I Became a Knight
Chaeng—!
The sword slipped from my limp hand that had lost all strength.
I tried to reach out and pick it up, but the agonizing pain surging through both my hands made even that impossible.
It seemed my utterly ruined hands refused to allow even such a simple act.
Krrrumble…
Somewhere on the mountain, an avalanche appeared to have been triggered by the aftermath of the technique I had newly created.
"Haa… haa…!"
The desperate fusion of sword arts I had attempted as a last resort had succeeded.
And on top of that, I had even discovered a way to utilize my opponent's mana.
It was growth beyond compare.
"AAAAAGH!? Gghhhhhh…!"
But right now, I was in absolutely no condition to celebrate it.
Chiiiiiiik—!
It was hot.
The heat pouring from my hands, eyes, and head instantly created pale streams of steam in the air.
"What the…! Fuck, what the hell is this…?"
All the countless times I had analyzed swordsmanship, nothing like this had ever happened before.
My head throbbed as though it were about to explode, and my eyes burned as if someone had pressed red-hot irons against them.
My hands felt as though they had suffered full-body burns, delivering horrifying agony throughout my entire body.
Even when I forcibly accepted Ian's mana.
Even the pain I felt when making a contract with Rudel was nothing compared to this.
'And it's not like I can safely pass out here either… this is driving me insane…!'
Blood seeped from between my clenched teeth, but I had no room to care about that.
This was the summit of a snow-covered mountain constantly battered by blizzards.
If I collapsed here without anyone protecting me, my life would genuinely be in danger.
"Hold on… please, just hold on…!"
As I desperately struggled to stay conscious, light footsteps gradually approached me.
"Young master, are you okay?"
An innocent voice tilted with curiosity.
It was Arin.
"I'm… fine. Just for a moment…!"
Perhaps because of the cold air, the pain in my eyes slowly began to subside.
As I tried to stand while clutching my pounding head, Arin's shadow caught my staggering body.
"You really don't look very okay though."
Pouting slightly, Arin sat down on the spot and gently placed my collapsing head onto her lap.
"You were… hiding in the shadows?"
"Yes! This time I stayed quiet and behaved!"
"Good. Well done."
Perhaps she liked the feeling of the cold snow, because Arin sat there smiling while clutching handfuls of it in both hands.
"Why?"
"If you keep doing that… doesn't it hurt?"
Without taking her eyes off the snow, Arin asked quietly.
An innocent child to whom everything she saw was still unfamiliar.
And yet, at times, she seemed like a sage pretending to be a fool.
Because she effortlessly saw through my emotions.
"It hurts. So much it feels like I'm dying."
"Then don't do it."
"Yeah… guess you're right."
Was it because her presence comforted me?
Or because I felt relieved simply knowing someone was there to protect me?
The trembling that shook my body like a quaking aspen slowly calmed, and even the headache began to fade somewhat.
"Young master."
"Hm?"
"If you keep doing that… doesn't it hurt?"
Without taking her eyes off the snow, Arin asked again.
An innocent child who still found everything in the world strange.
Yet at the same time, she sometimes resembled a wise person pretending to be simple-minded.
Because she pierced straight through my feelings without hesitation.
"It hurts. Enough to kill me."
"Then don't do it."
"Yeah…"
Perhaps comforted by her presence, or reassured by the fact that I wasn't alone, my shaking body gradually settled down, and the pounding in my head eased further.
"Young master."
"Hoo…"
The sigh I exhaled drifted through the air like smoke from a cigarette.
"But what choice do I have?"
I stared blankly at the dissipating vapor as I spoke slowly.
"The world I was reborn into turned out like this… so I have to do something."
"Mmm~"
At my lament-like muttering, Arin narrowed her eyes and hummed knowingly.
As I quietly watched her—
another set of footsteps approached.
"Looks like it took you a while to restore your body."
When I raised my head at those words, the pale swordsman stood there holding Nordvindt.
—Despite your innate weakness, you have overcome the most difficult trial with excellence.
With those opening words, the pale swordsman lifted Nordvindt and pointed it toward me.
—Thus, by the will of the swords, I acknowledge you as a member of the Order.
Nordvindt tapped both my shoulders and the top of my head in succession before being extended toward me.
—The First Sword itself guarantees your qualifications through its own existence.
The trial was complete.
And the sword granted to me was, unbelievably, the beloved blade of Berkel Leinrant.
"You're… telling me to take this?"
—Indeed.
For a long while, I silently stared at the sword offered before me.
The sword that destroyed my fortress.
Destroyed my plans.
Destroyed my heart.
