#03. Kiriyan Masis
*𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬*
Sounds from opening a door and loading a gun overlapped. I came into the room and saw Duke Guillermo pointing a gun at me.
"Long time no see, Sir Kiriyan."
"…You still hold people at gunpoint instead of a warm welcome?"
"Sure. I can assure that 50 years later, this will become our kingdom's own traditional greeting."
Who the hell greets people like that?! If that crazy, stupid and freaking way of greeting really takes root here, I will live only 49 years more and die! Laughing, Guillermo put his gun down and asked me abruptly.
"Did you make it well at Cellen?"
"Pardon me?"
Not long after asking back, I realized that 'Cellen' was the name of the city where I had been to investigate for the past two days. Most people always forget even basics because of a life-and-death situation Guillermo puts them in. Called 'The man of blood-and-iron', Duke Guillermo was a second-in-command of the whole palace whose power was even on a par with the king. He was the Finance Minister of Perriun kingdom, and the only 'Archduke' among few numbers of other Dukes. The only thing was, he always enjoyed pulling his gun out of the blue and scaring the crap out of us.
"They must have slipped through us, this time."
"That's not like you, Kiriyan. As far as I'm concerned, you've always closed every case you've dealt with, right? Seems like I was wrong."
I had to cover my mouth and sneered 'Hu, Hu'. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 disturbed my investigation!
"Did you make me come here for that kind of silly joke?"
"Hmph. You are getting cocky as shit." He picked up a tobacco pipe on his desk and lit a fire. Dense smoke filled the air in a minute.
"Do you know about 'Knights chronicle' in the basement of this palace?"
"Knights…chronicle. I think I heard of it before."
"Literally, those are written records throughout the tenure of every knight in knightage. But they haven't been revised since last year, so I want Ensis Knights to lend me a hand."
Like he said, in the second basement of the palace were a pile of documents of all knights who had been in the knightage under the direct control of the palace. But the access to the place was strictly prohibited to general knights, because the record was keeping not only their achievements but also their misbehaviors without omission. Without that rule, anybody could have altered it to their advantage. I did have an access authority as the master of Ensis Knights, but even for us permitted personnel, the access was limited only for 10 minutes.
"How can I help you out?"
"Simple. Collect all of Ensis Knights' chronicles and bring them back to our building."
"Sure. …You guys are always under the pump."
"They are just stupid leeches. I don't even know when we will finish this massive job. It would be awesome if you were my man."
"I don't really want to do an all-nighter for the man of blood-and-iron." I made a wry smile.
Word had it that administration department staff could not even have a single day off unless they quit or transfer. It was not surprising because Duke himself had never gone on leave since he had assumed the Finance Minister role. But then again, Duke Guillermo's department was still very popular and attracted many volunteers respecting him, despite its killing schedule. I am also confident to have enough respect for him, but that is too scary a place to work even for me!
"Hi, Sir!"
Aurelio welcomed me when I passed through the main entrance of Ensis Knights HQ, Palmasion.
"What did he have to say?"
"No special reprimand. But he needs our help."
"What kind of help?"
"Collecting Knights chronicles. Let's take some lads there and pick up ours, and bring them to the admin department."
"Now that it's year-end, we have a lot of big jobs."
"It's lucky enough that we're not directly working for him."
I could feel that even Aurelio flinched at the word 'admin department'. If I brought it up to Rose, he would've hidden behind a door and whined 'Please, don't drag me there---'. I giggled from that image.
"Ah, would you swing by your office first if you are not gonna go to the palace library right now?"
"Why?"
"You have a visitor there."
"…Please don't tell me it's Rose."
If he is sitting in my chair and humming, I will throw him out of a window. Because falling from a height of the third floor would not nearly be enough to hurt him.
*𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬*
"…"
"Um…? Aaaahh!"
Being startled out of the blue, I nearly fell on my butt but managed to get a hold of myself. Who is this girl?!
"…"
She kept looking up at me in silence. Hem, that was a carry-on.
"…Well,"
"…"
"…May I ask your name? I'm Kiriyan, master of Ensis Knights."
No response though I'm smiling as much as I can? I had to control my face from going back to its normal resting bitch face. Hey, I'm kind of busy right now. If you don't mind, would you please say anythi…
"…Um?"
