I had known little about the last demand I had chosen: the 「Banner」. Thinking back on what the knight-in-training had told me, it amounted to this.

["You may ask for tarnished honor to be raised high and made to shine once more. We call this the 「Banner」..."]

Hearing the knight-in-training's formal explanation, I had answered without hesitation.

["Then I'll choose that."]

In hindsight, he had seemed quite taken aback by my answer. Still, the first and second demands were so valuable that I had considered his reaction only natural.

Meken was the deputy commander of a knightly order and a 「sword runner」. He must have possessed considerable wealth. And enslaving someone that powerful to do my bidding would have been enormously valuable, too. But neither could have resolved what truly troubled me.

All I wanted was for Petel's spirit to be honored, even a little. So I had set greed aside and demanded the Banner.

Well.

「That knight would be delighted to see this.」

I hadn't expected it to become quite this grand, though.

"I've never seen anything like this."

The sight before me overwhelmed me.

It had grown late, and all manner of wondrous flames filled the black night sky, conjured by the mages who had come from elsewhere.

This was the first time in my life I had seen mages. The way they handled fire like clay, shaping it into beautiful forms and gathering it in the sky, was enchanting.

It looked like fire sprites dancing, or an alluring vision out of legend. As the beautiful flames burst overhead, stirring songs and drumbeats rang out.

A festival devoted solely to commemorating Petel's death was taking place in the center of the village. There were no villagers to enjoy it. Here in this lonely, remote country village, a memorial ceremony was being held for the spirit of a single man.

「Proof that the knight lived an upright life. Proof that even after he left this world, at least one person wanted to remember him. Whether it is grand or modest is of no importance. To the dead, what matters most is that someone remembers.」

For some reason, Liam watched the flames with lonely eyes.

「You can understand that when you look at me and my family, once greater than any other, now remembered by no one. Young descendant.」

The mounted knights raised their swords in salute. Even a massive memorial stone bearing Petel's name had been erected at the village entrance. All of this had been accomplished in a single day, through the painstaking efforts of countless knights and mages.

Watching this almost miraculous scene, I murmured without thinking.

"Master."

「Yes.」

"What happens to people who die?"

What happens to a person after death?

The continent's many religions each approached that subject differently, and it was one of the questions the living wondered about most. I had posed a rather philosophical question.

Liam did not answer immediately.

So I asked again, differently this time.

"... Will Petel be able to see this?"

Liam remained silent. Floating about like a specter, he answered only after a long while.

「Only the sword knows all.」

As always, Liam said something as inscrutable as the witches of the Heavenly Empire. Yet his words left a deep impression.

All Petel had left behind was 「Twilight」, a sword as straight and unyielding as he had been in life. Within that blade remained the traces of the life he had lived.

Perhaps it was a wise answer to a foolish question.

As I stood watching the ceremony honoring Petel's spirit, lost in philosophical thoughts, a woman approached me. I was certain I had never seen her face before, yet strangely, she did not seem unfamiliar.

When she came close enough, I understood why.

"... So you're the child who became my Petel's champion and defended his honor."

I had never met her in person. But I knew her. I had seen her endlessly in the memories held within the sword, and felt countless emotions wash over me like waves.

I stood dazed for a moment, then spoke her name without realizing it.

"Daisy."

Petel's former mistress.

The woman he had thought of while gazing at twilight, even at the end of his life, when everything had fallen apart. Daisy stood there, no longer a girl, but a woman in her own right.

* * *

"My Petel will regain his honor. The bards of the Iron Kingdom will sing of 「Petel the Loyal」 until everyone tires of it, and the knights at every academy my husband sponsors will hear Petel's name. I'll use every means at my disposal to give his death a magnificent tribute."

As the cold night wind swept past us, Daisy talked about everything she could do. She had become an even more formidable woman than she had been when Petel knew her.

The 「White」 family was so illustrious that even I, tucked away in this rural backwater, knew of it. Daisy was the principal wife of its head.

I didn't know what circumstances had led to that.

But whether Daisy had become a powerful woman or not changed nothing. As I listened to her lengthy explanation, I somehow sensed her voice growing sadder and sadder.

So I said it simply.

"You don't have to do all that for Sir Petel to remember you."

"..."

"Honoring his spirit is enough. Sir Petel will be content with that."

At my words, Daisy stopped the stream of speech that had poured out without pause.

Then she said,

"... He wasn't a man who should have gone like that."

"..."

"My Petel was more loyal, more wonderful than anyone. If not for him, I wouldn't still be alive."

Daisy smiled broadly. But despite the smile on her lips, her eyes brimmed with tears.

"The life my Petel showed me was a light. The hope that if you stand firm against the world and endure to the very end, happy days will come someday. Petel was my proof of life, my eternal companion."

