Chapter 2 - Emergence (2)
Stopping the assassins doesn't mean it's all over.
The casualties had to be managed, and the assassins' identities and backers had to be uncovered.
As with all things, cleaning up is more troublesome than making the mess.
When one person makes the mess and another has to clean it, the latter is the more troublesome task.
At home, this was usually the mother's role.
That's why children should always be grateful to their mothers.
As the "dad" in this situation, Ron took a step back.
The other knights were already tending to their wounded comrades and the soldiers, so he didn't feel the need to step in.
'Troublesome tasks are most rewarding when someone else is doing them.'
Normally, as the youngest member of the knight order, he should have taken the lead, but today, Ron had the credit for stopping the attack.
If it weren't for him, they'd all be dead.
Today, he was allowed to do nothing.
'Time to ride the bus.'
Ah, they don't have those here.
Amidst the gloomy atmosphere, as soon as the sun fell, darkness swiftly blanketed the land.
The assassins could just be thrown to the wild beasts for food, but camping near a gravesite felt unsettling.
'What were their names again?'
Three knights had died.
They wouldn't have died if they had just maintained the formation properly.
It was the price for panicking like novices and forgetting their positions.
'That's their own fate.'
Besides, their social statuses were different.
They called each other comrades, but...
Ron was a case where he, a commoner from the count's territory, was selected and became a knight through an Aura test.
Even within the Dawn Knight Order, a wall existed.
If the count hadn't strictly forbidden infighting among the knights, it might not have ended with just ostracism.
Perhaps that's why he felt no particular emotion about the other knights' deaths. When you got down to it, they were no more than work colleagues.
Spilling your guts to a work colleague would only lead to gossip.
'How much should I give for the condolence money? 3, 5, or 7 would be good.'
Even though he didn't live every single moment of his life according to a plan, the money he earned each month was limited.
If he paid condolence money, he'd have to cut back on something else.
He didn't like the idea of his daily life being disrupted for the sake of members he was indifferent to, but since he had distinguished himself, he could look forward to a reward.
'The living have to go on living.'
Even though the attack had caused a commotion and a lot of trouble, he didn't dwell on it.
Things like this could happen at any time, and he should consider it fortunate that it ended with only three deaths.
Ssk, ssk!
Ron soaked a cloth in oil and began to tend to his sword.
He had reached a level where blood wouldn't stick to the blade when he cut someone down, but he couldn't help the splattering blood.
If blood was left on the sword, it wouldn't be noticeable at first, but it would slowly oxidize and dull the blade.
Wiping it off immediately was the best practice.
'Got to look like I'm doing something.'
He wiped away the blood that was only visible to honest people.
The sword was a standard-issue item from the count's household, and any consumed equipment had to be replaced at personal expense.
Using it for as long and as safely as possible was the best way.
I don't spend my own money at work.
That was Ron's motto.
He missed having a corporate card.
'You're precious in your own way.'
Pat, pat.
He even gave the standard-issue sword a name, pretending it was a beloved blade.
My little Devil.
You saw some blood today.
'Suspicion alone accomplishes nothing.'
There was someone he could suspect was behind the attack.
Recently, an iron mine was discovered in a region where the border between Count Leonard's and Viscount Rehalt's territories was ambiguous.
Not being a miner, he couldn't know the exact reserves, but it had led to an ownership dispute.
Normally, in a conflict between a count and a viscount, the outcome would seem obvious to anyone, but reality didn't always follow the natural order.
Especially when considering the complex interests involving Marquis Calix, a powerful figure in the capital and Viscount Rehalt's backer.
'Our count isn't a greedy man, but…'
For nobles, what mattered was who had more power and who could bring them more benefit.
There might be nobles who valued fame and honor, but that was a secondary concern.
This was, for better or worse, more or less the same in any world.
'Not my problem to get involved in.'
It was a matter for the high-and-mighty of the count's family to resolve.
