Chapter 213: Prologue of Lord of Happiness [3]

Chapter 212

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Episode 53 - Prologue of Lord of Happiness [3]

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Creak! Creak!

The earth and stone crunched beneath my feet. The air was slightly cold, and patches of white stretched across parts of the black ground.

From time to time, I came across a few flowers scattered around, covered in a thin layer of moisture.

Besides the cold air, the surroundings also felt damp, perhaps because I was more than five kilometers above sea level.

I was in the mountain range of the Sacred Continent.

I was about two days away from the Imperial Capital.

Using a Teleportation Circle, I arrived at the city of a margrave, and from there, I climbed the nearest mountain.

Of course, my destination wasn’t exactly the mountain’s summit.

I was simply looking for an area where there was almost no life.

Hours passed, and when I reached a particular spot, the horizon stretched out beyond where I stood, revealing several more mountains in the distance.

I finally set up a small campsite using a few things I had stored in my Inventory.

Then I lit a campfire and cooked some meat.

"I don’t naturally feel the cold unless I use my senses. Is that because of the Divine Body or because of my enhanced physical abilities?"

〖Both. Every Awakened One’s Divine Body has its own unique characteristics. In my case, for example, magic attacks up to the Tenth Star couldn’t affect or harm me. As for you, you’ll have to discover the special characteristic of your own Divine Body.〗

I was left speechless by that revelation.

I hadn’t known that about my master.

A Divine Body being immune to magic was already completely absurd, but learning that my master had even been immune to Tenth Star magic was even more unbelievable.

"Mhm, I wonder what my special characteristic will be."

〖Perhaps you’ll discover it while spending time inside the Memory Gate.〗

I gave a slight nod. The total amount of time I would spend inside the Memory Gate would be eight days.

That was equivalent to 192 days inside the Memory Gate, or roughly six to seven months in total.

I would devote most of that time to training the Third Form and improving the Traits I had obtained from the Fallen Maiden’s Memory Gate.

Therefore, I would have plenty of time to train, and of course, I wouldn’t be able to do so every day since I also needed to take part in the protagonist’s story.

According to my master, this Memory Gate was the type where a person entered the body of a character who was very close to the protagonist.

"By the way, who exactly is Lord of Happiness?"

I was curious. From what I understood, he was a hero from the Second Dark Era.

My master was born near the end of the Third Dark Era, so there was a gap of at least three to five hundred years between them.

That meant that, by the present day, nearly three thousand years had passed since that hero’s death and since his story had been recorded within a Memory Gate.

〖Well, think of him as the kind of knight who pursues honor, virtue, chivalry, and heroism.〗

"I think I can picture what his personality is like."

Throughout the three Dark Eras, knights with those qualities were extremely rare.

Men with that kind of conviction, who pursued what people nowadays would call a GOOD deed.

I finally finished eating, put out the campfire, and then raised a barrier using an Illusory Barrier Scroll.

Anyone who came across this place wouldn’t see a tent, a recently extinguished campfire, or any trace of me.

Then I entered the small tent, where there was only a simple bed and a couple of sheets.

At last, I sat down, crossed my legs, and took a book out of my Inventory.

The book looked as though it were made of glass. It was covered in cracks and had a rough texture.

I ran my hand over its cover and thought,

’There’s a prologue, two Chapters, and an epilogue. The prologue lasts seventy days. Chapters One and Two cover the remaining time, completing the total of 192 days I’ll be able to stay inside.’

With a sigh, I opened the book. Immediately, several notifications appeared in my mind.

〖The Memory Gate of <Lord of Happiness> resonates with the player’s memories.〗

〖Raon Rosenberg’s Story, Prologue.〗

〖Scene: "Knight of the Little Lady."〗

〖Sending the player’s consciousness to another space.〗

The world around me faded away, and as though I were falling into a dream, I could no longer feel my body.

Then, countless memories flooded my mind.

***

One day, a horde of demons massacred the Barony of Ashford, where my family worked.

