The smile beneath the mask widened.
Apparently, being recognized was far more satisfying than Knox had expected.
For several moments, nobody moved. The bizarre scene before them was already difficult enough to process. Gideon, the target they had spent the entire evening pursuing, was currently hanging upside down from the ceiling like an oversized cocoon.
Thin threads stretched throughout the room, connecting him to the masked man standing beneath him, while a dagger lazily spun between the fingers of the man's left hand as though none of this was remotely unusual.
Unfortunately, the moment Lethe uttered that name, things somehow became even stranger.
"Hello, everyone~"
He greeted her with the casual ease of someone meeting an old friend on the street rather than standing in the middle of a half-destroyed criminal hideout.
Knox gave a small wave before his gaze drifted across the three students standing near the entrance.
"Or should I say..."
The dagger completed another rotation before settling comfortably into his reverse grip.
"Miss Lethe."
His gaze shifted.
"Mr. Moses."
Then once more.
"And Ms. Hamiel~"
His words immediately drew a reaction from everyone in the room.
Any lingering confusion vanished from their faces, replaced by a far more serious wariness. None of them could remember ever giving him their names, whether during their encounter at the tavern or amid the chaos of the assault.
Yet the masked man had recited all three without the slightest hesitation, speaking with the casual familiarity of someone who had known them for years.
Even Hamiel's ever-present smile quietly faded, leaving an unfamiliar seriousness on her face.
Moses narrowed his eyes as he studied the figure before him. The priest's expression remained composed, but his mind was already racing through possibilities. Informants. Surveillance. Intelligence networks.
"How do you know our names?"
The question came out calm and controlled, though Knox could detect the suspicion hidden beneath it.
Unfortunately for Moses, Knox had absolutely no intention of giving a useful answer.
The masked man tilted his head.
Then smiled.
"Guess~?"
A faint twitch appeared near Moses's eye, disappearing so quickly that most people would've missed it.
Unfortunately for him, Knox noticed immediately. Hamiel noticed too, and judging by the brief look in her eyes, even Lethe had caught it.
Nobody said a word.
Eventually, Hamiel glanced toward Moses.
"...He's doing that on purpose, isn't he?"
"Obviously."
The answer came instantly.
Meanwhile, Lethe had already decided that obtaining meaningful information from this man through normal conversation was probably impossible. The more she looked at him, the more suspicious he became. His movements were strange. His attitude was strange. Even his choice of timing felt deliberate.
Most concerning of all, he didn't seem worried.
Not even slightly.
As though the three of them arriving here had gone exactly according to his expectations.
"Just who are you?"
Unlike before, there was no trace of irritation in Lethe's voice. This time, only caution remained.
Knox blinked before slowly pointing at himself, as though there were somehow another masked man casually controlling Gideon in the room.
"Me?"
"Who else would I be talking to?"
"Hm."
He appeared genuinely confused.
"Didn't I already tell you my name?"
A visible vein appeared on Lethe's forehead.
The white-haired girl scoffed.
"Even dogs know that's a fake name."
The room suddenly became very quiet.
For perhaps the first time since entering the ruins, Knox found himself without an immediate response. Hamiel quickly covered her mouth before a laugh could escape, while Moses turned his head slightly and pretended not to notice. Even Gideon, despite his current predicament, seemed oddly supportive of the statement.
"Mmph."
Eventually, Knox released a long sigh.
"...Fair enough."
He gave a small shrug.
"I suppose I should give you a proper answer."
The dagger spun once more through the air before settling back into his hand.
"Allow me to reintroduce myself."
He placed one hand over his chest and offered a small, elegant bow, looking every bit like a refined gentleman.
The illusion would've been considerably more convincing if Gideon wasn't currently hanging from the ceiling behind him like an oversized decoration.
"My name is Sampo."
Knox allowed the name to linger for a moment before the grin beneath his mask widened.
"Some people call me the Masked Fool."
Silence followed.
Eventually, Lethe frowned.
"Sampo?"
She repeated the name under her breath as though searching her memory.
Then came the nickname.
"Masked Fool?"
A few more seconds passed before she finally crossed her arms.
"I've never heard either of those names before."
Then she added another.
