The Undying Knight

“Ah, if it weren't for Leah, I would have made a spectacular monument for Dominic!”

A playful voice shattered the silence of the darkness, broken only by the sound of hooves.

It was just a faint noise to Rian Keide, who was leading the way on a brown Express Horse.

But it was loud enough for Sion's disciples, who were following Rian in pairs of two, to hear Tarin's voice.

That's why Dominic, with his dull blond hair, frowned even more intensely and reacted immediately.

“Nonsense!! What do you know? Leah just interfered when I was about to react after calculating my next move!”

“Kekeke…!”

Tarin, with her brown bobbed hair resembling the winding paths of the Green Wave Forest, chuckled so much that her light freckles twitched.

It was clear provocation, as if she found Dominic's reaction exactly as she had expected.

“You son of a….”

Dominic wanted to retaliate against Tarin somehow, but since Leah was riding between them, he could only glare and grind his teeth.

In the meantime, the deep voice of Berkir, a silver-haired giant, was heard from behind.

“If it were me, I would have broken his ribs with my shoulder while preventing him from drawing his sword. Then Leah wouldn't have had to step in.”

“Shut up! Don't talk like I lost when I didn't even fight properly, you foolish bear!”

“Hehe. This is all due to a lack of training. When we return after completing the mission, let's have some training time together!”

Berkir folded his large arms and flexed his muscles.

Of course, just as he had ignored Dominic's words and said what he wanted, no one paid attention to Berkir.

Perhaps feeling sorry for him, Pine, with her flowing green hair, showed some interest.

‘As expected. Sion gave Becky the best horse. It doesn't even pant after carrying such a huge guy.’

Even that was not interest in Berkir, but in the muscular white horse he was riding.

And soon, she turned her gaze to Rian, who was going ahead, and joined the current conversation.

“It was definitely an unhesitating stab. If you had calculated your next move, it's the same as Leah saving your life.”

“Tch….”

Dominic didn't react to the voices that seemed to be advising and teasing him.

After all, reacting would only confirm the excuse, and there were no other words that came to mind besides excuses.

‘Next move, my ass….’

As Pine said, he himself knew that if he had calculated his next move, his heart would have been pierced in the process of changing his stance.

That's why he couldn't hold back any more, with the intention of dying together without retrieving his sword.

It was an undeniable fact that he was able to save his life thanks to Leah.

‘…….’

Dominic's gaze reached Leah, with her dark blue bobbed hair.

Her eyes were more focused on looking at an insurmountable wall than expressing gratitude.

But Leah, for her part, seemed uninterested in Dominic's gaze and was focused on Rian, who was running ahead.

‘Rian Keide, was it?’

Jet-black hair and black eyes with an abyss within. That alone would be enough to say that it contained the negativity and ominousness of the world.

Adding to that, his handsome appearance made one think of those who cast magic through ugliness.

So it was fair to say that he had the qualities that would make Dominic, who despised Dark wizard and cultists, attack him without hesitation.

But the man didn't give off any unpleasantness or impurity.

Rather, he felt a sense of comfort from the darkness, and curiosity and competitiveness took precedence.

So she had intended to watch the situation with Dominic for a while.

But she couldn't help but step in because of the sense of incongruity felt in the sudden burst of murderous intent.

It was as if he wasn't afraid of death, and he was a human for whom death was useless, so he was telling them to try him if they dared.

In fact, he ignored death and focused only on killing, even aiming the tip of his sword at Dominic's heart.

He had surpassed the level of courage that a mere squad leader could show. The same was true of his physical abilities.

‘Is it a matter of talent? Would Sion have seen him as a diamond in the rough?’

No, it's too reckless for that.

At that rate, he'll die before he becomes a knight.

Just like the other guys who died because of recklessness…

‘So the man is just a slight interest. This is it.’

Clatter! Clatter!

Leah decided not to focus on Rian anymore and rode through the night.

Mongclay was crossing the Green Wave Forest with his troops spread out in a straight line like a net.

Since he and some of the escorts had to ride horses, they followed the troops along the winding road, regardless of the formation.

‘Those Empire bastards… they're running away like crazy.’

They should be exhausted and the pursuit distance should be narrowing, but it wasn't narrowing at all.

There was already a report from the vanguard that they had left the forest and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠entered the Dandelion Plain.

‘What can't be helped, can't be helped.’

It would have been nice if we could have caught them all and captured them, but if we pursued them recklessly, we might fall victim to their tricks.

Excessive greed invites disaster.

‘The commander ran away quickly first, so he might have stashed away reinforcements somewhere.’

It would be more advantageous to set up a new base in the Dandelion Plain and have Sion's disciples scout out the enemy's movements when they arrive.

Clatter-. Clatter-.

Mongclay thought so and slowly rode his horse.

It was then.

Thud thud thud…….

Mongclay faintly heard the sound of hooves running, kicking off the ground from somewhere. It was more of a feeling than hearing.

Since the Empire had already deployed elite soldiers and Mages and almost sacrificed his life, his senses, which had become more sensitive, detected a small change.

“What is that sound?!”

Mongclay asked his adjutant about the strange noise he had felt.

The adjutant, who was riding next to him, hid his inner thoughts of 'what nonsense are you talking about' and looked bewildered.

But soon, he felt the sound of hooves tickling his ears and turned around and shouted.

“From the rear!”

By the time he shouted that, the sound of hooves and the rumbling of the ground were approaching more clearly.

“Everyone gather!! Prepare for rear guard! Something's coming!!”

