The Starting Knight
Nah Tes and Nadan Tes weren't particularly surprised by Ludenberg Lavante's sudden disappearance. They'd already gleaned plenty from the black sword hilt that had materialized in his hand.
"The ashes... must've gone through the door. That's the best we can figure for now."
"Yeah. Just occurred to me—maybe this whole ruin exists for Ludenberg from the start."
"Could be. The barrier opening out of nowhere, illusions only he can see affecting reality... it all fits."
"Then let's just rest. If the ruin's all for him, nothing's gonna pop out while we're poking around."
"Sounds good. Oh, but... he probably knows by now, right? That I see the future."
"If he doesn't, he's an idiot. Sorry. If I'd been more careful, he wouldn't have run into all those traps."
Ludenberg had started seriously questioning Nadan Tes's future sight when Nadan had stepped up to warn him about the traps ahead.
"No, it's not Sis's fault. I was gonna tell him anyway."
"...Yeah?"
"Yep. Didn't seem like it'd be a one-and-done with him. All the futures I've seen so far were fragments or right around the corner..."
Nadan reflected on the futures he'd glimpsed until now. They were always snippets, never hinting at the distant future. He could see farther, but it would wear down his mind, so he never tried. Instead, he honed his spirit by peering at trivial near-term glimpses.
It hadn't been easy at first. Futures held infinite variables, and even those scraps pressed hard on his psyche.
"Yeah. And?"
"The futures through him reached a bit farther. The first time I saw him? It was right here. Normally, I top out at tomorrow, maybe two days max—you know that."
But the future Nadan had seen through Ludenberg that first day was different. Not tomorrow, not some trivial moment ahead. By the timeline, it was now—exploring this ruin. A full week jumped ahead.
And unlike the countless possibilities in other futures, this one showed a single scene, without taxing his mind at all.
So Nadan couldn't help but think there was something special about Ludenberg.
"So I figured I'd just tell him. Guy doesn't seem to have friends to blab to anyway."
"I've felt it before, but you're a real jerk."
Nah shot Nadan a look as he cracked that casual jab about Ludenberg having no friends.
"What? Just stating facts. Kinda bummed, though."
"Why the sudden pity?"
Nah eyed him curiously as Nadan abruptly called Ludenberg a letdown.
"If Ashpile had been more social, maybe we'd get to see those girls who fawn over his face."
"Haa."
Nah sighed, giving her brother a pitying glance.
"Nadan."
"Yeah?"
"Fix your face first."
"...Is mine that bad?"
"Won't say."
"World's so unfair. Same womb, but one gets handsome, the other ugly."
"Never thought my little bro would end up this rough-looking. So don't hit on poor girls with that mug. You'll scare 'em off."
"Harsh much?"
"Too harsh? Fix the face then. A top Lanur priest and Mare priest together might manage it."
"...I'll live with what I got."
Nadan just sadly stared down the empty passage.
Stepping through the door, Ludenberg faced a white altar—and thrust into it, a straight black greatsword.
But the blade lacked a hilt.
He glanced at the black hilt in his hand.
'Called it a key, right.'
A hilt named a key. A sword missing its hilt. The implication was clear.
Attach it, and something would happen.
Ludenberg approached the altar and fitted the hilt to the black blade without hesitation.
Click.
Metal ground into metal, fusing the makeshift union into one.
A soft glow rose from the white altar, climbing the black greatsword—and white script etched itself onto the blade.
For the tarnished, take up the sword.
Grant hope to those who crave life.
O Starting Knight, you shall be the vanguard that leads hope.
He'd seen it before somewhere, but Ludenberg couldn't read it.
Yet somehow, he could.
'Why can I read it?'
A voice whispered in his ear.
"Because your fate touches the Starting Knight."
Raha's voice.
"Raha?"
"Good. They guided you right."
Raha spoke directly to him.
"What? They?"
"Nah Tes and Nadan Tes."
"...What?"
It didn't compute. Why would those two suddenly appear here?
"Why them?"
"I leaked the info on this ruin, the ancient book—everything. All for you."
"So you set up everything—me coming here, including those two?"
"Yes."
"I see."
Ludenberg accepted it quietly. It felt off, sure—but ever since entering the ruin, the barriers lifting, visions appearing, objects materializing... it all revolved around him.
"Telling me to find the Starting Knight... it was all to lead me here."
"Right. You had to come here."
"Why?"
As Raha finished, Ludenberg pressed.
But she didn't answer.
As frustration boiled over and he opened his mouth—
Clunk.
Something locked into place. The sealed space around Ludenberg and the altar warped suddenly.
Time seemed to crash in—the area faded, littered with debris. Erosion beast corpses mingled with human ones; the white altar was stained with foul blood, its purity lost.
"This is..."
"First time seeing real reality, huh."
Raha's voice rang in his ear—not in his mind this time, but echoing through the space.
Ludenberg looked behind the altar where the voice came from.
A spot that should be empty now held Raha—chained to her jade throne.
He froze. Someone he'd only met in dreams, now in the flesh. He'd never thought her illusory, but this?
"Calm down first, Ludenberg."
Bound to her throne, Raha waited patiently, as if his shock was expected.
Staring at her, Ludenberg fought to regain composure.
'Steady. Just more weirdness piling up. And right now, I need to hear why she brought me here.'
Composure restored, he spoke.
"So why'd you lead me here?"
"Remember what I said before?"
"You'd grant my wish not to become a monster."
"Right. I brought you here to free you from your evil fate."
"How?"
"By giving you trials."
"Trials? How does that help me?"
Ludenberg balked at the word.
"Through them, you'll grow. And each trial you pass loosens one of my seals. Once fully unbound, I can free you from that fate."
Seals.
Ludenberg eyed her throne. Her prior words flashed in his mind.
Fragmented pieces. Recognize them, and these chains loosen one by one. Then... my constraints fade.
"You said you'd give me those 'fragmented pieces.'"
"Yes."
"Those pieces are the trials?"
"Exactly."
Raha nodded.
"So what's the trial?"
"Walk the footsteps of the Starting Knight."
Incomprehensible.
What even was the Starting Knight?
"Won't make sense yet. You're wondering who he even is."
"...Yeah."
"Then let's start with him."
Ludenberg nodded.
"Still constrained, so I can't say much. But one word sums him up: strongest."
"Strongest...?"
"Yes. Across all human history—past and present—the Starting Knight was the strongest human."
Raha spoke the simplest, truest title with reverence.
Ludenberg blurted,
"How strong?"
"Think you could grasp it from words? You'll learn through my trials. How strong he was."
"I see. Must've had immense divine power..."
"Divine power? No, Ludenberg."
"What do you mean, no?"
"The Starting Knight had no divine power."