"Although I do agree with the nickname."
Hamiel immediately looked away, while Moses quietly closed his eyes as though he wanted no part in whatever had just happened.
Even Gideon stopped struggling for a moment.
Hamiel immediately looked away, while Moses quietly closed his eyes. Even Gideon stopped struggling for a moment, apparently caught in the secondhand embarrassment.
Knox remained silent for several seconds.
"...You know what? I liked you better when you were angry."
"Good."
"...See? This. This is exactly what I mean."
The response came so quickly that Lethe almost looked impressed.
Before the conversation could spiral any further, Moses stepped forward and redirected it toward something actually useful.
His gaze shifted upward toward Gideon before returning to the masked man standing beneath him.
"What exactly is your purpose here?"
There was considerably more weight behind the question this time. Moses watched the masked man carefully, his gaze sharp as though weighing every movement and word that followed.
"Why are you targeting him?"
For the first time since their arrival, Knox followed Moses's gaze toward the cocoon hanging from the ceiling. Gideon immediately began struggling the moment attention returned to him.
"MMPH!"
The movement caused the entire cocoon to sway slightly. Knox watched Gideon swing back and forth for a moment before giving a small nod, apparently satisfied with whatever conclusion he'd reached.
"Well."
He raised one finger.
"First of all, I heard this guy comes with a rather attractive reward."
A second finger soon joined the first.
"Second..."
The smile beneath his mask returned.
"I was bored."
Lethe's expression twitched slightly, though Knox appeared completely unaware of the increasingly questionable impression his explanation was creating. Instead, he calmly raised a third finger.
"And third..."
His gaze wandered from Lethe to Moses before finally settling on Hamiel. The grin beneath his mask widened.
"The most important reason of all..."
Something about his tone immediately made all three of them wary.
"I thought it'd be fun to interfere with your mission."
Silence swallowed the room.
For a few moments, nobody spoke as the meaning behind Knox's answer settled over the room. Above them, Gideon immediately began struggling again, his cocoon swaying slightly from side to side as muffled protests echoed through the layers of thread wrapped around him. Unfortunately for the unfortunate man, nobody paid much attention.
At the moment, the person standing beneath him was a significantly bigger problem.
Lethe's fist tightened.
The sharp crack that followed echoed clearly throughout the chamber, accompanied by a faint pulse of holy power that briefly illuminated the air around her knuckles. Judging from the look on her face, she was becoming increasingly convinced that violence might actually be the correct solution to this conversation.
Meanwhile, Hamiel quietly took another step backward.
Not because she was afraid of Knox.
She was afraid of Lethe.
A very important distinction.
Moses, on the other hand, remained surprisingly composed. While Lethe's patience was visibly approaching its limit, the priest simply continued studying the masked man standing before them.
The answer itself wasn't particularly surprising. From the moment they'd entered the room, it had already become obvious that this mysterious individual had no intention of cooperating. What interested Moses was *why*.
Nothing about the situation made sense.
A man capable of infiltrating a hidden stronghold without being detected should've possessed enough intelligence to avoid unnecessary trouble. A man capable of capturing Gideon single-handedly should've had no reason to linger after accomplishing his objective. Yet somehow, this masked fool had done both, then voluntarily remained behind to chat.
It was absurd.
Suspiciously absurd.
Which usually meant there was another reason hidden underneath.
"You don't seem particularly interested in the reward."
The observation escaped Moses almost absentmindedly as he continued watching Knox. "At least not enough to justify everything that's happened tonight."
Knox hummed softly.
"Maybe."
"Maybe?"
"Maybe I'm rich already~"
Nobody looked convinced.
"Or maybe," Knox continued, sounding far too entertained by his own mystery, "I'm simply a curious person."
Lethe immediately scoffed.
"A curious person doesn't break into a secret hideout."
"A curious person absolutely breaks into a secret hideout."
The response arrived so quickly that even Hamiel blinked.
"That's literally one of the first things a curious person would do."
"..."
"..."
For some reason, arguing with him felt impossible.
Not because he was correct.
But because he sounded completely convinced that he was.
Hamiel stared at the masked man for several seconds before slowly raising a hand.
"Can I ask something?"
"Of course."