Crossing two hundred years and the span of a human life, Berkel's legacy now stood before my eyes.
—Will you refuse?
The swordsman asked quietly.
Judging from the tone, it seemed he understood why I hesitated.
"No. I'll take it."
I rose to my feet and accepted the sword held out before me.
Srrrng—!
I sheathed Nordvindt into a spare scabbard prepared in advance.
—From this moment onward, you shall become a knight of Leinrant and step out into the world.
The swordsman who had handed me the blade dissolved into smoke and scattered away.
—What defines existence is not one's essence, but one's actions.
Berkel's old saying, the phrase he used as often as breathing.
—Your actions shall determine the future of Leinrant.
With those final words—neither clearly a blessing nor a warning—the swordsman vanished completely.
"Confirmation of trial completion."
The two knights overseeing the ceremony nodded and spoke to me as I knelt on one knee.
"From this moment forth, we appoint the young master as a knight of Leinrant."
There was no celebratory feast or fanfare like those in other nations.
Instead, they threw the bronze badge marking an apprentice knight onto the ground and ordered me to smash it with the sword brought back from the mausoleum.
And then—
Thud—!
"Ghk…!"
Kwaaajik—!
The bronze badge lying on the ground split cleanly in two beneath Nordvindt's blade.
"Confirmation of trial completion."
The two knights overseeing the ceremony nodded and spoke to me as I knelt on one knee.
"From this moment forth, we appoint the young master as a knight of Leinrant."
There was no celebratory feast or fanfare like those in other nations.
Instead, they threw the bronze badge marking an apprentice knight onto the ground and ordered me to smash it with the sword brought back from the mausoleum.
And then—
Thud—!
"Ghk…!"
Kwaaajik—!
The bronze badge lying on the ground split cleanly in two beneath Nordvindt's blade.
And with a kick delivered straight into my abdomen, the knighting ceremony of the Northern knights came to an end.
"Hey, you guys… didn't that kick have way too much emotion behind it?"
As I rubbed my aching stomach and complained, the Black Shield knight smiled warmly before replying.
"Hm? Whatever do you mean?"
"The tradition of our Order is to hit those we love as hard as possible."
"Oh, really?"
What a truly beautiful tradition.
'I should definitely attend the next knighting ceremony.'
While I was thinking that, others clutching their own throbbing stomachs began appearing one after another.
The knight cadets I had first met—
no, they were knights now.
"Young master!"
"What took you so long?"
"We seriously thought you'd failed and were about to come look for you!"
I replied bluntly toward the grinning rookie knights.
"All of you, shut up!"
"Hahahahaha!"
Hearing their carefree laughter, it finally truly sank in that the examination was over.
"Uh, young master?"
"What?"
While we were talking about what had happened during the trial, one of the knights suddenly pointed at my eyes and asked:
"Young master… were your eyes always this blue?"
"What? What are you talking about?"
My eyes did carry a faint bluish tint, but they were unmistakably black.
As I questioned him in confusion, the knight tilted his head and tried to say something more.
"Y-Young Master Klein!"
But only for a moment.
A messenger carrying a letter delivered by carrier pigeon came running toward me in panic.
"Tch, faster than I expected."
"Pardon?"
"You'll understand soon enough."
Leaving the confused knights behind, the messenger hurried over and held out a note before me.
"A return order from the main house."
What the messenger handed me was a military order stamped with the seal of the Duke of Leinrant.
Which meant something serious had happened.
"Young Master Klein has returned!"
As I arrived at the mansion gates, the snowkeepers lined up while the servants welcomed me.
But only for a moment.
A messenger carrying a letter delivered by carrier pigeon came running toward me in panic.
"Tch, faster than I expected."
"Pardon?"
"You'll understand soon enough."
Leaving the confused knights behind, the messenger hurried over and held out a note before me.
"A return order from the main house."
What the messenger handed me was a military order stamped with the seal of the Duke of Leinrant.
Which meant something serious had happened.
"Where's Father?"
"In the study."
"Young Master Delline has already departed for the borderlands."
The borderlands.
For most people, that meant the boundary between Paul wyvern and Leinrant.
More specifically, the fortress located between the two territories—
Rudel Fortress.
"Father. It's me."
"Come in."
When I opened the door and entered, Heinkel, who had been discussing something with the head butler Berkman, turned his gaze toward me.
"I will gladly accept punishment for leaving the estate without permission. But right now—"
"An urgent matter has occurred. That is why I summoned you."
Though Heinkel said that, his eyes were fixed on the emblem of an official knight attached to my shoulder.
