A man blocking the lead vehicle of the northern convoy wedged his hand through the half-open window. He roughly pushed it fully open, then bent at the waist, rested his arms on the window frame, and said to the driver:
“We received a report that a suspect in a heinous crime in Barmot’s central area has stolen a black military vehicle and fled. Please cooperate with the inspection.”
The man, delivering it in a monotone as if playing a recording, gestured with his chin for one of his companions to go to the other side without any detailed explanation. Another man who went around the front bumper to the passenger side similarly shoved the half-open window aside.
They were wearing the Imperial Knights’ formal uniform, ivory fabric embroidered with golden thread. The simple insignia on their chests indicated they weren’t high-ranking, but the elaborate decorations and heavy epaulettes on their shoulders stood out. Their extremely commanding tone and somewhat forceful behavior subtly revealed the arrogance that came with their power.
The knight who had slipped his arm through the passenger side to unlock the vehicle said in a lowered voice as he opened the door wide:
“I’ll check the interior.”
The driver looked around with a bewildered face. The expression he wore as he glanced back at his colleague showed he didn’t know what to do.
The Council member sitting in the passenger seat stopped the knight who was poking his head in and responded firmly, making his displeasure clear:
“What is this about? Are you suggesting we’re traveling with that suspect?”
“...We’re checking as a precaution in case he might have hidden himself. It will only take a moment.”
“No, why would a fleeing suspect hide in a Council escort? It doesn’t make sense.”
“...”
“We have a duty to quickly transport urgent injury cases to the imperial capital. A forced inspection without an official cooperation request is a clear overreach of authority and an obstruction of official duties. If anyone suspected of being the culprit is found, we’ll handle it on our side, so please clear the way now.”
The Council member spoke, gesturing with his chin toward the six or seven fully armed knights blocking their path.
They were waiting in a line, split on either side of the barricade, but unlike the two knights standing close by, their entire bodies were covered in armor. Moreover, their posture—watching from atop their horses without dismounting—not only went against the etiquette of inter-agency cooperation requests but also carried a strangely pressuring feel.
As the Council member pointed out these issues and refused, the two knights peering into the interior from both sides met eyes across the vehicle’s body.
They let out a hollow laugh, as if finding it troublesome. The knight braced at the driver’s side window frame slapped the vehicle’s body with his palm.
“As the suspect is both vicious and clever, he might have deliberately aimed for such prejudice. Haven’t you heard the saying that it’s darkest under the lamp? We apologize for the inconvenience, but we also need to handle this matter quickly. If you cooperate willingly, we can let you go soon. Someone you should know well...”
“The Council maintains a constant distance between vehicles when moving, so no other vehicle can slip in between. And in the rearmost vehicle, there’s a military–”
Beep–
The knight who had been focusing on the “rearmost vehicle” briefly shifted his gaze at the signal. A man’s voice came through the public radio.
–Move out.
It was an utterly plain ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ single sentence.
However, one could tell from the voice alone that the speaker was displeased.
The Council member in the passenger seat pressed the transmit button as if tattling and quickly replied:
“Battalion Commander, we’ve received a request for an unannounced inspection. They’re saying a suspect in a heinous crime fled from the slums, and he might be hiding with us, so they’re demanding cooperation out of the blue...”
Click–
Before the Council member could finish, a door opened from one of the vehicles behind. A Council member who got out of the passenger seat of the third vehicle from the front went to the back seat and carefully pulled the door handle.
The two knights and Council members who had been locked in a battle of nerves all turned their heads that way. A pair of polished combat boots appeared beneath the opened door. A well-kept pair stepped down in order.
Then a man with dark green hair rose and came out of the vehicle. The waiting Imperial Knights watched him in silence, stopping all movement. Meterion, with a deeply annoyed look on his face, walked steadily toward the lead vehicle.
His gaze was cold, and his expression showed annoyance rather than hostility. He stopped in front of the knight at the passenger side.
Then he stared directly at him without saying anything. The knight looked tense, but didn’t avoid his gaze either.
Meterion, facing him, sneered with furrowed brows:
“These days, do the Imperial Knights have no concept of propriety?”
“...Pardon?”
The adjutant who had followed quickly rummaged through his inner pocket and held out a cigarette to the Battalion Commander. As soon as his superior took it, the adjutant lit a lighter and, shielding the flame with his hand, brought it close to the cigarette tip.
