A shadowy figure ran down alleys submerged in darkness, stepping lightly so his footsteps would not be heard. In all probability it was a man. His clothes were all black, and the lower half of his face was covered with a cloth.
It was the bone-chilling hour right before dawn. Clouds spread over in the sky, and there was no visible moon.
This neighborhood was the busiest place for crime in the capital of Liones.
Taverns and cafeterias lined up side by side on the large street ahead, but at this time of night, each shop was silent and had already closed for the night.
And since it was so late, of course there were no lights or signs of people in the back alleys, either.
The man pressed his back against the cold wall and looked around for signs of anyone in the vicinity. He took out a gold coin and intently flipped it with his thumb.
After the coin spun up in the air, he caught it on the back of his left hand, simultaneously pinning it down with the palm of his right.
He lifted up his right hand and checked the face of the coin.
The face was engraved with a crescent moon, shaped like a person’s profile. In other words, the coin was heads.
“Okay, left it is.”
He turned left at the T-intersection. As he’d predicted, there was no one in the back alley. Under his mask, the man let loose a fat and satisfied smile.
The coin he received from that person had always shown them the way. As long as he followed exactly what it said, they were never caught.
This time too—they had broken into the houses of the most preeminently rich merchants in the city and had managed to carry out a great deal of money. By the guidance of the Lucky Moon, his henchmen had probably already passed out of the capital city’s walls.
The man came to another crossroads and flipped the coin again.
“This time, right.”
The alley on his right, crammed with places of assignment, brothels, and dubious fortunetellers, was a place where drifters often ended up. Or rather, one could say this neighborhood was the territory of scoundrels.
The man let down his guard a little and rounded the corner without concealing himself.
“…!!”
Then he saw who was there.
“Ugghh…Gus, chief, we’re sorry…”
Two large men lay on the side of the road, seemingly bound by rings of light.
Those were his henchmen, whom he thought had already escaped ages ago!
“Y-You guys, what happened?” Gus tightly grasped the coin in his pocket. “Did the Lucky Moon’s magic effect wear off?!”
“There is no moon in the dark before dawn.”
A young male voice called down from atop a nearby roof.
Taken aback, Gus raised his head—and without warning, the figure swooped down nimbly before his eyes.
“Bandit gang Lucky Moon. It seems like your moon-luck has just run out.”
He was a boy, short in stature, with long silver hair. But he was covered in thick armor and shouldered a sword that was taller than him.
His confident stance left no openings. His eyes were cold.
“Y-You’re not a knight…Are…are you a Holy Knight?” Gus inched backwards, retreating.
He didn’t have a prayer of beating a Holy Knight with magical powers. It was too bad about his minions, but his only option now was to save his own skin.
Gus turned around and tried to run back down the road he came from.
But it was already too late.
A beautiful lady knight wielding a flamberge smiled sweetly at him.
Scanning the vicinity, Gus saw more new figures on the rooftops.
On the left was a large armored man with his face covered by a strange round helmet.
On the right was a handsome man raising a bow shining with magic.
“Y-You guys…”
“We are an order of knights directly under the King’s command—Dawn Roar,” the boy declared coolly, walking up behind the flustered Gus.
“Daw…Dawn Roar?!”
The two henchmen, fallen and beaten, moaned. “Aren’t you guys that group of battle knights that specializes in killing…Why are you interested in petty thieves like us!”
“Beats me.” The lady knight curled her lips. “All we do is follow the orders of His Majesty the King. Even if the target is an insect, or a foreign brigade, if ordered to kill, we kill. If told to capture, we capture.”
“Good news for you ‘petty thieves.’ This time we weren’t ordered to kill. The order was to take you alive.” As the boy with the longsword spoke, the beautiful lady raised her right hand.
A shining band floated up from her fingertips. It was the same light that had captured Gus’ two henchmen.
“Gaghh.” Gus clenched his teeth. There was nowhere left to run.
But just then—
Unexpectedly, the door of a shabby tavern on the right swung open.
Out came a large man, drunk and unsteady on his feet, and a longhaired man supporting him with his arm.
The two of them staggered out into the alley as though they didn’t notice the tense scene.
“Come on, let’s get it together now.”
