Chapter 166. Mission (1)
Enoch narrowed his eyes.
As soon as he recognized what had just been said in front of him, a question immediately arose.
‘The Victoria royal family?’
To think that name would come up, even though the Sword Saint’s past unfolding before his eyes was from a distant past.
‘That in itself is not strange.’
It was the same with the last Sword Saint of the Empire.
He was a participant in an ‘unrecorded war’ in the past Empire, in which both the beast-kin and Elsyde had participated.
However, Enoch clearly remembered that when the Emperor’s Supreme Sword spoke of the Sword Saint of the Waves, he had said that she was a Sword Saint who existed ‘before the founding of the Empire.’
In the first place, that was why the Emperor’s Supreme Sword knew of the Sword Saint of the Waves and could give Enoch a hint.
‘But Victoria, the current Main House of the Empire, existed in this era?’
It was an unfamiliar thing, as the original work did not go into such ancient history.
What was the relationship between Victoria and Rhodes?
Just then, the girl who was looking down at the kneeling knight hesitated for a moment and asked back in a flustered tone.
“Are you in an alliance with the soldiers of Victoria…?”
“That was just a figure of speech.”
The blond knight said with a faint smile, and then he untied the sword sheathed at his waist and held it.
The silver guard and the blue hilt reflected the sunlight and shone faintly.
Then, kneeling on one knee, he held it upright on the ground and showed his respects.
“I will report our victory. The powerful kingdom called the ‘Suleiman Great Nation’ has failed to invade Rhodes once again.”
“Yes, I heard that the battle you participated in was a defensive one to stop them from conquering Rhodes.”
“That is correct.”
The knight continued his report in an easy-to-understand tone, as if to match the eye level of the young girl in front of him.
“There was a joint front between our guardian knights of Rhodes and the Victoria soldiers, and they achieved lesser military merits than our guardian knight order.”
Enoch grasped the core of the conversation at once.
So, the Victoria family at this time was a royal family that ruled a large kingdom.
The fortress city of Rhodes was a kind of military alliance that had a cooperative relationship with them.
And their true enemy was a great kingdom of the past called ‘Suleiman.’
At first, I thought they were hostile to the Victoria soldiers because he said they had won against them.
He really had a confusing way of speaking.
Just then, the slender girl tilted her head with a calm gaze and asked the knight.
“Then, is the fact that the merits of the guardian knights of Rhodes were much higher than those of the Victoria soldiers this time also called a victory?”
“That is correct.”
The knight added, holding his sword down.
“Because that is proof that we have fulfilled our mission as guardian knights, that too can be called our victory.”
“It’s hard to understand what you’re saying.”
The girl gently closed her eyes and shook her head.
“Don’t the guardian knights only consider victory over the enemy as a victory?”
“I have spoken in a difficult manner. As I am not good with words, I sincerely apologize for that part.”
The blond knight, with his helmet tucked under his arm, slowly raised his head and continued to speak in a low voice.
“My lady. Do you know that there have been countless foreign tribes who have tried to conquer this Rhodes until now?”
“Yes, Sir Knight. I am well aware of that.”
“Among them, even the most powerful ‘Suleiman Great Nation’ cannot break through our defense this time either. However, that is the victory of Rhodes, not the true victory of our guardian knight order.”
“……Why is that?”
The knight, who was kneeling in front of the girl, looked up at her with calm eyes.
“Because for us guardian knights, the only victory is always to protect the weak.”
He slowly stood up, holding his longsword.
As the tall knight moved, his blue cloak billowed once, filling the girl’s vision as she looked up at him.
Beyond the fluttering hem of the knight’s cloak, the magnificent scenery of Rhodes was spread out.
Above the lake, where the golden sunlight poured down.
Endlessly lined white arched stone structures, and countless citizens passing by in colorful attire.
“……”
To the slender girl who silently took in all the scenery, the guardian knight clad in silver armor said with his eyes closed.
“That is why, in addition to defeating the enemy, whether we have fulfilled our oath to protect the weak with our swords is also a condition for our victory.”
“……So that’s why you said it was a victory.”
“Yes. Because the guardian knight order fought more valiantly than the Victoria soldiers who participated as allies, it also means that it is our victory in achieving our mission to take the lead in protecting the weak.”
The knight slowly looked down at the girl and said.
“As long as we hold the sword sworn to fulfill such a mission, we can never be defeated.”
“That is the pride of the knights who wield the sword.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. It’s hard for me, who is weak, to understand.”
The girl quietly bowed her head.
“I was born much weaker than other people my age, so when I hear about keeping an oath and winning, I can only admire it.”
Enoch, who saw the girl who had bowed her head slightly, had to admit that her words were not wrong.
Clean white skin, clear and transparent lake-like eyes, and long, silky hair of a pale aqua color.
A beautiful beauty with a small build and a slender body that seemed to suit a dress more than armor.
The Sword Saint's childhood was, as she said, a beautiful and fragile girl.
So much so that she did not fit in at all with the knights who wielded two-handed longswords as long as she was tall.
But the knight looked down at her blankly and shook his head with a calm gaze.
“That is no reason to blame your weakness.”
The knight, who was staring at her with a serious face, glanced to the side and looked at the scenery of Rhodes spread out before him.
“Our Rhodes is also just a small island.”
