Extra 18 - Kihano – For the Young Possibilities (2)
Clang! Clang!
A sound echoed through the dark interior of the mill.
It started from the top and spread downward.
Even the spirits, who lay weakened, lifted their heads at the sudden noise.
Crackle!
The sword slashed with such force that it even crackled with flames.
However, Samonte's glass tubes didn't show a single scratch. Kihano realized it.
"…It's magic."
The tubes trapping the little spirits were transparent, but they were filled with the mystery Samonte had embedded in them.
That power deceived the world and deflected the tip of his sword.
"Andrew, is there no way to break this?"
"…Not right now. Maybe if you give me some time."
"Time is the last thing we have."
Andrew had been a great wizard, but that was when he had a human form.
Asking him for a solution now was useless.
"Damn it."
Kihano swallowed, his throat burning with urgency.
He felt cornered.
But while his hands remained still, his eyes continued to move sharply.
"Couldn't they have enchanted all these things with magic?"
Above the little snake, who was staring wide-eyed, there were numerous mechanical devices.
He didn't know what they were for, but surely one of them was keeping the spirits trapped.
"…I remember seeing a diagram somewhere."
Recalling the diagram he had seen, Kihano licked his lips.
As complicated as the machinery was, disassembling it was the opposite of assembling it.
Or at least he might find a weak point.
Rumble!
"Urgh!"
Kihano had come up with a plan, but it was too late.
"What is this?"
The ground suddenly shook as if an earthquake was happening. Kihano quickly crouched down.
But the tremor didn't stop.
"An earthquake?"
"No! This isn't an earthquake!"
Clank, clank!
A deafening noise came from below. Kihano looked down and saw it.
"…!"
The gears of the mill began to move.
Dozens, hundreds, thousands of gears turned like a spreading wave, locking into each other and roaring in unison.
Kihano felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
Uwaaaa!
Stop it already!
"…!"
At the same time, he heard the screams of the spirits behind him.
Trapped in the glass capsules, they glowed like burning candles and screamed in pain.
"This isn't a mill!"
Rumble!
With a roar like thunder, Samonte's mill was rising.
It was the mill a fallen mage had built to fulfill the wish of a perfect dragon.
"This is a golem!"
It was finally showing its true form—a masterpiece of magic and engineering.
Perhaps the largest golem in the world was rising, devouring the cries of the little spirits.
Roooaaar!
***
Rumble!
A deafening sound rumbled through the peaceful hills of Consuegra.
That noise came from the mill, which was slowly standing up.
The villagers, who had been watching the event in honor of the noble dragon, screamed in horror at the sight.
"My God, what is that?"
"The… the mill is rising!"
It was such a terrifying sight that they even forgot about the dragon's presence.
Samonte's mill, with its rusted structure and sharp spear-like head aimed at the sky, was slowly standing up.
The sight was so grotesque and monstrous that the villagers could only hold their breath.
"What do you think, Lord Sarnus?"
While everyone was silent, the only one who couldn't hide his excitement was the mage Samonte, who raised his arms in triumph.
He had been rejected by his fallen lineage and expelled from his order of wizards.
But now, no one there could dare to despise him, because the roar of the golem above was Samonte's triumphant cry.
"Look! Look at that imposing figure!"
Roar!
Finally, the giant that had stood up roared in fury, as if announcing its arrival to the world.
Samonte laughed like a madman, his face a mask of lunacy.
But the dragon's blue eyes only showed a cold smile.
"Excellent, Samonte."
The mill, disguised until that moment, was actually a giant golem born of the mage's madness.
Even Sarnus, always composed, allowed a smile to slip as he admired the monstrous creation.
"…My God."
It was large enough to destroy the hill.
The villagers, frozen in awe, began to awaken from their trance when they saw the golem moving closer.
Thud! Thud!
"Huh?"
Thud! Thud! Thud!
"Huh, huh?"
Each step of the golem was a crashing boom that brought it closer and closer.
But as it advanced toward Consuegra, fear replaced any reverence the villagers felt.
"Where is it going?"
"It's heading toward the village!"