A single hot tear rolled down Daisy's cheek.

At that moment, the standing she had acquired ceased to matter at all.

Whether she was a girl, the heir to a fallen noble family, a powerful figure in the Iron Kingdom who had become the principal wife of the head of the 「White」 family, or a former mistress unable to let go of the knight she once knew...

At this moment, Daisy was simply Daisy.

"You're a good person, child. Thanks to you, Petel wouldn't have been lonely at the end. I'm so grateful for that. So grateful I can hardly bear it."

Daisy wiped the tears from her cheeks. She continued to sob for a little while, and I gave her all the time she needed to collect herself.

"Just a moment."

With that, Daisy approached Petel's grave, where Seolyun and I had held his funeral. She pressed a kiss to its dusty surface. A red lip print appeared near the top, and she smiled with a complicated expression.

Then she clasped her hands and prayed just as Petel always had. In the manner of the Church of Marcia, she prayed that he would reach the peaceful heavens.

She remained like that for a short while, then turned and came back to me.

Drawing a pure white medal from inside her clothes, Daisy held it out. It was different from the medals used to verify one's identity in the 「Arena」. It gave a clear chime whenever it moved.

"Take it."

"What is this?"

"A reward for making sure my beloved friend didn't leave this world alone."

Smiling happily, Daisy placed the medal in my hand.

"The watchers of the White family never forget a debt. Whether a kindness or a grudge, they always repay it. I'm no exception."

"..."

"Break the medal when you desperately need help. Once it splits, I'll come to help you. Whatever danger you're in, I promise."

The look in Daisy's eyes changed for an instant.

"The watchers will safeguard your future."

I stared dumbfounded at the medal she had given me. A boy from a rural backwater, I had no idea what it was or what it meant.

Only Liam burst into hearty laughter.

「... Ho ho. Young descendant, you cannot even imagine what you have received.」

Yes. I couldn't even imagine it.

But there was one thing I knew for certain.

"Thank you."

Someone besides me sincerely grieved Petel's death.

"Sir Petel was a good friend to me, too."

So I spoke with utter sincerity.

"Honored guest, please let me know whenever you need my help as well. If we shared a friend, that makes us friends, too. I'll do everything within my power to help you."

Daisy gave a little laugh at my earnest words.

"You're adorable, child."

She stroked my cheek once.

"But somehow, I feel you'll truly become great one day. Someone who won't tremble even before the name 「White」."

I couldn't tell whether her words came from the heart or were merely empty praise meant to encourage me.

At that moment, listening to her, I simply remembered an earlier time.

["For some reason, I feel you'll leave your name in this continent's history, young lord."]

Those precious words my kind neighbor, now gone from this world, had once said to me.

Petel and Daisy were alike.

Even though they had come to walk different paths.

* * *

Daisy put every person she had brought with her to work holding the memorial ceremony for two full days before she left.

"This was only a ceremonial observance. I'll gather Petel's remains and hold the real event properly in his hometown. So that everyone who lives there remembers his death and engraves his name in their minds."

"..."

"His honor will shine even more brightly. I'll see to that."

I would probably never hear about the events in the capital, or Petel's honor resounding through high society and among the knights. I had no intention of becoming a knight, and even less reason to set foot in high society.

Ultimately, whether the dead Petel's honor was exalted or his death remembered more gloriously, nothing would change in this village. My kind neighbor was gone.

Only one thing had changed.

His death had not been sullied.

I decided to be content with that.

「All humans die someday. That is why what matters most is how their death is remembered, how those left alive remember them.」

Liam's words struck home.

Death was, after all, the final destination of every human being.

"All right, let's move out!"

Setting emotions aside, I had gained less than I might have expected from Petel's death and my victory in the duel of honor.

I had defeated a knight of 「sword runner」 rank, yet chosen the impractical reward of restoring a dead man's honor. It was only natural.

I had chosen no gold, rejected the opportunity to gain a 「sword runner」 as a slave, and even thrown away the chance to spread word of my feat of defeating a warrior skilled enough to rise to deputy commander of a knightly order. All the honor would go to Petel.

Of course, that didn't mean I had gained nothing.

"Your equipment was terribly inadequate. It's nothing much, but here's a gift. We're friends, aren't we?"

Before leaving, Daisy had given me a great deal of equipment: sturdy mithril armor and mithril boots used only by the watchers of 「White」, and a sharp dwarven steel sword capable of slicing through ordinary steel as easily as a radish.

I accepted the equipment gratefully, but in truth, I wouldn't have regretted it even if I had received nothing. Hadn't my revenge begun for emotional reasons in the first place?

If, in the course of pursuing revenge, I couldn't even find emotional closure over my friend, I would lose the very reason that had driven me to begin. Everything was for the sake of my own relief and peace of mind.

