Clues and Progress

"Hidden Knight?" This was the first time Amber had heard of the term—after all, she had only just managed to roughly sort out the noble structure visible on the surface of the old kingdom. She was completely at a loss when it came to those clearly more secretive and unusual titles and ranks. "What do they do? Stealth Experts with clumsy hands like you?"

"...Not exactly," Dark Raven replied after a brief pause. He had only been in actual contact with his new superior for a few days and was having considerable difficulty adjusting to her way of speaking. "Hidden Knights are a general term for secret nobles whose identities are not made public—Royal Shadow Guards who have rendered special service, Supernatural Beings with stains on their records but under the king's protection, 'dark hands' directly loyal to the king himself. There are always people who work secretly for the king, earn his deep trust, yet cannot reveal their identities for various reasons. Such people are called 'Hidden Knights.'"

"The king grants these people surnames as recognition of their merits and loyalty, but those surnames are not entered into the normal heraldic registries or noble genealogies. Only direct Royal Family Members and a small number of people responsible for managing the registries know of their existence. Generally speaking, more than half of Hidden Knights are Royal Shadow Guards—the reason is self-evident."

By the end, Dark Raven's face plainly carried a trace of pride. Without question, he too was a "secret noble" with a "secret surname."

Yet Amber was thoroughly unimpressed by that pride. "The Ansu royal family... Instead of putting effort into production, development, and national institutions, they went all out in these shady fields. Just like Old Mummy said, after seven hundred years, you must have come up with