15. Footsteps of old saints.(2)
A child’s voice is heard.
And there is someone who answers such a child’s question.
[me? I am a knight.]
[Article? What is an article?]
At the child’s innocent question, a triumphant voice spreads out.
[The one who overcomes the impossible.
One who can die for noble ideals.
Overcome even the unbearable pain.
I know how to reflect on my mistakes and correct them.
I love justice and goodness more than anyone else.
One who defeats evil enemies once and for all.
A person who has the courage to run to the end of the world with dreams, love, hope and faith.
That is the article.]
“… … .”
After removing her hand from the sword, Kariel focused on chewing on the voice that passed through her mind in a daze for a while.
‘what?’
what did i hear?
-why? As expected, did you see anything strange?
In front of my eyes, a golden girl casts large eyes.
I gasped in surprise, but fortunately, after quickly recovering my mind and body, I was able to avoid further embarrassment.
If you ask me now, it’s a topic that I know it’s a situation that can’t be answered.
“Luel? What’s up?”
How did it cause anxiety to those who had been watching this all along?
Towards Alessia, who was approaching, Kariel answered in a timid manner.
“Ah, that… I heard a voice.”
“voice? what? What voice did you hear when you touched the sword?”
“Ah, yes. Similar.”
She nodded without question.
Then, Filvar, who was nearby, exclaimed.
“Can you read the salt in things? No, in this case, did you hear? Eavesdropped? It would be fitting to say so! oh! Inspired! paper! pen! hurry!”
Filvar’s servants bring pens and rolls of rolled paper like lightning.
He even brought a wooden plank and used it as a pedestal, even offering it while holding it with both arms.
Alessia asked softly.
“What did you hear? Did you hear anything bad about it?”
Now, not only her, but also the Baronense father and son have gathered.
“So… .”
Kariel told me about the question and answer between a young boy and an unknown man.
“No way, how could I have heard of the situation in which St. Cariel personally told the child about the attitude of a knight? That’s really, really staggering.”
At Baron Roia’s words, Ludhi raised his suspicions with a slightly disturbed face.
“But isn’t something different from the contents of the oath?”
“No. Rather, this kind of explanation is much more romantic for a child, so it might be more suitable? Aren’t those words better?”
Luke actively expressed his opinion in a way that it could be enough.
“romance! good! Very good! At the time when the occupation of knighthood was born in human history, the purpose of awakening emotion rather than reason was to become a knight in which romance blossomed! Let’s instill dreams in children! To think that such a romantic knight recited his feelings! It turns out to be a picture! A painting!”
The pen in Filvar’s hand trembled as if possessed, and the roll of paper went back and forth nonstop over the blank space.
“The answer was in an unexpected place.”
how come
Everyone’s eyes rushed to Kariel as if they had promised.
“… … .”
Kariel, who had been making a difficult expression, suddenly said.
“… … ?”
I witnessed the illusion of a child playing.
Two boys and one girl.
Three little kids were running somewhere.
“What else do you see?”
“Uh, that… .”
In response to Philvar’s question, Kariel raised her hand and pointed to one side.
“I can see it, but I see the kids.”
“What are you doing?”
“I’m running somewhere.”
“Then, how about following along?”
As soon as Filvar got into the carriage and the tent was taken up.
Kariel chased after the illusion that was standing there with her back showing as if she was waiting.
“Here… .”
Carriela.
It was the entrance to the city.
“Wait!”
The carriage fell into the shade of the building at the entrance.
He got off there and took out the cloth with the magic circle on it again and started trying various things.
he expressed regret.
“… There is a response, but not here either.”
“It’s getting more and more painful.”
Baron Loia complained.
“But where did the clue come from?”
“That’s right.”
“Is it because of me?”
Let Luke chuckle.
“It wasn’t because of you, it was luck.”
Alessia took a stand.
Luke, of course, smirked, saying that it was also thanks to him.
Kariel, who was observing the scene from a little distance, felt as if she were touching it from the other side of the river.
Everything was just confusing.
Even though everything that happened to him is confusing.
On the one hand, in this situation where you become immersed in something… I was slightly moved.
Being able to hang out with a lot of people without any pressure or tension.
… I think the meaning is quite different.
Then all of a sudden.
inside the city.
I saw someone standing in the crowd.
The one who stood silently.
I just kept my eyes on the front.
—-
-Mostly human. No, no matter what race they are, intelligence and isomers do not have much interest in others.
As long as it doesn’t provide a great interest beyond imagination.
– Even children who unfold fairy tales to get in touch with their interest, their eyes sparkle at the story of the protagonist, the hero, but no one pays attention to the dwarf, who is neither the main character nor a key supporter, and who is likely to pass by for a moment.
But what if the dwarf is the hero and the main character?
– At that point, I’ll close the book.
Because it’s not my concern!
Because it’s not the story I wanted.
It’s not the character I wanted!
– It’s a real pain.
Kariel gave a moment’s attention to the demon lord who was grumbling overhead as if talking to himself.
What she was talking about, Kariel couldn’t help but wonder a little.
-Was that guy over there lucky or bad in that respect?
yet.
among the passing crowds.
Approach someone who was standing in it.
But it has no substance.
Right now, several people were passing through his shoulder, no, through his torso.
For example, this is something that can only be seen by oneself.
-What do you think?
“… It is not for me to judge.”
Kariel stared at the vision standing silently.
A man who stands firm but holds on as if he will collapse at any moment.
Her freshly grown hair was disheveled, and her clothes were a mess.
Torn, dusty and messy with mud.
Even so, he doesn’t care about himself and just stares at the front.
A sword in his hand.
“… … .”
Kariel knows what this is.
I didn’t know until yesterday.
No, it was something I didn’t know at all until a while ago.
