Chapter 3

The Genius Knight Who Devours Memories

Chapter 3

Tap. Tap.

A dimly lit office.

Supern was tapping the vial recovered from Hans’s corpse against the desk.

- I don’t know the exact ingredients, but it’s definitely a deadly poison.

He recalled the words of a soldier well-versed in medicinal herbs.

They had actually caught a rat and fed it the drug, and it died in less than a minute.

If the soldiers had drunk the poisoned rum, most of the unit would have died.

As a commander, the thought sent a chill down his spine.

‘Why? Just how?’

Hans, whom Rohan had killed, had been a member of the knight order for three whole years.

He had gotten along well with the other soldiers and had a good reputation.

And yet he had been a spy.

It was still difficult to believe, but the brooch had confirmed that everything the boy said was true.

Putting those thoughts aside, Supern called over the commander of the Fourth Company standing nearby.

Hans, whom the boy had killed, had belonged to the Fourth Company.

“Company Commander.”

“Yes.”

“That boy named Rohan. What do you think of him?”

“Didn’t you say everything the boy said was true?”

Supern gave a faint chuckle at the company commander’s answer.

“You know that’s not what I’m asking.”

“...”

After pausing for a moment as though considering his thoughts, the Fourth Company Commander spoke.

“He was exceptionally skilled. Not just anyone can imitate swordsmanship merely by seeing it.”

“That’s true.”

“If he joined the knight order...”

Supern cut him off.

“We must not accept him into the order.”

“He is certainly a dangerous child. But it didn’t seem like he killed people out of malice.”

“That may be an even bigger problem.”

“Pardon?”

“It means he doesn’t understand that what he’s doing is wrong.”

It was true that the boy’s ability was tempting.

But before being a human being, Supern was a commander.

He had to consider what might happen within the unit if he accepted the boy.

“...If that is your decision, Commander.”

The company commander no longer objected.

There had to be a reason Supern was being so stubborn about it.

Their conversation was nearing its end.

“K-Knight Commander! Commander!”

A soldier rushed into the office, nearly out of breath.

Entering the office without permission was a clear violation of military law.

But the soldier’s expression and behavior made it clear this was no time to worry about such things.

“What happened?”

Supern sprang to his feet and grabbed his sword.

Most situations like this meant the enemy had launched a surprise attack.

But the soldier uttered unexpected words.

“The prison... the underground prison is on fire!”

“What?”

The underground prison.

The place where Rohan and five Noxis soldiers were imprisoned.

There had never been a problem there even once since they established the base.

Supern’s eyes narrowed.

Whoosh-.

Just then, the air blowing between the tents carried a strong smell of something burning.

______________

Fwoooosh-!

A short distance from the burning underground prison.

Rohan sat on the dirt ground, pressing down on his head.

‘Killing five at once really makes my head hurt.’

A massive amount of information had flooded into him all at once, leaving his head throbbing.

‘It feels like the path of the sword has opened before me.’

Separate from the pain, a strong sense of accomplishment welled up within him.

Several forms of swordsmanship had entered his mind, and his mind rapidly began combining them.

He felt like swinging a sword immediately.

‘How many people will I have to kill to kill Reinag?’

Rohan suddenly wondered.

How many people would he have to kill to reach the end of the sword?

He would probably have to kill strong people like Supern as well.

Whatever the case, he was still far from strong enough.

‘Is there any way to stop my head from hurting?’

That was something he would have to think about gradually.

Every time he killed someone, he became defenseless for a certain period of time, and that was a fatal weakness.

When he burned five people to death at once, tremendous pain had struck his head.

“Bring more water!”

“Put out the fire!! Hurry!! You bastard, where the hell are you pouring it? Damn it!”

He could see soldiers moving busily in the distance.

The raging flames had been brought somewhat under control.

Soldiers who entered the prison began carrying out the corpses of the Noxis soldiers one by one.

They were all so badly charred that their forms were difficult to recognize.

“The boy is gone!”

“The brat who killed Hans disappeared!”

Soon, voices searching for Rohan rang out.

Once things had progressed that far, Rohan stood and brushed the dirt off his backside.

Then he walked toward where the soldiers were gathered.

“The boy disapp—”

“Are you looking for me?”

“Aaagh!”

When Rohan suddenly emerged from the darkness, one soldier fell backward in fright.

Rohan’s appearance made the already noisy place even more chaotic.

“You bastard. How did you get out!”

“Who the hell are you to kill Hans!”

“You started the fire, didn’t you!”

