“A Black Knight?”
Yujin was taken aback by the man’s answer.
He had heard from Bane about the existence of the Black Knight, but he never imagined they would encounter him so soon.
“Are you sure?”
Bane also wore a serious expression.
Was it because the enemy they had to face was powerful, or was it due to some unpleasant memories related to the Black Knight?
“He said it himself…”
The man rolled up his shirt as he spoke.
Beneath the rolled-up garment was a perfectly circular, pitch-black scar burned into the center of his lower abdomen.
“Tch.”
From the black scar seeped a dark crimson ichor.
It was too black to be blood, more like ink, and the way it dripped down his skin was thicker than honey.
“Looks like the wound inflicted by the Black Knight is causing internal necrosis.”
Whatever force created that, if they encountered him, he would be an enemy that had to be eliminated.
Above all, none of our people should ever face him.
“Cough! So… what… cough cough! do we do?”
The man’s eyes spoke volumes.
The Black Knight who stabbed him was no easy opponent.
Showing the wound was a warning.
If he was going to ask us to exterminate him, there would be no reason to reveal the injury.
Showing such a wound would only discourage our will to fight.
But if we don’t take him down, it would take another two weeks to bypass him.
‘I won’t tolerate wasting that much time.’
There were already competitors gathering the Shards of God.
If we took a detour out of fear of a mere Black Knight, how many shards would those rivals snatch while we were taking the longer path?
My mind was already made up.
“I’ll kill him.”
With nothing more to say, I stood up.
There would be a confrontation with the Black Knight starting at dawn tomorrow, so we needed to prepare and get some sleep in advance.
*****
“So it has come to this.”
Bane sighed and stood up.
Those who would go into battle had to prepare—time to go to the village market and rearm.
“By the way…”
Before leaving the house, I said to Agatha’s father,
“Don’t tell anyone that we’re going to fight.”
Especially the children, including Emilia.
The moment they find out, they’ll insist on joining, but it’s best if younglings don’t get involved in grown-up battles.
“I understand…”
The man nodded.
Keeping this a secret was good for him too.
It wouldn’t look good if it seemed like he had taken revenge using someone else’s sword.
“Let’s go.”
I nodded toward Bane and stepped outside.
Our next destination was the source of smoke rising in the village—a place always found in a village where monster hunting was the profession.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sound of metal being hammered reached my ears.
From just the pounding sound, I could roughly tell the skill level.
This wasn’t a blacksmith with the talent of a dwarf.
‘Still, it doesn’t matter.’
We weren’t here to buy legendary swords or armor.
We intended to buy disposable equipment to use and discard in the fight against the Black Knight.
Especially since the spear was the weapon that left a wound on Agatha’s father, getting stabbed once or twice was guaranteed.
In close combat, the spear is regarded as the king of weapons not just because of its long reach, but because it pierces as a point, not a line.
‘Dodging is difficult.’
From the spear’s perspective, it’s like a point shot by the enemy.
Because it’s a point, it’s hard to predict exactly where, when, or in what direction it will strike.
And if the one wielding that spear is the Black Knight, then their skill is assured.
‘No matter how well we dodge, we’ll get grazed a few times at least.’
If the Black Knight’s strike causes necrosis in the body, even a glancing blow could cause ongoing internal damage.
That meant we had to have armor to protect the body at that moment to increase the chance of survival.
The blacksmith noticed our presence and stopped hammering to ask,
“You outsiders… what’re you here for?”
“Do you have anything to protect the chest and abdomen?”
When we asked for what we wanted, the blacksmith glanced behind him.
“We don’t make full armor anymore… but check out those discarded scrap metal pieces over there.”
“Hmm.”
So they don’t make armor these days?
Well, armor requires a lot of metal pieces, and without magical treatment, it’d be riddled like paper by modern rifles.
“Give me those steel plates and scraps.”
“Hmm?”
I turned to see Bane picking up several wide steel plates.
He bent and straightened them right in front of the blacksmith as if to show off.
If it’s really lacking, we might have to make our own armor, he said.
“I can give you that, but what are you planning to do with it?”
The blacksmith asked, and Bane smiled slyly.
