The Knight's Test
Lately, that thought has crossed my mind. What if, to prevent all the disasters and calamities that are about to unfold, I reached out first to the key figures and revealed everything?
The answer that came back was a perfect example of a foolish question meeting a wise response. No one would believe me. No one would understand what I meant. They'd probably just treat me like a madman.
Ironically, the only person who had reached the pinnacle of that madness—Eunhwa—was the one who called me by that bizarre title, Seer, and accepted it with complete sincerity. The price I paid was stepping onto the tracks of death, but that was that.
So, after agonizing over it for the past few days, I came up with my own set of rules for that question. What if I only stuck my head into the changes that would occur because of me—the stain upon this world?
In simpler terms, the one who tied the knot should be the one to untie it.
And the answer to that arrived immediately.
Lien's abnormal change. It could only mean that something had happened to Asera after she left the village. That was why I had reacted to her change as well. Though my mouth had moved faster than my reason.
“…”
The footsteps that had been moving away from me turned right back in my direction. The problem was that her murderous expression was now aimed squarely at me.
It was ridiculous that I only thought about it after blurting it out, but I couldn't possibly answer that question. I'm the guy she met during the Gluttony subjugation? If I got pressed any further, it would only give me a headache. Asera actually knows me very well? …That was even worse.
Thud. Thud.
BANG!
Lien grabbed me by the collar and slammed me roughly against the wall.
“Ugh…”
Her sunset-colored eyes, widened to their limit, scanned over me. As expected, it was clearly an excessive reaction no matter who saw it. Her behavior had been off ever since earlier. Something serious must have happened between the two of them.
…So that was it.
“What…?”
Lien stared at me with an expression of utter disbelief.
“It’s not exactly normal for someone to react this extremely just because I mentioned a name, is it?”
“…”
The strength in her grip slowly loosened. It seemed she had finally realized she had gone a bit too far.
“I simply asked if that person’s name was Asera. You’re the one who grabbed my collar without answering. Am I wrong?”
“…Sorry. I know almost everything about Asera. If you’d only met her in passing, there’s no way I wouldn’t know you—!”
“Then why is someone who claims to know everything asking me what happened this morning?”
“T-That’s…!”
Lien’s words were completely cut off. One thing had been bothering me the whole time. Why was Lien wandering around in a back alley like this? There was no reason for someone who lived and died for Asera to be roaming around alone. My guess was that something had happened that morning she kept mentioning, and she had been worrying about it. Judging by her expression, it looked like I was right.
“…Hey.”
After a long silence, she spoke in a low voice.
“…”
A purpose, huh. It was a difficult question to answer, but the reply came instantly.
“Because I’m worried.”
“What…?”
Lien let out a dazed sound.
“It’s exactly as I said. I don’t know what happened to make you explode like this, but since I also know that knight, I was worried. And the fact that you reacted so sensitively the moment you heard her name means something must have happened. So I got worried. Is that a problem?”
I answered with a calmness that surprised even myself. In truth, continuing this back-and-forth was starting to irritate me. I wanted to know right this second what had happened between the two of them.
“…”
Lien looked at me as if I were some strange creature, then slowly released her grip on my collar. But it seemed her questions weren’t over yet.
“?”
“…”
Her own personal screening method. Something like that. What do I think of her? It was a rather vague question. At her words, I recalled Asera as I always did. The emotion that rose wasn’t anything particularly special.
I wonder if she’s doing well.
That was about it.
“I just hope she stays uninjured and finds happiness. That’s all.”
“Yes. I don’t have any particular desires or grand objectives.”
“? If that were my goal, I wouldn’t be fighting with you here, would I?”
At my answer, Lien’s gaze wandered through the air for a moment. Then she lowered her eyes and moved her lips in a whisper too quiet to hear.
“…That’s a good answer.”
Lien slowly turned away. She was heading toward the exit of the alley. Just as she reached the path leading out, she looked back at me with eyes that had made up their mind.
* * *
“Have you ever heard of the crystal orb theory?”
“It’s my first time.”
“The story that this world was created by someone. That we only move according to how we were designed, and that person is watching over us.”
“……That’s an interesting story.”
Lien, who had been climbing the hill, turned to look at me. Her mood seemed to have improved somewhat; her face looked much more like her usual self than before.
“When I first heard that story, I was really scared. I worried that my feelings of cherishing Asera weren’t actually my own will, but just passive emotions someone had crafted for me.”
“So you tested it?”
“Of course! Do you know how much I agonized over it?! I deliberately tried being cold to Asera, forced myself to get angry at her, threw all kinds of tantrums. Do you know what she said?”
Lien stopped at the railing and looked down at the panorama of Sia Del. When I glanced at her, I saw that the corners of her eyes had turned red.
“She said she was glad to see another side of me and just smiled at me so innocently. Ha… I cried so much apologizing back then… Even now it makes me a little choked up. Sniff.”
Hmm. That was a good answer. Just hearing her story made my heart feel lighter. Was this what it felt like to hear someone praise your child?
“You seem to cry more than you look, Knight. Earlier when you were beating those people up, you didn’t seem to have any blood or tears at all.”
“My head was a mess earlier… No, and there’s no need to be nice to bastards like that, right?”
“A very reasonable statement. We seem to think quite similarly.”
“…Is that a compliment?”
“Who knows. It depends on how you see me, Knight.”
Lien gave me a slightly pouty look, then lightly punched my shoulder and laughed as she started walking ahead again.