At that time, I remembered what Aurelio had said when I had gone to Cellen for investigation.
"Was it you who visited Palmasion over the last couple of weeks?"
"Yes." She finally responded to the kindest and softest tone I had been trying.
"Oh, I see. Was there anything you wanted us to help with?"
"My parents told me to go to Ensis Knights."
I noticed her eyes were tearing up as she talked about her parents. I thought there would be a backstory.
"If you want to be one of us, I'm very sorry. We're not accepting women yet."
"…No, It's nothing like that..."
"…"
I was not a detective, but I had instinct which had been built through a lot of field experiences. Definitely, her parents must be… damn. I hoped I was proven to be wrong.
"Where are your… parents now?"
She did not answer that question. While looking at her carefully, I found a bizarre-shaped necklace around her neck. At that moment, my eyes became as wide as they could.
"…!"
My auditory sense responded to the sound of drawing a sword. Staying alert, I looked at the opponent's face. A striking and perfect appearance, but also so fragile as though it would vanish if someone laid a finger on it. A blur smile formed on that face.
"Good posture. You are different from those rookies who learn a sword from a textbook."
Was it a compliment…? Regardless, my auditory sense responded to his voice again, making me snapped. It was almost like fire was bubbling from my innermost place. It was… hatred. It was so fierce, enough to surprise even myself.
"You have good eyes, too. I knew it before… but it surprises me now that I'm facing you. Bring it on."
"Shit!"
The head of the knights who had bullied me for a long time. I sprang towards that asshole, the only one I had never fought so far. But my action was brought to a halt. When I felt his vacant eyes suddenly start filling with clear red, a murderous feeling squeezed me.
"What the…?"
I stepped back from him as fast as I could, only to see X-shaped bloodstain that had already been etched on my chest. Damn. He was still grinning at me. What on earth was that feeling just now… my body broke out in a cold sweat.
"It's okay to be angry… But how could you possibly do anything losing your head like that?"
"Shut up! Who do you say lost a head?"
However, he was totally right. There was clearly something odd in his voice that kept shaking up my emotion. But I did not want to suppress that fierce anger. Over the last week, I had been waiting for this time practicing my sword till my clutch had bled. All those things were the expression of my will that I would kill him no matter what.
"Now, it's my turn."
His body showed up in front of my eyes in a split second. Meaning, I could not follow his move with my eyes unless he was a magician using teleport. Depending on my sixth sense, I lifted my sword over my head horizontally.
*𝘒𝘢𝘢𝘢𝘯𝘨*
The moment when his and my swords collided, a huge shock ran down my whole body. I had not seen nor heard of anyone with this monstrous power. Soon, blood started gushing out of my hand holding the sword.
"Hah…hah…"
Regardless of my will, I groaned under my breath. Gritting my teeth, I tried my best to divert his Herculean strength in the sword to my side. If his sword could not get a hold of itself and ended up sticking to the ground, I might be able to stand a sliver of a chance. But when I struggled to tilt and slide his sword to my next, he drew it back and laughed again.
"Incredible. You lifted up your sword in that short time only depending on your instinct."
He had a point. Like he said, what I had done just now was nothing but sheer luck. Had my hands been just a little bit slower, my body would have been cut into pieces by him. The moment that I felt it was a 'real' battle, my head became frozen fast.
"Well, now you've got your calmness back." He showed a bit of satisfaction, seeing my eyes getting colder.
"…"
I kept my eyes on him silently, trying to guess his timing. Though he was just standing with his arms and sword resting down, it was amazingly hard to find weak points in his posture.
"That is your biggest and strongest weapon, Sir Kiriyan."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, that state of calmness right now, has been the reason for your victory in duels against other knights. You know natively how to win. If your opponent is stronger, you take a step back first, assess their movements, and wait for the perfect opportunity to deliver a single deadly blow."
"I don't remember that I asked you to judge me in the middle of fucking duel."
"Oh, well. I just meant to acknowledge you."
"Stop your BS and continue already." I said with a low voice, pointing my sword toward him with the bleeding hand. He laughed like it was fun.
"Good."
With only one short word, he lunged at me at a terrific speed. I could not catch his movement at this time, either. I struggled to keep my composure.
'If it's impossible to catch him with eyes.'
