Chapter 1

The Genius Knight Who Devours Memories

Chapter 1

Prologue

Rumble, boom!

Lightning struck the old cabin.

The darkness was momentarily dispelled as the surroundings flashed brightly.

The inside of the cabin was drenched in blood.

“Ughhh. Gaaah!”

The groan belonged to a middle-aged man.

He was wearing a robe emblazoned with a red cross.

He turned around in disbelief.

Perhaps fifteen years old.

A young boy who still seemed to have some baby fat left on his face stood there.

Drops of what appeared to be his own blood stained the boy’s face.

Clatter-. A bloodstained kitchen knife fell from the boy’s hand.

“You fucking... how.”

Pshhk-!

Blood began spurting like a fountain from the hole in his back.

Whether intentional or not, the kitchen knife had slipped diagonally past his spine and ribs and pierced straight through his heart.

The man’s pupils trembled in disbelief.

To think what had harmed him was not a knight’s sword, but a kitchen knife.

And one wielded by a child at that...

“Ugh...”

The man quickly began to feel dizzy.

At this rate, it would not be long before he collapsed.

He was gathering mana to protect his heart, but there was no telling how long that would last either.

‘How did he get here?’

The man wore an incredulous expression.

No matter how mediocre he was, he was not so ordinary that he would fail to notice a child approaching him.

Just as his mind filled with questions.

Rumble- Boom!

Lightning flashed once again.

For a brief moment, the boy’s face lit up.

At the same time, a chill ran down the man’s spine.

‘...He’s calm?’

Expressionless.

As though plunging a knife into a person’s heart was nothing at all.

There was not the slightest tension or emotional disturbance on the boy’s face.

The soldier found that sight deeply strange.

‘I can’t let him live.’

He felt it instinctively.

Those were eyes that would surely bring harm.

The man swung his sword, intending to take the boy down with him.

Swish, but only the sound of the blade cutting through empty air reached his ears.

‘How did he dodge that?’

The boy was already half a step farther away.

How could a child who did not even seem to have learned the sword...

He was curious, but there was no way to know.

“Damn...”

The man staggered and trailed off.

Crash-! After clutching his head once, the man collapsed.

He was dizzy from losing blood so quickly.

“Mom.”

Only then did the boy’s gaze turn toward his mother.

His mother had already become a cold corpse.

After all, the man had infiltrated the house under orders to clean things up...

By the time he entered, the woman was already dead.

Looking at her, the boy muttered.

“She’s dead...”

That was all.

He neither screamed nor cried... nor even frowned.

The complete lack of emotion on his face struck the man as deeply strange.

“Ughhh...”

But the man no longer cared what the boy was doing, nor how things would end for the two of them.

The man’s eyes turned toward empty space.

He instinctively realized he stood on the threshold of death.

‘Is this my life flashing before my eyes...’

The days he had lived slowly began surfacing.

The closer he came to death, the clearer his memories became.

Forgetting even the pain, the man began tracing through his memories.

The face of the wife he had loved appeared vividly.

- Leon. Leon!

It felt as though his dead wife’s voice were calling him.

His wife would smile gently as she called the man’s name.

If only she would call his name just once more.

Soon, he would be able to go meet her.

Just as his body grew heavy and it became difficult to keep his eyes open.

“Leon.”

“...?”

The man heard his name.

The voice did not belong to his wife.

Leon squeezed out the last of his strength and lifted his head.

The boy was looking at him.

How does he know my name...

Questions filled Leon’s mind, but no words came out.

This was the first time the boy and he had ever met.

“So I get memories even when I kill people.”

The boy muttered as though talking to himself.

Then he walked over, crouched down, and looked at Leon.

In a tone suggesting Leon’s death meant nothing at all, the boy asked.

“Who is Reinag? The one who killed my mom.”

“...?”

Reinag.

The greatest Sword Saint on the continent.

The one responsible for killing the boy’s mother.

The man himself did not know why someone of the Sword Saint’s stature would kill a civilian in a mountain village.

But what puzzled him even more was how the boy knew that name.

- So I get memories even when I kill people.

