Side Story: Cyril, Captain of the First Knight Brigade

Side Story:
Cyril, Captain of the First Knight Brigade

 

MY NAME IS Cyril Sutherland, captain of the First Knight Brigade. I also bear the title of duke, having inherited it from my father at the age of seventeen, ten years ago.

My father was the younger brother of the last king, making me second in line to the throne after Captain Saviz. Perhaps inspired by that, Desmond and I were called “the Dragon and the Tiger”—Desmond being the Tiger, and I the Dragon. But that title irked me. The dragon was emblazoned upon the royal family’s coat of arms, after all. Even the word “dragon” itself often referred to the king. Although I was second in line to the throne, using the moniker “Dragon” for myself seemed disrespectful.

But when I brought up my concerns to the captain, he seemed utterly unbothered. “One day, you may be the heir. Don’t scorn the title of Dragon.”

There are some things in this world that we are helpless against, things beyond our control despite our talent and no matter our efforts. That lesson was carved in blood ten years ago, when the captain lost his right eye…and his emotions. I was helpless to stop it. And so I swore from that day onward to be his new eye. I kept a watchful gaze over everything important to him, removed all that was not fit for his sight, and vowed to be his right hand in battle.

I gave my entire being to the kingdom.

But I would spare nothing for him, my future king.

 

***

 

I accompanied the captain on a training exercise to the nearby forest, with fifty guards. Though he practiced the sword every day at the Royal Castle’s training grounds, every so often he wanted real combat practice. As for why, I could only guess. Perhaps he sought even greater strength than he already possessed. Maybe he merely wanted to dispel his lethargy…or there was something weighing on his mind and he wanted to work through his thoughts with the shedding of blood.

We had hunted ten monsters in about two hours. The beasts were merely C-rank, and so, as always, the captain handled them alone.

He effortlessly cut through yet another monster, its blood sticking to his sword. Could this bring him some sort of peace? Or…

An emergency whistle pierced the silence. I recognized the tone: a Knight Brigade’s emergency whistle. This forest was under the Sixth Knight Brigade’s jurisdiction, so something must have happened to them.

The captain took the lead and made his way towards the sound. Just a few minutes later, we found a Sixth Knight Brigade unit as expected, but there was something…surprising.

For the briefest of moments, I froze. There was a flower-horned deer, a B-rank monster normally found in the depths of the forest—but that wasn’t what shocked me. No, it was the new recruit from my brigade, standing at the center of the fight giving orders.

The new recruit was the first to turn and address me. “Captain Cyril! We’re up against a flower-horned deer! We have it surrounded in an enclosure, down to eighty-five percent of its 450 units of health! Its flames extinguish seven seconds after its eyes turn blue!”

“Huh…?” From a young age, I was taught to speak with clarity and elegance. Today, for what was perhaps the first time in my life, I sounded positively boorish.

How did she know so much about the flower-horned deer, a monster found only in this forest? How was she able to quantify the monster’s health? I couldn’t even check if she was right or not—I’d never heard of anyone able to measure such a thing. And how did she know the timing of the monster’s eye color change so exactly? Such a thing was impossible…wasn’t it?

“Fia…” I said with a weary sigh. “You’re even more of a surprise than this monster.”

She just smiled back at me happily. “I didn’t expect to see you here either! And thank you for coming to our rescue! We can rest easy now that you’re here!”

Not…what I meant. Feeling incredibly drained, I returned to my usual place to the right of the captain. He stepped towards the monster, and Fia finally noticed him.

“Huh?! The captain’s here?!” This girl…was she really as perceptive as she seemed sometimes? Perhaps Desmond was right—maybe she was brilliant at analysis but as dull as it got in other ways.

But how could she miss a presence as strong as the captain’s? Is her analysis so perfect that she’s discovered…our secret? Is that why she didn’t even register the captain’s presence? No, surely not…

I changed my focus to the monster before me. The instant the flames cleared away, the captain drew his sword and sliced the head off the charging monster in one quick motion.

The knights clamored excitedly…

“Whoa…”

“The captain just slew that monster we were struggling with like it was nothing!”

But such a sight was normal to me. The captain was strong. I knew that well.

I left the cleanup of the monster’s body to the knights and focused on more urgent concerns. “Fia, come here.”

“Yes, sir!”

Fabian looked on with eyes of pity, already able to guess why I’d called her over.

But Fia herself was all smiles, seeming perfectly clueless. “Captain Cyril, thank you for saving us!” she said with a wide grin.

The captain sighed, confounded by her carefree attitude.

Fia quickly turned to him and, completely misunderstanding his sigh, exclaimed, “Ah, n-no, I mean, thank you for coming, Captain Cyril! And thank you for defeating the monster, Captain Saviz!”

The captain looked at me with a raised brow.

Forgive me, sir. As her superior, I accept full responsibility for her stupidity.