Chapter 222

(222)

Crack!

A sound like a mace clashing in mid-air echoed.

The shockwave was strong enough to shake the tent.

“Tch.”

Catalin’s heel was blocked by the elbow of the enemy knight.

‘Right. They really are a true knight.’

She had aimed for a moment of distraction as they removed their helmet, but the reflexes of the Sword Expert were nothing short of superhuman.

The instant Catalin realized her surprise attack had failed, she turned her body without hesitation.

‘Then I can’t win.’

Only a stronger knight could face another knight head-on and win, and the enemy knight was rumored to have fought off dozens of Holy Knights.

For her, even if she died and came back, there was no hope of victory.

Catalin shoved Jin aside and dashed into the tent.

She only grabbed an emergency bag, intending to hide among the crowd in the tent village.

There were only 200 high-ranking personnel in the Imperial Court, and they couldn’t afford to linger here forever.

‘If I hide for a few days, things should settle down.’

At that moment, Catalin felt a strange distortion in her vision.

She had clearly thrown herself into the tent, but the bag inside wasn’t getting any closer.

Moreover, she now felt her body lifting off the ground, and she could see the sky.

‘Ah. I messed up.’

Crash!

Catalin was grabbed by Tenitia by the nape of her neck and slammed down onto the ground.

“I’m Tenitia! Your junior!”

In the midst of the shock, a voice she never expected to hear in this place reached her ears.

‘Tenitia? Huh, huh?’

The junior who had come to the capital at such a young age, the one she had helped mingle with the noble society because it pained her to see her always alone, the one she had once played with in the underground sewers, the junior who had trained with her to become a knight during their golden days together.

It was the voice from a time when her life shone the brightest.

“Is it really you?”

Catalin was so surprised that she stammered, and instinctively felt relieved thinking, ‘I won’t lose my head now,’ while feeling both joy and embarrassment.

Right now, she didn’t look like a glamorous senior at all.

Tenitia removed her helmet.

Her face was more dignified than during her time at the Academy, and her gaze had become deeper and more resolute.

‘It really is you.’

This time, Catalin didn’t attempt to kick her.

Tenitia delivered a verbal kick.

“So, sister, what were you doing here?”

In the shadow beside the tent, a knight, a bandit, and a student council president were face-to-face, seemingly at odds.

The knight wore a relaxed smile, while the bandit fidgeted nervously, and the student council president hid their agitation behind a friendly expression.

Catalin hesitated.

“Ah… well…”

She knew that her current appearance was embarrassing to show in front of her beloved junior.

“Aren’t you going to answer?”

“I’m sorry. It’s too disgraceful to tell you, Sir Knight.”

Catalin kept bowing her head.

But Tenitia was a knight who knew simplicity to be a virtue, and she was too immersed in the joy of reuniting with her ‘sister’ to care about such things.

“Why so awkwardly call me Sir Knight among us? Just call me Tenitia.”

She still treated her like the dorm roommate senior she had been.

“That can’t be…”

Catalin saw her own pitiable appearance reflected in Tenitia’s dazzling platinum armor.

Now Tenitia was no longer the country girl who had trembled at the vastness of the capital and the slimes in the underground sewers.

With her being bestowed nobility, she was now effectively of a higher rank than Catalin, who was of the fallen nobility.

“Ah. Call me!”

However, Tenitia didn’t bother with the troublesome matters in light of nostalgia.

“Alright. Tenitia.”

Catalin was moved by the knight’s compassion.

“And what? You’re sorry to say it to the knight? You shouldn’t have done that in the first place!”

If there was any misunderstanding, it was that Tenitia’s compassion was offered only after the other party had put themselves in a position worthy of it.

“Why do you keep tiring Jin? You know she’s handling important matters, right? Just do as she asks. She’s no longer just a simple student council president. She’s the leader of a semi-military organization recognized by Duke Valen. The situation is already chaotic. If it weren’t for me, you would have died today.”

Catalin felt like she was being pierced by the verbal arrows until she was nothing but a quivering hedgehog.

“No! If you’ve been treating her like a dog, you should at least ease up a bit. Jin, you’re going too far. No matter how much I’ve caused trouble, you can’t just summon the knight!”

“Been treating her like a dog? What do you mean?”

Tenitia had witnessed the actions of Valencianus firsthand and realized at that moment that there was something she didn’t know.

