Argo, a knight of Atanga.

Counted among Atanga's strongest, he was renowned for making swift judgments without losing his composure, no matter the circumstances. Yet at this moment, Argo was bewildered.

The scene before him was simply that absurd.

When Demon Knight Berheigen had invoked his authority, Argo had been considerably shaken. The demonic energy far exceeded his expectations, and the authority was unlike anything he had encountered before: it created a barrier completely cut off from the outside world.

Still, he had been able to respond quickly enough to that.

Gritting his teeth, Argo had made an immediate decision. The young man fighting the demon was in danger. He had held his own until now, but surely he could not do the same inside the barrier. They had to help him.

"Break the barrier!"

How to counter and overcome a demon's authority.

As an organization primarily concerned with overseeing knights and slaying demons, Atanga possessed extensive knowledge of demons. Even so, analyzing and breaking the barrier had taken considerable time.

CRACK!

Then, at some point, the barrier weakened. They smashed through that opening and entered. Even as he stepped inside, Argo could not hide his bitterness. With so much time elapsed, the young man was very likely already dead.

Nevertheless, Argo shouted.

"Protect the young man!"

Protect him and kill the Demon Knight. If the young man had already perished, protect his body from further desecration, at least. Those were the thoughts behind Argo's raised voice, but...

"Form ranks and... pressure... Berheigen?"

What greeted them inside the barrier was not the Demon Knight, and certainly not the young man's corpse. Instead, they found the bisected body of Demon Knight Berheigen and...

"... Huh?"

The young man, staring at Argo with wide eyes, apparently just as surprised.

CRACK!

At last, the barrier shattered completely, and sunlight poured down. Warm sunlight illuminated Berheigen's bisected corpse, its face planted in the dirt, and Najin standing perfectly unharmed, without a single wound.

Every expectation had proven wrong.

To demand that someone remain composed and make a cool-headed judgment even in a situation like this...

'What... in the world is going on?'

Even for Argo, that was asking too much.

And so, events had reached the present moment.

2.

Najin looked at the people who had broken through the barrier. His hand reflexively went to the sword hilt at his waist, but he soon relaxed his guard.

He had seen the emblems engraved on their armor.

Two crossed swords, with a shield depicted above them. Najin recognized that emblem. Ivan had once told him about it, and after reaching the outside world, he had looked it up in a book.

'The Atanga Knight Order...'

The guardians of the ancient knightly precepts.

And the order Ivan had belonged to. Najin stared at the knights, his eyes wide. They, too, were looking at him. Whatever different meanings their gazes held, the knights and Najin stood watching one another.

Najin moved first.

Lowering the hand that had been about to draw his sword, he asked them a question.

"Might you be members of the Atanga Knight Order?"

"... I am Argo, a knight of Atanga."

The knight at the very front—Argo, the man in charge of this mission—stepped forward. He raised a hand and pointed behind Najin, where Berheigen's bisected corpse lay.

"I command the pursuit force dispatched to execute that man. Though it seems there is no longer any need to pursue him..."

Still feeling dazed, Argo lowered his hand.

He glanced at Najin standing before him. The young man could be twenty at most. Had he truly attained such heights at that age?

'The output of his sword aura a moment ago...'

That should not have been possible for someone his age.

Argo narrowed his eyes. It was terribly discourteous to the young man, but someone whose accomplishments were so abnormal could have ties to a demon.

Argo was a warrior who had attained the rank of Sword Seeker.

His eyes could discern at least the mana flowing through another person's body. Leaving aside clotted masses contaminated by demonic energy, if the mana itself contained impurities, he would have to suspect a connection to demons. But...

'It's clear. Incredibly so.'

The mana was utterly pure.

Not the slightest impurity mingled with it. It was as clear as a stream flowing deep in the mountains. That meant the young man had no connection to demons whatsoever. Nor was there any trace of contamination by demonic energy.

'Remarkable. Truly.'

Argo inwardly marveled.

He had never seen mana this pure. The absence of any clotted demonic energy also suggested that the young man possessed some means of resisting demonic energy itself.

He had many questions. But he knew what had to come first.

CLANG!

Sheathing his drawn sword, he struck his chest with his fist, producing a metallic clang. With his fist against the Atanga emblem engraved on his armor, Argo spoke.

"You have my gratitude."

The proper thing to do was none other than to offer his thanks.

"On behalf of Atanga, I honor you for punishing one who disgraced the name of knight."

A succession of clangs followed.

The Atanga knights behind him were saluting Najin. The sound of gauntlets striking armor rang out.

Receiving their salute, Najin felt his heart pound for reasons he could not quite explain. The knights of this age, whom he had glimpsed in fairy tales and his master's stories, were now standing before him.

"It is an honor."

Awkwardly, Najin returned their salute. When he finished, Argo nodded.

