As Shan stepped out of the tent, he sensed that the looks people were giving him had changed completely.

'Just as I thought...'

Before, they had seen only a child with a sword at his hip. Now their wariness, or contempt, was unmistakable. It was probably because his eyes glowed at night.

He snorted and headed toward the city gates, where he spotted Roden leaning against the wall with a torch in hand. Roden brightened when he noticed him.

"You're late! Didn't the show end ages ago? I was worried."

"Sorry. I lost track of time talking to the circus people."

When Shan briefly recounted their conversation, Roden looked quite surprised.

"That's impressive. Getting that many Altoans together here in Libert can't have been easy."

"They asked me to travel with them, but I said no. I'm going to become a knight in Pendia."

As Shan spoke with a proud little shrug, Roden gave him an approving look, then reached out to ruffle his shaggy black hair. A few strands caught between the joints of his metal gauntlet and were plucked out, drawing an involuntary cry.

"Ow!"

"Haha, sorry. I was just proud of you. Let's sleep in the tent I rented tonight. I don't think they're going to open the gates."

"Why?"

"This city supports Duke Morayen, you see—the side that lost today's battle. They must think the winning army might press its advantage and invade this place next. If there were spies among the people outside the walls, they could coordinate with someone inside. That would be trouble."

"Oh..."

Shan didn't quite understand, but he could tell it was something complicated. Seeing his plainly uncomprehending expression, Roden chuckled.

"Anyway, I've asked around and more or less figured out the whole route to Pendia, so don't worry. Tomorrow we'll buy a horse each. That should make the journey easier."

"I've never ridden a horse."

"Then you'll learn. Surely riding a horse isn't going to give you trouble at this point?"

"True."

Indeed, when it came to physical skills, Shan couldn't imagine failing to perform any of them properly.

"But aren't horses really expensive?"

"I told you, I'm rich. If I sold all the jewels I have, I could probably buy ten horses. A warhorse bred in Horace would be difficult, of course. Money alone won't buy you one of those."

Even in the Kingdom of Horace, renowned for its many fine horses, warhorses were strategic assets subject to special control. Knights from other kingdoms would even go into the service of its nobles to obtain one.

Chatting as they went, the two entered the tent Roden had rented, unpacked, and gave themselves a quick wipe with damp towels. As Shan's bare torso came into view in the candlelight, Roden spoke.

"It was too dark to notice when we washed yesterday, but you've got quite a few scars. Did you get them fighting?"

"No. I used to get beaten a lot. They're all from back then."

And it hadn't been limited to beatings. He had endured more malicious forms of torment as well: being burned with torches or dead branches heated in a campfire, or jabbed with sharp skewers until he bled. Sometimes they had forced large bees to sting him, or mixed poisonous mushrooms into his food.

Usually, that sort of torment had come from children his own age rather than adults. The more ignorant and innocent they were, the more easily they crossed the line. Looking back, it was a miracle he hadn't been left disabled or killed.

Listening to his account, Roden gazed at the countless marks on his body and let out a deep sigh.

"When we get the chance, let's ask a priest with strong divine powers to remove them all. It's not as though you got them for any good reason. There's no need to keep them."

"Wouldn't that be expensive?"

"I told you, I've got plenty of money. More precisely, my father does."

His father, the head of the capital's merchants' guild in Pendia, was wealthy enough to put most nobles to shame. His social standing was, of course, far lower than theirs.

After wiping himself down and changing clothes, Shan lay down first on the cloth spread over the straw and voiced the question that had lingered in his heart.

"Roden."

"What is it?"

"You want me to succeed as a knight, right?"

"Of course."

"Is that because you want me to help you once I've become a great knight, or a lord?"

He had brought it up so suddenly because he remembered what the circus people had said: no one would give an Altoan orphan with no real connection to them that much practical and emotional support on talent alone...

And judging by what Roden had told him before, he must actually feel jealous of Shan's gifts. If he was helping anyway, surely it was to reap the benefits once Shan had grown into something extraordinary.

Shan wanted Roden's answer to make his reasons for helping him clear. Being helped for no reason frightened him, as did the thought that this bond might vanish like an illusion at any moment.

He waited quietly until Roden's deep, low voice came from behind him.

