A Knight unable to draw a sword sounded truly ridiculous.
But Noah understood that she could no longer be a true Knight. Perhaps she would never be able to draw this sword in her lifetime. No matter how glorious the past symbolized by this sword, it had now completely parted ways with her.
Now, she could only rely on her innate sixth sense to stir up trouble in the business world.
After confirming once again that she couldn't pull the sword out, Noah didn't put it back in its original place. Instead, she put it beside her; anyway, the side of her wheelchair had a specially designed setup for hanging things, and hanging it there wouldn't affect her movement.
As she pushed her wheelchair out of the bedroom, Kuro's gaze naturally fell on her, and then he caught sight of the sword by her hand. "Why did you suddenly take it out?"
"Well... perhaps I feel a bit more at ease with it by my side," Noah thought for a moment before replying with a smile, "Kuro, I promised you before that I wouldn't send you out casually, but I might not be able to keep that promise."
"...Is there something you need me to do?" Kuro didn't say anything, just nodded. "But even so, you at least need to stay in a safe place."
"I know, many people are watching me," Noah shook her head with a smile. "It's just that I believe if we continue to be passively beaten now, we definitely won't be able to change the current situation, so I plan to take the initiative."
"Tell me about it?"
"Shieldless League."
Noah spoke, and as she did, Kuro remained silent, but upon hearing that term, Noah clearly felt a slight fluctuation in Kuro's emotions.
Noah knew Kuro disliked the Shieldless League, but if this assassination was not carried out by the Shieldless League, then this time, they would have no direct conflict of interest with the Shieldless League, and the Shieldless League was more than willing to act for profit. So why couldn't the Shieldless League be a knife in her hand?
Anyway, in Kazimierz, you can live a bad life, but you can't have no life. And among the people who are best at creating excitement in Night City, the Shieldless League definitely ranks high.
"...If this is your decision."
"Kuro, don't worry, I know my limits," Noah replied with a smile. "I won't burn myself."
"I trust you, but the Shieldless League is still a very uncontrollable factor. I don't think they are as simple as they seem," Kuro responded. "This is from my personal experience."
"Indeed..." Noah sighed. "Unfortunately, one is always at the mercy of circumstances."
Noah had considered whether to change the Commercial Federation from within, but she found that the Commercial Federation was not as loosely organized as she had imagined. These people were unusually united, especially when facing foreign capital. This situation was clearly not accidental; within the Commercial Federation, there must be an entity capable of keeping these capitalists in check, and this entity might be the very reason why the Supervisory Council currently turns a blind eye to the Commercial Federation.
Although these were all Noah's own conjectures, from various indications, the current Kazimierz was in an extremely fractured state: Zhengzhan Knights were stationed as soldiers on the border, the country was almost entirely controlled by capital, and the Supervisory Council existed as a government but turned a blind eye to the Commercial Federation. Coupled with the immense rejection of foreign capital, it was difficult not to suspect that someone at the upper echelons of the Commercial Federation had established some invisible [rules].
As for who set these rules, Noah had not yet found out, but she was indeed using these [unwritten rules] to restrict the actions of those merchants.
As long as people abide by the rules, there are always patterns to follow. With rules, there are naturally ways to follow them or exploit them. The most terrifying thing is never strict rules; what is terrifying is when the rules themselves are hidden, only revealing their power when you truly encounter them.
However, the current situation in Kazimierz, in the end, was still under the control of the Supervisory Council.
After all, if you look closely, although the Commercial Federation seemed to wield immense power, they had yet to develop their own armed forces. Most of their actions even relied on assassin organizations like the Shieldless League. Was it that they couldn't afford their own private soldiers? Or did they think it wasn't necessary?
Neither. The real reason was probably one of the unwritten rules within Kazimierz—that the Commercial Federation must never cross the line.
Otherwise, no matter who it was, they would have to weigh their own capabilities when facing the organized javelins of the Silverlance Pegasus. Within Kazimierz, the Supervisory Council was by no means a powerless puppet. With the Silverlance Pegasus, Kazimierz's largest violent agency, in its possession, the Supervisory Council was in a position of complete control. It was precisely because of this situation that Noah couldn't rely on the Supervisory Council... Since the Supervisory Council had already tacitly approved many of the Commercial Federation's actions, she found it difficult to determine whether the assassination attempt against Maria was also within the scope of what was tacitly approved.
It was precisely because of this that she couldn't fully trust the Supervisory Council—or rather, trust the elder she had been so familiar with in the past...
Thinking of this, Noah couldn't help but shake her head. She truly didn't want to believe that the kind elder she once knew could one day become her enemy. But the current situation no longer allowed her to ponder.
She was born and raised in Kazimierz, and she naturally hoped that Kazimierz could become better, but the current Kazimierz...
Noah remained silent for a long time, only a sigh remaining.
A nation naturally needs a spiritual existence to support it, just like the freedom advocated by Columbia, the glory admired by Victoria, or Ursus's foundation built on conquest. For Kazimierz, this national spirit was clearly the spirit of Knighthood. Noah did not want Kazimierz to lose this spirit; Kazimierz should not become a second Columbia; it should have its own will.
The current Kazimierz is losing this spirit. They are starting to turn this spirit into entertainment, into a pastime, into a topic of conversation after meals. The spirit that was once recorded in family precepts and legends is gradually moving away from this country, and most people are not even aware of it.
When a Knight no longer deserves the title of Knight, when Kazimierz is no longer the land of Knights.
Is Kazimierz still Kazimierz?
She recalled the phrase Margaret always had on her lips—
"A so-called Knight is a... noble who illuminates the entire land."
But can this nobility awaken Kazimierz?
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