Mongclay shouted in a urgent voice.

“Rear guard! Rear guard!!”

“Everyone gather! Protect the battalion commander!”

Rumble-.

At Mongclay's cry, the company commanders repeated it, and the soldiers who had been spread out in a line quickly gathered around Mongclay.

While the soldiers were gathering, the adjutant and some of the escorts turned their horses and drew their swords.

Dozens of archers who were nearby were positioned around Mongclay and aimed at the darkness.

Clatter! Clatter!

The sound of hooves coming from the hills and the winding path was becoming clear.

Soon, black dots appeared, turning around the path.

The faint moonlight seeped into the black dots and gradually began to take shape. Nevertheless, it was still darkness that made it impossible to distinguish between friend and foe.

Swish-.

Mongclay watched the approaching silhouette and raised his hand. Calculating the allowable range for the arrows to reach in his head.

Then, he suddenly thought that they might be allies. He had become more relaxed because the soldiers who would protect him had gathered around him.

‘Could it be Sion's disciples?’

Well, it could be, but even so, if it was an enemy surprise attack, they would be attacked before they could shower them with arrows.

‘Shoot. If they are allies and Sion's disciples… they'll survive on their own. I can apologize then.’

Thinking so, just as the word 'attack' was about to be uttered from Mongclay's mouth.

“They're allies!! They're with Sion's disciples!!”

Rian shouted as he saw the allies ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠preparing to attack under the burning torch.

Mongclay didn't recognize Rian Keide right away.

But he could understand the words 'Sion's disciples'.

“Release the alert! Don't shoot! They're allies! Haha!!”

Finally, the reinforcements he had been waiting for had arrived. They weren't an army, but the disciples that Knight Sion was raising.

Since they were people with the talent of a knight, Mongclay judged that they would no longer be in danger.

That judgment made a bright smile bloom on his face.

‘That's right! There's no way the guys who ran away on purpose would ambush us from behind!’

Mongclay was relieved and welcomed Sion's disciples.

But before he could greet them, there was one thing he had to take care of.

“Rian… Keide?”

When Rian showed a military salute to Mongclay, who was looking at him with a bewildered expression, he waved his hand and roughly ignored the greeting and continued.

“Are you injured? You were standing there nonchalantly, so was it really a minor wound?”

He seemed to have taken the extent of the injury seriously. Seeing Mongclay's appearance of leaving ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the place as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠if abandoning him even though he knew that, Rian quietly put strength into his fist.

But there was no reason to punch him. Rather, he judged that he was able to come this far without much suspicion because of such irresponsibility.

Rian answered the question.

“Yes, that's right.”

“Hmm…. Is that so.”

It was a lukewarm conversation. It was as if there was an unspoken agreement not to pay attention to each other.

Mongclay had to convey instructions to Sion's disciples right away.

Rian had to hide his immortality, so their different intentions were strangely combined and the conversation was coming to an end.

The disciples of Sion, who were listening to their conversation, were embarrassed.

‘He endured my sword in an injured state?’

‘Oh. If that guy's body was fine, Dominic might have really been in danger.’

‘He's saying he endured the injury and fought Dominic with constant training? I like him. Hehe.’

‘Oh my. If he was fine, Dominic would have really been a goner?!’

Leah, Pine, Becky, and Tarin hid their emotions by making more expressionless faces, fearing that the embarrassment they felt would be revealed.

However, only Dominic revealed his emotions as they were and frowned.

‘Damn it…! Does that mean I was almost killed by such an injured soldier?!’

Regardless, Mongclay seemed to have resolved his curiosity and tried to end the conversation with Rian.

“Well. I'm glad you're okay for now. But your squad… as you know, isn't here, so tell me if there's a unit you want to join.”

There is no squad to join.

There's no way he wouldn't know that.

Nevertheless, Rian felt a prick in the corner of his heart at Mongclay's statement, which was throwing out words that didn't need to be said.

The guilt of surviving alone weighed heavily on his whole body.

But there was no room to be buried in emotions.

“I would like to request that you dispatch soldiers to guard the rear of the main force.”

“The rear? Why?”

Mongclay tilted his head.

It was a road that had already been passed with a net-like formation. Besides, he himself had run all the way here with Sion's disciples, hadn't he?

Rian expressed his intention to Mongclay, who was suspicious.

“Just as the Empire hid elite soldiers and Mages and attacked with a plan. I judge that the Empire army will not return without any gain. So I want to prepare for a surprise attack at any time.”

“You eliminated the Mage, so there shouldn't be a problem… Would the elite soldiers risk being cut off from their retreat and launch a surprise attack? At best, there won't be more than a hundred of them. Unless they're knights, they can't do anything to us.”

“Assassination might be possible.”

Mongclay felt a tingling sensation in his spine for a moment, and stroked his beard as if to hide the feeling and nodded.

Anyway, he was planning to park the main force around here and order Sion's disciples to pursue them.

There was no reason to refuse to let him rest comfortably without the threat of assassination.

“Okay. I'll dispatch capable soldiers and entrust the rear to you.”

Rian saluted Mongclay and left the spot.

Sion's disciples followed Rian with their eyes only.

Their mouths were tightly shut and they were expressionless, but their eyes were shaking as if there was an earthquake.

In particular, even Leah, who was excellent at controlling her emotions, couldn't hide her shaking eyes.

‘He killed a Mage. I think we need to verify his skills one more time….’

Leah wanted to chase after Rian right away and apply for a formal sparring match, but she had to follow Mongclay's orders and pursue the Empire army.