# Chapter 89
He had been sensitive to the mention of knights from the beginning. If so, the central keyword in this incident was the Knights.
What would make this matter important to a knight who no longer belonged to the Knights? Arden’s gaze fell on the man’s chest. Unlike the others who followed him, Rey had a brooch pinned to his chest. The Sun Hawk was a rank that only a select few within the Knights could attain.
“Were you forced to leave?”
“……”
“I know too. How that feels.”
“No. You don’t know.”
Rey’s voice scattered feebly. It was a small sound, like a passing breeze.
“A person who can still function and one who cannot are different. That’s why those who survived and those who were discarded are different!”
Arden belatedly recalled one thing he’d been missing. The scene from earlier flashed through his mind. He had bumped shoulders with someone in uniform and…
Clank. Clank.
Arden was familiar with that sound.
“Where is it?”
The knight’s shoulders twitched nervously. It had been a shot in the dark, but Rey’s reaction confirmed it.
“What?”
“Leg? Arm?”
“……”
“Replacing limbs isn’t particularly dangerous. After a recovery period and adaptation, normal daily life is entirely possible.”
“Daily life?”
Ha! Rey let out a bitter laugh as if finding it absurd.
“Standing on the battlefield as a knight might be difficult. But not all knights go to war, do they? Within the Knights, there’s also the guard…”
“You think those people would wait for me?”
Rey cut off Arden’s words. The lips of the man once called Sun Hawk trembled.
“I pleaded countless times. Asked for time. Said I could do it again. The surgery wasn’t even my decision to begin with. When I regained consciousness, it was already done. You think that’s all?”
“……”
“Even my family is ashamed of me! They try to confine and hide me under the name of ‘rest’! I should have died instead. If I had returned as a corpse, if I had died honorably as a knight, I wouldn’t have tarnished my family name!”
Arden clenched his fist tightly. Something boiled up inside him. Arden didn’t know what this emotion was. Why his heart pounded so at the man’s cries, what name to give to the hot surge rising to his throat.
‘Please give it back. It’s an important item.’
And why he was recalling the past at Rey’s words.
“My body doesn’t move like it used to. It doesn’t feel like my own body anymore.”
“……”
“No one… no one welcomes me back.”
“So what are you planning to do?”
The Rey in Arden’s memory was different from the Rey before him now. He wasn’t someone who would try to oppress others with force. Arden didn’t know the other well, but he knew at least that much.
“I’ll get the compensation I deserve. I’ve served the country enough! I deserve people’s respect! Even if I have to break the fingers of those who point at me!”
“By taking innocent people as hostages?”
“There’s no reason to feel wronged. I’ve been risking my life to protect them all this time.”
At Rey’s words, Corol began to breathe more heavily. Sweat drenched her small forehead. Her face, turned pale, was directed toward Arden.
“I won’t kill everyone. If they just stay quiet to my words, if they cooperate with my demands. No, at least if they pretend to listen!”
Rey was excessively agitated. He turned his gaze to look at the station attendant.
“You’ve been listening all along.”
“N-no. I haven’t at all…”
“Contact Moran. Tell them Reyner is here.”
“What?”
“That bastard forced me to start early.”
Rey pointed at Arden with his chin. The gazes of the station attendant and Arden met in the air. Arden shook his head very slightly. It was a signal not to do as Rey wanted, but it was unclear if the station attendant caught it. At the following threat, the station attendant squeezed his eyes shut.
“Ten people a day. How many will die depends entirely on His Majesty.”
Rey peeled off one of the bombs attached to his body, then lit the fuse.
“What are you doing!”
And with that, he threw it under the railroad tracks. Arden hastily reached out and grabbed Corol’s shoulder. Moving her to safety was the priority over subduing Rey. Startled by the sudden pull, Corol screamed.
“It’s me. Me.”
Rey had already lowered his body and was covering his head. The bomb would explode soon. Arden also embraced Corol and threw himself to the floor.
He curled up tightly. While pinning down the constantly struggling Corol with his entire body, he waited for the explosion to follow.
The station was quiet. Despite noticing the strangeness, no one dared to rise.
While everyone held their breath, a large hand emerged from beneath the train tracks onto the platform. It was a hand with black scales stuck all over it.
“Th-there…”
The station attendant was the first to notice. By the time Arden turned his head, the hand had already become smooth.
“…what is this.”
Rite jumped onto the platform with a deep breath. Arden’s eyes widened as if witnessing an unbelievable sight.
He was breathing heavily with his hair thoroughly disheveled, as if he had been running. His purple eyes gleamed threateningly.
Even when carrying me and the bag while running, or climbing mountains, he never once lost his breath. Arden was confused whether he should ask what had happened, shout for him to get away because it was dangerous, or do something else entirely. Rite was holding the bomb in his hand.
“What is… what… How…?”
Rey muttered. Whew. After catching his breath while bending over with his hands on his knees, Rite suddenly straightened up and looked at Arden. More precisely, he glared at him. Rite threw the bomb he had been holding onto the floor. The fuse, only half-burned, was extinguished.
“Why is Arden here?”
“…Huh?”
“I asked why you’re here.”
That’s what I should be asking. Arden retorted only inwardly. Rey abruptly stood up. Rite’s gaze followed the movement. He tore off another bomb without hesitation, but that was all. Rey froze in place and didn’t move. He seemed bewildered, stumbling over his words.
“W-what’s going on.”
“Just stay still. We’re talking right now.”
Rite responded coldly. Then he looked back at Arden.
“Who is that?”
