Ever since they had set out for Penacony that day, to avoid disturbing the countless lives across the universe, the little dragon had remained hidden at Argenti's request.
Inside its mouth, more than a dozen spaceships were docked. Brilliant light shone within, making the mouth of the giant beast look less fierce and frightening. Instead, it looked like a strange mountain with oddly shaped rocks, so going about daily life here felt perfectly normal.
Those dozen or so docked ships naturally belonged to the reunited knights. Besides the knights, as the journey continued, more and more people had come to live here for the time being.
Men and women, old and young, strong adults and youths, more than five hundred people in total. All of them had run into trouble in the universe and had been rescued by the knights.
Once they reached Penacony, these people would be able to find a place to settle down, look for work, or contact their families.
While becoming heroes who rescued people across the universe, the knights had not forgotten the request they had received that day from Nero, the current incarnation of the Fragment of Beauty.
Along the way, they also kept an eye on the nearby space routes, watching the starships that passed by.
They thought that if they happened to run into the Ever-Flame Mansion, they would invite Duke Ifrit Inferno and the Fire Demons to come with them.
Most of the knights had originally wanted to get rid of such evildoers who slaughtered others as soon as possible. But after Argenti told them about Nero's idea, they all changed their goal.
Killing the Fire Demons would only mean killing them. But as that person had said, having them work in a factory, making contributions and doing things that would benefit the sea of stars, was far better than simply killing them.
The products from that Nero Rift Factory were sold far across the stars. The knights, who traveled everywhere in search of Beauty, naturally knew this. The factory's products were widely praised and made life easier for people.
Having Ifrit work there, helping more people and letting more people enjoy the convenience of the factory's products, wasn't that Beauty as well?
On the route not far from Penacony, one of the mechanical knights detected a new flying object on the outer route. He asked the little dragon to open its mouth slightly, leaving a gap so they could observe it.
He then compared the captured image with the database and with rumors and pictures on the network.
In the end, he was surprised to discover that it was the Ever-Flame Mansion of Duke Ifrit Inferno.
So he informed his brothers and sisters.
That was why a large group of Knights of Beauty boarded the Ever-Flame Mansion.
It was also why Acheron, who was just about to leave, suddenly ran into a group of knights head-on.
At this moment, Acheron was completely stunned. She had never imagined something like this would happen.
If it had been any other organization, she would not have been nearly this shocked.
But there was no doubt that the handsome men and women standing before her were the long-divided Knights of Beauty.
Because the red-haired man standing before her introduced himself like this, "I am Argenti, an Honored Knight of the Knights of Beauty."
Acheron had no idea why the long-collapsed Knights of Beauty suddenly showed signs of reuniting. She also did not know why they had come to find Duke Ifrit Inferno. Likewise, she did not know how to answer Argenti's question.
This was indeed the Ever-Flame Mansion, but Duke Ifrit Inferno was not here.
Because he had just died.
She had killed him herself.
Although the influence of Nihility caused Acheron to forget many things, she was not so forgetful that she would immediately forget someone she had just killed.
Argenti was clearly very patient. Or rather, all of these beautiful and handsome knights, who carried themselves with both valor and nobility, were very patient.
Gentle smiles rested on their faces as they looked at her with kind eyes.
They did not speak. They simply waited patiently for Acheron, who had remained silent for so long, to give an answer.
Whatever that answer might be, they could accept it.
They had no wish to rudely interrupt a lady while she was thinking.
Still, the scene was rather strange.
For a brief moment, Acheron felt as though she were a hamster that had just been brought home, while the knights were excited children gathered around the cage, happily watching her.
After thinking for a moment, Acheron decided there was no harm in telling them part of the truth.
So she said, "Duke Ifrit Inferno is dead. He just died."
Hearing that answer, the knights showed a little surprise and regret.
"What a regrettable answer. I never expected he had already died."
Argenti shook his head.
Under the circumstances, it would have been reasonable to conclude that Acheron was the one who had killed Duke Ifrit Inferno.
But the knights had no intention of making things difficult for her.
Although this made it much harder to fulfill Nero's request, in the knights' eyes, killing Duke Ifrit Inferno was an act of justice.
"Thank you for your answer, my lady. Even so, we still hope to go inside and have a look."
Argenti gave Acheron a slight bow, then walked past her and headed straight inside.
The other knights did the same.
Dozens of them streamed inside one after another.
Acheron blinked twice where she stood.
Even now, she still felt a little confused.
What exactly was going on with these knights?
She became somewhat curious about why they had come looking for Duke Ifrit Inferno, but she did not stay any longer. After all the knights had gone inside, she left by herself.
The enormous beast remained hidden among the stars.
Its massive dragon head shifted slightly. One eye on the side opened, the pupil turning as it watched a shadow made of collapsing chaotic darkness leave this starry sky on its own.
"Tasty..." the little dragon murmured.
"But obedient... won't eat."
Some of the knights who had stayed behind inside the little dragon's mouth, along with the rescued refugees from across the universe, heard sounds like rolling thunder.
But they could not understand their meaning. They simply assumed the little dragon was hungry.
They thought that once the main group returned, they would have the little dragon shrink down, continue traveling by spaceship instead, and feed the giant beast that Nero had guided.
After spending some time together, most of the knights now regarded the magnificent cosmic goldfish as the beast that stayed by Nero's side, the "vehicle" he rode while traveling through the universe.
In other words, his mount.
In today's universe, that idea was rarely seen anymore.
But during the historical era when the ideals of the Knights were widespread, long ago, knights rode swift horses, just as they now piloted spaceships.
The knights who entered the Ever-Flame Mansion searched throughout the fortress but did not find a single corpse.
In the end, everyone gathered beside the throne.
Argenti bent down and picked up the flaming crown lying beside the magnificent throne.
The lingering heat from it caused the knight not the slightest discomfort.
After admiring the beautiful carvings on the crown, Argenti looked up. His brothers and sisters had all returned.
He said, "We had hoped to see whether we could save Ifrit. But who would have thought that the Duke didn't even leave behind a body."
"Not necessarily. I think we may still have a chance."
The mechanical knight who had first discovered the Ever-Flame Mansion spoke, "We found traces of highly corrosive energy remaining here. Conclusion: We may be able to analyze these remnants. Perhaps we can find the Duke's whereabouts."
"Can it succeed?" another knight asked.
"No problem," the mechanical knight replied.
"A knight should climb peaks and challenge themselves. Besides, we have the blessing of Beauty's radiance."
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