"That young master from the Schneider Group isn't at all what you expected, right? I was honestly shocked when he appeared out of nowhere. Can a Schneider even just waltz into a concentration camp like that?"
"He must've had his ways," one of the knights replied. "Is it really that surprising, Cornelia? You know how it works. Rules don't apply to the privileged."
"Jeez, there you go again with the whole privilege talk, Gustav. You do realize the only reason you became a knight is because Knight Gabriel vouched for you, don't you? That's privilege too!"
"...."
Gustav had no comeback for that.
The Revenant Knights sat inside the car as Gabriel drove. Julius had already gone ahead on his own, leaving them behind to finalize the report on what had happened in Lichterfelde.
Though it had started as a personal operation, the incident had escalated to an extent that failing to report it would be seen as withholding information. An offense that bordered on treason.
Cornelia leaned her head against the window, a playful smirk crossing her lips.
"You know, Gustav, I think you're just jealous."
"Jealous?" Gustav shot back, frowning. "Of what exactly?"
"Of him, obviously." Cornelia folded her arms and gave a teasing grin. "You've been criticizing him ever since he walked in, acting like he's got no right to breathe the same air as us."
Gustav scoffed. "Please. I'm just saying what everyone's thinking. He's reckless, arrogant, and walks around like the world belongs to him."
"That's called confidence," Cornelia said, feigning a sigh. "You could learn a thing or two."
From the back seat, another knight, Dieter, chuckled. "Wait, didn't you have the hots for Knight Gabriel before? What happened to that?"
Cornelia turned, her face flushing. "Excuse me?"
Dieter raised a brow. "Don't play innocent. You were all smiles and compliments when we first joined the corps—"
"S-Shut up!" Cornelia hissed, clapping a hand over his mouth before he could finish. Her eyes quickly darted to the front seat, where Gabriel was driving.
It was over. She was finished. There was no way Gabriel hadn't heard that.
——What? You're renting a hotel in Stahnsdorf? Just go back to Berlin.
——Ah, you're tired. You should've come with us if that's the case.
——Didn't want to impose? No, I don't think so. The guys aren't like that. But if you think they dislike you, that's on you, Young Master.
——Since when did you ever care what others thought anyway?
Thankfully, Gabriel seemed preoccupied with a phone call, most likely speaking with Julius. Cornelia hoped he hadn't caught a single word of the gossip in the backseat.
Dieter only chuckled, rubbing the spot she'd hit. Truthfully, he didn't mind the blow. It was worth it just to see her flustered. He liked Cornelia, though he'd long accepted that her eyes were always on Gabriel.
Still, he couldn't bring himself to resent it. They were all grateful to Gabriel.
None of them were here because they had to be. They came because Gabriel had asked a favor, and that alone was reason enough. He had pulled each of them out of their lowest points, given them direction when they'd lost all sense of purpose.
If Gabriel ever asked them to walk into fire, they would do it with no hesitation. That was the kind of loyalty he inspired, even if he never quite asked for it.
Their only issue with Julius came from the occasional rants Gabriel told. They all knew Gabriel had joined the Revenant Knights for the position's privileges and influence.
His true duty had always been to the Schneider family, more specifically to the youngest son, Julius, serving as both his personal butler and knight.
"Guys, check this out."
One of the fellow knights, Hans-Peter, held out his phone. On the screen was a news article freshly released to the public.
The headline stated that the Schneider Group, particularly Julius Sebastian Schneider, had successfully taken down the terrorist Anton, the same man who had recently threatened the German Republic.
The others leaned closer to read. The comments section was already flooded.
┕ @aufstand: Legacy or not, this is dangerous. The Schneiders are getting too powerful.
┕ @eurotrashdreams: Papa Johannes really passed down the main character genes 💅
┕ @blitzkriegbae: Nepo baby, yeah. But at least this one's useful lololol.
┕ @lither: LMFAO the Schneiders could literally nuke a town and ppl would still call it public service. 💀
┕ @verena.v_: Y'all making fun but I'd let Julius arrest me any day 😩
┕ @ella.katharina: I saw the press photo… and?? be honest, who let him look THAT good in uniform 😭😭
┕ @sofia.bld: Forget Anton, I'm the one getting neutralized 😭
┕ @_nikolaus13: bro hasn't even spoken publicly and half of Germany's ready to risk it all 💀
Dieter couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all.
"Man, the internet's weird. Half of them wanna be him, the other half wanna be with him."
"Did I just read they wish he'd shove the saber inside their cli—"
* * *
After checking into a small hotel in Stahnsdorf, Julius set his coat aside and sat by the desk. He cleared the table, laid out his notebook, and began to write.
His pen moved quickly as he filled the first page with the word Nameless at the top. From there, he began listing everything he knew.
He wrote down Nameless's suspected operations, his movements, his possible origins, and the patterns that tied them together.
Then, he turned to the events he remembered from before his regression that might have been connected.
[2164 — The Paris Attack...]
[2153 — The Dresden Disappearances…]
[2168 — The Rhine Bio-Crisis…]
[2151 — The New Heidelberg Coup Attempt…]
He continued jotting down everything. Lines crossed and circled across the page like one huge web. Each lead, no matter how distant, seemed to converge toward one point.
By the time he stopped, sunlight was already spilling from the curtains. His hand was sore and filled with ink smudge.
In the center of the tangled mess of notes, one name stood out.
Nameless.
Julius drew a circle around it and leaned back in his chair.
"Who are you?"
He stared at the word as if it would answer him. Every pattern he'd traced certainly wasn't random, and the deeper he dug, the more things began to click in place.
If his conjectures were correct, then this man had been directly involved in the fall of the German Republic.
And if Julius wasn't just grasping at straws, then perhaps Nameless had not just been involved, but the very cause of it.