Chapter 3: The World of Fairies

There are two worlds: the material world where physical life like people and animals exist, and the fairy world where conceptual life like fairies and monsters exist. These two worlds, the material world and the fairy world, are both adjacent to and superimposed on one another. So, it could be said that the fairy world exists outside of the material. Normally, the two worlds are like two sides of the same coin, but they are separated by a boundary called the “curtain,” and they do not mix. However, there are places where the curtain is more blurred, and the material world and fairy world are mixed together. These places are called “the fused world.” In fact, where Calvania Castle stands was once such a place where the two worlds intertwined. Calvania Castle is a magical structure that was built to draw a line between the material world and the fairy world, and the castle itself serves the role of the curtain. Therefore, there are various entrances to the fairy world that exist here and there in the castle.

One of those entrances was the pond in the castle courtyard that Sid and his class were standing in front of. The water, which created a kind of boundary just by being there, was the most popular entrance to the other world.

“Okay,” Sid said. He was now dressed in a knight’s garb and dove into the pond. His students followed after him. With a splash, a column of water shot up as their bodies sank into the darkness. When they opened their eyes, they could see a light below them. They turned their bodies upside down and dove deeper, heading for the light. Even though they were diving downward, the bright light gradually revealed itself as a second surface. When they reached the water’s edge, the scenery had completely changed. Unbelievably, the huge castle had disappeared. Spread out around the pond was a small field, and surrounding it was a sea of green trees that shone in the sunlight. There was the smell of greenery and earth. Birds chirped, and treetops were rustled by the wind. The field was filled with colorful flowers in bloom, and tiny flower fairies, hidden in the shadows of the flowers, watched the students. When they climbed out of the pond, for some reason their bodies weren’t wet. Everything about this place was strange.

“Wow, it’s been such a long time since I’ve been here,” Sid said. It was the first layer of the fairy world, the Sunlit Sea of Trees, and it was one of the training grounds for the Calvania Royal Fairy Knight Academy. Eventually, Sid spoke up and said, “Without further ado, starting today, I am the new instructor of Blitze class, Sid Blitze. I look forward to teaching you all.” Sid introduced himself to the students as they lined up in front of him. “Speaking of, why does this class have my name in it?”

“Well, you see...there are a lot of reasons, and it would take a while to explain it,” Alvin answered vaguely.

“Hmm? Well, whatever. Anyway, a lot has happened and from now on, I plan on training you squires to become full-fledged knights.” Without pursuing the issue any further, Sid looked straight at everyone and continued speaking in earnest. “In my life, I was just a man who was only good at fighting. I pledged my sword to the king and continued to be his sword. To others, the way I lived probably seemed terribly warped. However, I can teach you about fighting precisely because I have lived such a life. Its power, its meaning, and...the fear of it.” The class was silent. “‘A knight’s power is used for good.’ Even if you become a demon, there are things that must be done. That’s what it means to be a knight. I will do my best to keep you from becoming a mere demon and guide you to have the soul of a knight who isn’t just focused on power. The training may be rough, but follow me. I’m counting on you guys.” Sid said, concluding his dignified speech. However, when Alvin glanced at the other students, they were silent and everyone aside from Flora was looking at Sid as if he were an unholy sexual predator. “I see that didn’t work. Yeah, I kind of thought it wouldn’t,” Sid said.

“Of course it didn’t. Did you think you could fool us?” a displeased-looking Tenko suddenly retorted. It seemed that, contrary to Alvin’s expectations, Sid’s dignity and his students’ trust in him had quickly hit rock bottom.

“U-Um, we have a lot of work ahead of us, but why don’t we get started with training?” While urging Sid to begin, Alvin looked around at his fellow students in the Blitze class.

Tenko was Alvin’s closest friend since childhood, a member of the noble-tailed people. Her fairy sword was a katana. Flora was a girl with a unique and carefree attitude. Her fairy sword was a longsword. Elaine was a girl with pigtailed hair who acted just like nobility. Her sword was a bastard sword. Christopher was a boy with brown hair who seemed to get excited easily. His fairy sword was a claymore. Lynette was a girl with flaxen hair who was always afraid like a small, timid animal. Her fairy sword was a spear. Theodore was a boy with glasses who seemed to have a harsh personality. His fairy sword was a short sword.

Including Alvin himself, there were seven students in total. All of them had different looks, different weapons, and different personalities.

“All right, where should we start with your training? Um, when I was a squire...” Sid stood in front of Alvin and crossed his arms as if he was thinking about something.

“First, please show us your strength, Sir Sid,” a goading voice said from behind him. It was, of course, Tenko. Her arms were folded and she aimed to provoke him. “In order to become knights, we have to be strong enough to pass the final trials. This class already has several handicaps, and if we can train ourselves better than you can train us, we don’t have time to deal with you.”

“Hey, Tenko! You shouldn’t say something so—” Panicked, Alvin tried to pacify Tenko to no avail and she only continued.

“Can you please show us your fairy sword and your fairy magic?” It seemed that everyone was interested.

“Indeed, I’d like to see it as well.”

“Y-Yes! You could say that the strength of a knight is represented by how strong their fairy sword is!”

“You’re a legendary knight, right?! Your fairy sword’s got to be awesome!”

Alvin was also curious about Sid’s fairy sword and his fairy magic. I don’t know why he didn’t use it during his battle with the dark knight the other day. And since he’s become our instructor, I’d like to see it at least once.

They all looked at Sid, their eyes filled with anticipation.

“Hmm? A fairy sword? I don’t have one of those,” he said bluntly, and everyone uttered a stunned “Huh?” in unison.

“What?” Alvin was also surprised and stood there with his mouth agape. Sid just shrugged at them all and continued.

“Since you’re all knights with fairy swords, you should know. A knight is guided to their fairy sword by a Lady of the Lake in the Lake of Swords. Isn’t that right?”

“Huh? Oh, yes. We all received our swords at the Lake of Swords when we entered the Calvania Royal Fairy Knight Academy,” Elaine said.

“Yeah. You call out to the fairy swords sleeping at the bottom of the lake, and you form a pact with the sword that answers your call. I did it too,” Christopher chimed in.

“And? Go on,” Tenko said.

Sid just shrugged under Tenko’s scornful gaze. “I was rejected,” he said, and all his students were speechless.

“Huh? Does that mean none of the swords responded to you, Sir Sid?”

“No way. No matter how much of a joke the knight may be, there’s bound to be at least one sword that answers.”

“I was totally rejected. Not a single sword answered me. Seriously, it hurts to be this unpopular,” Sid said jokingly, and once again his students were at a loss for words, looking at their instructor in disbelief.

Eventually, Alvin couldn’t control his inner turmoil and how dizzy he felt. Y-You’ve got to be kidding. I just thought that when he fought that dark knight the other day, he didn’t use his fairy sword for some reason!

The thought of a knight without a fairy sword was beyond unexpected.

“U-Um, instructor? What do you do without a fairy sword?”

“Precisely. Just how exactly is a knight supposed to fight without a fairy sword?”

As the students expressed their frustration, Sid said, “Hmm? What do you do? I mean, you don’t need a fairy sword, right?” Sid proudly declared. “After all, I am the sword.” Having no clue what he was talking about, the students found themselves speechless for a third time.

