I Became a Dark Knight in the Game

4 – The Wordless Horse and the Horseless Knight (5)

“So, he just left?”

The old knight, who had returned from the expedition, asked the financial director. It wasn’t a question that popped out because he didn’t understand the situation. He asked simply because he was dumbfounded.

“Yes. He left the headquarters, saying it was within the scope of the order.”

“He’s an interesting fellow, indeed.”

“Interesting or not, what will you do, Commander?”

“Your words are disrespectful. That’s insubordination.”

The financial director snorted. He and the commander had been through decades together on the Western Front. They were used to this level of joking.

“I was going to formally entrust him with a banner because it was a waste for him to be a free knight, but he left already.”

“What will you do? You can’t treat him as a deserter.”

The reason they couldn’t treat him as a deserter was due to Kriel’s special circumstances. Originally, Kriel was not a knight formally belonging to the Western Army. He was just a mercenary hired for a short period.

Kriel, who had power but was not noticed, drew the attention of the Western Army due to the trial by combat that took place in the barracks.

Kriel, acting as the representative of the one called the ‘Witch,’ defeated five knights in succession in the trial by combat.

Since it was a trial that was determined to brand her as a witch from the start, even winning the trial by combat did not prove her innocence. They only tried to forcibly overturn the trial by spreading nonsense like ‘The witch used abyssal sorcery to hinder the honorable knights!’

The commander himself demanded that Kriel, who was called the witch’s minion, serve as his direct knight in exchange for promising ‘the silence of the rabble, authority within the barracks, and the guarantee of the trial.’

Therefore, Kriel had no direct superior other than the commander in the organization. Since he went out to carry out the orders of his only direct superior, it couldn’t be considered desertion.

“Well. Leave him be. To properly process his discharge, he will eventually have to meet me. When we meet again, I will offer him the position of standard-bearer or chief knight.”

“He seems determined to insist on his discharge, though.”

“Isn’t it a waste of talent?”

Even the Finance Minister, who usually wanted to rebuke my lord, couldn’t deny this fact. Instead of agreeing with the playful lord – he didn’t want to see him become more arrogant – the Finance Minister chose to naturally change the subject.

“The movements of the Holy Kingdom are unusual.”

*

[So, are you going to find a saint or a holy maiden? Do you know anyone?]

Criel shook his head. He was somewhat acquainted with the witch, but she wasn’t someone he wanted to be close to. Wasn’t it because of that witch that his name was still on the military register?

“I’m going to the Holy Kingdom. Saints and holy maidens, as you said, wander around, so it’s easy to miss them.”

Of course, he was using the trip to the Holy Kingdom as an excuse to get as far away from the Western Army as possible. The interest of the commander, who was like a senior sergeant recommending a professional sergeant, would diminish over time.

[That’s good. I’ll go after a long time.]

“After a long time?”

Come to think of it, that guy said he received a title during the old United Kingdom era. Noticing Criel’s curious gaze, Orishin began to boast about his story.

[Before the races were divided. Before the Abyss gained power. When the distinction between priests and kings was vague!]

Criel, recalling the setting of the Tirnanog RPG, was bewildered. He realized that the ‘old United Kingdom’ Orishin was talking about was not the early days of the United Kingdom maintaining the Western Front, but the ancient Pan-Racial United Kingdom.

“You’ve lived a long time.”

[That’s right. You see all sorts of strange things in life.]

Orishin’s story started as if it would be something significant, but it continued with boasts like ‘I’ve seen that famous so-and-so.’ He claimed to have seen the faces of the three heroes who founded the United Kingdom and to have stood up to the famous fire dragon Kaladripa.

“How did such a famous spirit end up being taken by the Abyss?”

[Damn. You leave me speechless.]

“I’m not trying to argue. It’s just that I’ve never heard of a way to corrupt an ancient spirit like you without massive human sacrifices and sacrificial rites.”

[Well… I don’t know either.]

Orishin, with only his head as a spirit, nodded slightly and added an unhelpful explanation. When he came to his senses, he had two horns.

“All you can say is that you don’t know.”

[If I knew the origin of that curse, I would have lifted it myself. You’re too much.]

