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Chapter 5
The report came from a guild member who had infiltrated the massive crime syndicate, Redbor.
Sensing the urgency, Rosalyn immediately asked:
“What happened?”
“Black Code, ma’am!”
At that instant, every guild member froze.
The lobby stiffened with silence, no one daring to move, when Cassis’s calm baritone cut through the air:
“What is this Black Code?”
Rosalyn’s expression turned heavy.
“…It’s the code a field agent sends when their life is in immediate danger.”
Normally, such internal codes were never to be disclosed to outsiders. Once compromised, an entire code system had to be changed—a costly and time-consuming ordeal.
But…
Rosalyn decided to gamble.
Maybe—just maybe—the cost won’t matter anymore.
The man she was wagering on, Cassis, scanned the lobby with sharp blue eyes.
“If that’s the case, shouldn’t you be moving to save him at once? Why is no one acting?”
His tone pressed urgency into the room.
Yet the members of the Hyde Guild stood frozen, as if the code itself were a death sentence.
Rosalyn quietly explained,
“Billy’s mission makes a rescue operation nearly impossible.”
Billy had gone undercover.
Not into some noble’s household as a servant, but into Redbor, a sprawling syndicate operating even beyond the Empire’s borders.
When she trained him for infiltration, Rosalyn had made him promise—if things ever grew too dangerous, he was to drop everything and run.
Information was valuable.
But the lives of her guildmates were worth more.
That had always been her creed, from the very founding of Hyde.
Still, things had gone wrong.
Cassis frowned.
“So you’ve decided to give up without even trying?”
Some guild members bristled at the accusation, but Rosalyn raised a hand to stop them.
“Then what would you suggest? Billy spent six months just to get into Redbor. If we go charging in through the front door, it’s war with the syndicate. And if we try to sneak him out? Too late—the clock’s already ticking.”
Her voice was steady, but the unspoken truth hung heavy: Billy himself had asked her to consider a Black Code as a death notice.
Still, Rosalyn’s crimson eyes blazed as she met Cassis’s gaze.
“But what if there’s a way?”
That glimmer of hope made her guild members gasp.
The Black Iron Knights.
If their commander lent his name, even Redbor’s iron gates could be forced open.
“Help us just a little, and the rest—we’ll handle.”
Rosalyn took the gamble.
“You won’t regret it. We’ll pay the price.”
Her fiery eyes clashed with Cassis’s stormy blue.
It was hope, yes.
But it was also a naked attempt to use him.
Would he refuse?
Silence.
Then, slowly, Cassis spoke:
“I do not strike down the innocent.”
The same words he had used earlier, when she asked him to reassure her guild.
This time, though, his tone was solemn—like a knight’s oath.
Not a soul dared to breathe.
“My duty as a knight of the Arleon Empire… is to protect its people.”
His gaze swept the guild, then settled firmly on Rosalyn.
“No payment is required. If your guild member’s life is endangered yet he is innocent, I will help.”
The guild erupted in whispers.
Rosalyn had proposed a bargain.
Cassis had given them unconditional aid.
A jackpot.
If the Black Iron Knights joined the operation, Billy’s life might yet be saved.
And yet—
Rosalyn’s next words were cold enough to freeze the flicker of hope:
“And what, exactly, is your definition of ‘innocent’?”
Because in Hyde Guild, none of them were.
Orphans who had stolen to survive.
Daughters forced to swindle to pay their father’s gambling debts.
Men who had stolen bread so their families wouldn’t starve.
And Rosalyn herself, born in the slums.
If innocence meant a spotless life, then none of them qualified.
The hopeful murmurs began to die again.
But Cassis’s voice rang steady:
“If he did not endanger others, then he is innocent.”
Billy’s task had been to steal information.
His last report claimed he’d gained recognition for his “work” and would be meeting his superiors that very day.
Which meant he’d likely committed crimes to earn that trust.
It was a gray line.
But Rosalyn’s answer was unwavering:
“He is innocent. If he is not, then I will take responsibility.”
That was the burden of a leader.
If Billy has any sin, it’s only that he trusted me enough to accept this mission.
Cassis regarded her burning crimson eyes for a long moment.
Then his decision fell like a gavel.
“We’ll send for reinforcements.”
Relief washed over the guild.
Events moved quickly.
Reinforcements arrived in short order.
The scale of the operation startled the guild, but Cassis’s explanation was simple:
“The Knights have been monitoring Redbor for some time. If this is our chance to cut off their head, the effort is worth it.”
The guild lobby transformed into a command post.
Knights combed through Hyde’s intelligence files without hesitation.
Rosalyn had worried they might sneer at a guild’s work.
But no—their discipline was absolute. They obeyed only Cassis’s orders.
A large map was unrolled across the table.
“Based on our intel, there are three likely meeting points,” a guild member explained.
Cassis studied the markers.
Without hesitation, he swept one aside.
“Not the docks.”
“Why?” Rosalyn asked.
“Sealed off this morning, in secret. Which means the Imperial Court is using it.”
She blinked, then nodded. Only the Knights would know such classified information.
He removed another marker.
“Not the outskirts either.”
“Reason?”
“Too empty. A secret meeting in a deserted place stands out.”
Rosalyn smiled faintly. She understood at once.
Better to hide in a crowd.
Cassis’s eyes left the map and locked onto hers.
“They are not amateurs.”
Only one marker remained.
Rosalyn touched it.
“Then it has to be here.”
Cassis gave a single nod.
“The highest probability.”
A guild member hesitated.
“But… a temple, for a rendezvous?”
Rosalyn answered smoothly:
“Where else can anyone come and go without suspicion?”
The Temple of Azura—always bustling with people from every walk of life.
Perfect cover.
Cassis’s voice cut the debate short.
“We move on the Temple of Azura.”