The power of a fairy sword represented the power of its knight, and the value of a fairy knight without one would be questionable. At that moment, everyone aside from Alvin had come to the same conclusion and decided that Sid was a lost cause.

“I can’t take it!” The first one to come back to their senses was Tenko, who turned her face away with a scoff. “You don’t even have a fairy sword! Some legendary knight you are! I’ve had enough, and we’re going to just train by ourselves! So, please leave!”

“T-Tenko, how could you say that?!” Alvin said. “Sir Sid is really strong even without a fairy sword!”

“Th-That’s not possible! You understand that, don’t you, Alvin? The strength of a knight is the strength of their fairy sword!”

“That’s true but...” Alvin glanced over at Sid as he spoke. “But I told you, didn’t I? Sir Sid had an overwhelming victory against the dark knight who tried to kill me, and he did it without a fairy sword.”

As soon as the other students heard this, they were shocked. They knew just how powerful the dark knights of the Dark Order of Opus were. Unlike the Calvania fairy knights who wielded red, blue, and green fairy swords derived from the household of the fairy god of light, Éclair, the dark fairy knights wielded dark fairy swords derived from the household of the dark fairy god, Opus. They were unmatched in their strength and possessed terrible destructive power. A regular fairy knight couldn’t even compete with the lowest-ranking dark knight.

“You really won against a dark knight of the Order of Opus?”

“N-No way. How could you do that without a fairy sword?” The students’ suspicious gazes all fell on Sid.

“You see? Even without a fairy sword, Sir Sid is a knight of the legendary age. I know there’s something he can teach us,” Alvin said, defending Sid with his complete trust.

“Hmph! That dark knight was just really weak, or he was just caught off guard, right?!” Tenko said, doubling down and staring knives at Sid. “I’ll say it again and again! The strength of a knight is essentially the strength of their fairy sword! Isn’t that right?!”

“Well, I won’t deny it. Even in the age I lived in, most of the really strong knights had a fairy sword,” Sid said, scratching his head as Tenko glared at him.

Tenko then began to explain fairy swords. “Fairy swords are, as the name implies, the incarnation of fairies that have taken the forms of swords. These ‘Good Fellows,’ our friendly neighbors, become swords in the hope that they can benefit us. Mana is the power that forms all life and matter, and fairies are the result of that mana becoming self-aware. In other words, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that a fairy sword is a very strong mass of mana. Therefore, by being supplied with mana from the fairy sword, the wielder gains unparalleled physical enhancement, resilience, and self-healing.” Tenko glanced at the sword hanging from Sid’s waist. “Sir Sid, can you draw that thing at your waist and hold it at the ready?”

“Hmm? Sure. Like this?” Sid drew the sword and held it in one hand. The sword was one issued by the castle. It was of good quality, but it was just a plain steel longsword.

Tenko then declared the name of her sword and pulled her from its scabbard. “Red fairy sword, Red Moon.” Tenko’s fairy sword was a katana with a slightly curved blade. The design and decoration of the cross-shaped guard and hilt were from the West, but the forged surface and shape of the blade were of an Eastern style. The blade pattern resembled a flickering flame.

“Huh?” Sid was completely absorbed in the beauty of her sword.

“Banig.” Tenko spoke to the sword in the ancient fairy tongue, telling it to burn, and the blade turned red hot as flames flared forth from it. Then, with a slight yell, she swung the sword unceremoniously, and with a loud clash, Sid’s sword was burned and cut away by Tenko’s katana.

“Oh no, what a waste,” Sid said.

“This is red fairy magic, Homura Tachi, or flame-sword style. You understand now, don’t you?” Tenko swung her katana, extinguishing its flame, and returned it to its sheath with a fluid motion. “A wielder of a fairy sword can use powerful fairy magic. A normal weapon is no match, and a fairy sword can only be countered by another fairy sword. That’s why a fairy sword is a knight’s strength.” Her katana made a metallic sound as she fully sheathed it. She gave Sid a piercing gaze with eyes full of a rejection and said, “We want to be knights no matter what. We need to become more proficient with our fairy swords and stronger with fairy magic! And yet, our instructor doesn’t even have a fairy sword!” Sid only stood there in silence. “I don’t care how strong you are. There’s nothing we can learn from you! Please leave!” Tenko shouted.

“Sh-She’s right. If he doesn’t have a fairy sword...”

“It’s hard to believe that he’s strong without a fairy sword in the first place.”

“Yeah. I mean, it’s getting hard to believe that he actually beat a dark knight.”

“Alvin, did you make that story up?”

One by one, the students started to regretfully agree with Tenko. After all, nothing she said was incorrect. All of them wanted to gain stronger fairy magic. They wanted to learn from a fairy sword professional. However, no instructor would teach those things to the Blitze class. Due to the unwillingness of the upper echelon, a decent instructor had never been sent their way, and now the instructor who finally came to them was a knight who didn’t even have a fairy sword.

“Ha ha ha!” Just when they had all thought Sid was no good after all, he laughed wholeheartedly in amusement. “You want to be strong? Really?” Sid asked as all the students looked at him in surprise.

“Wh-What’s so funny?” Tenko yelled.

“What do you mean?” Sid responded, laughing loudly and egging on a furious Tenko. “It’s like you’re all proudly saying, ‘We’re being carried by our fairy swords! Can you show us how to piggyback even harder?’ Aren’t you ashamed to be knights?” he said, and his students’ expressions froze from his remarks.

“How many times do I have to tell you?! I already explained to you that a fairy knight’s strength is the strength of their sword, haven’t I?!”

“I won’t deny that. But you guys are just playing knights, wielding these slightly powerful weapons because you want to show off. It’s ridiculous,” Sid said, shrugging his shoulders.

“P-Playing around? You take that back! Take it back!” Tenko’s face became red, and she started to tremble. Then in a rage, she readied her sword and was about to slash at Sid.

“W-Wait, Tenko! Just calm down!” In a panic, Alvin clasped her arms behind her back and restrained her.

“Let go of me! I’ll never forgive him! He knows nothing! He knows nothing about my drive to become a knight!” It seemed as though he truly ruffled her feathers, and her ears and tail stood on end. She had tears in her eyes as she bared her canines and glared at Sid.

He looked at her with amusement and said, “Hey, Tenko. Can I ask you something?”

“What?!”

“What is the rank of your fairy sword?” At that moment, Tenko froze as if she were struck by lightning. “I’m not going to ask you all why you want to become knights. However, you’ll never become stronger by just relying on your fairy swords, you know. Your sword rank represents your limit as a knight.” Before his eyes, Tenko changed from looking angry to looking absolutely crushed. Dazed and confused, she stared at the ground as her ears and tail drooped lifelessly. All the other students became silent, as it seemed that Sid’s words had resonated with them as well.

“S-So in that case!” Tenko gritted her teeth like she was biting down on something, looked up with an eager gaze, and pointed her sword at Sid. “If that’s what you think, then I request a duel!”

“Hmm? Duel? Why?”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it?! You’ve insulted us this much! Show us how strong you are since you can talk so big without a fairy sword! Duel me!” Tenko’s declaration turned the mood tense and struck a chord with everyone.

“T-Tenko what are you saying?! You shouldn’t do this!” said Alvin.