I know now.
“This person… .”
The body seems to be strong, but the figure now looks very ugly.
this one is right
… It must be the same person from 300 years ago.
own name.
its origin.
“… … .”
Kariel reached out.
I have a feeling that something is about to happen.
However, I honestly don’t know what kind of foreshadowing and ending it will bring.
However.
I don’t know why, but I just feel that it should be.
Eventually, Kariel’s hand touched his body.
Many things came and went quickly.
A boy who stumbles.
A knight clad in jet-black ironclad who gave him instructions and guidance.
Following the movement of the knight, the boy also holds a clumsy wooden stick and imitates it.
Even though the article has left.
the boy never rests
Running on plains and up and down hills to develop basic physical strength.
Climbing and descending trees, swimming as if against a river.
Again, swing the stick.
But the look is more familiar than I thought.
The jet-black knight who came back corrected his posture from time to time.
left without a word
The boy must have started to grow old, his physique has grown, and his face has become quite dignified.
Also, the boys and girls who hung out with him became full-fledged young men and women.
… Getting married, albeit modestly.
young man watching.
Regardless, he wields the stick again, or rather, the iron sword.
They cut trees to supply to the village and get some food.
Catching fish with bare hands in the river and even hunting.
Although he was self-sufficient, he devoted half of his day to sword training.
No parents, only friends.
However, except for his friends, he was somewhat alienated.
But I don’t care.
When the knight returned again, he presented him with a fairly decent steel sword.
“At that point, I can go anywhere and get ahead.”
“I didn’t wield a sword to get ahead. I did it because I wanted to be like you.”
The boy has now become a man.
For over 10 years, he swung his sword honestly and like an idiot.
I trained my body and even learned letters just in case.
“Do you have any reason to work so hard?”
When the jet-black knight asked.
The man did not hesitate.
“My parents told me to live a life without regrets.”
It was a will.
Please just look ahead.
Remembering yourself and not crying.
“But I regret it every day. Because I was weak, I couldn’t protect you two.”
nobody blamed him
It was unavoidable.
because when i was young
However.
If he had the strength, he might still be living with his parents.
Might have a younger brother
The uncle next door, grandfather, and grandmother who were corpses overnight by thieves and robbers… .
maybe they were all alive
“I couldn’t help it.”
However.
“I don’t want other children to have the same regrets and sorrows as mine. For that, I want to become strong like you.”
“… … .”
The jet-black knight sighed greatly.
“It’s usually disappointing, but you don’t know the world. To see a person with an innocent will in a place you never expected to go around many, many places.”
The man did not know what the knight’s words meant or what weight they had.
Maybe you won’t understand for the rest of your life.
“Maybe this will be arranged as well.”
The jet-black knight said.
“I want to protect someone, to protect them from regret, to protect them. Did you say that?”
“Yes.”
“Why? Aren’t you more important than others? With that power, you can get ahead in the world, get a good spouse, and live well while taking care of your children.”
“Then will the tragedy go away? Is the world hell? Even if I live well, isn’t it just covering my eyes and ignoring it?”
“You may be able to change the world with your youthful spirit, but it is futile.”
The Jet-Dark Knight knew very well.
like an individual.
He wants to change the world with his will.
The moment you make up your mind
He must face it.
beneath this vast world.
Beneath this ugly and shiny world.
that individual strength.
how powerless
That single strength.
How pitifully weak.
“But if no one else does, shouldn’t I too?”
“… … .”
“You, too, didn’t you expect someone to change the world by traveling here and there?”
“that… .”
weird.
The time we met is extremely short.
why.
why.
this child
Are you looking through my mind?
“I just wanted to be someone cool.”
It was like that at first.
The more we understand the structure of the tragedy that afflicts the world.
The closer you get to that reality.
Realize that it is an opponent that must be defeated.
But it has no form.
So you can’t even beat it.
How lamentable and resentful this is.
“Isn’t that enough?”
“Is that enough? why?”
“If it’s not the me of today, isn’t it enough if it’s the me of tomorrow? If I can’t do it, another tomorrow’s me, my descendents, and descendants will have to do it.”
“It’s not that easy.”
“If you don’t try, you won’t know, right?”
Even when you first hold onto the wooden stick.
Even when I kept in my head the training method the knight had told me to do.
the boy thought.
Can I really do this?
It was just such a question.
“I couldn’t help it if I didn’t. Isn’t that a reason not to do it or not to do it?”
“Stop it. If you go any further, you will surely regret it.”
The walls of the world are indeed high.
The moment you realize that the height is finally reaching the sky.
This becomes a barrier that can never be crossed.
A mere castle wall would become nothing.
However, the reality is that even such a castle wall and individuals cannot even dare to come up with it.
“But, you have a point.”
So show me.
“From now on, you will know deep in your soul what I am saying.”
definitely, definitely.
“Look up to the sky and live without shame. You may fall, you may cry. It’s hard, so I might sit down and lie down. Just don’t forget one thing.”
Please live without shame.
“If you can keep this, some of the things you said will be kept.”
perhaps.
“A better tomorrow than you expected may lead.”
Eventually, the knight turned his back.
“Can’t you see me anymore?”
The man had such a premonition.
“I am about to return to my hometown.”
“You mean hometown?”
“okay.”
‘Cause I’ve done everything here
The jet-black knight murmured softly.
When I first saw it, it was so strong and huge.
It was so huge and so dazzling.
I was just busy chasing after it.
“What can I call Master?”
“Master. That’s an overestimation.”
The jet-black knight had been silent for a long time.
I answered like this.
“Grandeus. Call it that.”
And, remember your name forever.
“Kariel. As the successor to the will I abandoned, I will appoint you. Therefore, in Middle-earth, you are my agent.”