Ch.17Light That Should Not Be Taken (3)

A proposal and a threat.

Ivan looked at his old senior.

Once they stood on the same battlefield, but now he was a knight who betrayed Atanga and converted to God’s will. Ivan wanted to cry out asking how someone who abandoned both honor and pride dared speak Atanga’s name, but he knew he couldn’t.

Because he himself was no longer a knight of Atanga.

Because he had lost his honor on that day ten years ago.

“His Eminence wishes to handle this matter as quickly and quietly as possible. For now, the Stars and other Orders haven’t noticed… but that won’t last forever.”

Whether Berlo knew Ivan’s feelings or not, he continued speaking.

“Time is of the essence, Ivan.”

He spread three fingers before Ivan.

“I’ll give you three days. Bring him to me alive or dead, it doesn’t matter which.”

“…Lord Berlo.”

Ivan, who had been silent until now, opened his mouth.

Though he was kneeling with only one eye, there was clear anger in Ivan’s gaze.

“Isn’t the Order supposed to serve the Stars?”

“I don’t recall giving you an opportunity to ask questions.”

“Isn’t it the Order’s doctrine to respect and protect the great will of the Stars…”

Ivan’s words were cut short.

Because Berlo kicked him in the jaw.

With a cracking sound, Ivan’s head snapped to the side.

“Hey, Ivan.”

Berlo grabbed Ivan’s hair.

“Am I looking foolish to you because I’m being considerate of our old friendship? A sinner who blasphemed against the Stars’ will questioning a knight of the Order about the Stars’ intentions? Get your head straight, my friend.”

Berlo rubbed his face as if frustrated.

“Know your place. It’s troublesome when you trample on the kindness I’ve extended to you like this.”

“…I spoke out of turn.”

“That’s right. Now we’re seeing eye to eye.”

Ivan lowered his head.

Berlo looked down at him with his head held high.

“None of the Constellations have grasped this situation. Even ‘The Lighthouse that Illuminates All Things,’ the patron deity of the Order of Sacred Light, doesn’t understand the current situation.”

Do you know what this means?

Asking this, Berlo continued.

“It means this is clearly an error. If even the Lighthouse hasn’t noticed, then this is something that should never have happened. When something that shouldn’t happen does happen, making it as if it never occurred is the loyalty the Order offers to Him.”

While all Stars are considered noble and sacred by the Order that serves them… there clearly exists a hierarchy within.

The Constellation, the Lighthouse that Illuminates All Things.

Berlo caressed his armor engraved with the constellation of the patron deity of the Order of Sacred Light.

“I won’t say this twice, Ivan.”

Berlo glared at Ivan.

“I swear on my loyalty to the great Lighthouse. The offer I’ve made to you here will definitely be honored. This is a proposal not from Berlo as an individual, but from Berlo as a knight of the Order of Sacred Light.”

A knight who chose God over honor and pride.

Such a Berlo swore on his loyalty to his god. It was the heaviest oath Berlo could make. Ivan knew that if he refused, his head would be cut off immediately.

“…I am grateful for this opportunity beyond my station, and I will do my best.”

Ivan bowed his head.

His forehead did not touch the ground. That was Ivan’s last bit of pride, but Berlo pressed the back of Ivan’s head firmly with his hand.

“This is how you show gratitude.”

Ivan’s forehead touched the ground.

Berlo whispered in his ear.

“Move now. Before my patience runs out.”

* * *

Outside, Ivan rolled a cigarette.

He lit it and took a deep breath. As he exhaled the murky smoke, his expression was hardened.

“I’ll help restore your status as an Atanga.”

“I mean I’ll help you regain the honor you lost.”

The proposal offered by Berlo, former knight of Atanga.

Of course, Ivan knew. That a knight’s honor cannot be regained in such a manner. All one can obtain by jumping into a muddy swamp of profit calculations and political schemes is dirty power.

That’s not what he wanted. Honor obtained that way would be worthless to Ivan.