“Alvin, please be quiet! I can’t just take being made fun of like this lying down! Now, prepare yourself! The first one to land a strike wins!” Sid stood calmly in front of the tip of Tenko’s sword. The students watched nervously in anticipation as the scene played out. Sid, this man that Alvin had brought along with him, was being hailed as the strongest knight of the legendary era and had trounced a dark knight. If that was true, then all would be made clear in this battle with Tenko.

Almost as if he was pulling the rug out from underneath them, Sid let out a huge yawn. He then leaped up and grabbed a branch that was far above his head with one hand. With a quick flip, he landed on top of the branch and lay across it to rest. “I’m going to bed. You guys just do your usual training for today.”

For a moment, Tenko stood dumbfounded, making a face like she didn’t understand what she had just been told. “Wh-What are you doing?! Are you running away?! Are you making fun of me?! Get down here! Duel me! Duel, duel, duel!”

“Yeah, you called it a duel, but it’s just until someone lands a strike, right? In that case, it’s impossible. Right now, you’re so weak. If I messed up, I’d kill you,” Sid said very apologetically as he scratched his head. He didn’t mean to be insulting, but that made it all the more infuriating to Tenko.

“What?!”

“I’m sorry, but there’s just a limit to how much I can hold back. I’m really sorry.”

“D-Damn you!” Tenko yelled, her face bright red. Sid, however, was already passed out and they could hear his breathing as he slept. It was like Tenko wasn’t even on his radar. The students watched Sid’s whole reaction with indescribable gazes.

“We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us,” Alvin said and sighed.

It growled as it approached, getting closer and closer. With its wild and nimbly moving limbs, the shadowy jet-black canine demon known as a black dog was drawing closer, and its bloodthirsty red eyes glowed brightly. It leaped, and its sharp fangs and claws reached for the throat of its prey.

“Ha! Banig!” Tenko yelled as she intercepted the beast. Her hands moved like a blur and worked in gorgeous coordination with her quick footwork as her upper body rotated sideways. She removed her katana from its sheath, and it accelerated explosively, reaching the speed of sound on its horizontal trajectory. It was a way of striking one’s opponent as they drew their own sword and was a technique from the East. Combined with her fairy magic, flame-sword style, the arc of her blade blazed with a crimson red color. Her flaming sword accurately struck the black dog, which came at her like an arrow, and cut it in half from top to bottom. The black dog let out a death cry, dissipated into a kind of black mist, and then disappeared.

A moment later, another black dog came at her from the right, its fangs closing in on her throat. “Hmph! Ixplode!” Using the ancient fairy tongue to tell her sword to “blast and shatter,” Tenko spun on her left foot to make her blade meet with the creature’s fangs. The moment they made contact, the canine demon was mercilessly blown away at point-blank range by the flames and the pressure of an explosion that emitted from the blade. It was a type of red fairy magic called “baku ken,” or “exploding sword,” which blasts an opponent who touches the blade. Surrounded by sparks, Tenko remained on guard. The red fairy sword she grasped fed her with a constant supply of mana, sharpening her senses and making her body feel as light as a feather.

“Seriously, what is his deal?!” Tenko said, still on edge from earlier.

“Come on, calm down, Tenko,” Alvin said. His whole body was surrounded by a powerful wind, and he rushed forward at high speed, making a sharp thrust. A black dog that was unable to avoid Alvin was pierced in its flank, and it turned into a black mist, disappearing. Alvin held a green fairy sword. The magic he used was called “gale” and had created a powerful tailwind to accelerate him forward. “There aren’t any strong monsters around here, but if you keep complaining like that, you might fall behind, you know?” Alvin said, and Tenko only mumbled back a response.

Alvin and the others were in the first floor’s sea of trees hunting monsters like they always did. Just as there were fairies like the Good Fellows who lent their power through fairy swords, there were hostile fairies who committed acts of evil. These fairies were the Unseelie Court and what people called monsters. If the fairy world was the home of fairies, then, naturally, it was also the home of monsters. If left unchecked, these monsters would eventually make their way into the material world and attack people, so they were regularly exterminated to prevent this from occurring. This was an important duty of a knight. The deeper one went into the layers of the fairy world, the more powerful the monsters became. Students who weren’t officially knighted were mainly in charge of the first layer where the danger level wasn’t high. However, for an ordinary person without a fairy sword, even the low-level monsters in the first layer were a deadly threat and not something one could let down their guard against.

“There’s no way I’d fall behind against first-layer monsters,” Tenko said as she exhaled and looked around the sea of trees. Just like her, the other students from the Blitze class were mopping up black dogs. Christopher, Elaine, Lynette, Theodore, and Flora all wielded their fairy swords and fairy magic to dispose of one black dog after another. Before long, the pack had been wiped out without any particular danger, and the area became tranquil.

“Finished over here, Alvin,” Christopher said with ease.

“Over here as well,” Elaine also said calmly.

“Th-That was so scary,” Lynette said.

“Oh my, good work, everyone,” Flora said, laid back.

Meanwhile, Theodore gave a “Hmph.” They had all returned from their respective assignments.

“Okay, everyone. You must be tired from all that fighting, right? Let’s take a break for a while,” Alvin, who was the head of the class, suggested and sat down on a nearby stump.

“Oh, yeah, sure.”

“Yes, let’s do so.”

The other students answered Alvin curtly and then fell silent.

“What’s wrong, everyone?” Alvin asked.

“It’s just—”

“Will we truly be able to become stronger this way?”

Alvin then understood why they were being so somber. Your sword rank represents your limit as a knight.

Sid’s words from earlier probably still lingered in their minds. Also, they all realized that even if they continued to train, the way they were now, they would probably—

“Wh-What are you saying?!” Tenko said, scolding her fellow students who had become discouraged. “Up until now, we’ve worked so hard and come all this way together, haven’t we?! These monsters on the first floor gave us such a hard time in the beginning, but lately they’re a piece of cake! I’m sure that if we keep training like this, we’ll become strong—”

“You won’t.” The fiery passion of Tenko’s words were doused by a cold answer from above. When they looked overhead, they could see Sid sitting on a branch with his legs crossed. At some point, he had started looking down on the students as he chewed on an apple. “Right now, you’ve all reached your limit. Just give up. You won’t get any stronger at this rate.”

“Sir Sid!” Tenko’s face turned bright red as she looked up angrily. “I’ve had enough! Just what do you know anyway?!”

“I know that after watching you guys fight, even though you have room for improvement with your swordsmanship, as knights who wield fairy swords, you’ve reached your peak.”

“You are making fun of us?!” Tenko snapped and gave Sid a biting, hateful glare.

“No, I’m rather impressed,” Sid said, surprisingly, with a carefree smile.

“Huh?”

“Even though you’re all being carried by your fairy swords, you’ve come all this way on your own. You guys really want to become knights, huh? Especially...” Sid paused and looked down at Tenko.

“Wh-What is it?”

“Tenko. Aside from your fairy magic, your swordplay is beautiful. Even in the legendary age, there weren’t many who could wield their swords as exquisitely,” Sid said with sincere admiration.

“What?!”

“Your feelings come out in your swordplay. Perhaps you’ve been training hard all these years to become stronger in order to protect something important. It’s for that one purpose that you’ve worked so hard training all this time, isn’t it? Even on days when it rains and the wind blows hard. Phew...I’m honestly smitten with your sword.”

