Chapter 262.1: Ignition (5) Part 1

Ignition (5)

Sanders led the Shroud knights towards the southern barrier, the location Frondier had assigned them.

"......Haa."

Sanders let out a silent sigh and glanced behind him for a moment.

...The Shroud knights.

The strongest knight order, boasting the greatest reputation, fame, and achievements in the Empire.

However, these titles did not belong to the current Shroud.

Their past glory, when they stood at the forefront of the war against monsters, fearlessly beheading their enemies, was a distant memory.

All the praise for the Shroud remained in the past.

But the citizens of the Empire didn't know.

How much the Shroud of today had changed compared to the Shroud of that time.

"Ha, what a mess. A sudden war."

"The good times are over."

Whispers of complaints passed among them.

The mission to protect the Empire had already faded in their hearts.

─The knights are now busy hiding in the center. The glory that once frightened even the monsters outside has long since faded.

In the past, Sanders had told Ludwig that the Shroud knights had become old dogs instead of tigers.

The Empire had provided safety and benefits to the Shroud for their contributions in the monster war.

Their relocation to the center, to be closer to the Imperial family, was one of them.

But without a doubt, that reward was a clear failure.

Too much time had passed since the monster war. Enough time for Sanders, who was a rookie in the Shroud knights at the time, to become the captain of the knight order.

Sanders was the only one who had used the experience of that war as a stepping stone for growth. Most of them were struggling to maintain their daily lives due to extreme fear and stress disorders.

People grow through pain, but that's only possible when they have the will to grow.

The veterans with war experience had long since retired, and Sanders' peers were either scared of the war and gave up being knights early on, or they were the ones who used all sorts of tricks to avoid heading to the barriers.

Most of the knights who joined after them came only to seek the sweet fruits of the Shroud, and most of them learned the same tricks from their seniors, so the future was bleak.

'There's nothing wrong with the skills of the knights. But they lack practical experience overwhelmingly.'

The Shroud knights went through tremendous competition to join. It was natural since they were called the strongest knight order in the Empire. The problem was that this strongest knight order was lazing around in the safest place in the Empire.

Would they be able to maintain their morale when they saw the monsters charging towards the barrier? And the number would be far greater than what had ever attacked the barrier before.

"Captain, Captain."

"......Ah."

Sanders was awakened from his thoughts by a gentle voice next to him.

A face unfamiliar to him, too young and too beautiful, was stained with worry.

"Are you alright? You don't look well."

"......I'm fine."

Sanders replied in a somewhat heartless tone.

'...Is this child the one, Inies?'

Elodie de Inies Rishae. She was the one assigned with Sanders.

Of course, the Constel student did not attend the meeting, so Sanders was able to see Elodie's face for the first time only after arriving at this barrier.

"You seem fine."

As Sanders said, Elodie's face did not show that much worry.

Even the knights much older than her were scared stiff behind them, but the expression of the child who carried the heavy burden of Inies on her shoulders was rather serene. She was smiling but not excited, her posture was relaxed but not loose.

'...Such a young child.'

A girl of the exact same age as Frondier. When Sanders saw Frondier at the Tyburn, he felt like he had left a child by the riverside, but this time it was even worse. He felt like putting her in a car and sending her home right away.

Contrary to his heart, Sanders did not relax his stern gaze towards Elodie.

"Be fully prepared. No one will save you here. If you smile and get caught by their claws, you won't even find your corpse."

It was a harsh word for a child, but it was also the truth. Sanders knew well the childishness that remained like a seed in children of this age.

The naive thought that someone like their parents would appear and save them in a crisis. That was settled in the hearts of children, regardless of their strength or weakness.

Sanders always worried about that and treated children of this age strictly. It was the same with Frondier, and

it was the same now.

"I'm relieved."

Elodie said in a quiet voice.

"The knights behind you don't seem ready yet."

"......!"

"Your preparations, Captain, are sufficient."

Sanders' eyes widened at Elodie's words. This girl had already gone beyond managing herself and was observing the situation around her.

"I've always wondered why the Shroud, known as the strongest knight order in the Empire, never went to the Tyburn or Yeranhes."

"......You."

Elodie glanced behind her.

Several knights who met her eyes stared at her blankly, mesmerized by her appearance. A few others scanned Elodie's body and whispered something among themselves, giggling.

"Indeed, it's just as I heard. No, it's worse."

Elodie's eyes grew colder. There was almost no change in her expression, but the Shroud knights felt a sudden chill and tightened their grip.

Elodie looked forward again and calmed her eyes.

She muttered in a voice barely audible.

"I heard it was a tiger with missing teeth, but it's a dog with rotten gums."

Sanders heard that and momentarily wondered if he should scold her. But it was actually barely audible, and even Sanders, with his good hearing, could barely hear it. It was not good to react to something so trivial.

More than anything, it was a statement that Sanders himself could not help but agree with.

"Captain."

Elodie looked at Sanders again and asked.

"At the Tyburn, I heard that Frondier raised the morale of the knights."

"......Ah."

"How did Frondier do it?"

Hearing that, Sanders recalled.

The knights at the Tyburn were in a bad state, in a different sense than here. They had seen frequent battles and countless deaths, and their mentalities were severely worn down.

Frondier definitely played a big role in boosting the morale of those knights.

How did he do that...?

"......I heard it from the knights at the time, so I'm not sure."

"Yes."

"I heard they made a bet."

"A bet?"

"They were making ridiculous jokes about who would die next, and Frondier bet that 'no one would die'."

Hearing that, Elodie blinked for a moment. She seemed to guess the content and nodded.

"......And really, no one died."

"That's right."

Elodie, who heard Sanders' words, raised her head slightly. A sigh that resembled annoyance somehow flowed from her mouth.

"......A bet, not bad."

Why did Sanders feel chills run down his spine at that enigmatic murmur?

Sanders, who briefly felt the emotions accumulating in her eyes, opened his mouth.

"......Do you perhaps know where Frondier is now,"

"I know."

Elodie said as if she had read Sanders' thoughts.

"He's heading to Manggot."