Chapter 16

“…who did you kill?”

“Don’t know, I’m sure it was a wanted criminal.”

Judith didn’t want to add a lame old story.

What happened to her when she was 16, that she needed a lot of money, and what she had done with her sword.

However, in front of Giryu, the old days gradually popped up.

Judiht awkwardly put the sword in its scabbard.

“The bounty was quite good, so I pursued him tenaciously, but in the end it failed. After awakening my aether, his body exploded.”

“…..”

It is for this reason that she said it would not be good for Violet to hear it.

It would be no good to listen to a story about aether bursting and killing a man.1

Judith knew she was answering emotionally.

She looked into his purple eyes. It wasn’t difficult to speak calmly.

“Captain.  I’ve been unhappy with money.”

Her plain confession contained only the truth.

Perhaps because of that, she stopped in an unknown way.

“I don’t like excessive favoritism or excessive praise because it seems like there is something they want from me.”

That is why, after all, she turned her eyes away from the tiara in front of her.

It is true that she had no desire to receive the princess’s tiara.

But there was a more fundamental problem.

Judith was afraid of a handful of unknown favors. Quite frankly, she was afraid because she knew the danger that came with them.2

“I know how frightening are a handful of unknown intentions.”

“……”

Wouldn’t it be great if you could receive the favor of others purely out of goodwill?

But some favors are traps heavier than gold.

“Then, Dame, I’ll ask you one thing.”

It was then. Giryu turned his head to her.

“Can you tell whether a handful of favors contains poison or medicine?”

“……”

“Can you tell which kind of favor is pure?”

Judith forgot what to say.

Can you tell which favor is pure?

Judith was about to ask if there was anyone who could spot such a thing, and found that that was the answer Giryu was looking for.

“A favor is what it is after all, dame. You don’t know until you receive it.”

The man with his purple eyes was smiling at her.

“Don’t push yourself too hard.”

It was unannounced advice.

Judith felt a surge of emotion in the corner of her chest.

How did this happen?

Having thought so, Giryu noticed that the eyes looking at him were shaking more than usual.

Why?

She is a knight who can kill three people with a sword at once..

However, it is strangely helpful to have such a skill.

It’s not just a matter of rejecting favors, but being willing to do so.

Why?

What kind of person is she, so that even a single compliment is taken as a joke? What kind of life has she lived?

At the same time, Giryu was curious and sad.

All human beings live in harmony with goodwill and hostility.

However most are afraid of hostility, but rarely of kindness.

It even occurred to him that he wished Judith would consider herself a little more valuable.

“Dame…”

Giryu chose his words carefully.

“Dame, you’re an Imperial Knight, an Aether Master. Even if you don’t like it, someone will ask for a favor. Are you going to turn it down every time?”

“That…….”

“There are many people who do not accept rejection in the imperial palace. Their favor turns into hostility the moment you turn it down.”

Judith shut her mouth.

‘You’re such a tactless subordinate.’

Giryu came to his senses.

Judith is strangely similar to Deschamps, who has been taking care of him since childhood.

But something crucial was different.

It is the temper that drives oneself to the edge of a cliff.

He looks so inconspicuous that he wonders if he is strangling my neck. That scene evoked a feeling of sadness over and over again.3

Giryu’s voice softened slightly.

“I know. The dame is a murderer. I’ve killed a lot of people, how could I not know?”

“……”

“But we are imperial knights who kill anything for the sake of the imperial family. Not only magical beasts, but even people.”

Giryu already knew.

It’s a world where people who have used swords a few times are considered knights and given titles, but most of them have never stopped to think about it.

On the other hand, she did not learn her sword through practice alone.

The larynx, face, eyes, arms, thighs, groin, heart, lungs. It is not possible to learn it only by practicing the sword to accurately pierce the vital points.

In other words, Judith did not live by tapping a wooden doll on the back of its head.

Did he know what kind of person she is?

Probably a terrible person. Even in front of a corpse with a ruptured gut, she would have compared it to the wanted paper.

However, it was the imperial family that needed a terrible person.

Giryu also put Judith into the Red Knights order  and decided to keep her as a subordinate.

She must have been a person who has been wielding a sword since she was young.

He didn’t know why she was so desperate…

“Lift up your head, Dame Judith.”

“……”

“Imperial knights do not bow their heads anywhere.”

Giryu was her boss.

Life and death. Casual connection.

The road of a knight who lives with his karma on his back.

If Judith was staggering along the way, it was his duty to support her.

He tapped Judith’s uniform with the tip of his index finger.

“The Red Knights leave their past untouched. It doesn’t matter what kind of life they have led. Instead, they wield their swords only for the sake of the imperial family. I forgive and allow murder for that purpose.”

