Chapter 32.1: Before Our Spring (2)
“Do you know what kills the most knights?”
An old, elderly knight.
One who had likely traversed countless battlefields in his youth, a nameless figure who had slain countless enemies to survive each day.
He asked, like a dying ember.
“Isn’t it swords?”
His counterpart,
A young man with a monocle, tilted his head and replied.
“It used to be.”
The elderly knight clicked his tongue, a sound of regret.
The young man, confused by his words, tilted his head in the opposite direction.
“Magic cannons are powerful but hard to aim, so it can’t be that. Magic guns only work on knights below the expert level, so it can’t be that either.”
“That’s right. Maybe someday, but not now.”
“Then is it power? Even a master, if his lord commands him to die, he’d face death without hesitation.”
The elderly knight was surprised when the young man, a person from this modern age, immediately thought of ‘loyalty,’ a concept now half-forgotten.
Seeing this, the young man realized that the lines on his face weren’t all wrinkles.
Because some were immobile scars on his lips.
The elderly knight finished his ‘Red Breath’ and wiped his mouth.
“Close.”
“If it’s not that either…… Haha. I don’t know. What is this incredible weapon?”
Swoosh━.
The elderly knight raised his index finger, bent from decades of wielding a sword. Its tip pointed toward the young man’s chest.
“Here?”
The elderly knight nodded, and the young man, puzzled, rummaged through his chest.
He pulled out a leather pouch.
It only contained a few coins and ‘Del,’ the currency issued by the ‘Seven-Line Trading Company’ of the merchant city ‘Delft.’
The elderly knight laughed with satisfaction.
“Yes, that. Money. Money kills the most knights.”
The young man furrowed his brow.
It’s not wrong, considering that money is the ultimate tool for controlling people. But he couldn’t easily accept that it killed the most knights.
“You look unconvinced.”
“Countless people live and die because of money, so I understand. But I’m not sure about it being the biggest killer of knights.”
Swoosh━.
The elderly knight turned his head and looked out the window of the tavern.
When he was young, this village was a rural area where people only farmed and went to church on Sundays to pray.
If it had stayed that way, it should have been a night shrouded in thick, deep darkness.
But━.
Carriages with magic lamps rattled along the carefully paved roads, and people walked under lanterns even late at night.
That wasn’t all.
Merchants, who used to be rare sights, now opened their shops every few months, selling goods day and night.
“This world has become too bright for knights to be born.”
“That’s because all the merchants in the world… improved things drastically by establishing the merchant city ‘Delft’ with the ‘Delft━Declaration’… ”
The young man, reciting the information he had memorized like a parrot from the academy, flinched.
The elderly knight’s world would not have been like this when he was his age.
Darkness would have been a space where countless enemies lurked, and only struggle and blood were the keys to survival.
“It’s improved. Now, wizards make and sell light for money, and nations compete to acquire money.”
“But the continent is still in chaos. The Airian Kingdom is a small island nation, so it’s possible for them.”
“It’s only a matter of time.”
The young merchant nodded.
He gained a new perspective from the words of the man who had dedicated his life to the sword.
“The knight’s sword that used to protect humanity no longer cuts. It’s just a murderer’s sword.”
The elderly knight nodded.
As enemies disappear and money takes their place, the object of the knight’s loyalty vanishes, faith fades, and will disappears.
“The only mysteries left in this land are the ‘Saints’ or ‘Witches’ of the church. Or maybe the warriors of the Great Wall.”
“……A new Demon King might appear, too.”
“I don’t know. From what I’ve seen, I know one thing. Humans find answers in any situation.”
At that moment, the elderly knight’s eyes twinkled.
An ordinary street in the city outside the window.
There would be people wearing raincoats since it rained during the day. But even as he watched, nearly ten people walked with their faces hidden under raincoats.
“I said all that, but there are still a lot of knights.”
“What?”
Each of them had broad shoulders and walked with a steady gait.
The elderly knight knew what kind of people they were. So, with a brighter face, he picked up the bottle and poured himself a drink.
“I smell blood.”
The young man, startled by the elderly knight’s sudden words, sniffed his arm.
The elderly knight, who seemed to find it funny, pushed the glass he was about to drink and handed it to the young man.
“It’s not for you, so there’s no need for that.”
The young man, looking at the overflowing drink, licked his lips but pushed it back a little, refusing.
“I decided not to drink while I’m working. I’m sorry.”
“You should drink, though?”
The elderly knight’s eyes turned back to the window.
No matter how brightly the magic lamps shone, he could see dark clouds gathering, slowly swallowing even that light.
“It’s best to just get drunk tonight, sleep through the night, and wake up.”
“You mean the blood smell you were talking about… ”
Click━.
Instead of answering, the elderly knight stood up.
The noise of the old chair scraping against the wooden floor was loud.
But when the elderly knight picked up the sword he’d been leaning against the table, there was no sound at all.
He turned his head, his hair so white it had almost completely fallen out.
“It was a tempting offer to have me go to the Delft Academy and teach the kids, but still, my former lord is in danger, so I have to move.”
The young merchant smelled something other than blood. The scent of a wolf seeking its death.
“I haven’t received any information. There’s no place where Count Lamaring’s mansion would be attacked at this late hour.”
The elderly knight smiled faintly.
It was a smile that might have been elegant in his youth, but now it felt melancholic.
“If that’s true, then let’s leave together tomorrow. Otherwise, I’ll die tonight.”
His steps were heading towards Count Lamaring’s mansion.