Chapter 107: Parting on Bad Terms

She reached out and grabbed the Regulation Squad member by the collar, lifting her up as easily as one would pick up a chicken.

The iron chains clattered loudly with her movement, the harsh sound echoing in the quiet room.

The girl struggled desperately, flailing her arms and legs in an attempt to break free. Peretti frowned slightly, her fingers tightening as she gripped the girl’s throat. With just a bit of force, the struggle instantly weakened. The girl’s face flushed red, on the verge of passing out.

Dragging her along, Peretti strode out of the house.

“Stop fighting! It’s all a misunderstanding!” Peretti shouted, tossing the Regulation Squad member at Anasha’s feet. She herself stepped forward, blocking the sword Fakenna was about to swing.

Seeing this, both of them halted their weapons almost simultaneously and signaled their subordinates to stop.

“A misunderstanding? He killed everyone here—what misunderstanding could there possibly be?!” Anasha spoke first, her voice filled with anger.

Fakenna said nothing. He simply crossed his arms and watched Peretti with interest, clearly curious about what she would do next.

“You said he killed everyone here—where’s your evidence?” Peretti’s voice suddenly rose, sharp and cold with a witch-like edge. “Did you see it with your own eyes?”

Her gaze swept across the Regulation Squad like icy blades. The smoke from the recent clash hadn’t yet dissipated—everyone bore injuries, their armor damaged, their breathing heavy—

But there wasn’t a single corpse.

Relief flickered in Peretti’s heart, but her expression remained aggressive. She knew that showing weakness now would only give Anasha a reason to deal with her.

Anasha faltered, caught off guard by the question. Her throat moved as she swallowed, fingers tightening unconsciously around her sword hilt.

She had been so provoked by Fakenna earlier that she’d jumped to conclusions, assuming this was the work of a heretic—forgetting to verify even the most basic evidence.

What was wrong with her today?

Even her usual emotional control had slipped.

Peretti didn’t give her time to recover. She pressed on, her tone firm and deliberate:

“He was lying to you. The people here were just hidden away—no one was harmed. I just saw a mother and daughter hiding safely in a room over there.”

“Then what’s his purpose?” Anasha suppressed her embarrassment and pressed the question.

She simply couldn’t understand why a highly decorated Knight Order commander would attack the Regulation Squad without reason.

At that, Peretti looked at Anasha as if she were an ignorant fool.

Rolling her eyes, she lowered her voice slightly, sounding impatient as if the answer was obvious:

“Didn’t he already say it? He wanted to spar with you—to see just how big the gap is between his Knight Order and your so-called ‘heretic-purging’ Regulation Squad.”

The words hit Anasha like a thunderclap.

She suddenly remembered—before the fight, Fakenna had indeed shouted something along those lines. She had dismissed it as mere provocation and hadn’t taken it seriously at all.

A sense of absurdity rose within her. Her hand trembled slightly as she held her sword, before finally, unwillingly, she sheathed it. The metallic click echoed clearly in the quiet alley.

She had long heard rumors within the military—that soldiers who spent years on the battlefield often carried a reckless, combative madness in their bones, sometimes picking fights for no reason at all.

She used to think it was nonsense—just a crude excuse for barbaric behavior.

But after experiencing it firsthand today, she realized the rumors weren’t false.

Anasha took a deep breath, feeling a tight pressure in her chest.

“Oh? Didn’t expect this—our little heretic here has such sharp observation skills,” Fakenna’s teasing voice came from the side.

He leaned against the wall, his cloak slipping off one shoulder to reveal dust-covered armor beneath. A faint flush lingered on his face—he had clearly enjoyed the fight.

Peretti ignored him completely. She knew that if Fakenna didn’t leave soon, things might escalate again once Anasha regained her composure.

She quickly stepped closer to him and whispered urgently, her voice low enough that only the two of them could hear:

“That’s enough. Stop talking and take your people out of here.”

Fakenna looked down at her, amusement flickering in his eyes.

He studied her for a moment—her wrists bound in chains—then glanced at the glaring Regulation Squad members nearby. After a pause, he lazily waved his hand.

“Alright, boys. Had our fun—it’s time to go.”

The surrounding knights sheathed their swords one after another. Their faces carried the exhilaration of battle, and they shot provocative looks at the Regulation Squad before gathering around Fakenna and swaggering out of the alley, leaving behind a mess of destruction.

“Captain, he set us up so blatantly—can’t we punish him under military law?” a young team member asked indignantly, frustration written all over his face.

He had been completely suppressed by the knights earlier and was still burning with resentment.

Anasha let out a heavy sigh. She rubbed her aching temples, her eyes filled with fatigue and helplessness.

“Just accept it.”

“These soldiers are mostly like that—fearless in war, wild and undisciplined in daily life. The Military Committee is already used to it. Fakenna is a highly decorated commander, and his Knight Order is the vanguard on the battlefield—recognized as fearless warriors. Even if we report this, at most he’ll write a self-criticism and get a few words of reprimand.”

She glanced at the sky, urgency creeping into her tone.

“We have more important tasks. We don’t have time to waste here. Let’s go.”

Though the team members were unwilling, they knew she was right. With frustrated stomps, they turned to leave with her.

Even so, the looks they cast toward the direction Fakenna had left were still filled with dissatisfaction.

At that moment, one of the team members suddenly scrambled up from the ground.

She was the one Peretti had tossed aside earlier. Having just recovered, she didn’t even bother dusting herself off before stumbling over to Anasha to report.

“Oh, right! Captain!” she said urgently, pointing toward Peretti. “That heretic we captured—we’ve confirmed her identity! Just now I tried to kill her to eliminate future trouble, but she grabbed my blade with one hand and snapped it in half!”

Anasha’s brows instantly knitted together. She turned to look at the member, her voice icy cold.

“You tried to kill her?”

The member shuddered under her gaze, lowering her head guiltily, avoiding eye contact as she stammered out an excuse:

“Well… she was being too annoying, wasn’t she? Just look at how defiant she is—she’s obviously not a good person! Keeping her around is a risk!”

“A person’s character is never judged by appearance or behavior alone,” Anasha cut her off sharply, her tone full of reprimand.

But halfway through her sentence, she suddenly froze and turned her head sharply—

Peretti, who had been standing right beside her moments ago…

Was gone.

“Where is she?!!”