Ch.22Knight Order Competition

“Sae-rin!”

“Sae-rin! Are you okay?”

Theo and Flora rushed toward Sae-rin. Both looked down at her with eyes full of concern.

Sae-rin let out a faint groan. It was a different reaction than expected. No one questioned her about casually using Theo’s vision swordsmanship. While Flora might not know, she thought Theo, being directly involved, would have shown some reaction.

‘He must know…’

It seemed he didn’t want to mention this issue right away.

Sae-rin looked down at her ruined lower body. Her insufficiently trained lower body couldn’t withstand the sudden surge of mana.

From her toes to her ankles, shins, thighs, and up to the bones and nerves in her waist—everything was damaged. The pain was indescribable.

“Haaah…”

The long sigh that escaped her lips said everything. She couldn’t answer when asked if she was okay.

“The, the head…”

“Ah. This?”

At Sae-rin’s words, Theo moved quickly. He picked up the severed head of the masked person and brought it to her.

Sae-rin immediately removed the mask. The brown-haired boy’s face still held his expression from the moment before death.

Brown hair, dull green eyes staring into empty space. It matched the description in the documents.

It was definitely Rover.

Reynard returned about 30 minutes later.

Reynard was in tatters. Minor wounds covered his entire body, and his Blue Wing uniform was in shreds.

The smell of blood wasn’t strong. Sae-rin realized that Reynard hadn’t suffered any major injuries.

Reynard’s gaze swept across the scene. The disheveled ground, Sae-rin lying wounded, and the severed head rolling beside her caught his eye.

While he had wasted time caught in a trap, his rookie juniors had resolved the situation. Reynard apologized sincerely.

“I’m sorry for being late…”

A senior officer leading new members should never leave their side in any situation. Reynard ran his hand through his hair, thinking about the incident report he would have to write after the mission report.

“This guy is Rover, right?”

At Theo’s question, Reynard’s gaze turned to the severed head. It was cleanly cut. A sharp sword strike had severed it in one blow without damaging the muscles.

Judging by his expression, he probably didn’t even realize his death in his final moment.

A swift strike too fast to react to. That was the cause of death.

Reynard’s gaze turned to Theo.

“Theo. Did you finish him off?”

“Uh…”

At Reynard’s question, Theo’s gaze became lost. At that moment, Sae-rin answered.

“Yes. Theo took him down.”

“I see…”

He remembered that lightning-fast strike from their sparring session. Reynard nodded.

Afterward, Reynard approached Sae-rin. He was concerned that while everyone else was standing, only Sae-rin was half-lying down. Her expression didn’t look good, suggesting she had suffered a serious injury.

“May I check?”

“Yes…”

Reynard carefully touched Sae-rin’s ankle and thigh.

“The muscles are severely damaged… There are cracks in the bones… What did you do?”

“I pushed myself a bit…”

“This is more than just a bit…”

There was no way she could walk in this state. Reynard lifted Sae-rin up.

She was surprisingly light.

***

After returning to West, Reynard moved quickly. First, he sought cooperation from the city’s mayor to round up everyone connected to Rover.

Claiming ignorance was not accepted. Whether intentional or not, their actions had effectively concealed the identity of a reincarnator.

Some of those arrested were released on bail, while others were sentenced to labor.

Even the mayor couldn’t escape a fine. All the collected fines were sent to the capital of the Karma Empire.

Reynard and the trio remained in West. It was an unavoidable choice given the severity of Sae-rin’s injuries.

For the first week, Sae-rin couldn’t walk. She could only crawl using her uninjured upper body muscles.

By the second week of their stay in the city, Sae-rin was able to walk with crutches. The doctor who came to treat her wounds made a fuss about her remarkable recovery rate.

Sae-rin went outside with her crutches. Although the doctor had strongly advised against moving around, Sae-rin didn’t listen. She knew her body better.

To be precise, it was her younger sibling’s body, but she knew nonetheless. She knew it would soon be fine. It was an instinctual judgment.

Theo was by Sae-rin’s side.

Sae-rin and Theo walked in silence.

The two simply moved wherever their feet took them.

Theo was the first to speak. A gentle breeze scattered between Sae-rin and Theo.

