Chapter 34: A Special Reward

At that moment, Dien arrived at the Pathos Forge in the capital to seek out Lorentz, whom Ness had mentioned.

Many members of the knight orders were nobles without titles, most of whom hailed from fallen families. Lorentz was one such individual, a noble from a ruined house of the empire. He had struggled to rebuild his family through swordsmanship but ultimately failed to break through the wall of becoming a High Knight.

“So, this is the Pathos Forge…”

When Dien first inquired about Lorentz’s whereabouts, he was startled to hear that the man had become the most famous blacksmith in the capital. He had even become the chief blacksmith of the Pathos Forge, the most renowned workshop in the kingdom.

The Pathos Forge was already famous for its long lines of imperial nobles waiting to purchase a single blade.

Dien stood before the building. Located within the city district, it was an unbelievably massive structure. In contrast to its shabby exterior, the interior boasted the finest equipment on the continent.

*Clang! Clang!*

Dien, clutching a stack of documents, walked past many blacksmiths engaged in tempering. After passing those making various everyday tools, he encountered artisans forging special minerals that required high levels of skill. These were famous masters whose names were widely known. In their midst, a man was shouting.

“Get the temperature higher! This isn’t enough to heat Mithril!”

He was the master of masters. With a towering physique and his hands behind his back, the man raised his voice. He was Lorentz, once a knight of the kingdom and now the representative blacksmith of Delos.

“Greetings, Master Lorentz.”

Dien bowed politely to him. However, Lorentz merely glanced at Dien before returning to his work.

“Hey! Who let an outsider in here!”

Lorentz turned his head with a disgruntled expression and barked an order. Upon hearing him, young apprentices rushed toward Dien.

“Master Lorentz, please, a moment of your time—”

“This is no place for a young lord. If you intend to order a sword, go make a reservation at the reception desk in the front.”

His tone was cold. Was it a mistake to seek out the chief blacksmith of the Pathos Forge so abruptly?

Still, Dien couldn’t just turn back without saying anything. Sensing he needed to state his business immediately, he spoke up urgently.

“I have come to ask you about the late Sir Dante.”

“Wait.”

At Dien’s final words, Lorentz quickly placed a hand on Dien’s shoulder and turned him around.

“I heard that you were a long-time friend of Sir Dante. I came to find you because I intend to appeal the rejection of his honorary death approval.”

At those words, Lorentz’s eyes flashed strangely. His expression shifted into one mixed with anger.

“Everyone, stop what you’re doing for a moment!”

After shouting to his workers, he lightly tapped Dien on the back.

“Follow me.”

“Yes!”

Dien clutched his documents and followed after him.

***

“Honorary death… was rejected?”

Lorentz’s eyes smoldered like the forge’s furnace. Having stayed in contact with Dante until his death, Lorentz understood his friend’s pain and suffering better than anyone.

“Yes. They claimed that a suicide caused by post-war trauma cannot be recognized as an honorary death—”

*Slam!*

Before Dien could finish, Lorentz slammed his hand onto the desk.

“Damn it! This is why those desk-bound fools aren’t worth dealing with! They’ve never experienced the aftereffects of war, so they spout that kind of nonsense!”

Lorentz’s neck turned red with fury. Agitated, he gulped down a cup of water sitting beside the desk.

“That is why I wish to receive a testimonial from you, Master Lorentz, as someone who knew Sir Dante until his final moments. I need something that can prove how much he suffered and struggled due to his post-war trauma.”

“If I provide a testimonial, can he be recognized as having died in the line of duty?”

“I can’t give a definitive answer. But we have to try.”

Lorentz let out a long sigh and stood up. He shook his head as if he couldn’t understand the situation, then buried his face in his hands. After some time had passed, he finally spoke.

“Do you know why Dante and I left the knights together after the Imperial War ended?”

“Yes.”

“That’s right. Dante and I suffered from post-war trauma together. It became difficult for us to even hold a sword.”

He began to speak in a calm, low voice.

“Every morning I woke up, a comrade who had been by my side would be gone, dead. My heart would race at the sound of explosions I heard even while sleeping. My comrades went mad during that long war, and I was mad as well. Perhaps we had to go mad just to forget the fear…”

Dien listened silently to his story.

“Then the truce was signed… and Dante and I returned to Delos. But I suffered from auditory hallucinations of explosions every day, and I was so afraid of the dark that I had to leave the lights bright just to sleep. The feeling of wondering if I would see the sun the next day continued even after the war was over…”

His body trembled slightly, as if the memories of that time were still vivid.

“That’s why I left the knights and picked up a hammer. A forge, bright with a blazing fire even at night, was more comfortable for my mind. In the forge, it was so bright every day that you couldn’t tell if it was day or night. Because of that trauma, I spent my days and nights tempering steel. By the time I regained my senses, I had become the master of the Pathos Forge.”

Lorentz’s eyes grew misty. His emotions were delivered clearly to Dien through his calm words.

“I managed to escape the trauma a little. Blacksmithing is more exhausting than you’d think. By pushing myself to my limits, the hallucinations and delusions eventually disappeared. However… it wasn’t the same for Dante.”

Lorentz’s voice began to tremble. It seemed the sense of loss from losing a close friend still remained.

“His trauma was far worse than mine. He tried farming, but he said his nightmares rarely went away. Despite his excellent swordsmanship, he had a very soft heart. Unlike me, he suffered because the faces of the soldiers he killed appeared before him every night.”

Lorentz took a moment to catch his breath. His eyes were moist. Remembering Dante, he eventually lowered his head.