The Red Knights is where most knights belong.

That means the largest number of murderers are gathered.

Now, even if one of them is added, the total amount of karma will not change much.

Because of that, Giryu thought.

She’s really a knight.

Even among these murderers, they only push themselves and do not rationalize.

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Her amber eyes, harder than gold, always contained a spark. She had a strong flame as if it would burn herself.

It may not be Judith who can change with a single word anyway, but Giryu said it sincerely.

“You’re  a person who at least deserves a favor and praise.”

He thought he said too much.

However, Giryu did not regret it.

Judith raised her head slowly and smiled faintly.

The moment he saw that smile, he even thought that the day was extremely hot.4

“…I told you that I’ve hurt people… because of money.”

“Yeah, I heard.”

“It’s the worst for a knight to do.”

“You don’t have to do it from now on.”

“……”

Judith was at a loss for words at the simple answer.

You don’t have to do it from now on.

You don’t have to covet it in the future, that’s all.

Day by day, piled up like snow, a new snowflake falls on it.

Giryu’s words were as hot as candle wax, hardening white and sticking to her heart.

A corner of her heart was burning.

“I think I can understand why people… like you.”

“What?”

“You’re popular, Captain”

Judith smiled slightly.

The people of the imperial palace came to mind as the red knights who greeted him without hesitation.

She said, staring at Giryu.

“I also like the commander’s point of view.”

“……Huh.”

Giryu’s face turned red in an instant.

“That’s… Thank you.”

Judith tilted her head.

What’s going on all of a sudden?

But soon, she laughed when she realized that Giryu had turned red.

“Um… that…”

Giryu avoided her gaze.

Judith spoke in a playful tone.

“that?”

“…. That’s cheating.”

“Is that so?”

“Don’t make fun of me.”

Giryu suddenly realized that their conversation had completely reversed.

Giryu was red all the way to the tip of his ears. He almost looked like a tomato..

“Then what do you want to hear?”

“You play too much…”

“Hm? How would I play with the captain?”

“……”

Giryu glared at her as if resenting her.

Playing with who. That’s cheating. Very. You’re making fun of me.

But not a single word came out.

“Stop playing.”

“What if I don’t?”

“… it’s getting stiff.”5

Kiryu drew his sword with a humble face.

His face was still red and hot.

Judith burst into laughter without realizing it.

She said with a smile.

“It’s difficult if the leader gets upset. I can’t learn what I have to learn, so I have no choice but to restrain myself.”

“Yes. Thank you very much. …..All right, this story is over!”

He seems to scream when he’s shy.

Judith laughed out loud again. Giryu pretended not to hear it.

“In that sense, the goodwill I see is very special. If it’s not today, there won’t be a chance for an aether lecture. Just forget it. Did you get it?

“Okay.”

He coughed several times and then tried to speak as usual.

Judith wanted to tease him more, but decided to refrain from it as the situation was.

It was a clean black sword that Giryu brought today.

A smooth sword without any special pattern.

The leather-lined handle to prevent slipping was long enough to hold it with both hands.

Judith knew that his sword changed quite often, and today was no exception.

She didn’t remember seeing Giryu wearing the same sword since the day of the new knight test.

Well. Among the ether masters, he was the only one who used only one sword.

Jermel often threw away the sword he used. He said he never knew when a sword worn out by the use of aether would break.

“There are individual differences in how to deal with the ether. However, it is hypothesized that to some extent, the power changes depending on emotions and concentration.”

“Emotions and concentration…”

“It’s a hypothesis between the Ether Masters, so there’s no difference from the orthodoxy.”

It was the first time she heard it. Judith listened carefully.

“In my case, it’s solitude. When I feel like I’m the only person left on the battlefield, the aether gets the most intense. The intensity changes.”

“…can you explain a little more?”

Giryu nodded his head.

“When there is a fight, I get excited pretty easily. I can’t tell the difference between friend and foe, but at some point I just feel that I am alone. I see fallen allies and flags.”

“……”

“It’s like a signal to me, I can’t see back and forth from that moment. I wish I didn’t have such a moment, but I do.”

Giryu scratched his head.

She was confident in herform in front of others, but somehow in front of him, she felt like a wooden doll.

Giryu swung his sword.

There was a pleasant sound as the blade of the sword cut through the wind. It was quite a relaxing sound.

“Look carefully.”

Slowly, a red aether flowing through Giryu’s fingertips covered the sword.

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The energy overflows so much that you can see it. The intense red color looked threatening even to the naked eye. When you think it’s like a storm…

“It’s falling.”

The aether exploded, splitting the ground in half.

——————

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