“Hey, Sae-rin.”

“Yes?”

“How did you do that thing you showed back then?”

He was asking about the strike that had dispatched the reincarnator. Sae-rin remained silent.

The two continued walking. Sae-rin’s crutch moved forward, followed by her foot touching the ground. Theo’s steps followed closely behind.

“That… if I didn’t see wrong, no, I couldn’t have seen wrong. It was the same swordsmanship… The sword form was a bit different, but it was definitely the Thunder Lightning Flash that I’m learning…”

Sae-rin, who had been moving forward, stopped. The place where the two stopped was a low hill where the wind was blowing.

Sae-rin pondered for a long time. To explain how she had used Theo’s swordsmanship, the Thunder Lightning Flash, she would have to talk about the blessing she possessed.

The blessing of reading memories contained in swords.

A blessing that any swordsman would both envy and be wary of.

Those who use swords are extremely reluctant to let their vision swordsmanship leak out. In such a climate, she couldn’t easily speak about her blessing.

But she couldn’t keep hiding it either. Sae-rin opened her mouth.

“What you saw was indeed the Thunder Lightning Flash. Are you planning to kill me?”

“What?”

“Or will you cut my tendons?”

Sae-rin tilted her head after asking the question. Theo’s reaction was different from what she expected.

“I-I would never do that to you!”

“Then there’s no problem?”

Theo fell silent at Sae-rin’s question. Vision swordsmanship had been leaked. To none other than his peer.

It wasn’t without problems. When learning the swordsmanship, his master had lectured him until his ears nearly fell off.

Never to leak the swordsmanship to outsiders. If he didn’t consider this a problem, he would be breaking his promise to his master.

Theo stared blankly at the girl before him. If someone other than Sae-rin had used the Thunder Lightning Flash, he might have been furious.

Theo swallowed dryly, recalling his master’s warning.

‘If she’s not an outsider… if she’s not an outsider, there’s no problem.’

His master had said never to leak the swordsmanship to outsiders. So if she wasn’t an outsider, all problems would be solved.

Theo nodded, having found a clear solution.

“Th-there is a problem! A big one. But it’s okay if it’s you!”

“It’s okay if it’s me?”

“Yes! My master said not to leak the swordsmanship to outsiders. So if you’re not an outsider, it’s fine.”

“Aren’t you going to ask how I learned your swordsmanship?”

“Y-you wouldn’t tell me anyway, right?”

“That’s… true.”

“I won’t ask anything, won’t hold you responsible for anything. Later… come with me to see my master. I’ll tell him I taught you.”

Sae-rin gaped in astonishment. She was genuinely impressed by Theo’s magnanimity. His invitation to meet his master meant becoming a fellow disciple of the Thunder Lightning Flash.

Sae-rin’s estimation of Theo rose a level in her heart.

Sae-rin asked once more to confirm.

“Really, really, you won’t ask anything?”

“Yes.”

“And you won’t tell anyone about what happened then?”

“Yes.”

“Theo… you’re truly a wonderful man.”

A bright smile spread across Sae-rin’s face. Theo clutched his heart.

***

When Sae-rin was able to walk and run again, Reynard and the trio returned to the Blue Wing headquarters. It had been a long mission, taking about a month.

After returning to headquarters, the trio had to follow Reynard and learn various paperwork processes. Report writing took especially long.

“Hmm…”

“Sae-rin, that’s wrong. It’s ‘Rover,’ not ‘Robi.'”

“I know.”

“That’s wrong too… it’s not ‘Robya.'”

Sae-rin frowned at Flora’s correction. Writing characters was still difficult for Sae-rin.

A week had passed since their return from the mission. The trio each received a blue feather badge.

It was Kanok who presented the feather badges.

“Congratulations. From now on, you are no longer apprentice members but official members.”

There’s a big difference between members with feather badges and those without. Sae-rin, Flora, and Theo were now recognized as official members who could carry out missions without a senior escort.

Normally, they would have needed to complete about two more missions, but their promotion was accelerated thanks to their recent achievement of defeating a reincarnator as a team.

Kanok pinned the feather badges on the shoulders of the three.