Chapter 154
Chapter 154
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 154
Chapter Title: The Descent Begins (1)
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‘A child born to be a knight.’
This was what Amelia Justice had heard ad nauseam.
She had never once doubted those words.
Even she herself thought she was quite suited to be a knight.
Her talent with the sword, her innate disposition—she felt she was inferior to the other children of the citadel in no way.
It wasn't arrogance.
The assessment given by her master and the other knights of the Order of Judgment was, in fact, just that.
Among her many qualities, the Judgment Knights particularly cherished her character.
‘A compassion that pities the weak.’
‘An impartiality that doesn't lean to one side.’
‘A strength hidden beneath gentle words and deeds.’
‘A diligence that knows neither day nor night.’
Qualities that others had to cultivate and polish over time, she possessed from the very beginning.
Had that been all, Amelia Justice would not have been the sole recipient of the Judgment Knights' love and expectations.
Merely being faithful to chivalry was never enough to perform the duties of a Judgment Knight.
A Judgment Knight sometimes had to be a relentless hunter, and at other times, a bloodless, tearless executioner.
And she possessed more than enough tenacity and cold-heartedness to fulfill both roles.
It was a disposition hidden behind her gentle appearance and neat conduct.
She chose the executioner's sword, not the punisher's sword chosen by most Judgment Knights, and proved her disposition by achieving faster progress than anyone else.
The Judgment Knights believed she would one day become a high-ranking member of the order.
A few knights who doted on her even mentioned in private that she would become the next Grand Master of the Order of Judgment.
The fact that Amelia Justice left the citadel much earlier than her peers in the Order of Judgment was also a result of these combined expectations and affections.
Everyone firmly believed, without a doubt, that she would successfully complete her verification.
But unfortunately, she failed to live up to the others' faith in her.
“Your killing intent is too strong.”
Her master, whom she followed like a father, took issue with her innate killing intent.
In half a year, Amelia Justice had wandered the world and executed eleven criminals.
Not a single one of them had committed a crime that didn't deserve death.
She rebelled against the incomprehensible assessment.
But even the knights who had always listened to her words refused to hear her out this time.
It was truly strange.
These were the same people who had praised her when she chose the executioner's sword over the punisher's sword.
She had executed villains who deserved to die, yet instead of praise, she only received reprimands.
That alone was confusing enough.
“Go to the Cradle of Stars.”
An order of exile was even issued.
“It's not a bad opportunity for you, so don't be too upset. The Cradle is the place in the Empire that values tradition the most. There, your sharp edges will surely be smoothed and refined.”
“Master! I can do that just as well here…”
“The Judgment Knights are too sharp. They're all like swords with their edges honed. They can sharpen you further, but they can't help you control your killing intent.”
There were reasons, and she was promised that arrangements would be made for her return to the Order of Judgment.
But no matter how she thought about it, she couldn't shake the feeling of being kicked out for a crime.
And so, Amelia Justice became a cadet of the Cradle.
It was exactly as she had heard.
The Cradle of Stars was a conservative organization that valued tradition.
The squire process, which other knightly orders and families treated as a mere formality, seemed to be considered quite important here.
In particular, August, the supervising professor of her Group 2, put more effort into teaching the mindset of a squire rather than refining their swordsmanship.
Gathering talents who would soon become knights and teaching them the role and mindset of a squire—things they would soon no longer need—seemed like a waste of time, but being diligent by nature, she did her best with the given task rather than complaining.
Living like that, she began to vaguely understand the meaning of her sharp edges being ground down.
She also came to understand her master's words that the citadel of the Order of Judgment was not very beneficial for her.
Life there was all about competition.
Everything was scored, and they were strictly evaluated.
Based on this, they were divided into ranks and treated differently.
Because the system was like that, the knights themselves couldn't help but always be on edge.
It wasn't for nothing that her master had described the Judgment Knights as honed swords.
Of course, the Cradle also had aspects similar to the Order of Judgment in that they were evaluated by performance.
But it wasn't exactly the same.
If the Order of Judgment revolved around individuals, the Cradle placed more importance on the community.
The cadets were competitors, but at the same time, they were collaborators who had to lead and support each other.
Intense, yet not intense.
It was an unfamiliar experience, but she didn't dislike it.
In fact, she enjoyed it.
But her enjoyment ended quickly.
One day, an anonymous post suddenly appeared.
After the Malcerok spread among the cadets, the atmosphere of the Cradle changed completely.
At its center was Group 3.
To be precise, Mage Slayer was at its center.
Mage Slayer was different from the other cadets.
No, he was different from anyone she had ever met.
He acted unconventionally as a matter of course, yet it never seemed wicked.
But it seemed that was her thought alone.
The other cadets' evaluation of Mage Slayer was quite harsh.
Compared to his amazing achievements and his performance at the Cradle, "harsh" was an understatement.
If he had shown such results in the Order of Judgment, he would have skipped several ranks in an instant.
If the timing was right, he might have even become an official Judgment Knight through the Starseeker trial.
But this was the Cradle, not the citadel, and the rigid cadets and faculty found Mage Slayer unsettling.
In fact, Mage Slayer was ostracized for a while.
Though it seemed they reconciled not long after.
Even that looked different in her eyes.
At first, she thought Mage Slayer's behavior, which showed not a hint of lingering resentment, was simply due to a personality that didn't hold grudges.
But looking closer, she realized that wasn't it.
Mage Slayer's gaze towards his peers was somehow alien.
