Broken Wings (4)

In that instant, the thoughts of the three knights aligned.

It had to be severed.

That thing could not be allowed to return to the ducal estate intact.

The moment it walked back alive, it would come crashing down on them like an unstoppable wave.

At the very least, they had to break it properly, right here.

Shing—

Two swords slid free of their scabbards.

"Don't blame us. You drew your blade first."

"This is your fault, you fucking bastard."

Clang! Ka-ang!

Two more swords came rushing in after.

Had it been Theo alone, things might have gone differently. Facing three at once, Karsein began to visibly tire.

He had internalized the techniques, but a body in poor condition couldn't cover for everything.

Even with the power that had manifested by chance, he had no way to control it, and he was in an entirely different weight class from them to begin with.

And yet the boy who had survived the slums was clever.

He understood what it took to bring down opponents stronger than himself.

He understood how to put to use everything he had built up, step by painstaking step.

Having sweated buckets through grueling training day after day without fail, he fought wisely, and succeeded in neutralizing two of the three.

One got sand in his eyes and, flailing in panic, took a blow to the head and dropped unconscious; the other, unable to control his strength, left his sword buried deep in a tree and took a strike to the neck, collapsing as well.

That left Theo Ramstear, the one opponent who could actually hold his own in single combat.

"Cough... cough...!"

But his body would no longer obey.

That he'd held out this long against them with such a frail body was, in a way, a miracle.

He should have stood, but he couldn't — and Karsein crumpled to the ground.

"Die, you filthy commoner bastard!!"

By then Theo, driven half-mad from landing blow after blow, brought his blade down toward Karsein's neck.

Just as it seemed he was about to die—

Shhraaak.

Red blood sprayed across Karsein's body.

"Young... master..."

"Ra... diel...?"

"Don't... move. Then you'll... be fine. I'll deal with... those... myself..."

Radiel.

She who had taken the slash meant for him... could not finish her sentence. Cradling him in her arms, she fell.

***

The sensation of flesh parting beneath the tip of his blade was vivid.

But who had he cut?

"Ca... Captain...!"

He had cut Radiel.

Not Karsein.

He had done it.

Now that he had cut Radiel down, there was no taking it back.

If this spread through the Order, forget a formal knighthood — he would be thrown out of the House entirely, branded with a disgrace no one would forgive.

And yet.

'Radiel... can't move, can she?'

Neither could Karsein.

He was unconscious as well.

He'd merely been spared by Radiel's sacrifice — the exhaustion from fighting three men was the same.

Both of them. Out cold?

A twisted smile crept across Theo's face.

Just when he thought it was over, a better opportunity had presented itself.

"Yes. You... cut down Captain Radiel, right here."

—Shhraaak!

Another line of blood spilled to the ground on the spot.

The commotion at the training grounds swelled and grew.

By the time the two trails of blood, flowing in different directions, had hardened, the questions began to surface.

Weren't Radiel and Karsein both missing?

The search began almost immediately.

"Ugh, seniors!"

"Theo? Blood...!"

"What happened? What the hell happened to you?"

Theo, clutching one arm, hiding that warped smile.

With his testimony, the events in the woods came to light, and the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠scene was found in no time.

Dead torches.

The traces of clashing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠blades.

The gust of blood soaked into the forest floor.

And then...

"I don't know exactly what happened, but I tried to help restrain her... yet whether it was some violent fit, Young Master Karsein cut Captain Radiel down."

Through one man's perjury, all of it came to point at Karsein's guilt.

The next day.

A tribunal convened at the training grounds.

Karsein protested again and again.

That it had been a justified counterattack against those who had been hired to drive him out.

That it was not his doing, but Theo's.

Hauled straight into trial the moment he woke from unconsciousness, he cried out his innocence and insisted it was a frame job.

But Karsein was already in an impossibly disadvantageous position.

"The blood on the young master's sword has been confirmed to be Radiel's and Theo's. The bloodstains found at the scene match both types exactly. Even so, do you intend to repeat the same claim?"

"The testimony of the two apprentice knights corroborates it as well. Both were unconscious and about to be cut down — it was only because Theo shielded them with his own arm that they're still breathing."

Karsein's sword, which should have held not a single drop of blood, was soaked with Radiel's and Theo's, and the other two joined in the perjury as well.

Everything flowed so smoothly it might have been scripted — he was a hair's breadth from being branded guilty beyond appeal.

The only way to break this situation was for Radiel to wake, but...

She hovered between life and death from the deep wound, unable to testify.

"Where in the world would I find the skill to beat three men?! That's impossible...!"

It was an eminently reasonable objection.

Even the jurors could not entirely swallow that part.

Left alone, doubt might have stirred in the presiding judge once more.

Truly — if only it had been left alone.

