The war wasn't just physical—it was spiritual.
In a world collapsing under plague, rot, and despair, Kazuki's cleansing magic didn't just heal wounds or scrub mold from stone.
It offered something sacred: dignity.
As Mobile Purification Stations rolled across ruined countrysides, whispers turned to declarations, and declarations became oaths.
And soon, they came: warriors from every race, from every broken corner of the continent.
Not to fight for conquest.
But to fight for cleanliness.
The Founding
Kazuki didn't expect it.
He found them waiting one morning beside the mobile station "Foambreaker Alpha":
A tall elf in polished silver, incense trailing from his pauldrons.
A demoness with skin like obsidian and four arms, each holding a different brush.
A squat goblin wearing a rusty helmet shaped like a bucket.
All three knelt before him and said:
"Where filth festers, we ride."
Kazuki blinked. "…Are you trying to join the cleaning crew?"
"No," said the elf. "We're founding an order."
"A what?" Kazuki asked.
"A holy knighthood," the demoness said, reverently unfolding a silk towel.
"With a cool name," added the goblin.
And so the Knights of Hygiene were born.
The First Three
Sir Elrin Naelbright, Elven Paladin of the Scented Wind
"Cleanliness aligns the spirit. A clean blade is a clear mind."
A devout follower of the Moonwell Code, Elrin viewed filth as a spiritual corruption. His sword, Sanctiflame, could sear away rot with a single touch.
He believed that keeping one's armor polished was not vanity, but ritual discipline. He meditated daily in lemon oil vapors.
K'taal the Soapwielder, Demoness of the Lustral Wastes
"In my world, we cleanse with fire and foam. And we never double-dip the brush."
Hailing from the infernal planes of Zar'lak'duun, where sanitation is enforced through sacred scrubbings, K'taal brought centuries of ritualized purification arts. Her four arms each bore a unique cleansing implement: the Brush of Clarity, the Sponge of Burning Mercy, the Dual Tongs of Towel Respect, and the Scrubbing Chain of Regret.
Roro Buckethelm, Goblin Scrub-Knight
"Kazuki cured me swamp boils. So now I hits people wiv a mop."
Once a feral boil-sack thief in the Mirelands, Roro was healed by Kazuki during a plague surge. Since then, he donned a bucket as both helmet and icon. His weapons include a reinforced mop-staff and soapbomb satchels. He once took down three plague ogres by slamming a barrel of vinegar into their supply pit and yelling, "TIME TO DE-SCALP YER TONGUES!"
Their Code
The Knights of Hygiene drafted a formal creed. Simple. Noble. Unbreakable:
"We ride not for gold, nor for glory,
But for the gleam of steel,
The shine of skin,
And the safety of the clean."
"Where filth festers, we ride.
Where decay lingers, we stand.
We are the cleansing flame.
We are the wash before the war.
We are the Knights of Hygiene."
Word Spreads
Soon, others followed:
Stonebeard twins from the northern mines, wielding pressurized rock polishers.
A centaur nurse named Medisana, dragging a mobile triage cart.
Even a reformed plague witch, now calling herself Mistress Lysol.
Kazuki tried to object:
"I didn't ask for knights."
But Elrin only bowed and said:
"And we didn't ask for filth. Yet here we are."
A New Banner Rises
From that day on, the Knights of Hygiene became more than a symbol.
They were strike teams. Sanitation squads. Walking legends.
They trained at the mobile stations, meditated in sterilized chambers, and rode out in spotless armor, leaving sparkling earth behind them.
And when children saw their banner—a crossed mop and sword beneath a radiant soap bubble—they didn't laugh.
They saluted.