“Huh?”
Following Rite’s pointing finger, Arden saw Corol pinned under him. As the finger pointed at her, Corol took a deep breath.
“A villager.”
“Why are you like that with her?”
“…I thought the bomb would explode.”
“It won’t explode now.”
Rite nudged the fallen bomb with his foot.
Only then did Arden rise and support Corol by holding her arm. Glancing sideways at Rey, Arden asked.
“Did you do this?”
Rite sighed and turned to look at Rey. As if he would yield to him.
“…A magician? Release this immediately! Arden!”
Rey, whose eyes had met with Rite’s, began to shout. Despite his urgent voice, he didn’t move at all. Seeing this, Rite clicked his tongue softly.
Arden was quite uncomfortable with the continued mention of his real name. He looked once at Corol, who was leaning against him limply, and once at the station attendant, who was still as white as snow.
“If you did this… can you also close his mouth?”
“Probably. But just him?”
Rite looked at the other two people in turn. The station attendant curled up as if trying to burrow into the wall.
“That one… it would look stranger to block him. This one is fine.”
Nodding, Rite approached Rey. Watching this, Arden moved to a nearby bench while supporting Corol.
“You… do you know what kind of person Arden is?”
As Rite approached, Rey lowered his voice and whispered as if he had been waiting for this. Rite looked at the knight with annoyance. He was already in a bad mood, and the knight’s repeated mention of Arden’s name was irritating.
Especially the uniform. Rite’s eyes quietly took in the black uniform. Rite disliked this outfit. Everyone who wore it had only ever threatened him and Arden.
“He’s a traitor. I saw with my own eyes how he almost got executed before getting out alive. I don’t know what Arden is planning, but casually associating with him…”
“How long are you going to keep bringing up that damn treason?”
Rite’s finger approached Rey’s lips. As he swept it horizontally through the air, the knight who had been desperately trying to persuade Rite instantly fell silent. Rite wondered whether his teacher was exceptional or if he himself was something like a dragon.
“……”
“Bringing up something that happened over 10 years ago.”
It was offensive to pretend to know about Arden’s past, which had occurred before Rite was even born. There were too many things Rite disliked. The Arden that Rite knew was someone who was fearful and would turn back if there was high risk. Someone who would give up, resign himself, accept, and obey.
But why? Why was Arden, who was supposed to be at the lodging, here and for what purpose? Rite turned his head to look where Arden was. He had laid the woman down on a bench a little distance away and was exchanging words with her.
Before Rite could sink into ugly emotions, there was a commotion from the stairway. The sound of several people running urgently could be heard. The first to appear was a middle-aged man. The man, who had run down carrying large pruning shears, stopped when he saw Rite and Rey.
While the man hesitated, a middle-aged woman and a young man who had followed behind ran straight to the bench where Arden was.
“My child!”
“Mom, watch your feet below.”
At that voice, the middle-aged man also belatedly hurried after his wife. The last to come down was Aigle. She appeared breathing heavily, clutching her dragging robe with one hand.
“Why are you so late?”
“…Huff, what? Dennear? Why are you here… When did you come down?”
“Since you were struggling out there with four civilians.”
“What do you mean civilians! Haven’t you seen their clothes? They’re Knights!”
Why are those people so fast? She’s pregnant… Huh, what? Did you catch this? Aigle’s words gradually faded. Rite’s vision was filled with the image of the family.
“Mom, mom… I really, really thought I was going to die…”
The woman, who appeared to be around Rite’s age, cried aloud like a child in her mother’s embrace. Behind his sister, a brother who was sniffling, and a father who was tightly embracing his family, were also visible.
These were things that had never been permitted to him from the beginning. Born tearing through his father’s body instead of his mother’s, he now had to cut off that father’s head.
Could he even call him father? Artalis had said that Rite was a noble being, but Rite’s thoughts were different. It was a birth more filthy and terrible than any other living being. A monster born of divine wrath, a monster created solely to kill the Emperor. No matter how much he resembled some sacred being in appearance, the fact that he was still a monster remained unchanged.
Rite’s sense of smell was the most acute. Even if appearance and sound could be well hidden, his sense of smell had developed to find prey. The first thing he noticed was Arden’s scent.
“Rite.”
It was similar to a fruit wine simmered for a long time over low heat with cinnamon added. It was a warm scent, but rather than a crisp blanket freshly washed and dried in the sun, it was like a blanket that had softened with time. Befitting someone who lived in the forest, the faint scent of burning wood could also be detected.
That scent, not at all different from his memory, reminded him of home. He had thought that the scent of the cabin had transferred to Arden, but it was the opposite.
Was the perfume made in vain? He had a fleeting thought. It was a perfume with the most similar scent, made out of fear that Arden’s smell might change after leaving home.
With the soft calling voice, a relatively cool hand brushed against Rite’s hot palm. It passed over the palm, gripped Rite’s wrist, and turned him toward himself. At the end of Rite’s gaze was the face of the person for whom the secret of his birth and everything else didn’t matter.
“Look at you sweating. How did you get in here?”
“I ran along the tracks.”
“What if a train had come?”
“Well… I didn’t have time to think about that.”
“…Are you trying to get scolded?”
Rite smiled slightly and bumped his forehead against Arden’s shoulder. Arden knew well that this was a trick to avoid the matter, but as always, he half-fell for it despite knowing.
“How did you know I was here?”
“…I thought maybe. Someone kept shouting that their daughter was in the station, so I thought maybe… but I didn’t expect you to actually be here.”
They were a different form of family.
