Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: The Detachment Arrives
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Dark night, on a barren hilltop, the campsite stood utterly silent, as if to match its desolate look.
Bazkal sat perched on a rock in the center of the camp, surveying the surroundings.
From right at his feet came the snoring of his massive tiger mount.
“Cute little guy.”
After giving the sleeping tiger’s head a few gentle strokes with his boot, Bazkal let out a heavy sigh laced with torment.
‘I wonder if I’m doing the right thing.’
The crushing defeat he’d suffered for the first time since becoming a knight, followed by his submission.
The cost of placing himself under a knight named Arsen—who seemed at least ten years his junior—was proving sweeter than expected.
For the first time, he’d learned proper, systematic combat techniques, and he’d realized just how blind he’d truly been.
Yet Narvik’s creed held that it was dishonorable for one knight to serve under another, and the fact that he’d have to leave the homeland where he’d lived his entire life gnawed at him.
Since lying down wouldn’t have brought sleep anyway, perhaps it was a blessing that he’d volunteered for the first watch instead.
Glancing around, he spotted a few soldiers tossing and turning in their bedrolls, sleep eluding them as well.
It was only natural—leaving the territory meant abandoning the only world they’d ever known.
Watching those former hunters squirm, Bazkal couldn’t shake the thought that he hadn’t truly advanced beyond his days as a lowly hunter himself.
He was a knight now, and for knights, fear was something to confront and conquer in battle—not a thing to cower from and flee like some hunter.
‘Aw, screw it! Gotta have at least one adventure in this life.’
He’d just steeled his resolve when a flicker of light flashed somewhere far to the north.
“...Did I imagine that?”
“No, sir. I saw it too!”
“Alright, keep it down. No yelling.”
A fellow watchman had confirmed it, so Bazkal wasted no more time and bellowed.
“Brothers, on your feet! We’ve got the signal!”
* * *
“Should I send up another one?”
“Let’s wait about ten more minutes.”
Everyone in the camp was up now, and Arsen with Eloise had woken to observe the north as well.
High above their heads, the firework Eloise had launched moments ago was fading into faint wisps.
“They got here faster than I expected. The way they talked, it sounded like they wouldn’t arrive until morning.”
“How can you tell if it’s late night or not?”
“Just a hunch.”
Even as he bantered with Eloise, Arsen’s eyes ceaselessly swept the area.
A forest at night was no safe haven, even without magic beasts lurking.
Before long, lights began flashing repeatedly near the north, accompanied by eerie sounds.
“Sounds like fighting.”
“Probably. The only ones who should be out there are the detachment—and their opponents... bandits, maybe?”
“That glow—is it magic?”
“Could be relics. No word on any mages among them.”
Distinct from the signal spell’s fireworks launched skyward, flashes were now visible deep within the forest.
It was close enough—just a few minutes’ ride away—so after a moment’s deliberation, Arsen made his call.
“Rino, Bazkal. Hold the camp.”
Just in case, he ordered them to guard the main position. Then Arsen spurred his mount toward the lights, Eloise riding alongside.
They kept their pace measured, ready to bolt if the foes proved too dangerous.
Midnight rendered Eloise all but blind, so Arsen took point to guide the way.
It wasn’t long before screams and wails reached their ears.
“Goddamn mages!”
“Don’t run—fight, you bastards!”
Off in the distance, ragged figures straight out of a vagrant’s nightmare were fleeing for their lives.
In a forest like this at the dead of night, only bandits would cut such a sorry sight.
The comedy of it—one fleeing while screaming at his comrades not to run—was almost pitiful.
And Arsen didn’t miss the oddly grating words spilling from their lips as they bolted.
‘Mages?’
As if in answer to his thought, a thunderous boom erupted behind the fleeing bandits.
A flash of light followed, and the men crumpled mid-stride, as if gunned down—too abruptly even to scream.
It wasn’t hard to realize that was the source of the light they’d spotted back at camp.
[Lightning spell. Like the one I learned from Grum.]
[How strong?]
As a knight, Arsen could only gauge power from what he saw.
Truth be told, even if struck, he likely wouldn’t feel much unless it packed serious punch.
[Not all that impressive... Ah, there—those must be them.]
Figures on mounts began emerging one by one from between the trees.
The beasts they rode resembled horned horses, but not with the usual conical horns—instead, they curved forward from either side of the head like a dragon’s.
Their riders were no ordinary folk either, clad in gleaming silver-gray metal armor. One hand gripped spear and sword, the other a rod about forearm-length.
The helmets stood out too, tapering to sharp points like awls atop their heads.
Arsen’s admiration for their finery was cut short by a tapping sensation at his side. He turned.
[Sen, those people... they’re all mages.]
[All of them?]
[Yeah. Every last one.]
Arsen’s unique successor constitution spared him any aversion to mages—but it also meant he couldn’t sense them.
Where ordinary folk recoiled instinctively and mages detected mana flows, he lacked both senses.
To his eyes, they were just soldiers with bizarre gear.
“Who goes there?”
They’d spotted Arsen and Eloise too, now aiming staff-like objects their way. Arsen’s mind flashed to soldiers training gunsights on a foe.
No sense risking a misunderstanding, so he called out immediately.
“Are you the detachment from Byulburumi?”
“Knight Arsen?”
“That’s me.”
His answer prompted them to swiftly lower their staffs.
One shouted over his shoulder.
“Knight Maroon! Knight Arsen is here!”
“Hold on! Coming now!”
A high-pitched reply echoed briefly, then a knight astride a mount appeared.
