Chapter 115: I Was Never on Your Side
"So, after my mother approached me, and I expressed interest in joining Exalt, a few days after that, I met with some of their members. I did consider arresting them on the spot for interrogation, but after seeing how fanatically dedicated they were to their cause, I surmised that they’d be unlikely to talk.
I figured I needed to get more information one way or another, especially on how many of them there were and exactly who was involved. So, I played along and joined them, and not long after that, they brought me to their hideout. The location...is inside the Quartz Ruins."
"Wait, what? Did the Inquisitors not search that place?" Frowned Aster in disbelief.
"No...it was ruled out as a likely possibility and set as a low priority to search in, since there are so many Monsters down there, not to mention how old and decrepit the place is, so we concluded that they were unlikely to be there," Admitted Siele sheepishly.
"Furthermore, among the Knights who are assigned to guard the entrance to the ruins, there are a few who are on Exalt’s side. They helped them sneak in, and the group is currently hiding out on the fifteenth level of ruins. Only a few of the members entered first, including a group of former Knights to eliminate the Monsters, along with a team of slaves to clean up the place and make the buildings as close to liveable as possible.
And one of the members who entered is someone who’s highly skilled at creating Spell Cards, he created Teleport Spells linked to the hideout. And after so many Nobles began getting arrested and executed, the rest of the members teleported to the ruins. Well, except for a handful of Nobles in positions of power who’ve managed to cover up their crimes and are secretly supporting them, like my mother. Their role in this is to ensure that things go smoothly after Reiss takes over the throne," Explained Tilda with a grimace.
"I see, then there really are more spies lurking about," Frowned Jules warily.
"Yes, but I’ve been told that there aren’t any others in the Capital. But there’s a chance that they still don’t fully trust me, so that could be a lie. At the very least, I think it’s highly unlikely that there are any other spies among the high-ranked Knights, though there are a handful among the lower-ranked ones in the locations outside of the Capital," Replied Tilda with a sigh.
"Guess we didn’t purge the Knight Order thoroughly enough. Don’t suppose you’ve got a list of names of these spies?" Inquired Lexia with a malicious gleam in her eyes.