I Pull Out Excalibur

42 – Merchants’ Street (4)

The bustling Merchant’s Street.

The defeated knight and the noble Danoir, the knight’s owner, pointed fingers at Najin with flushed faces. A petty story using pretext and status.

Even the crowd gathered on the street understands that it’s the tantrum of a loser. It meant noise without value.

“It’s gotten noisy.”

Dieta didn’t want to listen to the noise, nor did she want to be disturbed by such noise at this moment. While receiving Najin’s escort, she stood up and whispered to Najin.

“Should we run away?”

“Can we run away?”

“I can handle the aftermath later. It’s rare to feel this good, and I don’t want anything to ruin it.”

Right now, the thought of such things was unappealing.

In Dieta’s seemingly casual remark, Najin nodded. Glancing down the street, Najin looked at Dieta’s shoes. They weren’t suitable for running.

Lowering her posture, Najin turned her back to Dieta.

“…Can you carry me?”

“Even though we’re supposed to be running away?”

Running in those shoes would be challenging.

A tone as indifferent as dust, devoid of any personal feelings. After a brief hesitation, Dieta cautiously lifted herself onto Najin’s back.

Hmm.

Dieta, placing her palm on Najin’s back, shivered slightly. When she looked, she hadn’t realized that Najin’s back was quite firm. Muscles split through the thin leather armor.

“Grab my shoulders instead of my clothes.”

Muttering under her breath, Najin stood up from her spot.

The clamor of the crowd, the aristocrats pointing fingers, and the defeated knight’s grumbling from the duel—all the noises were left behind as Najin took a step forward.

Then, with a thud.

“Ahh!”

In an instant, Dieta’s body lurched forward.

Najin had lowered her posture and started running. Afraid of falling off while holding onto her clothes, Dieta wrapped her hands around Najin’s shoulders.

“Have you thought about where to go?”

“Anywhere, just to a place where no one is!”

Dieta shouted from the shaking back.

The sound of the wind brushing past her ears, the swiftly passing scenery. Dieta pressed herself closer to Najin’s back.

‘This isn’t as bad as I thought…’

It felt like becoming the heroine of a fairy tale.

But in that moment of indulgence, Dieta soon realized that fairy tales were just tales, and the reality of an escape drama wasn’t as romantic.

“Heek!”

Continued swaying.

The rapidly changing scenery. The undulating sight above and below. Handling Najin’s expert-level, unmanned sprint was not easy for Dieta.

‘I feel like I’m going to vomit…!’

On Na-jin’s back, to avoid the disaster of vomiting, Dieta had to bite down on her lips.

2.

“We’ve arrived.”

Na-jin stopped walking.

Unable to overcome her nausea from halfway, Dieta had closed her eyes and buried her head in Na-jin’s neck. Dieta slowly lifted her head.

“······.”

Dieta, who had wiped away the saliva on Na-jin’s neck with her sleeve, patted Na-jin’s shoulders.

“Let me down.”

Dieta, with wobbly legs, stood on the ground.

Slowly taking a deep breath, she patted her chest. Though still uneasy inside, it felt a bit better after taking a deep breath.

Dieta looked around.

An expansive view. It was a hilly area overlooking the city of Cambria, the city of opportunities. A clear view and a refreshing breeze. It was quite a nice scenery.

‘Did such a place exist in the city?’

For Dieta, who lived near the bustling merchant street and the central guild, it was a somewhat unfamiliar place. Perhaps it was on the outskirts of the city.

“······.”

Dieta silently glanced at Na-jin.

Na-jin, too, was silently gazing at the city below. It was a usual sight. Na-jin, who had been seen for almost a month, was inherently a quiet man with no changes in expression.

However, because of that······.

The smile that Na-jin had shown a while ago was not forgotten. It was a smile as if looking in a mirror. Dieta, whose lips had quivered, spoke.

“Why did you do such a thing?”

In response to Dieta’s question, Na-jin tilted his head. Looking at Dieta as if asking why she was stating the obvious, Na-jin replied.

“I told you. I just didn’t like it.”

“My laughter?”

“More precisely, I didn’t like that resigned attitude. It felt so familiar.”