“What do I plan to do?”
With a snap!
His grip tore the steel plate like a sheet of paper.
Even if the plates were thin, metal was metal, and the blacksmith’s face went pale seeing such brute strength.
“Uh, uh…”
“If you won’t make it, you know what that means, right?”
Bane smiled wickedly and threatened him.
He had no real intention to harm the blacksmith, but just demonstrating his strength was enough to intimidate him.
“Alright, alright! I get it! I get it!”
In the end, we got the armor from the blacksmith.
What we actually wanted were protectors that would wrap the abdomen and sides, and a single-piece cuirass to protect the chest.
We didn’t need a full plate armor, just enough to cover vital areas.
‘If you were going to give it, why not do it sooner?’
Did they really have to act like the villain?
Though we got the armor with a half-threat, we still paid for it.
If you receive something, you pay the price—that’s only natural.
*****
“Ugh…”
Bane put on the protectors and cuirass, then asked,
“This scrap won’t offer much defense, will it?”
“Still better than nothing. If we fight spears without armor, they’ll pierce your skin right away.”
I tightened the leather straps along the seams of the cuirass.
After gripping and shaking it up and down to make sure it wasn’t loose, I loosened the armor again and tossed it to Bane.
“Hey.”
“What?”
“You wear it for now.”
We couldn’t have the hawks spot us causing trouble.
So tonight, we decided to leave the children at the girl’s house and stay at the village inn ourselves.
“The operation begins at dawn tomorrow.”
*****
‘So this is what the homes of people living in the demon realm are like.’
Rian thought as she followed Agatha.
From the outside, it looked like a small cabin, but descending underground with her seemed endless.
“This feels like an adventure.”
“Hopefully nothing scary comes out.”
“If something does, we’ll just beat it up!”
“Guys, what are you saying in someone else’s house?”
Silvia scolded the children’s chatter.
She probably meant that saying monsters lived in someone’s home was rude.
Agatha seemed to understand and smiled wryly.
“Hehe… Thanks, but there really are.”
“What?!”
There really were?
How do they coexist?
Everyone froze at the unexpected answer.
Maybe someone would have to keep watch all night.
“Even if there are, it’s just some pixies stealing stuff!”
“Ah.”
Silvia sighed in relief at the girl’s addition.
After all, even in the Empire, mice live in houses.
Apparently, in the demon realm, miscellaneous monsters were like those mice.
“But where do we sleep?”
Emil asked a reasonable question.
The girls could sleep with Agatha, but the two of us had to sleep in another room.
Agatha raised her eyebrow at that.
“What? Not sleeping together?”
“What did you say?”
Was she serious?
Or just too young to understand?
Apparently, we weren’t the only ones surprised.
“Um… the boys need their own room.”
Memilia quickly told the girl a white lie.
Agatha tilted her head, genuinely puzzled.
“Really? But there’s only one bedroom here.”
“Ah.”
There was no way around it.
Like on the train, we’d have to separate the spaces.
But this underground space probably wasn’t that big.
“Looks like we’ve arrived.”
Agatha stopped in front of a round wooden door.
Usually, doors are rectangular, but this one was unique.
Creak…
Agatha turned the doorknob, and the door opened inward.
“This is my room!”
What she showed us was a spacious room.
But instead of a bedroom, dried jerky and leather hides were scattered everywhere.
It was clearly used as both storage and a bedroom.
‘It’s big enough for us to squeeze into a corner.’
Emil was small, so the two of us could sleep comfortably with room to spare.
The majority were girls, so the smaller group should give way.
Agatha invited us to sit in the middle of the room.
“I’m going to make some tea.”
“Oh, thank you.”
“No problem, hehe.”
She smiled and left the room.
Once again, only the two of us remained in silent male stillness.
There wasn’t much to say.
“But what are the uncles doing?”
Silvia broke the silence first.
Without the two who were responsible for our safety, she felt uneasy.
Budika playfully pretended to drink.
“Probably went for a drink at just the right time.”
“Those two?”
Memilia looked suspicious.
They weren’t on good terms, so who knew what would happen if they drank together.
