Chapter 24 : Chapter 24

Chapter 24. Knight (2)

「That sick knight’s body was already far too damaged. From what I see, the most time he had left was a week. And with each passing day, death would progress little by little. His limbs would stiffen, his muscles harden, and in the end, his brain might fail, turning him into a child again.」

“…….”

「Of course, that knight who reached the realm of ‘Sword Runner’ must have known about Fetel’s condition. And yet, what did he say?」

At Liam’s question, I clenched my teeth.

“He said the duel of honor would be in a week.”

「Exactly. That is the nature of those knights. Rigid, bound by rules, but once the fight begins, they’ll press on without leaving room for any variables, crushing their opponent with everything they have.」

Liam spoke coldly.

「Knights only fight battles they can win. That knight, who has reached the realm of ‘Sword Runner,’ will never be careless. He’ll erase every single variable, leaving not even the slightest chance of defeat.」

“……Then, if I step in as the proxy, isn’t it still hopeless?”

「No. That is the only way.」

I listened to Liam as I looked down from the ridge at the village. The knightly order had pitched their camp there, and a little farther away was Fetel, swinging his sword with a broken body.

Even as he gasped for breath, his eyes bloodshot and his body drenched in sweat, Fetel never stopped training. As if the moment he stopped swinging his sword, he would die on the spot.

I turned to Liam.

“Just how exactly?”

Liam’s answer was short.

「You eat Fetel’s sword.」

“…What?”

「And then you win the duel of honor with Fetel’s sword.」

***

Fortunately, Liam hadn’t only thrown out a conclusion. He explained what “eating Fetel’s sword” meant and why it could create a chance at victory.

“Certainly… if it’s that, then it might be possible.”

Even I, usually filled with suspicion, had found myself agreeing.

“But isn’t the probability way too low?”

Of course, I still had doubts. Liam answered concisely.

「The difficult path is always a gamble.」

“……”

「The odds are low. But when you win, you gain much.」

Liam looked at me.

「Young descendant, you will never overturn the board without gambling. Not just now, but your whole life will be nothing but low-odds gambles. And you will always be the underdog.」

Yes. I already knew that.

Let Fetel die, or choose this method.

There were only those two options.

That was why I chose the latter. After deciding to follow Liam’s words, I sought out Fetel. He was swinging his sword as if his body would shatter.

“Sir Fetel, I have something to tell you.”

His back was hunched like an old man’s, and the black blotches had long devoured his torso.

“Something… to say? Then say it… there. I cannot… put down the sword… now.”

I watched Fetel, as though possessed, swing his sword again and again. And I slowly laid out the words Liam had told me.

“Sir Fetel, it may be hard to believe, but I was born with a peculiar power that allows me to perfectly reproduce another’s sword. My unusually strong heart is also part of that special power.”

Fetel, as though he were in another world, silently listened while only swinging his sword. Sweat flew in shining drops. Whether he replied or not, I continued speaking.

“I will reproduce Sir Fetel’s sword and win against that knight. Though your realm is below his, the potential within your sword is absolutely not beneath his. That is why, instead of your sick, ruined body, I—with a sound body—will become your proxy.”

I had softened and re-phrased Liam’s words. Liam had said Fetel’s sword was in no way weaker, and if I combined it with the 「Needle」 and 「Fang」 I had ingested, there might even be a chance of victory.

Moreover, I had a steel heart and the ‘line,’ the steel blood’s road. Secret weapons to create variables.

Yet Fetel still silently swung his sword. Only after exhaling a hot breath did he answer.

“Lord Arhan.”

“Yes.”

“Even if your words are true, it is impossible to defeat a ‘Sword Runner.’”

He groaned and lifted his sword upward.

“Even if you had some unprecedented power unrecorded in history, you cannot win against that knight. To put it in metaphor… it’s like a chrysalis and a butterfly.”

“……”

“I reached the limit of ‘Sword Walker,’ and he has reached the threshold of ‘Sword Runner.’ In terms of realms, it’s a single step. But that single step is far too great.”

The sword glittered, fractured light scattering.

“I can only squirm, but he soars with wings in splendid flight. A chrysalis can never chase a butterfly. Mimicking a chrysalis like me changes nothing.”

“But still—”

“Lord Arhan.”

His voice was low and heavy. For the first time, Fetel stopped swinging his sword.

“As I said before, I am not fighting to win.”

“……”

“I wish to challenge the question I have held my whole life. Even if the end is a disgraceful, dog-like death, I cannot stop.”

His joints creaked, his muscles twisted, and blood dripped thickly from his lips. But still, Fetel swung his sword again. Relentlessly.

“This is proof for me.”

Ah.

The biggest problem wasn’t my doubt or the knight’s wings.

「That cannot be broken.」

There was no way to break Fetel’s conviction.

「That too may be the fate of that sick sword.」

Liam muttered quietly.

***

At the village entrance, horses snorted in the temporary camp. Squires tended the steeds, knights took turns standing guard with torches, and others inside the tents went about their work.

The knights’ camp. And deep inside was the knight who had reached the realm of 「Sword Runner」—Meken, deputy commander of the 「Yellow Elephant」.

