1. Distress of the Master of the Knights

It is decorated so that the bright red sky is filled with pink clouds. It was a little chilly evening to stand by the window. I stared at the sky in silence for a while, but the cold wind that suddenly blew in made me regain consciousness and let out a sigh.

The flaxen-haired man who was staring outside gently pushed the window pull and closed the large window that stretched almost to the ceiling. When the window closed, the only sound echoed in the quiet room.

"It's already... I think it's just a matter of time."

A trembling murmur that could not suppress the emotion was sucked into the large room where everything except the area where the orange light shined was beginning to be dyed black. The man put his elbows on a luxurious top table with delicate mother-of-pearl inlays and put his hands together in front of his face.

"Too many dead. And."

"And it's too soon."

With his back to the window, the flaxen-haired man turned around and caught the man's words, which seemed like he might start screaming at any moment. Then, he turned his gaze to the man in front of him holding his head, the conversation partner who never returned a reply. The white hair mixed in with the black hair makes him look older than his age, and the good-looking side with good features is a grim expression that seems to be possessed by a disease due to the daily wrinkles on his eyebrows. Her pale gray eyes, so beautiful that most people would stop moving if they looked at her, were clouded and congested with lifeless fatigue. The fingers of both hands, which were clasped in front of his face, were bony, and his powerful fingertips were trembling so much that they looked white.

"No one could have predicted this momentum. We're not the only ones. And... it's not your responsibility."

The flaxen-haired man chose his words with difficulty. Hearing that, the black-haired man desperately suppressed his emotions, repeatedly sighing painfully even to catch his breath, and closed his eyes tightly.

The black-haired man, Doldren Davaat, is the president of the Knights Order of the Kingdom of Hyzangel. The reason why he was appointed as the president in his mid-30s is that he praised his outstanding achievements. It was because he didn't come back.

Clever, strong, loyal, and with a strong sense of justice, Doldren had been the commander until then, but was suddenly appointed to the role of the commander-in-chief for a limited period of time as a substitute for the commander who did not return from the reconnaissance of the "West Wall". was done.

During his six months as president, day after day, he worked out strategies, collected even the slightest amount of information, gave instructions with a tense attention, fought earnestly, and ran desperately to turn the situation to his advantage.

But the number of his casualties grew with each passing day, and it gnawed upon Doldren's heart. Tormented by the never-ending mental blows, before he knew it, he was spending his days doing everything he could to keep himself conscious.

The flaxen-haired man was frustrated with himself for not being able to save even the slightest bit of help from this man who continued to fight alone with the lives of his brethren. Doldren is trembling, but he is not frightened. The mind is the limit to the anger that pierces and wanders. Doldren fights and continues to defeat a large number of monsters that have never existed in this world outside of picture stories.

The monsters are still undetermined when it comes to defeating them, and from a certain point on, they suddenly appeared, and no matter how many times they were defeated, they didn't seem to decrease, and their numbers continued to increase.

Even if they can be defeated, some monsters can come back to life after defeating them, and they attack people day and night, so those who fight on the front line have no time to relax. In the last six months, when the power of monsters increased, the reasons for knights' deaths in battle were not only losing their lives to monsters, but also death from overwork.

Doldren was also troubled by the fact that when monsters first began to appear, they were treated as a problem in some regions.

"Monster countermeasures were only promoted as a priority in a limited area with a high appearance rate." Doldren, who was on the front lines of countermeasures in the countryside, told the royal castle that the situation was extremely dangerous, but that opinion was always turned to "next time."

And even with desperate offense and defense in vain, monsters finally began to appear near the center of the country, causing a commotion in the royal capital. It was recent.

From the time the monsters first appeared, the only ones working on countermeasures against monsters in the regions were the Knights' Order, which had a branch outside the royal capital. The Order of Knights is exclusive to the church that holds the second highest power in the Kingdom of Hyzangel, but although its headquarters is inside the castle, it basically has branch offices in areas outside the capital, and they work together to ensure the safety of the entire country. cover. There was also such a business form, and it was natural to leave it to the knight monastic order.

There is also a knight order under the direct control of the royal capital, but this is strictly within the jurisdiction of the royal capital, and other areas are only operated by reconnaissance and dispatch missions. Unlike ordinary jobs, the lifetime guarantee is generous, the retirement allowance is long, and the allowance for the period of service is incomparable, so there are not a few cases where children who are nobles and do not inherit the title enlist as knights. Therefore, safety is the first priority, and dangerous missions are naturally passed to the right people outside the royal capital - the Knights Order.

Due to this background, Doldren, who had been fighting ever since the tragedy started in the "West Wall", has now added "Just in case" to the royal capital's direct knights. He was summoned to announce information about monsters to the parliament.

The flaxen-haired man, Sedanka Hawes, was one of the people who took Doldren's countless letters seriously, and was the Assistant Minister of Defense for the Defense Bureau. Concerned about the future of the kingdom due to the increasing number of monsters in the past year, Sedanka supported early efforts to deal with the issue of monsters every time parliament was held.

However, Sedanka's voice was also shut down, saying, "I'll see you next time."

Doldren's black hair mixed with white hair is stroked by madder red light. When he catches the light, his pale gray eyes that shine silver look like they're burning red like flames in the reflection of the sunset. Today's parliament was a place to discuss monster countermeasures for the kingdom, but the purpose was selfish and ignoring the blows of the people. After a farcical parliament, Sedanka put a trembling Doldren into a separate room and secretly delivered an emergency plan directed by Sedanka himself.

Doldren was quiet, but he didn't make eye contact, muttering "it's only a matter of time" over and over again. Judging that the story wouldn't end in a circle, Sedanka let out a small breath and said to Dordren.

"I'm sorry I stopped you, Doldren. I've arranged an inn in the royal capital for today, so you should rest there. I've entrusted the receptionist at the castle gate with the lodging guide. shell"

Before Sedanka had finished speaking, the man with his dark hair swinging stood up and opened the door. Without looking back, he simply said, "Thank you very much," and silently walked out into the hallway.

Sedanka could only see the battle-weary man's back.