"I'd be lying if I said that wasn't part of it... But, well, that's not the only reason."

"Then what?"

"Remember how I called on the Goddess when I saw you before?"

"Yes."

"I don't quite know how to put this... but I felt something like a revelation. I don't mean I became a saint and heard the Goddess speaking or anything."

Roden rambled, seemingly struggling to put his thoughts in order, before finally finding the words.

"What I mean is, the moment I saw you, I had this thought: a rough stone had fallen into my hands, one that could become anything depending on how I cut it. If I left it alone or did a careless job, it might amount to nothing—or turn into something so terrible that everyone would fear it... But if I worked it well, it could blossom into the most brilliantly shining jewel of all."

Despite his appearance, it was a comparison worthy of a jeweler's son.

"It's too late for me to become a proper knight. But if I can help you stand on your own as a fine knight, or something even greater, then I could say my life meant something. Think how wonderful it would be to appear in an epic as 'Sir Roden, first companion and squire to Shan, the mightiest knight, equal to the great Emperor Baren.' Once I started thinking that way, I even wondered whether the Goddess had given me this fear of blades so that I'd meet you."

Having said that much, Roden cleared his throat, picked up the leather waterskin beside him, and gulped down some water. Shan could tell this was his way of hiding his embarrassment.

Thinking about it, Roden was right. They were traveling together now entirely because of his fear of blades. Without it, he would have kept training in Pendia and become a knight. Even if he hadn't, he would have swung his weapon to subdue Shan when he came looking for him.

And then...

'I would have killed Roden.'

With his exceptional combat intelligence, Shan needed only to close his eyes and imagine it to picture their fight with near-perfect realism. Roden was far stronger than him, but slow enough that Shan could have dodged his swinging war flail, circled behind him, and driven his sword into the back of his knee.

Once he had robbed him of his mobility, Shan would have circled him, plunging sword and axe into joints exposed between the mail, or his neck and the parts of his face his helmet didn't cover, carving away his flesh.

As he imagined it, the weapons that had felt like parts of his own body suddenly frightened him. He could have butchered someone who, despite their having met only a few days ago, already felt as close to him as Selina or Priest Ador—perhaps even closer...

Roden's voice, awkward and embarrassed, broke through the dreadful thought.

"Well, that's about it."

"I understand now. You can stop talking."

"You're the one who asked..."

At Roden's incredulous grumbling, Shan smiled silently and buried his face. Whatever might have happened, they were together now.

Before falling asleep, Shan fought off his drowsiness long enough to mumble,

"You're too big to be a squire, Roden."

It struck him anew that he truly wanted to become a great knight. Stronger and more renowned than anyone else in the world.

* * *

Since they were staying in a tent rather than a proper building, they took turns keeping watch that night as well. It was unlikely, but a thief would be trouble.

Unlike the night before, Roden took the first watch, then switched with Shan around the middle of the night and went to sleep.

Sitting still threatened to make Shan drowsy, so he stepped outside the tent and stretched to wake himself up. Anyone who happened upon him might startle as though they'd encountered a wild animal, but that was hardly his concern.

'If anyone tries hitting me like before, I'll teach them a lesson.'

Still, after his conversation with Roden, he thought a beating would be enough rather than cutting off their hands. He might not have managed it before, but now that he was taller and had filled out somewhat, that much would be easy.

As he bounced lightly in place to loosen up, his mind full of idle thoughts, a distant commotion reached his ears.

'What's that?'

It was the army he'd seen that day—or, more precisely, a group he guessed was a tiny portion of it. He couldn't be certain of their numbers, but there were roughly sixty or seventy.

A man who appeared to be their representative was shouting back and forth with someone on the city wall. Only when Shan noticed the blue plume on his helmet did he realize the man was one of the knights from that day's battlefield.

They were too far away for him to hear clearly, but the knight seemed to be threatening to burn the city down unless it swore loyalty to some count, while the people atop the wall mocked him.

'Should I wake Roden?'

After a moment's consideration, Shan saw that the other people camped around the walls were still asleep and decided it would be fine to leave him be. If that army posed a danger, these people would have been the first to flee.