A trainee knight of the Dawn Knight Order stepping up was already exceeding his quota for the day.
Just as the position makes the man, acting outside of one's position was bound to bring fatigue.
Today alone would be tiring for some time to come.
Ron reminded himself to be content with his lot.
Hilkkeut, hilkkeut.
As the cleanup was nearing its end, his noble fellow knights, who usually treated him as if he were invisible, began to look at him with strange eyes.
When their eyes met, they hastily looked away.
Keuheum.
They couldn't comprehend what they had just witnessed. To be more precise, it was closer to distrust of Ron.
Because, for them, it was a reality they couldn't understand.
It was only natural.
A guy they saw as no different from themselves, perhaps even beneath them, had suddenly slaughtered the assailants, so they couldn't accept it.
They thought he was a loser, but it turned out he was a Sword Master.
Like the classic power-hiding knight.
'That won't change anything.'
Looking down on others doesn't make you superior.
It's better to spend that time swinging a sword even once.
But humans have a strong fear and wariness of uncertainty.
Furthermore, they couldn't tolerate someone they usually looked down on rising above them.
If they couldn't have it, they'd drag them down to the same level. It was a malicious human instinct.
'As long as they don't cross the line.'
Ron accepted the ostracism and distrust with indifference. As long as it didn't cause him any physical, financial, or temporal loss.
'My daily life is more precious than gold.'
However, there were always those types who couldn't believe what they saw right in front of them.
In such cases, it was common courtesy to pour shitty diarrhea on them instead of soybean paste.
A few well-made examples in the past had allowed him to live quietly until now.
'What would it have been like in the past?'
He didn't want to imagine it.
The past is the past.
Just the thought of returning to those times was horrifying.
From that perspective, his current reality was satisfactory.
It was a peaceful time.
An attack like today's was nothing more than a minor daily event.
In the harsh medieval setting of a fantasy world, wasn't a sword fight a form of romance?
The servants busily prepared a meal.
Compared to the past when he enjoyed stimulating food, it was bland, but a knight's body was his asset, so he had to take care of his meals as much as possible.
'A tent is a no-go.'
It would be comfortable, but the moment he showed it, it would become public property, not personal. He had to use it only when he was in a rush and alone.
That way, he could avoid troublesome questions.
Proving oneself, as he had said repeatedly, was extremely tiring.
So, while it was important to step up when necessary, it was best to lie low and blend in during normal times.
Jeobeok!
A shadow approached from behind.
Ron wasn't flustered.
It was obvious who it was.
Now that the commotion had settled and the situation was somewhat under control.
It was Sir Ternoir, the loyal and upright old knight of the count's household.
"Who are you?"
"You know who I am, why ask?"
"Then you must also know that this makes no sense!"
"Why? Did you think I was a pushover, and now you're worried you'll be in big trouble if you mess with me?"
"Stop playing with words!"
"For the man who raised me until now to ask 'who are you,' is that really something you should say to me, who is like your own grandson?"
Radon was confused by Ron's composure, unsure which side was the truth.
Ron was the son of Edan, a man he had taught in the past.
Edan, a single father, had met with an unfortunate accident during a mission before Ron turned 10.
Feeling sorry for the orphaned Ron, Radon had shown him the path of a knight and brought him into the count's service after testing his Aura.
He had looked after him until he was 15, and five years ago, Ron had bought a house in a remote part of the city and became independent.
He was a boy he had watched grow up, so the sight of him single-handedly defeating the assassins didn't match.
It was as if another person had entered Ron's body.
But since Ron denied it.
The more he thought about it, the more audacious it seemed.
"You've been hiding your skills all this time!"
"Rather than hiding, I just never had a chance to show them."
"That is hiding."
To be honest, it was an excuse.
He could have proven himself anytime through sparring. If he still didn't show his skills, it was fair to assume he had ulterior motives.
'The old man is just unceptive.'
