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88. [Knights Order] Right Effort (2)

「I heard that Captain Sodom and Captain Gomora have awakened… But it seems that they are both saying, “We are not Sodom and Gomora”.」

「What?」

「They seem to be saying that they are the subordinates rather than the officers, but their appearance and voice are clearly the same as Captain Sodom and Captain Gomora…」

「…How many people were rescued from the underground on the day Marge Siu attacked?」

「There were twelve, including Captain Sodom and Captain Gomora.」

「From what I remember, there were 14 knights who were there including those two. So two people are missing.」

Sensing something strange, Kirmiji headed to the basement.

He opened the door to the third basement floor. Azula, the dwarf girl, was still tied up in the room where heat lingered.

The girl, whose whole body was covered in blood, seemed exhausted. But as soon as she saw Kirmiji, the look in her eyes changed to one that was neither hopeful nor frightened. Kirmiji ignored that and held up his right hand.

「[Placebo Master’s Golden Spoon], activate. The dwarf Azula cannot help but tell everything she has seen and heard since noon four days ago.」

「……!」

「Hmm?」

「…!……!…!!」

「She was originally a dwarf of few words, but this is…」

Her mouth was moving, but no sound was coming out. Kirmiji knows best that acting and deception won’t work in the face of his suggestion skill. Feeling that he had been bested, Kirmiji called out to his men waiting outside.

「It looks like her throat has been crushed. Please bring something to write with.」

A pen and a piece of board were brought to the iron bed. Since the nails on her right hand had been pulled out, her left hand was unchained and she was asked the same question again. It was not her dominant hand so she wrote with great difficulty.

Even so, the abnormality was obvious.

『Commander Kirmiji has informed us of an intruder. He led his subordinates to the first underground floor, and we managed to confirm by sight with a volley of crossbow shots. Next…』

「Commander, this is!」

「These are not Azula’s memories!」

While following the words written on the board with his eyes, Kirmiji couldn’t help but grind his teeth. The words “We have been deceived” struggled to leave his mouth.

「Marge Siu. You are evil…」

Kirmiji made him skip to the part with Marge. At the end of the fight…

『My body was remade by Marge.』

It was written so. His throat was crushed so that he could not convey the truth through words.

「Which one are you? Captain Sodom or Captain Gomora?」

『Gomora.』

「What about Captain Sodom?」

『I don’t know. When I woke up, I was the only one here.』

His subordinates were also agitated by the words on the board. The realization that they had made a huge mistake spread.

「Perhaps the Marge Siu who was taken to the mine by the dwarves is…!」

「If that Marge is Captain Sodom, then the Marge Siu on the ground mentioned in the report is the real one!」

Without needing to even be told that, Kirmiji turned on his heel. He quickly issued instructions to his subordinates as he left the room. There was anger in his eyes, but there was also some composure.

「Are you trying to compete in a contest of wits, King of the Werewolves, [Skill Lender]? I don’t think you think you have any chance of winning.」

Hearing a clatter from behind, Kirmiji turned around. Gomora, who was still tied to the bed, was desperately writing on the board.

『Help me. Please let me out here』

「Captain Gomora, I give you your new assignment.」

「…?」

「Pretend to be Azula until the real Azula is secured or dies.」

「…!?」

「You lost to the leader of the demi-human because you lacked effort. Spend the next few days as Azula, and take the time to reflect on your own unworthiness. Oh, don’t worry. It seems that the knight with your face has begun to show signs of returning to normal, so I am sure that you will return to your normal self after a while.」

「……!…!!」

As Gomora silently tried to express something, the knight who was listening from the side saluted earnestly.

「Commander, what about our “guests”?」

「If we don’t call them, we will run out of funds.」

「…!!!」

「Remember that you are on duty until you return to normal or until Azula is brought back. Don’t worry, there is another subordinate who looks like you, so if it’s just a matter of showing your face, there won’t be any suspicions.」

「…!…!?…!!」

The iron door closed with a creak.

Just as the door was about to close, Kirmiji thought he heard a curse towards Marge Siu and turned around, but… recalling that Gomora doesn’t have such advanced skills and can’t produce a sound in the first place, he left.

「Select seven knights and have them search the underground. If Sodom is the fake Marge, there is a possibility that he may be leaking information as he can’t be killed due to the suggestion skill.」

「Understood!」

The next day, a report came in that something that looked like Sodom had been discovered in the mine shaft. Although his injuries were not life-threatening, he was unconscious and was vomiting the same food that was fed to dwarves.

The report Kirmiji received stated that there was evidence that he had the same face as Marge. Putting it away in his ledger, Kirmiji sat deeply in his chair and let out a sigh.

He could see that his subordinate was also confused by this unusual situation.

「Captain, what shall we do from now on…?」

「Nothing. I think Marge is trying to drive a wedge into our Order…but the same goes for him.」.

「What do you mean, sir?」

「It means there are things that he hasn’t noticed yet. For example…」

Killmiji stopped speaking and turned to the sky. The blue sky spread out as if to bless him.

「He can’t even imagine that the girl he thought he rescued is still under my suggestion!」