The Name of the Man Who Brushed Past You (3)
In the human kingdom, there was a knight who had slain a dragon.
That single, simple truth had held the four borders secure. Those who refused to believe it were forced to prove its veracity with their lives. One such fact was stronger than ten thousand soldiers, and one such myth more enchanting than a hundred spells.
This living, breathing legend. The kingdom's people dared not call him by name, addressing him only as the White Knight. Yet even after that title had hardened into something like a proper name, the noble White Knight always preferred to sign his own true name, even in his letters.
Knight Lou Everdeen.
Of course, there had been no one of equal standing with whom he might exchange letters, and so the name had nearly been forgotten. Thus the fact that the White Knight had written his own name in a letter for the first time in five years was known to no one but his own father.
"Is it really necessary to go this far?"
"That man fought me to a standstill, Father."
"I still cannot believe it."
"But it is the truth."
"Hmm..."
When the White Knight was ten years old, his father had realized he could no longer parry his child's blade. The mere three victories he had managed to scrape together afterward had, in truth, been the fruit of a son's filial consideration, sparing his parent's pride.
Thus he knew the White Knight's strength better than anyone, and thus he knew there could be no equal. Yet the White Knight was a man who had never learned how to lie.
"If you insist so strongly, then it must be so. Then who could the opponent be?"
"There's only one person who comes to mind first."
"The Black Lady."
"She's finally come for my head."
Where the White Knight was the kingdom's morning, the Black Lady ruled the nights when starlight died. Sovereign of the underworld and the swiftest blade on the continent. She was a keen crescent moon forever hunting the sun's throat.
The preservation of peace and the victory of chaos. Bearing these opposing aims, they had long waged a silent duel, each aware of the other's existence. It was the Black Lady who first drew her blade.
"But it was a man. Likely one of her closest. Probably the sharpest of all the blades she possesses."
"To disguise an assassination as a duel... Perhaps Count Gramont was involved as well. He deliberately insulted you with that absurd slight and arranged the meeting."
"His political standing must have fallen considerably because of that defeat."
"It must have been worth it. The Black Lady likely wanted to test your skill. So instead of coming herself, she sent that man."
"The next one to come will surely be her in person."
The White Knight felt a chill run down his spine and hardened his expression. His father, unaware, spoke in frustration.
"My child. At least before me, please take off your helmet. I wish to see your face."
"I'll be leaving soon anyway."
"What?"
"I've had people locate the man. He's living in a small village near Ernia."
"You found him so easily? Strange. Perhaps..."
Perhaps he was not one of the Black Lady's people. A third force, or—with a very low probability—a hidden powerhouse no one had known of.
In that case, all the more reason to secure him. Before he joined some faction opposed to the kingdom. But his father reached a different conclusion.
"...Or perhaps he deliberately revealed himself to provoke you. It could be a trap. Going yourself would be dangerous."
"In this kingdom, there is no place that is dangerous to me."
"My child."
"And if such a place exists, then that is where I must be."
With those final words the White Knight rose from his seat. Holding the hope that a hero like himself might appear in that remote land called Ernia. And so the knight's horse struck the earth and galloped.
Yet the light in his heart did not burn hot for long. At the crossroads leading to Ernia, seeing the black company barring the way dead center, the White Knight realized his father had been right.
"So it was after all."
Assassins cunningly positioned for combat at any moment. A carriage prepared for any contingency. The Black Lady standing in their midst.
And that man from before.
The cunning of it all—that every piece had been designed—drew a cold sneer from the White Knight. The scheme was so obvious, yet as a knight he had no choice but to face it.
More than the tension of finally confronting the Black Lady, he felt hollow because of the man's true identity. For the man he had met then had clearly looked like a simple country youth. Betrayal of trust was something one could never grow used to, no matter how hard one tried.
To think such treachery had been brewing behind that mild face. Even now, even in this moment, fragments of that earlier appearance still showed, and his heart wavered.
Only then did the White Knight realize: he still coveted that talent. And that perhaps that man might become an even greater adversary than the Black Lady herself.
Of course, he was not the only one to have such thoughts.
"..."
On the opposite side, the Black Lady felt much the same. Where on earth had they found such a skilled deceiver? For a brief moment she had nearly been taken in by his words.
Especially because of that story about his master. She, too, had spent her life captive to her own master. For a moment she had even felt as though she had found someone who could understand.