Because the golem was heading for the village, an unstoppable mass of machinery and magic.
Even Samonte, the golem's creator, was stunned.
"Th-this can't be!"
He frantically turned the control levers, but the golem wouldn't respond.
It kept moving forward, its massive steps closing in on the gathered humans.
Panic drained the color from Samonte's face.
"Lord Sarnus."
"What's happening?"
"Th-this…"
Roar!
The golem picked up speed, venting steam as it advanced like an enraged beast.
Now Sarnus also understood the gravity of the situation.
"I'll kill them all!"
Accompanying the golem's roar, a childlike voice screamed.
No one else could hear it, but it was the spirits trapped in the mill who cried out in rage.
"Now you'll suffer like we did!"
A young world that was wounded because no one stepped forward.
Now, those worlds were crying out to the humans, pouring out their fury with no place left to go.
***
"Aghh!"
Clang! Clang!
Kihano struggled against the scorching heat emanating from behind him.
The hot air made him squeeze his eyes shut tightly; it was as if all that heat was coming from the trapped spirits.
But what truly tormented him wasn't that heat…
"This is way too high!"
"Try to stay quiet, for a bit!"
There was Kihano, hanging precariously from the tip of the windmill blade, which was finally starting to turn.
It had always been a tall structure, but now that it was moving, it seemed even higher.
He had managed to escape the heat, but now he was trapped on the gigantic, rusted blades of the windmill.
"I should have turned into a sparrow instead of a frog!"
"That really would've been adorable!"
Andrew kicked his legs in fear, but Kihano was no less terrified.
"…Don't you think my head just brushed against a cloud?"
Being so high up, he felt the cold air and laughed nervously.
"It's time to get down!"
"Aaaahhh!"
What goes up must come down.
When the blade reached its lowest point, Kihano clenched his teeth and prepared himself.
"Not even when I was born did I feel this!"
The ridiculous sensation of floating made the area below his navel tingle as if it were going to burst, but this was not a moment when he could simply squeeze his eyes shut like he had before.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The golem's footsteps grew closer and closer, signaling that the ground was near.
Kihano, who had already failed three times at landing and was feeling the dizzying slide, didn't want to taste the clouds with his tongue any longer.
"Hold on tight!"
Kihano's eyes glowed, concentrating on the precise moment.
When the windmill blade passed near the golem's knee, he leaped.
"…!"
At the moment the rotating blade came close to the golem's knees, Kihano, aiming for that instant, jumped like a flying squirrel.
There was a frog's scream along with him, but Kihano's body was already flying toward the next landing point.
"Waaah!"
You couldn't jump from a moving golem unless you had the courage to do it.
The difficulty level was equivalent to stepping on the debris of a collapsing building.
"Aren't we on the ground yet?"
"You'll see for yourself!"
"I have my eyes closed!"
However, Kihano descended with precision, landing on each point he had planned.
Even Yan, who was following him on his donkey, watched with his mouth agape.
"Last jump!"
Perfectly understanding the golem's movements, Kihano executed his final maneuver.
Kihano, who had flown by following the motion, was now attempting the final leap toward the meadow.
"Aaaah!"
"Ribbit!"
Although the landing wasn't perfect, at least he was back on solid ground.
"Sir Kihano! Are you all right?"
"…."
Kihano's expression was so twisted that it was hard to ask him what had happened. His brown hair was mercilessly tousled by the strong wind, which did not help his appearance.
However, confirming that his feet had finally touched the ground, Kihano tried to steady his trembling legs and pointed at Yan.
"Take a potion out of your backpack. It's the one glowing green."
"This one?"
"Yes, that one."
The glass bottle Yan pulled out glowed with an ominous green light. However, Kihano didn't hesitate to open it and pour the contents into his mouth.
"Ugh! Cough, cough!"
The thick, concentrated taste of pine needles tortured his tongue. The smell was so strong that even Andrew, who was lying face down as if dead, opened his eyes.
"…Where is it going now?"
Kihano, who had regained his senses thanks to the potion, saw the golem heading toward Consuegra.
The cries of the spirits trapped inside the golem, running as if ready to destroy the village, still echoed.