As expected, the blue-plumed knight and his troops did not dare attack the city, instead beginning to make camp nearby. The city, in turn, made no attempt to drive them off, apparently lacking the strength to attack them.

When Roden rose after the sun was fully up, he caught sight of the military camp some distance from the walls and let out a soft sigh.

"Huh. I didn't think they'd actually come this way... Well, our tent's close to the wall, so we should be fine. Wait here while I go buy the horses."

While Roden went to negotiate with the horse traders, Shan lazed around in the tent for a while before heading out. His destination was the monster circus run by the Altoans he'd met yesterday.

They would leave for the east as soon as Roden bought the horses, so this was his only chance to talk to them. The show wouldn't start until late afternoon. There should be plenty of time to say goodbye.

Perhaps because of the looks other people gave them, the Altoans had set up their lodgings a little way from the walls. As Shan approached the red tent, unexpected screams and pleas reached him.

"Please, sir! Have mercy!"

"Aah!"

Debbie, the woman with butterfly wings on her back, was being dragged out by a mercenary gripping her hair. Her older brother Fen crawled after them on his knees, pleading. The mercenary holding her hair blew his nose with a snort and barked,

"It's not like she'll wear out if we use her! We'll have some fun and give her back, all right? Who knows how many men have already passed this whore around? What's she playing hard to get for...?"

The army now stationed outside the city was there to intercept groups of routed soldiers trying to enter. With little chance of an immediate attack from the city, the knight had given the mercenaries under his command some freedom. As usual, the mercenaries had put that freedom to the foulest possible use.

One of the mercenary's snickering companions took a silver coin from inside his clothes and tossed it at Fen's head, as though doing him a favor.

"There. We've paid for her, so this is a business deal. Got it? Try saying otherwise later and I'll kill you."

"Are these wings real? Mind if I break one?"

Another man grinned sadistically as he grabbed a delicate butterfly wing and twisted it. Debbie let out a piercing scream as they dragged her away—with the same voice that had so gently praised Shan's jewel-like eyes the day before.

Shan knew little about sex or prostitution, but he could sense that these mercenaries were tormenting her, and that something terrible would happen if they took her away.

He looked around. People staying nearby had come to see what was happening, only to pretend not to notice, as though it were none of their concern. The other circus members were frightened and did not dare intervene.

Then he would have to do it himself.

"You'll pull my trousers off, you bastard!"

The mercenary kicked away Fen, who was desperately clinging to his trousers, then turned to find someone blocking his path: a boy with shaggy black hair and strikingly vivid green eyes.

Shan pointed his sword at the mercenaries and spoke quietly.

"Let go."

"What?"

"Let her go. Before I cut you."

The blunt, informal words he had barely managed with Roden even after repeated invitations came all too easily with these men. The mercenaries glanced at one another, then snorted with laughter.

"What is this crazy brat...?"

"Pick up your daddy's sword and come out to play? I'll let you off once. Now fuck off."

"These bastards are Altoans. If you want to play the righteous knight, make sure you know who you're—"

Before the mercenary could finish, he realized Shan was already in front of him and stumbled backward in alarm. A searing pain surged from the hand that had been clutching the Altoan woman's hair.

He instinctively raised his right arm. Everything beyond the wrist was gone.

"M-my haaand—!"

At his agonized scream, his two companions hastily reached for their weapons to fight back. But Shan's sword was far faster and stronger than in his two previous battles, and every bit as precise.

One body was cut cleanly in half at the waist, another diagonally from collarbone to flank, and the last had half its head sliced away. Scarlet blood, entrails, and pale cerebrospinal fluid spurted from them.

All the onlookers saw was a flash, followed by pieces of what had once been human tumbling everywhere.

Screams and shouts far louder than before rang out.

"H-he's insane!"

"He killed them!"

The people who had been smiling as they watched an Altoan woman being dragged away now fled in horror at the mercenaries' slaughter. Not only were they afraid of what the young swordsman might do, but one wrong move might get them branded his accomplices and bring the nearby army down on them.

As they fled, Shan let his momentary fury cool and quietly gazed down at his bloodstained sword. For the first time, he had swung it wildly not to protect his own life or torment someone else, but with seething anger.

He thought he could sense something different in it. Something unlike before.

