The Vertus Viscounty was a poor noble family on the outskirts of the Grand Duchy of Ilensia.

All they possessed was a title with no real power. Their domain existed only on paper, and their living conditions were only slightly better than those of common folk. Because of this, Arzen's father was the only one who believed that the surname "Vertus" made him special.

"Son, how many times must I tell you! You are different from those lowborn rabble outside. You are a proper nobleman. Yet here you are again, consorting with those common folk!"

"..."

His father always disapproved of his son mingling with friends from the village, but to Arzen, these complaints never resonated.

What does it mean that I'm different from my friends because of my name?

What significance does that even have?

The herbalist family living at the foot of the mountain seemed happy without a surname like Vertus.

Their daughter Ranya knew how to smile beautifully, and her parents never beat her even when drunk.

They certainly didn't force unfulfilled dreams onto their child.

The herbalist couple took meticulous care of frail Ranya.

In Arzen's opinion, his father was a somewhat inferior adult compared to others.

He would wander through the damp corners of downtown every day, returning with the stench of debauchery.

Naturally, he wasted money on alcohol without working.

The only reason Arzen considered his father "somewhat" inferior was because he had bought him a sword.

And, after all, he was the parent who had given him life.

A knight should be honorable.

And honorable people respect their parents.

No matter how petty his father might be, he was no exception to this rule.

Arzen simply believed he was a bit unlucky.

"Arzen. Where have you been?"

"The mountains, sir. Running in the mountains builds more stamina than on flat ground."

"Good. You must work hard. Our family was originally a prestigious martial house. Our ancestors were on the path to becoming Sword Masters, but..."

"Yes. I train diligently every day."

Indeed, Arzen wanted to become a knight.

A knight riding a magnificent horse and wearing gleaming armor.

Though he had initially started down this path to escape his father's abuse... now he shared the same dream.

It began with something small.

Arzen didn't really know what he wanted to be when he grew up.

Then one day, Ranya asked him:

"Will you become a knight when you grow up, Arzen?"

"I suppose I might."

"That's amazing! I recently went to a large estate with my father. I saw a knight riding a white horse there. His armor gleamed in the sunlight, and he was the most magnificent person I'd ever seen. I'm sure you'll become a great knight like that too."

"Really?"

"Yes! You can do anything I can't do, Arzen. You'll definitely achieve your dream."

Arzen couldn't sleep that night.

The sparkle in Ranya's eyes when she talked about knights was so bright—when he recalled it in the middle of the night, it seemed to illuminate everything around him.

That's how the boy's dream began.

He would become a knight guarding a big city, just as Ranya had said.

After becoming a knight, he would someday return to this village riding a white horse.

And then... hmm.

Arzen turned his head to clear his mind.

For a young boy, these vague feelings were embarrassing and awkward.

Time passed quickly.

After training, he would help Ranya gather herbs, and occasionally share meals at her house.

Looking back, those were truly joyful memories.

At least until the day his father returned home with an unusually happy face.

"Arzen. A wonderful opportunity has come your way. I hear that Lord Macgellan has an open squire position. You wouldn't want to miss this chance, would you?"

Squire.

The seed of knighthood, a position as an apprentice knight.

Before long, Arzen realized he had been sold for a few coins, but he wasn't particularly angry.

He hadn't expected much to begin with, so there was no reason for disappointment.

And the word "opportunity" wasn't entirely false.

They said the place he was going was a terrible battlefield.

But that was fine. Knights were supposed to overcome adversity.

To become a knight, he would need to endure at least this much.

He didn't tell Ranya, not wanting to worry her.

It was better to be cautious, just in case.

—That was certainly his intention.

The day before leaving for the battlefield.

After finishing their mountain walk with Ranya, the sky had turned crimson.

The sunset was so beautiful that Arzen spoke words he had intended to keep to himself.

"I promise you, Ranya. I'll definitely return as a great knight. When I come back, will you marry me?"

"Yes. I promise too."

Ranya smiled at him.

The boy now had a reason not to die.

* * *

You were wrong, Ranya.

Knights aren't such magnificent people.

War was fundamentally horrific.

There was no romance, dream, or hope in the act of killing people.

At some point, Arzen realized he was fighting for survival rather than honor, but nothing changed.

