「Sword runner」.

On this continent, that rank could be called the benchmark of the strong. Sword runners commanded respect wherever they went and reigned as specters of the battlefield.

It was a wall Petel had never surmounted, a realm he had long yearned to reach.

"... That is all I know."

Suppressing a cough that threatened to burst out, Petel answered the knight's questions faithfully. The order's objective would benefit the village, and above all, helping capture a deserter knight was only natural for a knight.

"Is that so? Thank you."

Yet for some reason, Petel felt uneasy at that moment.

"Not that you were much help. You don't know the exact location, or even whether the bastard we're after is there right now. In the end, we'll still have to do all the hard work."

"... I'm sorry I couldn't be of assistance."

"As long as you know."

Was it because of the knight's hostile tone?

No. Petel was accustomed to the arrogance of knights who had reached 「sword runner」.

There was only one reason for his unease.

"But your face looks familiar. Your body and face are so ravaged that I didn't recognize you at first... Wasn't your name Petel?"

"Yes. Do you know me?"

"I do. You... I believe you were ahead of me at the academy."

He had come to this deserted village.

As he waited for death, he had believed he had put all his lingering attachments to rest.

"You don't look pleased. What, do you expect me to treat you as my senior?"

"... No, it's all right."

"Of course it is. It had better be."

But now he had discovered that those attachments still lingered in his heart.

"Now I remember. Weren't you rather famous once? 「Petel the Faithful」. A mere sword walker, but honorable and just, a swordsman who carried out every order without fail—a model for all knights."

"..."

"For all that, you're nothing but an abandoned dog now."

A derisive snort followed.

"I hear you've got an incurable disease. They said the 「Green Stags」 abandoned you. So you've been dying a miserable death in this rural backwater? If you're going to look this pathetic, you could at least hide yourself properly. You've spoiled my mood."

The knight's insults did not wound him.

The source of Petel's unease lay within himself.

"You keep staring at my wings, Petel."

"... I'm sorry."

"Envious, are you? Perhaps you're thinking: If I'd had wings, if I'd been a 「sword runner」, would the order have kept me? Would people have tried to cure my disease? Something like that?"

Petel could say nothing.

Because the knight was right.

Even amid the insults and humiliation, Petel was madly envious of his wings. The knight snickered at the sight of Petel's bowed head.

"Stop dreaming. Heaven did not choose you. That's why you never grew wings. And because Heaven did not choose you, you're dying as a filthy invalid."

"..."

"Even God pitied you. Watching someone with fuck-all talent cling so disgracefully to a sword embarrassed Him so much that He's taking you away, telling you to hurry up and fucking die so He can gather you into His arms."

The knight continued hurling insults.

He made no attempt to lower his voice, so Seolyun, who had supported Petel on the way here, heard every word clearly. She glared at the knight and seemed about to say something, but Petel stopped her.

"Please don't."

"He's going too far."

"It's all right. In the Iron Kingdom, might is law."

Petel assured her he was fine and urged her not to intervene. Watching him, the knight threw back his head and laughed.

"So becoming an invalid has earned you a nurse. A pretty girl from the eastern continent—you won't be lonely, at least."

"... Please leave now."

"Very well. I've had enough amusement. I'll be going."

The knight turned and shouted.

"Let's go! Before sunrise tomorrow, we'll catch that runaway dog and cut off his head! To the mountains!"

With the shouting knight at their head, the order receded into the distance. Petel sat there numbly, watching them leave.

And then he thought,

'... What an unbelievably foolish man I am.'

He thought himself utterly pathetic for still being unable to tear his eyes from the knight's wings. Yet he continued staring at them.

At the same time, he imagined himself in that knight's place. Not Petel the invalid, dying in misery and loneliness, but the honorable 「Petel the Faithful」, bearing wings and finally acknowledged by everyone...

After imagining a future that would never come, Petel squeezed his eyes shut and spoke.

"I suppose it really must be time for me to die."

Ah.

This was why he had intended to spend his remaining days simply watching the sunset.

The thoughts rising once more made his head throb. Petel pressed hard against his temples.

Then, suddenly, he murmured a question.

The boy who surely would have appeared during a commotion like this was nowhere in sight.

"... Do you happen to know where young Lord Arhan has gone?"

Instead of answering Petel in words, Seolyun acted.

Slowly, she turned her gaze toward the mountain.

The mountain behind the village, where the knightly order was headed.

Petel spoke with a look that asked whether he had misunderstood.

"Surely he hasn't... gone into the mountain...?"

Seolyun nodded.

* * *

Wiping out the bandits of the 「Red Wolves」 was going more smoothly than I had expected.

I had lived in our village all my life, and naturally, I knew the mountain trails behind it fairly well. Compared with the bandits, who were outsiders, at least.

By following my suspicions faithfully, as Liam always told me to, I could pick them off one by one like an experienced ranger hunting beasts. Slowly and methodically, without rushing.

The assassin's memories within 「Fang」 helped as well.

Techniques that had failed to shine in our previous battle—a head-on confrontation in a completely open, circular arena—now proved lethal, snuffing out my enemies' lives.