Nevertheless, the reason Ivan couldn’t refuse Berlo’s offer was due to the natural desire that all humans possess. The desire to live. Unlike Offen, Ivan still had attachment to his life.

‘I can’t die yet. I want to live longer.’

In this underground city where starlight doesn’t reach.

As a one-eyed knight who had lost both his eye and honor, Ivan didn’t want to face death. If he survived, perhaps another opportunity would come someday. That’s what Ivan thought.

He had to kill Najin.

He had to kill him to survive.

Under this simple and clear proposition, Ivan chain-smoked. Under the dim light of the mineral lamps, Ivan’s eyes were clouded.

“Huff……”

The knight in him asked.

Is there meaning in such a wretched life?

To that question, Ivan answered.

That he still wanted to live, even like this.

Everyone prioritizes their own life. Under the shadow of approaching death, humans can become utterly selfish and cruel. Ivan was no exception.

And yet.

Ivan couldn’t take a step forward readily. He had made eye contact with Offen coming out of the alley, and though he suspected Offen had helped Najin, Ivan didn’t move immediately.

Just a little.

Just a little longer.

Ivan took out a new cigarette and rolled it. He lit it and exhaled smoke. Until he had burned through all the cigarettes in his case, Ivan did not move.

2.

The Order’s hounds, the Shadow Division.

Those who belong there couldn’t become knights but came close. Though unable to draw out sword energy, they handle mana as well as knights. They are more like rangers than knights.

Ambush, covert operations, pursuit, assassination.

The Shadow Division specializes in such dirty work. Those who took the oath of silence to prevent this matter from leaking out were scattered to track the boy.

It had been a day since the boy who drew the sword escaped.

Not knowing the underground city’s terrain well, and with a day having passed was a significant disadvantage… but those in the Shadow Division didn’t consider such things constraints. After all, he was just a back-alley boy without proper training.

Though there was the special circumstance of him drawing the sacred sword.

But in other words, that was all there was to him.

Rather, if the boy used the sacred sword when encountered, that would be the end. The moment the burst of light was detected, all scattered Shadow Division members would converge there. So, engage him and provoke combat.

With this judgment, the pursuers acted independently.

“……”

One pursuer, moving silently through a narrow alley, narrowed his eyes. He sensed a presence from deep within. Following the presence, he slowly moved forward.

The footprints on the ground were clear.

They were the size a boy would make.

Following the footprints, the pursuer became alert at the sound of a footstep echoing in the alley. Had he noticed the pursuit? He kicked off the ground and ran toward the source of the sound.

But when he arrived, all he found was an ownerless shoe. A shoe that seemed to have been thrown from above. Only then did the pursuer realize the nature of the sound he had heard earlier.

The shoe was bait.

The target was his life.

The pursuer quickly drew his sword and swung it upward. It was a response made possible by his heightened senses. As he swung, there was a clang as metal collided with metal.

Najin, who had jumped down from above to ambush the pursuer, landed on the ground with a sliding motion.

In the darkness that blanketed the alley, the boy’s sunset-colored eyes glowed ominously. Feeling the eeriness, the pursuer drew up his mana and heightened his senses. The glowing eyes in the darkness wavered for a moment.

Tap!

With the sound of kicking the ground, the boy’s form disappeared for an instant. A blade flashing in the darkness flew straight for his neck. With a clang, the pursuer barely deflected the sword and created distance.

‘Not fast, but threatening.’

This wasn’t the skill of someone who had cut down just one or two people.

He didn’t have the exceptional speed of those who handle mana, but he was troublesome. His ability to exploit blind spots in vision was quite good.

…Tsk.

Clicking his tongue, the pursuer closed the distance toward the boy this time. He deliberately swung his sword in a wide arc to make the boy step back, then threw a hidden weapon he had drawn from his sleeve.

A black hidden weapon.

It was a dagger difficult to see even with the eyes for those not accustomed to vision in darkness like the Shadow Division. The future where it would pierce the retreating boy’s neck appeared in his eyes, but…

Grab.

