WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Editor: Reeters

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ I Pulled Out Excalibur

Chapter 201

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He Who Forgot (3)

A constellation defined itself in its own fashion. For instance, Quixote of the Contempt-for-Time Star made scorning, belittling, and looking down on everything his very identity.

The Carnival King, whom Quixote served, defined herself in a similar vein. She regarded every single life—indeed, the whole world—as one grand play. “If all things are nothing but theater,” she would say, “then why refrain from mocking them?” Thus, she laughed at creation itself.

Each constellation viewed the world through a lens all its own, shaping everything according to personal taste and thereby forging an unshakable self-belief that, in turn, bred strength.

“Merlin. There’s somewhere we need to visit tonight.” Whether by chance or design, Najin found himself standing squarely opposite the Carnival King. Though he had yet to define himself, he knew perfectly well which road he needed to walk—the road directly opposed to hers.

If she lurked in doubt and anguish, luring knights to deny their lives, then he would walk the road that led in the exact opposite direction.

“You are already a fine knight, are you not?”

“Your doubts have worth. Your hesitation is not worthless. Because of them, your life has value. Even if no one else remembers, I will. Your life is no carnival farce.”

Najin had always walked that path, but the Carnival King’s presence made the resolve firmer still. He could not simply turn away from the Azure Spear.

– Where to?

“First, let’s step outside.” While the Azure Spear slept, Najin crossed the desert and left the Forbidden Zone. He breathed in the cool air and let it out in a long sigh. “I don’t know much about the Azure Spear, and he probably knows even less about himself, but one thing is certain…” He began to walk. “We can’t just leave him as he is.”

He lived one day; died the next, losing his memories each dawn, feeling the same fear each dusk, repeating it all without knowing whether any of it had meaning.

“That just isn’t right.”

– Then what will you do?

“First, we have to learn more about him. Only then will we know what’s to be done.”

– Funeral… release… either way, you need to know.

“So let’s go looking.”

– For whom?

“For someone who knows the Azure Spear.”

Londinel was long destroyed, and worse, erased from the record. Only fragments remained, so discovering the Azure Spear’s true identity verged on impossible. Still, Najin knew one person who remembered the forgotten kingdom of Londinel, someone who likely knew of the Azure Spear as well.

“Kirchhoff.”

He would seek the last knight of Londinel.

Kirchhoff, the Sword Master of the Forgotten Kingdom, was a giant among giants. Though he held but one star, he once single-handedly slew a seven-star constellation. Such figures couldn’t normally be met on request but only by luck.

Najin was an exception. He headed to the nearest battlefield from the Azure Spear’s desert and presented himself to the commander, an imperial officer who knew him well.

“Sir Najin? An honor! I’ve heard of your feats on the western front; thanks to your help up north we can finally breathe.” Smiling broadly, the commander shook Najin’s hand. It was partly political since Najin was the Empire’s rising hero backed by the First Pillar, but not solely so.

Traveling the Outland, Najin often lent timely, effective aid, and every commander remembered his name—that one was no different.

“You wish to meet Sir Kirchhoff? Normally he answers no summons, but a request from Sir Najin may be another matter. Come inside.” Grateful to repay a benefactor, the commander ushered Najin into his tent.

A message was sent, and some time later, Kirchhoff arrived alone. “I’d say it’s been a while, but it was only a few months ago, wasn’t it?” Dropping into a chair, he grinned. “Good to see you, lad. No, I should call you Najin now. You have a star of your own, Dawnbringer. Shall I use that?”

“Najin is just fine.”

“Very well, Najin. We both drove our blades into the Carnival King once. It makes me want to share a drink and trade war stories.” His eyes narrowed. “But you came for a reason. Something about a knight of Londinel, yes?”

Najin nodded and told Kirchhoff everything about the stray encounter with the Azure Spear. “...And so I sought you out. Do you know the Azure Spear?”

