"Would you like to go outside today?"
Jinhyuk looked at Seira.
It was the first time Seira had ever made this kind of suggestion first.
"Should we? The weather is nice."
He grabbed his wooden sword and stepped out of the house.
At some point, he'd stopped telling the remaining kids to make sure they ate properly.
Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding.
They always ordered food like a storm the moment they got hungry anyway.
Leaving the crowded streets behind, they entered the base of a hill.
Seira manifested and walked beside him.
He stole a glance at her face.
As expected.
There was a reason she had been the one to bring this up today.
No matter how you looked at her, her face was full of worry.
He decided to wait for a bit.
Everyone has worries they're not ready to talk about.
"I'll begin."
"Please."
Jinhyuk tightened his grip on the wooden sword.
Before long, Seira's strikes began to rain down on him.
She swung with such force that the sound of cutting air smacked against his ears.
It felt unusually fast today… or was he imagining it? He hoped he was imagining it.
Smack!
After blocking and dodging a dozen or so blows, one finally landed.
"…Huh?"
Realizing something was very wrong, Jinhyuk looked at Seira.
He wasn't imagining it.
It hurt. It hurt way too much.
He'd nearly screamed.
Not that he had the luxury to whine—wooden sword strikes kept flying at him relentlessly, forcing Jinhyuk to twist and dodge for dear life.
"Stop!!"
He couldn't help shouting after a moment.
Not because he lacked grit.
He was already at his limit, and Seira's sword was only getting faster and heavier with every swing.
And on top of that, she looked deeply lost in thought. Stopping was the safest choice.
Swoooosh…!
The wooden sword halted right in front of his brow, a cool breeze brushing his skin.
He was certain.
If that had hit, he'd be done for.
"Ah."
Only then did Seira snap back to her senses and approach him.
"Are you all right? I struck too hard without realizing it."
"I'm fine. I wouldn't have been fine if that thing actually hit me, though."
He gently pushed aside the wooden sword hovering near his forehead.
Then he dusted himself off and moved to sit beneath a large, ancient tree.
"Seira, come sit."
He tapped the ground beside him.
Seira nodded and sat down.
He handed her a bottle of chilled ion drink.
She gave a faint smile and accepted it.
But instead of drinking, she just stared at it, clearly sinking back into her thoughts.
"Hey, Seira. You know something?"
"Hm?"
"Any kind of worry feels lighter once you talk to someone about it."
A quiet pause settled between them as their eyes met.
A bead of sweat trickled down Jinhyuk's back.
He'd just said the equivalent of 'Dad married Mom!'—something painfully obvious.
I need to read more books when I get home.
He had wanted to open the door for her to talk, to look cool as her lord, but his language skills betrayed him.
Seira let out a faint smile and took a sip.
Then, with a soft sigh, she leaned her head against the tree.
"To be honest… I'm worried."
"About what?"
He remembered how upset she'd looked after seeing Dark's drawing skills.
Even after the finished sword sketch had been delivered, Seira had secretly practiced drawing in a corner.
When she still wasn't happy with the result, she'd sighed as if the world were collapsing.
"If it's about not being able to draw, that's fine. Kancho, Momo, Ellia, and I can't draw either."
"I don't think I'm bad at drawing. I just lack experience."
"My bad. So it wasn't that."
It seemed he'd guessed wrong.
He closed his mouth and waited.
"I don't know if I have the right to seek the sword. To be exact… I'm not sure I deserve it."
That was unexpected enough to make him tilt his head.
Why would she doubt her own worth?
Seira exhaled quietly before continuing.
"I founded the Black Knights. And I disbanded them on my own. At the time I believed it was right, but now… it feels selfish. Even if it began with me, the Black Knights weren't mine alone."
"Was there a reason you disbanded them?"
"We were few, but stronger than any force. But standing at the top… holding that position… isn't always a blessing. We faced endless battles. Small guilds came. Great empires came. All wanting the seat we held. And we never lost. We won overwhelmingly, again and again. It felt like we'd remain there forever. And yet… the fighting never stopped."
Seira glanced at her demonic sword, Tarkan, as if recalling those days.
"We always won, but that didn't mean there were no casualties. The longer the war went on, the more injured… the more dead. And eventually, I realized something. As long as the Black Knights existed, the fighting would continue until everyone died. So I ordered them to disband. Without asking anyone's opinion. It was my decision alone."
Jinhyuk listened quietly, then asked gently,
"You made that decision for everyone's sake, didn't you? Don't you think the knights understood that?"
Even though he'd just heard the story, the reason felt entirely valid.