“S-Smitten?!” As Tenko blushed a little and started to panic, Sid threw away the core of his apple and once again lay down on the branch and shut his eyes.

“Sir Sid?” Alvin asked.

“I’m going back to bed. I’ve just about figured out what you guys are capable of and what you need to do. For today, just do whatever in the first layer. Starting tomorrow, I’ve got a lot to teach you,” Sid said without a care and quickly fell asleep again.

“Wh-What is his deal?!” Tenko said, gritting her teeth as Sid was now snoring overhead. “I have no idea what he’s thinking! What does he mean ‘teach’?!”

“I’m not sure.” Alvin was feeling the same way. He couldn’t help but stare at Sid, who was sleeping carefree above.

“So, what shall we do now?” Elaine asked Alvin. “Do you plan to continue clearing out monsters on the first layer?”

“Hmm.” Just as Alvin was pondering what to do about their training, he heard a mocking voice from behind, aimed at the class.

“Just listen to all that squawking. It looks like it’s business as usual at the garbage heap, huh?”

“It’s you guys.” Alvin turned around, and a group of squires led by a blond-haired boy appeared from the depths of the sea of trees. The emblem on their chest was different from the dragon emblem that Alvin and his class wore. Theirs was an emblem of a lion.

“Gah!” Christopher exclaimed.

“Damn, it’s Durande class!” Theodore said, clicking his tongue. He and Christopher immediately became alert and prepared themselves.

The fairy swords of Éclair, the fairy god of light that Alvin and his classmates used, had three different color attributes. There were red fairy swords that controlled heat and fire, blue fairy swords that controlled water and canceled others’ magic, and green fairy swords that controlled the power of nature. Excluding the newly established Blitze class, the Calvania Royal Fairy Knight Academy traditionally had three classes, one for each color of sword. The Durande class was made up of red fairy sword users, Ortol class was made up of blue fairy sword users, and the Anthalo class was made up of green fairy sword users. Within the fairy knights, they formed the ducal factions of Durande, Ortol, and Anthalo. The Durande class specialized in offensive fairy magic, and they were the most combative of the three traditional classes.

“Come on, Alvin. How long are you going to keep playing king of the mountain with your group of low-rank losers? Well, then again, you’re a loser with a pathetic sword rank too, huh?”

“Gato!” Alvin said and glared with a sharp expression at the blond-haired boy.

“Normally, people with low sword ranks like you guys wouldn’t be able to get into any classes here at the academy. You’d be on the fast track to becoming regular soldiers if it wasn’t for that brand-new Blitze class, you know?” Gato said.

“Did you really want to be knighted and become the king of this country that badly?” said another.

“If you wanted to be king so badly, shouldn’t you have just curried favor with one of the dukes so they’d take pity on you and put you in one of the classes?”

“That’d be so lame!”

All the Durande students scorned Alvin, but he took it all in silence. His classmates did the same, enduring the humiliation. They couldn’t say anything back to them, and if they got into a fight with the Durande class, they would have no chance of winning.

In descending order, the ranks of fairy swords were Atzilt, or divine spirit rank; Beriah, or spirit rank; Yetsera, or majestic spirit rank; and Asher, or Earth spirit rank. Naturally, the higher the rank, the more powerful the sword. Also, the power of the fairy magic they used would be that much stronger. Only a squire’s innate nature and compatibility could determine the rank of the sword they were chosen by, and the difference in sword ranks was essentially an impassable barrier. As a requirement to be admitted into each of the three traditional classes, one must be ranked Yetsera or above. Blitze class was the receptacle for students who were chosen by Asher rank swords and couldn’t make the cutoff during entrance exams.

“Oops, we don’t actually have time to chat with you guys. We’ve got monster-slaying to do in the second layer. Also, today we’re supposed to get our feet wet in the third layer,” Gato said.

“You’re going to the second and even the third layer?” Alvin said and blinked in surprise. In the fairy world, the strength of the monsters rose exponentially with each layer. It was said that if you could fight the monsters of the third layer, you’re practically a full-fledged knight. In other words, there was already that much of a difference between Gato’s class and Alvin’s class, who had their hands full in the first layer.

“Yeah, that’s right. Well, it’s no big deal for us. I mean, right now everyone here is a Beriah, you know?” Gato said and showed off his axe with a mocking laugh. “Ha ha ha, you Asher losers have fun here forever in the first layer. See you later!” Gato said, and he and the rest headed into the sea of trees.

Alvin watched in silence as they walked away, then sighed. He once again unsheathed his fairy sword and stared at it. It was a green fairy sword of the Asher rank called “Daybreak.” The royal family of Calvania had been chosen by swords of the highest rank, Atzilt, for generations but for some reason, Alvin was chosen by an Asher sword of the lowest rank. If there were any other candidates for the throne, Alvin could give up being knighted and yield the throne to them. However, now he was the only one who could take over the throne and protect this country. That’s why Alvin pushed himself so hard and had created the Blitze class. He had worked so hard but...

Overthrowing the ranking system, becoming king...I wonder if it’s all just absurd, Alvin thought.

Since the beginning of the term, the gap between them and the other classes had only been growing. Not having an instructor to properly teach them was a major factor, but the biggest problem was their sword rank. After all, the strength of a fairy sword is the strength of its knight. As he thought it all over, Alvin let out a sigh.

“Alvin, let’s take on the second layer too,” Tenko suggested.

“What?”

“The Durande class seems to believe that sword rank is some kind of absolute difference, but I don’t. If you work hard, you can overcome it!” Tenko then looked back at everyone and said, “In fact, we’ve worked so hard that now we can defeat these monsters on the first layer with much more ease. At this rate, we can even defeat enemies in the second and third layers! So, let’s give it a shot, Alvin!”

“Y-Yeah! We’ve been working hard too!”

“Yes, we can’t possibly back down after they’ve shown us such disrespect. Let’s show what we can do when we put our minds to it.”

“Hmph. Well, we should be fine as long as we know when to quit.”

Christopher, Elaine, and Theodore responded to Tenko’s plea with enthusiasm. Apparently, Durande class’s ridicule didn’t sit right with them, and they were also probably rebelling against Sid for his insensitive comments earlier.

“What? You guys can’t be serious!”

“Oh dear.”

Lynette was reluctant, and Flora was her usual self.

“Lynette, don’t you want to be a knight?!” Christopher said.

“I- I mean...”

“If we can’t get past monsters on the second and third levels, we’ll never pass the final trials for knighthood! It’s time for us to aim for the next level!” Christopher had a point. In order to graduate from the Calvania Royal Fairy Knight Academy and officially receive knighthood, you had to first pass the final trials. If you couldn’t do that, you couldn’t become a knight. In other words, Alvin couldn’t become king either, and the country would be taken over by the three dukes.

“Okay,” Alvin said and nodded his head. “We can’t just keep muddling about in the first layer forever. Today we’re going to try taking on some enemies from the second layer together.”

“Yeah! Now you’re talking!” Tenko said, nodding enthusiastically and wagging her tail at Alvin’s determination.

“We’ll prove that even with low sword ranks, we can fight as knights,” Elaine said.

“All right! Let’s do this!” Christopher added.

