Chapter 21
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Even Knowing My Identity
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A snickering sound came from behind me.
When I turned around, Requiya was shaking his shoulders, laughing quietly.
Only smart people react to my humor, as expected.
"You okay?"
Requiya nodded weakly.
Truth be told, he didn't look okay at all.
Even just sitting there, blood was pouring from his severed arm and mouth.
"You're truly an extraordinary person."
It was a single phrase loaded with all sorts of meanings.
So much so that it was hard to interpret cleanly.
Was it an insult or a compliment? It was ambiguous.
Feeling awkward, I scratched my cheek with my index finger and approached the prince.
Since I was barefoot, I had to be careful not to slip.
No matter how much of a clown I am, I don't need to pull off physical comedy in a situation like this, right?
"You're the prince, huh?"
"H-Hubris! Do you even know who I—"
Prince Reyes scrambled backward on his butt, kicking up snow.
He soon reached the cliff's edge, so his retreat didn't last long.
"You little shit, hubris my ass."
Whoosh—.
I raised my hand as if to slap him, then lowered it.
The prince whipped his head away.
Looks like even a prince doesn't want to get hit.
"I-If you kill me, you... you'll..."
"Shut up. Before I push you off."
The three massive mountains surrounding Hellite and their surrounding areas weren't claimed by any nation.
Hellite was the yolk, and the surroundings were the white.
Think of the white as shared territory, and it's easy to understand.
It was a decision steeped in Hellite's consideration for explorers, embodying their spirit of respect.
"So..."
I scooped up some snow with my hand and wiped the blood off my sword as I spoke.
"Any disputes here are each person's own responsibility."
With that, I shrugged at the guy trembling in fear.
"The responsibility for drawing a blade is paid with your life. Fiore Kingdom's third prince—or whatever."
Was it Fiore? Fourth prince?
Who cares?
I'm a holy knight who values substance over appearances, so I don't get hung up on names.
Leaving the unresisting prince behind, I turned to Requiya.
Steam-like haze rose from Requiya's body. It was fiercer than heat shimmer, and upon closer look, not entirely transparent.
"Requiya, how are you feeling now?"
Even Requiya seemed unaccustomed to how my speech varied by situation and target.
You could tell from the way he smiled awkwardly and tilted his head.
'No wonder he can't get used to it. Even I can't.'
Silver Star feels dizzy too!
Still, he looked much better than before—tolerable, at least. Requiya's expression had improved.
"Thanks to the elixir, my energy is recovering quickly."
At that moment, Reyes muttered with a dazed look in his eyes.
"How... how can someone survive having their arm cut off and a sword through the heart...?"
"Is that what you care about when you're about to die? Hey—."
I raised my hand again to shut the prince up.
No time for chit-chat.
Priority one: get off this mountain before nightfall.
But Requiya needed enough recovery to move on his own.
Demon or angel, abandoning a comrade we'd crossed the four limbs with wasn't an option for me.
"You must be curious too, Holy Knight."
Requiya, eyes closed in mana meditation, murmured.
"I can relocate my heart. It's a racial trait."
If I had Luke's temperament, my jaw would've dropped.
Talk about a demonic talent.
"Damage to my only heart can still kill me, though."
Yeah, no shit.
Who carries a spare heart around?
No, more than that—it was so obvious, said with such matter-of-factness, that it left me speechless.
'How the hell do you even relocate a heart?'
I don't know!
Requiya's body was regenerating fast.
His severed arm at the shoulder was almost fully mended.
"Another racial trait. Demons innately possess regenerative powers. We don't die unless our heart is destroyed."
Eventually dies anyway, but still an astonishing ability.
"Regeneration at the cellular level means we peak early and last long. But major injuries damaging the heart do make us age."
Doesn't a heart injury usually kill you?
"Without mana support, living like a human leads to aging too."
At this point, it was unclear if Requiya was weird or if I was the idiot.
My understanding of other races and minorities was sorely lacking.
Time for some reflection.
Requiya's recovery was nearly complete. The Toolsep minimized time loss.
I wandered around the peak with my hands behind my back.
"The sanctuary entrance really isn't visible from outside."
They said it was concealed by divine spells or tricks, but it seemed unnecessary.
Piles of rocks made it look like just one big boulder—no path in sight.
The idea of a cave or path there felt like pure delusion.
"Gotta protect the environment. Anyone dumping trash in mountains or seas is a total heretic."
I pulled up the rope and coiled it beside a rock.
Rolled neatly, it bulked up like a stack of truck tires. Ow, my back.
'If I come back someday, I can use it to descend.'
Silver Star wants to come too!
Such thoughts crossed my mind.
The only place I'd return to when old and dying, or with nowhere else to go.
Maybe that's why it felt like home.
My joyful home infused with starlight.
My only resting place is my little home, my home.
Anyone breaking into my home is a burglar, a burglar.
All heretics, heretics.
They all die.
Snap out of it!
I shook my head hard at Silver Star's shout.
My wandering mind snapped back, and for Silver Star's sake, I took in the scenery.
'Silver Star, the view is killer.'
It's great! Guardian! Where are we going now!
Silver Star, reveling in the pristine northern whites and spring-kissed south, inhaling the clear air with ecstasy, asked energetically.
'Where to? What do you want to see?'
Anywhere! Anything! Heart pounding—!