I closed my eyes at the crossroads of life and death. That was certainly a 'gamble', or even my 'naiveté' of trying to heighten other four basic senses by blocking my sight. And soon, light sparkled in the darkness I had made of my own will.
'Now!'
I lifted the sword as fast as I could. At the same time, I gripped the hilt with my best effort and got ready for the impact.
*𝘒𝘬𝘢𝘢𝘢𝘯𝘨*
A penetrating, metallic sound reverberated. The moment his burning eyes met mine, he twisted his body towards the same direction as my sword. He was trying to use my force against me in the same way, like I had done before. When my body was about to lose balance, keeping my turning speed as it was, I spun 360 degree aiming for his shoulder. It was plain as day that I would be skewered to death by this abnormally strong man if I tried to retrieve the sword and maintain the balance. I thought it was a surprise attack, but it was only knocked off through the air. Before I knew, he made his way back and struck the back of my hand with his blade.
"Aaarrrrgh!"
I had heard from somewhere that 'Despite the way it looks, fist breaks up very easily'. It seems to be hard due to its solid look, but the inside consists of a human's bone anyway. But I did not know I would be the one proving that saying to be true, right here. I had no choice but to let go of my sword.
"It's the end."
Throughout this bloody duel, he had never stopped smiling. Red hair, and red eye knight. Why the hell had you been putting me through all this? What the hell were we in our past lives? I decided to give this freaking guy at least one last final blow before my last moment. The calmness in anger came over me. Was there even an emotion like this? His downward-rushing sword was straightly falling onto my right shoulder. I waited for a chance until the very last, and put my right foot forward, and kicked the shit out of his chin with my left foot as strongly as I could.
Bam!
His head bounced upwards like a lie, and blood splattered. His sword was stuck in my shoulder deeply and about to cut off my right arm. Critical injury, but why? He could definitely have blocked my kick. And I already knew, I could not have been standing alive if he wanted. Did he get hit on purpose?
"Huu, quite hurts." He said it to the sky, lowered his head and looked at me again. Murderous feeling had already disappeared in his eyes.
"Why did you go easy on me?"
I asked without even noticing that I was in serious pain.
"I'm not a lunatic enjoying killing. It felt so nice my chin soared to the sky like that, though. Nice sound, too."
"Sweet Chin Music."
"Don't get me wrong. I didn't mean to get my ass kicked. I thought you gotta have something up your sleeve when I saw that skill of yours a week ago, but I forgot."
"Spinning Spine Buster."
"Aa, whatever." He waved his hand in the air.
"It's been a while since someone got me this good. Refreshing. I stabbed the point that would only bleed a lot. It is not a fatal point so don't worry."
He suddenly pulled his sword out of my shoulder. Blood followed it and landed on my cheek, which was sweaty from sharp pain. The knights' faces behind him did not look very good, either. Some of them were even trembling.
"Today was fantastic. Come and see me again when you get better, we may have a proper fight then."
"…Hey, fucking asshole. Stabbing a person like this… and where are you going now?" Weak voice wobbled out.
"My name is Rorens Selion. Oh, well, I told you it will be alright. You don't have to worry at all."
Just like that, he walked away. I wanted to yell at his back, but I did not know what to yell exactly. I made a silly smile. Everything was in question. From that mysterious handsome guy Rorens Selion, to myself, standing here and staring at his back for no reason. But soon, my pain and blood loss made it impossible to keep standing. I fell seconds later.
Hereby, it was fifth.
"How are you doing, Sir?"
As I entered the palace library, a clerk nodding inside the gatehouse sprang on his feet and saluted. Hey, stop drooling.
"Sleeping on your job is considered negligence of duty and subject to 100,000 celling penalty."
"Argh! So, sorry!"
Money is always the strongest. This regulation that bleeds palace workers dry amazingly, was the idea introduced by Duke Guillermo. I recited to this untrustworthy lad the notorious Article 22 of the Workplace Management Regulation, and showed him my ID card proving my position.
"I came to collect Knights chronicles. You heard about it from Duke Guillermo, right?"
He trembled when he heard the name 'Guillermo', and led us to the basement at a speed of light. Even Aurelio laughed at that scene… I thought that it would be the natural reaction of all staff under Duke Guillermo, given 'You filthy scums!' that they must have been hearing from him every day. I felt a bit sorry about scaring him like that. 'That's the man of blood-and-iron for you.' I mumbled to myself.
