A few days later, Dalton's father Delkin, the Count of the Conwell family, called for a meeting to demand justice for his dead son. He refused to accept that Dalton had tried to assassinate Klein, and argued that his son had been a knight with honour and loyalty. Delkin angrily told the Rheinlands not to frame Dalton for assassination, and demanded that they search for the real culprit instead.
But Heinkel presented the proof of the investigation into the incident, showing that Klein had not changed his story even after intense interrogation. Heinkel also presented a record of about twenty mercenaries being dispatched from the Conwell estate at the very same time that Dalton and Klein disappeared. From this evidence, Heinkel believed that Dalton had indeed been up to something shady against Klein.
The damning evidence caught Delkin off guard and left him unable to argue any further. He cursed the mercenaries under his breath for leaving evidence behind after he had told them to be extremely careful.
Seeing that he had been backed into a corner, Delkin decided to change the subject by arguing that the whole incident made no sense, particularly the part about Klein eliminating Dalton. Since Dalton had been skilled enough to join the knights, Delkin refused to believe that Klein, who had never wielded a sword, could have taken him down.
Delkin's point made sense to the council. They recalled seeing Klein at the swordsmanship demonstration, and they had even heard Heinkel say that Klein had no mana. The council began to question how a boy with no mana could have killed a skilled swordsman, and this played right into Delkin's plan.
Even though Dalton had failed to eliminate Klein, Delkin intended to bury the secret, fearing that he would join his ancestors if it were ever revealed that they had tried to assassinate a direct descendant. To come out of this unscathed, he decided to change tactics again by attacking Klein's mother. He reminded the council that Klein's mother, Claire, had been surrounded by strange rumours until her death, and that Klein himself had claimed to be Archmond when he was young.
Delkin argued that they could not take Klein's word and frame Dalton as an assassin on the strength of it. Infuriated, Heinkel ordered Delkin to watch his mouth, but Delkin kept milking the point and accused Klein of hiring someone to eliminate Dalton. He then expressed his disgust that Klein was the one at fault and yet was trying to pin the crime on Dalton.
Suddenly a voice thundered through the hall, commanding Delkin to stop cooking up lies.
Delkin turned around to see who dared to speak to him that way, only to find Klein confidently striding into the hall. Klein revealed that he had been listening to the entire deliberation and could no longer stand there while Delkin spouted nonsense. He told the council that Dalton had hired mercenaries to assassinate him, and that he had simply acted in self-defence by taking Dalton out. He further claimed that a mysterious figure had transformed Dalton and his followers into undead, and that Garrison had arrived just in time to eliminate them.
After hearing Klein's brief account, Delkin immediately accused him of lying. Klein simply smirked and countered by asking whether Delkin's own accusation, that Klein was Archmond, was any more believable. Seeing that his plan had backfired, Delkin gritted his teeth and shut his mouth.
All of this was part of the resolve Klein had made after eliminating Dalton. He had sworn to restore, with his own hands, the Rheinland family that had been built upon his death. Klein refused to let Berkel's legacy be defiled by leeches who called themselves descendants, and the beginning of his plan was to put the collateral branches in their place.
A few moments later someone knocked at the door, and the pretty girl who had been at the demonstration entered, apologizing for being late. She was announced at the door as Lyra Paulwevern, commander of the Blue Holy Spear Knights.
Klein wondered what she was doing here, and recalled that Lyra had also been at the swordsmanship demonstration. Delkin told her that she should not be present, since the matter had nothing to do with the Paulwevern family, but Heinkel revealed that he had invited Lyra to participate in the gathering. Since Dalton had previously taken part in missions under her knight order, Heinkel believed she had every right to attend.
As soon as Lyra took off her jacket, her eyes turned in Klein's direction, and their eyes met. She waved at him and asked whether they could talk in private. Klein was puzzled by the sudden invitation and wondered why she would want to speak with him alone.
He was displeased when Heinkel granted Lyra permission to speak with him privately without consulting him first. To make matters worse, Heinkel told him not to take too long. The entire situation irritated Klein, especially since he had never been fond of knights.
After giving it some thought, however, he realized that this could actually work to his advantage. Klein concluded that there were only three reasons why Lyra would want a private conversation with him: verification, suspicion, or some kind of test. Whatever her intentions, he was prepared for whatever she threw his way.
With that, he excused himself and followed her, feeling like a lamb being led to the slaughter. Even so, Klein had no intention of backing down. He no longer wanted to run from problems, especially now that he had a clear goal. In fact, he had already resolved to use everyone around him to further his ambitions, no matter who they were.