If he could understand this much, surely those who had stood beside her in battle would too.
"I didn't tell them the reason back then. I just told them to disband."
"Oh… why didn't you say anything?"
Seira thought for a moment, then shook her head.
"I'm not sure. But I felt it was the right thing not to say. I was their captain."
Jinhyuk stared at her.
For some reason, it made perfect sense—because it was her saying it.
Because she was a knight.
Seira carried a noble air, a sense of pride and honor nobody else had.
And an iron stubbornness that appeared in very specific moments.
Judging from all of that, she must have carried an enormous sense of responsibility as captain.
Even if she suffered or worried, she believed it was her burden alone.
"Did any knight oppose the disbanding?"
"No. Not once had they ever gone against my orders. That time was no different."
She swept her hair back and closed her eyes.
A bitter smile crossed her lips.
"It's not just the disbanding. I wonder… whether I ever deserved to be their captain at all. Whether they followed me only because I was strong. Whether all my decisions, impulsive as they were, were forced upon them because they couldn't show dissent. And after the disbanding… maybe they realized it too. Maybe they regretted following someone so foolish."
Jinhyuk downed his drink in one go.
Then let out a long breath.
"Seira. Are you the same person you were back then?"
She tilted her head, thinking, then nodded.
"In my opinion… yes."
"That's exactly what I wanted to hear."
He lifted his gaze from the bright moon overhead and locked eyes with her.
"If the Seira Kinkeiton who led the Black Knights is the same Seira I know now… they would never have regretted following you."
It wasn't just empty comfort.
Every time they climbed the Tower, Seira was the first to charge forward.
And every time, Jinhyuk chased after her with his life on the line.
"I told you once before, right? Humans doubt everything. I'm the same. I'm afraid of a lot of things. But when I followed you… I never doubted. Not even once. I was sure. Ah, this is someone I can follow."
"I'd like to know why. How can you trust another person—trust me—so blindly?"
"I can't point to just one thing. It's everything about you—your nature, your actions, your judgment, your decisiveness… If I REALLY had to say it in one line—"
Jinhyuk took a deep breath and smiled.
"You're just that kind of person, Seira. Someone who inspires trust. Someone people want to follow. You said no one objected when you disbanded the Knights, right? That wasn't because they feared you. They trusted you. They knew, even if you didn't explain, that you had a reason. If anything, they'd get mad hearing you talk about them regretting it."
He rose to his feet and stretched.
Then placed his hand atop her head.
"I guarantee you were a great captain. I'd bet on it."
He gently stroked her hair—hair that had borne so much burden alone.
He lifted his eyes to the moon.
Oh no. I acted way too cool.
He broke into a sweat. He didn't know anything, yet he'd acted like he knew everything.
But Seira slowly closed her eyes… and leaned into his hand.
A warm relief spread from where he touched her.
It was the first time.
The first time she had ever been comforted by someone.
The first time she'd ever leaned on someone.
Jinhyuk was trembling behind her, of course—but she pretended not to notice.
For now, she simply wanted to stay like this a little longer.
The next morning.
[Entering Mythic Tower, Floor 7.]
Jinhyuk and his party entered the Tower and gazed across the vast snowy field that spread before them.
[Clear Condition: Find the trace of the sword at the end of the snowfield.]
The system was unusually generous today, even providing a clear mission.
A trace of the sword—one of the three must be here.
Though really… it could've been slightly more helpful.
Up? Down?
The snowfield was far too vast to search entirely.
Which "end" were they supposed to go to?
Then—
Ruuuuumble.
A terrible vibration came from beneath their feet.
It felt like the whole snowfield was shaking.
"Chief."
"Yeah?"
Kancho pointed upward with his tiny hand.
"Something ish coming."
An avalanche was roaring down with terrifying speed.
Its range was so massive the entire field of view turned white.
"Oh… Kancho."
"Why are you like this, Chief?"
"In times like this, you should sound more panicked."
"Emergency!! SUPER emergency!! We must run NOW!!! Like thish??"
"Perfect."
The moment he answered, Jinhyuk tossed Kancho and Momo under his arms.
At least the question of whether to go up or down was settled.
Whether the system had overheard his grumbling or not, it had just become extremely "helpful" in a dramatic way.
Either way, everyone sprinted downhill without hesitation.
"Chief!! It's right behind us!!! Faster!!!"
"Yeah!!"
With his eyebrows flying in the wind, Jinhyuk hurled himself toward the far, distant bottom.
Hoping—praying—that the trace of the sword awaited there.
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T/N:
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