"It looks like the giant is furious about something. Also, its eyes look red."
"They're probably not eyes, but windows."
Understanding what was happening from the cries of the spirits, Kihano quickly called to Andrew.
"Wake up already!"
"Ugh… Where am I?"
"Quick, come to your senses and get ready as I told you!"
Kihano shook Andrew hard to wake him up. Then, he adjusted his sword and began looking down the slope leading to the village.
The hills of Consuegra were marked with enormous footprints. Before, the place had been full of green grass, but where the golem had passed, only dark earth remained.
"…Sir Kihano? Don't tell me you're going to face the golem again."
Yan's eyes widened in disbelief at the sight of Kihano preparing his gear. However, Kihano's gaze was firm and determined, as if he had already made up his mind.
"But someone has to do something."
"What?"
Yan couldn't hear the spirits' cries, but Kihano's ears were still filled with those laments. The child who had been hiding inside Kihano began to awaken with that sound.
The world of the spirits, connected through his wounds, was no different from his own world now.
"Someone has to step up for them."
Remembering the time when no one had, Kihano decided that this time, he would.
"Take this."
"Kihano? Sir Kihano!"
Kihano handed Yan a bundle of white papers and ran toward the massive golem-windmill. Yan's anxious voice was left behind, but Kihano was already charging toward the village.
"…What is this?"
Now alone on the hill, Yan looked at the papers Kihano had given him. They were the blueprints showing how Samonte's windmill was constructed, filled with various diagrams. Yan focused on a note written in red letters at the bottom.
"Emergency braking device?"
Samonte's golem continued advancing toward the village. Kihano ran down the hill to stop it.
His sword was small, and the enemy gigantic, but what now shone in Kihano's left eye was the world he had forgotten.
The child crying within him slowly raised his head, guided by the starlight filtering through his connected world.
Biography of Kihano.
***
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Each footstep made the earth tremble, as if the very ground was about to crack. The vibrations could be felt even from a distance, but as the golem approached, fear reflected on the faces of the villagers.
"It's headed for the village!"
"There are children in the village!"
Consuegra, a quiet place on a remote corner of the Barony of Turrek, had never faced a crisis like this.
The people, finally aware of the danger, ran toward the village. However, their movements were far too slow compared to the strides of the golem.
"Lord Sarnus! Help us!"
"Stop the golem! That giant is heading straight for the village!"
The only being they could trust was a dragon born of perfection. Without hesitation, the villagers fell to their knees and desperately pleaded with Sarnus. Yet the cold blue eyes of the dragon didn't turn toward the people begging him.
"Is it impossible to control it?"
"Uh? No, technically not…"
"Be honest."
Samonte tried to stammer an excuse, but for some reason, he couldn't open his mouth easily in front of Sarnus. The world of Sarnus grew larger the longer you looked at him. As a rightful ruler, his gaze emitted a force impossible to defy.
"…I'm sorry."
The last chance vanished in a powerless failure. Samonte, consumed by despair, bowed his head. However, a subtle smile appeared on Sarnus's face.
"This is even better."
"What?"
The gigantic golem advanced toward Consuegra. The destruction was no accident; it was the purpose of Sarnus's experiment. What mattered wasn't controlling the golem but how much it could crush.
"Wasn't this golem created to face the southern beast tribes? Testing it here wouldn't be so bad."
"…."
The golem, born for destruction, had absorbed the cries of the young spirits. Sarnus did not hear the villagers' laments or the spirits' screams. He only saw the target in front of him.
"Hmm?"
But there was one person who could reach into Sarnus's world.
"Hold on just a little longer!"
A man whose potential was so brilliant that even dragons feared it. Kihano ran downhill, charging straight toward the golem.
"I'll stop it immediately!"
"Kihano… Frausen."
A man who hadn't been there when he was needed. Kihano Frausen. But as he ran toward where he should be, he shone like that boy of the past.
***
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The vibrations traveling through the air seemed to shake his insides.
But Kihano, sliding down the hill, didn't have a second to hesitate.
'If it keeps going, it'll reach the village!'