Na-jin said.

“To me, this treatment is natural. I’ve received it to the point where it doesn’t bother me anymore. I expected you to get angry, but I won’t. I’ll keep laughing······.”

The boy who always fake laughed in the underground city mumbled.

“That kind of laughter. That’s it.”

“······.”

Dieta fell silent.

“I am not ··· at all.”

“It becomes a habit, so it seems like nothing. That’s a misconception.”

Najin interrupted Dieta’s words.

Looking straight at Dieta, Najin spoke.

“People who don’t know say that. Why bother with the other person? Just ignore and move on. That’s all nonsense. Can’t you express everything with words?”

Najin let out a laugh.

“That too, just once or twice, but it accumulates over time. Continuously.”

Reading the expression of the other person and being able to think, Najin has always lived like that since the age when it became possible. Bowed down humbly, resigned, and lived.

“Where is the person who is not bothered at all? It’s just leaving it alone to be chewed on continuously. So, I just didn’t like that.”

Najin sighed.

“It might have been unnecessary interference, but I just did it because I was annoyed watching it.”

“···Is that all?”

“It was a petty reason.”

It was also an unusual reason. Dieta looked at the young man standing in front of her with eyes half open. A faint smile lingered on his lips.

“Is that what you were like, this person?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Silent, thorough, emotionless, and planned. That’s what I thought.”

Dieta’s insight was not wrong.

The image that Dieta saw in Najin was the Peryeun he was when he was active as a hunting dog in the underground city. The appearance of living while restraining emotions, surrendering desires.

He shook it off when he came out of the underground city.

However, that Peryeun still remained with Najin.

But it cannot be said that it is Najin’s original personality. It is just a mask that Najin is wearing, as Najin is originally an impulsive and emotional person.

“I didn’t know you were such an impulsive person.”

“My original personality is closer to this side.”

Najin smirked and let out a laugh.

“Just as you wear a mask, I also wear a mask.”

Everyone wears a mask. It’s just that the masks of these two are unusually thick. Masks to hide the unlucky childhood.

So.

“We look alike. Us.”

Dieta and Najin felt a sense of camaraderie with each other. Dieta took a deep breath, gazing down at the picturesque landscape of Cambria, the city of opportunities.

A mask, did she say?

Truly an accurate expression. Dieta chuckled bitterly. She had escaped from her family, running tirelessly with the stigma of being an abandoned child.

“Twenty years.”

The mask she had crafted over the course of two decades was thick and sturdy. Dieta had lived her life, smiling falsely even in front of her family head, sisters, ancestors, and especially her own mother.

A mask forged over 20 years.

It wouldn’t easily break.

However, a moment ago, the young man before her had glimpsed through the cracks of the mask. Dieta, caught off guard, displayed a mix of embarrassment and a gratifying expression.

Because that was Dieta’s true face.

After exhaling slowly, Dieta looked at Najin. Najin, too, seemed a bit more relaxed than usual, wearing a light expression. That must be the ‘real’ appearance of that young man.

“···The abandoned prostitute of Arbenia.”

A gap in the stripped-away mask.

As Dieta faced Najin through that gap, the recent gossip among the nobles echoed in Dieta’s ears.

“Um, excuse me.”

“Speak.”

“Aren’t you curious why I’m an abandoned child?”

“Not particularly.”

“Your response is quite quick.”

“I don’t see the need to know that.”

Najin responded indifferently.

“If you want to hide it, is there a need to pry into it?”

The nameplate he had seen when they first met.

Seeing the letters ‘Arbenia’ scratched on that nameplate, Najin guessed that, for Dieta, her family was a past she wanted to shake off.

Then, was there a need to reveal it?

It might have been consideration, indifference, or a defense mechanism. Najin, like Dieta, had many pasts to hide. However, Dieta found Najin’s indifferent attitude surprisingly refreshing.

“It’s fascinating, in a way.”

“Is that so.”

The sunset was gradually fading away.

The setting sun. The time Najin had promised for the escort was until the sun set. The once lively stroll, accompanied by the setting sun, was coming to an end.

“Today was enjoyable.”

Dieta spoke.