"Of course it's possible. The young master can channel mana into his blade, can't he?"

"...What?"

"What ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠nonsense is this, Theo Ramstear."

"Charging a blade with mana is hardly something just anyone can do."

Theo nodded along, as if in full agreement.

"Not one of the three apprentice knights, myself included, could manage it. Our training simply hadn't progressed far enough. But the young master could — which is precisely how he managed to hold the advantage against the three of us."

"Hah."

"If that's true, then..."

"It would be possible, wouldn't it. We're simply on different levels."

What Karsein had discovered by pure chance became, upon investigation, yet another piece of evidence — mana lingering in his blade.

Public opinion tilted toward Theo's side once more.

As a final desperate struggle, Karsein pleaded with the tribunal to reveal exactly who in the ducal estate had issued such an order.

But then.

"Don't you think it's about time you admitted it? You don't actually think Sir Theo is the kind of person who just goes around lying, do you?"

"Fl... Flora, you...!"

"It's weird enough that the ducal estate would issue a request like that. And then Sir Theo just accepts it? Stop pinning it on the wrong person, you idiot!"

One person's intervention crushed his final struggle.

If the estate's records had been examined, who knew how the trial might have ended.

It might even have circled back to square one.

But because Flora testified that such a thing was impossible, citing his usual conduct, the investigation fizzled out into nothing.

And so.

"Karsein. From today, you are barred from the training grounds. The duration is indefinite. A clause shall be added forbidding the knights from admitting you."

In place of Isabella, who had lost her mind to madness, Arina — the one entrusted with the verdict — delivered the sentence herself.

Utterly unjust. Utterly wretched.

And so Karsein lost everything he had.

Fwoosh—

With the status message, the scene of the Memorial faded away. Before my eyes stood Radiel and Mark, frozen mid-motion as though time itself had stopped the instant the Memorial activated.

"..."

Wretched.

A boy who had nothing, who had finally gained a goal — the one thing worth fighting for beyond that hellish ducal estate —

and right there, it was stripped from him entirely.

Taken in a way he could never, ever hold again.

That was exactly like... the me of back then—

Slap!

'I don't have time to dwell on my past. This actually happened, and it's my reality right now.'

I needed to focus on the fact that Karsein had lived through this. To keep in mind that at any moment, a single wrong choice could cost me my life.

Yes. What I needed now wasn't petty emotion — it was a thorough grasp of the facts and cold analysis.

Radiel's secret, buried deep in her heart, and Mark, who had wandered in and heard all of it.

Karsein's past and Theo Ramstear's perjury.

And Emma — and one more person besides.

The plan had strayed far from its original course, but my task had never been clearer.

3.

2.

1.

The moment the countdown vanished, Radiel and Mark both moved.

I faced Mark head-on as he charged recklessly at me and asked him point-blank.

"I'm asking not as a trainee, but as the master of Bagrand. How much did you hear, Mark?"

Mark stopped mid-charge and answered.

"Up to the point where Head Maid Emma was mentioned."

"That far, then. It couldn't be helped."

"Y-Young Master!"

Radiel shook her head as if to say this mustn't happen — but regrettably, it could not be undone.

My blood, gone stone-cold long ago, was telling me.

This man, too, needed to know.

And I would choose that method without fail.

Even if it dealt this man a crushing shock.

"Radiel. From this moment, you will not say a single word."

***

Radiel knew the whole truth of what had happened that day.

Which was precisely why she could not help but feel anxious about Karsein's judgment.

'He could certainly give testimony, but... for the young master...'

There was no tangible evidence.

The sword found that day had undeniably borne Radiel's blood and Theo's, and the scene — with two distinct types of bloodstains — had proven it all too well.

Could a verdict sealed with clear evidence and a scene that seemed to speak the truth through its very ruin truly be overturned?

'No. I have to stop him, even now...!'

If this went on, Mark might fly into a rage and try to throw Karsein out on the spot.

But.

"Radiel. From this moment, you will not say a single word."

Karsein had cut off, with complete resolve, any situation in which she could interject.

"For starters, I can't simply tell you everything that happened that day."

"What did you say?"

"Because you'd never believe me. Even at the trial itself, you didn't hold a single doubt on my behalf. I can't rule out the possibility that you've been filled to the brim with your own preconceptions about me."

At the word preconceptions, Mark bristled.

"If I had preconceptions, I would have stepped forward and tried to drive you out long ago, just like those knights did."

"Only by wielding the fact that I cut Radiel down? Now that would be a real preconception."

"No. I could have driven you out a dozen times over, but I never acted on it myself. I remembered, to the very end, how Radiel begged and begged the young master to trust her!"

In his heart of hearts, he had wanted to cast him out.

The mere fact that he had cut down their Captain was reason enough, same as the others.