Although it was a grumbling horse head, the complaint didn’t feel sincere. It was just his usual banter.

[I think I’ve told my story, so how about yours? Didn’t you ignore a similar request in Lorange?]

“My story?”

Criel thought for a moment. The game called Tirnanog RPG. Himself, who became a character in that game. The struggle to escape the penalty of the Dark Knight profession.

In the end, unable to find a way to coexist with the skills of the Dark Knight and his sanity, he sealed the unique skills of the Dark Knight and was now training only the common skills of the knight series.

Countless thoughts came and went, but there was only one thing to say now.

“I was in danger of being stuck in the army because I met the wrong person. I ran away using you as an excuse.”

[Huh. Your tongue loosens up when no one’s around, huh?]

Kriel shrugged his shoulders. As Orisin said, the solemn knight act was enough in front of people. It was far from his original personality, and he had almost been caught by the army while trying to protect the oppressed like a textbook knight.

Now that he was away from the army, he wanted to be a bit more comfortable. As long as he didn’t spew curses recklessly, revealing his true feelings in front of one or two people wouldn’t tarnish his nobility.

‘…Right?’

As Kriel pondered the conditions for increasing or decreasing nobility in the Tirnanog RPG, Orisin’s voice reached his ears.

[How long until we reach the Holy Kingdom?]

“Even though I’m a fast walker, it should take about ten days.”

[You’re quite fast!]

His pace was beyond ‘a bit fast.’ From the western army camp to the capital of the Holy Kingdom. It was a distance that would take over fifteen days on horseback.

Kriel didn’t have to slow down while running through the mountains, unlike horses that struggled in rough terrain. He planned to minimize rest by reducing sleep, achieving an incredible speed. This speed was the effect of the supernatural energy, Touki, that knights trained in.

Using Touki for physical enhancement was the result of efforts to survive, excluding the dark knight’s exclusive abilities like bloodlust or resentment.

As a knight profession, dark knights naturally had their own Touki skills, but these were classified as dark Touki, created by merging with bloodlust or resentment.

Dark Touki was a skill that Kriel, who aimed for a healthy mind and body, had no reason to train. It had been several years since he somehow found and learned the common Touki training method used by regular knights.

After a week of continuing his journey in a rough manner, crossing mountains and rivers, Orisin asked Kriel.

[But you, a knight, don’t have a horse?]

“Not just a horse. I don’t have money either.”

Orisin seemed momentarily speechless at Kriel’s nonchalant answer, then burst into laughter.

[Kahahahaha! You’re a funny human! Are you really the solemn knight?]

“It was in front of others. On the battlefield, a knight is like a paperweight.”

[A paperweight? The thing that keeps paper from fluttering?]

Kriel nodded. It was a thought formed from his experiences wandering various places while pretending to be a knight.

“Even if you waver, you must not let others waver. Even if you doubt yourself, you must give others faith. Who would follow an unreliable commander?”

[Oh. But aren’t you always alone? I haven’t known you for long, but I can tell you like being alone.]

Kriel chuckled behind his helmet.

“That’s why I don’t have a horse. If I had any popularity, wouldn’t the headquarters have given me at least one horse?”

[That makes sense!]

Kriel subtly hid the unfavorable story. In a world where magic and Touki were natural abilities, warhorses also had their own abilities. Among them, the best warhorses were bred in the Holy Kingdom.

The best warhorses of the western front, blessed with excellent self-healing and bright night vision, would spit and turn away at the sight of Kriel. The dark knight profession was naturally shunned by ordinary beings who followed the natural order, and those who were blessed would harbor hostility beyond mere aversion.

Riding an ordinary horse was also out of the question, as they would fear Kriel’s very presence. It was impossible to ride anything.

‘No wonder dark knights seek out and contract with Bicorns…’

Kriel glanced at Orisin for no reason. The ghost with only a horse’s head floating around seemed entirely unsuitable as a mount.

*

The capital of the Holy Kingdom. The majestic land of the Holy City Temris, where the Priest-King chosen from among the priests resides.

“Drop your weapons and raise your hands!”

“I repeat, I do not belong to the Abyss.”

Kriel was undergoing an unexpected inspection.