Ray shifted his attention entirely to the woman who commanded the silence of the entire yard. Erina was the picture of authority, her eyes, like clear ice, fixed solely on him.

Then her gaze lingered on the unconscious knight lying near the gate, then returned to Ray.

Though she hadn't witnessed the full spectacle—Lora's fury, the man's quick slap, or Tez's drawn sword—she didn't jump to conclusions.

She asked the only rational question needed.

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice calm and even, cutting through the thick tension.

"At least there is someone who knows how to have a conversation," Ray answered, allowing a small, cynical smile to touch his lips.

Lora instantly refuted, her face still burning with embarrassment and anger. "Captain, he is no one, he—"

But before Lora could finish her hasty explanation, Erina cut her off with a slight, decisive gesture of her hand. Her focus remained locked on Ray.

"I said, who are you?" she asked again, the slight change in her tone making the question a quiet command.

Ray's smirk widened. He knew this was the moment to grab her attention.

"I'm someone who might know why Zeth, the vice-leader of the Delta Squad, died," Ray answered.

Suddenly, the atmosphere changed completely. The earlier shock and anger of the knights were replaced by tense silence, the gravity of the vice-leader's death instantly making everything more serious.

Tez, the Vice-Leader of Gama squad who had almost sliced Ray in half, scoffed loudly from the side.

"You know why Zeth died? You know something that even we don't know? Do we look like fools to you?" His hand remained near his sword hilt, ready for action.

Ray glanced back at Tez for a second, his expression utterly dismissive. "I can't say about others, but you seem like fool to me."

He then immediately shifted his gaze back to Erina, not giving the enraged Vice-Leader another moment of his time.

Erina was visibly surprised by Ray's confidence. He was standing in the middle of a military stronghold, surrounded by dozens of armed knights and three high-ranking officers, yet he was calm, unconcerned, and utterly arrogant.

She realized this man was definitely not a simple person.

"What do you know about this matter?" Erina pressed, ignoring Tez's furious hiss.

Ray looked around the crowded yard, letting his eyes sweep over the dozens of knights who were now all listening intently. He lowered his voice slightly.

"I can't answer in front of so many people," he said. "We should talk in private."

Lora's eyes widened. She still held the initial belief that Ray was just an insolent civilian, but the sight of the heavy knight lying unconscious from a single slap made her realize he was undeniably un-ordinary.

Her own failed attempts to touch him only confirmed it.

Erina paused, her sharp eyes searching Ray's face for any sign of deception or madness.

She weighed the risk of taking an unknown man who had just assaulted her knight into a private meeting against the potential information he claimed to hold about Zeth's death and the supposed "werewolf" attack.

The potential value was too high to dismiss.

She gave a curt nod. "Come. Follow me."

Tez tried to speak up, his voice tight with protest. "Captain, you can't—"

Erina ignored his words, walking toward the main building. Ray shot a mocking smile at the furious Tez, a silent message of victory, and followed Erina inside.

Tez watched Ray's back disappear through the heavy stone archway. His hands were shaking with suppressed rage, but he knew better than to openly defy his Captain.

…

Once inside the main hall of the stronghold, the atmosphere was a stark contrast to the chaos of the yard.

The large space was sparsely furnished, focusing only on utility. Standing near a map table were two more male Vice-Leaders.

They were visibly shocked to see their Captain bringing an unknown, unarmed civilian inside, especially one who had just caused such a scene outside.

Yet, they were disciplined enough not to voice their concerns immediately.

Erina gestured to a chair set near the table. "Sit," she ordered Ray, her eyes never leaving him.

Ray took the seat. He looked at the two new Vice-Leaders as Erina introduced them.

"They are my most trustworthy knights," she explained. "Their presence is like my own presence. You may speak freely in front of them."

Ray simply nodded. He didn't mind their presence. In fact, it was better—the more ears that heard the truth, the faster the rot would be exposed.

He just hoped that these two weren't as stupid as Lora and Tez seemed to be.

One of the Vice-Captains, a man with a steady, watchful gaze, Yamin, finally broke the silence. "Leader, who is this gentleman?"

The other knight, Osbon, a quiet man with broad shoulders, simply nodded in agreement, his curiosity evident.

They were in for a strange answer. "He slapped one of our knights, who fainted in a single slap," Erina stated flatly.

"Huh!" Both Yamin and Osbon reacted with a strange, identical expression of disbelief.

Then Erina continued, her voice taking on a serious edge. "And he claims to know the reason why Zeth, the vice-leader of the Delta Squad, died."

She looked directly at Ray. "Tell me what you know, then."

In return, Ray didn't immediately answer. Instead, he leaned back in his chair and posed his own challenge. "Before telling you, I have a question."

Erina shot him a look that could chill water. "What question?"

Ray spoke in a stern, challenging tone. "How corrupt the Temple is. How much do you know of this?"

This single question instantly stunned all three of them. Yamin was the first to react. "Corrupt, you say? Why do you say that?"

Osbon, equally outraged, nodded emphatically. "Do you know that we can arrest you for saying such a thing about the Temple?"

Ray scoffed, dismissing their threats with a wave of his hand. "You are either too innocent or too ignorant."

His words were a direct insult, and they made the two Vice-Leaders glare at him with barely suppressed fury.

But Erina held up a hand, silencing her subordinates. She took a moment, her eyes never leaving Ray's.

"I can't say that the Temple does not house some corrupt people, but the majority of them are not like you think," she said, her voice measured and defensive.

"I can vouch for that. The Temple is the only defense humanity has."

"Then what do you think Zeth was? What was his character to begin with?" Ray asked in return.

Erina and the two Vice-Leaders fell silent for a moment. They knew Zeth was known for his arrogance, but publicly questioning his character now was something they aren't sure about.

Osbon finally answered, his voice firm with dogma. "We don't know what his character was, but I can't accept that you are questioning the character of a man who died while saving other lives, fighting a night creature."

Ray leaned forward, his calm demeanor finally breaking into a chilling intensity. "Saving other lives? Is that what the official report says, Vice-Leader Osbon?"

Ray's eyes narrowed. "Or is that just the convenient lie you tell yourselves to avoid facing the truth about the filth Zeth truly was?"

He paused, letting the shock settle. "Zeth wasn't saving lives. He was taking them. He was a vicious criminal, and if he wasn't killed by the werewolf then I would myself have beheaded him for what he did to those innocent lives."

Erina and the two Vice-Leaders exchanged shocked expressions.

They remembered the reports given to them by the Willson, Dorian, and Epsten families; nothing in those clean, official accounts matched this man's claims.

Erina asked, her tone stern, "Do you realize what you are doing? You are questioning a brave man who just lost his life while serving the Temple, and..."

But before she could continue, Ray began to laugh.

"HAHAHA, brave," he spat.

"If forcing women against their will and killing them because they wouldn't listen was bravery, then I can't help but laugh at your fake justice Temple."

"You!" Osbon retorted, his face pale with fury, the honor of the Temple being his life.

But Erina cut him off with a sharp look, needing answers more than she needed to punish blasphemy.

"What proof do you have? Before that, you haven't answered me why Zeth died and how you know all this."

Ray leaned back in the chair, the tense silence allowing his words to carry immense weight. "The why is simple, Captain Erina. Zeth was a filthy criminal.

He died because his own depravity made him vulnerable to the monster that killed him. The Temple doesn't care what their people are doing behind their back, they are living in a delulu world that everything is all right."

Ray let the accusation settle, then continued. "As for how I know, I was investigating them. I am not some religious fanatic or a hero, but I have a vested interest in seeing the powerful suffer when they prey on the weak."

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