He didn't need to hear the spirits' screams to know.
Samonte's mill was heading straight for the village.
He didn't even need to imagine what would happen if the enraged golem reached the village.
"I can't let that happen!"
Kihano drew his sword and ran toward the golem's feet.
The distance was so dangerous that it seemed he could be crushed at any moment, but his shining eyes calmly focused on the golem's descending feet.
Thud!
"One!"
Thud!
"Two!"
There was a time when he believed he could achieve any goal, no matter how impossible it seemed.
In those days, he feared no opponent.
Thud!
"…Three!"
But now, reality had caught up to him. He was just Kihano, a pathetic version of his childhood self who had dreamed of being great.
To redeem himself, Kihano leaped toward the golem's foot.
Crash!
"Ugh!"
The dust that splashed his face was rough, and the violently blowing wind was cutting.
Conditions impossible to endure for an ordinary person.
But Kihano didn't let go, climbing up with the golem's foot.
The eyes of the child watching from his inner world drew closer and closer to the sky.
"Emergency brake!"
Samonte's emergency brake had three parts.
The first on the left knee.
The second at the center of the waist.
And the third at the axle of the still-furiously spinning blades.
"First, the knee!"
When the golem's foot reached its highest point, Kihano climbed up quickly.
It was just a fleeting moment when the foot briefly paused before taking the next step.
But that brief instant was all he needed to move freely.
"Grrr!"
He regretted his past self.
He'd had time, but he froze.
But now, the time left to him offered a last chance he didn't intend to waste.
"Haaaa!"
Kihano jumped from the left foot of the golem, which was quickly descending.
A risky jump, with no support.
It seemed insane, but his decision was correct. In front of him, the golem's knee descended.
Crash!
"Ugh!"
Metal fragments grazed his cheek.
But Kihano smiled despite the blood running down his face.
He had found what he was looking for.
"…I found it."
A small, barely visible red mark.
Clinging to the golem's knee, he saw the emergency brake marked in red.
"Why don't we stop and have a little chat?"
His sword gleamed with a light so intense that even Sarnus, from afar, could see it.
"Haa!"
Crash!
A small gear hidden in the dark interior.
The piece that controlled the knee's movement shattered into pieces with Kihano's sword.
Roar!
***
Rumble!
A corner of the hill collapsed due to the sudden lurch of the golem.
The heavy structure couldn't support its own weight, leaving heaps of dark earth in its wake.
The villagers, watching from a nearby hill, covered their mouths in astonishment.
Some noticed a bright light on the golem.
"What's that?"
Even through the dust, an unusual light shone.
That light climbed quickly from the golem's knee to its waist.
-Now stop!
"…It's… it's a person."
"How can there be a person there?"
Roar!
The golem, whose left leg wouldn't move at all, was caught by the ankle and roared loudly.
But everyone's eyes fixed on Kihano, who kept striking with his sword.
"…It's Kihano! Sir Kihano!"
"Kihano of Frausen! He's the guest from our inn!"
Destruction continued approaching the village, but the guards didn't move, and Sarnus's eyes remained cold.
People who were in the right place but didn't do what they should.
Yet, even in that moment of despair, there remained a knight willing to do what was necessary for them.
"Sir Kihano is destroying the golem!"
"Oh heavens!"
An enemy far too big for a mere human.
Stopping the golem was an impossible dream, but in front of the villagers, a man was making it reality.
"…This is the second one!"
Sweat ran down his chin and dripped onto the red mark.
He was exhausted, and his sword trembled.
But his eyes remained fixed on his goal.
Crash!
Roar!
The second brake, at the waist, broke.
The lower half of the golem froze completely.
-Sir Kihano is destroying the mill!
-Kihano of Frausen!
-The pride of the town of La Mancha stands before us!
"…."
The cries of joy resounded around him.
It was the respect and admiration deserved by a knight who protected a world that couldn't defend itself.
But behind those cheers, the eyes of a dragon remained cold.
"It's done, Lord Sarnus!"
The villagers were thanking the knight instead of the dragon.
Sarnus's heart burned with rage, but Samonte didn't notice.
