Yujin nibbled on a piece of chicken while blankly staring at the screen. A Sport Knight was smiling, advertising some product.
What is a knight? Yujin‘s internal conflict, which had been deepening lately, showed no signs of resolving. Sport Knights, Campaign Knights... their quarrels were less important than the survival of Yujin and the people around him.
What should he do? With no one to confide in, he swallowed his worries. Why had he wanted to become a knight in the first place?
He came to Kazimierz to prove something. To find meaning.
But thinking about it, the divide between Sport and Campaign Knights was laughable. Everyone knew what a knight meant in Kazimierz, but could anyone definitively say Sport Knights were evil?
If a Sport Knight used their earnings to help orphans and the poor, could a Campaign Knight rightly point a finger at them?
In the end, a few bad apples were fueling the conflict. Or perhaps there were those who wanted the two sides to fight.
Yujin set down his beer mug. Watching the foam rise, he touched the hilt of his sword.
"PRTS."
[Did you call, Knight?]
Yujin had met PRTS for the first time in Kazimierz.
But PRTS already knew him.
Why?
He didn't know. Whenever he tried to dig deeper, he was blocked by "insufficient authority." The only information he had gleaned was that two others—Priestess and Oracle—held authority alongside him.
"You said you were created to help me. Is that all?"
The letters P-R-T-S flickered on the panel. After a silence that felt almost human, the AI spoke.
[I do not know. I am not an ordinary artificial intelligence, but a strong AI—a personality modeled after someone else.]
"What?"
Yujin‘s mind raced. If PRTS was an AI copied from someone... then it made sense. The reference to "Priestess's eyes" during the match.
"Your original... is this 'Priestess' person."
[…]
PRTS didn't answer. As always, delving too deep triggered a silent wall of restricted information. Another puzzle for Yujin to solve.
He dropped the subject. His mood soured, he took another swig of beer. For some reason, he missed Theresa today.
"Ah, come to think of it..."
He hadn't written a single letter. It hadn't been long since he left home, but considering he hadn't sent any word, he realized he had been rather thoughtless.
His friends didn't know his exact location, but he knew theirs. Then again, in a city as advanced as this, sending a handwritten letter felt almost archaic.
While letters were the norm in Kazdel, Kazimierz was a neon-lit metropolis where communication was instant. The Nearl estate was an anomaly here, maintaining a quiet, medieval atmosphere amidst the bustling city.
"Theresa."
Yujin murmured her name like a sweet candy. The girl who had become family, like a younger sister.
Like a clear sky without a speck of dust...
Holding his beer bottle, Yujin stood up and walked to the window. Below, the garden was bathed in soft lighting.
Looking a little further, he saw the dazzling nightscape of the city. The two scenes, utterly mismatched in atmosphere, clashed in his vision.
"Why... did I start dreaming of becoming a knight?"
He muttered to himself. Why had Yujin, living a second life, chosen this path? For honor and glory? For justice? There were no answers, only his own judgment.
For whom?
Meeting PRTS and stepping out of Kazdel had only confused him more. He hadn't felt like this during his three years of training.
"Master?"
A voice came from behind him. Yujin turned around.
Kiril stood there, looking at Yujin with a gaze full of betrayal.
"Did you order chicken for yourself? Without calling me or Kisha?"
That's your issue?
"Hey, I need some alone time too..."
"You make us control our diet for training, and then you do this...!"
Seeing Kiril screech, Yujin chuckled. He reverted to his usual blunt self.
"If you don't like it, get stronger than me."
"Gah!"
Kiril had talent. Looking at the golden-haired boy, Yujin saw a reflection of his younger self—a raw, brilliant potential.
Yujin handed Kiril a piece of chicken. Kiril hesitated for a moment before biting into it, his eyes lighting up.
"Mmm!"
"See? As long as it tastes good."
The burden Yujin carried was heavier than it looked. Depending on his actions, the Nearl name would either remain in Kazimierz or vanish into history.
Meeting Daniel, saving Kisha from the stones, encountering Raquelamalin at the convenience store.
