Ea.
That was her name. A member of the honorable knight order of the Baekje Empire, the 〈Martial Knight〉, she was dispatched alone to retrieve a fragment rumored to have fallen in Serenia Castle.
Previously, only high or mid tier martial knights were sent to Serenia Castle. But dispatched every three years, they always returned empty-handed, making it a place no one wanted to go. Even trainees striving to be recognized as mid-tier refused to go.
Everyone knew. With no clues about the fragment, going there was a waste of everything.
Time would be wasted and skills would dull. While peers build merits and grow through battles or missions, you would have to wander for a fragment that might not even exist. Martial knights returning from Serenia Castle unanimously advised against going if possible.
By now, the empire might have reconsidered dispatching, but giving up seemed undesirable. Sending a group other than the martial knight was risky due to questionable loyalty.
No group in the empire matched the martial knights’ absolute loyalty to the emperor and homeland. If someone else were sent and found the fragment, they could easily defect to another country.
With no choice, the empire promised high pay and ample rewards, yet no one volunteered. Ea was the only one intrigued enough to step forward.
Well, the result was as many predicted.
Far from finding the fragment, she couldn’t even find anything comparable. As others said, it was a waste of time. The only silver lining was learning from and getting advice from Kaseun, Spirit Sword Bearer. Without that, she might have returned to the empire in tears.
As her dispatch period neared its end, like her senior martial knights, she had no desire to extend it. If possible, she wanted to leave Serenia Castle quickly. She never wanted to waste her life here again. It was a squander of time, with nothing to gain and no bonds to form.
‘No, there’s one shitty bond.’
Yuda, the young hero of Serenia Castle. An unpleasant bond.
Their first meeting and impression were awful, and today’s incident was a major humiliation. If it wasn’t for kids like Kain and Riel, she would’ve cut Yuda down on the spot. The humiliation of having a blade at her neck was something she couldn’t let slide.
For martial knights, defeat and humiliation were mere steps toward victory. Thus, the empire didn’t hold them accountable for losing wars. Other knight orders faced severe punishment, but the martial knights were the only ones allowed to accept defeat.
If defeated in battle, survive, even disgracefully. If humiliated, grit your teeth and endure. As long as you didn’t betray the empire, begging for life was acceptable.
But once you survive, you must win the next battle. Repay the shame and return the humiliation tenfold. Multiple failures or defeats are fine. If your skills are lacking, retreat and plan for the next chance. To stand as the victor, smiling down at your foe, you must endure any hardship.
That was the way of the empire’s martial knights.
And Ea, she intended to repay the humiliation of having a blade at her neck earlier.
She knew the forest’s terrain well, having scoured it thoroughly for two years. She sent her party ahead, pretending to follow, then slipped into a hidden path among the bushes. Seeing them walk on without noticing anything odd, Ea turned her steps.
“Now, shall I chase that cocky kid?”
She pulled a portable map from her pack and headed where Yuda had vanished. Faint footprints remained in the damp soil. For martial knights, tracking and stealth were basic survival skills. She followed Yuda’s trail immediately. But something was off. Yuda, that guy, wasn’t following a path.
‘Does he have a destination?’
When the trail broke off, she looked around and saw he’d climbed a hill, cutting through blocking bushes with a blade. This meant he had a specific destination.
Sensing something strange, she opened her map. This direction led to an unnamed ruin, an old site with brick walls and remnants of collapsed buildings still standing.
Ea calculated the time. No matter how long his strides, he’d likely spend the night at the ruin. Smiling, she hurried to follow.
“Ha, this kid’s fast.”
Though She thought she’d tracked diligently, Yuda was nowhere in sight. Sighing, Ea prepared to camp. It was too dark to continue. She knew the direction to the ruin, so she could go on, but moving through the dark required a torch.
And a torch in this dark forest would stand out too much. With no choice, she stopped tracking and spent the night in the forest. As soon as the morning sun rose, she followed yesterday’s trail and reached the ruin.
Perhaps a castle once stood here, as collapsed walls and building remnants littered the area. The trail ended. Though damaged, the asbestos-paved roads made tracking footprints impossible. Sighing, she looked up and scanned the surroundings.
Warm sunlight bathed the ruins’ debris, and unknown vines climbed the collapsed walls. At night, the place felt eerie, but in the morning, it exuded a mysteriously antique charm.
And since traces of past human homes remained, magical beasts seeking shelter from rain sometimes nested here, making it a dangerous place.
Unsure when or what might appear, she kept a hand on the longsword at her hip, staying alert as she moved. The sound of stepping on scattered stone debris echoed loudly.
‘Where would that kid be now?’
From what she recalled, the ruin was vast. Finding him could take time, or their paths might not cross. To kill without leaving traces, it had to be here. Feeling a touch of anxiety, a sudden doubt struck her.
Could that kid have noticed he was being followed?
No way. He couldn’t know. That’s why she looked forward to his face when they met. But her anticipation quickly faded. Yuda was nowhere to be seen, as if he wasn’t in the ruin at all.
All she saw was an abandoned doll peeking from a pile of rubble and tattered cloth scraps. Sighing, Ea relaxed slightly. The emptiness made her vigilance feel foolish. To ease her hunger, she pulled packaged jerky from her pack and bit into it. Chewing the salty jerky while moving briskly, she heard a sound from afar.
Kyeeek!