When Alvin looked around, he could see that everyone aside from a teary-eyed Lynette was sufficiently fired up.

“Okay, in that case, I’d like to get going right away, but...” Alvin glanced overhead, and he could see Sid snoring loudly, still asleep on the tree branch above. He seemed to be completely oblivious to the conversation. He looked so defenseless that if Alvin stealthily climbed up the tree, he could attack him in his sleep.

Hmm... That stormy night when we first met is starting to feel like a dream, Alvin thought with a grimace.

“Let’s leave Sir Sid behind,” Tenko whispered. “He’d just stop us. It’ll be fine. If we think it’s dangerous, we can just turn back immediately.”

“Okay.” Alvin had a twinge of guilt. It felt like he was fooling Sid.

“Okay, let’s go, everyone. We’re heading for the second layer.” Just like that, Alvin and the others quietly departed, leaving Sid behind.

Alvin and Tenko talked as they walked through the sea of trees toward the second layer.

“According to the map, we’re almost at the second level,” Alvin said.

“Yeah, I’m itching to start.”

“Do you think our powers will work on monsters from the second layer?”

“From what I’ve read in books, they should be able to. Though, it won’t be as easy as with monsters in the first layer.”

“Either way, we can’t let our guard down. I’m counting on you, Tenko.”

“All right! Leave it to me! I am your knight, after all!” They walked and talked at the head of their group, and a certain someone watched them, chuckling.

Then this person began to chant a spell in the old fairy language quietly so that no one could hear them.

“Kam Kam Kam Preze Ans Rei Yuneme—” Her words meant, “Come, come, come...answer my thrice-made call. Thy name is—”

When explaining the structure of the fairy world, people often compared it to a stack of gold coins. Each one of these coins was a level of the fairy world, and they all possessed vast areas of land. However, in the middle of these gold coins was a hole where a deep, thick fog was always present. These holes were entrances to the higher levels. Strangely, the holes in the middle of these coins were adjacent to the outer edge of the topmost gold coin. In the material world where ordinary people lived, this would be physically impossible and hard to imagine. However, it was a rule that operated in a realm beyond human comprehension. In short, the more one headed for the middle of each layer, the higher the layer one would arrive at. Of course, there were various restrictions on the terrain and exceptions, so it was difficult to say that this would always be the case. Basically, the fairy world’s structure was such that the more you aim for the center, the higher the layer would be.

“It’s getting foggy.”

“It seems like we’re finally approaching the center of the first layer.” As they proceeded through the overabundant sunlight and greenery of the sea of trees, a fog began to fill the area.

“Everyone, stay close so we don’t get separated!” Alvin ordered, and under his command they moved together as a single unit. As they did so, the white fog gradually became thicker and thicker. Eventually, the area around them had become so white it was as if they were moving through a sea of milk. Soon, they couldn’t even see the face of the person next to them.

“Is everyone okay?”

“Y-Yes, I’m okay...” As they called out and encouraged one another, they continued forward.

Suddenly, they made it through the fog, and the scenery around them changed completely. The first layer had been a sunlight-filled sea of greenery and flowers. Now, however, the trees were much denser and far more overwhelming than they had been in the first layer. The trees surrounding them were so thick and tall you had to look straight up to see the tops of them. The sky was completely blotted out by the treetops and leaves. Sunlight was almost completely blocked, and it was as dark as before dawn. Occasionally, a thin ray of sunlight reached the ground through the dense treetops above them, leaving a trail of light here and there on the damp, mossy ground. The silence was also a considerable change from the first layer. Darkness spread out in the distance. This was the second layer of the fairy world, the “Twilight Sea of Trees.” After gaining such confidence in the first layer of the fairy world, this training ground, the second layer of the fairy world, began to make them feel discouraged.

“Everyone’s here, right? Let’s keep our eyes open and keep going,” Alvin said, and they began their journey through the second layer.

“Ha ha ha!” Ear-splitting laughter echoed through the sea of trees. The voice’s owner was a short, oddly shaped old man. He had long eerie hair, fiery-red eyes, a hooked nose, protruding teeth, and sharp claws. Wearing a red hat and wielding a rusty axe, he ran through the sea of trees while using the trunks as footholds. He flew through the forest like a shadow as he bounced through the trees and couldn’t be caught by the average human eye. “Ha ha ha!” What’s more, this demonic gnome known as a “red cap” was making its way with incredible speed toward Alvin, who stood with his rapier at the ready.

“Weald!” Alvin yelled in the old fairy tongue, ordering the wind to protect him. He also swung his sword above his head, and there was the sound of an impact. Alvin’s green fairy magic, “Wind Shield,” created a barrier from concentrated wind and stopped the blow of the red cap’s axe as it yelped in surprise. However, the red cap remained persistent. It quickly jumped backward, and its hand filled with flame, readying its fire magic. However, it was suddenly extinguished by a rush of freezing air.

“I won’t give you the chance! Saifreeze!” Elaine said, her chant meaning “freeze into silence.” She was pointing her sword toward the red cap and had used her blue fairy magic, “Winter’s Breath,” which could offset and cancel all kinds of magic.

“Oh jeez, oh jeez! Legtop!” Lynette had stabbed her spear into the earth, telling it to “stop him in his tracks.” In an instant, the red cap, who was dumbfounded from having its magic canceled, had its legs bound by ivy that stretched out from underneath its feet. It was the green fairy magic, “Ivy Entanglement.”

“D-Do it now, Tenko!”

“Thank you! Haa!” Tenko didn’t give the red cap a chance to slip away as she kicked the ground and pounced on it. Her sword burned a crimson red as she used her red fairy magic, Homura Tachi, to mercilessly send the red cap’s head flying from its shoulders. With a death squeal, the now headless red cap dissolved into a black mist and disappeared.

“D-Did we win?!”

“Phew.” An air of relief came over everyone.

“The strength of the monsters really is different in the second layer. What was the deal with how fast it was?” Christopher said.

“Seriously, I could barely follow its movements,” Theodore said, mirroring Christopher’s sentiments.

“So this is the second layer. It sure is tough,” Alvin said and let out a deep breath as he trembled from how different this environment was.

“But, hey. Don’t you think we’re all fighting really well together?” Flora said in her usual carefree manner.

“Flora’s right,” Tenko said as she sheathed her sword and headed to where Alvin was. “It definitely won’t be easy, but swords are working. All of our hard work wasn’t in vain.”

“Yes, you’re probably right, Tenko,” Alvin said and gave a short laugh.

“So, Alvin, what do you want to do? Do you still want to continue?”

“No, let’s just call it a day and head home,” Alvin answered. “It’s good that we now know our power can be adequately effective against enemies in the second layer. Besides, Sir Sid is probably awake now and worried about us.”

“Yeah, I don’t really care about him,” Tenko said, and Alvin gave her a wry smile.

He then gave orders to his class. “Okay, everyone. Let’s take a short break and then move out.”

“Understood.”

“Gotcha.” Everyone casually answered Alvin...and that’s when it happened.

“Ahhh!” From deep in the forest, there came the sound of not just one, but several people screaming.

“Alvin?”

“I don’t know. But someone’s probably hurt from fighting a monster. Let’s go check it out.” After quickly answering Tenko, Alvin took the group and headed in the direction of the screams.

