Ch.4515. Footsteps of the Ancient Sages (2)

I hear a child’s voice.

And there is someone answering the child’s question.

[Me? I am a knight.]

[Knight? What is a knight?]

To the child’s innocent question, a proud voice rings out.

[One who overcomes the impossible.

One who can die for noble ideals.

One who endures even unbearable pain.

One who knows how to reflect on and correct their mistakes.

One who loves justice and goodness more than anyone.

One who resolutely defeats evil enemies.

One who carries the courage to run to the ends of the earth with dreams, love, hope, and faith.

That is what a knight is.]

“……”

Removing her hand from the sword, Kariel spent a while blankly pondering the voice that had flashed through her mind.

‘What was that?’

What did I just hear?

-What? Did you see something strange as expected?

The golden girl before her leans in with large eyes.

Though startled with a gasp, fortunately, Kariel quickly composed herself and avoided further embarrassment.

As if she knew there was no point in asking now.

“Ruel? What’s wrong?”

Those who had been watching seemed to have grown anxious.

Approaching Alesia, Kariel answered with a disgruntled tone.

“Ah, well… I heard a voice.”

“A voice? What? You touched the sword and heard something?”

“Yes. Something like that.”

She nodded without a trace of doubt.

Nearby, Filbar burst into exclamation.

“Can you read the imprints embedded in objects? No, in this case, since you heard it, should we say eavesdropped? That’s more appropriate! Oh! Inspiration! Paper! Pen! Quickly!”

Filbar’s servants rushed to bring pen and rolled parchment.

They even brought a wooden board to serve as a writing surface, holding it up with both arms in offering. Accustomed to this, he spread the scroll on it and began writing.

Alesia asked gently.

“What kind of voice did you hear? Was it something unpleasant?”

Now not just her, but the Baroness father and son had gathered around.

“Well…”

Kariel told them about the dialogue between the young boy and the unknown man.

“Could it be that you somehow heard the situation where Saint Kariel personally explained the knight’s mindset to a child? That’s quite remarkable.”

At Baron Roia’s words, Rudhi raised a concern with a slightly troubled expression.

“But isn’t it different from the oath’s content?”

“Not at all. For a child, such an explanation might be more romantic and suitable? Isn’t that embellished version more impressive?”

Luke actively expressed his opinion that this was entirely possible.

“Romance! Good! Very good! During the period when knighthood was emerging in human history, a knight blooming with romance, aiming to awaken emotion rather than reason! Wanting to plant dreams in a child! Such a romantic knight reciting his mindset! It makes a perfect picture! Perfect!”

The pen in Filbar’s hand moved frantically across the blank parchment without rest.

“The answer was in an unexpected place.”

Somehow, everyone’s gazes converged on Kariel as if by agreement.

“……”

Looking perplexed, Kariel suddenly.

“…?”

Witnessed a vision of children playing.

Two boys and one girl.

The three little ones were running somewhere.

“What do you see now?”

“Well, that…”

At Filbar’s question, Kariel raised her hand to point in one direction.

“I can see children.”

“What are they doing?”

“They’re running somewhere.”

“Then, how about following them?”

As soon as Filbar boarded the carriage and the tent was removed,

Kariel followed the vision that seemed to be waiting with its back turned.

“This is…”

Kariela.

Right at the entrance to the city.

“Wait a moment!”

A carriage slipped into the shadow of a building near the entrance.

Disembarking, he took out a cloth inscribed with magic circles and began trying various things.

He expressed disappointment.

“…There is some reaction, but this isn’t the place either.”

“This is becoming increasingly troublesome.”

Baron Roia complained.

“Still, it’s something that we have even this much of a clue.”

“That’s true.”

“Thanks to me, right?”

As Luke said with a smirk.

“Not thanks to you, but luck that rolled in.”

Alesia objected.

Of course, Luke brazenly insisted that was also thanks to him.

Kariel, observing this scene from a distance, as if watching from across a river,

felt confused about everything.

While all that had happened to her was confusing,

at the same time, she was slightly moved by being so engrossed in this situation.

Being able to mingle with many people without particular burden or tension…

…it had a rather special meaning.

Then suddenly.

From inside the city.

She spotted someone standing among the crowd.

Standing silently in place.

He was simply, consistently looking straight ahead.

====

-Most humans. No, regardless of species, sentient and rational beings have little interest in others.

Unless they provide extraordinarily great entertainment.

-Even a child opening a fairy tale for entertainment might sparkle their eyes at the hero’s story, but no one pays attention to an unremarkable dwarf who is neither the protagonist nor a key helper, someone they might just pass by.

But what if the dwarf were the hero, the protagonist?

-By that point, they’d close the book.

Because it’s not my interest!

Because it’s not the story I wanted.

Because it’s not the character I wanted!

-It’s truly a desperate matter.

Kariel briefly glanced at the Demon Lord who was grumbling above her head.

She couldn’t help but wonder what she was talking about.

-That fellow over there, in that respect, was he lucky or unlucky?

Eventually.

Among the passing crowd.

She approaches the one standing there.

But it has no substance.

Right now, several people were passing through his shoulder, no, his entire body.

This is something only visible to her.

-What do you think?

“…It’s not for me to judge.”

Kariel stared at the silently standing apparition.

A man standing firmly yet looking as if he might collapse or crumble at any moment.

His newly grown hair was disheveled, and his clothes were a mess.

Torn, dirty with dust and mud.

Yet he seemed unconcerned, only gazing straight ahead.

The sword in his hand.

“……”

Kariel knows what this is.

She didn’t know until yesterday.

No, she had no idea until just now.

But now she knows.

“This person…”

Though his body seemed sturdy, his current appearance looked so unsightly.

