[The Fall of the Knights]
For Osian, the phrase was both provocative and intriguing.
Although it was only a job in the game, Osian was the knight from the quote.
Now that the game was real, being a knight was a big part of his identity.
That knight had fallen in the long years between the game's ending and the present world.
Osian was naturally both unhappy and curious.
'I can't believe knights would disappear.’
In retrospect, it made sense.
Once gunpowder, guns, and cannons were invented, knights lost their significance.
That's what happened to knights in the history of the world.Of course, knights in the game were very different from knights in real life.
In the game, each class has a [skill].
Knights with [Skill] could basically defend themselves against firearms.
At least the 'wandering knights' that Osian knew were not easily defeated by guns.
This is partly due to the influence of physicality and the pride of being a knight, but also because he analyzed it from an objective perspective as a person who played the game.
In fact, every knight NPC I encountered in the game was incredibly powerful.
What's the point of a gun when you can single-handedly take down monsters that even a group of mercenaries can't?
‘But that only applies to existing knights. Those who would later become knights could not do that.’
The book gave a clear reason.
There was only one reason knighthood had disappeared.
There were no future knights.
The knights of the past might have survived the invention of the gun but it wasn't the same for the next generation of sword-wielding knights.
Not all strong men are born strong.
Knights weren't always that skilled either.
Of course, they became stronger through training and hard work.
But what if the effort was pointless?
No matter how hard you swing your sword, if it's a gun, the fight ends once you pull the trigger.
Guns and cannons, on the other hand, have improved over the years.
They became faster to load, more powerful, and had longer ranges.
In such a changing world, who would want to wield a sword and walk the path of a knight?
This is not just a problem for knights, but for the barbarian warrior class as well, as it should be.
Osian flipped to the next page and narrowed his eyes at the illustrations inside.
The black-and-white illustration showed a fallen knight bleeding to death.
Underneath it, it read, "The Death of Demilion.’
Demilion Balzac.
A knight and semi-aristocrat, he was said to be the most talented knight of his time.
With the development of firearms, knights were on the precipice of history.
Demilion's presence was the knight's only hope.
Some even said that he might bring the dying art back to life.
Until one day he was suddenly murdered.
His murderer was not a knight of high rank, nor a wizard with a vast circle but a bandit with a gun.
Demilion, who was considered one of the most talented of his generation, had been gunned down while chasing down a group of defeated soldiers who had turned to banditry.
‘Well, well.’
Osian sighed as he read the details in the book.
Demilion, who was leading the charge, was so careless that he didn't even wear a helmet because he thought the bandits were just bandits.
Even the bandit who shot him wasn't aiming for him, he was simply firing randomly in a panic, out of fear.
The bullet pierced Demilion's forehead.
Defenseless. Carelessness. Coincidence.
All of these things conspired to kill a knight who was considered one of the best in the world.
The knight's hope shot down and this event shocked the society of the time.
Now, so many years later, there are no more knights in this world.
‘Wait a minute. Does that mean I'm the last knight left in the world?’
He understood a little bit why people looked at him like he was some kind of weirdo.
If in a war zone, when everyone else is shooting, you're the only one fighting with a sword, you're bound to attract attention.
‘Now that I think about it, I look crazy.’
But what can I do?
I’m living that story right now.
However, even though he understood it in his head, his body was showing its displeasure at the downfall of his profession.
Osian looked out the window.
The sun had set and night had fallen, casting a scarlet glow from the gas lamps in the streets.
The sky above was black and dark.
Even in the game, there was night and day.
Back then, everywhere you looked, the night sky was filled with dazzling starlight.
Osian still remembered the night sky glowing with the aurora borealis in the cold northern snowfields, even if it was just a computer-generated image on a monitor.
However in this world, there was no starlight, just white steam, factory soot, and cloudy air.
As the light on the ground grew stronger, the sky withdrew its light, as if disappointed by it.
Osian watched the scene with some sort of admiration, and muttered under his breath.
“I should have raised a wizard.”
*
"You're asking me to capture a fugitive warlock?"
"Yes."
That was the answer I got when I arrived at Violet Fox early the next morning and asked if he had a job for me.
"A warlock."
I stroked my smooth chin.
Warlocks, as the name implies, are wizards who practice dangerous magic.