“Wh-What is this?” The class couldn’t believe what they were seeing at the water’s edge after passing through the sea of trees. Sitting there was a very strange-looking demon whose huge body was like a boulder and probably several meters long. It had seven heads, each like a lizard, and each with seven horns and seven eyes. Its body resembled a bird and had feathers like an eagle growing from its waist. It had a thick tail, and its mouth was lined with wolflike fangs. Just by being there, its very presence seemed sufficient to crush every fragile creature in the area. It had the kind of brutal dignity that only an apex predator could possess in nature, and it felt like the silent forest had become as cold as ice. Its forty-nine eyes were the color of an unfathomable abyss, and they were staring at Alvin and the others. It was their first time seeing it, but there was no mistaking its distinctive look.

“A Kirimu...it’s a Kirimu!” a pale-faced Tenko said shakily as she stood next to Alvin. “No way. Why?! Why is it here in the second layer?! They’re supposed to be much deeper into the fairy world.” Kirimus were ruthless killers from the depths of the fairy world and the kind of powerful monster that would normally take a party of experienced fairy knights to vanquish.

“H-Hey, look there!” Christopher said as he pointed at the bodies of several boys and girls at the Kirimu’s feet.

“It’s...the Durande class?!”

“Even Gato’s there!” Gato and the rest of the Durande class lay pitifully on the ground and were all covered in blood. Their fairy swords had been cruelly broken and shattered. Kirimus had a habit of swallowing their prey alive, so it seemed like, for the time being, they hadn’t been killed. However, they were already at Death’s door, so it was only a matter of time.

“Ahhh!”

“Eek!”

The students of the Blitze class yelled and shrieked at the sight of this unexpected enemy.

“Everyone, calm down.” Alvin rebuked his classmates as he stifled his own fear. “Everyone, work together to distract it and escape when we see an opportunity,” Alvin ordered, but then something happened. Without warning, the Kirimu had disappeared from Alvin’s sight even though he had been keeping a close eye on its movements.

Huh? What’s going on? Alvin thought.

“Ahhh!”

Almost as if to answer his question, his classmates screamed behind him.

“What?!” Alvin said and quickly turned around to see the Kirimu. In an instant, it had made its way behind them. Despite its huge body, it was unbelievably fast. It had taken Christopher and Theodore into two of its mouths and lifted them up like they were nothing. It swung them furiously in the air and threw them at a large tree nearby. The trunk shattered when they hit it and they fell to the ground, their fairy swords falling away.

“E-Everyone, move! Spread out!” Alvin said, rebuking Tenko and the others who had frozen up. Pushed by Alvin’s words, everyone spread out into the surroundings.

“S-Stop! Legtop!” Lynette thrust her spear into the ground and activated the green fairy magic, “Ivy Entanglement.” Ivy grew from the ground at an incredible rate and entangled the legs of the Kirimu. However, it was torn away when the Kirimu took two or three steps without a care. One of its heads gave a low growl. Then a fierce high-pitched squeal began to echo throughout the area. It was the Kirimu’s signature move, sound-wave magic known as a “Shriek” that paralyzes its prey with a high-pitched sound.

“I-I won’t let you! Saifreeze!” Elaine tried to stop it with her blue fairy magic, “Winter’s Breath,” but it was the wave of freezing air that Elaine released that ended up being canceled. The power of the Kirimu’s magic was too strong to be counteracted. “N-No way!” Elaine said in disbelief. Then the Kirimu’s piercing, high-pitched screech echoed throughout the surroundings, directly tearing into their brains.

“Ahh!”

“N-No!” Taking the brunt of the attack, Elaine and Lynette involuntarily dropped their swords and crouched down as they held their heads in their hands. They immediately started bleeding from their eyes and ears. Unimaginably painful headaches and nausea washed over everyone in the area, and they could do nothing but shed tears of blood and writhe in agony as they lost sensation in their skin. Even Flora, who was normally so laid back, couldn’t help crouching down in pain.

“Y-You! E-Enough!” Tenko said. She clenched her teeth and brought her weapon to bare as she endured the sound waves with her spirit and willpower. “Enough!” she yelled, brandished her sword, and closed in on the Kirimu. The fact that she was even able to slash at the Kirimu in this situation was truly the fruits of her daily training. Being able to make such a focused strike without compromising the accuracy of her sword technique was worthy of praise. “Banig!” Tenko yelled as she activated her red fairy magic, “Homura Tachi.” Tenko’s flaming sword ripped through space, aiming to cut off one of the Kirimu’s seven heads. However, with a snap, the tip of Tenko’s katana broke in half and was sent flying into the air.

“Huh?” Tenko stood there dumbfounded, still in her stance from after she followed through on her sword swing. Meanwhile, there wasn’t even a scratch as big as a fingernail on the Kirimu’s neck. Tenko’s sword, which had sliced through monsters on the first and second layer like butter, hadn’t worked at all here. “No...”

The Kirimu’s answer to her attack was a powerful blow from a sideways swipe of its tail. Tenko’s body was slapped away in a straight line and slammed violently into the trunk of a large tree.

“Gah!” Tenko exclaimed as the air was pushed out of her lungs all at once. She felt a pain so intense it was like her body had shattered into pieces, and she had likely broken several bones. Tenko’s body succumbed to gravity and slid down the trunk, and she ended up in a seated position. With her back slumped against the tree, she was unable to even move a finger. This cruel assassin, the Kirimu, then proceeded to attack Tenko without making a sound. In the blink of an eye, like a vanishing mist, it closed in on her with incredible speed.

Tenko let out a scream. The seven heads opened their jaws, and with countless teeth, prepared to bite into her entire body. However, a swirling wind suddenly appeared.

“Tenko! Weald!” Alvin quickly intervened, using his green fairy magic, “Wind Shield,” to stop the seven jaws. However, Alvin’s magic was easily crushed and dispersed by the Kirimu’s teeth. The Kirimu seemed to be slightly wary of Alvin, as he was the only one who hadn’t lost his will to fight among everyone else who cowered in fear. It lightly jumped back and observed him with its forty-nine eyes. Meanwhile, a feeling like he was sinking to the bottom of the ocean assaulted Alvin.

He breathed heavily as he readied his sword against the wild, intimidating, and bloodthirsty aura the Kirimu was giving off.

“Wh-What are you doing, Alvin?!” Tenko yelled in her dazed state of consciousness. “Run! Leave me! Hurry up and go!”

“No! I can’t just leave you and run away!”

“Alvin!” Tenko painfully screamed, but it was too late. It seemed that the Kirimu’s natural wild instincts had told it that Alvin was too weak to be a threat, so it cruelly hunted its prey with a killing intent. Fear stabbed through Alvin’s whole body.

“N-No. Alvin. Because of me!” Tenko screamed, and at that moment, the Kirimu kicked the ground and charged. Just like before, its incredible movement was well beyond the limits of a normal human’s vision. It was a miracle that Alvin barely managed to try and block the first blow with his “Wind Shield.” Alvin understood. In a few seconds, he would be torn to pieces by the Kirimu’s claws and fangs.

Even so, I have to... Alvin thought. In the midst of despair, Alvin gritted his teeth and faced the oncoming Kirimu. Its jaws were open wide and lined with knifelike fangs, and they were closing in on him. In the final moment, Alvin closed his eyes and froze. However, his time didn’t come, and he heard the resounding sound of something slashing.

