Chapter 167
Chapter 167
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 167
Chapter Title: Old Story, Knight Commander and the World (2)
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Ever since the count nearly faced execution due to a false accusation, his friend—who had grown attached to the count's family and become its pride—wore a displeased expression.
He still occasionally displayed the ignorance typical of nobles, but much of his former clumsiness had faded.
His curly white hair swayed in the wind.
"You need to break that habit of letting wounds heal naturally because of your aversion."
"I'm trying, you know."
"We can't just charge around recklessly like we used to anymore."
Kyle, who had been standing with arms crossed, bent at the waist.
Reading the displeasure and concern laced in his golden eyes, I gave a wry smile.
"You know your position well. With the world in such chaos, they can't afford to lose someone like you. You understand the weight of that role. How long are you going to act so recklessly?"
"I have no excuse. It might sound like an excuse, but I am trying."
"It seems like you're learning, so we'll help you."
Kyle said something cryptic.
I blinked, signaling my confusion, and the black-haired man spoke up.
"After one inhalation, we'll have that soup."
"Huh?"
"Then your aversion to inhalation will fade."
Kyle, who had brought it up, and Ray, listening beside him, were both serious.
"We're going to link inhalation and the soup in your mind."
"No."
What was this, dog training?
I shot them a bewildered look, but my friends were earnest. It seemed they'd discussed it before coming to see me. They figured this might ease Hildebert's reluctance.
I appreciated it, but...
"I'm not sure that will work. I already seek out that soup periodically, even without inhaling."
"We'll ask our chef to develop a new menu based on that soup."
Ray uttered another thing only a noble could say.
We no longer teased Ray about such things. He had become a true noble again.
No, he had always been one. Now, he no longer hated his family.
In fact, no one was more devoted to protecting the count's family than he was.
The man who commuted frequently from the count's estate said,
"You know our chef's skills well."
"...I do. I know."
"He suggested adding noodles to the soup."
Ignoring my uneasy expression, Ray pressed on.
"To make it a hearty meal. Doesn't that sound good? We'll use that for training to eliminate your aversion."
What about my opinion?
I swallowed the words rising in my throat. They had a point. The other children of the World Tree used inhalation effortlessly to heal in a flash, while I wandered around covered in wounds. And as Kyle said, I was the Knight Commander. I couldn't brush it off lightly with "it's my body, after all."
Noodles in soup sounds delicious, but what if I end up vomiting it all up later?
Even as I thought that, I nodded slowly.
***
All three attempts failed.
Just like when I'd transferred nutrients to Kyle—who had teetered on the brink of death suppressing the rebels—and vomited my guts out afterward, this time too, I retched three or four times beside my friends.
I vomited before even forcing down the soup.
Kyle and Ray sighed but patted my hacking back vigorously.
"We need to try something else besides eating."
Kyle scooped me up easily once my spasms subsided.
"Even developing a new menu won't help."
"Still, develop the new menu..."
I expressed my wish in a hoarse voice.
"It sounds so delicious just hearing about it..."
"Your subordinates don't know about this, right?"
"No. I absolutely can't let them find out."
When Ray asked with a troubled look, I replied sternly.
I'd gotten an earful from Kyle, but I was well aware of the weight of my position.
Even without tensing up, I answered seriously.
"A Knight Commander has to maintain his dignity. Keep my seizures secret until I die."
The guy who knew that best scolded me again.
But we couldn't bicker forever. All three of us were swamped with duties now. We weren't as free as before. Kyle had to go subjugate the invaders descending from the north, I had to find Kisis, and Ray had to suppress the unrest in the Imperial Capital.
"Intrusions have been frequent lately."
"Outside the Imperial Capital, it's no longer habitable."
When Ray asked, Kyle answered emotionlessly.
"Pollution has gotten so bad that breathing is difficult in many places."
The scary part was that it wasn't an exaggeration.
We walked out of the palace with slightly somber expressions. We accompanied each other as far as our paths overlapped. Times like this, when we could gather together, were rare now.
The blood-red sunset dyed the Imperial Capital.
"It's been over ten years since I last saw Sir Kisis."
"If I find him, I'll pass along your regards."
I could clearly sense he was alive.
"He might not even receive a messenger pigeon properly."
Preparations didn't take long.
Gratefully, my subordinates moved with perfect precision. Despite the sudden order and it not being a short-term mission, no one showed outward discontent.
Thanks for not making a fuss.
Thinking I should treat my subordinates well, I set off toward where I sensed Kisis's presence.
