At the same time that Koutarou defeated the monster of chaos, an anomaly happened aboard the Imperial Army transport ship that had just finished its warp. Somebody had infiltrated the ship and launched an attack. There was only one intruder, but the soldiers were unable to stop them. For the sake of their honor, the soldiers were strong. They fought bravely with all they had, but their opponent was just too strong.
It was the Gray Knight himself. He was after the two people on board the transport ship.
“Don’t move, Matsudaira Kenji.”
That was the first time Kenji had heard the Gray Knight’s voice directly. He’d heard it in recordings and the like before, but not directly from the person themselves. The voice coming from beyond the mask had a chilling tone. It was the same tone Koutarou had once had, the voice of someone who had rejected everything.
“You’re—”
“Don’t do anything unnecessary or this girl dies,” the Gray Knight said, interrupting him.
Nalfa screamed. The Gray Knight had pointed the tip of his sword at her and was threatening Kenji. She’d been captured and was being used as a hostage. Fear filled her expression, and she could neither move nor speak.
“Nal-chan!” Kotori screamed.
Kenji glared at the Gray Knight. “If you’re here...what happened to Kou?!” He was imagining the worst possible situation. If the Gray Knight was here, Koutarou might have been defeated.
“Don’t worry; he’s alive. There’s nobody but me who could beat him,” the Gray Knight said.
No matter how much power of chaos the Gray Knight might use, that alone wasn’t enough to take down Koutarou. There likely wouldn’t be a victor and loser until they fought directly with the source of their power: their swords.
“Besides, if I had, I wouldn’t have come here,” the Gray Knight continued.
Just being told that Koutarou was alive wasn’t enough to convince Kenji, but he couldn’t imagine the Gray Knight coming after them if Koutarou was dead. It appeared that Koutarou was still alive.
“Then...what are you after?” Kenji asked.
There was still the question of why the Gray Knight had come. Moreover, he was a strange man. Despite this being their first meeting, it didn’t feel like that to Kenji. Though he was afraid, he wondered if they had met somewhere else before.
“I came to capture you,” the Gray Knight said. “Come with me, Matsudaira Kenji.”
“Me?!” Kenji exclaimed. He was confused. He couldn’t imagine why the Gray Knight would need him.
“If I want to stall the Imperial Army, stalling the Blue Knight is the best way to do so. Capturing you will be effective in that regard.”
Kenji was starting to piece things together. The Gray Knight had come to capture Kenji to blackmail and stall Koutarou.
So...getting captured here wouldn’t be a problem for just Kou, but Forthorthe too... Kenji thought.
He steeled his resolve. There was no chance of victory, but he would rather die in battle than be captured. He felt like there was no other choice, considering what would happen after he was captured.
“Don’t move, Matsudaira Kenji,” the Gray Knight said coldly.
Having anticipated Kenji’s resistance, he pointed the sword at Nalfa once more. Kenji grunted. With just that motion, the Gray Knight had blocked any moves he might make.
“Whether this girl lives or dies is entirely up to you. Come with me quietly, otherwise—”
“Okay! Okay,” Kenji said in resignation. A regular person like him stood no chance against the Gray Knight. If he didn’t obey, Nalfa would die, or perhaps Kotori would. That had to be avoided at all costs.
“You can’t, Mackenzie-sama!” Nalfa shouted. She’d been frozen in fear and unable to move, but she couldn’t sit still in the current situation. She struggled in the Gray Knight’s arms and tried to appeal to Kenji.
“Take me wherever you want, but don’t lay a hand on that girl,” Kenji said.
“I’m glad you’re so understanding,” the Gray Knight answered.
“Mackenzie-sama!” Nalfa exclaimed.
But she couldn’t do anything. The Gray Knight didn’t budge at her struggling, and she hadn’t changed Kenji’s mind. Only Kotori was free, but she couldn’t move from fear. She had seen the splattered blood past the door, and the Imperial Army soldiers that lay unmoving on the ground.
“Let’s go,” the Gray Knight said. Nalfa screamed.
“I’m obeying you! Don’t be rough with her!” Kenji shouted.
The Gray Knight took Nalfa and Kenji and left the room, leaving a trembling Kotori alone. Once the three left her view, she passed out. She was just a normal girl living in a normal world—the situation had been too much for her.
Looking at the results, Kiriha concluded that even the ground battle had been a decoy. Using the ground forces and monsters of chaos as diversions, the Gray Knight had kidnapped Kenji. In doing so, he hoped to stall Koutarou. She couldn’t tell if that had been his goal from the start or if he’d changed goals after seeing how things had gone. However, he had become aware of Nalfa riding with them after seeing the rainbow power erasing his power of chaos during his surprise attack. From that, he could likely have surmised that Kenji was on board as well. Kiriha imagined that had been the turning point.
“Dammit! We knew Mackenzie and the others were likely to be targeted too!” Koutarou shouted.
However, Kiriha didn’t say her prediction out loud. It would only hurt Koutarou, and it wouldn’t help the situation. She simply stayed quiet and gave the raging Koutarou a sympathetic stare.
Koutarou can’t abandon Kenji, she thought. How dreadful the Gray Knight can be...
Realizing that it would be impossible to stop the Imperial Army physically, the Gray Knight had moved to use Koutarou’s heroism against him. By kidnapping Kenji, the enemy ensured that Koutarou would be mentally restricted and stopped from acting. As he was the Imperial Army’s supreme commander, that also meant that the army’s morale would decrease. Koutarou being in a bad condition reflected on them all. It was an effective method, but it wasn’t something a decent person would do. It was just too cruel. Kiriha couldn’t help but regret the situation.
It was then that the third Sanae, Sanae-nee, approached her.
“Which do you think it is, Kiriha?” she whispered.
It was a question that omitted a lot of information. However, Kiriha fully understood.
“If he was really after Nalfa, you mean?” she whispered back. Kiriha had been thinking that the Gray Knight might have had another goal aside from Kenji.
“Yeah, what do you think?”
“Considering the Gray Knight’s style, Nalfa is probably his real goal,” Kiriha said.
“I think so too.”
At first glance, it looked like Nalfa had been used to kidnap Kenji. But Kiriha and Sanae-nee wondered if he perhaps actually needed Nalfa too. Incidentally, Kiriha was the one who had told Sanae-nee that Nalfa could use the rainbow power. Together, they had exchanged information they kept secret to fight the Gray Knight.