"It is here."
I was astonished at the size of the library. What is all this…? Shelves are all glittering as if it is made of gold! Aurelio sarcastically commented about this unnecessarily dazzling library.
"I reckon… the guys from the admin department must be put up to cleaning as well."
"I think so…"
I glanced over the clerk who was gloating at our reaction. I had to suppress my desire to embarrass him with 'that was not a compliment, you fool.'
"Hmph, where are Ensis Knights' chronicles?"
A silly thought came to my mind by looking at the maze in front of me, that as soon as I became careless, I would be the first idiot who got lost in the library. Who knows? There may already have been one!
"If you'll follow me, sir."
The clerk led us to the left and we were able to find what we were looking for soon. But Oh, my! The Ensis Knights chronicles were occupying a half of this vast place! Well, we are the only 'real' knightage in this palace anyway... Although I cannot erase Rose's face for that matter, it is true! By the way, how can we even move this giant 'thing'…?
"It is… a lot more than I thought it would."
"Did we have to bring dozens of wagons…? Haha…"
Aurelio was laughing next to me, speechless. Well, we must be just a little more than 10,000 in total, but why the hell are millions of chronicles in here?! You think we are Shadow Pain in Cheheran empire? (Cheheran was the strongest empire reigned by the only emperor in the world, Razen. And Cheheran's Vanguard Shadow Pain was the most powerful military force with more than a million members.) I let out a big sigh.
"We might have to go back and bring more than a hundred."
Looking overwhelmed by the number of the books, Aurelio went back to the outside without replying. Okay… then let me start looking around here.
"Allow me some time, I'll catch you soon."
"For the master of knightage, the access is limited to 2 times per day, 10 minutes each … Ack!"
"Do you wanna pay extra 100,000 celling for obstruction of justice?"
Threatened by my sword, the clerk disappeared in a second like a smoke. (To be precise, ran away.) Ha, kids today.
'Anyway, what I'm searching for must be…here.'
I gazed at the shelves treasuring Ensis Knights' chronicles. Officially, I visited the palace library in person since Duke Guillermo had asked me to do so, but only 2 hours ago, something had given me another important reason to come here. Severe headache came over me again. The one that looked so close, but still untouchable. It was like a mirage for me. I stood still before the long stretch of records from the past, trying to put the pieces of the paradoxical part of my memory together.
"That necklace is…"
As much as it was rare for me to lose my composure, the shape of the necklace hanging around her neck was enough to leave me bewildered. That shape swirling into the center like a tornado was…
'Cellen.'
I recalled the 'Cellen arson incident' that had happened only a few days ago. The shape of her necklace was exactly the same as the one in the book I had stumbled upon while searching the house. Who the hell is this girl? Could she really have been the one kidnapped, but managed to get away from the criminal and ended up here? What about her parents that had allegedly said 'Go to Ensis Knights'? As we had investigated, in the house were murdered husband and wife in their 50s. Questions arose one after another. If she witnessed all things, I would be able to request the palace a formal investigation based on her testimony. My palms became sweaty.
"Tell me your name. I can help you. You came here to get help, right?"
"…Stacey."
"Okay, Stacey. What happened to your parents? Why did they tell you to go to Ensis Knights?"
"They… have been murdered."
I had a sudden sinking feeling. I kind of saw it coming but… the emotion that had faded a bit came into my mind again. That just confirmed it. She was the 'victim' of Cellen arson incident. As well as the 'witness' thereof.
"What happened? Who murdered your parents?" I asked with the hatred flaming inside my cold mind.
"I… don't know exactly."
"It's okay even if you never saw them. All I ask for is to tell me only what you saw."
"But there was nothing special that I saw…"
"What?"
"I was sleeping, and suddenly got blindfolded by some kind of black cloth and dragged outside. And then I was on the move for about 10 minutes and got tied somewhere for an hour or so. And then he came back and brought me somewhere else."
"Wait, you called the criminal 'he'… that means, was the criminal male?"
"Yes… he was." She had hesitated for a bit before she finally said it. She was just 17 years old. Even though she did not witness the scene herself, it must be very tough for her to recall the very person who had murdered her parents.