“……”
“On the outside, it is smaller than the kingdom of Victoria, where science and technology have developed, and it is tiny compared to the Suleiman Great Nation, the ruler of the vast desert. It may be just a weak city on a lake.”
The guardian knight said with a faint smile.
“But Rhodes is like this, protecting my lady and the citizens splendidly and prospering, isn’t it?”
He confirmed the scenery around him with a faint smile and thrust his sword into the ground.
A natural fortress built on a lake that sparkled, reflecting the sunlight, and a prosperous civilization of the past protected by masters of the sword called guardian knights.
He slowly turned around. The girl's vision was momentarily filled with the blue cloak that billowed under the sky and the light reflected from the armor.
“Being weak is not important.”
“Then……”
“To find your own mission and to have the will to carry it out is what is truly strong.”
The knight looked back at the girl who hadn't answered and said in a calm voice.
“And you, my lady, will surely be able to find your mission in the future.”
The girl nodded her head quietly.
“Yes. I was taught that children of nobles like me are born with the mission to strengthen diplomacy by marrying into the Victoria royal family through high society.”
But the knight shook his head calmly.
“That is not a mission you have found for yourself. It is just a mission given to you from birth.”
For a moment, the girl looked at him with a flustered expression and then fidgeted with her hands.
“Well, that is, true, but…”
“I hope that you too, my lady, will find your true mission in your own life.”
After finishing his words, the knight was about to slowly turn away. But just then, the girl opened her mouth.
“Have you ever heard of magic?”
For a moment, the air around them froze.
The expressions of the other knights lined up around them were hidden by their steel helmets, but it was clear that they too were agitated by her words.
The girl continued calmly.
“I have heard that even in various parts of the Suleiman Great Nation, there are a very small number of people who use an unknown power called magic.”
Enoch realized in that moment.
Was this the time when the existence of magic was first manifesting among people?
Just as he was thinking that what he was facing now might be a rather monumental memory of an era,
The slender girl calmly raised her head and stared up at the knight in front of her.
“My father said that it is impossible to counter such a mysterious power of magic with just a steel sword and will.”
“……”
“I heard that such magic and mages are treated as important strategic weapons in each country, that their leakage is strictly prevented, and that they are repeatedly researched and used as tools of war.”
“I am aware of that.”
“A small fortress city like ours will be somewhat late in accepting that power due to our circumstances.”
He could vaguely understand without having to hear the historical background.
That the prosperous fortress city of Rhodes had fought not only against the invasion of Suleiman, but also against countless other foreign powers.
“Someday, we may be attacked by such powerful mages. At that time, no matter how much it is our mission……”
The girl's hands were trembling slightly.
Just then, her small hand was gently held by the large hand of the knight wearing a silver gauntlet.
“We have already overcome countless threats.”
The knight, who had bent down to hold her hand, added as if to reassure her.
“Not only mages, but also the sacred and dangerous divine beasts (神獸) that exist in various parts of the Empire are like that.”
“Divine beasts, like Behemoth?”
“Behemoth, I have heard it called that. There is a tradition that it was once a threat in this vicinity, but moved its habitat for some reason.”
“……”“As you say, magic is surely a powerful and frightening enemy.”
The blond knight looked at the girl with determined eyes and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.
“However, we guardian knights, forged with a will of steel, will surely protect Rhodes with a sword that even that magic cannot penetrate.”
The girl, who was staring at him silently, clasped her hands in front of her dress and quietly bowed her head.
“Thank you for your hard work, guardian knights.”
“You don’t need to worry.”
The knight said calmly, as if to reassure her.
“We, the guardian knights of Rhodes, are all masters of the longsword who have sworn to protect the weak.”
Behind him, countless knights clad in armor and cloaks that emitted a silvery glow were lined up.
For a moment, the girl blinked her eyes at the distant light that seemed like a golden view of a vast wheat field.
Blue flagpoles that seemed to pierce the sky. The swordsmen, all wearing helmets that covered their faces, stood in line with their blue cloaks fluttering in the bleak wind.
Enoch realized that the figures of the knights overlapped with the knight statues of Rhodes that he had visited before.
The statues of the knights that had been lined up in the hidden scenery (祕境) that he had entered with Sirocco’s help while exploring the ruins of Rhodes.
Were those mysterious knights the ones who had protected this Rhodes?
‘This is a little strange.’
Seeing the memories up to this point, a question suddenly arose.
Despite her title of Sword Saint of the Waves, she looked so slender in this era.
And yet, the future version of her that Enoch had seen was a complete female knight who had mastered the art of the longsword.
But how on earth could such a future have been possible?
He couldn't even guess what had happened to the Sword Saint of the Waves in the future.
‘And on top of that.’
There was a part that seemed to overlap with the memory succession of the Emperor’s Supreme Sword last time.
At that time, the last Sword Saint of the Empire was also related to the beast-kin, and this time, the mention of the Victoria Kazimieśi Domain, could this also have some kind of connection?
In any case, just as Enoch was quietly admitting to himself that he was getting more and more curious about the past of the Sword Saint of the Waves as he inherited her memories,
In an instant, a strong noise interfered with the surrounding environment, and a very familiar white message appeared.
〇 World of Impermanence: Overimmersion Prevention!
…Damn it.