William was alone, a little away from the night camp.
He could see the victorious army reveling in their triumph. But William's face showed no joy or ease in the victory.
'How did I... win?'
On the contrary, he looked pale. Almost ashen.
'My memory is gone. As far as I can remember... I was at a disadvantage. No, I might as well have lost.'
He recalled the duel with the centurion Hyen. He had no confidence in winning, but he thought it would be a fair fight, a good gamble. The result was his victory, but he had no memory of it.
'Carl said I won by brute force... but is that possible?'
He could understand if it was by skill, but brute force shouldn’t be possible, there was a huge gap in strength.
'And I don't even get how I was weaker in strength. Did he train like I did? Did that guy have the same knowledge as I did?’
He thought it was impossible. He had to, or his confidence would waver. In the Seven Kingdoms, where information was abundant, he had worked at an import bookstore, selecting the necessary information from countless books, and practiced for five years. He didn't want to think he was inferior. Especially when their physiques were almost identical.
'I ate shitty food in Laconia, but I still paid attention to nutrition. My body should be refined among those of the same size. I might be slightly worse, but not by that much of a difference.'
He was blown away. Beaten down. Utterly crushed.
'The chill I felt from Kyle, something similar to that... was that the key?'
He would normally dismiss it as nonsense, occult. He had raised himself rationally, but he encountered an inexplicable wall for the first time. But having faced it, he couldn't ignore it since he felt he had lost.
'It wasn't in the books. It was only in real combat. That thing Kyle and that guy had... I have to get it. As soon as possible.'
He had almost no clues. He didn't even know how to research something that wasn't in the books.
'Well, I'll ask Kyle. Will that guy tell me?'
He thought of Kyle, who was strict about swordsmanship, and a faint smile appeared. In the end, those two were the only ones who were "home" for him. That wouldn't change. Until he died, surely—
'But leaving that aside, losing my memory is bad. Very bad.'
It was rare, the feeling of losing himself. It escalated to losing his memory. It had happened a few times, for a very short while. During practice with Kyle, and when his emotions ran high. It was so brief that he didn't worry much. Kyle said he didn't have to worry either.
'But I can't keep ignoring it if something like this happens.'
Rather, he was surprised that he hadn't taken any measures when he thought about himself.
'What the hell is wrong with me?'
He didn't understand himself. He had lived with careful attention, but he had missed such a big hole. It was a bigger shock to William than losing, in a way.
“...”
Suddenly, William's eyes went to the small bulge in his chest. He took it out.
A thing that glowed red like blood, hot like fire. If diamonds were the twinkling of stars, rubies were the scorching sun in the sky. Their heat reminded him of human blood.
“This suits me, huh.”
The ruby Rutgard had insisted on. He hadn't thought much about it, but he was a little curious as to why it was a ruby.
'It would be easy if she felt some heat from that clumsy charade.'
But would she give him a ruby, such an expensive thing, for that? And it was strange that she had prepared the silverwork in a rush, too. Was it really possible to prepare such a gemstone in such a short time? Even if it was her livelihood—something didn't add up. He dismissed the idea that she had prepared it beforehand as impossible.
'It was a coincidence that I met Carl. It was a coincidence that I went to that mansion. Thinking too much is my bad habit.'
He reflected, pushing everything aside. He put the gemstone, which he had received as a good match, inside his clothes. Rutgard and such were trivial. Compared to the problems that piled up before him, they were of the lowest priority. To put it bluntly, he didn't care about Rutgard as an existence to him.
'Losing my memory, strength that defies logic, these are the two problems right now.'
He shouldn't waste his mental resources on Rutgard's intentions. William made that judgment and focused on what needed to be addressed.
“Now, what to do?”
༺༻
The victory in the field battle pushed the Arcadia army closer to Laconia. The Ostberg army's morale was not high, and they retreated to Laconia after several field battles. The siege of Laconia was going in Arcadia's favor.
“The situation is stagnant.”
Carl muttered. William nodded silently.
“...It's a siege. It's not easy.” William murmured referring to the siege.