"Forgive me, but may I ask you to explain what happened?"

"Of course. Gladly."

Najin let out a long breath and began his account. He had already decided how to explain it. The story did not take long.

He had pursued Berheigen. During the pursuit, he had encountered a knight who had faced Berheigen earlier... and heard his account.

"Gilbert, a knight of House Trevache."

It was thanks to that man's help that he had been able to track Berheigen down.

Berheigen was exhausted and wounded from his earlier battle with the knights. Najin had exploited that to gain the advantage.

He told no lies.

He simply did not tell the whole truth, either.

He could not yet reveal his identity in full.

"... So."

Having heard the entire account, Argo summed it up.

"You pursued Berheigen after he sustained a critical wound and defeated him here. Is that what you mean?"

"Yes."

"And you exploited that weakness inside the barrier as well?"

"Yes. The wound on his shoulder..."

Najin pointed to Berheigen's bisected corpse. There was indeed a scar remaining on its shoulder.

"I see."

Argo stroked his chin.

The account made sense, but there were more than a few suspicious points. Above all, Argo had seen the overwhelmingly powerful sword aura Najin had displayed before the barrier enclosed him.

Suspicious though it was, he had no grounds to press him.

Even if the young man was hiding his strength, Argo had no right to expose it or reprimand him for it. If he had ties to a demon or was concealing some sinister scheme, questioning him would have been appropriate... but that did not seem to be the case.

In that case, there was only one thing Argo needed to ask the young man before him.

"May I ask you one question?"

Najin nodded at Argo's words.

Looking him straight in the eye, Argo asked,

"Why did you cut down Berheigen?"

He could answer freely. He could say he had merely carried out the commission, that he wanted the bounty, or anything else. After telling him as much, Argo added,

"Whatever answer you give me here, I swear that I will do you no harm. This is merely an honest question."

An oath spoken by a knight of Atanga.

Najin was well aware of its weight. Thus, at least this question, he could answer without concealment. Slowly, he opened his mouth.

"I didn't like it."

"... You didn't like it?"

"During my battle with Berheigen, I asked him a question. What did being a knight mean to him?"

Najin continued.

"Berheigen answered that knighthood was merely a position for getting ahead. That honor and pride only gained value when you discarded them."

Berheigen's views on knighthood, voiced through Najin, made Argo's face twist. The Atanga knights behind him clicked their tongues and scowled.

"I didn't like that," Najin continued. "Because that wasn't what I thought a knight should be."

"What do you think a knight should be?"

Although he had said he would ask only one question, Argo could not help asking a second. He wanted to hear what knighthood meant to the young man who had slain a Demon Knight.

"I don't think my thoughts are worthy of being shared with the knights of Atanga. I am not a knight myself."

"Ordinarily, it is laughable for one who is not a knight to speak of knighthood, but you are an exception. Whatever your reason, you proved yourself worthy by slaying a Demon Knight."

He was welcome to speak.

The knights of Atanga, guardians of the ancient knightly precepts who had sworn simply to be true knights, all watched Najin. They listened for what he would say.

And Najin spoke.

"Someone who never loses their pride."

He gave the answer to the question of what a knight was that he had found during his duel with the Demon Knight.

"Who protects what they still have, struggles to reclaim what they have lost..."

What was a knight?

Before the knights of Atanga, the very epitome of knighthood, Najin was giving his answer.

"Someone who strives for those heights above."

He continued.

"Someone who pursues the stars high in the heavens, with pride and honor in their heart. That is what I think a knight is. No, that is the knight I wish to become."

A brief silence.

Then laughter came from behind Argo. The Atanga knights had burst out laughing. Argo did not laugh aloud, but a smile graced his lips as well.

They were not mocking Najin. Far from it.

Argo raised a hand. At his signal, the knights stopped laughing. They quietly looked at Najin, their eyes softer than before and their gazes friendly.

Speaking for them all, Argo asked him,

"Do you mean that sincerely, without a single lie?"

"Yes."

"I believe you."

Argo smiled warmly. Najin's eyes were not those of someone telling a lie.

"No matter where you end up, even if you lose your honor and fall from grace, you struggle to reclaim what you have lost... Some might sneer and call that ugly."

Argo smiled.

"But I—we—find it beautiful. For it means you still wish to be a knight."

"..."

"You seem to have had a particular knight in mind when you said that. I cannot know who that knight is, but he is certainly someone worthy of emulation."

A knight worthy of emulation, according to a knight of Atanga.

Najin felt something stir inside him. He wanted to tell Ivan about this conversation. He wished Ivan could have been here.

"To pursue the stars with honor and pride in your heart. That has a fine ring to it. Goodness..."

Argo removed his helmet.

Facing Najin with his helmet off, he scratched the back of his neck. Beneath the helmet was the face of a young man. For a Sword Seeker, physical age was merely a number.