This person must be…

…that one from 300 years ago.

Her name.

Its origin.

“……”

Kariel reached out her hand.

She sensed something was about to happen.

However, she honestly didn’t know what kind of omen and conclusion it would bring.

But.

For reasons unknown, she only felt that she had to do this.

As Kariel’s hand touched his body,

many things quickly came and went.

A boy sprawled on the ground.

A knight in pitch-black armor giving him various instructions and guidance.

Following the knight’s movements, the boy also grips a crude wooden stick, imitating him.

Even after the knight left.

The boy doesn’t rest.

To build basic strength, he runs across plains, climbs up and down hills.

Climbs trees, swims against the current in rivers.

Again, swings the stick.

But that figure seems rather familiar.

The black knight returns occasionally to correct his posture.

Then leaves without a word.

The boy seems to be aging, his physique becoming robust, his face quite dignified.

The boy and girl who used to play with him have also grown into a fine young man and woman.

…watching them hold a modest wedding ceremony.

The young man observes.

He pays no mind and continues to swing the stick, no, when did it change to an iron sword.

He chops wood to provide for the village, receiving some food in return.

Catching fish with bare hands in the river, even hunting.

He is self-sufficient, yet consistently dedicates half of each day to sword training.

He had no parents, only friends.

But apart from his friends, he was somewhat isolated.

Yet he doesn’t care.

When the knight returns, he presents him with a fairly decent iron sword.

“With that much skill, you could make a name for yourself somewhere.”

“I didn’t wield the sword for success. I did it because I wanted to be like you, sir.”

The boy has now become a man.

For over ten years, he stubbornly, foolishly swung his sword.

He trained his body and even learned letters just in case.

“Was there a reason to work so hard?”

When the black knight asked,

The man didn’t hesitate.

“My parents told me to live a life without regrets.”

It was their dying wish.

To look only forward.

Not to shed tears remembering them.

“But I regret every day. Because I was weak, I couldn’t protect them.”

No one blamed him.

It was unavoidable.

Because he was young.

But.

If he had strength, he might still be living with his parents.

He might have had a younger sibling.

The neighbor, grandfather, grandmother who became corpses overnight due to bandits and robbers…

They all might still be alive.

“I had no choice.”

But.

“I don’t want other children to carry the same regret and sadness I did. For that, I want to become strong like you.”

“……”

The black knight sighed deeply.

“I’m usually disappointed, but the ways of the world are indeed unpredictable. After traveling many places, to find someone with such pure will in a place I had no expectations for.”

The man couldn’t understand what the knight’s words meant or what weight they carried.

Perhaps he would never understand in his lifetime.

“Perhaps this too is providence.”

The black knight said.

“You want to protect someone, to ensure there are no regrets, to guard and shield them. Is that what you said?”

“Yes.”

“Why? Isn’t yourself more important than others? With that strength, you could rise in the world, find a good spouse, have children, and live well.”

“Would that make tragedies disappear? The world is hell, isn’t it? Even my living well is nothing more than covering my eyes and turning away from that reality, isn’t it?”

“You may want to change the world with youthful vigor, but that’s wasted effort.”

The black knight knew very well.

When a mere individual.

Wants to change the world by their own will.

The moment they make that decision.

They inevitably face.

Under this vast world.

Under this ugly yet glittering world.

That an individual’s power.

Is how powerless.

That a single person’s strength.

Is how pathetically weak.

“But if no one does it, shouldn’t I at least try?”

“……”

“Isn’t that why you’ve been traveling here and there, hoping for someone who would change the world?”

“That’s…”

Strange.

Though the time they’ve met is extremely brief.

Why.

How.

Is this child.

Seeing through my heart?

“I simply wanted to become someone magnificent.”

That’s how it was at first.

The more he understood the structure of tragedy that burdens the world.

The closer he got to its essence.

He realized it was the enemy that must be defeated.

But it has no form.

So it cannot even be defeated.

How lamentable and resentful.

“Isn’t that enough?”

“That’s enough? Why?”

“If not today’s me, then tomorrow’s me can do it. If I can’t, then another tomorrow’s me, my successor, my descendant can do it.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“How would we know without trying?”

When he first grasped the wooden stick.

When he first memorized the training methods the knight instructed.

The boy thought.

Can I really do this?

That was his only question.

“If it doesn’t work, that’s unavoidable. But that’s not a reason not to try, is it?”

“Enough. If you go further, you will surely regret it.”

The wall of the world is truly high.

The moment you realize its height reaches the sky.

It becomes an insurmountable barrier.

Mere castle walls become nothing in comparison.

Yet even such castle walls are beyond the reach of individuals in reality.

“But your words have merit.”

So show me.

“From now on, engrave what I say deep in your soul.”

Absolutely, absolutely.

“Live without shame before heaven. You may fall, you may whimper. You may sit down or lie down from exhaustion, but remember just one thing.”

Live without shame.

“If you can keep this, some of what you spoke of will be preserved.”

Perhaps.

“A better tomorrow than you expected might follow.”

As the knight turned his back.

“Will I not see you again?”

The man had such a premonition.

“I’m returning to my homeland.”

“Your homeland?”

“Yes.”

Because I’ve done all I needed to here.

The black knight murmured softly.

When first seen, he appeared so strong and massive.

That figure was so enormous and so dazzling.

That he was busy just chasing after that image.

“What should I call you, Master?”

“Master? That’s an overestimation.”

The black knight remained silent for a while before answering.

“Grandeus. Call me that.”

And I will remember your name for a long time.

“Kariel. I appoint you as the successor to the will I abandoned. Therefore, in the middle realm, you are my proxy.”