Resentful voices rang out, but Rohan did not particularly react.

That was when it happened.

Pow-! Rohan’s vision suddenly flashed, and his body went tumbling across the ground.

Turning his head, he saw a sharp-eyed man with black hair looking down at him.

‘It’s Creed.’

Rohan recognized him immediately.

Fourth Company, Fourth Platoon, Fourth Squad Leader of the White Wolf Knights.

A man whose natural talent was unimpressive, but who had risen to squad leader through his unique perseverance and effort.

Shing!

The man drew his sword and pointed it at Rohan’s throat.

Rohan could feel murderous intent strong enough that one wrong move might truly get him killed.

“You. How did you get out?”

Rohan stood and brushed himself off.

With an indifferent expression, Rohan answered.

“Is that important? I haven’t committed any crime.”

“No crime? Ridiculous. The man you killed was one of my squad members.”

“He was a Noxis spy.”

“Even if he was, you had no authority to kill him.”

Creed ground his teeth.

No one cared more about his squad members than Creed.

Hans, whom Rohan had killed, had also been a squad member Creed had looked after with affection.

The sharpened blade grazed Rohan’s throat.

A red line appeared across his neck, and drops of blood trickled down.

“Tell me now. How did you get out?”

“The torch fell over, the prison caught fire, and the iron bars collapsed.”

Rohan’s gaze shifted toward the crowd.

A man with long hair tied tightly behind his head flinched when their eyes met.

Rohan pointed at him with his finger and said.

“The guard was sleeping nearby too.”

Creed’s gaze followed Rohan’s.

Kaisen. The guard who had fallen asleep was also a member of Creed’s Fourth Squad.

Kaisen raised both hands with a flustered expression.

“No, Squad Leader. That’s not it... I definitely...”

“Shut up.”

Creed looked down at Rohan with cold eyes.

“Come to think of it, none of that matters. You used Noxis swordsmanship. And you killed an Imperial soldier with that swordsmanship.”

The person who had killed a squad member he had spent three years with was standing right before him.

The boy had unsettled him from the moment he first saw him.

He did not know whether Hans had truly been a spy, but it was a fact that the boy had killed an Imperial soldier using Noxis swordsmanship.

“I suppose it wouldn’t matter if I killed you here.”

After saying that, Creed raised his sword sharply.

The blade that had risen into the air came crashing down in an instant.

Several soldiers turned their heads away from the strike aimed at the child.

But the sword never descended.

“That’s enough.”

When they looked over, Supern was gripping the flat of the blade.

Supern looked at Rohan and said.

“Interrogation comes first.”

_____________

The moment they entered the office, Rohan’s voice came from behind him.

“I set fire to the prison.”

Shing- A chilling sound echoed through the office.

Supern raised his sword before Rohan’s eyes.

“You understand what that means.”

“Are you going to kill me?”

Rohan asked without so much as blinking.

Even with a sword before his eyes, there was no trace of fear in him.

“I only killed people who were going to die anyway. Midnight already passed, didn’t it?”

Supern was left speechless by the answer.

Was he talking about the midnight deadline Supern himself had given the Noxis soldiers?

Aside from that, the boy was far too calm despite having killed five people.

Judging only by his expression, he even looked like an innocent child who knew nothing.

“How did you get out of the prison?”

Instead of answering, Rohan rummaged through his clothes.

Clink. A key emerged from inside.

“I dug into the ground and found a key.”

“You expect me to believe that...”

Supern frowned and was about to shout, but the brooch remained unchanged.

It meant the boy was telling the truth.

Rohan wore an expression of genuine unfairness.

“I don’t understand why you’re pointing a sword at me.”

“...”

“The man I killed was a Noxis spy, and the people inside the prison were all going to die anyway.”

“Even if all of that is true, you had no authority to execute them.”

Rohan looked far too calm.

His words strangely made sense, yet Supern could not shake the feeling that he was being manipulated.

‘He’s dangerous.’

Supern felt it instinctively.

He had originally intended to let the boy go, but now he felt doing so would only allow him to return as an even greater calamity.

‘I should have killed him the moment he swung his sword at Hans.’

Regretting it now changed nothing.

“You executed prisoners without orders from the knight order. You used Noxis swordsmanship within the Empire. Those are the reasons you will die.”

After speaking, Supern grabbed Rohan by the collar.

Breaking his neck would be easier to deal with than cutting it off.

The light child was lifted like a feather.

“Ghk, cough!”

“To think I let a child like you live. I must be getting old.”