Meken proudly polished his beloved sword, when a knight suddenly asked:

“Deputy Commander, was that really necessary?”

Meken paused his hand.

“What do you mean?”

“I know tradition says no mercy is shown in a duel of honor. But against nothing more than a sick, decrepit ‘Sword Walker’… did you really have to push him that far?”

Meken turned to look at the knight. His eyes were straight and clear. A greenhorn, newly a knight. Still drunk on chivalric romances, pride, and the sense of justice.

Meken smirked.

“You think I went too far.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because as a ‘Sword Runner,’ Deputy Commander, you will surely win. But if you crush him like this, others may not accept the result.”

Meken asked again.

“So why?”

“……Because that sick knight won’t even be able to walk in a week, let alone fight. He’ll be a living corpse.”

Anyone could see Fetel’s state was dire. Even ordinary 「Sword Walker」 knights could tell. He wouldn’t survive a week.

But Meken’s answer was sharp.

“Perhaps so.”

He set his sword down and looked hard at the young knight.

“But do you know ‘Fetel the Loyal’?”

The knight kept silent.

“I know him well. A blockhead who knew only honor. They even called him ‘the Loyal Dog’ as a mockery.”

Meken’s eyes glinted.

“But his conviction is dangerously strong.”

He continued.

“Everyone at the Academy said Fetel would never rise beyond Sword Beginner. Even after becoming a knight, people said he’d soon die, a talentless fool who only knew effort.”

Meken bared his teeth.

“But he survived. For a very long time. He won seventeen duels of honor. He defended his employer on battlefields under rain of fire arrows and spells. He single-handedly held a castle gate against five hundred starving refugees.”

Meken’s gaze was like steel.

“I believe that man’s conviction is as dangerous as my wings. That’s why I will break it. However it takes, I will trample his loyalty and dishonor him.”

Behind him, a pair of gleaming wings unfolded. The knight watching shivered at the sight.

“I will kill him, display his body and head in the city where he lived, and utterly desecrate his honor, in accordance with tradition.”

Were those wings angelic or demonic? The knight could not tell.

“That is what will strengthen my sword.”

The young knight trembled at the thought of the dreadful fate awaiting Fetel. Silently, he prayed that it would not be too cruel.

***

Seol Yoon said the East had a saying: “brilliance before death.”

“It’s when life blazes brightly just before dying. Like the sky brightening at sunset before the dark.”

She said Fetel’s state was like that.

“No matter how I see it, he shouldn’t even be able to move. Yet the more he swings his sword, the sharper he becomes.”

Indeed, his state was unnatural.

On the third day, Fetel requested a sparring match with Seol Yoon. She reluctantly accepted. And in just five exchanges, Fetel shattered her sword and completely overwhelmed her.

By the fourth day, Fetel said with relief:

“I feel as though I’ve opened new eyes. I should have done this sooner—cast aside honor, pride, and just swung my sword. If I had, I might have become a Sword Walker much earlier.”

His complexion was bright. For a fleeting moment, I thought: perhaps, like in those chivalric romances, he would awaken at the brink of death, defeat the villainous knight, and smile brightly, illness overcome.

“I feel most alive at this moment.”

But reality was not a romance.

By the fifth day, at dusk.

“Lord Arhan.”

That evening, Fetel was gazing at the sunset he loved. But there was something different about him. I sensed death’s stench. I sprinted to him with all my strength.

“You’ve come.”

His upper body was bare, drenched in sweat, black as obsidian. His face, his neck, his whole body had turned black.

“Why does it feel like you’d come.”

“Fetel, are you alright? Your body—”

His voice was strangely clear. But I could see—his time was over.

“…I once said I wanted to die quietly, without burdening anyone.”

“Yes…”

“But that was knightly bravado. I wanted to look strong before death. I said I wasn’t afraid, that I would meet my god…”

His voice began breaking.

“But as the moment came, I was terrified. Lonely. That is why I think it is fortunate… you are here at the end.”

“Fetel, stop speaking now—”

I wept. I didn’t know why. He hadn’t been with me long. I knew he was dying. I had even thought his death would give me his sword. So why?

“Do not weep, Lord Arhan.”

“If you die like this… what about your proof? You said you would prove it all.”

He faintly smiled.

“My twilight… ends here. But you, Lord Arhan—you are the dawn. Similar to twilight, but filled with light and time ahead.”

He moved with difficulty, turning his sword to me.

“Take my sword.”

I gripped his sword. It was heavier and longer than mine.

“Thank you.”

His voice faded.

“I wanted… to leave some trace behind in this world…”

And with that, Fetel froze, dead, standing.

“…Thank you.”

He hadn’t lasted a week.

On the fifth day after receiving the duel challenge, he died.

“My first kind neighbor is gone.”

The world was cruel. Unlike the chivalric romances that burned boys’ hearts.

「Young descendant.」

But Liam said:

「The duel of honor need not happen now. That knight will be satisfied with his corpse.」

I clenched Fetel’s sword.

“No.”

This end was not right.

“I will prove my neighbor’s life was just.”

I gripped the sword until it nearly broke.

“I will fight.”

With the Karavan way.

Two days left.

In two days, I must become a proxy warrior who can slay a knight who has reached Sword Runner.