Time had flown. It felt like a single moment.
"Master."
"Yeah?"
"You look like you have a lot on your mind."
He thought he was hiding it well. Had his worry been visible even to Kiril?
Yujin slowly turned his gaze to the boy. Perhaps he was looking for an answer through this child.
"Kiril, why do you want to be a knight?"
"Why do I want to be a knight?"
"Yeah. There must be a reason or a trigger."
"Hmm..."
Kiril scratched his head, deep in thought. Then, he suddenly stood up and left the room.
Yujin looked puzzled, but Kiril returned quickly, holding an old, worn book.
A book touched by human hands. A name was written on the cover.
"At first, I didn't really know. I just admired the knights winning on the screen."
The glowing monitor still showed a Sport Knight smiling in an advertisement.
"But... later, I realized it was just cool. The knight I grew up watching was my grandfather."
Honor and glory to the righteous.
May the sword, even if faded, protect goodness.
Even if darkness awaits where nothing can be seen.
Do not fear hardship or darkness...
Kiril, you can definitely become such a knight.
The path of a knight wasn't the only one. His father, Daniel, had chosen a different road.
But.
Kiril wanted to reach that dream, no matter how old or impossible it seemed.
Isn't that what a dream is?
"Grandfather fought for the weak until the very end. Knowing he would die, he walked into a place of death to protect people."
He had grown up watching that man. He was someone worth admiring, so Kiril couldn't give up his dream.
Even if the path he had to walk was a bed of thorns with no light in sight.
"How could I give up on being a knight after seeing that..."
Kiril looked like he was about to cry as he gripped the book tightly. Was he thinking of his grandfather, swinging a sword with an old, frail body?
"Grandfather left this book to me as a keepsake. It‘s a journal he wrote. I don't know with what heart he wrote it. But..."
I could see what kind of life he lived.
"Master. I can only say thank you. I know the risks you're taking for the Nearl name."
Thanks to Yujin, he had reconciled with his father. He could return to the mansion and dream of a normal life again.
He learned the sword and made friends. Seeing Larin, Yujin, and Daniel together made the mansion feel alive again.
"I‘m saying this late, but really... thank you."
Kiril bowed his head. He was still young. He had lost his mother and grandfather at a young age, fought with his father, and been cast out.
Yujin silently placed a hand on Kiril's shoulder. What should he say? He still wasn't used to this.
In the end, he said nothing and simply patted the boy‘s head.
After their brief conversation, Kiril handed the worn diary to Yujin and left, saying he had already read it dozens of times and memorized it all. The record of a knight‘s life was now in Yujin‘s hands.
Clearing away the chicken and beer, Yujin sat down. He opened the book and carefully turned the pages.
From childhood memories to playful scribbles.
Stories of going to war as a Campaign Knight.
Records of surviving until the end, weeping while holding the bodies of comrades.
Joining the Silverlance Pegasi in shining silver armor to protect Kazimierz.
Many thoughts, many events. As the pages turned toward the latter half, stories of his son Daniel and grandson Kiril appeared.
But seeing the old man‘s struggle to hold onto the fading Nearl name, Yujin felt a pang of pity. He closed his eyes briefly before opening them again.
The knight‘s story neared its end. After the death of his daughter-in-law, whom he cherished like his own daughter, the records became messy and tangled, like an unbreakable lock.
The end of the page.
This...
「 I must go. If I am a knight. 」
「 Even knowing I will die. 」
Dragging his aging body, the knight donned his armor. His skills had rusted, his body wouldn't listen, but he stood up to fulfill his duty.
Words for his son, words he wanted to say to his grandson. The last words written before he left.
What was the old man‘s end like? Yujin couldn't dare imagine as he looked at the diary.
Kazimierz did not consider him a knight and abandoned him.
But he chose to remain a knight until the end.
Even if no one else called him one.
The final sentence of the story. Words he wanted to convey, and words left unsaid. Amidst the complex writing, the knight left a question.
「 Where is the Chivalry? 」
Reading that sentence, Yujin closed the book.