21 Exposed
"Your Highness, we did as you asked of us and we caught this person trying to leave the town just a few hours after your speech. We believe it is one of the people you were talking about." Brian and Greyhound brought a tied-up man to Roland's office.
"Good job you two, you have already atoned for your past mistakes. Now, what do we have here? Why were you trying to leave the town when the months of the demon are so close? Longsong Stronghold would not accept anybody from Border Town unless they were a noble which you definitely aren't." Roland said to two of them with a smile while reading a book before he gently put it down on the desk, taking a look at the tied-up man with cold eyes.
"Your Highness, is it a crime to leave the town?" The man asked with a frightened expression.
"...Answer my few next questions honestly for your own well-being. Have you ever killed anyone in this town?" Roland could easily investigate the man but it would still take some time so he decided to make use of somebody who is constantly begging him for Ice cream.
"N-No, never!" The man said and Roland felt 2 taps on his shoulder.
"I told you not to lie...Tell me why did you kill them, this is the last chance to save yourself." Roland calmly said.
"B-But Your Highness, I really didn-! ...It was late in the evening when I was returning home from the tavern, someone was trying to rob me and I panicked..." The man tried to insist on his innocence but once he saw Roland narrow his eyes, he quickly admitted everything, however, Roland once again felt 2 taps on his shoulder.
'How convenient...I just hope she doesn't fuck around but she doesn't seem like that kind of person.'
"Take him to the prison and interrogate him. Search the house where he is living and also ask his neighbors how long they know him or if they haven't seen anything suspicious around him. Also inform locals that if they find anyone suspicious and they will turn out to be a rat, they are going to be handsomely rewarded."
"Yes, Your Highness!" Brian and Greyhound replied in high spirits, taking the man who was shouting that he is innocent away.
"...Can I get Ice cream for helping you with this?" Nightingale appeared next to Roland and stood in silence for a few seconds before shamelessly asking.
"Sure, you can even try a new flavor, it will be sweeter than before with the small pieces of fruits inside." Roland unexpectedly agreed without using a tone that would suggest his annoyance.
"Thank you~!" Nightingale said in high spirits before disappearing.
'Maybe it was really a bad idea to give her ice cream...Anyway, there are enough parts to make the second musket but I must also test out its functions, I should use this chance to show the recruits our trump cards against demonic beasts' Roland thought before leaving the workshop with 2 muskets and a small carefully sealed box filled with gunpowder.
'The temperature of the bullet when fired should be high enough to make the gunpowder explode but just in case, I put it into a carefully sealed container where the pressure would be higher.'
"Inspection by His Highness!" The moment he appeared outside the wall, someone shouted and all the recruits formed a few rows, standing straight.
'Hmm, it has only been a few days but they already look more disciplined, however, this is not enough to keep calm during the life-and-death battle. Still, they have more than a month to improve, they have potential.'
"Greetings recruits, I came here today to show you all the new weapons we will be using during the months of the demon. Come, follow me...Iron Axe, can you call for a few trustable hunters that you know? Before anyone comes, here, catch!" Roland said, throwing 2nd musket at him and Iron Axe quickly caught it despite being confused.
Roland ordered someone to bring the knight's armor and put it approximately 500 meters away from them.
"This is our first trump card..." Roland said and took aim at the armor. He has never shot from the musket in his previous life so he made sure to try it out a few times before coming here to get the feel of the gun and to not humiliate himself.
*Boom* A loud sudden sound forced everyone to cover their ears. They were looking at the gun with dumbfounded expressions.
"Don't look at me fools, look at the armor" Roland said, getting rid of the smoke and reloading the musket for another shot.
"I-Impossible! This weapon made the hole in the knight's armor from such a long distance!" Carter exclaimed.
"Alright, I am ready for another shot, this time I will shoot from a shallow angle to show you something." Roland changed his position and pulled the trigger while aiming at the specific area of the armor.
*Boom* This time everyone was ready for the abrupt loud and resonating sound.
"...There is no second hole!" Carter inspected.
"That's right, the ammunition isn't sharp so it can be deflected however the force behind the bullet is so strong that it will stop anyone wearing that armor despite not penetrating it. It will probably cause internal bleeding or fractures in bones, depends on the place of the impact. Now on to the second trump card." Roland said and ordered once again someone to put the small box next to the armor.
*Boom* Roland fired but the sound of the musket was quickly covered by something much louder.
*BOOM!*
'Gunpowder is just a low explosive so I don't expect much from it, if I want to make some real bombs, I will need acids.'
"W-What was that?!"
"Look at the armor, it's completely charred and deformed!"
"Was that box capable of summoning lightning?"
Roland facepalmed when he saw everyone discussing a "lightning from the heavens"
"There was no summoning of lightning or whatever! What was inside that box can be created by anyone, even a farmer can make it as long as he knows how. Do you see that? That weapon can be even stronger than a witch itself yet it was created by regular humans without any powers!" Roland said, pointing at the small crater around where the armor used to stand.
"Is that truly possible?"
"What are you saying, that His Highness is a lair?!"
"No, that's not what I meant!"