The boy’s words suddenly flashed through his mind.

But that was all.

Leon felt it instinctively.

This would be his final heartbeat.

And then, thump...!

A heart that should have already stopped.

The pulse he had been forcibly sustaining with mana beat once, and his body convulsed briefly.

At the same time, the light left Leon’s eyes.

After confirming it, the boy stood.

“Goodbye, Leon.”

The boy’s final words echoed faintly in his ears.

“I’ll remember you.”

Rumble, Booooom-!

Lightning struck the cabin once again.

Chapter 1

The first day Rohan went hunting, he was startled.

When he stabbed a trapped rabbit with a knife to kill it, the rabbit’s memories flowed into him.

When it ran through green fields...

When it snuck into a human farm and stole carrots...

When it fled from a fox...

Even the night it hid in a rabbit hole while being chased by a wolf...

At first he was uncertain, but after going hunting several more times, he became convinced.

He could take the memories of the lives he killed.

The first emotion that arose in Rohan was something simple.

Curiosity.

Deep curiosity consumed Rohan’s mind.

Then what about the memories of a fox that hunted rabbits?

The hunting methods of a wild dog that preyed on foxes?

What about a wolf that cornered and hunted wild dogs?

A bear that could take down a wolf in one blow?

The deeper his curiosity became, the more animals died by Rohan’s hands.

People said Rohan was insensitive to emotion, but Rohan did not think so.

Because he felt distinct emotions when hunting stronger predators, creatures higher on the food chain.

Pleasure.

Clear enjoyment.

Whenever he absorbed a predator’s memories, Rohan felt alive.

That sensation was incredibly addictive.

Hunting stronger prey... prey standing higher on the food chain.

Growing further through their memories.

As though possessed, Rohan went searching for prey.

- You mustn’t kill innocent lives!

One day, his mother cried out in horror.

It was the day she discovered the secret place where he had piled up corpses.

- Why?

Rohan asked.

The question came purely from curiosity.

Through those memories, he had become capable of hunting more prey, and he could earn much more money as a result.

- Because every life is precious. Just like you are, Rohan. You must cherish life if you want to become a good person.

Life. Precious. Good person.

They were moral standards that held little meaning to Rohan, but...

Rohan nodded.

His mother was always right.

- Please, never kill any living thing recklessly.

Though still young, he engraved those words into his heart and lived by them.

From that day onward, Rohan no longer killed life carelessly.

He did not even go hunting unless there was a need.

His mother was always right.

All he had to do was listen to his mother.

That was what he thought...

Then his mother died.

His mother had said that other people cherished life too.

But the man wearing the Noxis military uniform had not treated his mother as something precious.

Was that why he had not felt even the slightest guilt when he killed the man?

Or was it simply his innate nature?

He did not know, but one thing was certain.

His emotions had not wavered in the slightest.

‘Can I take memories even if I kill a person?’

He had always wondered, but had never acted on that curiosity.

Then that day, Rohan killed a person for the first time.

And the man’s memories entered Rohan’s mind.

Human memories were deeper and far more stimulating than those of animals could ever compare to.

Explosive emotions swept through Rohan’s heart like rain pouring onto parched earth.

There was one person who became deeply engraved in Rohan’s mind.

‘Reinag...’

The greatest sword on the continent.

A knight of Noxis, the enemy nation currently at war with the Empire.

‘Why did my mom have to die because of that man?’

He searched through the memories of the soldier he had killed, but could not find the answer.

The moment he thought of his dead mother, the emotions that had been raging explosively within him suddenly died down.

‘...Mom.’

Throb-.

An emotion he had never felt before swirled in his chest.

Rage? Anger? Fighting spirit? Revenge?

He did not know the exact word for it, but his chest ached and his insides felt as though they were boiling.

‘I should kill Reinag.’

He instinctively knew that Reinag lay at the end of this unpleasant emotion.

It did not feel as though this emotion would disappear until he killed him.

He was curious why Reinag had killed his mother, but there was no need to ask.

If he killed him, his memories would enter Rohan as well.

‘But how?’

