WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

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◈ The Genius Knight of a Fallen Race ◈

Chapter 33: It Is the Sun, Not the Wind, That Strips the Traveler

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“But Your Highness is always under the protection of royal guard knights, aren't you?”

As Shan spoke, he glanced at the two knights standing behind her.

Objectively speaking, their skills were not particularly impressive. At best, they were about as capable as Sir Katra, whom he had met before, or perhaps a little worse.

Otherwise, even if he had held back because he was trying to subdue them, he could not have defeated two armed knights with his bare hands. If they had possessed even the skill of Sir Gowell, Count Sedil's subordinate, he would have had to accept being injured.

Honestly, they seemed well below the standard expected of renowned royal guard knights. Were knights serving royalty truly weaker than an ordinary count's knights?

Serin's next words answered that question.

“They aren't part of the royal household. As I said, I have very few allies within the court. If I brought them along while moving in secret, my every move would be exposed. Aran and Kagon were assigned to me separately by my maternal uncle.”

Serin's maternal uncle had to be Count Paless, the man Shan had heard of before.

Now he understood why they were not especially skilled.

A territory that monsters rarely invaded would naturally have little need to train or hire powerful knights. Conversely, talented knights would not want to stay somewhere they could not build their careers.

“I've pressed you with questions long enough, so I want to ask you something as well. Why do you want to become a knight?”

“I want to rise in the world and have a territory of my own.”

Serin's expression turned somewhat indifferent at Shan's simple answer.

The desire for land was an ordinary dream held by everyone who strutted about calling themself a knight. Yet when Shan continued, seriousness returned to her face.

“I know Pendia is the only country in the Alliance where the Altos can settle and live.”

“That's right. There is no need to mention Libert and Ajun, since they are Old Faith countries. Horais and Luman follow the New Faith, but they aren't friendly toward the Altos either.”

Horais, the grassland nation west of the Arman Alliance, was a country steeped in bloodline supremacy.

Perhaps it was because of their tradition of obsessing over purebreds in order to breed the finest horses. They even treated the Alliance's Westerners, who could be considered their own people, as foreigners and discriminated against them.

Luman had once been the country most hospitable to the Altos. They had even rebelled there, only to be suppressed and expelled.

“But even in Pendia, the Altos are always part of the lower class. I want to create a territory where they can live without fear.”

The Alto traveling troupe Shan had encountered in the past was what had given him that dream.

They could not even come to Pendia because the only skill they had was turning their unusual bodies into a spectacle. All they could do was bow their heads and endure society's cruel oppression.

Pendia was no different, though the discrimination was less severe.

Half of Pendia followed the Old Faith, and because of their pressure, the Altos could not even become knights, just as Shan had been unable to.

Naturally, they also had trouble forming connections with those at the top, making it difficult for them to succeed as merchants. Whenever public sentiment turned hostile, all kinds of persecution fell upon them.

Even the Altos in eastern Pendia, aside from those living in cities, usually formed villages of their own instead of mixing with Westerners. Naturally, places where Westerners did not live were harsher and had more monsters, so those villages could never escape poverty.

Shan wanted land where they could live comfortably.

If the lord were an Alto, and several knights and administrators were Altos as well, people would no longer be able to discriminate against them simply by relying on their numbers.

If that lord were also a powerful knight who culled the monsters, they could claim better land and prosper, just as the princess had said earlier.

“That sounds like it could eventually lead to a country for the Altos alone. If we accept the hypothesis that knights are a kind of mage, wouldn't that be the savior's advent the Revivalist faction has long desired?”

“I have no interest in restoring the Alto Empire. I don't think it's something I could accomplish, either.”

Even if every Alto in the world were gathered together, it would be difficult to fill even a few territories, much less form a nation.

And if they tried, every country in the Arman Alliance would immediately gather an army to tear them apart.

No, even an army of several thousand raised by Pendia's lords would make Shan's strength meaningless.

It was not something anyone could dare dream of unless they were a great mage of the old Alto Empire, one said to have leveled mountains and carved away rivers.

“I see. So it is enough for you to be a light for a powerless people.”

