Chapter 228: Knight of Happiness [3]

Chapter 227

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Episode 57 - Knight of Happiness [3]

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"How long has it been, Raon."

"....?"

His expression was blank at first, but then veins began to bulge across his face.

He bared his teeth as he clenched them with tremendous force.

All the mana within his body erupted explosively, and the very next second, he reached for the sword at his waist.

However...

"...?!"

"You’ve gotten weaker, huh, Raon."

The blade of a sword was only inches away from Raon’s neck.

There was no mana coating the blade.

Even so, it was more than enough to blow his head off.

Raon calmed his emotions and moved his hand away from the hilt of his sword.

Only then did he meet the eyes of the man standing before him.

Behind the man stood a dozen knights, squires, archers, and scouts, one of whom carried a banner.

A banner bearing the emblem of the Royal Family of the Kingdom of Valroa.

They were the Order of Knights serving under the banner of the Psychopathic Knight.

And standing before Raon was none other than the Psychopathic Knight himself.

’Y-you son of a bitch...’

During the three years he had spent in the Kingdom of Elvenheims, Raon had gathered information about who, under the King’s orders, had captured Vilenia’s parents.

And to his greatest surprise, it had been none other than the Psychopathic Knight.

Acting under the King’s orders, the Psychopathic Knight was the one who tortured Vilenia’s parents, hunted down the assassins, and gave the order to poison Raon.

Although the King had issued all of those commands, it was the Psychopathic Knight who carried them out, not simply because he was following orders.

But because that was his nature, and because he was the one who held the deepest grudge against Raon.

"What are you doing here?"

Raon asked with a frown.

Meanwhile, the Psychopathic Knight withdrew his sword.

He was wearing a full suit of armor. At that moment, he removed his helmet, and Raon was startled for a second when he saw his face.

Half of his face was unrecognizable, as though the skin and flesh had simply melted away.

"What else? Carrying out a mission for His Majesty, the King of the Kingdom of Valroa."

"And what does that have to do with me?"

"Absolutely nothing."

A mocking smile spread across the Psychopathic Knight’s face. Feeling his anger boil over, Raon wanted to strike him, but restrained himself.

"Stop talking nonsense. What are you doing here?"

Raon looked around.

It was a large training ground, and not far away stood the tree—or rather, the mansion—where he lived.

He was currently a knight serving a noble family.

Williams, Vilenia, and Teresa were servants.

Yes, those who had once served nobles were now nothing more than commoners living in the home of an Elvenheims noble who traded constantly with human nobles.

Even so, they were kind and treated them well, and Raon had been given that training ground where he trained the household’s knights.

And because of his experience, he served as the leader among the knights.

"Tsk, a fugitive criminal clinging to the title of knight in another kingdom. And on top of that, a sickly knight. How pathetic... Tsk, tsk."

"I should kill you and finally complete the mission I failed three years ago, but the noble here might cause trouble if I do."

"Ha, you damned bastard, you’re lucky. But remember this..."

The Psychopathic Knight stepped closer to Raon and whispered into his ear.

"The moment you set foot on the border of the Kingdom of Valroa, your head—and the heads of everyone else you’re protecting—will be hanging in the Royal Capital’s central square."

"....?!"

The veins on Raon’s forehead bulged even further, and his expression turned completely grim.

Raon wanted nothing more than to kill him right then and there. However, doing so so openly would only bring trouble to the person who had taken them in.

So he swallowed his anger.

Seeing that, the Psychopathic Knight clicked his tongue, disappointed that his plan had failed.

"Your face looks different. Did something happen to you?"

At that moment, Raon spoke as a mocking smile appeared on his face.

If he couldn’t do anything, and neither could the Psychopathic Knight, then Raon would mock him right in front of his face, just as the Psychopathic Knight himself always used to do.

The Psychopathic Knight’s expression twisted with rage, and he drew his sword, but just then...

"W-wait a moment, sir."

One of the Psychopathic Knight’s subordinates behind him stopped him and then whispered something into his ear.

As the seconds passed, the Psychopathic Knight’s expression shifted from amusement to sheer exhilaration.

Raon watched his expression, then looked at the knight whispering to him.

For some reason, Raon had a bad feeling about this.