"I know what you've been put through Stacey… but could you please describe how he looked like and what he was wearing?"
"He was very handsome and …kind of unforgettable. He had red hair, and was very tall, …and I can't remember what he was wearing. But…"
While gradually organizing my thoughts from her words, I belatedly realized there were some odd points behind this complicated, subtle arson incident. Those were some bottom-line questions sitting at a blind spot, things that could easily be noticed but could not easily be 'understood' so almost had been ignored by now. I shook my head and stopped her.
"That's enough."
"…Yes."
I could not help asking those questions to her, who was looking at me with an air of expectation.
"Stacey."
"Yes?"
"There are a lot of doubts that haven't been answered yet. What was the murder weapon that killed your parents, and why wasn't there even a single household nearby? Did they all disappear in the air, or were they not there from the beginning? Why wasn't there any witness, why did he abduct you? It definitely seemed to have been done by one person but how did he get rid of all leads in such a short time and leave? Plus, why was that 'perfect' criminal out for a commoner's house in Perriun's local city Cellen in the first place."
"…"
"And, Stacey. You showed up here."
Lowering her head, Stacey kept silent.
"But for now, we have to set aside all these doubts and find answers for two new questions that don't make sense."
"…?"
"First, how on earth could you run away from the perfect criminal?"
Literally. The excessively careful man who did not leave even the most common evidence like footprints or fingerprints ended up missing his target by mistake? It was an impossible turn of events unless she was a world champion of a 100-meter sprint. I gazed at her. She opened her mouth at last.
"He was… very strong."
"…"
"Ridiculously strong. It was like a big machine gradually squeezing to cut off my wrist. I had to run for a long time blinded."
"Do you remember the direction?"
"No… I don't. As I said, it was a deep night. It was dark all around…"
'It doesn't make sense either that there wasn't any witness to the fire in the dark night.'
If so, it would leave me only one conclusion. Witnesses must have been all 'removed'. But then, that would present more mysteries. That, no one found their bodies' whereabouts, and he did the job in such a small time window and disappeared. Did he happen to be a deity?
"…Then all of a sudden, an earthquake started."
"…Earthquake…?"
I asked her with a little bit of stupid tone. Is she talking about shaking of the ground from movement of the earth's crust…? Is that it?
"Is there another 'earthquake'…?" She tilted her head and asked.
"Hem…nothing. But I haven't been reported any earthquake in Perriun recently."
"Sure thing. It would've been even embarrassing to call it an earthquake. Just… trees were shaking, leaves were flying around and it was hard to keep my balance while standing."
…Hey, that was quite a serious level! Don't say it so casually like it was nothing!
"Anyway, I was barely standing… but suddenly he started acting very strangely."
"That means?"
"He collapsed onto the ground with his head wrapped in his arms, trembled, which I felt was really uncharacteristic of him."
"Why did he behave like that?"
"Nothing but the earthquake. It must've been the only reason for it."
I could sense what she wanted to say to me. He must have had some sort of 'trauma' about an earthquake. The part that his consciousness could not control, something in the back of his mind. Did that timely earthquake trigger that 'something'? What was he scared of that much?
"So, was that when you caught the chance?"
"It was the only chance to get away from his terrific power."
She shivered once, like she was thinking about that moment. Does that mean she managed to stay calm and trace her way back while being under such fear and confusion? I truly thought she was unbelievable.
"Weren't you scared?"
"I definitely was… so I ran away clenching my teeth more and more. It was right before I got exhausted that I finally could escape from the wood and arrive at a village nearby."
"You are brilliant. Your courage will be the key to this case." I said right from my heart and she made a faint smile. Come to think of it, it was the first time I saw her smile. Around her was an arcane aura making her look 'mystic'. She was the one clearly different from others in the same age. Not only in terms of her appearance but, of all things. Right. That was why she was abducted by that mysteriously strong guy. Now, I had to find out about the next point, 'why was she only abducted, not murdered?'. But before that.
"Stacey, now it is time to answer the second question."
"…Yes. What would that be?"
"I heard that you have visited Palmasion for the last few days?"
"Yes."
"And the reason is… your parents told you to come here."
"Sure… is there a problem?"
"Of course. How the hell could your murdered parents even say anything to you?"
