Argenti had said goodbye to the stars and was now running to avoid being captured.
Although he had been mistaken for a criminal, he had no intention of using force against the Bloodhounds who were simply doing their jobs. Every so often, he would only use a small trick to keep them from getting close to him.
Even though the Knights had arrived in Penacony with great fanfare, it wasn't as if everyone in Penacony would recognize them right away.
Besides, after arriving in the Dreamscape, the Knights had split up instead of gathering in one place.
Everyone understood this without saying it. Each of them was searching for the existence of "Beauty," but not everyone defined beauty the same way.
And different kinds of beauty inspired different levels of devotion in different people.
Even if they treated every form of beauty equally, they would still naturally have different priorities while searching.
As he ran, a small figure suddenly appeared in front of him. The moment he saw who it was, Argenti stopped almost immediately.
He was surprised at first, but a smile quickly appeared on his face. He looked at the person before him with gentle, devout eyes.
Nero blinked at him.
"So it really was you. I knew I wasn't seeing things!"
While chatting with Sparkle earlier, he had spotted that familiar figure. It had been Argenti. So he had leisurely followed after him, overtaken both the Bloodhounds and Argenti, and waited up ahead.
Just like every time they met, Argenti dropped to one knee before Nero in salute. He gently lifted Nero's fingertips with one hand, lightly touched the back of Nero's hand with his forehead, and spoke in a soft, earnest, devout, delighted, and sincere voice.
"Argenti of the Knights of Beauty presents himself before you."
Although Argenti did this almost every time they reunited now, Nero still found it a bit hard to handle. His little face turned bright red.
The main reason was that in the past, everyone around them had been acquaintances.
But now they were in the bustling Dreamscape city, surrounded everywhere by visitors from across the stars. Everywhere he looked were strangers.
And it was hard for him and Argenti not to draw attention.
In fact, the moment Argenti began paying his respects, quite a few people had already stopped to watch. By the time he knelt on one knee, more and more people had gathered around them, chatting among themselves.
"Hey, look, look. Those two are both so good-looking."
"Oh wow! Seriously... that knight is so handsome. He's exactly the prince on a white horse I've always dreamed of!"
"That little girl is really pretty too. Even though she's dressed so smartly, she still looks soft and cute. Seeing her blush makes me want to hug her and take a bite."
"Seriously, that little girl fulfills all my fantasies. Ever since I was little, my dream has been to become a little princess like that."
"What are they doing? Filming a movie? Where did they find actors this good-looking?"
"No idea. I haven't heard about any famous actors coming to Penacony to shoot a film. Besides, where would you even find actors this good-looking?"
"Whatever it is, I really like this scene. A knight and a princess. If this movie comes out, I'm definitely going to watch it."
"If Miss Robin could sing a song for this film, it'd be even more perfect. I'd call it the greatest movie of the last ten Amber Eras!"
"Ten? That's nowhere near enough. Fifty! At least fifty!"
"Look, look! The villains are here. Those people in suits have to be the bad guys."
The crowd kept talking, and Nero's ears were so red they looked ready to drip blood.
This was also what he admired most about Argenti. No matter what kind of situation it was, the knight remained completely unmoved.
At that moment, the Bloodhounds finally caught up and shouted at Argenti, "W... Wanted criminal! Y... you... can't... can't get away! S... stop... putting up... useless... resistance... Ah, geez... you really can run... I'm... I'm exhausted..."
Although the Bloodhounds had arrived looking fierce and had surrounded Nero and Argenti, the moment they opened their mouths, they seemed more pitiful than intimidating.
It wasn't just the Bloodhound leading them who was exhausted. The others were the same, all bent over with their hands on their knees, gasping for breath.
From a distance, it looked like a bunch of drunk people throwing up rainbows.
It really wasn't their fault.
Who were they, and who was Argenti?
It wasn't that the Family's Bloodhounds were weak, but they were nowhere close to Argenti.
The current Argenti was incredibly strong, and he wasn't the only one. The entire Knights of Beauty had become rather outrageous.
In the original story, each Knight of Beauty had already possessed impressive individual combat strength. Now, after all the changes brought about by Nero, it was hard to imagine just what these righteous heroes mixed with comedic characters were capable of.
And if Nero really followed Cirrus's suggestion and stood behind them as a cheerleader to give the Knights some buffs, that would probably be even more ridiculous than a power-up burst.
As for whether Idrila had any objections to this, she probably didn't.
The Bloodhounds panted for a while longer before finally catching their breath. They had already embarrassed themselves enough by shouting like that.
Especially after they had yelled, only to find that Argenti hadn't run away at all and was instead looking at them with concern and admiration. That made them feel even more ashamed.
"My friends, are you all right?" Argenti asked with concern.
The moment those words came out, the Bloodhounds' faces immediately turned bright red.
If this man hadn't looked so earnest and sincere, they would have thought he was mocking them.
But under the circumstances, they were even more confused.
'What's with this criminal? Why is he worried about us?'
'But... he really does look serious.'
'And what's with that little girl standing beside him?'
'Is he planning to use her as a hostage to threaten us?'
'It doesn't look like it.'
Besides, that girl's gaze is so gentle. Just being looked at by her somehow makes me feel less tired.
'Come to think of it... isn't that man a little too handsome for a criminal?'
'Judging people by appearances isn't right. For a Bloodhound to even have that thought was undoubtedly a failure of duty...'
'But... he really looks so upright and honorable. Is he really the criminal we're supposed to arrest?'
'Those two practically look like they're glowing!'
The Bloodhounds were confused.