"I didn't expect they would be willing to send you here."
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①: Frick and Carlo. The Flintstone Knight. Appeared in chapter 54 of Insomnia.
Chapter 8: Going to Sea
The golden rank...Flint Knight.
Hitzfeld paused and turned his attention back to the black-haired man.
After consulting materials for a period of time, especially reading the book "Steam Knight" again, she has understood that the fortress armored vehicle she saw on Yongen Street and the heavy armored knight who jumped out of it were not "cold weapons".
It should be said that it is not a completely cold weapon.
They were the Flint Knights she had often heard of, wearing armor that burned "flint" to generate power. The micro-furnace inside the armor would emit exaggerated white steam mist after consuming the fuel, and skilled wearers could use the steam impulse by adjusting their posture to complete a series of operations such as levitation, gliding, jumping, and charging.
The workmanship of this armor is very sophisticated, and the micro-furnace is also a secret. However, the reason why only the Mechanical Sun Cult has the method to train Flint Knights is that the key lies in the special combustion material.
According to what Hitzfeld had read, 'Flint' was not an ordinary flint, it was just a code name. Its essence might be a precious material obtained by the church or the royal family from a prehistoric ruin. These materials were divided into two grades, 'silver' and 'gold', depending on their quality. Only the officially organized Flint Knights were eligible to receive them.
It is worth mentioning that there is no "Bronze" rank in the official organization of the Flint Knights. The bronze rank corresponds to the training camp, and any Flint Knight with power armor can be called a Silver Knight.
Because they are much stronger than ordinary knights.
A silver-rank Flint Knight—Hitzfeld had seen illustrations—could overturn and destroy multiple cars in one go with the aid of power armor.
The armor's protective power is also outstanding. As long as it is not hit directly by a shell, ordinary caliber pistols, rifles, and shrapnel cannot even penetrate it.
Because the armor provides excellent defense and mobility, the Flint Knights do not need shields. The weapons equipped per person are a large-caliber submachine gun mounted on the leg and a "Kelward-Crusher" war hammer. This brutal weapon with a handle as long as meters is connected to a thing similar to an enlarged angular hammer at the end. According to the illustration, this thing can also be put into flint material, and when it is started, it will spin quickly like a gyroscope - or a chainsaw.
From this perspective, the combat effectiveness of an ordinary Flint Knight is no less than that of a tank.
The Silver Rank is so powerful, how powerful would the Gold Rank... be if someone is qualified to be the group leader?
Curiosity made Hitzfeld look at Frick a few more times.
However, Baron Skye soon came up with the help of his servants. Out of courtesy, Hitzfeld hurried forward to accept the old man's farewell ceremony.
"For the travel expenses, I asked my servants to buy enough water, food, clothing, equipment, coal, and fuel... They have all been loaded."
"You asked me to send an airship to take people to Blade Point, and I did. Although the troops are still gathering and will definitely leave later than you, I promise that they will reach the Crystal Sea faster than you and will not delay your journey."
"That's all I can do..."
"So Esoon-Hitzfell."
At the end, he took two steps forward and grabbed the girl's sleeve, "Can you promise me? Promise that this time it will work... promise that no one will let me down again...?"
"I'm sorry, Baron. I don't want to lie." Hitzfeld pulled his hand away without showing any emotion. "Our understanding of the Crystal Sea is still very partial. I can't guarantee this."
"Really..." The Baron lowered his head in disappointment.
"Yes, if it were that easy... there wouldn't have been no news for such a long time."
"I have a suggestion for you, Baron."
After thinking about it, Hitzfeld decided to mention it.
"Smoke less."
"If you don't have a healthy body, even if a miracle really happens, you won't be able to experience it alive."
"You!" The servants next to her and several members of the Skye family glared at her when they heard her.
The old man raised his hand to stop them, then stared at Hitzfeld.
"Why...how do you know?"
"Because of what you're wearing." Hitzfeld looked at his turtleneck.
"There are many reasons why people are used to wearing turtlenecks, such as covering scars, fear of cold, or concealing their identities... But the place where we met before was very secluded and the climate was hot. Even so, he was unwilling to put down his collar. In addition to the boring dignity hypothesis, I think it could be that... some wounds have worsened, or new surgeries have been performed on the original basis. The wounds have to be wrapped to prevent wind and prevent anyone from seeing them, which has caused instability in the situation."
"I don't understand, Detective." The old man narrowed his eyes and addressed her in a different way. "Are you so sure that your reasoning is correct?"
"Not sure." Hitzfeld also stared at him. "I'm less than 50% sure, but it doesn't matter if I guess wrong in this kind of thing... and judging by the results, I won."
Half an hour later, the group stood at the dock and watched the Norayesan carrying the expedition team out to sea.
"master."
The mustache man stood behind the baron and leaned forward.
"She didn't seem to know who she was talking to or working with..."
"It goes without saying."
The old man interrupted him again.
"You have this perception, but you don't understand her value."
"Kangana-Flick."
"If you knew who he was, you would understand that she was not a discarded child at all, but an important person that the royal family and the cult were betting on this time."