The emperor's direct summons, spoken from his own mouth.
The indefinite mission began.
***
Two months later.
I found Kisis.
"Huff."
The rookie knight, panting, sucked in a breath.
"Th-that, th-that..."
"Eek."
"What is that?"
Raw reactions.
I extended my arm, signaling them to fall back.
Noll and Yvon immediately understood and leaped forward, pulling the stunned knights to the rear. The knights, too weak even to grip their swords, staggered backward.
Feeling my subordinates' presences receding, I watched the approaching figure.
Kisis.
The emperor's bastard son and the third Swordmaster of the Imperial Capital.
He despised rules, was capricious, and always bored, seeking thrills. With amethyst eyes that enchanted people, he scattered sparks of fury, sometimes unpredictably violent, other times astonishingly merciful.
The man who gave me a sense of inferiority and a life goal.
Thus, at some point, he became the signpost for my sword.
I realized I still hadn't caught up to him.
The moment I saw the knight walking slowly in this polluted air, the bitter fact hit me.
"Sir Kisis."
"Well, if it isn't..."
When I called his name with unease, Kisis grinned.
"My little chick?"
It was hell.
I'd heard from Kyle that beyond the Imperial Capital was hell, and I'd witnessed the horrors myself several times. But the sight before me was incomparable. This ruined city, reachable only after two months of nonstop riding from the Imperial Capital, made all the pollution I'd faced before seem trivial.
The undertrained rookie knights could barely breathe.
Pollution covered even the gravel and stones. It choked throats and bloodshot eyes. From the bizarrely mouth-like pollution, maggot-like magical beasts popped out sporadically.
The ground was blanketed in rotting corpses. Wild boars, horses, humans.
Just a bit further ahead lay the ruined city where the World Tree stood.
The city I'd once charged into cloaked as a youth.
Was that place polluted like this too?
"I thought I'd die on the way."
Kisis wiped the smile from his lips and spoke coldly.
"Why are you here?"
"Have you been staying here, continuously cutting down the pollution?"
Sheathing my sword, I approached Kisis.
His refined features hadn't changed.
"And without even sending word."
"Why are there so many lackeys? Still clinging to that boring title?"
The prince scanned Noll, Yvon, and the others, chuckling.
"What's so great about that dull group?"
Words that would rile the prideful knights.
But there was no dissatisfied response. The knights behind me couldn't even dream of approaching him now. Overwhelmed by the intense killing intent and pressure radiating from Kisis.
With each step closer to him, the stench of blood and pollution thickened.
Without him, the situation would have been far worse.
Ten years of battle.
The man who had fought nonstop, unrecognized by anyone, now exuded an even more inhuman aura.
I stopped before him.
"Thank you."
"For what."
"Rest."
Looking at the prince raising an eyebrow, I said,
"I'll take over now."
The prince burst into laughter.
His laughter echoed through the ruined city, overlapping in a way that didn't sound sane.
My subordinates recoiled in horror.
Expressionless, I waited for him to stop.
Kisis laughed for a long time before turning his head.
"You?"
Just as I expected.
"Who are you to do that? Got what it takes?"
"Have you been sleeping properly?"
He looked like he hadn't slept a wink.
Conversation with someone of his personality never went properly. I'd already mastered dealing with his type.
So, ignoring his words, I said what I wanted.
"The camping gear is a bit shabby, but it's still way better than sleeping on bare ground, so go in and get some rest."
"You've gotten even more impudent, you brat."
"You can hear the story after you wake up."
"Who said I'd tell you?"
"Kids, set up camp!"
Ignoring Kisis completely, I shouted.
Perhaps because I used my usual tone and words, the subordinates—steeped in fatigue, fear, and shock—straightened up and responded reflexively.
The training had paid off.
"Yes!"
Their low, resounding reply echoed around us.
Kisis clicked his tongue.
"You've become a full-fledged boring bureaucrat too."
"Get yourself looking human first before you talk."
I had to work hard to hide my inner turmoil.
"Did you even wash your hair?"
Kisis just smirked without replying.
But fortunately, he listened. He sauntered lazily toward where my subordinates moved in unison, ignoring their stares, and slipped into the best tent.
Confirming Kisis collapsing inside the tent, I drew my sword.
The man who had fought for ten years, unrecognized.
To gauge even a fraction of the burden he'd carried.
***
"There's no hope left now."
It was what Kisis said after sleeping straight for two days and summoning me.
"Prepare to evacuate."