“Jin. Explain.”

The student council president’s smile twisted painfully.

* * *

“We can’t let the academy kids cause more trouble in a situation like this. So the student council has been keeping an eye on things, but some kids don’t seem to be aware of it.”

“What if they don’t notice?”

“They could end up suffering from strange dark magic, get into trouble with citizens, steal charms, symbols, or grimoires made by the Infiltrators, or something like that.”

Doubt filled Tenitia’s voice.

“Then wouldn’t you just catch them all and hand them over to the church? I thought that was your position originally?”

Jin nodded.

“That’s right. We used to do that. But due to the current situation, it seems that approach is provoking even the ordinary kids. You know, their homes and families are all destroyed, but if the student council just keeps catching them without helping, it reflects poorly.”

Jin was confident.

“People’s feelings can’t be sliced with a knife, can they? The way people view us is shifting. So we outsourced the enforcement. We had the gangs seize, beat, and drag them away.”

Until that point, she had been dignified.

“Outsourced? …Ah.”

Catalin timidly raised her hand.

Jin let out a deep sigh and continued.

“However, the kids we outsourced have been going rogue. They were supposed to confiscate the Infiltration magic tools, but they ended up pilfering them instead. So they clashed with each other. At that time, the student council had to step in directly. The problem is, there’s one gang that’s exceptionally strong.”

Even sending other gangs against them just got them defeated, and if the student council tried to intervene, they feared the damage could be too great.

If they suffered significant losses, they wouldn’t be able to fulfill the duties assigned by Valencianus, and other gangs, which the student council had been keeping in check, would run wild.

“So in the end, that’s how we called for a knight.”

Jin finished her long explanation.

Tenitia sighed deeply.

Living simply and confidently was indeed a difficult task.

“I see why Duke Valen cares for you.”

Bang!

Tenitia smacked Jin’s head sharply.

Jin screamed and rolled on the ground, and Catalin raised both hands in surrender.

“Tenitia, wait a moment!”

“Let’s give her a hit too!”

Bang!

While both Jin and Catalin rolled on the ground, Tenitia boldly opened the tent and drew out all the magic tools infused with the energy of Infiltration or dark magic, shattering them.

“Sister. Do you really want to be burned at the stake?”

“…….”

Catalin couldn’t utter a single word, merely observing.

“Sister!”

“What is happening right now?”

Catalin’s gang arrived late.

“Everyone kneel and prostrate yourselves!”

Bang!

No matter how notorious a bandit, they were sheep before a knight.

“Jin!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“It seems it’s settled for now. I will head back to catch the Infiltrators. When outsourcing in the future, please pay more attention to oversight.”

“Understood.”

“Oh, sister, bring the kids along. No matter how much of a sister you are, you can’t get a pass like that. If you’re a sword user, your resistance to the Infiltration is pretty high, right?”

Catalin, who had been stealthily trying to escape, broke into a cold sweat.

* * *

Tenitia wandered through the tent village, following the magic tools made by Sererassie and her instincts.

Dressed in special heavy armor, Tenitia contrasted sharply with Catalin in leather armor.

Tenitia stopped in front of a tall tent at the corner of the village, and Catalin nodded her head.

“Let me see your skills after a long time.”

“Yeah. I’m ready.”

The next moment, Tenitia dashed into the tent.

“I am Tenitia, Knight of Lord Valenciaunos!”

“AAAAAH!”

A family screamed and jumped up in panic.

The expressions on their faces were filled with the proper horror of people caught off guard while having a casual conversation.

“Sir Knight! What is the meaning of this?”

“What’s going on?”

On the surface, they appeared to be ordinary people.

“Tenitia. Are you sure you found the right one?”

Catalin felt embarrassed enough to want to sheathe her curved sword, which she had drawn once.

But Tenitia didn’t hesitate at all and brought down her divine sword, Hwanhan.

Slash!

The arm of the man who was presumably the father was severed.

The cross-section was filled with black mold and green mycelium.

“Ugh! We’ve been found! Attack!”

The woman, presumably the mother, screamed, and from all around the tent, followers of the Infiltration cult surged forth.

“Gweh!”

“Capture them! Capture them!”

“They’re trying to take our forest!”

There appeared to be at least dozens of them.

