Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Pure Love Knight Ruvel
“I don’t want to. Let’s just walk a little longer together.”
Ruvel was flustered by Aderla’s sudden suggestion, but at the same time, he felt oddly happy.
Being asked to stay together like that felt ticklish and embarrassing in a warm way.
They walked through the book-scented streets of the Eastern District and headed toward the Central Corridor.
The Central Corridor, separated from the East, West, South, and North districts by a circular outer wall, was the area where the high-ranking figures of the Holy City gathered.
Along the wall stretched a circular outer road, decorated elegantly and neatly, showing the sanctity of the Central Corridor.
Because sunlight poured in well, flowers and trees rarely seen elsewhere in the Holy City grew in abundance here.
Normally, it was a place he would only pass through when moving between districts, but today felt different.
He was walking through the beautiful streets soaked in the evening sky, together with Aderla.
“Aderla, have you ever been inside the Central Corridor?”
What am I even saying.
He had just blurted it out without thinking.
Normally he would not feel nervous at all, but now even simple words felt hard to say. Instead, his chest felt strangely light and warm.
“Nope, never. Why would a lowly saint like me ever get to go there?”
“Ahaha, right…”
He kept quiet for a moment.
“Unless I go there for something huge, like committing heresy or a serious crime maybe?”
“Then I guess we will never go there.”
“Yeah, probably not. Hehe.”
She answered so seriously to such a silly conversation.
Kind… Aderla really was kind.
They continued walking while exchanging meaningless talk like that.
As the sun slowly set, street lamps began to light up one by one.
It was a calm and elegant scenery, like a walk under city lights at night.
Tap tap tap.
Aderla suddenly ran ahead toward a lit street lamp.
“Ruvel, me and this lamp! Whose light is prettier?”
“Heh, of course it’s you, Aderla.”
Their simple conversation melted into him.
The cold wind also felt gentle.
Ah, this feels peaceful.
It almost felt like a lie that only a few hours ago he had been fighting for his life in darkness.
Like death and killing had never happened.
“Hey, Aderla.”
He walked closer to her standing near the lamp.
“Why are you so kind to me?”
It had always been a mystery.
From the very first meeting, he had been a burden.
Before his memory ability awakened, he was useless and pathetic, and only caused her trouble.
People looked down on her because she was connected to him as a flame bearer, and she suffered because of him.
And yet, she still stayed by his side.
“Hmm, that is a hard question. Why am I like this?”
Ah.
So it really was just pity after all.
Ruvel lowered his gaze again.
If he looked at the ground, he could always remember what kind of person he was.
Ugh…
“Because you treat me like a person, Ruvel.”
“…Huh?”
“Everyone treats saints as saints, knights as knights. You get what I mean?”
“I am not sure…”
“You feel guilty when I take your pain or experience your death in your place. You even threw up on your first expedition because of it.”
“That is because you were getting hurt because of me…”
“That is normal. Knight and saint. A sword that moves forward and a light that shines. Most people think that way. That is just how it is.”
Knight and saint. Roles. But…
“You probably think Gideon was too harsh, but others do not see it that way. Because it is normal.”
“But Sienna…”
“You are the strange one, Ruvel. There are a few rare cases where knights and saints get close, but they are very few.”
“I see…”
“That is exactly why. You see me as Aderla, not just as a saint. Just a normal person.”
“…!”
“So I also see you as Ruvel, not just a knight. My knight who moves forward for me. Ruvel.”
That is not it.
He had never thought of it like that.
He was just weak, useless, and hated relying on others…
Aderla gently pressed her fist against his chest where the core was embedded.
Thump.
His heartbeat echoed through the core and reached her.
“How is it? Did that answer your question, Ruvel?”
The wind that had been tightening his chest disappeared.
Her smile was brighter than the light of the lamps.
Everything he had been worrying about suddenly felt foolish.
He was not a noble person.
But she had taken even his ugly excuses and wrapped them in warmth.
If she called him her knight like that, then even if he was afraid, he wanted to answer that call.
Not as anyone else, but as Ruvel, Aderla’s knight.
He gently placed his hand over hers on his chest.
“Yeah… I understand perfectly.”
“Hehe.”
Aderla smiled like an idiot.
Bright. Genuinely bright.
A smile that made him believe she would always trust him.
Under that light, they walked together until night fully settled over the city.
For a while, they forgot the blood-soaked darkness that had swallowed the world.
Three months passed after that night.
That dreamlike evening walk became a turning point for him.
“Ruvel, incoming!”
“Yeah, I see it.”
He cut down the writhing tentacles flying in from the darkness.
Between the scattering shadows, a blood-red blade briefly appeared.
Now, ambushes like this were not even worth raising a shield for.
Over the past three months, there had been no major expeditions.
Only routine tasks like border patrols and guarding the newly constructed Fourth Frontline Base.
Before, each mission had been life or death, filled with fear and guilt.
Now it was different.
He had something to protect.
He could no longer run away.
Even if they met something like the Night Lantern again, or monsters like Radices, he had to become strong enough not to lose anything.
No, he had to find a way not to be pushed back into the darkness at all.
His combat ability had improved dramatically.
Too much to believe he was only a Second Rank Knight.
Of course, it was not only his effort.
He had a power that let him read the memories of the dead.
He decided to call it Memento Mori.
Because he could not forget that he too would one day die like them.
Memento Mori gave him fragments of their memories and experience every time he killed an enemy.
Distorted and bloody as they were, those memories became his nourishment.
He had even begun refining techniques and information from them.
Because of that, he often searched the darkness for corpses or discarded weapons.
Others might have seen it as strange.
But to him, it was survival.
He went on missions, returned, reported to Lavirin, and repeated.
When this rigid life became normal, news came that Gideon and Sienna had finally regained consciousness after being struck down by Radices.
To celebrate the successful expedition three months ago and their recovery, they arranged a small gathering.
At a small tavern in the southern residential area of the Eastern District, people gathered one by one.
A simple place with a creaking wooden door and a few faint lamps, but warmth filled the room as people arrived.
Ding.
A familiar bell rang.
“Ru, Ruvel! Aderla! It has been a while! Nice to see you!”
“Hi, Lete. Can you even drink alcohol?”
“I, I will be drinking something else!”
Aderla laughed and gently patted Lete’s head.
The room slowly filled with chatter and warmth.
“Gideon and Sienna are late. They are the reason we gathered, right?”
“Yeah, did something happen?”
But even after the agreed time passed, the two main figures had not arrived.
Then the door opened again.
Creaaaak.
The room fell silent.
Only the sound of footsteps remained.
“…Sorry I am late for a happy occasion.”
Sienna sat in a wheelchair.
Gideon entered with heavy breathing equipment attached to his body.
Their presence felt completely different.
The atmosphere turned cold.
Ruvel could not meet Gideon’s eyes.
“Long time no see, Second Rank Knight.”
“…How is your condition?”
Gideon still spoke in his usual rough tone, but his body was clearly broken.
Sienna said nothing.
“I survived because I was lucky. Sienna is like this because of me.”
“That is not…”
“It does not matter. Knight and saint are always like this. Self-destructive. That is how it is. But not anymore.”
Aderla held Sienna’s hand tightly.
Gideon drained his cup in one go.
Then he looked at Ruvel.
“Hey, Ruvel.”
The room went silent.
“What the hell have you been doing lately?”