I Became a Dark Knight in the Game

33 – Short Recollection, Long Recollection (2)

At the very end of the group of wizards was a girl with pink hair.

It was a hair color that was hard to see in the world where Kriel originally lived. A vivid pink that could never occur naturally. However, in Tirnanog, such unique hair colors were not uncommon.

But what caught Kriel’s attention more than the color of the hair was the girl’s identity.

“Oh.”

It was a familiar face. The wizard Kriel had originally come to the empire to meet.

The one who shattered all of Kriel’s illusions about wizards, the young lady of the Count Ket family.

“It’s been a while, Armed. Or should I call you Lady Armed now that you’re back with the Count Ket family?”

Armed’s eyes trembled as she saw Kriel raising his hand.

*

Armed felt a momentary illusion as if time had stopped. When she first thought ‘the voice sounds similar,’ she could easily deny it.

How many times had she been disappointed when she turned around, thinking the person who just passed by had white hair, and the voice sounded similar?

This time, too, it must be someone else with some resemblance. Armed pulled out the resignation she had taught herself. She composed her shaken heart and stepped out of the barrier.

Suddenly, familiar white hair appeared before her eyes. It was different from the cold but strong white hair inherited from the northern harshness, or the dignified white hair of an old man naturally bleached by time. It was pale and ominous, like ashes.

The kind of white hair that only she could harbor.

Even if she tried to deny it, there couldn’t be another person in this world with such white hair and such ominous eyes.

He casually raised his hand to greet her, as if the years of separation were a lie.

Something bubbled up inside Armed.

He was the man who had coldly abandoned her.

No, perhaps ‘abandoned’ wasn’t the right word. But he was cold. He tried to disappear without a word, and she had to wake up at dawn to hear his farewell.

The one who hadn’t shown his face even once despite holding the conference for the past few years.

Appears so nonchalantly like this?

*

At the sight of Armed looking at Creel with trembling eyes, the members of the Abyss Prevention Society hesitated and stepped back.

‘Could it be that this time it’s not us, but the chairman’s creditor?’

‘Th-that’s impossible. How wealthy is the Count of Ket…’

‘Isn’t the wealth of the Count being poured into this unprofitable research?’

As Armed remained silent, Creel, feeling awkward, lowered his raised hand.

A somehow ominous silence. Orishin, feeling the dark clouds looming over the hope they had barely found, whispered urgently.

[Weren’t you acquaintances?]

“I told you before coming. I remember him, but he might not remember me. It seems I pretended to know him for no reason…”

He seemed to be speaking quietly, but there was no way the sound wouldn’t be heard at this close distance. Armed whispered softly.

“I remember.”

“Oh. That’s a relief. I didn’t know you were the host of this society.”

How can you say that? Armed suppressed the emotions that couldn’t be put into words.

From the beginning, it was a society formed because of the words you left behind. I couldn’t find you because you left with just a name.

I thought if I created a society to research ways to purify the abyss as you asked, you might come looking for it.

And now you appear and say that?

Armed took a deep breath to calm the turmoil inside. As a mercenary who had been with him, the advice he constantly heard was that a magician must remain calm.

“Yes. It’s been a while, Creel.”

“It’s an honor that the lady of the Ket family remembers my name.”

Armed looked around. The society members were watching the two with confused expressions.

“Get out.”

“Pardon?”

“Everyone get out. I’ll call if needed.”

Armed waved his hand. The pink hair that reached down to his shoulders swayed along. The magicians were deeply interested in the chairman’s human relationships, but their fear of the sponsor was stronger than their curiosity.

After the last member left, only Armed and Creel remained in the hall. Creel naturally turned and stepped down from the podium, reaching out his hand.

A gesture asking for a hand to avoid falling. It was a signal for an escort.

‘Damn it…’

Armed cursed both Creel, who had probably extended his hand without much thought, and himself, who was still nervous, and did not take the hand but walked down slowly. He headed towards the round table below the podium.

Criel, who had stroked his chin once, absentmindedly pulled out the chair where Armed would sit and sat across from her.

[Hey. Are you sure you broke up on good terms? Why is she so cold?]

“No. Armed has always been like that. Even during her mercenary days, she had a noble personality that enjoyed solitary contemplation.”

[Isn’t she a noble lady? Why a mercenary?]

“For training. In the Kett County, the most outstanding magician among the children inherited the family.”

Seeing him explain so nonchalantly made her feel twisted inside. Armed suppressed a sigh and watched the conversation between the unicorn spirit and Criel.

[So, were you fellow mercenaries?]

Criel fell into thought for a moment. Fellow mercenaries. In fact, they were not in the same mercenary group. Criel was a mercenary who always acted alone, and Armed volunteered for mercenary life as training, but she was a count’s daughter.

There was a separate mercenary group for her, close to a guard unit made up of people from the count’s family. Criel and Armed had only been assigned to the same mission a few times.

If he considered their relationship up to their last meeting.

“We were in an employer-employee relationship. I worked under her for a while.”

“How can you summarize it like that!?”

Armed shouted in disbelief. The event that changed my life was just that to you?

“If I tell the whole story, it would be too long. It’s also correct if summarized.”

“You fool!”

Seeing Armed growling at Criel as if she would devour him, Orisin became curious. What on earth had happened?

[First, stop fighting and sit down. Let’s hear what happened between you two to cause such a fierce welcome.]

Armed, who had been panting, closed her eyes for a moment and then calmed down. Criel spoke with his usual expressionless face.

“Nothing much. A monster came to the territory, and I happened to be in the right place. That’s it.”

“So, it’s not something you can summarize like that!”

Armed recalled the disaster that had invaded the Kett territory.

It was called differently depending on the region. Somewhere it was called the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons (百鬼夜行), somewhere else the Procession of the Dead (死者行列).

The most well-known name was the Wild Hunt. A night of storms pouring out non-human monsters.

When Count Kett collapsed due to an unknown curse and the barrier of the territory was broken. The one who stood at the forefront of the march of monsters was Criel.

“I repeat, it was luck. The leader of the Wild Hunt varies by region, and the leader that appeared in your territory was one that could communicate.”

“Really? Because he accepted your duel challenge?”

Criel explained slowly. That was enough to say he could communicate. It wasn’t a beast condensed from the storm or the remnants of a demon, but a wraith king who had once been human, so the trick of buying time with a duel worked.

If it had been another being as the leader of the Wild Hunt, the village would have been swept away before he could even challenge it to a duel.

[Huh?]

Orisin looked at Criel in amazement. The Wild Hunt was a disaster ranked alongside the war machines left by ancient dwarf civilizations. It was one of the three disasters threatening humanity, though less than the Abyss.

In terms of scale alone, the spectral horde of the Wild Hunt could not be compared to the automaton, a legacy left by a civilization. However, the reason they were considered a disaster was due to their immortality as specters and their ability to appear anywhere across the continent.

If he had won against such a disaster, Kriel would have deserved to be praised as a hero of the region.

Kriel responded with his usual expressionless face.

“I didn’t win.”

[Aha. Then what….]

“What do you mean ‘then’!”

Armed shook his head. It was not common to describe a duel with the Specter King, fought one-on-one from midnight to dawn, as ‘not winning.’

Under the backlight of the sunrise, Kriel was supporting himself with his sword. His armor was shattered, his right arm bent at an impossible angle. His legs felt like it was a miracle he was still standing.

The knight, who had endured without letting go of his sword until the Specter King completely disappeared, answered the question about his reward.

“A single coin.”

And then he left.

Really, does that guy not realize the greatness of what he did? I wanted to repay him somehow, but he only took a single coin…!