Tenitia lowered her mask and glanced back at Catalin and the gang of students.

“Sister. You can handle this many, right?”

Catalin nodded.

Tenitia immediately beheaded the woman, presumably the mother.

Swish!

Her head rolled across the ground, and the chaos began.

“Why are you intruding into our world and causing a ruckus?”

“The knight is watching us!”

“That big guy looks weak in the knees. Let’s attack together!”

The student bandits swung their maces and war hammers to smash the heads of the Infiltrators.

“Gweh!”

“Kill them! Kill them!”

The black deer antlers burst forth from the bodies of the Infiltrators, piercing the student bandits like branches.

“Run away!”

“Dammit!”

“Let’s just focus on surviving!”

Among the student bandits, many abandoned Catalin and fled.

“Those cowards!”

Catalin cursed and swung her curved sword.

Seeing those she trusted mingling with the fleeing ones delivered a considerable shock to someone who had once dreamed of being a knight.

Tenitia furrowed her brow beneath her helmet, drew a dagger from her waist, and threw it at their backs.

Shink!

The dagger thrown by the knight possessed power comparable to an arrow, and they collapsed to the ground, pierced through the chest.

As she fought fiercely against the swarming Infiltrators and the student bandits who were holding the line, she muttered to herself.

“There are not many who can be strong even in the face of the strong. If those who are not warriors pretend to be warriors and drain the blood and sweat of the citizens, that is a sin against chivalry.”

A red mana blade flickered from her sword.

“Now, it seems we’ve selected enough.”

“T-Tenitia.”

Catalin once again realized that Tenitia was a Platinum Knight.

Tenitia had reached a level she could not attain, and she was witnessing a scenery she had never seen.

“Sister. Those who turn their backs on the battlefield can never walk the path of chivalry. And if they haven’t turned their backs on the battlefield—”

A red haze flickered above Tenitia’s shoulder.

The overwhelming prayer made the Infiltrators hesitate.

“No matter how deeply stained they are, they should at least get a chance to repent and start again.”

Swish!

Tenitia swung her sword with reckless abandon, sending dozens of Infiltrators to the ground.

The blood-red mana blade easily cleaved through the Infiltrators’ branch-like horns and exoskeleton.

“That’s a true knight.”

“My goodness.”

“Tenitia.”

Catalin’s mouth dropped open.

The scene she once dreamed of was unfolding in the hands of her most cherished younger sister.

It took less than two minutes for all 64 Infiltrators to become corpses.

“This way!”

“Bring wagons and cloth!”

“Don’t forget the new students!”

The student council members rushed in with wagons and cloth, while the student bandits helpfully assisted in clearing away the bodies of the Infiltrators.

Catalin stood still in shock, her expression blank.

Tenitia’s sword strikes, that mana blade, stood just before her.

Tenitia lifted her mask to reveal her face and smiled as she had when they played together at the Academy.

“You don’t want to give up, do you?”

“……”

“Back 300 years ago, the swordsman Baekae Iron of the Eastern region became a Sword Expert at 43 and a Sword Master at 80. The dark iron knight’s deputy commander of the last generation also became a Sword Expert past thirty.”

“I’m already—”

Tenitia shook her head.

“All knights are murderers. Whether a knight becomes a hero or a bandit depends on their attitude towards the world. They carry the shadows and move towards the light. One must enjoy their talents while also pay their due. Me too, you too.”

Catalin trembled and looked up at Tenitia.

“Can I really do it?”

“If you want to be a knight, act like one. Strive to think like a knight, to fight like a knight, to behave like a knight. At some point, you’ll find you’ve become one.”

Tenitia vanished toward the city wall.

Catalin watched her back until she completely disappeared.

* * *

“Did you meet someone you know? Your expression is strange.”

Tenitia smiled contentedly as she answered Valencianus’ question.

“Yes, Your Excellency. I met a sister I was close with at the Academy.”

“That must have been nice. Is she doing well?”

“She will going forward.”

“Hm.”

“Is there something wrong?”

Valencianus spoke with a weary voice.

“No, I might need some blades willing to do anything. I suppose you wouldn’t know of anyone. If you do find someone, please introduce them to me.”

Tenitia felt her vision clouding with yellow.

“I guarantee that will never happen!”

She couldn’t bear to see that rogue corrupt her sister on the brink of reinvention.