No, it’s all a dream. It’s all a terrible nightmare!
No, it’s not true. It can’t be true!
Mother? Incest? Not me, not me!
A fourteen or fifteen year old boy rushed blindly through the dark jungle, his mumbles gradually turning into hoarse cries, when suddenly, his feet stepped on the ground…
Chapter 1: The “Lucky” Apprentice Knights
Rodel, the capital of Parson, the most powerful empire on the continent of Enya.
There are dark corners in the bustling city.
-Sayings of a prophet
Under the bright lights and beautiful music of the city, in the damp and gloomy shadows of the slums… “Perhaps this is a place where even the grace of the gods cannot reach!” Risa, an apprentice knight of the Imperial Paladin Corps, thought to herself as she walked.
“As a Knight of the Imperial Paladin Legion, it is its stated goal to maintain social stability in the Imperial capital and eradicate the root causes of crime.”
The sage advice of the Knight’s instructor came back to him. Touching the sword at his waist, although the work was sacred and great, there had to be lives to fulfill it. I didn’t expect that the assessment task for the completion of her apprenticeship would be to come to such a place. Risa couldn’t help but let out a long sigh, pitying her own miserable fate.
However, as a descendant of a fallen nobleman of the empire, to be able to enter the Imperial Paladin Corps, which was full of glory and honor, was already a blessing from the ancestors. Thinking of the expectant gaze of his parents before his departure, no matter what kind of task, he could only go ahead and complete it.
After all, this damned quest was still something he had squeezed his head through to obtain from the two thousand eight hundred apprentice knights who had worked so hard to get it. Si, it was indeed hard work to obtain it oh! At that time, I squeezed myself to the point where my armor was askew, and it was not easy for me to find a quest list with no one in front of it the moment I jumped up. Just climbed from the surging tide of people to the quest list before, did not come and move to cover the helmet in front of the eyes, a powerful voice in the top of the head resounded: “En, young man, and courage, vision, selected this task, ha, will be the beginning of your rise to fame.”
When the owner of the voice saw the strands of blonde hair falling out of the “huge” helmet, he immediately changed his tone to another solemn, compassionate tone and said, “As a knight of the Imperial Paladin Corps…”
At the time of departure, the head of the corps personally gave himself a farewell party, and I can’t remember what was said at the time, but the only thing that stuck in my mind was the eyes that seemed to be bidding farewell to the remains… “Hmph, I’ll show you people that I, Rizal…”
“Hey, girl, watch where you’re going!”
Rubbing her sorely bumped nose and tilting her head, Risa realized the chest hairs looming in front of her. Startled, she took a few steps back, and a couple of guys who looked like criminals no matter how they looked blocked the way. The one in the lead was the same guy who had bumped her nose. Oh, God, he was as tall as two and a half of me, with arms as thick as my legs…
“Hehe, this chick is quite pretty, why don’t you accompany our brothers to have some fun!” A lewd young man next to the giant said frivolously. A burst of laughter ensued.
“You, what do you guys want?” Liza couldn’t help but take a few more steps back, her hands gripping her collar tightly as she asked in a small, timid voice.
“What do you say?” The young man took a few excited steps forward when he saw Risa in this state and reached out to grab Risa’s arm.
“Are you out of your mind?” The giant slapped the young man into a corner: “Can’t you see that this little ninny is equipped with a paladin’s sword?”
“Boss, I did see that. But how capable can such a small paladin and a chick be?” The young man covered his red and swollen cheeks in defense.
“Hmph, even enemies weaker than you must be dealt with at full strength! Have you forgotten Yang’s teachings?” The giant said angrily, clasping his hands hard against each other twice, making bone popping sounds like “kah, kah”, and walking towards Risa with his arms wide open.
“Hey, Miss Paladin, what’s the point of coming to our place?”
“No, don’t come over!” Risa whispered as she nervously closed her eyes and waved her paladin sword wildly with both hands.
“Forget it, boss, let her go!” A cold, unemotional human voice came from behind the giant.
The giant stopped and turned his head to look at the place where the voice came from, asking in disbelief, “Why, Yang, she’s a paladin no matter what. To come to us, there must be a purpose!”
“Hmph, I can tell she’s a rookie just by listening to her voice and the sound of the wind as she swings her sword. Must be an unlucky apprentice knight! Have you forgotten that at this time of the year, one or two unlucky people come here?”
“Yes, Boss, I’ve seen it all along.” The young man in the corner said excitedly, “Didn’t all the trainee knights from previous years get beaten up by us and go back on their backs? This time…”
“You shut up!” The giant said with some anger, “Seeing as she’s still a ninny, I’ll let her go today. Brothers, drink!”
With a roar of approval, the dreaded “criminals” were finally gone.
