Chapter 10: The Captain, the Key, and the Quiet Before the Fire

Kiriti found Emeric at the edge of the training yard.

The captain was sitting on an overturned crate, sharpening a short-bladed spear. His left gauntlet lay beside him, fingers curled open like a hand that had forgotten how to grip. His right hand moved in slow, practiced arcs, the whetstone whispering over steel.

"Didn't hear you," Emeric said without looking up.

"I didn't say anything," Kiriti replied, stepping onto the packed earth.

Emeric grunted. "Exactly."

The yard was quiet. A single bird called from the chimney. The forge across the alley was cold. No one else trained here anymore — not since the last group of guards left for higher-tier cities.

Now it was just Kiriti and Emeric. Two shadows against the morning mist.

"You're early," Emeric said.

"Or maybe you're just always here," Kiriti said.

That earned a soft snort. Almost a laugh.

They didn't speak again for a while.

Kiriti sat down across from him, resting his practice spear against his shoulder.

He could still feel the weight of the hidden room beneath the town. The words carved in stone. The whisper from the door.

He hadn't told anyone.

Not yet.

But Emeric watched him like he already knew.

"You've seen something," the captain said, finally setting the spear down. "Your eyes changed."

Kiriti didn't answer.

He didn't need to.

Emeric sighed. Picked up the gauntlet. Set it in his lap.

"There's a reason I never left this place," he said. "Could've transferred out five times. Got offers. But I stayed."

"Why?"

"Because this town needed remembering. And I was afraid no one else would do it."

Kiriti looked up.

Emeric met his gaze.

"And now you're here."

The captain reached into his belt pouch and pulled something out — wrapped in dark cloth, the size of a fist.

He handed it over.

Kiriti unfolded it carefully.

A badge.

Worn, scratched. A crest half-faded. But the metal still held weight.

"That's not just a symbol," Emeric said. "That's responsibility. It belonged to the last man who tried to defend Stonehollow when the fires came."

Kiriti traced the lines with his thumb.

"This is yours."

Emeric shook his head. "Was."

Kiriti hesitated.

"I'm not a knight."

"Not yet."

Emeric leaned forward.

"But tell me this — if Stonehollow burned again, would you run?"

Kiriti didn't blink.

"No."

"Would you fight?"

"Yes."

"Would you protect the ones who can't fight?"

"Every time."

Emeric nodded once.

"Then you're already more of a knight than most men who wore that badge."

Kiriti closed his fingers around the metal.

It didn't glow. No system popup. No quest alert.

Just a feeling.Like something settling into place.

"You're going to be hunted soon," Emeric said, quiet now. "They'll come for you. Not because you broke anything. Because you changed something they don't understand."

"I didn't mean to."

"I know."

Emeric stood slowly, joints cracking like old wood.

"But you did it anyway."

He paused. Looked at Kiriti like he wasn't just seeing a recruit anymore — but someone who'd already stepped beyond the wall.

"When they come," Emeric said, "you won't be alone."

Kiriti rose too.

"Because of the guards?"

Emeric smiled.

"No."

He nodded toward the town.

"Because of them."

As if on cue, a boy passed the yard, holding a sack of potatoes twice his size. He waved at Kiriti.

Kiriti waved back.

A door creaked open from the chapel. A candle flickered behind the glass.

And from the tower above, the bell gave a single, hollow clink — not loud enough for alarm.

Just enough to be heard.

📄 [SYSTEM FLAG — LEGACY ITEM: STONEHOLLOW BADGE]Passive Effect: Community Anchor• Nearby NPCs gain minor morale boost• Players with hostile intent may be watched

[Kiriti Affinity Tag Updated: "Protector of Forgotten Flame"]