Knight Alex (3)
Knight Alex (3)
In hard times, when difficult eras descended, people spoke hopefully of 'the return of the Hero' in children's fairy tales.
Right now, things seemed to be roughly falling into place, but even I couldn't tell whether this was truly 'the return of the Hero' from the storybooks.
"Well... I think we'll have to look into that a bit more."
I raised my greatsword.
"No!"
"Stop!"
Shouts erupted from the surrounding forces.
Then I saw two knights who had been standing in front charge forward.
They exuded an aura similar to that of the middle-aged knight standing before me.
'Are they his disciples or something?'
As they rushed forward, the expression of the knight, who had looked resigned to his fate, changed.
"Please! Spare them! They don't deserve to die like dogs in a place like this!"
It seemed they really were his disciples.
Was this because they had left the Royal Knights to train the Kingdom's army?
I could understand them rushing forward when their master was about to die.
I could also understand him worrying that his disciples might die.
But...
"We're at war."
I threw his own words right back at him.
"How could..."
The knight gaped blankly at my words, and I swung my greatsword.
Blood sprayed, and his head fell.
"Master!"
A voice like a scream drew near.
I swung my greatsword at the knight charging at the head of the group, then quietly muttered under my breath.
"Summon."
A dagger appeared in my hand, and I threw it toward the neck of the knight following behind.
Slash.
A line of mana slashed across the leading knight's chest.
The dagger shot past the collapsing knight.
Thunk.
The dagger sank into the trailing knight's neck.
Though caught by surprise, the disciples, unlike their master, could block neither my 'Mana Emission' nor the dagger I threw.
The two knights collapsed to the ground, unable even to reach the spot where their master had died.
As the middle-aged knight fell and his two disciples died, the surroundings fell dead silent.
Our allies, the enemies, and even the fortress—everyone stared in my direction without a word.
I summoned the dagger back to my hand and turned around.
Up on the hill, the Princess was still looking down at this place from her position.
I raised my blood-drenched greatsword high into the air.
"...Waaaaah!"
A moment later, a roar of cheers erupted from atop the hill.
"Waaaaah!"
Cheers echoed from the fortress, too. It must have been hard to see clearly from that distance, but they had somehow managed to recognize what had happened.
I turned back toward the fortress.
Then I plunged my greatsword into the ground.
It was a silent protest, demanding that they keep their promise.
The forces surrounding the fortress looked at one another, utterly at a loss.
The sound of galloping horses echoed from the hill.
Then Senior Benjamin's shout rang out.
"Make way! Do you intend to ignore the outcome of the duel?!"
Perhaps because he was excited, his voice sounded incredibly thrilled.
Whether his shout had worked or not, the enemy's formation began to crumble bit by bit.
The soldiers directly in front of me gradually parted to the left and right.
Then our order of knights rode down.
"You did well," the Princess's voice reached me, followed by another.
"Here. Wipe off the blood."
Balea handed me a towel.
Blood must have splattered onto my face, too.
Looking around, I saw everyone staring at me with wide, astonished eyes.
Their expressions ranged from admiration to doubt, with even some nobles wearing looks of sheer disbelief.
I pulled my sword from the ground and walked over to the Princess.
As she looked down at me from atop her horse, admiration and apology mingled on her face.
Fortunately, the Princess hadn't yet lost her original mindset.
I knelt on one knee.
"At your command, I have taken the enemy's head! The path is clear, so please proceed forward!"
Though the words were a bit cringeworthy, my statement instantly ignited everyone's morale.
"Waaaaah!"
Hearing those roaring cheers made this level of embarrassment perfectly bearable.
I stood back up and mounted the horse Juan brought over.
Then I guided my horse right alongside the Princess.
Now that I'd done my part, it was time to wait and see how the opponent would react.
"Raise the banners, and march to the fortress! Knights, forward!"
"Yes, Your Highness! Knights, forward!"
Miguel relayed the Princess's command to the entire order, and the knights formed up and began to move forward.
The opponent's loosely parted formation wavered once more.
The soldiers in front of us now moved completely to the sides to clear a path.
The passage grew wider and wider.
Just like that, a hole was punched through the siege.
Though knights and noble officers still remained in the enemy camp, none of them issued any orders.
Whether the knight I'd killed was their highest-ranking officer, or whether the shock to their command structure was simply that immense...
If they had issued proper orders to clear the path, it might have been a somewhat honorable affair.
But with things turning into a situation where they voluntarily stepped aside, it could only further elevate the Princess's reputation.
The soldiers stood far apart, gazing at the knights and the Princess with admiring eyes.
The officers let us pass without making any attempt to control their soldiers.
In this world, it might have been considered a beautiful, heartwarming tale, but I couldn't quite understand it.
Perhaps it was because I still remembered the ugly wars of my past life.
Unlike the other knights, I rode my horse with a slightly bitter feeling when—
Swish!
An arrow flew out from among the soldiers.
A green-glowing arrow shot from the opposite direction to where I was standing, aimed straight at the Princess's face.
It was too late to draw a sword, and the other knights' reactions were far too slow.
But the arrow didn't reach the Princess.
Clang!
It struck a translucent barrier enveloping the Princess and fell to the ground.
That barrier was my doing. Just like before, it vanished immediately after blocking a single arrow, but it was more than enough to protect the Princess.
I turned my head and looked toward where the arrow had flown from.