The Reinag in the memories was strong.

When he swung his sword, storms arose, and when he cut the sea, a path opened.

He could not even be compared to the people in the village who were supposedly skilled with a sword.

Rohan looked down at his own hands.

Small, skinny, feeble hands.

With those hands, he gripped the sword of the Noxis soldier he had killed.

Rohan knew a clear method for becoming stronger.

Whoosh-. He swung the sword through the air.

Just as the soldier remembered. Just as he had trained.

From rabbits to foxes. From foxes to wild dogs. From wild dogs to wolves.

By hunting them, Rohan had become a master hunter.

If he wanted to become stronger, then wasn’t all he had to do kill stronger humans?

Humans who knew more?

“I don’t think I’ll be able to keep my promise.”

Rohan muttered toward empty space.

Kra-boom-!

Rohan’s eyes flashed amid the lightning.

_______________

A week passed.

No one in the world cared about the tragedy inside the old cabin.

The village a short distance away from that cabin was unusually bustling today.

“It’s the White Wolf Knights!”

The White Wolf Knights.

Elite soldiers who fought Noxis on the very front lines of the battlefield.

They were welcomed wherever they went within the Karnia Empire.

The knight commander at their head, Supern, ordered his soldiers.

“Eat and enjoy yourselves to your hearts’ content today.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Yahoo!”

For the first time in a while, the order had entered a village.

It was to celebrate their recent victory.

Though they were heavily armored, the villagers were not afraid of them.

It was a common sight in a nation at war.

“Are we allowed to drink?”

“Drink until your nose turns crooked.”

“Yeah!”

The war had reached a stalemate.

Noxis in the north, which had rebelled against the Empire.

And the southern Empire that sought to punish them.

Though both sides were desperate to devour the other, years had passed without any progress.

Those standing at the center of the war needed moments like this from time to time.

“Commander, aren’t you drinking?”

“I’m fine.”

“Tch, you’re still no fun.”

Supern wore an indifferent expression.

He had no intention of touching alcohol until the war ended.

He was quietly watching his soldiers when—

Tap, tap.

Someone tapped Supern on the shoulder.

Looking down, he found a young boy standing beside him.

Dark black hair and eyes so dark they were nearly black, with a faint bluish tint.

Soldiers could enlist in the training corps starting at seventeen, yet the boy looked even younger than them.

“What is it?”

Supern asked in as warm a tone as he could manage.

Most children were frightened when they saw Supern’s scar-covered face.

But the boy before him showed no such emotion.

The boy said,

“How do I become a knight?”

“You want to become a knight?”

The boy nodded.

Only then did Supern notice that he had a long sword hanging at his waist.

A handsome face like that of a young noble.

Combined with his thin frame, which made him appear even more delicate, the sword looked thoroughly out of place.

Supern pointed at it and asked.

“Where did you get that sword?”

“I found it.”

It belonged to the Noxis soldier he had killed, but there was no way Supern could know that.

He quickly lost interest.

It was not strange to find military-issue swords during wartime.

“What’s your name?”

“Rohan.”

“Your age?”

“Fifteen.”

The minimum age to join the knight order was seventeen.

But Supern showed no sign of that.

“Good, Rohan. Why do you want to become a knight?”

“To kill Reinag.”

Pffft! Cough, cough!

The soldiers drinking rum nearby all spat out their drinks at once.

Their eyes went wide as though they could not believe what they had just heard.

One tactless soldier among them began running his mouth.

“Hahaha! The brat has huge ambitions! You want to kill the enemy nation’s Sword Saint? Then you’ve come to the right place! The White Wolf Knights here fight on the very front lines...”

“Be quiet.”

“Ahem.”

The man took another swig of rum, glanced at Supern’s expression, then spoke again.

“Anyway, brat. If you want to become a knight, you need to learn swordsmanship. With that twig-like body of yours, it’ll be impossible!”

The soldiers surrounded Rohan and snickered.

Rohan had said he was fifteen, but because of his skinny frame, he looked even younger.

Perhaps because of that, the surrounding soldiers looked down at him with mocking eyes.

