An Abnormal Situation
Trouble brewing in Gracela, huh.
… To be honest, I wasn’t feeling too eager about it.
I mean, I’m the stationed knight of Curtis Village, and Gracela has its own local vigilante corps.
We’ve even dispatched knights from our side, I’m sure—so it would be pretty awkward for me to step in and act above them.
Knights do have a strong sense of territoriality.
Last time, I got involved because Reskel had been treated poorly, and it could’ve ended up harming the village. But without a reason like that, this was something I’d rather avoid.
“Gracela has a vigilante corps, right? Did you consult with them?”
“… They’re the source of the trouble.”
“What?”
That was something I couldn’t ignore.
Even Elina, who had just set down cups of coffee for us, paused mid-motion.
Her father was the Vice-Commander of the Knights Order.
He was unusually free of ambition for someone in upper management and seemed to live purely for justice.
If word got out that something like this was threatening the safety of the townsfolk, I shudder to think what would happen…
Ugh, no. I don’t even want to imagine it.
I needed to hear more details.
“So you're saying the vigilante corps is the cause of the trouble… what exactly did they do?”
“Well, it’s that… they’re not there.”
“… What?”
I couldn’t make sense of it at all and asked back without thinking.
“Sorry. Can you explain a bit more clearly?”
“Their station is completely deserted. As a result, there’s no one left to keep criminal activity in check, and now things are spiraling out of control…”
“That’s… unbelievable…”
Their station was deserted?
Is that even possible?
Shouldn’t this be reported directly to the Vice-Commander?
“… Elina.”
“Yes?”
“Can you get in touch with Peter?”
“I can’t say for sure whether he can come right away, but I’ll hurry him.”
“Good. When he arrives, explain what’s going on and have him report it to Vice-Commander Bellows. Also, tell him we need reinforcements immediately.”
“Understood. What about you, Senior?”
“I’ll head to Gracela ahead of time. If it really is in a state of lawlessness, I can’t just stand by.”
Why the entire vigilante corps had disappeared… I still couldn’t make heads or tails of it.
But for now, I had no choice but to go see for myself.
Until reinforcements arrived, I’d just have to hold the line.
What do you think about this chapter?
