Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: The Great Question from the Lowest Seat
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After passing through the wooded path and reaching the district where the empire's citizens resided, Iven distributed the letters from his pouch one by one, picked up other mail from the central office building, and finally headed straight for the southern wall.
"You're here now?"
"Yeah. Anything unusual?"
"What's unusual about gatekeeper duty? It's the same thing every day."
Iven brushed past the 2nd Knight Order gatekeeper, who replied indifferently, and entered his office, which stood alone outside the wall.
Iven's job was to record people passing through the wall, collect and sort letters or items to be delivered inward, and pass them along inside the city. Everyone in Sonain knew him for this work, and the regular routine earned him considerable trust.
"Wonder what came in today."
Muttering to himself, he stacked the mail in one corner, took only the letters, and stood before the map hanging on the office wall. There were no maps of the western continent where the demons lived, so this one only covered the eastern continent, densely marked with demon sighting locations, migration times of various races, and more.
"The dispatch to Sun Forest was for investigation, not subjugation. Supplies into Sun Forest stopped a week ago. If it's cut off from Sun Forest, it's probably an issue with the sun fairies themselves or an accident in the highlands along the route. But an accident in a place where no one lives except beastkin?"
This was all from Iven's own studies and investigations, muttered aloud.
Iven reviewed the sequence of events again and placed books on the shelf. They were the demon exploration report and sword attribute research tome he'd just bought. He opened them immediately and pondered.
This was what troubled him most.
Why didn't the number of knights increase as the demons' numbers and varieties grew?
What were the criteria for becoming a knight? That conviction gained after two years of training?
Conviction was something everyone living day to day possessed- but what exactly defined it?
So how should we live?
From the lowest position, Iven pursued these great questions.
It was his greatest misery.
"I've checked almost all the books..."
But the materials only offered objective data on discovered demons and tales of the Heroes who defeated them.
Tales of Heroes who accepted their fate.
"Maybe I should head to the cathedral."
Sighing, Iven reviewed the letters and items one by one. The main purpose was to screen for dangerous goods or suspicious letters and report them, but it naturally let him grasp how the continent he lived on was faring.
The letters were filled with the usual: demons sighted today, a witch appeared in the forest, a child vanished from the market and it must be the beastkin, war with the western continent is coming. Each different, but all expressing discomfort in daily life or anxiety amid discrimination.
This isn't a fundamental solution, Iven thought again.
Why not station knight orders in every region? A proper oversight system for the lords would solve it all, or even a bureau to promote alliances between non-human races...
But that wasn't a fundamental solution either.
Iven whispered the words beside an illustration of a grand sword depicting the knight orders.
"Holy Brazier... Reaching that point is the hard part. What exactly should a knight be?"
Draw the sword, and you become a knight by right.
Then why not let ordinary people draw swords from the Holy Brazier too? Even if you fail today, couldn't you try tomorrow?
"The brazier, the saintess symbolizing it, the Hero fated to protect her. We need an academic approach, not just faith."
Continued research on the brazier would reveal it. A sudden surge in knights might cause chaos, but if endured, eventually the empire's citizens could all become knights. No, even extend it to all non-hostile non-humans friendly to peace.
A world where we all surpass fate and become knights of this realm.
Wouldn't everyone gain the power to protect themselves in life's fierce personal battles? Wouldn't that resolve everything in these letters? Then true peace could follow.
In that moment, amid countless questions rising from his humble post, Iven felt the empire maintained its knight orders solely for humans.
Just then, a striking name caught his eye among the letters.
"Huh? Lije..."
The sender was Lije from Brnaun. The recipient: the Sequella Church saintess and this empire's princess.
Mariel Sonain.
"Saintess? Why... why Lije..."
Iven's face twisted grotesquely as he read the letter slowly.
Soon, his misery erupted.
***
Bulki adjusted his armor once more.