Honestly, he wanted revenge, but he couldn’t.

He felt his legs.

"..."

They were trembling just as much as the rest of his body.

He felt the state of his body.

"...."

It was a complete mess, and because of that, his strength had declined so drastically.

Finally, he considered the possibility of taking revenge.

"...."

There was no way to get revenge.

His body had already reached its limit, and over the past few days, he had barely been able to get out of bed and walk.

Swinging his sword every day in the training ground was the only thing he could still do.

His body barely had enough strength to keep swinging his sword until his hands were covered in blood.

’I don’t have much time left.’

His body was poisoned, and with each passing day, it grew weaker.

He could no longer keep moving.

And the candles of his life would soon burn out.

’So this will soon be the end of my story, won’t it?’

Every day, he looked back and thought about his disciple and squire, Williams.

About his friend, and someone who understood his past better than anyone, Teresa.

And about the little girl to whom he had sworn loyalty and vowed to protect until the last day of his life.

He would never see any of them again.

Raon closed his eyes, then opened them once more.

He looked at the Psychopathic Knight, who was smiling as he listened to his subordinate.

Then the subordinate stepped away. At that moment, the Psychopathic Knight, wearing a wide, twisted grin, looked at Raon before unsheathing his sword.

"...?!"

Raon reached for the sword at his waist, ready to attack, but then the Psychopathic Knight’s next words reached his ears.

"Raon Rosenberg, I challenge you to a Sacred Duel."

***

A Sacred Duel.

It was a method by which two knights who had a conflict, wished to take something from one another, or wanted to challenge a higher-ranking knight to seize that knight’s title.

Over the years, many knights had resorted to the Sacred Duel.

If you accepted the challenge, you could impose a demand upon your opponent.

One of those demands could be the opponent’s life.

It was said that the Sacred Duel possessed a special power.

The victor’s words held nearly absolute authority.

Thus, the winner’s demand was always carried out faithfully, without the loser attempting to refuse or reject it.

Although the Sacred Duel was one in which honor was always present, in reality, it was a way to legally kill the person you hated most without suffering any consequences.

The Sacred Duel was recognized anywhere in the world, as long as it was fought between knights or former knights.

"Sir Raon, you’ve completely lost your mind."

"Yes, Sir Raon. What were you thinking earlier?"

Standing before Raon were Teresa and Williams.

Vilenia was the only one who knew nothing about the Sacred Duel, which was why she was not present at that moment.

And Raon knew that if Vilenia found out, there would be serious problems.

"I’m sorry. Rationally, I never should have accepted the Sacred Duel, but..."

He remembered everything that had happened up until now.

Was he really going to let his life end just like this?

Without doing at least one thing at the end of his life.

Without even trying to carry out his revenge.

Even if he couldn’t kill the King, this Sacred Duel would at least give him the chance to do something against the Psychopathic Knight.

However, at that moment, Raon had been a fool...

"Cough...!!!"

He dropped to his knees as blood poured from his nose and mouth.

His vision was extremely blurry, and his breathing was heavy.

"You have to withdraw from the Sacred Duel. Now."

Teresa said in frustration as she and Williams helped Raon back to his feet.

Raon clenched his teeth and said,

"N-no... the Sacred Duel is my chance... my chance to..."

"Your chance to do what? To be humiliated, to be beaten to death, or to lose whatever honor you still have left?"

Teresa shot back, causing Raon to fall silent.

"Sir Raon, your condition has only gotten worse with each passing day. Do you think Williams, Miss Vilenia, or I don’t know that you’re in pain every single day?"

"You won’t even stop swinging that sword, no matter how much we try to stop you... you’re unbelievably stubborn. Just rest already and stop being so stubborn."

"You’ll die if you keep this up, Sir Raon."

"....."

Raon had nothing to say.

Everything Teresa had told him was simply the truth.

He had nothing left.

And he knew that soon his body would stop responding, and he would never open his eyes again.

’E-even so... I want... I want to...’

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when Williams, who had remained silent until then, spoke.

"I will take Sir Raon’s place."

"...."

Teresa and Raon stared at Williams with their eyes wide open.

——————

Author’s Note.

My new novel is now available, titled...

<Trapped in a ghost story>