A magical beast’s scream. The pitch suggested a common goblin. The pattern wasn’t a call for allies but a piercing cry of pain. The sound stopped quickly, but she gauged its rough direction.
"…!"
Spitting out the jerky she was chewing, she sprinted. The sound wasn’t far. The ruin amplified echoes, but she could guess the direction, so finding it wouldn’t be as hard. Rushing forward at breakneck speed, she heard sounds of combat with magical beasts.
Thud, thoom!
A heavy thud, like something massive stomping, was followed by goblin screams. Someone was fighting beasts beyond that corner. Finally found him. The boredom was over. With a faint smile at the thought of bloodshed, she rounded the wall, only to clamp her mouth shut and step back.
Thoom!
Kyeeeek…!
A goblin, struck by something, flew like a cannonball, grazing Ea as she hugged the wall and slamming into the ground. A split second slower, and she would’ve been hit. The goblin twitched, its side caved in, likely from broken ribs.
“What the…?”
An ogre? Fearing another projectile, she hid behind the wall, peeking out. About ten goblins lay scattered, bodies twisted. Among them stood a knight with a lance and shield.
A knight in gleaming silver full-body armor and a helmet. The armor’s elegant curves, tailored to fit, revealed her as female. But gender didn’t matter. She was the blue lance knight, the eternal enemy of the martial knights and a knight of Byron, the empire’s foe.
“Hm.”
After a brief pause, she stepped out, drawing the two longswords at her waist.
“A pheasant instead of a chicken… or a chicken instead of a pheasant?”
Her original target, Yuda, could wait. Priorities had shifted. She would retreat from other foes, but not the blue lance knight. At the sound of her steps, the knight turned her head. Her face was hidden by a visor, but her dangling lance twitched.
“You…?”
Ea tilted her head with a smile.
“Hey, lance knight. It’s been a while. So, do you remember me?”
“…Of course. You’re not someone I’d forget.”
“Wow, that’s a relief. But what brings you to the western forest after sticking to the eastern one? Couldn’t find what you wanted, huh?”
Shrugging with longswords in both hands, she grinned and spoke. The blue lance knight, Jeanne, narrowed her eyes, watching Ea approach slowly. Her voice was truly pleasant, like a renowned rose if compared to a flower. But like a rose’s thorns, her voice soured the listener’s mood. No one approaching with drawn blades would speak kindly, but to Jeanne, Ea was the same as two years ago. Warily, Jeanne tensed her left arm gripping the shield, ready to defend.
“Yes, I thought the fragment was in the eastern forest, but sadly, I couldn’t find it. Seeing you here, it seems you’re in the same boat?”
Ea’s eyes twitched as she walked.
“Hm, yeah. I invested two years too, but got nothing. Just got older, that’s all.”
“Do you remember what the lord said? That the fragment appears to those led by fate. Sadly, it seems we’re not those owners.”
“Ha! Bullshit, that nonsense! The fragment appears to those led by fate? Damn it. If I’d found the fragment, I’d have asked the lord if he dared spout that crap to me. Haa.”
Approaching Jeanne with her longswords lowered, Ea suddenly stopped, dropped her head, and let out a deep sigh.
“It’s so damn annoying.”
“I agree.”
She closed her eyes. Seeming to collect herself, she suddenly snapped them open, gripping her lowered longswords tightly. The trinket on the hilt swung wildly with the forceful motion.
“Both of us wasted two years, yet here we are, unable to let go of our lingering hopes, right? Going back to the empire now would just get us mocked. Don’t we need to take something back?”
“Are you proposing a duel?”
“Exactly. For martial knights, the greatest trophy is possessing a blue lance knight’s pendant. For you, it’s our longswords, right? I think that’s reason enough for a duel, especially since Serenia Castle’s lord doesn’t ban duels in this neutral zone.”
“Indeed, here, even if we kill each other, it would look like ‘killed by monsters.’ blue lance knights avoid force when possible, but when it’s a martial knight, that changes.”
“Oh, what a coincidence? Same for us martial knights.”
Ea curled her lips, lowering her stance into the martial knights’ signature form. Seeing this, Jeanne raised her shield and lance. Sharp killing intent passed between them.
“Let’s stop talking. We’re not fighting with words, are we? I’d like you to quietly offer me your neck.”
“Take it if you can. Though, of course, you won’t.”
“Hehehe!”
This is fun. Ea laughed at Jeanne’s words and charged.
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***Author’s Note***
The ego you guys are thinking of no longer exists.
Because I ended it. The seal is perfect. It won’t break.
I’m taking over this work. Hahaha!
P.S.) I don’t usually talk about future story plans, but since some comments in the last chapter mentioned wanting scenes and giving coupons with that expectation, I’m addressing it late.
In the story I’ve planned and written, there are no scenes for Ea. Um, well, it’s actually quite sad to say, but you don’t have to… don’t have to… sniff give coupons expecting future scenes. I’m very grateful for coupons. I don’t dislike them. Which author would? I love them. Saying you don’t need to give them is agonizing for me.
It would be nice to adjust the story to meet your expectations, but recklessly adding scenes could ruin the story, so I’ll hold back unless it’s planned.
So please don’t give coupons just for scenes… But if you do, I’m extremely, extremely, extremely, extremely, extremely grateful!
Thank you. (The ego you guys remember is dead! Now forget about i-!)
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