The Knight’s Sacrifice

I was able to use the dueling room thanks to catching the eye of Lady Rene Le Havre.

“Your stance is good. But your fingertips are shaking too much.”

Sky Castle Academy doesn’t have official clubs or extracurricular activities. However, there are facilities to support post-class review: the library, dueling rooms, magic manifestation rooms, and command game rooms. Out of the 170 ladies in the Imperial and Imperial Alliance classes across all four years, only Lady Le Havre and I were using the “Imperial Class Dueling Room.”

And so, I found myself learning the sword—a skill I never thought I’d be practicing in this life. It’s not exactly fun, but I’m putting in the effort.

“Every swordsman eventually has to coat their blade in magic to protect it and cut through anything. Once you have a mana sword, you’ll be able to achieve mana resonance easily.”

I’m intentionally not doing that, Senior.

“The cutting magic, ‘Cutter,’ is maximized when it meets a blade. Conversely, if you have the strength to separate anything, just a bit of resonance from your body’s mana will make the sword unleash that power on its own.”

I knew all of this, but I listened in silence. It’s awkward to say, “I already know, so stop talking.” This senior actually loves it when I listen through the whole explanation and then ask a question that makes it seem like I’ve finally understood.

“But where are you looking?”

“Ah… No, it’s nothing.”

Rene stopped her swing and crossed her arms.

“You’re very interested, aren’t you?”

“It’s just… your eyes are so beautiful that it’s hard to look you in the face.”

“I think you might be as pretty as the Princess. Is it because you’re an adult?”

Aren’t we (Ariang and you) the same age? Ariang Aosta is set up as a late entrant, so she’s about the same age as the fourth-years. Why is she calling me an adult? I’ve never really been treated like one here until now.

“Then I’ll say it’s embarrassing because I can see myself reflected in your eyes.”

Rene’s eyes are sky-blue, looking like the sky reflected in a transparent lake. Perhaps she was given “blue attributes” because she’s a lady from a coastal estate.

“You were looking right here, weren’t you?!”

I couldn’t hide it anymore. I had too many questions in my mind. If I had known this would happen, I would have searched for more photos of female bodybuilders in my past life.

“It’s because you look so toned.”

I had seen Rene’s upper body before and felt it against my face, but she’s still not quite on my level. She was toned but had a softness to her—small but shapely. There is a difference. Would the daughters of noble families have touched many women’s chests? Would they even try? If they did, how would they distinguish them from a man’s?

Assuming a person could pass through all three of those filters was almost an overreaction. But the world is full of strange people, enough to justify overreacting.

“You were interested! I thought the maids just stuffed your dress for you.”

“It would be a lie to say I’m not interested at all. I don’t know if I can become as strong as you or the Princess, but I can’t help but think about marriage.”

“True. But with looks like yours, I don’t understand why you’re worried.”

“I’m old.”

I narrowly avoided being labeled a pervert who just stares at a senior’s chest.

“I think it’s better not to have much. It chafes, you know? It hurts when it chafes. It’s better to develop muscle. With nothing in the way, you can put more power into your upper body. What, are you planning to breastfeed a baby yourself?”

I failed to block the topic.

“It’s not that…”

“If the kid is meant to grow, they’ll suck hard enough to make it hurt even if you’re toned.”

It’s best not to bring this up again. I thought noble ladies would avoid such direct expressions, but in reality, they didn’t hold back. Maybe I had too many fantasies about this academy, despite the fact that people die here.

Just then, someone rushed into the dueling room. A face I hadn’t seen before.

“Lady Le Havre!”

“What is it?”

“The Academy is calling all first-years out. Lady Aosta—ah, the Countess, right? Countess Aosta needs to go too.”

“Is it mandatory?”

“Yes, all first-years have to see it. And she…”

The atmosphere feels like the military, but thankfully they don’t make us memorize ranks and names. The third-year messenger gave me a long look.

“We especially shouldn’t let her run into the knights. She’ll be the ruin of many men.”

“She is pretty. And mature-looking.”

In a world where people marry and have kids at fifteen or sixteen, Ariang is definitely an adult by my past life’s standards. I didn’t say anything; I just blushed and looked away. Acting like a shy, rustic first-year girl from the mountains usually gets me a pass.

Once the messenger left, I turned to Rene, whom I’d become somewhat close with.

“What’s happening?”

“You know the Guardian Knights here?”

“Yes.”

“They’re executing one of them today.”

What?

“Pardon?”

“I’m sure you’ve seen people die before, right? The Aosta estate is always clashing with the mountain tribes.”

“Ah… yes. But for what reason?”

“I don’t know which lady it was, but apparently he met with her several times. It happens once or twice every semester.”

“I… see.”

“He could have just given up an eye or the hand he doesn’t use for his sword, or… just had ‘that’ removed. But he’s insisting on dying.”

Giving up an eye or a hand is a knight’s vow to discard their combat effectiveness and never be near the ladies again. Losing one’s head or manhood is a vow to guarantee the mistress’s chastity even at the cost of those things. But why choose death? It’s absurd.

Rene and I shared the same opinion. However, she seemed eager to teach me something, waiting for me to say something naive. So, I intentionally threw out a curveball.

“Isn’t it a man’s pure devotion?”

“It’s a waste of a knight. They aren’t common talents, and usually, it’s the promising young ones who fall in love and do this. Half the girls here probably have fiancés, and it’s always the ones with fiancés who cause this mess.”

Rene’s reaction was that it was a waste of talent for knights to take the blame for loving a lady. By the way, there sure are a lot of engagements. I guess it’s natural since the post-war baby boom is hitting the nobility hard. Many estates were wiped out, creating a vacuum where even a distant cousin could claim inheritance rights through marriage.

