WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Order
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became the Dark Knight in the Game World ◈
Chapter 5: The Wordless Horse and the Silent Knight (5)
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“So, he just left?”
The aged knight, freshly returned from campaign, let out a hollow laugh while reconfirming the Treasurer General’s report. It was not a question born of a failure to understand the situation. The absurdity of it simply beggared belief.
“Yes. He said that what he was about to do also fell within the scope of your orders, then walked straight out of headquarters.”
“He really is an interesting fellow.”
“Interesting, my ass. What are you going to do about it, Your Excellency, Commander?”
“That’s disrespectful. Sounds like insubordination to me.”
The Treasurer General snorted. The two had spent decades together on the Western Front, and jokes like this were nothing new between them.
“It was a shame to leave a Free Knight like him unaffiliated, so I was going to entrust him with a proper banner. Yet he’s already gone.”
“What can you do? We can’t exactly treat him as a deserter.”
They could not treat Kriel as a deserter because of his unusual circumstances. Kriel had never been a knight formally attached to the Western Army. He was merely a mercenary hired by the Western Army for a short time.
Though Kriel possessed remarkable strength, he had gone unnoticed. The Western Army’s attention turned to him after the Trial by Combat held at the barracks.
At that trial, Kriel had acted as the representative of the person called the Witch and defeated five knights in succession.
The trial had been arranged from the beginning to condemn the Witch, so victory in a Trial by Combat did not mean her innocence would be recognized. They had simply tried to forcibly overturn the verdict by spreading ridiculous rumors like, “The Witch used abyssal sorcery to hinder honorable knights!”
It was the Commander who had demanded that Kriel, while being called the Witch’s minion, serve as a direct subordinate in exchange for guaranteeing the silence of those pests, authority within the barracks, and the validity of the trial.
That meant Kriel had no direct superior in the chain of command except the Commander. He had left to carry out the order of his sole direct superior, so they could not call it desertion.
“Let him be. If he wants to be formally discharged, he’ll have to meet me eventually. When we meet again, I’ll offer him the post of army standard-bearer or chief knight of my house.”
“I believe he’ll insist on leaving the service.”
“His skill is too valuable to waste.”
Even the Treasurer General, who felt the urge to rebut their lord’s every word, could not deny that. Rather than agree with the aging lord’s playful remark and watch the Commander grow needlessly smug, the Treasurer General naturally changed the subject.
“The Sacred Kingdom’s movements are troubling.”
* * *
[So, are we heading into some mountain village to look for a saint or saintess? Do you know any saints?]
Kriel shook his head. He was acquainted with the Witch, more or less, but not well enough to want to be friends. Wasn’t she the reason his name was still on the military rolls?
“I’m going to the Sacred Kingdom. Saints and saintesses wander from place to place, as you said, so it would be easy for us to miss each other.”
Of course, he also intended to use the trip to get as far from the Western Army as possible. The Commander’s interest, like that of a command sergeant major urging someone to become a career NCO, would fade with time.
[Sounds good. It’s been a while since I’ve been there.]
“A while?”
Come to think of it, Orisin had said they held an official post during the days of the Old United Kingdom. Noticing Kriel’s curious gaze, Orisin began boasting about their past.
[Before the races split apart. Before the Abyss grew powerful. Back when the line between priests and kings was still vague!]
Kriel recalled Tirnanog RPG’s setting and froze. The Old United Kingdom Orisin spoke of was not the early era of the United Kingdom that currently maintained the Western Front. It was the ancient United Kingdom of all races.
“You’ve lived a long time.”
[Right? You see all sorts of strange things if you live long enough.]
Orisin’s story began as if it would reveal something important, then turned into bragging about having seen famous people. They claimed to have seen all three Heroes who founded the United Kingdom and even picked a fight with the famous Caladripa.
“How did such a famous Spirit get taken by the Abyss?”
[Damn it. You really know how to leave me with nothing to say.]
“I’m not trying to blame you. I’ve never heard of a method that could corrupt an ancient Spirit like you without massive human sacrifice and sacrificial rites.”
[Well... I don’t really know either.]
Orisin bobbed their head-only spirit body and gave him an explanation that was not very helpful. By the time they came to their senses, their horn had become two horns.
“So, that’s all you know.”
[If I knew where that curse came from, I would’ve removed it myself. You’re being too harsh.]
The horse head grumbled, but the complaint did not sound sincere. Orisin was simply being dramatic as usual.