The other thing Alvin heard was the Kirimu roaring in gruesome anguish.

“What?” Alvin said and fearfully opened his eyes. He saw the Kirimu with the side of one of its heads deeply slashed open, spewing blood and writing in pain.

“Are you all right, prince?” It was Sid, and he had his back to Alvin as he stood in front of the Kirimu. His right hand was half open and extended out. Despite Sid not having a fairy sword, the Kirimu was deeply wounded. “Seriously, running off on your own like that—aren’t you guys being a little too mischievous?” Sid turned around and smirked at Alvin. “Well, I’m just glad I made it.”

“Sir Sid...what did you just do?!”

“No way. How in the world did you cut through the scales of a Kirimu when even an attack from a fairy sword couldn’t do it?!” Tenko cried. She and Alvin weren’t the only ones who were astonished. Elaine, Lynette, Christopher, and even the normally carefree Flora were shocked. They all had their eyes wide open and were completely dumbfounded.

At that moment, the Kirimu, who had been writhing around, turned one of its heads to face Sid. It opened its jaw and was about to use its sound-wave magic and let out its strange howl. However, Sid was faster and stepped in sharply, leaped, and swung his right hand in a horizontal flash. An instant later, the head that tried to release the sound waves had been sliced off. Sid then quickly stepped toward the Kirimu’s bosom, raised his left fist, and caught it in the torso, smashing its ribs that were harder than steel.

The Kirimu once again roared as it threw its heads back violently and toppled over. The earth rumbled as it writhed in agony. No matter how you looked at it, Sid’s strength was inhuman.

“Why?! Why are you able to do that even though you don’t have a fairy sword?!” Tenko yelled in disbelief.

“All right. I figured I’d start tomorrow, but since I’ve lucked out and found such a good partner to lecture with, I’ll just teach you guys how a knight from the legendary era fights,” Sid said as he kept his eyes on the rampaging Kirimu and shifted to an oblique fighting stance.

“First, all of you take a good look at my body. What do you see?” Sid said as he stepped about lightly and looked back at his students. He was still positioned in front of an opponent that normally took a squad of experienced knights to defeat. His students didn’t understand what he meant and looked curiously at one another. “Look closer. You all were chosen by fairy swords, so it should be visible to you. Look, don’t just see. Open your spiritual eyes and understand it, and don’t just know it.” Urged on by Sid, Alvin and the others looked more carefully. They then faintly saw glittering golden particles rising up from Sid’s body. If you weren’t conscious of it, you couldn’t see it. However, if you actually tried to look, it was certainly there.

“I-I see it!”

“I see it too!”

“Wh-What is that light?!”

As the students buzzed about what they saw, the Kirimu made its move and attacked Sid with its frightening agility. However, Sid didn’t even look at it as he dodged as quickly as the wind. Then, as the Kirimu was passing by him, he mercilessly cleaved its body with his partially open right hand. Its scales were harder than steel, but Sid’s hand sliced deeply through them with ease, and the Kirimu roared in anguish.

“So, you all saw it? That light is called mana,” Sid said as the Kirimu made a good amount of distance between them.

“Mana?!”

“Isn’t that the power of the fairies?”

“How can a person use mana?”

One by one, the students voiced their confusion.

“Oh, come on. Mana is the power that resides in every living thing and shapes all matter and life in this world, right? So why wouldn’t people be included in that?” Sid said and shrugged his shoulders in disbelief as the Kirimu rampaged around in pain in front of him. “You know the phrase ‘Fairies dwell in all things,’ don’t you? Fairies are beings that come from when mana, which exists in nature, possesses form and willpower. Then fairy swords, which are the incarnation of fairies, are a mass of mana. Are you following me so far?”

Thrashing in agony, the Kirimu wildly swung its tail at Sid. Cracking like a whip, its tail gouged out the earth and sent a few trees flying, roots and all. However, it couldn’t even touch Sid, who was leaving hazy afterimages of himself as he moved back and forth and side to side.

“In other words, fairy magic is basically the art of one-sidedly borrowing mana from a fairy sword, which is a mass of mana, and unleashing it,” Sid said as he continued to dodge all of the Kirimu’s attacks with a light step. “But, even fairies come in all different kinds. While some are great fairies that have lived for thousands of years and have acquired great power, others have just been born and have little power.” When Sid pointed this out, his students gasped and looked at their fairy swords. “Do you get it now? Fairy swords with low sword ranks are actually young fairies that have just been born. Though weak, these Good Fellows wished to be of service to people and became swords. That is what your fairy swords are.”

Sid casually dodged a fierce tail attack right in front of his nose and countered with a flashing strike from his partly opened left hand. It sliced off the Kirimu’s tail, sending it flying through the air. Then, with a leap and a flash of his right hand, he sent another of the Kirimu’s heads flying. The Kirimu’s roar of anguish grew even louder.

“In other words, while you thought you were getting stronger, you were being carried by these kindhearted fairy children. It’s just shameful.” As Sid lectured, his students were completely stunned. Then Sid smoothly jumped toward the Kirimu’s bosom. “Why did you only rely on your fairy swords and not train yourselves?” Sid asked as he fiercely connected a diagonal slash with a reverse diagonal slash. “I told you, didn’t I? Mana is the very life force that’s found in all things. Every living being has it. And, of course, people have it too. Mana isn’t some special power that just belongs to fairies.” Sid then formed a blade with his right hand and filled it with mana. “If you can refine and manipulate your own mana, then you can do a lot of things. It’s not all-powerful by any means, but it will certainly make you stronger than you were before.” A moment later, he kicked the ground and moved so fast he was a blur. “If you focus your mana into your hand, it can act as a blade sharp enough to rival any famous sword.”

An X-shaped slash was instantly carved into the chest of the Kirimu, creating a flashy display with a fountain of blood. After being hurt so much, the enraged Kirimu raised the claws at the end of its log-like arms and slashed.

“If you spread mana all over your body, it becomes sturdier than the strongest armor.” With a powerful gust of wind, the Kirimu’s claws mercilessly slashed and landed onto Sid, but it didn’t make a single scratch on his sturdy body.

Instead, it was the Kirimu’s claws that broke and shattered. It roared in agony, then as a reward, Sid’s right hand took another of its heads.

“In the age of legends, this system of mana control was known as ‘Will.’ So, what do you think? I get along pretty well without a fairy sword, don’t I?” Sid said as he looked back at his students with a grin. After having witnessed the incredible spectacle that Sid was putting on, the students were awestruck. As they watched, the Kirimu’s remaining jaws rushed toward Sid. “Well, basically what I’m trying to say is—” Sid, who had already dropped back, went around the side of the Kirimu like a flash. “You guys thought you were getting stronger by devising ways to wield your fairy swords better. I’ll acknowledge your hard work, but you have an overwhelming lack of self-training.” Sid then leaped high into the air, kicked off of a nearby tree branch, and did a flip. “It’s ridiculous. No wonder you’re all so weak.” Using the momentum of his fall, he stabbed his right hand deeply into the Kirimu’s back. The Kirimu growled in confusion as it flailed around trying to shake Sid off. However, Sid skillfully balanced himself and continued to stab it with his arm.