Shushing softly, Risha paralyzed herself, but with some curiosity in her heart, she looked towards the place where the cold voice had come from. The first thing that came into her eyes was a mocking smile (secretly angry), a pair of eyes full of rage, indignation, helplessness, wisdom, but without any glamor (for some reason, Riza had a premonition, I’m afraid that she would not be able to forget such a pair of peculiar eyes for the rest of her life), a pair of long, silver-colored hair, the “fragile” body of a boy of 8-9 years old (poor thing, blind and crippled), who was leaning against the front door of a dilapidated cottage, and the “weak” body of a boy of 8-9 years old (poor thing, blind and crippled). “(poor thing, blind and crippled)…
Riza did not know how she got back to the training camp, and she did not even know how she spent the celebration party that the camp threw for her. The only thing she remembered in her mind was that pair of eyes… Two months later, in July of the 1083rd year of the Imperial Calendar, Riza, who had just celebrated her nineteenth birthday, had become a full-fledged member of the Imperial Order of the Knights Templar.
After a chance encounter, the wheel of fate began to turn unknowingly… Chapter 2 – Saint Michael the Great
Haven, although it belonged to the most powerful empire on the continent of Enya──Rodel’s territory, it was not actually under the jurisdiction of the empire, the reason for that was because the Holy Spirit Academy’s seat was located in Haven.
The history of the Holy Spirit Academy’s existence was no longer available, the only thing that could be determined was that she had silently stood above this vast land before the creation of the Rodel Empire. And in countless myths and legends, one can find this name full of glory and honor.
Legends and myths are, after all, nothingness, and in the face of strong force, even she had to bow down. Carlsbad, the founding monarch of the Roedel Empire, a warrior who favored force and did not believe in the existence of any gods, captured the place with his army shortly after founding the empire.
However, the reason for the occupation of this uncontested academy was unknown. After all, Carlsas was a fearless warrior, not an ignorant barbarian. The official history of Roeder’s was only briefly skimmed over──”On April 9th of the 3rd year of the Imperial Calendar, His Majesty the Holy Emperor formally incorporated Haven into the territory.” In the secret records of the College of the Holy Spirit, this day is called the “Dark Day”.
“The dynastic chronicles are just a cover for the nobles.” So said the famous bard on the continent of Enya–Kelar.
Shortly after the Academy of the Holy Spirit was incorporated into the Empire, Holy Emperor Carlsbad died and Carlsbad II took the throne.
On April 9, 13th year of the Imperial Calendar, the College of the Holy Spirit was given the jurisdiction of Haven as the Royal Library, the Court of Rodel. It is responsible for court rituals, appointment and removal of clerics, ordination of paladins, and other things.
With the passage of time, the ordination of paladins had gradually separated from the jurisdiction of the Academy of the Holy Spirit. The title of Paladin, which originally had a halo around it, had also deteriorated into the general name of a Royal Knight. After all, the inheritance of the Roeder Empire lineage has been more than a thousand years, like the paladin, the past glory and spirit gradually faded in front of people’s eyes, and even faded, for those who are busy for the desire of the mouth and stomach, perhaps the reality in front of them is the most important thing.
“O man, what is it that you live for?”
Under the bright moonlight, dots of bonfires flickered around this tiny village. Soft music, accompanied by the bard’s melodious song, echoed in the night sky.
Deja, a holy warrior of the Holy Spirit Academy, leaned back on the rock behind him, looking at the village in the distance, listening to the beautiful song, and his taut nerves gradually loosening up.
Recently, something has been happening in the villages around the Holy Spirit Academy. It is said that there are unknown monsters roaming around at night, sometimes even rushing into the village without fear of fire; and then disappearing without a trace when dawn falls, leaving behind only the low sobs of the women in the village.
However, in the Holy Spirit College, the aura of the demon was not detected. Originally, the Holy Spirit Academy was located in the center of Haven, plus it was built on top of the tallest mountain on the continent–Mount Parcaro, so even if a demon appeared in a corner of the entire continent, not to mention the small Haven, the Holy Spirit Academy’s monitoring ability would be able to detect it immediately.
“That’s weird!” Deja muttered.
After several villages were attacked, the Holy Spirit Academy sent out holy priests to understand the cause and eradicate the monsters, and Deja was one of them. Since the Paladin had become a misnomer, the Holy Spirit Academy had trained a group of Saints in order to maintain the stability of the people on the continent. Although the name is different, the actual work is not much different from the paladins of the past–“With a heart of conviction and gifted bravery, they are loyal to their duty, sincere in their promise, and protect the weak from being deceived.” –This is also the motto of the Holy Emperor of the Roedel Empire, Carlsbad.
“What a bit of a mockery,” Deja thought with a faintly bitter smile.
┅┅
“Ah, monsters!”
“Kid, run!”
“Mom!”
“My child!”
┅┅
Suddenly shrieks and cries from the village in the distance interrupted Deja’s thoughts as they flew.
“Finally!” Deja tightened his belt, turned and walked quickly down the hillock, jumped on his horse and galloped away.
In March of the Imperial Calendar 1087, the bizarre events that took place in Haven subsided. The reason for the incident was not known to many people, nor did it attract much attention. Who would have thought that it was this small incident in Haven that opened a new chapter in the history of the continent? This incident, later generations called “the beginning of the era”, some people call it “the trigger of the Hundred Years’ War” or “the bloody rose”.
(to be continued)