Back then, I was around fourteen years old, or maybe thirteen. I couldn’t remember very well.

I was terrified, and I watched with my own eyes as my parents and my younger sister were killed.

The members of the Ashford noble family also died.

The demons tore apart and devoured all of their bodies while I watched.

My mother had hidden me in a place where, with a bit of luck, the demons failed to find me. I witnessed everything through a small crack.

I thought I was going to die. I couldn’t stop crying as I looked at what remained of my family.

The demons, creatures without any fixed form, wandered everywhere.

Then, at that moment, as my expression became empty, as though I no longer wanted to keep living...

A knight appeared.

Wielding an iron sword and dressed in black armor, he slaughtered every demon without rest for hours.

Afterward, he searched every corner of the ruined mansion and eventually found me.

He removed his helmet, revealing a youthful face, around twenty years old.

His name was Raon Rosenberg, a knight from a fallen noble family who lived by honor and chivalry.

Someone who, in this world where the sky had always been black and monsters roamed everywhere...

Sir Raon always wore a radiant smile. He was kind and warmhearted.

He rescued me, and in time, I became his squire.

I followed him everywhere. He saved villages and small towns wherever monsters appeared.

Barely a month after meeting him, there was a question that kept lingering in my mind, so I finally decided to ask it.

"Sir, why are you different from everyone else?"

Sir Raon replied with a gentle smile.

"Every person is different in their own way. Some are good, others are evil; some pursue their dreams, while others destroy the dreams of others. Most people are unique."

"But there are those who are completely different from everyone else."

So I asked,

"Are you one of them, Sir?"

"Mhm, that depends on how people see me. But from my perspective, I pursue honor, courage, kindness, and responsibility."

"What do you think that means, Williams?"

I thought about it for several seconds, and when a possible answer came to mind, I replied,

"Maybe... you’re different because you follow those ideals."

Sir Raon nodded.

"Yes. Every person follows their own beliefs or their own dreams. So think about the people you consider different. Every one of them pursues something, desires something, or seeks to destroy something. There are many kinds of extraordinary people."

Sir Raon was one of those people.

My admiration for him, and my desire to become someone like him once I awakened as an Awakened, only continued to grow.

From then on, Sir Raon gained more and more fame, prestige, and honor.

Even though he pursued his ideals, that didn’t mean the path was easy.

His actions did not exist merely because he followed those ideals.

Every time he showed kindness, every time he saved people, just as he had saved me...

He did those things because that was simply who Sir Raon was, not because his ideals forced him to be kind.

And as I learned from him, a couple of years passed.

Then, Sir Raon was officially recognized as a Knight of Honor.

It was the first step toward the dream he had longed for and cherished.

As for me, I watched from a distance. When Sir Raon saw me, he waved at me with a smile, proudly showing me his new title as a knight.

He was happy at that moment.

Not long afterward, a noble family contacted him.

For a knight who pursued honor, it was only natural to become the Guardian Knight entrusted with protecting one of the younger children of a noble family.

And the family that approached Sir Raon was a viscount’s family with a single daughter.

Soon afterward, Sir Raon became the Guardian Knight who would protect and remain by the young lady’s side.

Her name was Vilenia V. Haven.

She was only ten years old. At the time, I was seventeen, and Sir Raon was twenty-one.

From then on, Sir Raon and the young Lady Vilenia spent a great deal of time together.

As her knight, Sir Raon stood behind the young Lady Vilenia, while she, as the heir of her family, walked ahead with the grace and dignity befitting a noble.

’Sir Raon is finally taking his first steps toward his dream.’

’The young lady is gentle and kind.’

’And I continue learning from Sir Raon’s teachings.’

I was also close to the young lady.

But she was a noble, while I was a commoner who aspired to become someone like Sir Raon.

So I kept a certain distance from both of them. I still wasn’t worthy of standing by their side.

I had to observe Sir Raon and learn from him, and so I did.

Then time passed, and war broke out.