“The Azure Spear…” Kirchhoff sketched a spear on a scrap of paper. “Did his weapon look like this?”

“It did.”

“Then yes, I know him. So that’s where he’s been hiding.” His face darkened. He pressed a hand to his brow and sighed. “He loses his memories every day… yet still swings the spear. Hah.” Kirchhoff ground his teeth. “Thank you for finding him, Najin, but I’m afraid I cannot answer your request.”

“What do you mean, sir?”

“Even knowing where he is, I cannot go there. For me, that place is a Forbidden Zone, and the instant I approached, my own memory would likely be at risk.” Seeing Najin’s puzzlement, Kirchhoff forced a wan smile. “First, I must explain Londinel’s fall. What do you know?”

“It was destroyed three hundred years ago, with the Carnival King and the Star of Forgetting involved. Most records were erased.”

“Add to that Lancelot, once a Knight of the Round. Three stars; several witches—those forces wiped out my homeland.”

Three constellations had a hand in the fall, yet Londinel still managed to leave a trace of its existence—a feat Najin understood all too well after facing the Carnival King and her Forgotten.

“Londinel rivaled the Empire in its day. As the Empire has five Pillars, Londinel had three Spears—gifts for its noblest knights.” Kirchhoff raised three fingers. “The Crimson Spear, the Azure Spear, and the Golden Spear. All were Transcendents and paragons of knighthood.”

He folded the fingers one by one. “When Londinel perished, those three sacrificed themselves. Two gave their lives to smuggle one knight beyond the collapsing kingdom.”

There was no need to ask which knight.

“The last sacrificed himself so that the knight might keep his memory whole. So long as even one person remembered Londinel perfectly, the kingdom would live on—so he cried.” That knight was the bearer of the Azure Spear. Kirchhoff, the only person who remembered Londinel intact, gave a bitter laugh. “But his words were false.”

“False?”

“My memory is not whole. I remember everything except the one who preserved it for me. That is the price he paid.”

To be forgotten by all, even by the one he saved, was the Azure Spear’s cost.

“To me, his very existence is a kind of Forbidden Zone. I cannot approach it.” The usual heroic gleam was gone from Kirchhoff’s eyes; he looked like a man crushed under a burden he could barely carry. “You recall I spoke of why I swing my sword?”

“Your liege’s dying wish.”

“Exactly, and a compulsion. The lone survivor’s task.” He smiled ruefully. “Najin, will you do me a favor?”

When Najin asked what it was, Kirchhoff replied, “I will tell you everything I can about the ‘Azure Spear’ title and all connected matters. Though I cannot recall the bearer himself, I remember the branches around him.”

“When we’re done, please deliver a message. Tell him this…” Kirchhoff struck his chest with a thump. “Because of you, I am who I am today. The whelp you saved still swings his blade as a knight of Londinel, moving step by step toward its restoration.”

He drew a deep breath, then smiled, once more the storybook hero.

“Tell him his devotion was not in vain.”

After several days shuttling between the battlefield and the Forbidden Zone, Najin returned to the desert. The sun had set. Near the lone tent, the Azure Spear slept with his head bowed.

Najin sat before him. Recalling Kirchhoff’s words, he planted the Cross-Star Lance upright in the sand and pondered what must, and could, be done.

Time passed.

When dawn broke, the Azure Spear awoke. His clear yet empty eyes took in the world; he turned the hourglass and opened the diary.

Rustle.

The newly born Azure Spear flipped through pages as though searching for the answer to who he was but found only tasks to perform.

“Good morning, Azure Spear.” Najin stood before him. “I’m Najin, the Free Knight. Page 781 will tell you about me.”

“Yes, I see it.”

“I came because I have a message, and a request.”

“A request?” The Azure Spear blinked.

“Teach me your spear.” Najin knelt on one knee, gripping the Cross-Star Lance. “Teach me the art of Londinel, the art you have guarded for three hundred years.”

That was where they would begin.

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