It seemed like the lenient gaze of a mature adult looking at an unripe child, and at the same time, like the emotionless gaze of someone looking at a stranger who had little to do with him.
He never allowed other cadets to get closer than a certain point.
Even while laughing and chatting with the other cadets, he always seemed to be looking somewhere else.
A strange wall existed between the cadets and Mage Slayer.
It was the same for the cadets of Group 3, who could be considered the closest to him.
They didn't seem to have noticed, but she could tell for sure.
Because it was familiar to her.
The way the Judgment Knights looked at the common people was similar to Mage Slayer's gaze.
If they saw someone who had suffered a pitiful fate, they would express sympathy, and if someone needed help, they would step up.
But that was as far as it went.
The Judgment Knights never formed relationships beyond that.
Some gave the reason that getting too involved in the lives of the people would cloud their judgment and cause them to fail in their duties, while others reasoned that these were just fleeting connections, meaningless to deepen.
The former were mostly young knights, and the latter were mostly aged knights.
So she didn't understand.
Because Mage Slayer was neither.
Anyway, Mage Slayer was a cadet who caught her interest in many ways.
His achievement of killing a mage as a squire was simply astonishing, and the unconventional tactics he showed in the entrance exam were more than impressive—they were deeply etched in her mind.
The training method he led for Group 3 was also something she had never seen before.
She and the other cadets were dumbfounded by the radical training that completely ignored chivalry.
Naturally, no one thought of joining in.
Thus, at first, it was only the cadets of Group 3.
But at some point, the entire freshman class, plagued by an unknown obsession and impatience, was swept up in it.
And then came the group competition.
Surprisingly, Group 3, made up of underachievers, won an overwhelming victory against Group 1, the favorites to win.
Of course, her Group 2 took the championship, but it didn't mean much.
A victory against Group 3, which had exhausted its stamina against Group 1, brought her no joy at all.
She and the other freshmen were quite shocked by the results of the group competition.
The faculty seemed to have been as well.
Not long after that, the Cradle's teaching methods changed.
The Cradle that valued tradition no longer existed.
An unconventional teaching method so radical that even the most progressive families and knightly orders expressed concern.
Before she and her peers could even shake off their reluctance towards the group combat training initiated under the pretext of formation and tactical education, they were deployed to a battlefield.
The Empire's 13th Front, the 13th Legion, Alias Fortress.
The very forefront of a harsh front line where skirmishes with non-human species frequently broke out, or so they said.
“I am Varus Quintilian, commander of the 13th Legion and the one in charge of this fortress.”
The man who introduced himself as the head of Alias Fortress was a middle-aged man with such a frail impression that it was hard to believe he was a commander on the front lines.
“On behalf of the 13th Legion, I sincerely welcome our distinguished guests.”
“Thank you for the welcome, Commander. I am August, the supervisor from the Cradle.”
“The Bane of Dark Mages, the Knight of Myeolhyung—I too have heard of this title. I have long admired you and eagerly awaited the day I might meet you. To have this chance to greet you is an honor beyond measure.”
“...I have forgotten that name. My name, August, is more than enough.”
Seeing him repeatedly bow and chatter as if his tongue were oiled, he looked even less like a soldier.
It seemed she wasn't the only one who thought so.
“Varus Quintilian. A man ill-suited for the battlefield.”
The old knight August commented curtly, watching the direction in which the chattering commander had disappeared.
“Still, it seems he has achieved quite a lot on the border. They say he rose to the rank of commander at his age thanks to his recognized merit in completely subjugating the barbarian tribes to the southeast and perfectly provincializing the area.”
One of the three supervising professors, Dieter Lissner, recited the commander's history as if he had been waiting for the chance.
“He didn't look like a very capable soldier…”
Even upon hearing that he was a capable man in his own right, the old knight was skeptical.
“In truth, he is more of an administrator than a soldier. I heard that at his previous post, he secured enough tax revenue in a short period to more than make up for past losses.”
In short, contrary to his frail first impression, he was a rather ruthless man who primarily employed hardline policies.
The old knight seemed lost in thought.
So, he instructed Dieter Lissner to investigate the atmosphere of the fortress.
The next day, where everyone was gathered, Dieter Lissner reported the results of his investigation to the old knight.
“The previous commander seems to have focused on solidifying the current border without provoking the non-human species, but this one has been constantly pushing the border forward.”
“Thanks to a mine being fortunately discovered in the territory he pushed into, it seems the Imperial family also welcomes the current commander's hardline policies.”
“Skirmishes have increased significantly lately, but everyone seems to think it's no big deal.”
The old knight's expression was grim the entire time.
“We were supposed to stay at the 13th Front for two months, weren't we?”
“Yes. The return date is in two months.”
“Cut it in half.”
“What?”
“I'll take responsibility.”
At the sudden order to move up their return, Professor Dieter Lissner's eyes went wide.
“But why…?”
“The air here is not good.”
The cadets murmured at the old knight's words.
Their long-awaited summer schedule was being suddenly canceled, and the reason was that the air wasn't good.
Amelia Justice felt beyond flabbergasted; she was bewildered.
The other professors also looked quite taken aback.
But the old knight showed no intention of reversing his decision.
And the person in charge of this practical training was the old knight.
Even if they were dissatisfied, they had no choice but to obey.
“It's truly been a long time since I've breathed such unpleasant air.”
As if oblivious to the others' agitation, the old knight kept complaining about the air.
It was a few days later that Amelia Justice realized the meaning behind the old knight's words.