His armor matched the others’ color but was far more ornate and decorated. In one hand, he held an elegant partisan spear.
A touch small for a knight’s build, but the distinctive pressure he exuded made his identity plain.
[A mage dressed like a knight? That’s a first.]
[What?]
Before he could parse Eloise’s words, the knight led his men straight to Arsen.
He removed his helmet, revealing a thin, ferret-like face with sharp features.
The imperial mustache—sparse across the philtrum—only heightened the weaselly impression.
“Pleased to meet you, Knight Arsen! Name’s Maroon. I command this detachment.”
“Arsen of Veluan. Knight Maroon.”
As he shook hands with the somewhat goofy, beaming Maroon, Arsen murmured through the earring.
[This guy’s a mage?]
[Yep. Knight Maroon, though...? Don’t tell me...]
[He is.]
Arsen stared at the man’s vacant, grinning face.
Before him stood the first magic knight he’d ever laid eyes on.
‘Come to think of it, it’s not impossible...’
Luden had taught him that mage and knight abilities operated on entirely different systems.
Mages were inborn prodigies who manifested spells in their brains; knights acquired the ability to circulate mana through their hearts, enhancing their bodies.
Thus, a mage awakening as a knight postnatally wasn’t out of the question.
He just hadn’t expected to encounter one here.
“And this must be Miss Eloise? You’re a vision—delighted!”
“Ah... yes...”
Eloise offered only a stiff nod to Maroon’s over-the-top enthusiasm.
His utter lack of restraint cemented it for Arsen: the man was a mage.
“But... it seems Knight Maroon and the rest are all mages. Elder Lattis never mentioned that.”
Lattis had described the detachment as “one knight and ten skilled soldiers,” omitting any mage detail. To be fair, he hadn’t claimed they weren’t mages either.
When pressed, Maroon answered with breezy calm.
“Well, ordinary folk get uneasy around mages, don’t they? So we came as an all-mage unit.”
His tone suggested total obliviousness to any subtext, leaving Arsen to briefly debate a sharper probe before letting it go.
“...I see. So Knight Maroon is both knight and mage?”
“Spot on! Regrettably, I’m nothing special at either. Truth is, I was always a mediocre mage growing up—pretty heartbreaking. But at least I awakened as a knight. Silver lining, right?”
“Impressive.”
Arsen gave a perfunctory reply to Maroon’s chatter while murmuring through the earring.
[Eli, how do those mages stack up?]
[Mana-wise, average or below across the board. The strongest’s about Grum’s level. This Maroon guy’s in the same ballpark.]
That eased Arsen’s mind a bit.
Anyone on Luden or Eloise’s tier would be another story, but this lot? Mere annoyances to a knight.
If anything, they were exactly the kind of support Arsen had hoped for.
“...Understood. Let’s head to our camp for now. Plenty of night left.”
“Much appreciated! We’ve been riding all night—exhausted doesn’t cover it. Camp that way? Over there?”
“This way.”
Arsen guided the exuberant Maroon and his detachment back to camp.
The soldier-mages helpfully conjured light spells to illuminate their path.
Glancing back at the glow, Arsen turned to Maroon riding beside him.
“How do your mounts stay active at night like this? Natural for their breed?”
“Nah, awakening stones. See the one on its neck?”
Arsen peered at the beast’s neck.
Sure enough, a pouch dangled there, cleverly disguised as armor trim.
“Keeps magic beasts from sleeping.”
“Yep. It’s a secret, but hey—we’re adventuring together now. No point hiding it!”
He strutted like a kid proudly unveiling his prized toy.
That earlier tactlessness aside, this magic knight’s demeanor was downright peculiar. A bit unhinged, and immature to boot—like an overgrown child.
Maroon rummaged in his belt pouch and addressed a nearby subordinate mage.
“Hey, got a spare awakening stone?”
“Right here, sir.”
Maroon took it and handed it over. Arsen finally got a good look at the item.
“Ah...”
The light of the meteor that had once blanched Veluan’s skies now rested in his palm.
A crystal of strange texture—somewhere between quartz and coral—pulsed with its own faint glow.
“Let it touch the light, and magic beasts stay awake. But don’t overdo it; bad for their health. Fallen from the sky—super rare! This one’s yours.”
The soldier who’d supplied it looked positively ill, but Arsen ignored him, pocketing the stone with a nod.
“My thanks. Hope it comes in handy.”
That meteor must have been one massive awakening stone.
No use dwelling on it now. As Arsen toyed with the stone in his pouch, old nightmares resurfaced.
Their idle talk carried them swiftly back to camp.
“There it is.”
“Nice setup! Looks so cozy, I could drop off just staring at it! Hit the bedroll and—”
“You’re too kind.”
Arsen cut off Maroon’s theatrics and checked the camp’s defenses.
Fortunately, his troops had formed up impeccably, weapons ready and eyes on the perimeter.
They’d clocked the approaching group of over ten immediately—and recognized Arsen and Eloise at the fore.
“Welcome back, boss! Those behind you...?”
“Guests. Escort them inside—politely.”
Seeing Rino and the soldiers’ darkening faces, Arsen recalled something he’d momentarily forgotten.
To them, the eleven mages trailing behind might as well have been twisted cockroaches dredged from hell’s gutters.
One master like Eloise, who could mask her presence? Manageable. Eleven mediocre ones? Not so much.
Even as Rino nodded in grim obedience, Arsen raised a hand to halt him.
He turned to Maroon.
“Best we split the camp. Knight Maroon, we’ll shift left and clear some space.”