To be honest, I had been thinking this was easier than expected.

But as always, nothing in my life ever went easily.

「A deserter knight. Knights call them runaway dogs.」

A knight who committed a dishonorable act and fled for fear of punishment. A knight who broke the rules their order valued above life itself and ran away. A knight who deserted during wartime and disappeared...

To be precise, it was a derogatory term for knights who abandoned their duties and fled without taking responsibility. But that dictionary definition focused on the word “deserter.”

I must not let that word distract me.

「Naturally, whether a knight is a deserter or not, they're stronger than you.」

Right.

Deserter or otherwise, what mattered was that the enemy had an actual knight.

“Knight” mattered, not “deserter.”

Because a knight was at least a 「sword walker」.

"... Does the condition that I wipe them out alone still stand?"

「Yes. Nothing has changed.」

"But..."

Seeing Liam's resolute expression, I hesitated for a moment.

Then I continued.

"I've already lost to sword walkers twice."

Those successive defeats at the hands of sword walkers had made me doubt myself.

'Can I really defeat a 「sword walker」 as I am now?'

Liam seemed to have sensed my doubts too.

He asked,

「And?」

He looked at me gravely.

「Will you run away in fear because you've lost? Or will you hole up somewhere and declare that you'll fight again once you've become a sword walker yourself?」

"..."

「Young descendant, I've told you time and again: the road you must travel is far too long.」

Liam's gaze sharpened as though it could pierce right through me.

「The swordmaster you seek has a talent that does not belong in this age. Reality is not a chivalric novel. The villain does not sit around waiting. Even now, he is growing stronger.」

He was right.

The swordmaster Carlos was becoming greater with each passing day.

There was no one on this continent who did not know him.

「And those two defeats gave you invaluable experience. The person you were before them and the person you became afterward are entirely different.」

"..."

「Didn't I tell you? A Caravan grows greater with every battle.」

Liam grinned.

「If you cannot believe in yourself, believe in me.」

His words resonated in my heart.

Yes.

My Master never lied when it came to the sword.

I would trust my great Master.

"Um..."

As I repeated that to myself, the 「Red Wolves」 member pinned beneath my knee spoke in a terrified voice.

"U-um, who exactly are you talking to? Th-there's nothing there."

"..."

"E-eek! I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have s-said anything. A-ask me whatever you want! Anything! I'll tell you anything, as long as you spare my life!"

I hadn't intended it, but apparently I'd put quite a fright into him.

Well.

"Yes. There's plenty you need to tell me."

For now, that wasn't a bad thing.

* * *

The information I extracted from the 「Red Wolves」 member was more useful than expected.

He told me a great deal, and naturally, I did not spare him. After burying him, his eyes still wide with betrayal, I gripped Fang.

As I wiped the blood from it, I reflected.

I was beginning to understand why Liam had made me eat this dagger.

The assassin's methods suited me well.

「Now you understand on your own, without needing an explanation.」

Assassins were weak compared with heavily armored knights, the valiant barbarian warriors of the north, and seasoned fighters from the fighting pits. In a fair, head-on confrontation, they would lose to such opponents nine times out of ten.

But real fights had no rules, nor did they take place in open, circular arenas. Whether you fought dirty or exploited an enemy's weakness, you won as long as you killed them.

Assassins focused on that fact alone.

"Whew."

They pursued perfection in order to kill their chosen target.

To avoid mistakes, they missed not a single detail, however small, and prepared second, third, and fourth plans in case their first attempt failed.

"Hah."

What was it they did, almost obsessively, to achieve that perfection? Surprisingly, it was my specialty—the very thing Liam had called my talent.

Suspicion.

Reaching perfection required ceaseless suspicion.

『Question everything. Only then can you avoid failure.』

『The only thing you must not doubt is your own sword.』

Hidden in the darkness, I circled the hideout the 「Red Wolves」 member had told me about, steadily reducing the number of men prowling around it.

It wasn't difficult.

Most of these mere bandits were ordinary pillagers who had not even reached 「sword beginner」, and they died without knowing why.

Of course, some had reached 「sword beginner」, but it made no difference. Possessing a second heart did not make someone superhuman.

When a blade sprang out of the darkness without warning and pierced the back of their neck, they died just like anyone else. Thus 「Fang」 erased one life after another, without leaving a single scream.

And when the number of bandits I had killed reached thirty-one...

「The leader has noticed something is wrong.」

A pointed path extended faintly from the place the bandits were using as a hideout. Proof of a 「sword walker」. I studied that 「path」 closely.

At the end of the 「path」 stood the leader, his face red with fury. Hidden in the dark, I watched him, missing not even the smallest movement.

The bandit I had killed earlier had explained a great deal, but I had no intention of taking it all at face value. What reason did I have to trust him?

Information from someone else's mouth could serve as a clue, but not as the key to certainty.

I would be certain only after verifying it with my own two eyes.

"Hmm."

And then...

「What do you think?」

After observing him for a while, I reached a conclusion.

I answered in a murmur.

"I think I can kill him."

Now I was certain.

* * *

「Name: Fang」

「A dagger wielded by a nameless assassin from the Free City of Crowd.」