“For that friend’s honor… I will do everything I can.”

“Thank you.”

Dien also felt a sense of solemnity watching Lorentz. Their pain was beyond imagination. Dien thought that for the sake of Dante and the soldiers who would be deployed to battlefields in the future, the system had to be changed.

“Please write a testimonial that will allow the Royal Castle to reconsider his status. I will do my absolute best.”

The final approval for honorary deaths rested with the Royal Castle. However, the ones who created this system were the Enopoy Elders. To get Dante’s honorary death approved, they would ultimately have to request an amendment to the laws they had created.

“Thank you… because of you, I’ll be able to help my old friend…”

“Don’t mention it. It’s only right to put in the effort for such a matter.”

“No. I’ve never seen a proactive administrator like you, Young Lord Dien. Every official I know works in a cozy office and only cares about self-preservation, doing the bare minimum.”

“That’s not true. Anyone who knew about Sir Dante’s situation would have wanted to help.”

Dien smiled awkwardly and declined the praise. However, Lorentz knew that administrators like Dien were not common.

“I, Lorentz, master of the Pathos Forge, owe you a great debt. If you can restore Dante’s honor, I promise that the Pathos Forge will do everything in its power to support the House of Portran’s affairs.”

“Hahaha.”

“I will etch this gratitude deep into my heart!”

It was a hearty declaration befitting a former knight. Lorentz beat his chest as his eyes sparkled. Dien, finding the gaze a bit overwhelming, gave an awkward laugh and scratched his head.

After receiving the promise of a testimonial from Lorentz, Dien left the Pathos Forge.

Combined with his appeal, the petitions from many knights who wanted Dante’s recognition, expert opinions on post-war trauma, and now Lorentz’s testimony, the preparations were complete.

The problem now was that the Enopoy Elders needed to feel enough pressure to show a willingness to improve the system.

As Dien walked, his mind continued to churn, working through the plan.

***

“Young Lord!”

As soon as Dien stepped through the gates of the House of Portran, Nue, who had been pacing anxiously, rushed toward him.

“Is something wrong?” Dien asked, seeing her urgent state.

“Where have you been? Dean Hasman from the Academy is visiting our house right now. He’s been waiting for you for three hours!”

“Really?”

Surprised by Nue’s words, Dien hurried into the mansion. He stood before the drawing room, where the sound of Oren and Hasman’s laughter leaked out through the door.

When Dien knocked and opened the door, Hasman and Oren welcomed him with pleasant smiles.

“I apologize. I was away on business and arrived late.”

“No, no! I’m the one who visited without any notice!”

Hasman laughed brightly. He had a broad grin as if something wonderful had happened.

As Dien sat down beside Oren, opposite Hasman, the Dean spoke with a boisterous laugh.

“Young Lord Dien! Your thesis took first place in the competition! I heard those prickly scholars unanimously voted your paper as the winner! Hahaha! Thanks to you, the prestige of the Noble Academy has risen significantly!”

“Oh… is that so.”

Dien replied with a light smile at Hasman’s congratulations. Hasman, seeing Dien’s lack of surprise, lowered his laughter slightly, feeling a bit sheepish.

“What’s this! It’s as if you already knew you’d take the top spot!”

“No. I had no idea. It’s more than I deserve.”

Dien bowed his head slightly to Hasman.

He certainly felt good about it. However, the face of Persian Cherbil strangely came to mind. What kind of wish would he ask for?

While Dien’s thoughts wandered for a moment, Hasman, seemingly even more pleased by Dien’s calm demeanor, continued with a satisfied face.

“How could such a child come from a wild colt like Oren!”

“Dean!”

Oren shouted, his face turning red. Having known Oren since he was a child, Hasman still viewed him as a youngster.

“Hahaha, you brat! You’re going to make me deaf!”

“If you keep treating me like a child, I’ll tell the coachman that you’re leaving!”

“Aha! This fellow’s only gotten more stubborn with age!”

Watching the two of them bicker like old friends, Dien’s smile deepened.

“Oh, look at me! I forgot the most important part!”

After wrangling with Oren for a while, Hasman slapped his thigh and looked at Dien.

“His Majesty pondered for a long time over your reward! He said that as a prize, he wishes to have a private dinner with you!”

“Huh?”

“What?”

Dien and Oren both gaped in surprise. However, their expressions were starkly different. Oren looked deeply moved, while Dien looked utterly dumbfounded.

‘Wait… the reward for the best thesis is a one-on-one meeting with my boss? Ha… is this a signal to just choke and die early from indigestion?’

Unlike Dien’s strangely distorted face, Oren’s face became brighter than ever.

“My goodness. A private audience with His Majesty… Dien! This is an honor for our family!”

“Hahaha.”

Oren began to cheer, moving about the drawing room.

Hasman muttered about how Oren was making a scene, but he too was laughing constantly, clearly excited by the news he had delivered.

“To think an academy student would have a private audience with His Majesty. I am so proud, Young Lord Dien.”

“Is that so… Hahaha.”

Hasman and Oren showered him with praise, acting as if they were incredibly proud of him. But no matter how he thought about it, it didn’t feel like a prize.

Dien was troubled, thinking about the upcoming meeting with King Lonas.

But then, as if a comet had struck his mind, Dien’s eyes began to shine instantly.

“That’s it.”

Dien suddenly stood up from his seat and shouted.

Oren and Hasman looked satisfied, thinking they had finally seen a proper reaction, but Dien had a different plan in his head.

‘The honorary death approval for those who die of post-war trauma… This will work!’

In an instant, a light brighter than the morning sun radiated from Dien’s face.