“Aaahh, Slay, you’re so nice. Is it okay if I take you back home with me?” the large man said in an infantile manner that didn’t match his frame and leaned against the longhaired man. For his part, the man called Slay, his cheeks slightly flushed, looked attentively up at the large man.
Male prostitutes?
An idea flashed through Gus’ mind.
With a sudden motion, he thrust the large man away and seized hold of Slay’s arm.
“Hey! If you don’t want this guy killed, let me go quietly!” Gus shouted, squeezing his arm around the neck of Slay, who’d staggered and fallen to his knees. “Hahah…looks like I still had a bit of moon-luck left.”
Even though they were knights specializing in assassinations under direct control of the king—or rather, precisely because of that—Dawn Roar had to be very careful regarding murders outside of their orders.
Above all else, if they let an innocent citizen die, they wouldn’t be able to show their faces to the famously compassionate King of Liones.
Just as Gus had suspected, the four members of the Dawn Roar slowly lowered their weapons.
But the expression on all their faces was discomfited—or perhaps sympathetic.
“…You really have run out of moon-luck,” the lady knight muttered.
But those words apparently didn’t make it to Gus’ ears.
Dragging Slay, Gus looked back at the young knight behind him. “Move out of the way!”
The boy eyed Gus with amused exasperation but obediently stepped aside.
Gus laughed loudly.
“Ha! Even those under direct orders of the king can’t do as they please, hey. The story on the streets is that the king has been pretty sickly lately, too. When he dies, I could talk with my boss and get you set up with some other—”
He wasn’t able to finish saying “work.”
All of a sudden, it was as if a firework had been let off in front of his eyes.
“Guuugghhh…aaahh…” Gus fell to his knees on the spot, grabbing his nose.
Burning pain. Lukewarm liquid flowed down his palm. The taste of iron thickened in his mouth.
Not knowing what had happened, he raised his head and saw Slay whom he’d held trapped just a moment ago standing right in front of him. There was blood dripping from his fist. Gus finally understood that Slay had punched him.
“Even if the king himself forgives it, even if heaven forgives it, I won’t forgive such language about the king,” Slay said coldly.
His icy gaze was completely different from earlier. The air grew tenser.
Gus even imagined the man’s stature and physique had changed. Was he always so big? I thought he was supposed to be a nice guy?
He burst into a cold sweat. Overtaken by fear, Gus flailed his arms wildly.
But Slay dodged his assault easily, and slowly put an iron mask—where had he gotten it from?—over his own face.
“Makeup!”
With that strange yell, it seemed that Slay’s body grew even larger.
“W-What are you?” Gus cried, falling onto his backside.
“I am Slader, the captain of the Dawn Roar. Not that you have to remember that.”
Underneath the mask, his eyes narrowed. He seemed to be laughing.
“Ah, aaah…gotta get away…”
I gotta get away. While thinking that, Gus couldn’t move a single finger.
The terrible pressure radiating from Slay—Slader—stitched him to the spot.
“F-Forgive me…”
“Settle down. We aren’t going to kill you. Jillian.”
At Slader’s words, the lady knight once again raised her right hand. Her fingertips shone, and a band of light cast at Gus’ body constricted him with a terrible force.
“Uuuaagghh…” Unable to withstand the pressure, Gus toppled over.
The large man in the helmet who had jumped down from the rooftop picked up the two fallen henchmen onto each of his shoulders.
Before Gus lost consciousness, the young knight walked up to him. However, he called out to Slader without looking at Gus.
“Sorry, Captain Slader. We’ve wasted your rare day off. We thought we would be enough for such small fries as these.”
“It’s all right, Simon. We’re janitors. It’s our job to keep the town clean.” Slader winked at the boy, Simon. Jillian, the lady knight, shrugged.
“Really, Captain Slader? Your boyfriend seems to have run off.”
He looked around, and the man whom Gus had thrust aside earlier was no longer there. He must have been completely scared off and run away.
“Oh well. Guess that was to be expected.”
The man with the bow laughed. “Captain Slader has poor luck with men, too. Or rather, poor taste in men?”
“Thank you for your concern, Weinheidt. As soon as we’re done here, we’re withdrawing,” Slader said, picking up Gus by the arm like it was nothing at all.