novelraw Chapter 166 : Chapter 166
Chapter 166 : Chapter 166
Chapter 166 - Knight Executioner
Gggeugeuk-.
The sound of something dull scraping against the ground filled the back alleys of Endinium, which had sunk into silence.
Objectively, the sound wouldn't have been that loud. The owner of the sound was walking slowly, dragging a sword on the ground.
The scraping sound quietly yet steadily filled the desolate back alley.
On the other hand,
Tak, tadak, tak-!
The one being chased was making loud footsteps, and it was clear they were in disarray.
To the point where no one would have imagined that the owner of those footsteps was the renowned Senior Knight, Pontio Pilate.
“Pant, pant……!”
Pontio’s body was already covered in various wounds. His right arm, which held his sword, had been broken long ago, and besides that, he had suffered injuries that, although they had narrowly missed vital spots, could only be called fatal.
No, rather than him avoiding them… it might be closer to say that the one who inflicted the attacks had allowed him to avoid them.
In any case, he was already in a state of complete inability to fight, and for that reason, he could only drag his injured leg and flee.
From the executioner who had finally come to judge him.
However, his escape did not last long.
It was because Pontio, who had been aimlessly fleeing from the executioner chasing him from behind, had suddenly found a dead end blocking his path.
“Damn it… No, no……!”
It was an ordinary wall, one that his original self, the knight Pontio Pilate born with a blessed body, could have lightly vaulted over.
But he could not cross that wall. His body was no longer functioning properly.
Perhaps that instilled in Pontio a sense of helplessness, despair, and fear.
This, too, must have been the pursuer’s intention.
Gggeugeugeuk-.
And, the scraping sound that had been ringing in his ears and confusing his mind came to a stop a few steps away from him.
“What… what are you doing to me……! Who sent you?!”
Pontio had no options left, and so he screamed out in fury.
“The sins you committed in the past have brought me here.”
A strange, cracked voice, as if he had swallowed charcoal, returned to Pontio.
“……!”
“You can deceive the eyes of people, but you cannot run from your sins. You know that, don't you.”
“Knight… Executioner……!”
From that story, Pontio was able to figure out who the owner of the voice was, and at the same time, the color drained from his face.
The Knight Executioner.
The monster who was said to attack and kill knights, then write down the sins the knight had committed in blood before leaving.
“Your sins have traveled a long way to return to you.”
The Knight Executioner was speaking.
That the time to pay the price for his sins had come.
“-Pontio Pilate. Do you remember Breden from 12 years ago?”
12 years ago, Breden.
As that topic was brought up, Pontio’s eyes flew open.
Back when he was still an inexperienced Regular Knight thirsty for military achievements, he had been dispatched to subjugate rebels in the southern region.
The group he belonged to was staying in a southern village, Breden.
It was a village like any other in the south, one that had not participated in the rebellion but did not look favorably upon knights.
The senior knights who were dispatched with him, after seeing the atmosphere of the village, made a suggestion.
-Looking at the atmosphere, they're the type to stab us in the back anytime if the rebels ask for their cooperation. Let’s lump them all together and report them as rebels.
He knew it was not right.
But the resulting military achievements were sweet, and Pontio could not overcome the temptation.
Due to the report from the knights dispatched with Pontio, the residents of Breden were instantly labeled as a den of rebels, and in the end, they were forced to throw themselves into the rebellion against their will.
And the result was a massacre.
“That… how…….”
It was something that happened 12 years ago.
It was kept a secret among the knights who remembered it, something no one could know.
Until now, there had not even been a single suspicious glance. In the first place, who would care so much about the fate of a single southern village that was not favorable to the Empire to begin with?
Who would dare doubt the noble intentions of a virtuous knight?
But the retribution was here now.
“……I didn't do it! I… I was just swept along. The real sinner is someone else……!”
Pontio protested. It was not a sin he had committed, and he was just a new knight at the time, so he couldn't go against them.
That it would have happened even if he had opposed it, and if he had rebelled, he would have been silenced.
But the weight on the scale of sin the executioner held did not tip in the other direction.
“You stood by, Pontio Pilate.”
“……!”
