〈 Chapter 59: A Story from Long Ago (1) 〉
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The sun was blaring down.
I opened my eyes.
And then I felt something strange.
‘This isn’t Sakh.’
With such a glaring sunlight, there was only one place it could be.
‘Is this Leim Kingdom?’
He looked down at his body.
It was that of a completely young boy.
‘So this is… what is happening?’
He realized.
This was a memory from 500 years ago, now faded away.
A memory from a time of peace, before Chaos appeared.
“Libero!”
At the sound calling him, he turned to the side.
There stood a girl.
With bright blonde hair and blue eyes shining like sunlight.
Her appearance perfectly reflected the traits of the Leim Royal Family.
“Why are you like this, Princess?”
“I searched for you forever! Where on earth have you been?”
“I was practicing swordsmanship.”
At his words, she brought her nose closer to him and took a sniff.
“Ugh, yeah, you definitely smell like sweat.”
“Then why are you smelling me?”
“Enough! Just hurry up and tell me the story we were talking about last time!”
If it’s a story, she must be talking about that.
The tale of a righteous hero appearing at night in the Leim Kingdom to defeat villains.
It was a slightly modified version of a story that had been circulating among the children outside the castle. After all, a story too bloody wouldn’t do.
“Where did we leave off last time?”
“Um… the part where the Masked Hero robs the assets of a corrupt noble?”
“That’s where we were.”
He began to weave the story from there.
In truth, while he was praised as a genius in swordsmanship, his storytelling skills were lacking.
However, the princess listened to his tale with delight.
‘Maybe it didn’t have to be me telling the story?’
Sometimes that thought crossed his mind.
Perhaps it was because he was the only one of her age in the palace who got along with her.
But that didn’t mean he wasn’t happy in that moment.
The beautiful blonde shimmering in the warm sunlight.
The occasional light laughter that rang out.
Her fragrance mixed with the scent of fresh grass.
Those were happy times that gradually faded as they grew.
As the princess grew older, she also grew distant from him.
Of course, she sometimes came to visit him. However, after a few occurrences, the royal family transferred his father’s position.
From the Royal Knights guarding the royal family to the Black Knights.
There were several knight orders in the kingdom.
Prominently, there were the Enemy Knights led by the powerful Reedval Family, who possessed formidable Stigmas and Relics. In addition, there were the Green, Blue, White, and Black Knights.
Among them, the Black Knights were an unknown order to the outside world.
They executed the dirty deeds within the kingdom.
Though not publicly known, most nobles were aware of their existence and thus felt some pressure.
As his father was transferred to the Black Knights, he naturally became a part of it too.
“But isn’t the Black Knights somewhat like heroes? Just like the Masked Hero you told me about when you were little.”
Not quite.
Executing dirty deeds under the name was just a way of being a dog for power.
But he didn’t want to tell the princess that.
As ugly as it was, he hoped she wouldn’t know the truth.
He wanted her to think they were just executing justice. Just like that Masked Hero.
It was indeed painfully troubling for him, but it was better than seeing her disappointed face.
“Princess, you must not meet with that guy.”
“Who dares lay a hand on the princess like that!”
Did he love the princess?
He thought perhaps he did.
There was no way to describe it other than love.
Yet it was an impossible love.
He knew that. She probably did too.
That’s why when she told him that, he didn’t believe it.
“When I become queen, let’s live together in the palace. Just like before. If I’m queen, no one will oppose me, right?”
And indeed, her words didn’t come to pass.
It wasn’t her fault, though.
The erosion of Chaos had begun.
The unidentified crimson substance, Chaos.
It began to close in from the edges of the world.
With each passing night, a kingdom would vanish.
Refugees were streaming in from other countries, and the kingdom was compelled to take them in due to the claims of the newly crowned princess.
As a result, security became increasingly precarious, and he too could not afford a moment of rest.
The princess had to frantically search for a way to halt the encroaching Chaos.
