“Is there anything I can help with?” I called out to Tory from behind her. Being a holy knight meant camping outside was a pretty regular occurrence, so I knew a thing or two about chopping, cooking, and boiling.
“It’s fine, it’s fine.” She turned me down. Tory probably felt like she still hadn’t repaid the favor.
I didn’t have an issue watching her cook, but I was kinda bored.
“No problem. Guess I’ll do some practice swings outside.”
“You’re going to train after just dealing with that huge bear last night? Holy knights really are something.”
“It’s not that impressive. Just a force of habit.” Even though I knew she was praising me, I couldn’t help but feel like she was saying, “I’m amazed you’re still breathing.” I had a hard time accepting such a thing at face value, and a melancholic look crept onto my face unintentionally. Thankfully, she didn’t see it.
“By the way, how old are you?”
“Hmm, eighteen.” To be honest, I had no idea how old I really was, so I kinda winged it.
“You’re so young!” Tory cried out in surprise. She’d told me that she was twenty the day before, so she was probably in awe that someone younger than her could kill a bear. She was so stunned her hands froze and she momentarily stopped cooking.
I just responded with a fake laugh and exited through the wooden door.
It wasn’t a bad morning. I had successfully completed a mission the day before and had woken up next to a beautiful woman. Actually, it was a good morning. The village was fairly small and about two days’ distance on horseback from the city where I lived. As I was doing my practice swings, my mind drifted back to my favorite horse.
Given I had spent all that time with Tory, said horse was probably in a foul mood. Slightly panicked, I hurried off to go see my partner. There were villagers working the fields and children running around first thing in the morning. I gave them all half-hearted greetings and made my way to the village chief’s house.
When I reached the stable, I found my partner tied up with the rest of my squadmates’ horses. I recognized the beautiful black coat instantly. “Hey, partner.” I greeted her with a smile, but all I received in return was a snort as she turned away from me. Yes, my beloved horse Viola was a mare.
Her animal instincts must’ve clued her in that I’d spent the night with a woman, and now she was jealous. This was a frequent thing between us, so I wasn’t discouraged. I approached Viola and started to gently pet her head. “No need to sulk. You’re the only partner for me.”
Viola snorted and swung her tail as though to say, “I’m not so sure about that!” Viola’s speed, stamina, and courage made her the perfect horse, and she had the pride to match. The holy knights had purchased her because she possessed those traits, but nobody had been able to ride her. That was until I’d managed to win her over.
“I mean it. C’mon, why don’t you let me brush your coat?” She was reluctant, but eventually she accepted my earnest request. I spent a while gently brushing her hair.
As I did, I couldn’t help but get lost in my thoughts a bit. I was in a pretty good spot now. The one thing I’d wanted ever since I was a kid was now in my possession: strength. If you were strong, you didn’t have to be subjected to the violence of others. You could avoid being kicked for getting in the way, getting punched for being annoying, being made fun of for coughing up blood, and having your food or possessions stolen. You didn’t have to let others trample over you. When you were strong, nothing could be taken from you.
The old man who’d raised me had been beaten up just for being “filthy.” He’d suffered for a few days before finally passing away. His very life had been taken from him just because he was weak. One day before he passed, he had told me something that stuck with me: “A man’s happiness is bedding a good woman and protecting the ones he loves.” Love wasn’t something I really understood, but I wanted to find out for myself what he’d meant by happiness.
My worthless upbringing had afforded me one thing and one thing only—perseverance. The violence I’d endured growing up had given me a knack for training. It didn’t matter how hard it was, I could withstand it. It was nothing compared to what I’d been through. The more someone trained, the stronger they became. How wonderful a thing it was.
When my adoptive father took me in, I had been behind the bars of a jail cell. The ones who had beaten up the old man were “filthy” as well, so by their logic, it was okay for me to resort to violence against them as well. And resort to violence I had. But apparently I had gone a little too far, so the guards had gotten involved. A holy knight had come to visit me in jail, and long story short, he’d ended up taking me under his wing and raising me. He’d told me that “strength is for protecting others,” much like the old man had said. Though it’d sounded a lot more preachy when the holy knight said it.
Who even were these “others”? That question had kept running through my head at the time, but now I knew. Strength was for saving the women of the world. The hardship I’d experienced living in a dump was all gone now. I was strong. And I’d get even stronger. I’d use that strength to defeat my enemies and to save any women in harm’s way. Then I’d use that opportunity to get intimately acquainted with them. That had to be the happiness the old man had been talking about. To be honest, it was actually pretty fulfilling. Though I did still feel like something was missing on occasion.
✦ ✦ ✦
After that, I enjoyed Tory’s cooking. It had taken a surprisingly long time to cheer Viola up, so my training would have to wait until I returned home.
“You’re leaving already?” Tory asked as she cleaned up the table.
“Yeah. Monsters are popping up all over the place, so I’m sure we’ll get another mission soon.”
“You must fight those awful creatures a lot.”
“Sure do.” Even an ordinary bear was more than capable of killing a person. Once one transformed into a monster, normal blades and average skills were pretty much useless against their fur. Of course, my skills were far from average, so it was no problem for me.
“Aren’t you afraid? I was so scared I couldn’t even move yesterday...”
I had seen plenty of people freeze up when faced with imminent danger. “Well, it’s a holy knight’s job to exterminate anything that brings harm to the people.” I chose to dodge the question by using a phrase I’d heard repeated over and over. I’d never once been afraid. The only two things that were ever on my mind were how to survive and how to bring down the enemy.
“Heh heh.” Tory chuckled to herself.
“What’s so funny?”
“That’s a nice line, but it didn’t sound like your heart was in it.”
“Sorry, I’m not much of an actor.” I shrugged.
Tory approached me and put her hand on my cheek. “Still, you were dashing yesterday, Holy Knight.”
I placed my hand over hers and smiled. “I’m honored you think so.” I met Tory’s passionate gaze head-on. We brought our faces closer together, and then—
“Hey! Al!”
—I heard a voice yelling from outside the house. It was a very familiar deep voice. And of course it was familiar, considering it was the voice of my squad’s commander.
“I know you’re in there! It’s time to go! Get out here already! I have a lecture prepared for the trip back, so I hope you’re ready!”
Sighing deeply, I slowly got out of my chair. “Sorry, sounds like I gotta go.” I grabbed the sword I had left leaning against the wall while I ate, and I hung it from the sword belt at my hip.
“See you later, Holy Knight.”
“I’ll come running the moment any monsters show up again.”
“I can rest easy knowing that.”
I never did meet Tory again. Because that was the day I died.