“…Just a while ago you looked like you were going to kill me, but you’ve softened up a lot?”
“Why? Don’t like it? Want me to go back to how I was?”
“I’m obviously saying the current version is better…”
“Hahaha, you’re funny.”
She stopped midway up the path and turned to look down at me.
“That answer you gave back in the alley. It was pretty good to me. That’s why I like you.”
Is that so. I had simply said what I felt. Perhaps the easiest way to move someone’s heart was to reveal your sincerity as it was.
“Whether it’s those black beast Abelleo bastards or the trash trying to use Asera, they all just spout smooth, polished words. You’re the first one who said something like that.”
“…After saying it, I actually felt a bit embarrassed and started regretting it.”
“Eh? I thought it was really good? I’m going to use it later too! (In a low voice) Heh heh, Asera. Just stay uninjured and be happy—”
“Please don’t. Seriously.”
Lien made a mischievous face as if my reaction was delicious. The time we spent walking side by side wasn’t very long. Yet in that short time, I found myself gradually being assimilated by her friendly aura.
The spring-flower-colored hair that swayed over her shoulders. I thought it suited her personality perfectly.
“Here we are. This is it.”
After climbing the steep uphill path and crossing a single fence, the full view of Sia Del spread out before us. The cool breeze of noon pleasantly brushed through this place where only the two of us stood.
“Not bad… No, it’s a wonderful view.”
“Right? Whenever I feel stifled or have something to worry about, I always come here. Well, lately… I’ve been coming quite often.”
Finally. The main topic I had been wanting to hear slipped out. It was something Lien had mentioned in passing on the way here.
“Is it because of what you said earlier… that Asera seems to have been feeling anxious lately?”
Immediately, a shadow fell over Lien’s eyes.
“…Yeah. For the past few days, she’s been acting strange, like her soul has left her body. She was always so bright, so I have no idea why she suddenly became like this…”
“Hmm…”
“Even when I ask what’s wrong, she keeps dodging the question and trying to change the subject. It’s driving me crazy with frustration.”
It wasn’t that I had no guesses at all. That was why I threw out a conjecture.
“Did that change start after she returned from Olpia Village… am I right?”
“—!? What the hell have you been since earlier…? Have you been stalking us or something??”
“That’s not what’s important right now, Knight.”
I answered without avoiding her gaze. She stared into my eyes for several seconds, then nodded as if in agreement.
“…You’re right. Yeah. You’re correct. It started after she came back from that village. After that, Asera’s attitude began to change little by little.”
I was shocked by her answer.
…Could this be possible?
Asera somehow seemed to know me. I had tried to dismiss it as coincidence. I had tried not to get involved. I had judged that it wouldn’t lead to anything good. But the question of how she recognized me remained an unsolved puzzle spinning in my head. It was one thing for me to recognize her, but the reverse made no logical sense no matter how I thought about it. Had we met when we were children? …No way. If that were the case, I wouldn’t have forgotten. It was something my mind simply couldn’t comprehend. There was only one answer. She must have seen something I didn’t know about.
“And then this morning, she completely broke down… She showed up looking like I’ve never seen her before.”
“…Could you describe what she looked like?”
Even as I asked, I hesitated to hear the answer.
“Her complexion, expression, even her clothes. It was a complete mess, like everything that had been building up inside her had collapsed all at once…”
“Did you hear the reason why?”
I heard the sound of teeth grinding fiercely.
“I don’t know. She said she wanted to be alone… No, she said it was hard to explain and avoided me. What the hell does that even mean, haa.”
“You don’t have even a rough guess?”
“Are you stupid? If I knew, I wouldn’t be wandering around a place like that by myself.”
Lien glared at me as if I were ridiculous, then let out a deep sigh.
“Hard to explain… What kind of secret is it that she can’t even tell me…”
“…”
Hard to explain. Those words caught in my throat. The reason was that it sounded exactly like the excuse I always used whenever I had to make one. When had I said it a lot? …Ah.
Nephthea’s face flashed across my mind. When I got entangled with others because I knew the future. When I had no way to explain something they couldn’t possibly know and tried to gloss over it. It overlapped strangely—no, it was exactly the same.
It might be an absurd leap in logic. But the hypothesis that had been circling in my head since earlier. What if Asera was in a similar situation to me—
“? What do you mean?”
“…It’s hard to explain.”
“……”
“J-Just kidding. Please don’t reach for your rapier.”
I stopped her as she touched her rapier with a face that had turned ice-cold in an instant. But what was more serious than that threat was the situation that had finally arrived. Haa. It had come to this after all. There was no longer any way to gloss things over with smooth talk like I had with Eunhwa or Nephthea. This was Lien, of all people. She knew Asera better than anyone except me. Any clumsy deception would never work. Try to run away when she let her guard down? Those kidnappers’ fates would become my future.
“…Just promise me one thing.”
“From now on, just listen to what I say as if it’s the nonsense of a half-crazy person.”
“Please. I’m asking you sincerely.”
I bowed deeply and asked her with utmost politeness. It seemed these kinds of situations had been increasing lately. Lien, who had been silent, let out a short sigh.
“…Thank you for your consideration.”
Suuup. I let out a deep breath. I decided to throw away all the complicated thoughts. I had just realized earlier that the best way to move someone’s heart was to reveal your sincerity as it was. Yeah. I don’t know anymore.
“That crystal orb story you mentioned earlier. If it were true, would you believe it?”
Let whatever happens, happen.