For some reason, Serin seemed to be in an excellent mood after hearing Shan's ambition.

Smiling lazily like a well-fed cat, she lightly clapped her hands.

“Very well. Shall we get down to business? I will knight you. And... I won't demand a separate oath of loyalty. If you wish, you may act as a wandering knight as much as you like.”

“What?”

What would the princess get out of that?

Not only Shan but Roden behind him nearly asked the question without thinking. Just moments ago, she had been talking about five years or seven years. What was this sudden change in attitude?

“I wanted to bind you with a contract because otherwise, I couldn't make you do as I wished. But... now that I see it, there was no need for that from the start.”

Serin paused to drink the tea on the table.

The tea at the Weavers Estate was quality stuff, but the slight frown on her face showed that it did not suit her taste.

“I told you before. My brothers are both worthless idiots. If your goal isn't simply to protect yourself and show off your martial skill as a knight, then you must help me become queen to achieve that grand dream of yours. Whether we make a vassal contract or not.”

Only then did Roden understand why Serin looked so triumphant.

After hearing Shan's ambition, she had realized he was already caught.

“Live as a wandering knight and pursue profit as you please. Hunt monsters, wipe out bandits, enter competitions. But when I need you, I'd like you to come and help me. Of course, you won't be my vassal, so it won't be an obligation. I will pay an appropriate reward each time. Like a mercenary.”

Serin frowned slightly, then added,

“No, mercenary has a terrible ring to it. A knight and a princess don't need to be bound only by a contract in the first place. We can give each other what we need according to our desires... collaborators, friends, something like that. Ah, I might also call for you so I can examine and study your condition. That would benefit both of us, wouldn't it?”

Her final words did not sound like Princess Serin, imposing and authoritative. They sounded like Sheri, the curious young mage.

The guards behind her cried out in alarm.

“Your Highness!”

“Even so, to call an Alto like him a friend is...”

“Quiet.”

With one finger against her lips, Serin silenced them and smiled brightly at the two guards.

Under that proposal, Shan would carry no burden at all.

He could enjoy the freedom of a wandering knight and assist the princess without fully joining her faction.

Serin would bear all the burden while he took only the benefits.

Of course, if Serin failed to become queen, Shan's dream would remain only a dream forever. Still, at least he would not have to fall into ruin alongside her.

Shan and Roden looked at each other, then nodded without either taking the lead.

* * *

In the reception room of the Weavers Estate, Shan knelt on one knee before Serin.

The princess borrowed a sword from one of the guard knights behind her and tapped each of Shan's shoulders once.

“In the name of the goddess who watches over all things, and the Hasra Royal Family, rightful rulers of Pendia, I, Serin Gizelle Aste Hasra, hereby knight Shan of the Altos.”

It was a humble knighting ceremony attended by only five people.

Even so, the atmosphere was profoundly solemn.

“From this moment, you need kneel before no one except the goddess, your sovereign, or your own liege. If nobles wish to punish you, they must formally request a trial. You are granted the title of Sir, the right to wear full plate armor, the right of first purchase on warhorses, the right to collect taxes in your own territory, and the right to challenge anyone who insults you to a duel.”

In the Arman Alliance, a knight was not simply a privileged warrior.

Was Emperor Varen, the First Knight and founder of the Arman Empire, not also called the Knight King and the goddess's first consort?

Knights, Emperor Varen's successors, were the swords and shields of rulers. At the same time, as protectors of the Church of the Goddess, they were recognized as holding all manner of privileges.

After listing the rights Shan would now enjoy, Serin left him with one final admonition.

“Sir Shan, do not abuse your sacred authority. Do only what would not shame the goddess's name. Respect the king and nobles, the goddess and her clergy. Protect humanity from foreign enemies and monsters.”

Now that Princess Serin had granted Shan knighthood, no one could take it from him, not even the bedridden king.

To deny his rights simply because he was an Alto would be seen as disregarding both the royal family and the church.

Once her declaration ended, Shan raised his head slightly and asked,

“...Is that all?”