Don't ask like it is so natural! If it was true, this novel would turn into a horror genre! But it was already fearful. And it was my second question. If I tried to understand what she just said with common sense, it must have been before the incident that her parents had done so. But that was also nonsense. Did her parents have a crystal ball to predict their death…? I hurried her to answer this mystery. I meant, to answer it with a bit of common sense. But her answer only threw me to the deeper darkness.
"…Channeling."
"…What'd you say just now…?"
"Channeling. When I fled to that village, I called my mother immediately."
At that moment, the word even I had not given much thought came out of her mouth unexpectedly. I blamed myself in complete chaos. It was nice indeed that I had inferred the shape of her necklace was the same as the one in the mysterious book in that house, but I had foolishly failed to remember that shape meant 'Magatama' – the oriental design which represents channeling. The instant I realized it, I felt something appeared over the fog, albeit dimly. At least one thing became clear. Cellen arson incident was indisputably related to the unrealistic action, 'channeling'. And the 'unrealistically powerful criminal' should have been its proof. I scolded myself with a mumble, 'why didn't you think about it in advance?'.
"Literally. I'm the person with a spiritual power, and I could call my mom's departed soul into my body and let her stay awhile. Surely I'm immature yet so it was just for a few minutes…"
"Then, are you saying your mom told you at that time? To go to Ensis Knights?"
"When I'm in the middle of channeling, the soul that came in from outside can't communicate with the expelled soul that originally belongs to the medium. So, my mom left a memo while she was staying in me. And it said 'Go to Ensis Knights'."
"…"
I had to think about how much I should trust what she said. But in the end, I had to admit the fact that I should believe her. Otherwise, the investigation would be back to square one. Plus, the meaning of investigating this incident would disappear, too. Above all, it seemed like her eyes were telling the truth. There was no tangible evidence, but it was sort of a detective's hunch.
"…And,"
"…?"
"There was one name written on the memo. It was…"
I could not help but doubt my ears the moment she said what it was. Why was that name blurted out at this point? That name sneaked into my defenseless mind like a shadow in the darkness, rubbed my nose in it and violated me. And again, it faded into the blackened memory of my childhood. Every single piece of the memory with the man with that name had been drawn into the endless dark abyss and had not come back again. Why. What did he exist as in the moment that had never reoccurred to my mind. And, what was the reason that nameless empty time had dominated me up to this day. In the present that could not still be independent from the past, I had to wipe my soundless tears falling on her face that had come up to the surface of my memory.
While carefully looking into the order of books, I could realize that the books were aligned chronologically. From nobody, like a typical aristocrat who simply wanted to set foot in a symbolistic job of men, to a real hero who had realized a 'saga' going down in history. All of those had formed a sedimentary layer at this palace library like stones piled on the bottom of a lake one by one.
'Damn! That's why there's a useless dump heap here! Just throw out chronicles for dead knights!'
Surely for me, it was a big misfortune… that was not important anyway. After fumbling around the shelves, I stopped in front of a series of chronicles. It was 15 years ago, when I had joined Ensis Knights. Suddenly a dark desire arose in me that I wanted to peek at my own record back in the past, but I had to suppress it. Not long after, I took a thick book out of the shelf.
'It should be here… if I am not wrong…'
And then, even before 5 minutes passed, let alone the 10 minutes time limit, I ended up with that name in the chronicle.
I narrowed my eyes. Maybe I did not want to admit that I was feeling unsettled by that name.
𝘙𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘚𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯'𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺. 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴 𝘒𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 1 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 2 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴. 𝘞𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘥𝘶𝘦𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦'𝘴 '𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯' 𝘏𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 3 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱. 𝘌𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦. 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪 𝘈𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘵, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘡𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘥𝘰𝘮…
…What the hell are these surreal and excessively glittering records! If a dude like him was a master of the knightage, Perriun kingdom would've unified the world already! Was the person who wrote it a wife of his? Otherwise it can never be explained! It was the moment that my resolve not to be shaken wound up breaking in such a weird way. At that time, something caught my eye while riffling through the pages angrily.
𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 '𝘔𝘺𝘦𝘰𝘭-𝘴𝘢𝘦𝘯𝘨'. 𝘚𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 1,000 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘵, 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘯.
'What the…'
For a short moment, my brain failed to understand the visual stimulation, so I tried to reread the sentence. But at that instant,
"Sir Kiriyaaaaaaaaan!!!"