The fortress of Laconia wasn’t an exceptionally sturdy one, but it still had the necessary functions of a fort. Stone walls surrounded the perimeter, and the thick gates, though wood, couldn’t be easily broken.
The strategy was to shoot arrows from afar and use the opening to climb the fort's outer wall with ladders. It was the very basics of siege warfare, but just because it was basic didn't mean it was easy. It was commonly said that three times the troops were needed for a siege, and this situation was exactly that.
“Just like before, those who move now are reta... not very smart.”
“Reta... what?”
Carl asked, puzzled.
“Never mind. Look, the ladders are starting to go up, right? Being the first spear is honorable, and they get treated accordingly. Those who are rushing ahead are aiming for that.”
William casually changed the subject and pointed at those who were hurrying and grabbing the ladders.
“But, there's no such thing as a good deal in this world.”
The ladder he pointed at was removed by the Ostberg soldiers on the fort's outer wall. 'Ah!’ Carl exclaimed. William looked coldly at his allies who were falling.
“Being the first spear has little reward for the competition. The risk is high. Right now we have the upper hand, so we don't have to push ourselves. We've already done enough.”
That's why the two of them had told their ten-man squad to slow down on purpose. They had earned enough influence during this war. It was already a public fact that the nobleman's son—Carl, and his sword—William, had great skills.
'Yes, we don't have to push ourselves. I already took the centurion's head. We don't need to do anymore.'
William reassured himself. This was the conclusion he had reached—to avoid any more unnecessary risks during this war. He didn't need to take the same risk as when he fought the centurion, after all, he had already secured the ticket to promotion to Decurion for Carl.
'Even if I took another centurion's head, there would be no skipping ranks in promotion.'
Then there was no need to move. But—
Something in his heart stirred. A part of William that he couldn't sense, that he couldn't feel, ached.
'Is it impatience? That's ridiculous. I'm calm. I can plan and execute things more rationally and coldly than anyone. I have to. This time, this is enough!'
It was in the very depths of his chest…
“My name is Stracles, the grand general of the Ostberg Kingdom! Arcadia's brats, if you want my head, come up here! Gahahaha!”
William's, Carl's, everyone's, eyes on the battlefield converged on one point. In such a vast battlefield, one person was no different from dust. But among them, only that man was clearly different.
“...Carl, what is that thing?”
William gaped at that "thing".
“He just introduced himself, didn't he? But yeah, the supreme commander was Stracles after all! Wow, I've never seen him before.”
Ignoring Carl's cheerful remark, William shuddered. He was overwhelmed by the glow of the giant man called Stracles, who should have been far away, by the aura or something that he exuded. William, who had thought he was second to none, bowed his head for the first time. He gave in.
'What am I...?'
A monster standing far, high, out of reach. His strength was probably more than Kyle's, and his other abilities were beyond anything he had ever seen. His overall power as a human was in a different league.
'Where am I...?'
William compared himself to the man on the fort's outer wall, the most conspicuous place. One shone, the other was buried in the ground. They were too different. Noble and slave, more than that, a huge gap was there.
And he couldn't accept that—
'I am—'
“Caaarl!”
“Hya?! Wh-what's wrong, William?!”
William wouldn't stay still.
“I'm going ahead. But this is a battlefield. Anything can happen. Don't ever leave the ten-man squad and be prepared. You guys protect Lord Carl. If you let Lord Carl die, I'll kill you in Lord Taylor's name.”
“Uh, but…”
William burst out. He wasn’t the usual calm William. His face twisted as he looked up at the sky with greed. A different face was revealed.
“William!”
Carl's voice didn't reach him. He ran through the battlefield at full speed.
“I won't lose to anyone!”
He didn't know what he was angry about. He didn't know why he jumped out, why he was running— he didn't know anything. The only thing he knew was—
༺༻
"Your Excellency! That was too reckless. What were you planning to do if you got shot by an arrow!"
"Sorry, sorry. But look, I caught a lively one."
Stracles and his subordinate looked at the ground from the high ground set up on the outer wall.
"I see. That white hair... the white haired brat who killed Hyen, huh?"
"Indeed. He's not as conspicuous as me, but he's quite a standout. Hahaha."
