Traveling with the Helmeted Knight, Najin learned a few things about him that he would rather not have known. Contrary to his first impression of a solemn man who took everything seriously, the knight was far more frivolous than Najin had imagined.

For one thing, he talked a lot.

“Don’t you think lumping everyone in the world together under the word ‘human’ is an awfully narrow-minded view?”

“Where did that come from?”

What was more, most of his talk consisted of nebulous ideas and deeply philosophical questions.

“Think about it, Najin. Animals eat animals. Does that sentence strike you as strange?”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

“Indeed. Then, humans eat humans. How does that sentence make you feel?”

“It’s rather unpleasant. Savages are the first thing that comes to mind.”

“Yes! Precisely.”

The Helmeted Knight snapped his fingers.

“Animals are divided into countless species. Predators hunt other animals. Nobody questions that. It’s only natural. Naturally, nobody considers lions and deer to be the same species either. But what about humans?”

He raised his voice as he went on.

“Different peoples. Different nations. Yet we lump them all together under that single word, ‘human.’ That is why the phrase ‘humans eating humans’ feels like the slaughter of one’s own kind. It provokes an instinctive revulsion. Even though they might actually be entirely different species.”

“Animals have to eat animals to survive, but humans can survive without eating humans, can’t they? It must feel revolting because they aren’t eating them out of necessity.”

“Hmm. That is true as well. But,” the Helmeted Knight continued, “what about the Outer Lands?”

“Pardon?”

“In the Outer Lands, some people can only survive by eating human hearts. Then is it revolting for them to eat humans? Should we turn a blind eye because it is essential to their survival? By your logic, you could answer that there is nothing wrong with it.”

“That’s...”

“Don’t try to answer right away. Give it some more thought. Until we reach our destination.”

He chuckled.

“We have plenty of time.”

The Helmeted Knight led the way.

He had offered to show Najin, who knew nothing of the Outer Lands’ geography, a battlefield suited to his abilities. He claimed to know all sorts of places after wandering this land for so long. Listening to him, Najin suddenly glanced to his side.

“Hmm.”

Merlin pursed her lips.

“Is it just me? Why does it feel like he’s stolen my role?”

‘It’s not just you.’

“...”

With the Helmeted Knight having appointed himself their guide, Merlin fell silent. She pressed close to Najin’s side and wrapped her arm around his neck. As though making excuses, she thrust a sheet of paper in front of his eyes.

“I-I was going to tell you too, you know? I’ve picked out a few destinations myself. Want to take a look? Ten Must-See Destinations in the Outer Lands! It’s the perfect route to accelerate your growth. I painstakingly planned it back on the continent...”

‘I’ll look later.’

“O-oh? All right. You have to look later, okay?”

Leaving the dejected Merlin behind, Najin kept walking. He would visit the destinations she recommended as well, but for now, the place the Helmeted Knight had spoken of interested him more.

“Look over there.”

Standing atop a hill, the Helmeted Knight extended his hand. An abandoned castle stood where his finger pointed.

“That old castle is our destination.”

The Helmeted Knight spoke its name.

“Atula Fortress.”

“And,” he added, “it is occupied by the Order of the Starfire Guardians.”

2.

Najin looked at Atula Fortress.

There were many fortresses like it in the Outer Lands. He had already seen quite a few old castles on the way here. And not just castles. Cities, towers, ruins, and more. Abandoned structures were a common sight in the Outer Lands.

Buildings left behind by fallen or forgotten nations. Cities swallowed up as the Boundary of the Outer Lands expanded. The Outer Lands were full of structures abandoned for various other reasons, or built by Constellations.

And their architectural styles were far from uniform.

Towers from antiquity, a thousand years old.

Castles of bygone nations that had fallen seven hundred years ago.

Ruins from five hundred years ago.

Three hundred years ago, two hundred, one hundred...

From a thousand years ago to the present, buildings from every era coexisted in the Outer Lands. Even in this land inhabited by transcendent beings, where the rules were broken, structures raised by human hands still stood.

“The Order of the Starfire Guardians. A knightly order active about two hundred years ago. Have you heard of them?”

“I know a little.”

“Good. Their entire order ventured into the Outer Lands together. About two hundred years ago. They came with the noble purpose of fighting demons and misguided transcendent beings.”

They had declared that they would prove their starfire would not go out even in the Outer Lands, that it would blaze fiercely, and ventured into this land. So the Helmeted Knight told him.

“But after a certain incident, the Order of the Starfire became a band of the Lost.”

He did not explain what that incident had been. He simply continued.

“Now they hunt humans. They eat humans to protect their starfire. Do you see the smoke rising from that citadel?”

Najin did. Though the walls obscured his view, snow-white smoke was rising above the fortress.

“Proof that the starfire still burns. They keep it alight. They will do anything to protect it. Even hunt humans. Do you think that is right?”

“It doesn’t seem like something a knight should do.”

“Is that so?”

The Helmeted Knight neither agreed nor disagreed. Instead, he nodded and walked toward the fortress.

“There are no answers in the Outer Lands. Only what you think for yourself. Then go and give your answer to the master of that fortress.”