Because of the heavy forearm choking me from behind, I found myself hard to breathe. What is it! How the heck can anyone be this strong…
"What are you doing here --."
Rose was laughing behind me. Is it true this bloody sloth is already awake at 5 pm? I knew 18-hour-sleep was one of his 'Absolute 10 commandments'… Then Rose had my tilted head in a headlock grip and started dragging me out of the library just like that. Hey, let go of me already! Let's talk!
"What do you think you are doing, Rose!"
"Library hours 10 minutes have already passed --."
"But! I was following Duke Guillermo's special order to collect knights' chronicles…"
"Oh, my dear! You don't have to do it yourself. It is detrimental for your mental health. That will make a lot of wrinkles on your fac…. Argh!!"
I could not stand it anymore, so I drew Rose's sword to his surprise, straightened my upper body and brandished it to him. Surely that dude was absurdly strong enough to easily dodge my all-out attack, so I could wield the sword as I pleased, without a shred of guilty conscience. Proving my thought, he caught my sword between his palms, showed a silly smile on his face and made me flip… wait, what? What is that red blood line on his belly?
"…Sir, Sir Kiriyan…"
"R, Rose! Why did you not avoid it?"
Rose clutched his stomach with a frown of pain and called me strenuously. Well, did I cut him just now? What? Really? Leaving me speechless, he fell headlong to the ground.
"Aaah, Sir Kiriyan. It seems my life ends only at the age of 32…"
"Rose! What the hell happened! Wake up!"
"Dur, are you asking what happened after what you've done just now… I, I'm a victim here..."
Rose's golden eyes were precarious like a candle in the wind. I held him in my arms without a word. He was my only friend since I had been an apprentice knight. And did I just accidentally cut him by my stupid mistake? Answer me, you bastard!
"Rose! Stay with me! You'll be fine if we go to the hospital right now!"
"It's too late already… *cough*, Sir Kiriyan… please look after Hellon Knights…"
"Shut up bastard! Stay alive and take care of it yourse... what?"
While grabbing him by the collar and shaking him roughly, a somewhat sweet fragrance wafted into my nose. At that time, the clerk saw this ruckus and rushed over here, and then suddenly wiped the bloodstain on Rose's stomach and put it into his mouth. What…is this atmosphere?
"Sir Kiriyan… this is…kind of syrup…I think."
He looked at me with a face saying 'what on earth are you doing, idiot?'. So, was I just fooled by this koala that chews the likes of eucalyptus leaf with its head up in the clouds? Hahaha, a tendon stood out on my forehead.
"Hahaha, Sir Kiriyan. It seems like it's been too busy these days so I thought I'd make some fun…"
Rose tried to keep joking around not knowing the air, but stepped back after he saw my face. Sure, I also think if you don't get out of my face right now, I'll kill you for real. So…
"S, Sir Kiriyan. A tendon on your forehead…"
"Hey, he's blowing up! Run away!"
With Rose's screaming as a cue, Rose and the clerk ran away at an unbelievable speed as if they were one single body.
"Hey, freeze! Fucking bastards!"
Were you carrying that goddamn syrup only to trick me! If you have that much time, try to make dinner for your hard-working knights! I felt a mysterious power of anger come into my lower abdomen in an instant. Good, by using this, I will run through the mid-air and catch them up and kill the shit out of Ros….
"…"
Aurelio, who had come back before I knew, was looking at me with nearly a hundred of subordinates. I quickly adjusted my uniform, tied my hair back in a ponytail and caught the falling sheath… Damn, it is the worst.
"Pfff."
Yes, laugh at me as much as you like. But that guy, wasn't he a super serious type? Why are you laughing too? Damn!
At last, I could not ask Rose what I had determined to ask even though he had come here by his own feet. I stared at the basement door through which the clerk and Rose had run away together for a while.
'You… eluded me this way. But I will ask it for sure next time. Whether it is just a coincidence or not…'
I was not an idiot. Rorens Selion and Rose Selion. But then again, I hoped that it still turned out to be a weird coincidence. And at the same time, I tried to recall something behind the name that was still tormenting me.
'That name was, Rorens Selion.'
What Stacey had said before I had departed from Palmasion, was wandering around in my head like a specter.