“Something feels different from what I had in mind, but… it’s refreshing for a change. As you said, sometimes going all out like this is not bad at all.”

Under the twilight glow, Dieta’s hair sparkled. Leaning against the sunset, Dieta looked at Nazin.

“Hmm.”

She pursed her lips and soon exhaled a long breath. With the sigh came a false smile, a nimble and snake-like impression that fell away from her face… Dieta’s real face. Dieta, without a mask, looked at Nazin.

“I hope we can maintain a good relationship in the future. Ivans, the 28-year-old adventurer.”

Probably a false identity.

However, at this moment, Nazin’s smile and actions seemed as genuine as they could be. Fully revealing his character, Nazin reached out towards Dieta, smiling and extending his hand.

Not a hand for escort.

Just a hand requesting a handshake.

Facing the real face of Dieta, Nazin extended his hand for a handshake. Dieta cautiously took Nazin’s hand. The hand that had wielded a sword tirelessly, with calloused skin, and the fingers of Dieta, scented with the metallic smell of gold coins, touched.

“I wanted to tell you last time.”

While shaking hands, Nazin spoke.

“After coming to the city, I received quite a bit of help from you. You did say that it would be mutually beneficial, but…”

Nazin also understood.

That everything was in his favor. Even though it wasn’t pure goodwill, he knew there was an ulterior motive. Nevertheless, the fact remained that he had received help from Dieta.

“Thanks to you, I could establish myself quickly and raise my rank.”

“That’s because of your skills…”

“Even if I had the skills, I could seize the opportunities because of you.”

Quickly establishing a position. Being able to participate in the requests of the Red-Eyed Mercenary Group. All of it was possible because of Dieta’s help.

“You incurred a debt.”

So.

“Whenever you need, just once.”

Nazin said.

“I will help without asking or questioning. Within the bounds that do not deviate too much from my values.”

“Vague words.”

Dieta chuckled softly.

She didn’t like this kind of verbal agreement. She had seen numerous cases where promises were not kept with an attitude of ‘when did I say that,’ and she had witnessed countless refusals veiled in roundabout words.

So why not write a contract? Let’s leave behind evidence with legal effectiveness under precise conditions.

The usual Dieta would have said something like that.

However, for some reason, today, he didn’t feel like it.

He enjoyed the view from the hill, the refreshing air pleased him, and most of all, he liked the refreshing smile of the young man in front of him.

“I won’t turn back on my words later.”

“I tend to keep my promises.”

3.

“Knight of the Shulhauser family, Berheigen.”

A voice echoed in the square, resembling the legendary Round Table from the tales of King Arthur.

“He betrayed his master.”

Violating the principle of loyalty to the master.

“He murdered his comrades.”

Breaking the principle by betraying his comrades.

“All his actions were carried out through dishonorable ambushes, and his sword lacked pride.”

A sword without pride or honor.

A sword swung in violation of principles.

“Lastly, he made a pact with the devil. He seized the sealed artifact, robbed it from the devil, and gained power by contracting with the devil.”

The voice grew louder.

An anger-filled voice echoed in the square.

“Berheigen lost his honor. He abandoned his pride. By forming a pact with the devil, he trampled upon the Knight King’s legacy. Can such a being truly be called a knight?”

The answer came immediately.

The knights gathered in the square shouted in unison. Decisively. He could no longer call himself a knight, nor should he be called one.

“Berheigen has stained the honor and pride of a knight.”

The judgment was pronounced.

“Therefore, we judge Berheigen.”

The one standing at the center of the square.

The most knightly of knights.

The leader of the Atanga, Godyf, shouted.

“The tarnished name of a knight can only be cleansed by the knight’s own sword.”

Those who uphold the ancient principles of knighthood.

Knights judging knights.

The knights of Atanga gathered in the square each touched the Atanga emblem engraved in their respective places. Some on their armor, some on their swords, some on their spears, and some even on their shields with clenched fists.

“Hunt down and execute Verheigen.”

The judgment was passed, and Atanga began to move.

To preserve honor and pride.

In an era where the weight of the word “knight” had become infinitely lighter, there was still a line that should not be crossed, to convey.