"I said I would ask only one question, yet I keep asking more."

With his face now uncovered, Argo smiled sheepishly.

"What is your name?"

It was probably written on the commission form.

But he wanted to hear the young man say it himself. At that question, Najin fell silent for a moment.

"I wish for everything we have said here to remain truthful," he said at last.

"So I cannot give you my name."

For if he gave a name, it would be a lie.

"I see."

Najin had spoken indirectly, and Argo understood. He did not ask Najin's name again.

"Then I shall hear the answer to today's question..."

Argo tapped his armor.

"After you become a knight. When you are a knight possessed of honor and pride, you will be able to tell me your name, won't you?"

Najin nodded.

Argo grinned and patted his shoulder. It was a deeply satisfied smile.

"I look forward to that day coming soon."

He told Najin to be on his way. They would take care of things here.

"I will come to see you again before long."

Najin bowed his head and walked away.

He added nothing more, but Argo knew what had gone unspoken.

Next time, I will meet you as a knight like yourself.

3.

After Najin left, the Atanga knights disposed of the Demon Knight's corpse and recovered the artifact he had stolen... then gathered the bodies of the knights he had killed. As they finished their work, grieving over the sad tidings that would reach each house,

"Sir Argo."

Argo's squire asked him a question.

"Why did you not question him further? He seemed to be hiding a great deal."

A squire who had yet to become a knight. Talented, but still young, with a narrow view of the world. At the girl's question, Argo stroked his chin.

"Because there was no need to ask anything more."

"May I ask why?"

"Of course. You are my squire, and I have a duty to answer the questions of my student."

Argo began to explain.

"Because that young man's intentions were pure. And because they were pure, I sensed no falsehood in his words."

"Pure...?"

"Yes. Rather than emphasize his achievement, he tried to downplay it. He could do it because the knights had wounded Berheigen earlier, because a knight had given him advice, because he was lucky, and so on..."

Had he wanted money, or fame, he would have exaggerated his own contribution and made no mention of the knights. Yet that young man had deliberately mentioned the knights killed before him and diminished his own accomplishment.

"His account doesn't hold up."

Argo smiled wryly.

Not telling a lie did not make it the truth. Berheigen had contracted with a demon capable of wielding an authority of that magnitude. His wound might have helped, but it could not have played a decisive role.

In other words, that young man had fought Berheigen at full strength and won.

Even so, he had wanted to downplay his achievement and conceal his martial prowess. Argo had simply refrained from pressing him further. There was no need to, either.

"He disliked the words of a man who was unworthy of being a knight. That was his answer."

He did not like them. And so he had cut him down.

It was a plain answer, sincere and wonderfully refreshing. Argo smiled. The young man's level of attainment, his means of slaying the demon—everything about him was a mystery, but those things did not matter.

The young man's description of knighthood. The knight he wished to become.

To Argo, a knight of Atanga, those mattered more than anything else. Having heard that answer, he was satisfied.

"Do not forget what he said about being a knight, Planshu. Those words deserve to be remembered and reflected upon."

"Yes, Sir Argo."

Argo's squire, Planshu, nodded.

Watching the girl return to help gather the bodies, Argo let out a long breath. He could not forget the young man he had just met.

He had wanted to bring him into the Atanga Knight Order, but he felt that the time was not yet right.

At the same time, Argo knew instinctively that the young man would one day come to the Atanga Knight Order of his own accord. Even if he did not join the order, Argo was certain he would become a comrade who shared their ideals.

「To pursue the stars with honor and pride in your heart.」

「I'll hang my star at the highest point in those lofty heavens. Isn't that a magnificent dream?」

「If you're a man, if you call yourself a knight, shouldn't you dream big?」

Argo smiled wryly.

Listening to the young man had reminded him of a certain knight, a contemporary of his and one of Atanga's brightest prospects. A man who surely would have become a Sword Seeker if he were still aboveground.

"Ivan."

Argo murmured the name of his old friend.

'It seems you've trained a student.'

In Argo's hand was the commission form.

The name of the young man who had accepted it was Ivan. A common name, but he could not believe it was mere coincidence. Argo let out a long breath.

No matter where one ended up. Even after losing one's honor and being stripped of everything. To struggle to reclaim what had been lost.

The knighthood the young man had described. Argo realized whom those words referred to—the person he must have had in mind as he spoke. At the same time, he understood that even there, his old friend had not given up on being a knight.

"Just like you."

Murmuring those words, Argo rose.

This was not a story he could share with others. He would have to keep it to himself. Ivan, formerly a knight of Atanga, was undeniably a criminal.

What extraordinary twist of fate had allowed that young man to meet Ivan, and what relationship they shared...

He would have to hear about it someday, along with the young man's name. Hoping that day would come soon, Argo ran a hand over his sword hilt.