“H-He’s so strong!” The students were in such awe that they were only able to utter simple, cliched observations. As for Alvin, in the face of such an absurd scene, he found himself absentmindedly thinking about what Sid had said earlier.

“After all, I am the sword.”

“Is this...is this what he meant?” Alvin knew nothing of the technique that would allow him to manipulate his mana. It was considered common knowledge that you borrow mana from your fairy sword. Sid fought the dark knight with a dagger when they first met. However, it wasn’t because he was forced to use it. It was because he was holding back. It was likely that because of being summoned back to life, Sid’s physical and mana senses were out of balance. In that condition, fighting with his bare hands would have been too dangerous for his opponent.

I see. Over the course of time, we knights have forgotten that strength comes from training ourselves. We’ve been so dependent on the convenience of fairy swords, and somewhere along the way we’ve forgotten the basics of being a warrior, Alvin thought as he watched the back of Sid, who continued to fight. The way he stood up to his powerful opponent with his well-trained body alone was absolutely bewitching. It’s true that modern knights have probably become weaker.

But true strength could be revived in the modern age. Alvin stared at Sid with a hopeful look. While he did so, Sid flew through the sky and unleashed countless strikes. His dance of slashing attacks left the Kirimu’s entire body in a carved-up mess. One by one, its heads were blown away, and it was powerless to do anything about it. In the blink of an eye, there was only one head left.

The Kirimu must have realized that it didn’t stand a chance against the knight because with a shriek, it abandoned its pride as an assassin from the depths, spread its wings, and took off into the air with a kick. The flapping of its wings created fierce winds that blew across the ground. Sid looked straight up at the fleeing Kirimu and readied his right hand. While taking a deep breath, he slowly raised his arm high. It was as if he were placing an arrow into its bow and slowly, carefully pulling the string. Then, with great care, as if he were aiming at the Kirimu in the distance...

“All of you, take a good look,” Sid said with a low breathing sound and tightened his right arm. “The first stop on your journey...is here.” With these words, he swung his right hand down as hard as he could with all his might. At the same time, a blade made of mana extended from his right hand. This slash ran at blistering speed over tens of meters and the dull sound of solid flesh being sliced apart echoed throughout the sky above. With that one attack, the Kirimu’s wings were cut off from the roots, and its last head flew through the air. It would never again make another sound, as its massive body came crashing down from the sky. The battle was over with an ending that was too absurd to be true. The valor of this man soundly beating a monster that would normally require a large contingent of elite knights to defeat was like something out of a legend. Everyone there was shocked, astonished, awed, and convinced by what they had seen. Alvin, Tenko, and the other students were of the same mind as they stared at Sid’s back. They realized this was truly a knight of the legendary era.

Sid exhaled after killing the Kirimu. Then he gazed at his right hand for a little while as if he were making sure of something. “So that’s what’s going on. Jeez.” He then let out another breath and looked around. “Well, that aside, what was the deal with that Kirimu? It’s not the kind of monster that should be appearing at such a low level.” Even though it had been quickly repelled, the damage it made was still severe. All of the students of Durande class were seriously injured and unconscious, and the students of Blitze class were all a mess. There were a lot of lingering questions, but for now, Sid scratched his head and concluded by saying, “We’ll take the injured home. I feel bad for them.”

“Sir Sid...” The members of Blitze class gathered around.

“Hmm? What is it?” Sid responded, looking around at the students. They remained silent for a while, their eyes downcast. Eventually, they spoke as if they had to squeeze it out of themselves.

“The truth is...we’re weak,” Christopher said.

“The swords that we were chosen by were swords of a very low rank. Those were the only ones that would choose us,” Elaine said as she and Christopher looked at the ground. The look of anguish on their faces was proof of how hard they had worked to become knights despite the handicap of their low sword ranks.

“Even so, we really want to become knights.”

“No, we have to become knights.”

Sid looked around. Lynette, Theodore, and everyone else seemed to have the same feelings.

“Um, Sir Sid...can we also become strong knights like you?” Christopher asked as if he was speaking for everyone. He was anxious with hesitation.

Sid said, “You can. The word knight doesn’t mean a strong warrior. It’s a way of life. As long as a knight is disciplined and continues to follow their Will, they will be worthy of being a knight,” Sid said, and the class listened in silence. “Of course, being a knight is not for the frail. After all, it is said, ‘A knight’s sword helps the weak.’ It is also important for a knight to be strong as a warrior. So for starters, drop the sword and train yourself.”

The class was silent.

“Relax, Will isn’t some kind of special ability. It can be used by any living being. Naturally, if you guys practice, you’ll be able to control it freely. Well, you obviously couldn’t beat me at it, but if you properly cultivate your mana, eventually even your fairy swords will be able to handle strong fairy magic.”

“Oh...” The students were startled as if they had realized something. “Is that because mana resides in all things and is the power of people and fairies?”

“Yes, it is. In fact, in the legendary era where I’m from, there were a lot of knights who, even with low-ranking fairy swords, were as strong as demons when they used them with Will.” Sid smiled like he was remembering something nostalgic. “Also, leave your training to me. I’ll follow you as far as you go. After all—” Sid looked around at the anxious faces of his students and then firmly said to them, “It seems like I’m your instructor.”

“S-Sir Sid...”

“I-Instructor...”

The students’ eyes immediately filled with hope. Until now, they had been tormented by the fear of whether or not they could really become knights, and finally the light of hope shone in their hearts. They all looked at Sid with reverence.

“He really is a fine man,” Flora said.

“Yes, that’s Sir Sid...the legendary knight,” Alvin said. In a spot slightly away from everyone, Flora and Alvin peacefully watched over Sid and the other students. “I wasn’t wrong after all about my decision that day. The royal family legend, the secret spell of reincarnation and resurrection, the legend of Sir Sid. They were all real.” Alvin gazed at Sid with a dreamy expression. “Yes, if Sir Sid is here, then I’m sure I can...”

Flora laughed. “Why, Alvin, that expression on your face makes you look just like a maiden in love,” she said.

“What?!” Alvin said and waved his hands in a panic. “Wh-What are you talking about, Flora?! I-I’m a boy, you know?!”

“I’m just kidding. Still, with the way you’re panicking, could it be that you swing that way?” Flora said with a squeal.

“H-Hey! Flora!”

Flora giggled as Alvin’s face turned red.

Meanwhile, a little farther away from the two of them, Tenko was staring in silence at Sid with a complicated look on her face.

It seems that Sir Sid is indeed the legendary Barbarian, Tenko thought to herself. However, there was no awe or respect in her eyes like her fellow students. Her eyes burned with frustration and resentment. But no matter how strong Sir Sid is, I don’t approve! I won’t acknowledge him!

Sid the Barbarian was cruel and inhumane, without a shred of chivalry. The legends that had been passed down throughout the ages told his whole story. If he truly was a righteous person, then why was he still spoken of in such a way? The answer was clear. In the end, Sid was the most unsuitable kind of person to be a knight. Also, most of all...

“Tenko...please take care of Alvin...”

“As a knight, please protect Alvin...”

“I’ll be the one to protect Alvin. I’m their knight,” Tenko said to herself and squeezed the scabbard of her sword as she continued to glare at Sid with hateful eyes.