“I hope they don’t cause trouble.”
Silvia agreed with her concern.
Yujin uncle didn’t seem like the type to cause a scene when drinking, but hadn’t he caused an earthquake when he met Bane a week ago?
“Anyway…”
Emil said with a gloomy face.
“Why am I here?”
“Suddenly?”
Having a comfortable place to stay, why be gloomy?
We weren’t the only ones puzzled; Silvia raised an eyebrow.
“This isn’t like you. Why?”
“Well…”
Emil hugged his knees.
“Honestly, I’m the most useless one in the party.”
“Don’t say that…”
Silvia looked awkward at his words.
No matter what she said, it probably couldn’t dispel his gloom.
And indeed, he didn’t have any special skills.
“Why did you suddenly think that?”
So I asked Emil instead.
Memilia was a boy too, and boys understood each other’s troubles better.
I might not know much, but at least as the same gender, I could understand better.
“I always thought so.”
“But there must have been a specific reason it got worse.”
Many people feel useless sometimes.
Especially when I was a student at the Academy, many felt frustrated realizing the differences in talent.
‘I’m one of those people too.’
Emil looked down, scratching the floor with his finger.
“Back when you guys trained with Uncle Bane.”
“Yeah.”
“I really felt like I didn’t contribute much in a real fight.”
“Hmm…”
To be honest, I couldn’t hear his thoughts.
Memilia wasn’t from a combat-specialized class, and unlike Emilia, he didn’t use magic, nor did he have divine power like Silvia.
‘But usefulness depends on perspective.’
There’s a saying that even a hammer is useless if you don’t have one.
Usefulness changes with the situation and need.
And nobody can be good at everything.
“Aren’t you good with your hands?”
“Me?”
“Yeah, you’re good at picking locks and stuff.”
“Eh, it’s nothing special.”
So he was good at lockpicking after all.
I just threw it out there, but luckily it was true.
I told him, belittling his skill.
“You never know, if we get locked up, you might be the only one we can trust.”
“That day will never come…”
“Hey! Do you even know where we are?”
In the demon realm, the demon realm.
Anything could happen.
Emilia chimed in.
“If you’re really worried, ask Uncle Yujin! He’ll train you!”
“Huh… Uncle?”
Emil’s face turned pale at those words.
Knowing Uncle Yujin’s personality, he could imagine what kind of training that meant.
Even if he trained him, it would be as harsh as Bane’s.
“Hey! What’s there to worry about!”
“Ugh!?”
Budika slapped Emil’s back hard.
Her way of telling him to pull himself together, but I think I heard the air escape from Emil’s lungs.
Budika pointed to Silvia.
“If you get hurt training, there’s the saint to heal you!”
“Who do you take me for, a mobile hospital!?”
Silvia bristled at that but didn’t deny healing.
“Hehe… I guess that’s true…”
Emil lowered his head, encouraged by everyone.
“Thanks, everyone… for accepting me even as I am.”
“That’s right, so cheer up!”
“Ugh.”
I ruffled his hair roughly, bringing life back to his face.
Even senior students at the Academy had lifted up juniors who had given up like this.
Besides, I was the one chosen to lead our party.
‘I’m responsible for bringing everyone home safely.’
Even if I didn’t have Uncle Yujin’s abilities, that responsibility weighed just as heavily.
And my grandfather was watching too.
‘To see if his grandson was worthy of the throne.’
*****
[How dull.]
In a ravine winding through the mountains,
A single knight blocked the narrow path.
Dressed head to toe in jet-black armor, his presence withered the surrounding plants.
As if death had taken human form, the ground around the knight was littered with skeletons.
From small animals to beasts of prey, even mercenaries sent to hunt him lay dead.
[When did Her Majesty command me to block this pass again?]
The knight clicked his tongue, recalling his lord’s order.
The Queen had given the command two months ago—to block this very path.
[To be reduced to such a mere gatekeeper…]
He tightened his grip on the black spear.
Black energy rose from the spear, enveloping the ravine in darkness.
Within the thick, shadowy mist, red glimmers of light shone like malevolent eyes.
[I hope the next opponent is more interesting.]