Rohan gasped for breath.

He seemed to be resisting by flailing his arms about, but instead Rohan was forcing his fingers between his neck and Supern’s hand.

Thinking the boy had something to say, Supern loosened his grip slightly.

Once there was some space, a hoarse voice barely escaped the boy’s mouth.

“There are... more spies.”

Supern’s grip loosened.

“What?”

Rohan dropped to the floor and coughed for quite a while.

“Cough, hack... Besides Hans, there are more Noxis spies.”

“How do you know that?”

“The supply transport operation.”

Supern’s expression hardened.

“The operation two weeks from now, where goods coming from the west will be delivered to the Imperial Palace.”

“...”

It was a top-secret operation known only to Supern himself.

“Noxis is after those goods.”

“Where did you get that information?”

“That’s not what matters.”

Rohan spoke expressionlessly.

“What matters is that the information has already reached Noxis.”

Supern’s face hardened.

Leaving aside how the boy knew, the fact that the enemy nation knew about a top-secret Imperial operation was not something that could be taken lightly.

“What do you want?”

“Let me join the knight order. Then I’ll catch the spy.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

Supern rejected him firmly.

“If you tell me everything you know, I’ll spare your life. Nothing more.”

“No.”

It was a very childlike answer.

But his expression was anything but.

Without the slightest tremor, Rohan continued.

“I’m not begging for my life right now.”

“If I wanted to, I could kill someone like you right here.”

“You can’t.”

Supern’s gaze wavered for a moment.

Killing him would be as easy as snapping a twig.

But the information the boy possessed bothered him.

The boy understood that perfectly and was speaking accordingly.

“If I tell you everything I know, you won’t need me anymore. That’s why I don’t want to tell you.”

“What...?”

“I’m proposing a deal. I’ll catch the spy. In exchange, let me join the knight order.”

Supern let out a hollow laugh.

“You’ve already done enough to deserve death. And now you want to make a deal with me?”

“Aren’t there more reasons to keep me alive than to kill me?”

“Hah.”

Supern laughed in disbelief.

Then, holding the brooch, he asked.

“Perhaps you’re the spy instead. Are you a Noxis spy?”

“Yes.”

The answer came without the slightest hesitation.

Hummm-. A faint vibration came from the brooch in Supern’s hand.

The green gemstone instantly turned red.

Seeing that, Rohan smiled brightly.

“As I thought. It changes color when someone lies.”

“...”

“I was curious because you looked at it every time you asked me a question.”

Supern was speechless.

The boy had been testing the artifact’s function in a situation where his own life was at stake.

He was anything but a normal child.

Rohan pointed at the brooch.

“Then you also know everything I’ve said until now was true.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“I’ll catch the spy within a week.”

Supern’s eyes narrowed.

“And if you don’t?”

“You can kill me.”

Rohan answered calmly.

“But if I succeed, let me join the knight order.”

Supern did not answer for a long while.

The boy’s words sounded absurd, but he could not completely ignore them.

Hans had been a spy who had hidden his identity for three years.

And it was the boy standing before him who had recognized Hans.

On top of that, he even knew about the Imperial Palace’s top-secret operation.

At the very least, it was clear the boy possessed information they did not.

“Have you never considered that I could torture the information out of you?”

Rohan smiled innocently.

It was like someone who did not know when to smile, smiling at an inappropriate moment.

“Have you never considered that I might refuse to talk?”

Supern fell into thought for a moment.

He could imprison the boy and force the information out of him.

But now that Noxis knew about the Imperial operation, he could not afford to keep wrestling with this boy indefinitely.

If they tore the unit apart trying to find the spy, there was also the risk that the spy would notice.

If he could use the boy to catch the spy, that would also be to their advantage.

In the end, Supern took a step back.

“One week.”

“Yes?”

“I’ll give you one week.”

Rohan raised his head.

“Then you’ll let me join the knight order?”

“Don’t misunderstand.”

Supern’s voice turned cold.

“Find the spy under my supervision for one week. That is my condition.”

“...”

“If you succeed, I’ll consider allowing you to join. If you fail, or if you kill someone again without orders, I’ll execute you on the spot.”

“Alright.”

Rohan readily nodded.

“But I have a condition too.”

“What?”

Supern frowned.

He had already accommodated the boy enough, and now he had another condition?

Without waiting for an answer, Rohan said.

“Send me to Creed’s squad.”

Fourth Squad Leader Creed.

The squad leader who had tried to bring his sword down on Rohan just moments ago.