"That……"
"Not urgent."
Watching the sailboat go farther and farther away, the baron breathed a sigh of relief.
"It's been seventeen years, hasn't it?"
"I have patience."
“That’s true for a lot of things.”
……
The Norayesan is a medium-sized hybrid ship, powered by both sail and machinery.
Not many extra crew members were sent here because the two Flint Knights and the three members of Team 17 knew how to operate.
So after Hitzfeld got on board, he didn't care about these things. He first found his room, pushed the box to the corner and fixed it with a bracket, and then looked around the room.
Overall it's pretty good.
White sheets, white pillows, and even a simple dressing table with a mirror.
Except that all the furniture was nailed into place, the layout was no different from that of an ordinary hotel.
lucky.
She nodded.
In other words, they had a wealthy employer who was willing to buy such a ship for them to use.
If it were any other situation, she felt that at least she would have to share a bed with Xia Yibing.
"Hitzfeld."
Just then, a familiar voice suddenly sounded behind me.
Hitzfeld shuddered, turned around, and saw the black-haired woman standing at the door.
"that……"
"Ah."
"I have something to talk to you about."
Chapter 9: The Usurpation Hypothesis
"Say it directly."
As he said this, Hitzfeld had already quietly retreated to the bedside.
Because she noticed that when Xia Yibing came in, she not only closed the door, but also locked it.
She was feeling a bit conflicted now. On the one hand, the elements of "sea-cabin-bed" brought back memories of being pushed down by the other party. But on the other hand, with her limited knowledge in this area, she didn't quite understand what the change at that time meant (referring to women to women).
She just instinctively felt a little uneasy, her heart beat faster, and she instinctively wanted to find a place to hide.
"..."Xia Yibing noticed her movements and the corners of her mouth twitched slightly.
To be honest, Hitzfeld was quite slow in this regard. In addition to her conservative dress and consistent etiquette, she sometimes showed an attitude of "not being very experienced in being a girl".
The reason why her instinctive defense was triggered now was probably because... this scene was too familiar.
But does this really work?
Xia Yibing quickly glanced at the layout of the room.
Hitzfeld stood in front of the bed, the head of which was close to the corner and the four legs below were welded shut.
Opposite the end of the bed was her suitcase, which was fixed to the opposite corner, and next to it was a double-glazed waterproof window with iron bars.
The windows are locked.
This means that in this small space, Hitzfeld only has a small gap between the table, window and box to hide.
If I really wanted to capture it, it probably wouldn't take more than 5 seconds...
"summer……?"
Hitzfeld had to speak up to wake the woman.
Because she felt that the way the other person looked at her seemed to be becoming more and more dangerous.
"Oh!" Xia Yibing woke up as if from a dream and coughed a few times to cover up: "Sorry... my occupational disease has come back."
"I just hope that next time you face me, you can deliberately make your footsteps louder." Hitzfeld also breathed a sigh of relief. "Every time you walk, there is no sound... Suddenly starting to talk from behind, it feels really bad..."
It's not that she is being pretentious, but she does have a mild neurasthenia.
Because of the influence of her left eye, she could still hear chaotic whispers in the void from time to time. Most of the whispers were unclear, but this did not prevent Hitzfeld from gradually adapting to them and treating them as BGM in her life.
So it was normal that her mental state was worse than that of an average person. Due to this interference, her hearing was not very good either.
"Hitzfeld."
The next second, a shadow suddenly covered them.
Xia Yibing ignored her complaints and moved closer to her, looking down at her. She stared at her seriously and said, "You must be careful of them... Be careful of the people from the cult!"
"reason?"
The amount of information in the words stopped Hitzfeld from having wild thoughts. She gradually calmed down and entered a state of thinking.
"I'm not sure—"
Xia Yibing opened her mouth, seeming to be hesitant to speak.
"But - in any case, you have to be careful of those two Flint Knights."
"Why?" Hitzfeld frowned at her, and at the same time glanced at the locked door, lowering his eyebrows and said in a low voice: "No matter what you think, suspicion... there must be a reason?"
"You are a recognized detective, Hitzfeld." Xia Yibing narrowed his eyes, "Guess why."
I didn't even know them before, and I didn't do any research on them, and you asked me to guess for no reason -
Hitzfeld almost thought she was going crazy.
But the light in the woman's eyes told her that she was serious.
"All I could think was that they were sent by the royal family to spy on me."
After opening his mouth several times, Hitzfeld could only utter these words.
After the ticket case was settled, the royal family remained silent.
It can't even be described as "quiet", it should be "dead silence", as calm as a pool of stagnant water.
Even the great nobles didn’t know what the royal family was trying to do, and their various actions were hindering them, which showed that they were also aware of the royal family’s abnormality.
But does all this have anything to do with her?
Could it be that... the Crystal Sea case was really a test from the royal family to see where her limits were?
Or to be more precise... they wanted to confirm certain information from her, and those two Flintstone Knights were their spies?
If so, it would mean that both Princé and Villefort—at least the former—had lied to her.
This is not something difficult to accept.