“Would you prefer a grand ceremony where we gather a crowd and listen to a long-winded speech for dozens of minutes? I'm busy right now, but if you truly want one, I can make time soon.”

“I was wondering whether it's valid when done like this.”

It had been so simple that it almost seemed careless, far simpler than he had imagined, seen, or heard about.

Shan had no interest in empty ceremony, but he could not help wondering whether people would recognize that he had truly been knighted.

“There is no issue with the formalities. As a princess of Pendia, I have the authority to knight someone, and there are two knights behind me to serve as witnesses. There will be administrative matters to handle separately, but I will take care of those. You should think about what you want on your family banner.”

Serin returned the sword used for the ceremony to its owner.

“Congratulations, Sir Shan. You are the first Alto knight in history.”

The word knight rang deep within Shan.

When he had first heard Count Sedil speak of it, it had seemed like a goal so distant that he could never reach it. Yet he had gained it this easily...

No, calling it easy was not quite right.

He had only been able to speak with the princess because he had accomplished something difficult to find even in history books, defeating a cockatrice in a one-on-one fight.

Among the hundreds of knights currently in Pendia, would there even be twenty living people who had hunted a cockatrice or a monster of similar strength?

If Shan had not been an Alto, he would have been knighted long ago and received treatment far beyond that.

“Come to think of it, you should have a surname by now. Have you thought of one?”

“Not yet.”

Commoners could simply choose whatever surname they wanted and pass it down, so Shan could have made one for himself long ago.

Nothing had felt quite right, so he had left it alone.

Shan had once suggested simply using Weavers, Roden's family name, but Roden had regrettably refused.

Roden had said that someone destined to accomplish great deeds should not carelessly take another family's name.

Serin looked delighted by Shan's answer.

“Then may I give you one? I happened to think of something beforehand.”

Wondering whether this might carry political meaning as well, Shan glanced to the side. Roden nodded, so Shan agreed.

“I would gratefully accept it.”

“Barendil. In the old language, it means the seat beside Varen. Read according to the pronunciation of that time, it can also be interpreted as... one equal to Varen.”

An Alto using the name of Emperor Varen, the first and strongest knight, the idol of all Westerners, and ancestor of the five royal houses?

It was not difficult to guess that it would provoke considerable resentment.

Serin smiled as though she did not care.

“Yes, it is a grand name. But if you wish to fulfill your desire, you will likely need to achieve deeds worthy of it. Then no one will call it arrogant.”

If Shan truly accomplished deeds equal to Emperor Varen's, the surname would carry just as much meaning.

Besides, as Serin had said before, anyone who disliked him because of it probably already disliked him anyway.

“I will work hard to live up to your expectations, Your Highness.”

Instead of kneeling on one knee as before, Shan of House Barendil bowed lightly while standing.

Now that he was a wandering knight, the only ones he needed to kneel before were the goddess and Pendia's king.

* * *

“Are you truly sure this is all right, Your Highness?”

On the way back, Serin turned slightly at the voice behind her.

Her guard knights wore worried expressions.

“You will face tremendous criticism. A few lords who secretly supported Your Highness because they could not show it openly will turn their backs on you as well. You took on that much loss to knight him, yet you will not even bind him with a vassal contract?”

“An Alto like him would not understand concepts like gratitude or loyalty. Even now, you should revoke the knighthood and impose conditions again...”

Neither knight suggested that Shan should not be knighted.

They agreed that Shan's strength was necessary for the great cause their princess dreamed of. They had experienced firsthand just how powerful that demonic Alto boy was.

“Revoking his knighthood? That is the funniest joke you've made this year. What fool would trust a ruler who goes back on their word?”

Serin firmly silenced them both and kept walking.

Her eyes faced forward, but her mind was filled with the conversation from earlier.

‘Yes. This is the best method.’

After learning of Shan's existence, Serin had steadily devoted part of her intelligence network to him.

How he had been born, how he had grown up, what he wanted, what made him happy, what he hated...

Even a girl nursing unrequited love probably would not have studied one person this thoroughly.