But Mark had never once brushed aside Radiel's pleas.

"Because I believed there had to be some reason, even as you hung your head. It's the same reason I came looking for you this morning and told you not to run this time. I still carry that question from that day, unresolved. Even now — do I seem like a man bound by prejudice?"

The trial had ended with a ban on Karsein's entry to the training grounds. He had later raged with his blade, claiming injustice, but Mark had personally subdued him.

And that too, within the bounds of ensuring Karsein was never harmed.

'Yes. That's the kind of man you were.'

Just as the Memorial showed, he had been the one who respected Radiel most, nearly as much as Karsein himself.

Which meant the sense of betrayal must have been beyond describing.

And yet even so, he had held the line.

He had not crossed it, and he had kept his fury in check.

It meant he was holding to neutrality, plainly and properly.

Only once he was certain Mark carried no prejudice against him did Karsein finally come to the point.

"I hear that from tomorrow, I'll be sparring against the knights as well. Correct?"

"You are. But how did you...?"

"How I found out doesn't matter. The problem is that I already know who I'll be facing, isn't it?"

At those words, Mark's eyes turned suspicious.

"You seem to have guessed that you'd face an apprentice knight, but that pairing is decided at random. There's no way you could know."

"Right. That's your jurisdiction, Acting Captain. But what do you think will happen if I predict tomorrow's opponent right in front of you?"

"Utter nonsense...!"

"Then watch for yourself tomorrow. My opponent."

Bruce.

It would be that bastard.

"And Radiel."

"Yes, Young Master."

"If you intend to come and observe — no matter what happens tomorrow, do not step in."

"What?! B-But...!"

"I told you, didn't I. I'll trample those bastards myself."

Having finished his warning with frost-cold eyes, Karsein passed by Mark and picked up the sword lying in the grass.

Then he tossed it to Mark without ceremony.

"If I'm wrong, then tomorrow you'll cut down my back with this blade yourself. To the same depth as Radiel's wound."

"...!"

"Y-Young Master!"

"You could always walk away from this, you know. Speaking frankly, right now I'm a liar of the training grounds. Shouldn't I go at least this far?"

Radiel blanched. Mark faltered.

Before the two of them, Karsein spoke with his head held high.

"Wondering why I'd do something like this? Whether it's even necessary to go this far? I'm sure you are."

It was the truth.

Mark and Radiel both.

They wanted to ask why he would take such a reckless gamble.

"I'm confident. Unlike back then."

A verdict had already been rendered once.

That day, Karsein had wept and wailed at the injustice before drawing his sword.

Unable to accept the verdict, driven mad by the frame job, he had flown at them with his blade, ready to cause a second wave of harm.

There had been nothing more he could prove.

No evidence. No witnesses.

All he'd had was the reputation of being the training ground's troublemaker, and nicknames even filthier than that.

And...

nothing but a master who had known the truth, yet was forced to live each day knowing the ducal estate would never believe her.

But the Karsein standing before them now?

He was confident. He was different from back then.

He spoke as though he could not fail.

There was a certainty in him that suggested he would entertain no objection whatsoever along the way.

No doubt they had thought it reckless at first.

That thought had vanished entirely.

"Let's say we accept these terms, and it's proven that the young master is right. What will you do then?"

"Ah, that? Nothing much."

Karsein let out a short laugh.

"I'll use this key to reveal one of the ducal estate's secrets. That's all."

It was the key to the Old Annex Storage — the one he'd found some time ago.

***

The tangled day passed, and the next one arrived.

The induction period had passed its fourth day — exactly the halfway mark — and was now entering its fifth.

The training had been nothing but brutal, but thanks to how carefully he'd managed himself, he wasn't lagging nearly as far behind as before.

Still, carelessness was a poison. The eyes of some of the bastards who'd snickered and mocked him had changed entirely.

The ones who merely watched with resentment were simply prejudice incarnate — but that certain few I'd just mentioned were an entirely different breed.

'The moment I show even the slightest opening, they're ready to pounce.'

They'd be getting nervous about now.

Per Emma's request, they had to drive Karsein out within seven days, after all.

'But how easily do you think that'll go?'

The moment I turned my head even slightly, that head of pink hair caught my eye.

Arina had already come breathing down my neck yesterday, and now Claire was watching me with both eyes narrowed to razor slits — who in their right mind would dare touch me?

Just moments ago, one of the bastards trying to work some scheme had gotten collared.

And unlike with Arina, he'd been hauled off without a shred of mercy.

Those bastards must be feeling suffocated.

Because before long, they'd have to report to Emma that they still hadn't managed to chase Karsein from the training grounds.

They'd grow more anxious.

More uneasy.

More desperate.

And in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the end, they'd step over the dangerous line.

'Feel free to look forward to it. I'll pay you back, many times over.'