"I don't know what happened, but Kihano disabled the brake...! The legs are useless, but the arms still work!"
"Can it still move?"
The world of Kihano, seen through Sarnus's closed left eye, was like a wounded flower.
But even a wounded flower can reach the stars if it keeps dreaming.
"In that case, let's test it now."
Sarnus smiled as he made a slicing gesture.
At the same time, Sarnus's fingers traced a line across the back of his neck.
"How about it? If I can, I promise to offer you my full support in the future."
"…."
But only perfect dragons can reach the sky above.
Sarnus whispered softly as he watched how the trampled possibilities regained their color.
"Kill him."
***
"Hahh! Hahh!"
Kihano was climbing the mill, dragging his already exhausted body.
Even though the golem was now still and only emitted wails toward the village, Kihano still had a task to complete.
"It hurts! It hurts so much!"
"Please, someone get us out of here!"
"…Hold on a little longer."
The cries kept coming from the top of the mill.
Though the people behind him were celebrating, they couldn't hear the wails of the young spirits.
Only Kihano could perceive those cries as he climbed toward the final emergency brake.
"Kihano!"
"…!!"
Suddenly, a sound rumbled like thunder in his mind. It was a warning from the mage connected through their bond.
"Look up!"
Perhaps because he was so exhausted, he hadn't noticed the lethal presence in time.
A sharp threat bared its fangs above his head.
"What the hell is that now?!"
The golem's right arm, as tall as a mountain, was descending upon him.
It looked like a meteor falling from the sky. But Kihano noticed too late; there was no way to escape.
"Jump!"
Suddenly, a strange sensation coursed through his legs.
It was the mage's power transmitted through their connection.
"Jump like a frog!"
"…!"
The contact with Andrew had expanded Kihano's world. Thus, his body adopted the agility of Andrew's legs.
Crash!
A devastating blow struck, with no concern for whether his body would shatter. As debris flew everywhere, Samonte raised his hand to control the golem, but a silhouette emerged even higher.
"I told you to be a sparrow, not a frog!"
Hop!
The jumping power of a frog can reach up to twenty times its size.
Therefore, Kihano soared into the sky, so high that he could look over the mill.
"…And how am I going to get down now?!"
For a moment, Kihano ascended to the highest point in the world.
Seeing the sky he had dreamed of as a child, the small boy inside him smiled brightly.
***
"Good positioning!"
Seeing Kihano in the air, Andrew began to chant a spell quickly.
"Good positioning? At this rate, Kihano is going to die!"
From within the old brass basin, Andrew closed his eyes. Yan called to him desperately, but Andrew's magical gesture had already transcended the skies.
"...Clouds of Mambrino, I summon you now."
The Clouds of Mambrino, more powerful than any other force Andrew could invoke.
It was an impossible spell without the enchanted golden helmet, but with its aid, he could achieve it for a brief moment.
"The nobility of ideals deserves a blue sky."
Rumble!
Blue clouds gathered above the sky where Kihano was ascending.
"Impossible dreams deserve white lightning."
Crack!
White lightning began to form. The sudden storm painted the hills of Consuegra white.
"Let the colors I summon deceive the world!"
Even though his current form was that of a humble frog.
Nevertheless, the name he was given when he was human was the Great Mage of Mambrino. Andrew, the summoner of lightning.
"Ahhhh!"
A heavy rain began to fall over the hill where the spirits wept.
Amid the flashes of white lightning, Kihano descended with a celestial light.
"This is the final blow!"
A white bolt fell for the young spirits who had called to him.
The white lightning that the boy had embraced descended with Kihano, burning his left eye and striking the Samonte mill.
Boom!
A flower was blooming.
His faith in himself had carried him to the stars.
The hill of Consuegra shone with a brilliance so intense that even the dragon could not ignore it, and the blades of the mill shattered.
***
To dream the impossible.
To defeat invincible enemies,
to endure unbearable pain,
to die for noble ideals.
To right wrongs,
to love with purity and kindness.
To fall in love with impossible dreams,
and thus, with faith, reach for the stars.
That is the mission and duty of a true knight.
From the novel Don Quixote.