[I think I’ve told you all about myself. What about you? I asked you something similar in Laurang, but you ignored me.]
“My story?”
Kriel thought for a moment. Tirnanog RPG. Becoming a character in that game. His desperate struggle to escape the penalties of being a Dark Knight.
In the end, he had found no way to use a Dark Knight’s skills while remaining sane. He had sealed away the Dark Knight’s unique skills and spent years training only the shared techniques available to knight-type classes.
Countless thoughts rose and vanished, but there was only one thing he wanted to say now.
“I met the wrong person and nearly got stuck in the army for good. I used you as an excuse to escape.”
[Huh. Your tongue’s getting looser now that no one else is around.]
Kriel shrugged. As Orisin said, carrying himself as a solemn knight was only necessary in front of other people. It was far from his original personality, and his attempt to protect someone being persecuted, as a proper knight should, had nearly gotten him trapped in the army.
Now that he was away from the military, he wanted to relax a little. Unless he started spewing curses at random, revealing a little of his true thoughts around one or two people would not diminish his Nobility.
‘...Right?’
As Kriel considered the conditions for Nobility to rise or fall in Tirnanog RPG, Orisin’s voice reached his ears.
[How long will it take to get to the Sacred Kingdom?]
“Even though I’m fairly quick on foot, I think we should allow ten days.”
[That’s pretty quick!]
“Fairly quick” did not begin to describe it. From the Western Army’s camp to the Sacred Kingdom’s capital, it would take more than fifteen days even on an ordinary horse.
Unlike horses, which struggled to run through rough terrain, Kriel could race across mountain ranges without slowing down. He also planned to minimize rest by sleeping less, but even so, it was an astonishing speed. It was possible because of Battle Aura, the supernatural power knights trained.
Strengthening his body with Battle Aura was the result of his efforts to survive without relying on Dark Knight-exclusive abilities like Blood Energy or Resentment.
As a knight-type class, Dark Knights naturally had their own Battle Aura skills, but they were classified as Dark Battle Aura because they were fused with Blood Energy or Resentment.
Dark Battle Aura was a skill Kriel had no reason to train, since he wished for a healthy mind and body. He had somehow acquired the ordinary Battle Aura training methods used by regular knights, and had practiced them for years.
A week into their journey, crossing mountains and rivers by brute force, Orisin asked Kriel a question.
[By the way, you’re a knight. Don’t you have a horse?]
“It’s not just a horse I don’t have. I don’t have money either.”
Orisin seemed momentarily at a loss for words at Kriel’s calm reply, then burst into laughter.
[Hahahahahaha! You’re a funny human! Are you really the knight who acted so dignified?]
“That was in front of other people. On the battlefield, a knight is like a paperweight.”
[A paperweight? The thing you put on paper so it doesn’t blow away?]
Kriel nodded. It was an idea that had slowly formed from his experiences wandering from place to place as a knight.
“Even if you waver, you must not make others waver. Even if you doubt yourself, you must give others faith. Who would follow a commander they couldn’t trust?”
[Oh? But aren’t you usually alone? I haven’t known you for long, but I can tell you’re the type who likes doing things alone.]
Kriel gave a dry laugh behind his helmet.
“That’s why I don’t have a horse. If I had any reputation, headquarters might’ve given me one.”
[That’s convincing!]
Kriel quietly hid the part that reflected poorly on him. In this world, where mana and Battle Aura were both ordinary supernatural abilities, warhorses also possessed their own special powers. The finest among them were the horses raised in the Sacred Kingdom.
The Western Front’s best warhorses had received blessings that gave them excellent self-healing and keen night vision. Whenever they saw Kriel, they spat, “Ptooey,” and turned away from him. It was only natural for ordinary living beings that followed the natural order to recoil from Dark Knights. To the blessed, he would seem not merely unpleasant, but like something that had to be eradicated.
Yet ordinary horses feared Kriel’s very presence. Riding anything was out of the question.
‘There’s a reason Dark Knights go out of their way to find Bicorns and form contracts with them...’
Kriel looked at Orisin for no reason. A ghost with only a floating horse head looked completely unsuitable as a mount.
* * *
The Sacred Kingdom’s capital. The magnificent Holy City of Temlis, where the Priest-King chosen from among the priests resided.
“Drop your weapon and raise your hands!”
“I’ll say it again. I do not belong to the Abyss.”
Kriel was being subjected to an unexpected inspection.
Footnotes:
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