Rohan looked directly at the soldier and said.

“I know how. Swordsmanship.”

Bwahaha-!

Laughter burst out among the soldiers.

At the mention of swordsmanship, even the soldiers drinking farther away approached with their cups in hand and formed a circle around Rohan.

Their reactions were as though an amusing spectacle had walked right up to them.

The thick smell of alcohol filled the air.

“Good, good. Hmm. Sure. Then why don’t you show us some swordsmanship with that sword?”

“If I’m good at swordsmanship, will you let me join the knight order?”

“Of course, of course. The man standing right in front of you is the boss of the White Wolf Knights. Who knows? If you impress him, maybe you’ll even become his direct disciple.”

“You promised.”

Though he was answering the soldier, Rohan’s eyes were fixed on Supern.

Supern gave an awkward smile and nodded.

“But Commander.”

Rohan quietly approached him.

At the gesture asking him to lend an ear, Supern bent closer.

A small voice reached Supern’s ear.

“Why is there a Noxis soldier here?”

“What?”

Supern’s expression hardened instantly.

He followed Rohan’s gaze, but all he saw were ordinary soldiers.

A soldier holding rum, completely drunk... unmistakably celebrating their victory with a toast.

Just as Supern, thinking it impossible, was about to question him further.

“What are you doing whispering? Hurry up and show us your swordsmanship!”

“Brat, show us your swordsmanship!”

Supern’s words were quickly drowned out.

The drunken soldiers raised their cups and shouted at Rohan.

Rohan did not seem particularly interested in receiving an answer either, and drew his sword from its sheath.

Shing-!

The moment the blade flashed, the atmosphere grew heated.

Because the way he held the sword actually looked quite good.

But Supern’s expression rapidly hardened.

‘He’s learned swordsmanship.’

To Supern, who had trained countless soldiers, it looked different.

Though the weight of the sword made him somewhat awkward, his stance was close to textbook form.

His posture, breathing, gaze, even the way he used his muscles.

It was not a stance one could achieve without proper training.

A faint hint of expectation appeared in Supern’s eyes.

The boy swung the sword horizontally.

Whoosh. The sword cut through the air.

It was only a single motion, yet Supern’s eyes widened even further.

What he focused on was the use of the muscles.

The muscles engaged throughout the boy’s entire body were precisely those that needed to be used.

Eliminating unnecessary movement.

That tiny difference added speed, and on the battlefield, lives were decided by that speed.

It was a form that could not be produced without clearly understanding the principles of swordsmanship.

“Whoa-! Nice, nice!”

The drunken soldiers would not be able to notice such things.

They were simply enjoying the situation and cheering Rohan on.

Whoosh, swoosh.

Rohan’s swordsmanship continued.

He drew back the blade he had swung horizontally, then cut diagonally.

Then upward again.

“Wahaha-! The kid’s pretty good!”

The soldiers happily gulped down their rum.

“Wait a minute...”

But the longer Rohan continued his swordsmanship, the fewer people cheered.

By the time Rohan reached the finishing movements of the form, no one was speaking anymore.

“Fuck... that’s Noxis swordsmanship.”

Someone muttered quietly.

Everyone was thinking the same thing.

The swordsmanship of the enemy nation, Noxis, which they had learned through countless battles.

The boy was performing the foundational forms of that very swordsmanship.

Using the enemy nation’s swordsmanship alone was enough to warrant immediate execution.

But perhaps because the opponent was such a skinny child?

No one dared step forward, and they simply stared.

That was when it happened.

Rohan, who had been slowly edging closer to the crowd, suddenly changed direction in the blink of an eye and thrust his sword diagonally.

Slash-!

A red line appeared across the throat of one soldier who had been watching the boy while holding rum in his right hand.

It was the same soldier Rohan had indicated earlier.

It was a strike anyone could have blocked.

Yet no one did.

Silence fell among the soldiers, as though they still had not fully grasped what had happened.

Rohan’s sword had already come to a stop.

Dark red blood dripped from the blade in his hand.

Thud.

Only the sound of the slashed soldier collapsing echoed through the area.