The knights the dream-filled boy first met were all pathetic humans.

Cowards full of bluster. Pleasure-killers who enjoyed tormenting the weak. Unreasonable and incompetent old fools.

Competent people were competent in only a few ways, but incompetent people were always creative enough to easily exceed expectations.

The madness of the battlefield, which devoured humans, eventually swallowed the boy's dream as well.

"The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing! It's Arzen Vertus!"

"Kill him! Ten gold coins to whoever slays that man!"

"Why can't anyone kill that one man!"

The boy grew up to become a knight but never achieved his dream.

The knight he had dreamed of was not a reaper who indiscriminately took lives.

Someone on the battlefield criticized Arzen's sword as being mad, but that wasn't true.

His sword merely killed humans like a machine, pursuing efficiency to the extreme.

There was no room for madness in his emotionless swordplay.

As the bodies he killed accumulated, his notoriety spread across the battlefield.

Around the time he was approaching his "wall," the Grand Duke of Ilensia personally came to see him.

"I've been looking for an exceptional knight. The Spearhead Knights need new faces. Arzen Vertus, it seems I've found the man I was searching for."

"I am not a knight."

"That can't be. I clearly heard that you were formally knighted as a free knight."

The Grand Duke of Ilensia was a peculiar person.

Despite meeting for the first time, it felt as if he could see right through Arzen's mind.

Arzen inadvertently revealed his true thoughts.

"I received knighthood to fight on the battlefield, but I am not yet someone worthy of being called a knight."

It was nonsense, sounding dubious even to himself.

Nevertheless, the Grand Duke of Ilensia nodded readily.

A satisfied smile had already formed at the corners of his mouth.

"So you became a knight but are not a knight. Then it's a matter of your mindset, not your status. What kind of person do you think a knight is?"

"I no longer know. When I was young, I had a dream of what it meant, but now I can't tell anymore."

"If you've lost sight of it, then you simply need to find it again. Follow me, and I'll help you find your way. We can discuss whether you'll become my knight afterward. What do you say?"

"I..."

Arzen ended up going to the Grand Duchy of Ilensia.

Although he hadn't yet joined the Spearhead Knights, the Grand Duchy was the most decent place Arzen had seen so far.

There were many knights in splendid armor, just as Ranya had once described.

But they too are merely killing machines on the battlefield.

When I return to the battlefield, I'll also swing my sword emotionlessly.

His heart was stirred when the Grand Duke of Ilensia took him on an outing one day.

Beside him was a beautiful lady whom he introduced as his fiancée.

The Grand Duke wore the happiest expression Arzen had ever seen on him, yet he maintained a strict distance from the lady.

After the outing ended and the lady had left, Arzen asked:

"Your Grace, I noticed you always walk three steps away from the lady. May I ask why?"

"It's my way of protecting her. She's still somewhat afraid of me deep down."

"Then, does the lady not love Your Grace?"

"Well, I'm not sure about that yet. But things are gradually improving. I believe that when the time comes, she will draw me closer."

A way to protect the heart.

After that, the Grand Duke shared many other insights.

Today, the lady took one step closer to him first.

A slight distance had created a deeper relationship.

The world is full of contradictions; sometimes changing yourself just a little can change everything.

Human emotions are more powerful than magic.

"To me, knights are people who protect me and my domain. Expanding the meaning a bit, they could also be called people who protect others."

"That's what people usually say. Though I don't quite agree."

To Arzen, knights were still cruel killing machines.

Butchers who killed humans for money. No different from mercenaries except for carrying themselves with slightly more pride.

While people thought of "protectors" when they saw knights, Arzen first thought of "slaughterers."

"I thought you might feel that way. But listen. I cannot become a knight myself. I'm more suited to reviewing documents from behind the lines than fighting on the front. Yet there is one person I must protect."

"You mean the lady?"

"Yes. What do you think? If I were to sacrifice my life to protect her, would I be a knight to her?"

"...Well, I'm not sure."

"Haha! Take your time to think about it. You don't have to answer me."

The Grand Duke of Ilensia's words continued to circle in Arzen's mind.

It seemed like he almost understood, yet it remained somewhat puzzling.

His contemplation was only resolved after quite some time had passed.

It was the day his long-forgotten father came to visit.