Gravekeeper Knight (1)
After bidding farewell to my master and promising to bring a gift next time I visited, I set off on the return journey. Thanks to leaving at the crack of dawn, the sun hadn't even reached its zenith yet. If I kept this pace, I'd arrive right around lunchtime. Gia would have breakfast laid out, and the kids would be playing and waiting—I could picture us all eating lunch together. Perfect.
"Uwooooooo!"
These damn monsters just kept coming, no matter how many I cut down. Ahead of me, an ogre charged with a boulder in its grip. Before it could finish its wind-up to hurl the rock, my sword sliced through the empty air first.
A single sword thread severed the ogre's neck in one clean stroke.
"Cut. Shut your trap, rockhead."
"Uw—?!"
Thud-crash! The head went tumbling down the slope. The massive body collapsed to the ground with a thunderous boom.
"Kaaah! —Aaaah..."
The wyvern that had been diving in for an attack caught sight of that and bolted like a coward, tail between its legs. Smart little bastard—knew when to pick its fights.
"Whew, even after cleaning up on the way here, the road back is crawling with them. Let's go, Gia."
"...Yes."
I scooped Gia onto my back again and picked up speed. It was prime daylight hours for activity, so there were more monsters than on the predawn trip in. Nothing too bothersome, though—no real threats. The flying ones were a bit annoying, but like that wyvern, anything smart enough to recognize my level just steered clear. No danger to Gia riding piggyback.
Like that, slashing monsters here and there as we went, about an hour passed. Gia hadn't said a word the whole time, just clinging tightly to my back. I finally spoke up.
"Gia, lost in thought?"
"...Yeah."
Figured as much. She was wrestling with what to do.
"Honestly, I was shocked. I thought even having talent on the level of the Silver Wolf Knights would be more than I deserved..."
I got her reaction. I'd been the same way. I'd known about my talent since I was little—my family, the knights, even my father, who was strong by global standards, had all said as much. But when Master Cardia first tested me and exclaimed, "A kid like you? That's a first for me!" I was stunned. I'd never imagined my talent was on the same tier as someone like her, whose name would echo through history.
Whether this was a gift arranged by whatever god or higher power reincarnated me here, who knows. No status window popped up when I yelled for it like in a game. No divine revelation answered my prayers. I just accepted it gratefully.
Talent meant effort would yield real results. Nothing beats the miracle of hard work paying off reliably.
"Gia, what do you want to do?"
I had a clear reason to get this strong: normalizing a dark fantasy world doomed to ruin. Protecting and raising the kids whose futures foretold harm to the world.
"I'm no great teacher, but I know I can do better than Master. Hers was... not her strong suit."
"Director..."
"It's like an all-you-can-eat buffet of skills to pick from. Master's techniques go without saying—I even swiped the hero's swordsmanship and that old Sword Saint's moves."
"Are you sure it's okay?"
I fell silent for a moment. She hesitated, then continued.
"If you tell me to stop this time too... I'll listen."
That caught me off guard. After throwing herself on the ground like a teen rebel and following me all the way here, I hadn't expected her to backpedal.
"This is the first time you've ever flopped down on the road in full tantrum mode to tag along. You came with that resolve—changed your mind?"
Gia nodded against my neck. I could feel her chin move.
"...I'm scared I'll get drunk on power."
"......"
"...I don't want to see the disappointed look on your face if that happens. Just thinking about it terrifies me."
That one surprised me more. I'd worried about it myself, but hearing it from her lips hit different.
"Hearing chuunibyou talk like that from you is kinda funny."
"Chuunibyou? What's that?"
"Not a real disease or anything. You know how boys your age suddenly act all high and mighty, like they've unlocked the secrets of the universe?"
"Then I'm fine. I'm a girl."
"......"
"...Why the silence?"
"Nah, you're making a solid point."
Her tone turned sheepish, like she wondered if she'd said something embarrassing.
"I-I mean, it's not like that... Not like the boys at the main building..."
"I know~ That's why it's funny. Haha."
"Tch, you're teasing me..."
Silence fell again for a bit. We hit a tall cliff, so I scaled it effortlessly, stepping into the cracks. Near the top, a harpy hadn't spotted me yet. I used its head as a foothold, stomped down, and accelerated forward.
"Kyaaaaah!"
The harpy couldn't brace and plummeted. Probably dead.
"Why do you think you'd get drunk on power?"
"Not sure. A premonition, maybe..."
Her voice grew faint.
"When Cardia told me about my talent, I imagined what it'd be like to get as strong as you."
"Yeah."
"All I saw were bad futures."
"Like?"
She pondered, tapping my back rhythmically with her finger.
"Punishing and killing villains without mercy. Revenge... stuff like that."