Whereas normal wizards perform a variety of elemental-based magic, warlocks use dark magic to manipulate corpses, curses, corruption, and other negative forces.
‘It was one of the classes players could choose.’
Warlocks were a fairly powerful class compared to other classes.
It was probably the number one or two class in terms of pure aggression.
On top of that, warlocks had access to undead minions, including skeletons.
Because of this, they were incredibly reliable, contributing greatly to the difficulty of this vicious game.
It was such an appealing class, yet, despite this, not many players chose the Warlock for one reason.
‘If you choose the Warlock, you'll be at odds with all NPCs.’
In this game, you have a kind of reputation with NPCs and large factions.
Maximizing your reputation has many benefits, such as discounts on goods and increased quest rewards.
However, when you choose the Warlock class, this reputation is at its lowest point from the start.
Not just zero, but literally negative.
You'll be attacked and killed everywhere you go.
‘As a result, Warlock users are forced to live in hiding, unable to enter towns or cities.’
The only places they could go were lawless or neutral zones, but even there they would be attacked.
Given their overwhelming reliability in combat against monsters, warlocks were a class that took all sorts of penalties in other areas.
‘I can't believe there are still warlocks left.’
The request was quite unexpected.
Captured? Not killed, but captured.
'In the old days, warlocks were subject to unconditional extermination.’
In the current era, they don't just kill them.
I could have guessed that from the request.
"A corporation wants to capture a warlock."
The details of the request Ronan handed me were quite interesting.
The client was a modest small to mid-sized business, Blossom Tear Pharmaceutical Company.
They literally made potions, cosmetics, and medicines.
"Do you have any idea why they want me to catch him?"
"Probably because they work together."
"Work together? A pharmaceutical company and a warlock?"
"Yes. Normally, pharmaceutical companies hire alchemists to brew potions, but I heard that one of their alchemists retired."
"I see."
In-game, there was a class similar to the Alchemist.
Mages were able to do the same things as alchemists if they took a crafting skill tree.
However, the high cost of potions and low combat power made it an underutilized talent.
Today, however, things are much different.
"Alchemists are a very high-end workforce. They don't just make potions, they can also make high-quality cosmetics and perfumes for noblewomen."
Ronan explains.
The alchemist retired, leaving a huge hole in the pharmaceutical company.
Somehow, they had to get another alchemist, but it's such a popular profession that they couldn't find anyone.
The company had to take extraordinary measures to pay for the drugs so they contracted with a warlock.
"It's not like they're doing human trials or anything dangerous like that, but they're literally taking the place of an alchemist.
A warlock who's treated like a business.
Perhaps the world has become a hospitable place for warlocks after all these years.
If I had known this, I would have raised a warlock.
"So why did they want me to capture the warlock?"
"He ran away."
"He ran away?"
"Yes. Apparently he even took some of the company's most valuable items with him. In addition to breach of contract, he's also been charged with theft."
I couldn't help but wonder.
"Wasn't it wrong to trust the warlock in the first place?"
I don't know, I've never played a warlock, but at least the warlock NPCs I've encountered in games have all been crooks, crazies, and lunatics.
If anything, human sacrifice and demon summoning were their default modus operandi and they took a lot of hidden boss monster positions.
"It would have been unfair to the company, because the warlock had some credibility in the industry: he belonged to the Warlock's Union."
Warlock's union?
There's that word again.
I thought they were just moderately recognized, but they were out in the open.
“So, has the company questioned the union?”
"Yes. They referred him to them, and they said they'd checked it out. The problem is, the union said they felt cheated."
"Hmm."
The company's going to have a hard time getting mad at the Warlock's Union if they come out like that.
Normally, they'd have to fight it out in court.
The company was in danger of losing a lot of money if they didn't supply the potions right away.
"That's why they asked a Fixer to do it, because it's so urgent."
"Yes, that's kind of it."
"But even if we capture him alive, they still can't supply the potions they lost."
"Perhaps the Blossom Tear will try to negotiate a new deal with the union."
"You mean they'll take the captured warlock hostage."
"Sort of. They're going to extort money from them and use it to hire a new alchemist."
"So they can't get a replacement right away, but they can fill the hole in revenue, all the more reason to capture him somehow."
This was getting complicated.
"So, what do you think of this request?"
Ronan smiled his usual deceptive smile at my question.
"Personally, I'm against this request."