“A knight from our estate is better the more talented they are, but shouldn’t a knight from another estate be as few and weak as possible?”

“That’s incredibly realistic.”

“Then will you also marry after graduation, Senior?”

“I had a fiancé once.”

Past tense. Wait, was it my fault? I haven’t killed anyone young unless I met them in actual combat. Beyond my personal morals, people in this world generally don’t kill minors.

“He died in the war, then.”

“No. He lost to me.”

“Ah, don’t tell me that’s…”

“Don’t call it a ‘barbarian tradition,’ please.”

She cut me off before I could even mention it. The Sea People are famous for making warriors out of women. Since their land produces little food and their population is small, everyone knows how to sail, and many are raiders. Their wedding tradition involves a duel between the bride and groom; if the groom loses, the marriage can be cancelled on the spot.

“No. It’s much cooler than being forced into a marriage by your family. I wish our region had a culture like that.”

I’d heard that the northwestern Empire, settled by those Sea People, still kept those traditions. While it evolved into happening during the engagement to avoid embarrassing guests at a wedding, the nobility still practiced it. If a bride is strong and doesn’t like her match, she beats him and breaks the engagement.

“That’s strange to hear from you. You’re a Countess, right? You can choose.”

Noble daughters have to follow their parents’ will, but a titled noble could choose their own spouse. Hearing her envy made me realize Rene must have a crush on some boy with a rank lower than a Count.

“I don’t hold that right of choice with joy.”

“Why? Would you rather marry someone whose face and personality you don’t know?”

“I don’t want to think happily about a power I could only obtain by losing my father.”

“Oh…”

Well, my actual father is alive, albeit sickly. This was Ariang’s story. Nevertheless, when I acted sad, Rene became very flustered.

“Ah, no. That’s not what I meant. You… for someone who says they want to be a knight, why are you always so…”

“Even a knight has their sorrows.”

“Hey, hey, stop. Don’t cry. Seriously. You can’t cry. You said water is precious in your estate, so why are you trying to waste it through your eyes?”

Somehow, my image has become “the crybaby who doesn’t wash.”

****************************************

The execution of the Sky Castle Guardian Knight was held in front of the assembled ladies. They say the Academy tried to stop it until the very end, as Guardian Knights aren’t easy to replace. But since he insisted on dying to protect the lady involved in the scandal, they had no choice.

“Wow, so someone really is dying?”

“It’s cleaner that way.”

“They often get disposed of secretly anyway. Better this than cutting off a limb and getting killed to keep you quiet later.”

These are women of the ruling class who have lived through war; even though they’re the age of high school or college students, they didn’t seem to find the event particularly repulsive. The crowd was as loud as a marketplace. I don’t know why they show this, but it’s clearly meant as a warning to the ladies.

‘Someone is dying because of you.’

But that only works on people with a heart. Expecting universal human empathy from the nobility might be asking too much.

“Lady Ariang.”

“Ah.”

A hand landed on my shoulder, wearing a ring I knew all too well. It was Girona—the textbook example of a heartless noble, the robber-murderer who stole the Ring of Protection.

“Oh, you’re looking at me with those eyes again.”

“Isn’t this only for first-years?”

“Everyone was told to come, but it’s only mandatory for the first-years.”

An execution is basically a show of a human being dying. To actually choose to come and watch… I guess she wanted to see the end of a “tool” she used to play with. The knight dying today was the one who had the tryst with Girona.

“Why choose this path…?”

An unknown executioner asked the condemned man. Behind him, Knight Captain Rocinante watched with a bitter expression.

“Hmm?”

The knight scanned the crowd toward me—or rather, toward Girona standing next to me. Seeing her, his gritted teeth relaxed into a smile. Then, he slit his own throat.

“KYAAAAAA!”

“Ugh.”

“Gag…”

Despite everyone having experienced war, the reactions were chilling. What a foolish man, wasting his life like that. It would have been much cooler to lose his manhood, stay by her side, and die fighting to protect her later. This kind of death is nothing more than throwing a life away for nothing. I suppose that happens when a knight’s love for a lady becomes an obsession, making her life his own.

She certainly has a talent for ruining men.

“He looked this way.”

“Oh, did he? Maybe he was just dazed because Lady Ariang is so pretty.”

“I think he was looking at you, Senior.”

“Ah, you’re right. Shall I tell you a secret?”

“Pardon?”

Girona whispered into my ear.

“He and I… we were seeing each other.”

She just admitted it? And why is she blowing in my ear? Repulsed, I pulled away and frowned.

“Isn’t that a bit of a tasteless joke?”

“It’s the truth.”

“What?”

“I’m so grateful he died… It could have been quite awkward.”

Chilling. I knew Girona was crazy, but this is absurd. Of course, this society dictates that a knight must sacrifice himself for the future of the mistress he served, but to play with him and then feel zero guilt when he chooses death for her?

The more I see this, the more I want to centralize power as King and abolish the nobility. Even for a noble, this isn’t a “universal” mindset. Then again, she is a sociopath.

“Is that so?”

“But now I’m in a bind again.”

“A bind? Why?”

“I need love.”

“I see. You graduate in two years.”

It was a dismissive comment. I understand not being able to wait two years for the military, but asking her to endure four years of loneliness is also laughable.

“That’s why… if only my Ariang were a noble man, everything would be perfect.”

At that moment, as I thought about how quickly I needed to kill her, a brilliant idea struck me.

“Then… how would you like me to prove it?”

“Oh?”

“If I show you for five seconds, will you believe me?”