Descending the hill and passing through a dense forest, Najin and the Helmeted Knight approached Atula Fortress. Knights were stationed on its walls and watchtowers, and others guarded the firmly shut iron gate.

At first glance, it looked like an ordinary fortress... but its defenders were far from ordinary. The knights’ eyes were vacant, and their movements betrayed no intelligence.

“As I recall, a third of the Order of the Starfire were Sword Seekers. There were roughly thirty knights in the order, so that would make about ten Sword Seekers.”

“They won’t be easy opponents.”

“No. But as I said, they have been active in the Outer Lands for two hundred years. More than enough time for another ten Sword Seekers to emerge.”

Ten at the very least, possibly more.

Despite his bulk, the Helmeted Knight was speaking to Najin from behind a tree. Najin doubted anyone that large could hide merely by trying, but since the fortress guards had not noticed them, it seemed to be working.

‘Or maybe those Lost just have poor eyesight.’

The latter seemed more likely.

“How should we get in? Taking that castle won’t be easy.”

“What do you mean, how should we get in?”

“Well, we could scale the walls, or obscure their vision and launch a surprise attack. There are plenty of options, aren’t there?”

“Tsk.”

The Helmeted Knight clicked his tongue.

“We are visiting this citadel as knights.”

“Yes?”

“Knights fight fair and square. All the more so when we point to another’s beliefs and declare, ‘You are wrong.’ Then we must be especially just and upright. Isn’t that the way of Atanga?”

He slowly rose.

“How could a knight scale the walls?”

“... Pardon?”

“How could a knight scale the walls to launch a surprise attack? That simply won’t do.”

Then he stamped down on the ground.

THUD!

His stomp shook the forest. Evidently, even this was impossible to ignore: the knights guarding the fortress turned their eyes toward the woods where Najin and the Helmeted Knight were hiding.

Ignoring their stares, the Helmeted Knight puffed himself up as if shouting, “Look at me!” He bent his knees, leaned forward, and tucked his spear beneath his arm.

“A frontal breakthrough. Now that is romance.”

With his spearpoint leveled, the Helmeted Knight kicked off the ground. Every stride rang out with an explosive sound.

BOOM!

The earth split open wherever his feet landed.

Once he had built enough momentum, the Helmeted Knight began racing forward in something close to a series of leaps. Every stride closed the distance in an instant. The knights guarding the gate reacted too, but by the time they noticed him, he was already right in front of it.

And then.

KABOOOOOM!

The gate shattered with a deafening roar. The thick-looking iron doors did not buckle; they broke into pieces. The walls shook as well. Rather violently. Fragments of stone rained down from them.

“Whoa.”

Running after the Helmeted Knight, Najin marveled.

A lance charge that smashed the gate head-on. A truly perfect lance charge.

So that was how it worked. With enough leg strength, a person could perform a lance charge without a horse. As the knights caught in the charge were hurled far away, Najin looked through the ruined gate.

The Lost wandering inside the fortress had frozen stiff. Their eyes were fixed on Najin and the Helmeted Knight. Even having lost their sense of self, could they still feel surprise at this sudden assault?

A brief silence.

Then.

CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!

Drawing swords, spears, halberds, and other weapons, they began charging at Najin and the Helmeted Knight. There was something alarming about their advance. All the more so because aura imbued with mental images was rising from their weapons.

“Are you sure this is the right approach?”

“I told you, a frontal breakthrough is romance.”

Romance, my ass.

3.

Faced with an attacker who had abruptly shattered their gate with a lance charge, the knights stationed in the fortress responded quite competently. They immediately formed ranks and began surrounding the intruders.

Though they had lost their sense of self, their movements were disciplined and precise. Unlike the Lost who wandered alone, they moved as a cohesive group.

SWISH!

Fifteen or so melee weapons swept toward them in formation. It was certainly threatening. Najin swung his sword to parry them as he retreated, while the Helmeted Knight swept his spear in a broad arc to knock the oncoming weapons aside.

He spun the shaft once and caught it in a reverse grip. He handled the long spear, which looked a full three meters long, as if it were a short one. Despite its considerable weight, he held it in one hand and drew his arm back.

Then he swung his arm and hurled it.

WHOOSH!

The spear shot through the body of a knight on a distant watchtower who had been preparing to snipe at them. No, “shot through” was not quite accurate. It brought down the entire top of the tower.

Having demolished the watchtower along with the knight drawing a bow atop it, the spear changed direction in midair at a gesture from the Helmeted Knight and returned to his hand. He snatched it firmly out of the air and slammed the shaft down.

“What kind of technique is that?”

“An essential technique for anyone who wields a spear in the Outer Lands. Throwing and retrieval. I’ll teach you when we have some time.”

The Helmeted Knight shrugged and let out a long breath. Then he roared at the advancing Lost, as if demanding their attention. It sounded less like a human voice than a beast’s growl.

Once he had drawn all their eyes to himself, he spoke.

“See where that smoke is rising? The master of this fortress is probably there.”

The Helmeted Knight gave Najin a hard slap on the back.

“Go.”

He smiled as he spun his spear.

“The Lost should fight the Lost. Your opponent is not one of them, but the master of this fortress.”