Najin caught the flying hidden weapon with his hand.

Having lived his entire life in the dark underground city, Najin was, of course, accustomed to seeing in darkness. Throwing the caught weapon back at the pursuer, Najin kicked off the ground.

“Hide your full strength.”

“Just move quickly for one moment, when necessary.”

“That creates carelessness and openings.”

The flow settled in the boy’s body.

For a moment, the boy’s body accelerated.

When the surprised pursuer deflected the hidden weapon, Najin had already penetrated to right in front of him. The pursuer’s reaction was delayed by the unexpected speed, and Najin didn’t miss that opening.

Slash.

The pursuer’s arm was severed. As he widened his eyes and tried to swing his sword with his remaining arm, Najin’s hand gripped the pursuer’s wrist.

Once you gain momentum, don’t let go.

Following Ivan’s teaching, Najin pulled on the pursuer’s wrist while maintaining his grip. Pulling to break his stance, he swung his sword and slit his throat. That was the end. Najin dragged the pursuer’s limp body in the opposite direction from where he was heading.

Something learned from the mercenary Offen.

The teaching that blood trails make good bait.

Using everything he had learned, Najin moved forward. He sensed that there were quite a number of pursuers after him, and he instinctively knew it would be dangerous to head straight for his destination.

‘…If they discover my destination.’

They would all converge there.

So, for now, he would pretend to wander. As if he had no destination and was just hiding here and there. For that, he needed to catch and kill one more pursuer.

Decisions had to be quick.

Movements had to be even quicker.

With the feeling of walking a tightrope, Najin kicked off the alley and ran. Not even a single mistake could be tolerated. That was the teaching Offen and Ivan had passed on.

‘Found one.’

Najin spotted a pursuer nearby.

The distance between pursuers was consistent. They maintained a certain interval, moving away and then coming closer repeatedly. After confirming this, Najin waited for when the distance was sufficiently far.

The Shadow Division pursuers might have thought they were hunters chasing prey, but the reality was the opposite.

The boy was hunting the pursuers.

3.

“…Four have been taken down?”

Around a day and a half after the boy had fled, Berlo frowned upon hearing the report. The Shadow Division reported that four had been confirmed, but the number could increase, which was enough to surprise Berlo.

Though they couldn’t become knights, the pursuers of the Shadow Division were not opponents to be taken lightly.

At least, they weren’t entities that a boy from this underground city without proper education could handle. He knew from the information gathered that the boy was called Ivan’s hound and had been working as an executioner for the organization, but…

This is strange.

It went beyond being skilled at killing people.

Through familiarity with the terrain and ambush tactics, he might luckily kill one. But killing four wasn’t something that could be attributed to luck.

Moreover, judging by the locations where the Shadow Division bodies were found, it indicated that the boy hadn’t confronted pursuers while fleeing, but had actively sought them out to kill them.

“What a crazy little bastard.”

In a situation where he’s being pursued, he hunts the pursuers?

Finding it absurd, Berlo let out a hollow laugh. He had thought the boy might have talent since he had drawn Excalibur, but this wasn’t just about having talent.

He’s been somewhat trained.

He’s beyond the category of a youngster swayed by talent.

Originally, he had planned to move when the distance was sufficiently narrowed or when the boy drew Excalibur, using the light as a signal, but now he needed to move himself. Rising from his seat, Berlo questioned his subordinate.

“What about Ivan?”

“He’s moving independently. Oh, and…”

He pointed outside the door.

“There’s someone who wishes to see Lord Berlo. He introduced himself as a mercenary and said he would help with the job if paid a suitable price.”

“…A mercenary?”

“Yes, it seems he was the leader of a mercenary group before falling here.”

Mercenary, a mercenary.

A blade that follows money and power, and thus easier to handle than anything else. Berlo gestured with his chin.

“Let him in.”

Soon, the door opened.

What entered was a man steeped in alcohol. A man with an incredibly light impression bowed his head toward Berlo.

“Mercenary, Offen.”

If you have a job for me, please say so.