“You must have known it was wrong.”
Gggeugeuk-.
The executioner, with his long, unkempt hair, slowly began to approach the sinner, dragging his sword.
“No… don’t come……!”
The sinner struggled, swinging his no longer functioning arm and the broken sword in his hand, but it would not have even been considered resistance.
Geuk.
And when the sinner finally came within the executioner’s range.
Cheok.
The executioner lifted his sword with both hands and said.
“To the sinner who has forgotten the Knight's Oath, judgment.”
The executioner's sword, crude and worn as if it had endured long years, shone in the moonlight.
Immediately after, only one man was left in the alley.
That was all there was to the story.
***
The ‘Knight Executioner’, Grændal, is a member of the main villain group 『Ad Astra』 from the original
In the story, he not only threatens the main characters of
The gist of it was very simple. To kill with his own hands a knight who had committed a sin but had not been punished, and to make that sin known to the world.
In the sense of taking a life, and in the sense of taking away honor, which is as important as life to a knight. The word execution was indeed fitting.
Hearing it like this, he might sound like a character who, although his methods are wrong, is struggling for his own justice… but I wonder.
In the
Well, let’s leave my personal evaluation aside for now.
Anyway, Grændal’s ‘Knight Hunting’ had two major intentions hidden within it.
First. To carry out judgment according to Grændal’s own beliefs.
Second. This is the most important part, to lower the social trust in the knightly orders.
The first one should be understandable without me having to say it… The second one was a pretty serious problem.
Knights, whether they actually were or not, had for a long time been accepted as the steadfast guardians of the Empire and heroes who protect society.
In fact, the long-standing existence of the Empire was largely due to the active role of knights, who were called heroes, in this world where the abilities of individuals differed exponentially.
Against that backdrop, the knights and their collective will, the knightly orders, built up social trust with the populace over a long time. And this would have also had the effect of restraining the system from changing.
If there are knights, the world is safe; if you think that, then there's no reason to fight for safety.
In any case, the point is that the existence of knights supported the Empire with the image of an ‘infallible hero’.
But, what if that image were to shatter?
What if the knights, who were believed to be the ‘infallible heroes’ that would steadfastly protect the Empire, were neither infallible nor able to show their heroic strength as they died off?
This would create a crack in the society maintained by the heroism of knights.
It's an overstatement to say that society would collapse just from that, but if it were mixed with other confusions, the story would be different.
Anyway. That was the reason why I had to stop Grændal.
In the first place, even if I put all that aside, since he was a guy who moved for ‘The One’, there was more than enough justification to catch and kill him.
‘The problem is twofold. How to find him, and how to kill him.’
As I said, even in the original
The victims were also mentioned only in passing, and in the end, the focus of the story was on the journey of the main characters.
That’s why I had to find out Grændal's whereabouts somehow, or catch and beat up someone who knew his whereabouts.
‘And fortunately, I know about such a person.’
Even though he was under the protection of ‘The One’, he didn't just fall from the sky or sprout from the ground to operate.
***
Grændal had a base of operations, an informant who provided him with information about the knights he would target, and an intermediary who received that information and passed it on.
It was nothing new, but the informants were Claudio and Salvatio. In this era, noble society and knight society were practically synonymous, so it was natural for those two, who were in the upper echelons of society, to pass on information.
‘But I can't just go after the informants at this point.’
Not to mention Claudio, the Crown Prince, Salvatio also held a high position.
Well… it seems he's been ailing after my last blow. They say he's faking an illness.
Anyway, that’s why I had to target the intermediary.
The intermediary who received information from Claudio and Salvatio and delivered it to Grændal.
And as I said before, I knew about the intermediary. In great detail, at that.
Starting with the intermediary’s name, the fact that he was of the second-highest rank in 『Ad Astra』, a ‘Second Astro’, and of course… the fact that his true identity was a professor at the academy.
To add one more thing to that, I also knew about the incident he would soon cause at the academy.
Therefore, the things I had to do now were simple.
Stop the incident the intermediary will cause.
Find out Grændal's location.
Kill Grændal.
In the process, well.
I’ll probably save a few people. This one will probably be especially good news for Yuna.