And not long after, a new threat emerged.
The appearance of Chaos Beasts was precisely that.
Chaos Beasts spawned from the land eroded by Chaos began invading the kingdom faster than Chaos itself.
That’s when a new faction began to advocate for abandoning the kingdom.
On one side were those who felt it was too early to abandon the kingdom, while the other insisted they needed to leave as soon as possible.
The tension was palpable, and ultimately the princess allowed those wanting to leave to abandon the kingdom.
Thus the Green and Blue Knights departed from the kingdom.
The ones left fighting were the Enemy Knights and the White Knights.
The White Knights focused on medical care, while the Enemy Knights held strong against the Chaos Beasts led by the formidable Reedval Family.
Yet even that had its limits.
Despite the support of the White Knights, the Enemy Knights began to show cracks.
Eventually, the Black Knights had to step in to fill their gaps.
“Who the heck is that guy?”
“I heard he was demoted to the Black Knights after messing with the princess before.”
“For the Black Knights, it’s quite plausible he wouldn’t be recognized.”
His feats in battle quickly spread through the field.
An ordinary man without a Stigma sweeping through the Chaos Beasts with just swordsmanship.
Even the head of the Reedval Family wanted to see his face.
Yet he had no time to spare.
“I need to defeat more Chaos Beasts.”
This wasn’t enough.
In order for her, the one protecting the kingdom, to smile, he had to prove he could sufficiently protect the kingdom.
But he still lacked the power to do so.
‘If only I had a Stigma…’
Yet, there was no way to obtain a Stigma, which is inherently bestowed.
His only option left was to further refine his swordsmanship.
He thought maybe if he reached a place called ‘End of Swordsmanship,’ it would work somehow.
…Such thoughts crossed his mind.
Before the ‘Chaos’ reached right in front of the kingdom.
The intensified invasion of Chaos Beasts and the ‘Chaos’ beyond it.
Stopping that unknown substance called Chaos seemed practically impossible.
The time left was no more than six months at best.
In that desperate situation, even most of the people who supported staying in the kingdom turned their backs when they witnessed the Chaos firsthand.
He too felt the same way.
“Queen.”
At least one thing she had said was indeed correct.
When she became queen, no one would say anything about him meeting her.
Both of them were so busy they couldn’t live together, but he could still go to convey his words to her.
“Libero? What’s wrong?”
“Please abandon the kingdom. If I buy time, there will be enough for you to escape.”
“What do you mean…”
The princess’s eyes widened.
But Libero had waited long enough.
Now, the time was truly growing precarious.
“You need to leave the royal castle before it’s too late.”
“But what about the promise we made?”
She seemed to refer to the promise of living together in the palace if she became queen.
It was endearing that she still cared about that promise, but he couldn’t waver in his opinion.
“The royal palace can be rebuilt elsewhere. I will head there after buying enough time.”
However, she didn’t seem to believe what he was saying.
“Lies. You think you can fend off all those Chaos Beasts and come back alive? Give me a break.”
He knew it didn’t make sense.
But…
“There’s no other way!”
Without thinking, he shouted out.
He realized he had made a mistake.
“I’m sorry! In front of the queen, I…”
“There is another way.”
Her unexpected words came forth.
“What do you mean, another way?”
He leaned in closer to listen.
“Actually, I’ve established contact with the God of Light. There’s a way to save the kingdom.”
The God of Light?
If it’s the God of Light, then he was the god who protects Leim Kingdom and lends light to the people through contracts.
You’ve established contact with such a god?
“The conditions are twofold. The first is that the citizens’ wishes must be gathered in one body. It won’t be easy, but I plan to go out to the plaza and start praying.”
He suddenly felt uneasy.
For some reason, he had a gut feeling that there was no way the method to stop Chaos would be that simple.
“If so, what’s the other one?”
“The other one is… the obliteration of my existence, which embodies those wishes.”
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