Ron added plausibility to his flawed logic. This was entirely a courtesy for Radon's sake.
So he could at least have something to report back.
"I had an awakening recently. Before that, I thought revealing my clumsy skills would only earn me the animosity of those around me, so I waited for the right time. As you know, my background is different from theirs."
Keum!
Struck in a sore spot, Radon let out a low groan.
As a knight, Edan had been a sincere hard worker, but he never managed to rise from the lowest ranks of the knight order.
It was a regrettable case where his talent fell short of his efforts.
For a commoner to become a knight and be granted a surname, they had to rise to the rank of an intermediate knight. Otherwise, they would just end up doing menial tasks within the knight order.
If Edan had become an intermediate knight and received a surname, Ron would have naturally joined the order, but he wasn't given that chance.
Then, with Edan's death during a mission, Ron's situation was left hanging.
Feeling pity for him, Radon had raised Ron until now, and Ron had, as expected, passed the test and entered the knight order.
Even so, the Ron he had seen until now had never shown anything special enough to suggest he was born with the kind of genius-level talent he displayed during the attack.
He had no friends within the knight order, and as soon as his scheduled duties were over, he was busy heading home, let alone attending any dinners.
'Was I wrong?'
Perhaps he had been testing and tempering himself in a place no one knew about.
No, he must have.
His combat ability today couldn't be explained otherwise.
If you work hard, you can achieve anything.
That was Edan's motto.
It was also something he himself had told Edan.
As his suspicion cleared, Radon acknowledged the effort.
"You have fulfilled Edan's wish."
"It's not that great. It's just that you've gotten old, sir, and those guys are lacking for the reputation of the knight order."
The reputation of the Dawn Knight Order had fallen significantly compared to the past.
If one's skills were poor even within such an order, that said it all.
However, even if that was the truth, he had never said it out loud.
If you have nothing but a reputation without the skill to back it up, it only hurts your pride.
"...So that's why you were always alone."
"Are your bones perhaps aching, sir? Bone health is very important as you get older."
"...To think you hid such a personality so well!"
It wasn't that he hid it; they just never had a heart-to-heart conversation like this in the first place.
He had no close friends in the order, and Sir Ternoir wasn't a talkative person either.
He was more of an instructor than a friendly figure.
Nevertheless, he was a grateful person.
In a world where parents abandoning their children due to financial hardship was common, how easy could it have been to raise the child of a disciple he had only briefly taken care of?
Though it was his wife who did the hard work.
Above all.
'My past life memories returned during the Aura test.'
In the process of checking for the presence of Aura, a prerequisite for becoming a knight, the memories of his past lives had seeped in.
Of course, it took time for the memories to fully settle.
His mind and body were too weak to digest everything at once.
He spent three years training his mind and body to accept his past lives, and for the seven years after that, he trained to reach the level of his past lives.
'It pricks my conscience to be seen as a hard worker.'
Radon's eyes were telling him that he must have shed blood, sweat, and tears day and night where no one was watching.
While having the memories of his past lives gave him an advantage, the memory of having burned out completely in those lives made him content with his current reality.
A kind of burnout.
He no longer had the fuel left to devote himself without a single day's rest like in his past lives.
He trained only at set times and enjoyed the tranquility through his past-life "gift."
Like a student who studies well without trying harder than others, taking all the breaks he wanted.
Ssk, ssk!
Even while talking, Ron wiped his sword.
Even when there was nothing to wipe, he did it with great care.
This was a silent pressure, telling them not to give him any troublesome tasks.
A knight who had finished his quota had the right to enjoy his peace.
At Ron's obvious intention.
Haah.
His moment of being moved was brief as Radon let out a sigh.
He thought he knew everything about Ron.
But the Ron before him was not only excessively unfamiliar, but he had no idea he had such a personality.
Far from struggling with loneliness due to being an outcast, his self-esteem was overflowing to the point of being audacious.
