Nick pulled a pocket watch from his pocket and checked the time before opening the door and walking all the way up the stairs.
When he reached the top, Gareth was folding newspapers... He frowned, then glanced toward the end of the corridor ahead.
Klein dragged himself slowly out of the room. He was limping badly, and the arm that did not hold his sword hung completely limp. His clothes were torn in several places, and his face was covered in dust, mixed, of course, with blood.
"Reporting to you, Mr. Gareth. The target has been successfully subdued. You were right—she really is an illegal Witch."
"Witch?" Nick frowned deeply and stared at Gareth. "Why is she a Witch?"
Gareth shrugged, his expression half amused and half mocking. "My friend, it's obvious that something went wrong with your intelligence work this time."
Nick did not argue over the intelligence report. Instead, he said angrily, "Knight Gareth, if she was a Witch, you should have been even less willing to let Klein act alone! Every apprentice knight is a valuable asset of the Organization. As one of the Twelve Knights, you have an even greater duty to protect the safety of these young knights."
Gareth lowered his head, as though Nick's reprimand had left him too ashamed to raise it.
Seeing this, Klein hurriedly said, despite his weakness, "Mr. Nick, please don't blame Mr. Gareth. This was my request. I was the one in the wrong!"
"Klein." Nick said calmly, "Honesty is the virtue a knight ought to possess."
"I..."
"All right, all right, I'm sorry." Gareth suddenly raised his head. "Sorry~~"
At some point, he had put on that ridiculous fake nose again.
"Gareth!!" Nick's voice rose sharply.
Gareth pressed himself against the wall with a frightened look, showing not