The shooter ducked quickly, but they couldn't escape my eyes and senses.
While I was contemplating what to do, though, something comical happened.
While Miro and Axel quickly brought their horses alongside the Princess and the other knights drew their swords, the person who had hidden among the soldiers was suddenly exposed.
Absurdly enough, the soldiers standing in front of him had scrambled out of the way.
Now completely exposed, the culprit dropped the crossbow he was holding and fled backward.
Judging by his uniform, he seemed to be a noble officer.
"If it had succeeded, it would have been a pretty decent method. What a shame."
At Senior Benjamin's words—he'd approached before I knew it—I quickly channeled my mana to erect a soundproof barrier.
We were right in the middle of enemy territory.
To praise an enemy who had just launched a sneak attack in a place like this...
I couldn't tell if he was completely thoughtless or just utterly hopeless.
"But fleeing like that after failing? What a joke. If you fail, you should either commit suicide or charge to your death to block the path. Running away like that is obviously only going to boost the Princess's reputation even further."
Senior Benjamin certainly thought differently from other people.
He had thoughts similar to mine—no, even more realistic than mine.
Any other noble would have been cursed at for lacking a sense of honor.
"I think you should watch your words a little."
For once, here was a useful, like-minded person. I couldn't let him die over a careless slip of the tongue.
"Don't worry. I only say these things in front of you. I'd never speak my mind like this in front of the Princess."
Why in front of me?
My confusion must have been written all over my face.
"I happen to have a hobby of observing people. That's also why I chose the Princess. In fact, you make up more than half the reason I chose her."
Could it be... had he figured out the secrets I'd been hiding?
"Perhaps because you're a bastard son, unlike other nobles who prioritize honor, you know how to look at practical benefits, yet you still take good care of the people around you. Seeing that, I figured we could work together."
Senior Benjamin glanced back from atop his horse.
Far off, halfway up the hill, three knights lay dead.
"But to think you could fight this well... I'd heard rumors of your greatness, but I never imagined you'd be this monstrous."
Fortunately, he hadn't discovered my secrets.
Though I was planning to gradually let those around me know, I had no intention of revealing everything.
Secrets that could cause a massive uproar, like 'Viewpoint Reversion' or 'Mana Resonance', were things I wouldn't share even with my closest companions.
"Man, I'll have to redraw our plans. You're so strong that all my previous plans have been completely messed up."
Senior Benjamin scratched his head as he looked around.
Though he was grumbling, his bright expression suggested that the new plan would likely be much better than the previous one.
Once Senior Benjamin finished grumbling, I deactivated the soundproof barrier.
Right on cue, our order of knights passed through the enemy camp.
Now, the only thing visible before us was the sturdy-looking wall of the fortress.
At the center of that wall, a massive, solid gate was firmly shut.
I wondered if Senior Benjamin would have to give another speech, but fortunately, there was no need.
A loud shout echoed from atop the fortress wall.
"Open the gates!"
It was a voice I'd heard before—the Count's.
Before we even reached the front of the fortress, the gates swung wide open.
Soldiers raised their spears atop the walls, and knights stood on both sides of the opened gateway, raising their swords.
The city's civilians lined the streets, cheering wildly.
Everyone in the fortress welcomed us.
Count Bador, commander of Soroka Fortress and lord of the fortress city, was no exception.
He descended from the wall and stopped before the Princess, who had just dismounted from her horse.
He knelt on one knee and paid his respects to the Princess.
It was a gesture of etiquette he hadn't shown when we came before, and a greeting he didn't need to offer to an ordinary princess.
This meant that Count Bador recognized the Princess as one of the Kingdom's successors.
It meant that the events of the Council had reached all the way here, suggesting we might not even need to resort to schemes.
And that expectation proved correct.
Still kneeling on one knee, he began to speak in a low, suppressed voice.
"Our forces at Soroka Fortress are the gatekeepers who prevent monsters leaving the Seal Grounds from entering the Kingdom. Though we've failed to perform even that duty properly of late, we've never once forgotten our responsibility."
It was only natural.
Both the Princess and I had witnessed the fortress's soldiers and knights fighting against the monsters.
And the Princess had fought alongside them.
"However, the Second Prince ordered us to withdraw the fortress's forces and join his army."
"What a fucking bastard..."
A curse slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it.
No matter how important the civil war was, this was an order that completely ignored the local situation.
To think of pulling out the forces guarding the front lines just to fight a civil war.
I had no idea whose brain that brilliant idea had come from.
"But we cannot abandon the responsibility handed down to us for hundreds of years, nor can we abandon our territory's people."
That must have been why they refused, and why the enraged Second Prince had sent troops to besiege the fortress like this.
He must have known about the fortress's lack of food and resources. Was he planning to starve them into submission?
The Count raised his voice, his head still bowed toward the young girl.
"If you allow us to remain here, Soroka Fortress and the Northeastern Kingdom Army will officially support you, Your Highness."
It didn't sound bad, but looked at another way, he was proposing a deal to royalty.
It was a statement that could either be accepted graciously or met with anger.
I looked at the Princess.
The knights, the people of the fortress, and I—everyone stared at the Princess.
The Princess looked at the bowing Count, then at Balea, and then at Benjamin.
Then she looked at me.
I didn't say a word or nod.
This was for the Princess to decide.
The Princess nodded to herself. Then she boldly opened her mouth.