Meterion, lighting the end with a nod, took a long drag and then blew the smoke directly into the knight’s face.
The knight wrinkled his face and hurriedly turned his head. As he took a step back, Meterion asked:
“Who do you dare to look at straight in the eye?”
*****
Drooping tree branches lashed the car window. The vehicle body also jolted roughly over the uneven terrain.
Occasionally, when the steering wheel was turned sharply, the wheels lifted slightly as if about to tip over. The two escort vehicles traversing the rough forest path, relying only on a single fog light, realized that the sounds of their pursuers were no longer audible after moving southeast for about ten minutes.
SCREECH–
The driver who hit the brakes stuck her head out the window and looked around. Occasional animal cries sounded in the quiet, eerie fog. She took off her glasses and drew a deep breath, pressing her back firmly against the seat.
“Whew...”
Her navy-blue combat uniform was soaked with sweat and clung damply. The hair she had fixed with determination had already come loose. Wiping the beads of sweat from the bridge of her nose with her sleeve, the driver parked the vehicle as if hiding it behind a large tree.
“It seems something’s caught in the wheels, so I’ll do a quick maintenance. Thirty seconds will be enough.”
Hugo, who had been observing the movement of water particles in the air, nodded without answering while staring at the rearview mirror. At that, the two in the front seats got out of the car at once, and Hugo looked down at Leonardo’s face in his arms.
The medicine prepared by the medical officer seemed to be working well, as Leonardo lay quietly against him. When handing it over, Hugo had felt guilty for not mentioning the sleep-inducing component in advance, but seeing the current situation, he thought it had been right to put him to sleep.
‘We’ve created some distance, and if we can completely shake them off by escaping south...’
While constantly revising plans in his head, Hugo unconsciously pressed his lips to Leonardo’s forehead. He then carefully brushed back the hair he had mussed, gently supported his neck and head, and laid him back down on his lap.
Just then, the driver shook a spray can and sprayed something over the windshield and windows. The glass, turning as dark as her glasses, blocked light and outside gazes.
After removing debris from the wheels and replacing the front bumper, the two boarded the vehicle again.
“We’ve partially modified the exterior and changed the license plate, just in case. The car behind us will follow the markers we left, so you don’t need to worry too much.”
Hugo nodded at the driver’s words and replied:
“If you go straight for more than 2km in the 1 o’clock direction, there’s a place where the water density decreases. I heard there’s a wide forest path there, so let’s go that way. Seeing how boldly they’re chasing us, it might be better to go somewhere without obstacles and shake them off with a speed advantage.”
“Yes, understood.”
The driver, who had firmly closed the car door, opened the window and signaled her colleague to take the lead. They needed a lead vehicle to act as a shield so they could slip out of the pursuers’ sight in an emergency like before.
Communication with those who had volunteered as decoys a few minutes ago had been cut off due to the distance between them. Although they were capable individuals who could probably handle a crisis well, Hugo still worried about their whereabouts, which couldn’t be detected in the fog.
However, if they hurried to escape the area of influence, the others could also shake off pursuit and catch up. So, hopefully, there would be no problems on the southeastern path. The two escort vehicles, which had regained stability thanks to the maintenance, busily made their way out of the dark forest track.
After driving straight for about 2km, a road wide enough for three vehicles to travel side by side appeared.
The sparse tufts of grass were all flattened, as if this was indeed the path the support troops had taken. The dirt was red and exposed, and wheel tracks from wagons and escort vehicles ran along the road.
Even if pursuers followed the tracks here, they wouldn’t be able to accurately deduce the exact direction of escape. The lead vehicle carved small markers—recognizable only to them—on trees for their colleagues who would follow.
After watching ahead and confirming no one was there, they signaled to the rear and began to accelerate.
The driver of Hugo’s vehicle also gradually increased speed, following the car in front. As the road widened, the undergrowth fell farther away.
The water droplets floating in the air also gradually thinned as they evaporated in the strong sunlight. The two vehicles gliding smoothly held their speed as they rounded a curve.
At that moment,
SCREECH, SCREECH–
“...”
The wheels of the front car, mid-turn, stopped abruptly as if stuck in the dirt. The car behind, which had deliberately widened the distance between vehicles, also hit the brakes in time.
Although there was no movement or signal from the front car, everyone understood the situation without needing it said aloud.
“My lord...”
In the distance, a makeshift checkpoint could be seen. Nine armed knights were waiting for them.