"Yes, this is all possible with the science or in other words, alchemy. And the explosion of this weapon can't be affected by God's Stone of Retaliation. We can also mix sharp metal fragments inside which will result in large-scale damage to the demonic beasts standing anywhere near the explosion. There is also the third trump card but we will use that mostly on the aerial mixed species that caused Iron Axe that large scar. Iron Axe, I will quickly teach you how to use this gun named musket and then you will learn how to shoot accurately yourself along with Carter." Roland said before letting the recruits continue their training and then showing both Carter and Iron Axe how to use the musket. He told them everything they need to know before leaving.
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"Trouble!" Nightingale appeared next to him even before he could reach the castle with a slightly panicked expression.
"What is it?!" Roland narrowed his eyes, prepared for the worst...
"Nana's father found out about her secret!" Nightingale said and serious expression from Roland's face instantly disappeared.
"Huh? That's it?" Roland muttered with a disappointed expression but he was also relieved that nothing bad happened.
"What do you mean 'that's it'?! Come with me!" Nightingale shouted right into his face before dragging him to the castle.
'She really cares about her sisters, huh?' Roland thought with a knowing smile while being dragged by Nightingale.
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"Your Highness, where is my daughter?! Why was she directly let through by guards but I was stopped?!" A strong and sturdy man who looked more like a hunter than noble demanded in an enraged tone which slightly surprised Roland as this was the first time he was treated such.
"Let's talk like civilized people. I also haven't barged into your home and demanded something from you, right? I will call others along with Nana to come here, how about we take a seat in the meanwhile?" The first 2 sentences Roland said with furrowed brows before he suggested sitting down with a smile.
"...Yes, I apologize for my earlier behavior, Your Highness" Nana's father said with a slightly caught off guard expression. He most likely didn't expect Roland to have so strong authoritative air around him due to his well-known reputation among nobles.
"No offense taken. Cup of tea? It tastes even better after the day of hard work." Roland asked with a smile while inconspicuously looking at Pine's rough hands with a curious expression.
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When others finally arrived...
"Haha, the rumors are not to be always trusted, you taught me this today, Your Highness!" Pine released a hearty laugh.
"Hah, believing in false rumors isn't a crime but I prefer seeing and experiencing before judging anyone." Roland said with a smile and Pine nodded his head solemnly.
Nightingale, Anna, and Nana could only look on with dumbfounded expressions.
'Magic!' Nightingale thought since she saw how much Nana's father was enraged when he first arrived here, looking for his daughter.
"Ah! Nana, my little girl, you are here! Your dad is here, please come to me!" Pine's demeanor completely changed when he noticed Nana and welcomed her with open arms but Nana remained standing between Nightingale and Anna.
"...Will I be sold to the church?" Nana asked with tears forming in her eyes.
"What? What are you talking about, silly girl? Why would they want a little angel like you?" Pine asked, giving Roland a full understanding of what is going on here. Based on what Nightingale said to him, Nana's father already saw her use her powers so there is no way he is in denial. He was just trying to cover that fact.
Roland thought that after all those speeches he gave, Pine would know that he doesn't need to do that but Roland also couldn't blame him, after all, it was his own daughter he was trying to protect.
"Mr. Pine, your daughter is indeed a witch" Roland said with a smirk, already thinking of the ways how to tease and chase Nana's father to the corner.
Obviously, Roland's mental health wasn't exactly at its best after killing so many people in his previous life...it left a lot of scars on his mentality. As he previously said to Anna back when she was still in her cell...He was never afraid of death and in times he even hoped to fuck up on a mission and accidentally die but his own pride wouldn't let him die on purpose. His own survival instincts were defective, often leading him in making careless decisions without regard for the danger but that's also one of the reasons why he was able to stay alive for so long because no one could ever predict his moves.
Thankfully, this side of Roland was rarely showing as he now has to think about the well-being of more people than just himself.
"What are you talking about, Your Highness?!" Pine said with an enraged tone.
"It's the truth, father." Nana said in a low scared tone.
"There is no way, it must have been that guy named Karl who said this to you, right? Don't let his words get into your head, silly girl." Pine turned to Nana and said with a sweet smile.
Seeing this, Roland took off his gloves and set them aside on the table before grabbing a knife.
"? Your Highness?!" Both Nightingale and Anna shouted with wide-open eyes, but what Roland did next surprised them even more.
He actually made a shallow cut on his palm without any change in his expression and blood slowly started dripping on the white tablecloth.
"Nana, could you please...It seems I am a little bit clumsy." Roland asked with a smile, extending his hand to her, when Nana noticed Roland bleeding, her eyes widened, and quickly run up to him to heal him.
When she healed his hand, Roland looked towards Pine with a smirk on his face.
"...Your Highness- I-" Pine tensed up a bit, not knowing what to say.
"Haha, don't worry, Anna here is also a witch! I hope I didn't scare you too much, I guess some rumors about me being naughty are true, haha." Roland suddenly started laughing before nodding to Anna who showed her power to control flames.
'Just for a laugh, he actually cut his hand without hesitation...Even if Nana is here, the pain at the beginning is still there...It seems like there is a story behind his behavior. From the looks of it, he doesn't even perceive this behavior as strange...' Nightingale thought with a concerned look in her eyes before glancing at Anna who looked even worse, she looked really sad and upset.
'I will have to talk about this with him later...Now that I think about it...he never truly looked serious when in danger, even when I first met him, he didn't try to flee, it even looked like he was having fun observing and talking to me.' Nightingale thought.