The kids I'd taken in had never even had a chance to learn the world's morals. That's why I drilled it into them relentlessly: 'Never kill the innocent. Even if a villain deserves death, think it over three times. Only act if your conclusion stays the same.' I stressed that wasn't a normal mindset. Even killing such villains should come with agony each time. That way, they'd grasp the value of life, grace, and grudges.
"Feels like crossing some line would make me veer off."
I asked the anxious Gia,
"Gia. What exactly scares you?"
I glanced back at her.
"Going astray? Or me and the others being disappointed in the astray you?"
"...The latter. That's why I feel this way even more."
Just as I loomed large in her life, she did in mine—and probably more. She called me "sister" or "director," but I was basically her mother. The type okay with self-destructing, but hating to show that broken self to family.
I thought again: 'What the hell does a sweet kid like this go through to become that original story's Demon King?'
My resolve was set long ago. Seeing her rebel for the first time, flop down, and voice her real desire to grow stronger. Her talent surprised me, but it changed nothing.
"Gia. Try it—as far as you can."
"...Is that okay?"
"I respect you more for fearing you'll ruin your future self. Even if it's just to avoid disappointing me and the others."
I released one hand to pat her head.
"It's normal. Wanting to show only your best to the people you cherish. I feel the same."
"If... in the future, I do go astray..."
"That's what family's for—pulling you back."
"Family..."
"So don't fear a future that hasn't come yet."
This was advice to myself too, as Aren after 26 years. I'd toiled for a distant peaceful future, and now I was solidly in the safe zone. She wasn't begging for necromancy lessons or anything; she just didn't want to stray so bad she kept doubting herself. No way was I keeping her as some fairy in a jar out of fear of that future.
"If you stray, I'll correct you—along with everyone else. Vice versa, of course."
Just keep guiding each other right.
"Camella, Epia, Serelda, Chloe. If they head wrong, you and I fix it."
So bloom that talent. Forge ahead with possibilities the original story never showed.
"Helping each other like that? That's the right path in this world."
Gia went quiet again for a while. The warmth on my back shifted subtly. Her arms hugged tighter. Her breathing evened out, steady and calm.
"...Director."
"Yeah."
"I'll... do my best."
No dramatic resolve, no tearful vow. But it carried enough weight to trust.
Suddenly, the vast sky unfolding before me as I ran felt boundless.
"Yeah. I'll do my best too."
I couldn't predict how straight Gia would walk life's path under this sky. At first, hope and worry were fifty-fifty. But now... hope weighed heavier.
Right on schedule from our departure, we returned to the orphanage as the sun hung directly overhead.
'Meeting Master like this? Can't beat it.' If I could just shave time off the travel, the actual training sessions didn't take long. As a kid under her, I'd pack camping gear, hole up in a cave, train for a mental-world month straight, then head back. Even Silver Wolf Knights sessions hadn't broken me like that. Lucky she was my master—anyone else teaching like her would've been a disaster.
"You're back now? Director!"
I set Gia down and reached for the door when an unexpected face flung it open to greet us.
"Branche?"
Branche Ibhain. Elegant black hair cascading to her waist. Sly beauty with half-lidded brown eyes and a mischievous smile. Imperial Second Intelligence Unit Black曜 agent. On long-term leave. Currently our orphanage teacher—and my personal intel shuttle.
"Oh, hello, Teacher Branche."
"Hey, Gia. Out with the director, huh? I was wondering where you'd gone."
Gia bowed politely; Branche waved it off casually.
"What's up at the annex this time of day?"
Branche usually stuck to the main building. In a rural orphanage, teachers were glorified handymen: chores, playing with kids, personal time, basic lessons on life skills and common sense. Per this week's schedule, she wasn't due at the annex till tomorrow. So this was something else.
"Waiting for you, of course~ Told the kids you'd be back for lunch, so I've been hanging with them."
"...Not just killing time to skip main building cleaning?"
"Well, that too. Hehe."
I shot a dirty look at her winking "forgive me" face, shrugged it off, and headed inside.
"Kids~ Director's home."
The little ones playing jenga and yutnori with my handmade pieces inside heard and came thud-thud-thud running.
"Where'd you two go without a word? Just left breakfast out!"
"Note said you were meeting your master with Gia-sis. Dummy."
"Hey! You brats passed it around and didn't tell me!"
"Huh, did we? Anyway, not my fault?"
No sooner had I arrived than the two glared and growled at each other. I grabbed their heads, shook till they submitted, then glanced at Gia heading to the kitchen for lunch prep before turning to Branche.
"So, real reason you're here today?"
"You went to Drakanscale yesterday, right?"
"Kasel told you? Met Susan, talked about the new dungeon. Why?"
"The mountain-facing wall got blown away."
"??"
My slit eyes widened. Had to have misheard.
"Dungeon boss sniped the wall from afar and fled. Happened right after you left."