Then, after being unexpectedly punched and even made to bleed from the nose, Serin had analyzed him over and over. Today, she had finally drawn a perfect blueprint of the person called Shan.

‘A child starved for affection and kindness. He has been taught basic social ethics, but has not truly learned them through experience. He cannot turn away from the oppressed and weak. He strongly resists authority, and he is especially sensitive when someone attacks those he considers his own.’

Binding someone like that through a contract had little meaning.

If he thought an order was wrong or did not want to follow it, he would refuse without hesitation, even if doing so was social suicide.

That was why she had deliberately begun by demanding an excessive term of fifteen years, then discarded it.

Naturally, the whole thing would become a debt of gratitude in his heart.

Many people remembered grudges and forgot favors. Yet Serin was certain that if she gave Shan freely without holding back, he would never pretend not to know what she had done for him.

It was not so much faith in Shan himself as faith in her own ability to analyze him.

If she controlled Shan through a vassal oath, he would abandon his liege without hesitation and flee the moment things became dangerous. But if she bound him completely through emotional ties, he would never stand by and watch her fall.

For the price of gaining the sharpest sword in the world, one the two blind idiots had left unattended, it was absurdly cheap.

* * *

“Congratulations, Sir Shan!”

After the negotiations ended and Kalion heard what had happened, he immediately bent deeply at the waist toward Shan.

Just as he had once done before attendants of nobles and knights.

Startled, Shan hurriedly pulled him upright.

Roden, standing beside him, stared at his father as though he could not believe it.

“Father...”

“Don't look at me like that. From now on, when others are present, you need to see him not as a friend, but as someone to respect. It would be best to practice now.”

As Kalion said, the moment Shan became a knight, his social position rose far beyond Roden's.

If the two acted too casually in public now, people would think Roden dared to look down on a knight.

A lowly merchant looking down on a formally knighted man simply because he was an Alto.

There was no need to explain how seriously challenges to rank were treated in a strict class society.

“We should have asked the princess to make Roden a knight too.”

Shan sighed as he spoke, but Roden shook his head.

“I told you. Maybe you can, but I absolutely can't. Not until I fix this damned condition.”

The refusal to make Altos into knights was only an unspoken rule among nobles.

As Sir Darkal had shown by displaying little aversion to an Alto becoming a knight, if Shan displayed superior ability as a knight, he could receive sufficient respect from other knights.

But a knight who froze before a blade and could do nothing was even less acceptable than an Alto knight.

It meant that person was crippled, unable even to meet the most basic qualification of a knight: being someone who fought.

If Roden became a knight and that fact became known, not only would he be despised, but Shan, who had been knighted alongside him, would inevitably have his qualifications questioned as well.

After that commotion, the three discussed what crest the newly established House Barendil would use.

Shan had already thought about this, so they made the decision more quickly than expected.

“Green eyes.”

“I thought they would be the best symbol to represent me.”

“That's true. Once someone sees them, they can never forget them.”

The crest was a softly glowing green eye drawn against a black background.

The black represented night and darkness, while the luminous green eye was modeled directly after Shan's own.

The crests of older houses, with their many ties to other families, were much more complicated. For a newly established knightly house, though, this was more than enough.

They brought their rough design to a skilled painter, and in only a day, it became a convincing crest.

It looked so good that both Roden and Shan nodded in satisfaction at the finished work.

“It came out great. This should be fine.”

“We embroider this on the flag and the clothes worn over armor, right?”

“That's right. Even if you're wearing a helmet, everyone will know who you are.”

Of course, if anyone truly encountered Shan in the darkness, they would know who he was simply by seeing those glowing green eyes.

Roden had learned firsthand just how terrifying that was when he watched Shan fight in the sewers of the Demon Realm.

Those who saw House Barendil's crest in the future would likely learn the same thing.

“Once your fitted plate armor is ready, we're all set.”

“Right. I hope we can make it in time...”

They were talking about the event considered the crown jewel of a knight's life.

The jousting tournament.

Knights from every region would gather to make names for themselves. Before long, that elegant yet brutal competition, where many contestants were seriously injured or killed, would be held in the capital.

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