'Let's do that. Let's roam a lot and see a lot.'
I couldn't guarantee how long we'd be together, so I let that thought scatter without even forming it fully in my mind.
Not because I'm sentimental.
Everyone thinks of parting when they meet, or relationships stay shallow and painless—.
"N-No... I don't wanna—."
—Not that.
Damn it, hey—.
That bastard's ruining my sentimentality.
Crunch crunch—.
Snow being packed underfoot sounded from behind.
Requiya was finally moving.
"D-Don't come closer—."
"Shut up and scram!"
I half-listened to the two taking responsibility for their actions, letting it flow in one ear and out the other, as I gazed north.
Rumble—.
Thunder-bearing storm clouds approached, scattering a blizzard.
'Hmm...'
My heart darkened, knowing the clouds' true nature.
"Whoa! This prince done pissed himself?"
I pinched my nose.
'This kind of mess too, huh...'
I left handling Prince Reyes to Requiya and observed with hands behind my back.
"Prince Reyes, you never directly aimed a blade at me, and we won't meet again, so I'll spare you."
"Th-Thank you."
"With the skill to climb this high, you won't freeze on the way down. Now get lost."
Requiya was a demon, but not a murderer.
Still, Reyes had to surrender all his possessions before leaving.
'To avoid freezing, he'd better hurry down.'
That guy's 100% gonna freeze to death!
Same for me.
I was just in a shirt with a cloak over it.
Reyes's idol-sized fur coat didn't fit me, so I gave it to Requiya.
Is appearance a demonic talent too? The demon in the pricey fur coat gave off vibes like a chaebol's youngest idol.
"Excellent insulation. It'll help."
"Thank you, Holy Knight."
We looted the money and gear from the guys we killed—weapons, shields, armor too—tying them tight with thin leather straps.
"Sell it down below. Use the cash for a feast."
"Hahaha, that'll be quite profitable."
Requiya and I surprisingly clicked well.
Still no shoes that fit my feet in the end.
"Are you alright barefoot...?"
"Yeah, used to it."
The cold was more than familiar—it was cozy.
We split the massive backpack and began descending. Requiya followed a step behind.
It was an incredibly high, treacherous mountain.
Traversing the knife-edge ridge, blade-like winds howled from all sides.
The whole world felt like blades aimed at my heart.
"The path is narrow. Watch your step to avoid slipping."
"Got it. Don't worry."
Neither eternal snow nor north winds could hinder my will to live.
Nothing could stand in my way—.
Guardian!
"Holy Knight—."
After walking a while, both called out simultaneously.
Tch.
With two quick ones around, I couldn't hide my troubled heart.
"They were trying to kill me. No guilt over murder."
What's wrong with killing the guy trying to kill me!
"That's not it..."
Hm?
I misread it.
Why do you keep looking that way! I can see Guardian's emotions but not the reason! Silver Star slept too long!
"Is something bothering you?"
While descending the ridge, I'd repeatedly glanced north.
The two hadn't missed my suspicious behavior.
Without stopping, I pointed ahead.
"Hippos around there somewhere."
"Hippopotamus? You mean the massive beast that lives in water?"
Requiya quickly added as if realizing something.
"Ah, the sacred beast of the Holy Kingdom."
"Yeah, me—or rather, Luke—named it. It was guarding the sanctuary entrance while pregnant. Last Red Dragon Knights movement I spotted is nagging at me."
"Ah, you said they seemed to be fighting among themselves."
It was far away.
No sound or vibration reached us, but my heart felt heavy anyway.
"You're a good man, Holy Knight."
"Even knowing my identity?"
I'm convinced Requiya knows who I am.
Sanctuary, divine power, swordsmanship, the name I revealed myself. What else?
Anyway, he knows but isn't saying.
'Anyone who doesn't know is the fool.'
Requiya's no fool!
I have no intention of clumsily hiding it either.
I did nothing wrong.
I'm innocent.
"I'm a fake."
"Hahaha—."
Don't laugh like an old man watching his grandkid play!
"Do you know of dream demons, Holy Knight?"
"Dream demons..."
What's that?
I've heard of Montmartre.
I listened closely to Requiya's words from behind as I stepped forward.
"Dream demons are a demon type similar yet different from me. Maybe two or three left on Earr too. Also called succubi—their methods are amusing."
Ah, so dream demons are succubi.
I nodded cautiously, lest my ignorance show.
"They slip magic into gaps in their target's mind, destroying their psyche. But the succubi women claim innocence, mostly."
"Why's that?"
Destroy someone's mind and claim innocence?
Crazy sisters or what?
"They say yes, they manipulate dreams or memories, but they didn't cause pain—they just fulfilled the victim's desires."
Unless you have exceptional mental fortitude, falling for a succubus's illusions leaves you broken.
Yet in that process, you experience immense ecstasy and rapture.
Forbidden acts, forbidden love, all sorts of taboos. They indulge forbidden desires freely. The price? Addiction like a drug, unable to let go of the pleasure, leading to ruin.
Or so Requiya's explanation went.
"That's very different from what I imagined succubi to be."
My idea of a succubus is...
For starters, the body is insanely...
The outfit is super...
And the beauty is just...
"Of course, some fall into delirium and suffer."
This punk, I was trying to think holy-knight-like pure thoughts, and he cuts in.