Chapter 99: The Crimson Knight’s Captain

"Uwaah… Dame Nora sure is brutal…" Mikael commented from inside the Medium.

With the sun glaring down their necks, Mikael was forced to stay within the white world to avoid getting his fragile spirit core destroyed despite badly wanting to watch Nora's fight live.

It was like watching a concert on the television screen instead of the actual venue. The thrill just wasn't the same.

Mikael's regret only intensified when Nora's second opponent nearly beheaded her. Even more so when the dame's attitude changed after exchanging words with Sir Adam. He knew for sure that Adam said something that triggered Nora's bloodlust and he was extremely curious about the contents of their conversation, but alas! now he would never know.

"WHAA?! Did she just casually KILL him?! In front of so many people? Heck! In front of the royal family, even?! Does she still have a death wish?" Mikael exclaimed, knocking over the white couch as he abruptly stood.

Nora may have had others fooled, but Mikael knew how vicious the dame could be from the brutality she displayed upon slaying monsters. He also knew that Nora wasn't so weak-hearted that she would throw away her weapon just because her opponent surrendered.

Then he wondered, 'Why did she kill him? Does she kill anyone she doesn't like?'

And another question popped up in his mind, 'Ah! Right… she did not explicitly admit it, but she hinted that she was a former assassin… if so, how dark must her karmic aura be?'

<Skill: Blessing of the Mist Lvl. -1 is activated>

Mikael, who decided to use his skill to confirm his suspicions, gasped in horror.

Out of the hundreds of people present in the fighting arena, Nora had the densest, darkest aura Mikael had ever seen.

Goosebumps erupted on his ghost flesh at the thought of entrusting Deon's safety to such a dangerous person.

'Was accepting that request a mistake, after all?' Mikael ruminated on his decision of blindly accepting Arthur's requests in exchange for a mere 30 Karma points. He thought maybe there were more demerits than merits to this choice.

Slap!

Mikael smacked his face with both palms to wake himself from his hypocrisy. 'What the hell am I thinking?!' he admonished himself.

Mikael knew better than anyone just how circumstantial evidence could lead to wrong judgments. He, himself was a victim of such hasty judgment. No matter how he plead his innocence, the god of the underworld still condemned him to eternal torment—all because the external evidence pointed against him.

Do not judge the book by its cover—a phrase all Earthens heard at least a thousand times in their lives, but it is also one of the most difficult to embody.

'I already know how much she cares for Deon…'

'And she's always treated him like her beloved brother.'

"Right. I should trust my own judgment instead of blindly trusting the skill." He muttered as he recalled Nora's past behavior.

'Still…' Mikael's gaze trailed back to the Dame's karmic aura, "At this rate, she'll really end up in hell when she dies… Forget about meeting Arthur in Elysium, Nora will be fed to her brother in the form of monster steak. Ugh!"

"Sir! Could you please stop with your gruesome thoughts?" Deon, who had been quietly listening to Mikael's monologues, irritably asked, "Let's just go meet the Dame. I'm worried about her neck wound…"

"Haah... If you don't wanna listen, you can just mute the direct messaging, you know?"

Deon ignored Mikael's grumble as he ran down the stairs. When he reached the entrance to the fighting arena, he bumped into a tired-looking Finn.

"Oi, prince! Why are people leaving? Did the spar already end? How about my baby?"

"Huh? Baby? W-wait! Are you talking about the dame?"

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"No, I'm talking about her prosthetic arm. Did it work? Was it damaged? I swear I'm going to rip it off her shoulder if she doesn't take care of it."

Then, Sir Finn leered at him with accusing eyes, "Anyway… what dirty thoughts are you having, prince? Aren't you too young for that?"

"Oh, please! I'm already 15. I'm old enough!"

"Ohoh? Old enough for dirty thoughts? I never expected this of you, Prince. Hahaha!" Finn teased.

Their pointless banter continued until they met the tide of exiting spectators. The people busily chatted amongst themselves. They discussed Nora's fight with such vigor that they failed to notice Deon and Finn passing through.

"I can't believe this! She defeated three knights? In a row?! Just how strong is she?"

"Ahhh… I'm doomed! I bet three months' worth of salary in her defeat!"

"Me too… Sh*t! who was it that said she was weak?! I'll cut his tongue off!"

"Did anyone even expect her to win?"

"I remember Sir Chris bet 1 silver coin on her as a joke. D*mn! Now he'll be raking money because of that commoner slut!"

"I wonder what will happen now, though… It might have been an accident, but Sir Adam was killed in the match. Shouldn't she be punished?"

"I doubt it. Aside from having the backing of the third prince, the slut was almost killed in the second fight. If they punish her, they'll also need to punish the other knight and that is humiliating for the First Knight Order."   

Deon heard similar conversations from other spectators and a smile unknowingly crept into his lips. He was glad that they are beginning to see the Dame's true potential.

However, an unexpected sight snagged his attention away from bliss. Standing in a corner was a group of middle-aged men wearing maroon military uniforms lavishly decorated in gold. They surrounded an older man with expressions of disbelief.

"Captain! Why are you retiring so suddenly?!" one visibly younger man asked, waving his arms in exasperation.

"It's not really sudden. I've already talked about this with his majesty and he already gave me his permission. Although he was quite upset, as well haha!" the older man laughed good-naturedly. The crinkles in his eyes indicated that he was a man who liked to smile. Despite the bad mood in his surroundings, the older man joked around to ease the tension.

"Still… Captain, I still need you! The whole Crimson Knights Order needs you!" the younger man insisted.

Yes. the older man is the captain of the Crimson Knights Order-- The strongest man in Heinken kingdom.

"Haha! Now, now… you'll make Sir Reynold cry if you say it like that. He's your new captain, you know?" the older man patted the younger Crimson Knight on his shoulder.

"No. He's right, Sir. It's still too early for me to succeed you." Sir Reynold, another stern-looking knight, said, "But… what do you plan on doing after you retire, Captain?" 

"Well… I thought it would be nice to teach the young ones the way of the sword." The captain readily answered, "You see… before I came to this kingdom, I was wandering the continent in search of my reason to wield a sword. I was feeling quite lost because people kept asking me to kill and destroy. But then this young boy came running to me and asked for help. He was a crying mess but the first thing he asked of me was to save his friends-- Not kill his kidnappers. no. but to save his friends. I also remember feeling regret when we failed to rescue the other children and that's when I decided that I will wield my sword to protect their future." The captain gently smiled as he reminisced his first encounter with the kingdom's third prince, "However, no matter how strong my sword became, there were still a lot of people I failed to protect. They were the people I couldn't reach. So, I thought… why not teach them how to protect themselves? You know? Something along the lines of 'give a man a fish and he'll live for a day; teach him how to fish and he'll live for a lifetime.'?"

"Tch! Captain! That's so unfair. If you give us such a noble reason, there's no way we can't let you go." The younger crimson knight grumbled, "Those royal academy brats better be grateful! To have the strongest man in Heinken teach them the sword? They're so damn lucky!"

"Why not enroll yourself there if you want to learn from Captain? As far as I'm concerned, you're still too weak to be a Crimson Knight, Nigel." Sir Reynold said to the younger man.       

Their conversation stopped Deon in his tracks. The young prince's heart pounded as an uncharacteristic idea formed in his mind.

--Chapter end--

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