Martin and the members who had gone to hunt the Winter Queen returned to the encampment.

The other members who had stayed behind to wait at the encampment tried to welcome the returning leader, but soon discovered something strange.

“Huh? I don’t see Vice Captain Yulia and Deputy Commander Karl.”

With those words from someone, confusion spread among the members.

“Oh, that’s right? Where are the two of them?”

“Surely not…”

“Nah, it can’t be. Deputy Commander Karl usually just uses his ability from a distance away from monsters. And Vice Captain, well, there’s no need to even mention how strong she is. There’s no way those two could have had an accident…”

Karl’s role was to use his healing ability to treat other members from afar.

It was extremely rare for Karl to get injured.

The same was true for Yulia.

Although she got minor injuries relatively often from fighting at the very front, she had almost never been in danger of losing her life.

So even seeing the empty spaces where Yulia and Karl should have been, the other members thought there was no way an accident could have happened to those two.

More accurately, they refused to believe an accident had occurred.

That Yulia, who had always taken care of everyone with her stoic face, that Karl, who had always supported everyone with his friendly attitude, had met with an accident.

Martin quietly stood before the members who were becoming engulfed in such confusion.

Then he spoke.

“Karl… betrayed us.”

The noisy members fell eerily silent at those words.

Martin continued speaking.

“He joined hands with an enemy targeting Vice Captain Yulia, and using that enemy’s power, he kidnapped the Vice Captain, then tried to deceive us by making it look like she had lost her life in an accident.”

“…”

“For that reason, with the full consent of the members who were on the expedition with me, I used my authority as Knight Commander to strip Karl of his knighthood and carried out his execution.”

In reality, Karl had taken his own life using poison, but Martin did not reveal that fact.

For a knight, it would be a terrible dishonor to betray one’s comrades and then choose suicide without even putting up resistance.

It was Martin’s final consideration for Karl, who had contributed to saving the lives of the members until now.

“He will not be returning. And Yulia—”

Martin barely managed to squeeze out the words that were stuck in his throat, unable to come out.

“From what we’ve confirmed, Vice Captain Yulia is currently beyond the rift. With her ability sealed and without any weapons.”

The eerie silence was once again filled with a buzzing commotion.

The situation was already confusing enough with Karl betraying the members and being executed.

But now Yulia had not only been kidnapped, but for some reason had ended up inside the rift.

The important thing was not just that she had entered the rift.

The problem was that she had entered without being able to use weapons or her ability.

All members of the Silver Knights Order were well-versed in rift operations, so they knew what this meant.

Amidst everyone keeping their mouths shut, someone asked in a quiet, muttering voice.

“Then… is she already… dead?”

Only one person muttered those words out loud, but everyone was thinking the same thing internally.

That if Yulia had entered the rift without weapons or her ability, she was likely already dead.

An even deeper silence than before filled the space between them.

It was then that someone broke the silence with an icy calm voice.

“The Vice Captain is alive.”

Elma, who had said those words, then pushed through the members and came forward.

She spoke again in front of Martin.

“She’s not someone who would die easily. The Vice Captain is definitely alive. She’s alive… and waiting for our help.”

Right after finishing her words, a sigh tinged with sadness flowed from Elma’s lips.

To Elma, Yulia was an irreplaceable existence.

She was a reliable senior and colleague, an advisor, and a friend.

Elma still could not accept the fact that Yulia, who had led her with such dazzling strength, was dead.

“We must hurry. We must hurry and rescue Vice Captain Yulia.”

Martin nodded at Elma’s words.

“I agree. There’s no time to dawdle. Even at this very moment, Yulia is beyond the rift, swallowing her pain day after day—”

“Uh, Captain. I have something to report.”

Just as he was about to launch into a long speech, one of the members cut in with those words.

Feeling slightly annoyed at being interrupted at such a serious moment, Martin asked the member.

“What is it?”

“We’ve captured a suspicious person who was wandering nearby. He won’t answer when we ask about his identity, which seems very suspicious. Would you like to interrogate him yourself?”

“A suspicious person…?”

Could it be a spy sent by Ernant?

Or just a civilian?

As Martin continued pondering, he quietly asked the member.

“Where have you put him? This suspicious person.”

“Since his identity is unclear, we’ve restrained and confined him for now.”

“Show me the way.”

As Martin was about to leave, the members who had been waiting for his speech called out to him in confusion.

“C-Captain?”

“Are you just going to leave like that?”

“Shouldn’t we be going to rescue Vice Captain Yulia right away?”

Hearing the members’ calls, Martin turned back and replied briefly.

“We’ll be assembling a rescue team to head to the rift soon. Wait quietly until then.”

Assembling a rescue team for Yulia should have been the most urgent task, rather than interrogating a suspicious person wandering nearby.

Nevertheless, Martin decided to meet this suspicious person first.

The reason was a strong premonition that he absolutely had to meet this person right now.

So he followed the member’s guidance to the armory where the suspicious intruder was said to be restrained.

As soon as the man of unknown identity who was tied up there saw Martin, he shouted.

“Your Grace! I’m not a suspicious person! I just had something to tell you privately, so I was waiting for an opportunity nearby!”

“Just me? Why should I listen to the words of someone whose identity is unclear?”

“My identity… First, please have the others withdraw. It’s difficult to speak with so many ears listening.”

After pondering for a moment, Martin gave a signal with his eyes for the nearby members to leave.

There was no need for so many people to interrogate one tightly bound man, and more than anything, he was curious about what the man wanted to say.

So once all the members had cleared out, the man finally revealed his identity.

“I am actually a priest from the Great Temple. I came here on orders from His Holiness the Pope.”

“A priest…?”

Feeling puzzled, Martin stroked his chin as he stared directly at the priest and asked.

“If you truly are a priest who came on His Holiness’s orders, why were you lurking around the area in such attire without an escort from the Holy Knights?”

“That is… because His Holiness ordered me to meet Your Grace ‘secretly’. He strongly urged me not to let others discover my identity.”

“Hmm.”

“So I wore plain clothes to avoid drawing attention as much as possible, and I even left the Holy Knights who escorted me here in a nearby village.”

After hearing that much, Martin stroked his chin again as he asked.

“Alright, let’s say for now that you are a priest who came on His Holiness’s orders. Then why did His Holiness order you to meet me secretly?”

“There should be a letter inside my clothes. Since my hands and feet are bound now, please check for yourself.”

“Why should I…”

“It’s a letter sent by Lady Yulia von Schnesternen.”

Yulia von Schnesternen.

To Martin, who had frozen at hearing that name, the priest said:

“Lady Schnesternen is currently staying at the Great Temple. However, she did not want anyone to find out about her whereabouts. That is why I came here secretly with the letter, following the orders of His Holiness the Pope.”

On the night she entrusted the letter to Prit, Yulia had earnestly requested.

That no one should know she was hiding in the Great Temple, so please deliver it as secretly as possible.

Of course, she did not mention that the “someone” was Ernant.

“Is it true? Is it really a letter from Yulia?”

Martin could not understand.

Not wanting her whereabouts to be discovered.

Unable to come in person, sending only a letter so secretly like this.

Who on earth was she trying to hide from?

“…”

Having thought that far, he first searched the priest’s clothes.

Indeed, there was a white envelope inside.

Was it really sent by Yulia? Could it perhaps be someone impersonating Yulia?

Harboring such doubts, he opened the envelope and—

“Yulia…”

It was indeed a letter from Yulia.

He was familiar with Yulia’s handwriting, as she had personally written reports after returning from rift operations.

That familiar handwriting filled the letter paper.

Translation complete. 100% of original text translated.