It was only a feeling, nothing certain yet...

After that brief moment of reflection, Shan approached the still-dazed Debbie and removed the severed hand gripping her hair.

"Can you stand?"

"I-I, I can. Yes..."

She seemed to be answering reflexively in a half-stunned state, rather than understanding what he had asked.

Fen hurried over to support Debbie, then bowed deeply to Shan.

"Thank you so much, Shan! How can I ever repay you?"

"Never mind that. Get her away from here. Stay close to the city wall if you can. They said those men are enemies of the city."

"R-right. But what about you?"

"I'll have to figure that out now."

He had acted in a literal rush of blood to the head, without the slightest plan. Of course, even if he were sent back in time right now, he would do exactly the same thing.

Fortunately, the Monster Circus folded up the red tent in no time, loaded all their belongings onto a wagon drawn by two horses, and were ready to move. Apparently, the army's arrival had unsettled them, and they had already been preparing to leave when the mercenaries accosted them.

As they moved together, Roxy, the troupe's leader, bowed deeply to Shan in gratitude.

"Thank you, Shan. Truly. If they'd taken Debbie, who knows what they would have done to her..."

His lined face held deep regret as well as worry. A moment ago, the question had been whether Debbie would be harmed. Now all their lives were in danger. He refrained from taking Shan to task partly out of decency, but also because the strength Shan had just displayed was so terrifying.

The other circus members had similarly mixed feelings. Only Fen expressed unalloyed gratitude.

As Shan and the Monster Circus reached the foot of the wall, Roden came running toward them, holding the reins of two horses and looking distraught.

"Shan! What in the world happened? I heard you killed Count Valik's mercenaries..."

"That's how things turned out. I think I'll have to fight the rest of them. You can't really help, can you?"

Several furious mercenaries came running out of the distant camp and pointed their way, apparently having learned of their comrades' deaths. At the sight, Roden made a strangled sound somewhere between a hiccup and a scream. The mere sight of the blades in their hands seemed enough to make his legs tremble.

"For now, give me one horse and stay here with these people. I'll try to drive them off somehow."

The enemy wouldn't be able to attack recklessly beneath the city walls, but that didn't make them safe. Arrows fired from a distance could still injure them, and even if that didn't happen, they couldn't stay huddled beneath the wall forever.

Someone had to go out and drive them off.

Rather than scolding Shan for causing needless trouble, Roden asked with a worried look,

"Can you win? I hear there's even a knight among them."

"I can manage one."

"Ah, damn it. If I'd known this would happen, I'd have at least looked for some small armor..."

After sending Roden over to the circus members, Shan mounted the horse he had left behind. It was gray, rather lean, with a sparse mane.

"Whoa, easy."

It was his first time on a horse, but keeping his balance wasn't particularly difficult. After all, Shan could stand on one foot atop an upright wooden pole.

Fortunately, Roden seemed to have picked a good horse. Instead of getting temperamental when its inexperienced owner climbed on, it merely gave a gentle snort. Following the brief instructions he'd received the night before, Shan stroked its mane to reassure it, then tugged lightly on the reins.

"Come on, let's move. That way... That's it. Faster."

He lightly tapped its belly with his feet in the stirrups, and the horse began to pick up speed. His body bounced up and down, his seat lifting from the saddle, but his hips immediately moved on instinct to match the rhythm.

Given time, he would have practiced riding slowly like this. Unfortunately, the enemy was already close at hand.

Shan promptly let go of the reins, took a bow from the leather pack at the horse's flank, and strung it. He had taken it from one of the mercenaries he'd just killed.

"You there, boy! Are you the one who killed my men—!"

Once Shan came within earshot, the man at the head of the mercenaries shouted at him. He wasn't the knight Shan had seen before dawn. Perhaps he was the captain of a small mercenary platoon.

Before he could finish his demand, an arrow, its speed augmented by the horse's gallop, grazed his cheek and pierced the head of the man behind him. Shan quickly caught the reins and turned his horse, sighing softly.

"Ah, I missed."

One shot was enough to show him that being good with a bow and shooting from horseback were two different things. Though he had already more or less gotten the hang of it.

Still, any skill that took him two whole attempts to learn had to be extraordinarily difficult.