Becoming Petel's champion and avenging him had ultimately been for myself as well.

With that thought, I watched the visitors leave. Daisy's party departed first, followed by Meken's knightly order.

Every knight trudged along with a gloomy face and slumped shoulders, like the remnants of a defeated army. Meken in particular was deathly pale, like a prisoner sentenced to execution.

I didn't know why he was trembling in such fear, but frankly, it served him right. He wasn't likable by any measure.

It was time for quiet to return to my village after its brief influx of visitors. As I stood idly watching them depart, an elderly knight approached me.

"Hmm. You're smaller and much younger than I expected."

"... Who are you?"

"But there's a great deal that's remarkable about you. I can see perfectly well why that imbecile Meken lost."

The elderly knight with the splendid beard ignored my question and said only what he wished. Clad in silver armor, he stared intently at me and smiled.

"How can such a body exist? A jewel was hidden in this rural backwater."

"...?"

"Your heart is crude, as though it was only recently formed, yet its hardness is as steadfast as steel hammered for decades. To my knowledge—I, Vermatin—only 'that family' possesses such traits..."

The elderly knight's piercing eyes swept over me.

He studied me with a thoughtful hum, then gave a small laugh.

"But that can't be. The blood of steel cannot still remain on this continent. You must simply be a boy with similar traits..."

The blood of steel.

The instant I heard those words, I almost lost control of my expression.

I forced my facial muscles back into place and smiled awkwardly.

The elderly knight responded with a knowing grin that exposed his gums.

"You really are still young. You haven't learned to control your face."

He suddenly thrust his face right in front of mine.

I answered with an involuntary stammer.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"Be careful, boy. I'm letting this pass because you possess a romantic spirit ill suited to this age, and because, as one who walks the knight's path, I consider what you did admirable."

The elderly knight patted my shoulder.

His hand was heavy as steel.

"I came because I knew I wouldn't be satisfied until I'd seen you for myself. I'm glad I did. Vermatin's instincts haven't failed him yet. Ho ho ho. To think a descendant of steel, whom I thought vanished, still remained on the outskirts of this Iron Kingdom."

"Again, I don't know what you're talking about..."

I tried my hardest to play innocent.

But a moment later, the elderly knight's expression changed sharply.

"If you cannot conceal it perfectly, hold your tongue. A clumsy lie is worse than complete silence. Young boy, steel does not speak."

At that instant, I felt overwhelmed by something.

With that change of expression, the elderly knight looked not like a human, but a wild beast.

"Hide yourself more perfectly. Unless you wish to be discovered by the Iron Prince's executioner and have your life cut short."

"..."

"The Iron Prince's executioner shows no mercy to men over eighteen. Learn to hide yourself perfectly in the little time you have left. If you want to live."

I understood everything the elderly knight was saying.

Those small clues were enough.

My eyes widened.

The Iron Prince's executioner.

The man who showed no mercy to men over eighteen.

The elderly knight was speaking of my sworn enemy.

Of the swordmaster Carlos.

"You should count yourself fortunate that I am a swordsman who loves steel."

After those solemn words, his expression softened into that of an ordinary old man. In the suffocating atmosphere, he added,

"Young champion of the duel of honor. You seem to have many questions."

"..."

"But whatever you ask, I cannot explain anything to you yet."

The elderly knight grinned.

"Wings."

"..."

"Come find me once you have formed wings."

As he spoke, the elderly knight slowly drew his face away from mine.

Only at the very end did he answer the first question I had asked.

"Come to 「Cherni」, the City of Blades, capital of the Iron Kingdom."

"..."

"Seek me there. Sir Vermatin."

Turning away, the elderly knight said,

"Everyone will know whom you mean if you ask for 「Vermatin of Steel」."

With those final words, all the visitors who had come to the village were truly gone. But I remained rooted to the spot, unable to gather my wits, for a long time.

A very long time indeed.

* * *

The death of Petel, my first neighbor.

The fight with the deserter knight. The duel of honor against a 「sword runner」. The visit from the principal wife of the head of 「White」, one of the five great families. The ceremony performed by mages, the first I had ever seen.

All of it had been new and bewildering, but the final encounter overshadowed everything else.

The words of the elderly knight named Vermatin had left me that shaken. They had upended me, and my confusion lingered for quite some time.

Well.

「What are you agonizing over?」

Naturally, I didn't remain caught in that confusion forever.

「Nothing has changed. There is only one thing you must do, young descendant.」

My goal was clear.

「Grow stronger. Keep moving forward without stopping.」

Whatever happened, that would never change.

So I had no need to be confused.

Belatedly realizing that, I looked at Liam.

As always, he was looking down at me with a solemn expression.