The girl pointed upward toward the ceiling.
More specifically, toward the cocoon hanging from it.
"Why is he still up there?"
Gideon immediately started struggling again.
"!!!"
The cocoon swung from side to side.
Knox followed Hamiel's finger, stared thoughtfully at Gideon for several seconds, then nodded as though he had just realized something important.
"Ah."
The smile beneath the mask widened.
"That's because he keeps trying to escape."
"MMPH?!"
"See?"
Knox pointed upward.
"He's doing it right now."
The muffled protests somehow became louder.
Hamiel immediately looked away before she accidentally laughed again, while Moses pinched the bridge of his nose and questioned how this conversation had deteriorated so quickly.
Only Lethe remained focused.
Unlike the others, her attention had never truly left Knox. The more she observed him, the stronger her instincts became. Something about his behavior felt deliberate. Not the jokes. Not the theatrics. Those were probably genuine, unfortunately.
What truly unsettled her was the way he carried himself. Despite being outnumbered, the masked man showed no urgency whatsoever, standing before them with an easy confidence that bordered on absurdity.
More troubling still, he seemed entirely unconcerned about what might happen next. Every gesture, every word, and that infuriatingly relaxed posture gave Lethe the uncomfortable impression that he had already considered every possible outcome long before they arrived.
She didn't like that feeling one bit.
"You're stalling."
The words escaped before Lethe could stop herself.
For the first time since the conversation began, Knox paused, if only for the briefest moment. It would've been easy to miss, but Lethe caught it.
Then the smile returned.
"Maybe~"
The playful answer did little to ease her suspicions. If anything, Knox's refusal to give her a straight response only made the uneasy feeling in her chest grow stronger.
A subtle shift passed through the room. Moses had apparently reached a similar conclusion, while even Hamiel's usual cheerfulness faded as the pieces gradually fell into place.
Lethe's eyes narrowed.
Every joke, every unnecessary answer, every second spent dragging out this conversation...
He was buying time.
But for what?
And judging from the amused smile hidden behind the mask, Knox seemed to be enjoying the fact that they hadn't figured it out yet.
The realization settled over the room quickly.
At some point during the conversation, the discussion had quietly reached a dead end. Questions had been asked. Answers had been given. Unfortunately, none of those answers changed the situation standing right in front of them.
Gideon remained suspended from the ceiling.
And the masked man beneath him had no intention of letting him go.
Lethe clicked her tongue and dragged a hand through her hair before fixing Knox with a stare that carried far less patience than before.
"Sigh... I've had enough of your nonsense crap."
The golden light gathering around her body immediately grew denser. Fine cracks spread beneath her feet as holy power surged through the room, causing several loose papers to scatter across the floor.
"Our target is hanging right there."
She pointed toward Gideon.
The cocoon immediately started moving.
"MMPH!"
"And instead of handing him over, you've been wasting our time, getting in our way, and acting like this is some kind of game."
The tension inside the room continued to rise as Lethe slowly approached the masked man, each measured step echoing through the silence.
"That means..."
Her eyes never left Knox.
"You're an enemy!"
Moses released a slow breath and stepped forward as well. A faint glow spread across his body as blessings began gathering around him. He had hoped to learn more before things reached this point, but the masked man had made his position abundantly clear.
Nearby, Hamiel looked between Lethe and Knox before tightening her grip on her trumpet. The cheerful expression she'd worn for most of the evening disappeared as holy power gradually gathered around the instrument.
"...I guess we're doing this."
Nobody disagreed.
Across the room, Knox watched the three students prepare themselves.
The dagger that had been spinning between his fingers finally became still.
His grip shifted naturally into a reverse hold while the fingers of his right hand tightened around several nearly invisible threads stretched throughout the room. The wires responded immediately, becoming taut as they spread through the chamber like an enormous web.
The playful smile never disappeared.
If anything, it seemed to grow slightly wider.
"Now we're talking~"
His gaze moved across the three students standing before him.
The Future Saint of Stars.
The future Archbishop.
And the girl whose trumpet somehow caused explosions.
Quite the lineup.
A faint chuckle escaped beneath the mask.
"Come on then."
The challenge was obvious.
"So, which one of you wants to go first?"