The thick clank of metal filled the empty training grounds. After finishing, his gauntlets stood out noticeably larger and thicker than the other parts.
His armor was no different from a regular knight's, but that day, when he drew the golden sword like the Hero's mark from the cathedral, the empire's master smiths had crafted special gauntlets for him.
They'd actually planned a platinum-adorned golden full plate armor just for him, but 1st Knight Order Captain Riu had strongly objected, saying it set a bad example for the other knights, so it ended at this.
"Um, Bulki... we'll make it back safe, right?"
A girlish build and voice. It was Nia, from the same 1st Knight Order. Rumors said her short, curly black hair marked her as ex-witch, but Bulki wasn't the type to care.
"Of course. It's just an investigation mission. Don't worry, let's go."
"As expected of the Hero. The Hero's fated to protect the saintess- ah! So he's destined for the princess too..."
Shyly, Nia hid her face with her brimless, lamp-like hat. As a rear support knight using magic to aid the order, her attire was freer.
With her overall cute look, robe covering everything except joint guards that hid her height, she seemed far younger than him. Bulki smiled and replied.
"Nah, nothing like that. I'm just a regular knight like you. We're late. Hurry."
"Y-Yes!"
Blushing at Nia's antics, Bulki added one more layer to his greaves, then headed to the square where the knight order waited. Riu and twenty knights were already there, amid a crowd that seemed at least five hundred strong.
As Bulki appeared, the crowd showered petals and cheers.
"Yerutsa Rahav!"
"Great heir of Hail, receive our blessings!"
"Return safely and shine upon us!"
Riu looked deeply displeased at the cheers. His usual blank face grew fiercer as he glared at Bulki.
"Late on your first mission? What gives?"
"Sorry. I was picking up my gauntlets."
"That Hero nonsense again? Hope that hand doesn't get cut off today."
The others chimed in with affectionate jabs at Riu's words.
"Yeah, Hero sir. We got chewed out waiting."
"Duck your head! Lock eyes with her like us regular knights, and your head's gone!"
"Quiet!"
Riu barked at everyone, then led a brief departure ceremony from horseback before the order.
"1st Knight Order! This mission is to investigate why trade suddenly halted right before official diplomacy with the sun fairies of Sun Forest. We'll cross the Barad Highlands between the empire and Sun Forest, but give it everything to return before nightfall. Ignore everything else until we reach Sun Forest! Understood?"
"Yes!"
Bulki whispered to Nia.
"What does 'everything else' mean?"
But before shy Nia could answer, Riu caught him.
"You there! Chit-chatting now?"
"No, sir! Just one question for the captain!"
"Denied. This isn't a training ground. Remember the discipline between you and me!"
"S-Sorry."
Bulki mumbled apologetically, still curious. What was 'everything else'? Riu, sensing it, shouted before all the knights again.
"A knight order exists for missions and discipline. In other words, remember only those. Report anything outside the mission to me first!"
"Yes!"
Bulki answered loudly from amid the ranks as they reformed. Riu drew his sword, raised it to the sky, and cried.
"Then we depart. Knights, Yerutsa Rahav!"
"Yerutsa Rahav!"
Inherit the sword.
Thus, the elite 1st Knight Order set out.
Bulki's first mission- later recorded as his true first step as a Hero.
***
At that moment, Iven had abandoned even his post, running so hard he gasped for breath. Everyone he passed sneered at the sight of him sprinting in uncomfortable clothes, no petals for him.
"Hah... huff! Ugh...!"
But Iven kept running.
Clutching the crumpled letter tight in one hand.
***
I am Lije, living in a small seaside village on the outskirts of Brnaun. First, I apologize for sending this letter directly without going through the central office. Please view it with the broad mind of Mifplas. This isn't about the knight order dispatch I requested through the central office, already rejected for half a year now- even Brnaun's council has given up hoping solely for imperial aid.
However, the reason I send this so rudely is...
Demons have appeared again.