He might be the one ostracizing the knight order all by himself.
Perhaps that's why, there was something that had been bothering him.
"Why didn't you step in from the beginning?"
"I was just faithfully following your orders to maintain the formation, sir."
"Those men were your comrades, no matter what!"
"The moment I ignored the order and stepped out, I would have become a public enemy. I don't want to do something that gets me blamed even after helping."
As with all things, gratitude is fleeting.
He'd be lucky if they didn't whisper behind his back about how he'd hidden his skills all this time.
If he had disobeyed orders from the start and defeated the enemies alone, the evaluation he would receive later would have included envy and jealousy.
They might have even used the disobedience of orders to create problems in some way.
Of course, maybe not.
It was also true that it's not good to view everything negatively.
However, a complacent attitude could provide an excuse for trouble.
Also, unless it was an unavoidable, desperate situation, it was more beneficial not to stand out.
The situation had to be one that his comrades and those around him could fully accept.
"Then why did you step in afterwards?"
"Because of you, sir. If they had calmly maintained the formation as ordered in the first place, those men wouldn't have died either. It's their own fault for being careless. You yourself clearly stated that this is a basic quality a knight must possess."
"...Are you saying it's my fault?"
"You're stating the obvious. The person in charge of security for this journey is Sir Ternoir. Or is it the fault of the young lady who came out to play without knowing anything?"
"...?"
Radon was at a loss for words.
Logically, he was right, but emotionally, he wanted to deny it.
It was natural for a knight to prioritize orders, but his comrades had lost their lives right in front of him.
Could he guarantee that there were no personal feelings toward the colleagues he didn't get along with contained in their deaths?
Furthermore, Ron hadn't asked about his dead comrades at all.
Far from being shaken, he was indifferent, as if it were someone else's business.
But what was the point of pointing that out now?
He had already become an incompetent head of security.
He couldn't shift the blame to the young lady either.
That's why he found Ron audacious.
If he had his way, he'd want to re-educate him mentally, but it was also true that he had distinguished himself.
"The young lady is calling for you."
"Yes, sir."
Ron, after wiping his sword so much it seemed the blade had worn down, sheathed it and checked his attire.
It was purely formal, but the ritual was important.
"Aren't you going to ask why?"
"She saw my performance; she couldn't possibly resist calling for me."
"You're very good at painting things gold."
"I am stating a fact. But, I hope she hasn't fallen for me. That would be troublesome, as I have my own tastes."
"Just keep your mouth shut like you usually do."
Radon worried if he should take Ron in this state.
As Ron had said, the young lady had opened the carriage door and come out despite being told not to.
And she had witnessed Ron's heroic performance.
Although she was startled by the brutal scene of heads being cut off, she did not ignore Ron's merits.
"You've gotten very old too, sir. I heard you used to fly around in your youth."
"You little punk, I'm still hale and hearty!"
"I'll be sure to tell your wife, who has been feeling increasingly lonely lately."
"Shut up!!"
So this bastard had been hiding his true nature all this time.
Unaware of this, Radon, who had pitied Ron, felt like he had lived his life in vain.
Platinum blonde hair, flawless, glowing skin, eyes as clear as a lake that seemed to draw you in, an elegantly raised nose, and clear, vermilion lips that blended perfectly with a smooth jawline.
A strange harmony of aristocratic elegance and cuteness.
Now 17, if she were to mature with time, she could certainly become famous throughout the continent as a beauty.
The surroundings brightened due to the flickering torchlight and her presence.
Adelia Leonard.
She had to calm her startled heart from the fact that someone had been targeting her.
Having lived a life separate from murder and death until now, it was only after a long while that she began to see the reality of the situation.
'His name was Ron, wasn't it.'
If not for his actions today, she would have been dragged around according to someone's intentions, bringing harm to her family.
That's why it was a mystery.
Ron had no surname.
That meant Ron was of commoner birth and also held the lowest rank within the Dawn Knight Order.