Ordinary soldiers couldn't tell them apart. The battlefield looked like nothing but swarming beans. But the two of them could clearly see the new sprout stirring among them.
"See if he's real or fake. I'll go down and wreak havoc."
Leaving Stracles dumbfounded, the battlefield moved below.
"I sent them in."
Suddenly appearing from the side, the Ostberg army hit the Arcadia army, who had only been looking up, with a surprise attack. They were overwhelmingly outnumbered, but the terrain, the formation, and the quality of the soldiers all favored Ostberg.
"Hah. You're too useful, you bastard. I wanted to do that."
"Let the pawns do the surprise attacks. Either way, this battle is meaningless."
Stracles' subordinate narrowed his eyes. His gaze held a hint of emptiness. The general hugged his subordinate's shoulder to block it.
"That's why you give it meaning. There aren't many who stand out like that. Instability, immaturity, flip it over and you have plenty of room to grow, right? Test him. Spare him if he's worth eating. Cull him if he's not."
As he said that, Stracles's eyes had a certain conviction that the man next to him understood well. And on top of that, he told him to test him.
"As you wish. Leave the rest to me."
"Yes. I’m leaving everything to you. I'm going to war!"
After Stracles left, the man looked at the scene below again.
"A battlefield unworthy of your Excellency. At least give it some meaning, white brat."
The heavy infantry blocked the "white" that the man was watching. How he would get to this place from there was worth seeing.
"Hmm, he seems to have some skill."
The man narrowed his eyes at the bloodbath.
༺༻
Shwoosh!
Without any hesitation, without any slack, William's sword severed the head of the black reaper.
"Gaaaah!"
He removed all the safety he had put on, and just rushed forward. He cut off anything that got in his way.
"Ugh, damn it!"
He didn't have any leeway to win perfectly. He ran through the shortest path at the edge. Therefore, he was constantly wounded, and stained crimson with his own blood and the blood of others.
His careful movements were silenced, and he advanced with ferocious, and sometimes sloppy, movements.
"You, bastard!!...huh?"
Still, heads flew with the power of the Lusitanian sword. William's movements until now had not taken advantage of the sword's superiority, and he could win and cut with any sword. But now, he used it to the fullest.
"This guy is strong!"
The man who had never doubted his superiority had his conviction shattered, and his bare ‘self’ was exposed.
"I'm strong, I'm excellent, I'm smart, I'm strong, I'm me, I'm me, I'm me, I'm me!!!"
The boundary line gradually disappeared. The sense of his self and "self" drifting apart.
He didn't intend to push himself any further on this battlefield. It was meaningless. Unless he took the general's head, there was no meaning. William normally wouldn't do something like this. He would tap the stone bridge, tap it too much, and move.
"I'm strong."
He broke. Stracles's appearance, just that, made the cold, cautious, calculating man break. But―
"Because I'm big sis' knight. Right, big sis?"
Because he broke, because he was bare, there was something horrible.
"I can't have anyone better than me. I'll devour them."
The white beast stained the battlefield with blood.
༺༻
"I see."
The scene below. There was a place that was clearly protruding. The tip that could be seen from afar was the white beast.
"I can understand why Hyen was eaten. That one is different."
His own subordinate, Hyen. He was an excellent centurion, but he was also a dead end. In contrast, the white-haired youth was neat and tidy in peacetime, but when he unleashed his ‘self’, he was very uneven and unstable. His movements were reckless and wasteful, but even with that, his highest point was incomparable to Hyen.
"The impact on the soldiers is not bad, either."
It wasn't just the front that was running wild. The reason the white hair wasn't isolated was because there were others following him. They were all insane, like the white hair. They were influenced by the front, and they went crazy until they died. A horde of madmen.
"Hmph, where were you hiding until now?"
If they heard Stracles' "voice", everyone would be affected. Enemy and ally alike. That was the power of the general, the sword of the nation, Stracles. The voice that made them rise up or lose their strength was a common soldier. But there were also a few who showed a different reaction.
"Are you just a madman, or a potential warrior? I'll see for myself."
The white-haired man, William. How did he look to him, the right arm of the general?