Inside the dark room, dimly lit by the flickering candle light, the two men, Padraig, the chief marauder of Crimson Fang and Sir Bagdemagus, the Knight of the Anvil, were sitting in front of a table across each other.
The handless criminal seemed to slightly jump every time the old knight moved even though all the knight had done was adjust his chair while grunting and sighing at the same time.
When the old knight placed his hands on the table, the other man shook, and grimly said, "Padraig, you know what's your mistake, right?"
"Y-y-yes lord knight! I-I-I've done great harm to the people of the kingdom. I swear on my life, I shall not do it again," stuttered Padraig, trembling on his chair.
As Emery watched, the arrogant marauder leader had turned into a completely different person.
"Yes… right… However, that's not what I wanted to hear…" answered Bagdemagus.
"If-If so, then what did I do wrong?" asked Padraig, staring at the tapping finger of the old knight on the table.
"Well, you see, Padraig… you've become too greedy," said the old knight, pulling back his hands.
"What-what do you mean, lord knight?" said the criminal in a soft and shaking voice.
"What are you thinking by recruiting that many people? You even dared attack other nobles' estates! What are you planning to do, huh? Be the king of marauders?"
"No, lord knight, no! I did it under the orders of Lord Fantumar! He assured me it wouldn't be a problem. All the nobles' estates targets were given by him!"
The more Emery listened in on this exchange of words between Padraig and Sir Bagdemagus, a feeling of conflict rose inside him.
In one way, he was somewhat assured to receive a confirmation that it was that damned pig's family, the Fantumars, were truly the mastermind behind the raid against his family! But then on the other hand, he was uncomfortable with the way his late father's mentor was talking to Padraig, it felt like he knew the marauder too well.
Emery leaned closer to get a better hearing when Bagdemagus suddenly shouted, "You are a fool to listen to him!"
"Yes, lord knight! I am a fool! Please, lord knight, forgive me! I will do your bidding with my own hands—" Padraig stopped in the middle of his sentence. Staring at his now handless arms, he raised his voice and said, "Ahhh! My hands… my hands! I've become a useless person! That boy. I'll kill that fucking boy!"
Bam! Sir Bagdemagus slammed the table with his fist covered by metal gauntlets, quickly shutting down Padraig's yapping.
"Restrain yourself, Padraig!" commanded the old knight with a wave of his hand.
Padraig jumped on his chair and quickly said, "Y-y-yes lord knight. I'm-I'm sorry… it's just that my hands… my hands…"
Sir Bagdemagus beckoned at the door behind Padraig and the one-eyed knight, Keane appeared. Sir Keane saluted the Knight of Anvil, left the room and a moment later, returned and laid down a bowl of food in front of the muttering Padraig.
Padraig still seemed to be distressed but returned to clarity when the old knight grabbed the silver spoon, scooped its content and placed it before Padraig's mouth.
"No, lord knight. I..." resisted the handless criminal. But Bagdemagus didn't put down his arm until Padraig finally relented and ate it with fear in his eyes.
The old knight once again scooped the bowl's insides before casually continuing the conversation. "You must understand this, Padraig. We're all just part of a bigger plan. A plan to bring our kingdom the peace it deserves."
Padraig nodded in agreement, he couldn't answer for his mouth was full and some were dripping down his chin.
Emery had initially thought Padraig was only agreeing in fear of the old knight. But everything Sir Bagdemagus had done and said so far, it seemed like the both of them had an understanding despite not being completely direct.
Still, the actions of this old man weren't the actions of the man he knew, hence doubts were starting to fill his mind. However, when Emery heard the following words out of the old man's mouth, he was just completely shocked.
"W-W-What are you planning to do with me, lord knight? If you bring me before King Richard, I'll help you tell the truth about Lord Fantumar's plan. I am willing to confess everything before the court! I beg of you, lord knight. Just please Don't kill me!" pleaded Padraig, getting on his knees in front of the old knight.
The old knight put the spoon on the bowl of food and closed his eyes. After a few seconds of silence, he looked at the ceiling then said, "I am sorry but I can't let you do that Padraig. That'll only destroy everything we've worked so far in executing our plan. Fantumar is still needed for the peace of the kingdom. Like what I've said before, this is all for greater good. You understand what I'm saying, right?"
"Then what should I do, lord knight? I'll do anything, I'll say anything!" said Padraig, stumbling to the old man's feet.
Bagdemagus sat up straight and said, "The best thing you can do for us is to be quiet. I am sorry to say that the order I've received is to find out what you know then kill you."
Before Padraig could even react, the one-eyed knight pulled out a knife and slit the throat of the marauder chief.
Padraig's eyes became horrified as he reflexively reached for his throat with his stump-arms. He looked at the old knight one last time before falling head-on to the bowl of food. Crimson red blood creeped to the edge of the table and then dripped on the wooden floor.
"I hope you'll accept the meal as my sincerest form of apology," the old knight said before blowing out the candle and casually walking out of the room with Sir Keane following behind.
Everything Emery had just witnessed shook his core. The 'honorable' knight in this room wasn't what he had expected and known!
Emery then started to blame himself again for being fooled by another person. First the two-faced Granny and then this old knight whom he viewed with great admiration…
The world just seemed to be bent on giving him people whom he would think could be trusted only to be later revealed they were like poisonous snakes!
Again, Emery hated himself for being like this. But as he pressed his back on the wooden wall, he forced himself to calm down, wash away those thoughts and reasoned to himself that this wasn't the right time to mope.
Taking several deep breaths, he tried to view things objectively. First, he thought of what was the plan Sir Bagdemagus was talking about, which was something bigger than that pig noble was planning. And from who was the Guardian of the Lioness receiving his orders? Wasn't it the king? If so, was King Richard himself involved in letting Fantumar attack them in the first place?
For every one question he thought he had answered, two more questions popped out.
Emery walked back to the woods first and found Morgana.
She came up to him asking questions as to why he had such a dark face, what had he witnessed, what had happened, however, he refused to answer. He wasn't in the mood to speak.
At the moment, Emery was still in denial despite trying to distance himself from the issue. He just couldn't believe such were the actions of an 'honorable' knight, and it was his late father's mentor, the Knight of the Anvil no less.
Emery remembered the notification stating he had less than a day before he gets recalled back to the academy. His attention now was completely torn in wanting to know the answer to his questions against returning to the academy and returning a few months later. He just couldn't let himself be kept in the dark for that long.
So, he decided to do something. He turned to Morgana and said, "There's something really important I need to do. You should return to Felaenon without me. I will follow later."
After saying those with such heavy tones, Morgana listened and nodded.
Emery was really grateful that he didn't have to spend a lot of energy trying to convince her or think of a way to send her away. He didn't need that headache at the moment.
He then walked back to where the knights had set up camp with a mindset of getting clear-cut answers. Not sneakily, but just plain walking up to them, so they could see him coming.