"So Aunt finally went through with it."
"She purged every opposing faction. Paul wyvern Castle has become hell."
As expected.
Just as I had predicted, Helian—driven mad by loss—had gone completely out of control.
At this point, neither the Empire nor even her own collateral relatives would be able to stop her.
"You expected this?"
"I even met her personally."
More accurately, I had provoked her quite a bit.
I even killed her son.
"I see. Then this conversation will be quicker."
Saying that, Heinkel pushed a document lying atop the desk toward me.
"Open it."
Unlike the other papers, this one was a thick bundle.
When I opened it, what lay inside was not paper, but something grotesque.
It looked like a blood vessel.
Or perhaps a tumor.
Watching me click my tongue harshly, Heinkel continued speaking.
"It was sent by your informant inside Paul wyvern."
Laia Ren Paul wyvern.
As her name crossed my mind, Heinkel continued:
"He said this thing grew from the corpses after Helian's knights were killed."
After pausing briefly, Heinkel finally asked, as though steeling his resolve:
"Is this… something created through necromancy?"
It wasn't really a question.
This was merely confirmation.
A ritual needed to accept a truth he didn't want to believe.
"Yes. It is."
I answered without hesitation.
"It's the form used by Imperial necromancers, and the material is…"
"Human beings… is that what you mean?"
I nodded heavily.
The "Holy Blood" the Falling Leaves assassins had carried during Helian's banquet—
I had already informed Heinkel about it long ago.
"Haa…"
Just as Rudel once had, Heinkel let out a deep sigh.
"So the end of one who sought power and authority was to become something this vile… Helian…!"
To learn that one's own blood relative had become a monster consumed by greed—
As someone who had never had a family, I couldn't even begin to imagine what he felt.
"Berkman."
"Yes, Your Grace."
"Spread the word throughout every Leinrant territory."
After a long silence, Heinkel spoke to the head butler.
"As of this moment, the House of Leinrant expels Helian Leinrant from the family registry and declares her an enemy of the North."
The words were spat out like poison.
"As you command."
With that brief response, Berkman left the study.
"And Klein."
"Yes, Father."
Only the two of us remained in the quiet study.
"You heard that Delline headed for the borderlands, yes?"
"There is a similar task I need you to handle."
Heinkel handed me a single note.
"It's a letter your informant sent to you."
"…"
"To think you managed to recruit the daughter of House Paul wyvern. I never would have imagined it."
Listening to Heinkel, I opened the letter and checked its contents.
"This is…"
"It will become your first mission as an official knight."
As I read the letter Laia had sent me, Heinkel continued:
"Imperial forces have stationed themselves within Paul wyvern territory under the pretext of mediating the civil war."
Not even two days had passed since the civil war began, yet the Imperial Army had moved as though they had been waiting for this moment all along.
"Helian has seized control of the center, while Lady Laia has secluded herself in her residence… in truth, she's effectively under house arrest."
Judging from the troop formations written in the documents, Laia's faction was confronting Helian's forces along the outskirts of Paul wyvern Castle.
And between those two sides stood the Imperial Army, acting as a barrier.
"Judging from the positioning, the Imperial Army is protecting Lady Laia personally."
"Exactly."
Tapping his chin thoughtfully, Heinkel continued:
"And Lady Laia specifically requested that you be sent as her personal guard."
"A guard… you say."
As long as she remained under Imperial surveillance as the symbolic leader of the anti-Helian faction, Lady Laia's side had no chance of victory.
For her to specifically request me—someone who was outwardly an outsider—in such a situation meant only one thing.
'She's plotting something behind the Imperial Army's back.'
As that thought crossed my mind, Heinkel spoke with concern in his voice.
"It's a dangerous mission deep within enemy territory. If you refuse, I can send someone else—"
"Refuse? That's a disappointing thing to say."
I cut him off and tucked the documents into my coat.
I had prepared for this very day all this time.
There was no way I could leave this to someone else.
"I'll do it."
"…Very well."
Though I accepted the mission without complaint, Heinkel continued tapping the desk as though something still troubled him.
"…Is something wrong?"
When I asked, Heinkel reluctantly answered:
"There will be… one companion assigned to you."
"A companion?"
Just as Heinkel finished speaking—
Knock knock.
The door opened alongside a polite knock, and a massive man stepped inside.
"It has been a long time, Young Master Klein Leinrant."
The voice was so familiar that I momentarily lost the ability to speak.
A priest dressed in black clerical robes.
The one smiling at me with bared teeth was one of the Church's Three Executors.
"Garrison… Berkman…?"
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