she hadn't eaten anything, Blade agreed to talk about how to solve the lockdown situation over dinner.
~~
Arriving at Kanski's house, it was a simple two-floor house with the second level containing two bedrooms and a bathroom, as well as the base floor containing a kitchen, a dining room, and a fireplace to warm the house for the winter.
Kanski leaned on the wall beside the door and knocked on the wall.
"Welcome to the Bleash household! This house has been standing here for 70 years, almost celebrating her 71st birthday." Looking at the unimpressed Blade, Kanski coughed before entering the door.
"I'm back sis, look at what I've found on the street." Kanski dragged Blade into the house, showing her to his sister who was cooking in the kitchen.
Aurel, who was focused on cooking, turned her attention to Kanski.
"What did you bri-." A shocked expression was plastered on her face.
"O-oh Miss Blade! I-I haven't dressed up yet." She looked down to see her dressed in a revealing clothing meant for sleeping and an apron rather than something more presentable.
A blush grew on her face as she stuttered longer.
"I-I'll b-be right back" Her dark figure disappeared on the stairs as her black cascading hair followed suit.
"Huhu, seems like you've captured my sister's heart as well. You know you're a heart stealer, capturing mine and my sister's. Quite greedy, aren't you?" A small blush came to his face, however, Blade ignored it as she sat on the dinner chair.
Kanski, who saw no reaction, wondered if Blade has no interest or is devoid of any feelings at all.
Sighing after another attempt at getting close to Blade failed, he dejectedly sat on the chair facing Blade.
Sighing once more, Kanski placed his hands on the table and interlocked his hands.
"Now, let's talk about how we should get rid of the knights." His serious tone was dejected from his usual playfulness.
"Honestly, I have no idea how to get rid of them. I took care of the evidence that would point to our direction but also gathered the documents about Baron's misdeed." Kanski stood up from the chair and crouched down to a certain wooden floorboard. After pressing at a certain angle, it opened a hole where a stack of papers was inside.
Putting the papers on the table, it contained documents of illegal tax raise, bribery to the church, expenses to create a cover story of the missing women he kidnapped, and many more.
Counting each paper, it could almost be counted to a hundred, and having this many misdeeds without being found out is an achievement in itself.
"So, what do we do with these? if we give these to the knights, it will end up in a fire and we'll be silenced for 'treason'."