And yet, his martial prowess had overwhelmed the band of assassins.
To be at the bottom rank of the knight order with such skill, there was a gap between that and the common sense she knew.
Knights were beings who lived and died by honor.
With such ability, he should have revealed his skills long ago and been granted a surname.
'Sir Ternoir said he raised him from a young age, so it's hard to say he has other intentions.'
It could be a scheme by an external force targeting the family, intentionally creating an incident to solidify Ron's position within.
The complex interests and disputes between nobles prevented her from seeing reality with pure eyes.
However, she would not treat the benefactor who saved her life poorly based on mere suspicion.
So she had summoned Ron.
She could find out what kind of person he was by talking to him.
If nothing else, she prided herself on having a good eye for people.
Sir Ternoir brought Ron.
Ron gave a perfunctory bow and then maintained a distance from Lady Adelia.
This was not something to be upset about, but the basic etiquette between a noble lady and a knight.
Moreover, the Count belonged to the high nobility.
For a trainee knight, especially a commoner without a surname, to stare directly at the young lady was in itself rude.
Silence fell, and the atmosphere became uncomfortable and heavy.
Normally, one might ask the reason for being summoned, but Ron waited silently.
Far from being uncomfortable, he even looked peaceful.
As if a fishbone was stuck in her throat, the longer time passed, the more awkward it became.
'Hah, this little punk!'
Radon knew why the young lady was maintaining her silence.
When dealing with subordinates, the weapon of silence was quite effective.
A guilty conscience gives itself away.
There was no better method to induce anxiety, confusion, and rambling.
However, Ron was a knight, not a thief.
'It would be a different story if it were the old him.'
The Ron he had watched since childhood and the Ron of today were two different people.
If he had been hiding his true self all this time, then a thousand-year-old drake surely dwelled within him.
Although the young lady's insight was remarkable for her age, it was far from enough to control Ron.
'He's doing something that is hard to tolerate as a knight.'
He didn't like it, but it became strange for Radon to intervene.
If the person who summoned him with a purpose remained silent, and he stepped in, it would be an act of disrespect toward the young lady.
Knowing this, Ron seemed to have no intention of playing along and was just relaxed.
Time is on my side, is that it?
That's why he was so audacious.
How awkward must the gentle young lady feel right now?
Engaging in a battle of wills with the lord one served was an unknightly act to begin with.
As the discomfort dragged on.
Adelia broke the silence.
"I'm sorry for calling you and making you wait. My thoughts weren't organized, so I couldn't bring it up hastily."
"I understand. The situation was chaotic, and for a trainee knight, my skills were excessively superior, so you might think I had other intentions."
...This bastard!
Radon frowned at Ron's shameless reply.
Even if the young lady had other intentions, pointing it out so openly was against etiquette.
A knight should know how to cover for his master's flaws.
How hurt the gentle young lady must be.
Radon felt sorry for Adelia.
"I see, so that's why you left one assassin alive."
"That's right."
"But, what should I do? I couldn't find out who ordered it. By any chance, do you have any suspicions about the mastermind or culprit?"
"I do not."
"Really?"
"My opinion is not important."
What kind of conversation is this?
Radon, who was about to intervene and teach him a lesson, was instead left feeling awkward.
Far from being hurt, Lady Adelia was as composed as if she had expected it, which felt unfamiliar.
Who have I been with all this time?
Radon once again felt like he had lived his life in vain.
Was my judgment of people really this bad?
Now, he just didn't know anymore.
"What if I still want to know?"
"I do not know."
"Is it not that you know but don't want to answer because you're afraid of getting involved in troublesome matters?"
"It is the principle of a knight to pretend not to know even if he knows, not to see even if he sees, and not to hear even if he hears. This is the first rule of Sir Ternoir, Chapter 1, Verse 1."
This bastard, when did I ever?
Besides, that's the third rule!