But thinking about it now, that master story had been a metaphor for the White Knight as well. The tin can who always ordered her around at whim, tormented her, yet remained oblivious to how the world worked. And the sly omission of any mention of gender.
It was such extreme deception that a hollow laugh escaped her. So the kingdom's knights could crack jokes like that now. Even from her, who had never properly laughed once in her life, such a review emerged.
Not bad. White Knight.
"...Hmm."
From the moment she became an assassin, the White Knight had been the girl's greatest enemy. To the kingdom he was a legendary hero, and for that very reason he was a thorn in the assassins' side—and to the girl, virtually a lifelong nemesis.
Still, she hadn't expected to face him so soon. Not that she meant to claim she was unprepared. Death could come at any moment, and an assassin had to be ready at all times.
Then she ought to be grateful instead. That she could eliminate the organization's nemesis in such favorable conditions. Facing her not in the heart of the capital but on a deserted open road was a rare opportunity.
Then why did her gaze keep drifting not to the White Knight, but to the man beside him?
"..."
Because she coveted him, of course. No matter how one looked at it, he was a talent better suited to the Dark Guild than to the knightly order. If she'd had the chance to claim him, she would have done whatever it took to bring him to her side. If it was still possible, she wanted to capture him.
But if she could not have him, only one outcome followed. If you want it, take it. If you cannot take it, steal it. If you cannot steal it, break it.
So that another's blade can no longer be turned against your throat.
The girl steeled her heart and brought her hand to her waist. From the hilt she gently closed her fingers around, a metallic tang of blood already seemed to waft...
"...Wait."
Without a single word of dialogue—merely by confirming each other's gaze—the White Knight and the Black Lady settled the direction of their actions. It was a situation each had imagined countless times in their minds.
Sun and moon. Those who had always raced to chase each other's tails had finally risen in the same sky, and only one outcome could follow. Whether the moon would rend the sun and sow darkness, or the sun would swallow the moon and warm the world.
Everyone present already foresaw what would come next and drew their weapons. Swords, blunt instruments, axes. They gripped tight the gear they had trusted all their lives and could therefore rely on in a critical moment.
Surely this moment would become history. Whether the stele of that day would be stained with blood or with ink now depended on each person's capability.
There was no turning back now. The single duel that would forever alter the kingdom's fate...
"...Wait. Just a moment."
Darkness or light. Light or darkness. The starlight mercilessly cleaved the boundary between sunlit and shadowed ground. Goddess of war, drape a melody of blood upon the fate that has arrived...
"...Wait. Wait. Just a second!"
What is this.
I feel like I'm standing in a massively important place right now.
In an instant, people in white and people in black had surrounded the area. Split exactly in half as if playing a game, they formed opposing battle lines the moment they faced each other. In the murderous atmosphere that seemed ready to explode at any second, only two people had not drawn weapons.
The girl from Levenia I had been talking with until moments ago, and the pale knight who had suddenly appeared. From the circumstances, he must have been the one who summoned me by letter. Moreover, I was sure I'd seen this person somewhere before.
"...Ah. That noble from back then."
Fortunately my lips spat out the answer without any need to dig through my memory. Come to think of it, he'd been wearing that same armor then too. It was a rather striking piece, so it had remained vivid even in a country bumpkin's memory like mine.
On one side, the girl with a host of pitch-black people. On the other, the knight with a host of pure-white people. And those two stood at the center of this bizarre standoff. Shooting murderous gazes at each other.
...
No, wait.
To be more precise, the one standing dead center wasn't the two of them—it was me.
"Huh."
Only then did I realize I was in a rather peculiar position. The girl had been talking with me, and the knight had stopped in front of her, so of course I was stuck between the two of them.
I hadn't intended it, but I was standing at the center of this entire vortex of events. And for some reason, it felt as though both of their gazes were directed at me.
"Uh... hmm..."
I thought I should at least grasp the situation. Taking one step back from between those two sparking gazes was solely for that purpose.
But I never dreamed that would become the fuse for this taut, tense situation.
"Seize them. All of them."
"Wipe them out. Every last one."
"..."
"Waaaaaaaaah!!!"
At that moment, with those single words from each of them, the people on both sides charged at one another. In a situation that unfolded in the blink of an eye, I panicked and took another step back.
But then the knight and the girl standing on either side of me moved toward me at the same time. And in one unified voice they shouted together.
"You..."
"You bastard...!"
"Wait..."
"Drop your weapon at once and surrender!"