Final Chapter: The Dawn of a New Legend

When I was a child, and whenever my father had the chance, he would tell me the story of a great hero.

It went, “Long, long ago, there was a knight named Sir Sid. It was a time of turmoil. As the continent was being torn apart by war, King Arthur threw himself into the conflict for the sake of peace for the people. And Sir Sid was always by his side. If it was for the king, he would take on an army of thousands. If the king was in trouble, he’d give his life to protect him. This knight was faithful and valiant. He possessed the kindness to protect the weak, the integrity to stand by the good, and a passionate hatred of evil. His feats and accomplishments as a knight were endless.”

The Sir Sid in the stories was truly a knight among knights, and I always listened to them with a twinkle in my eye. However, that day was different.

“And after all these adventures, the knight was to be honored as Sir Sid Blitze, the Lightning Knight. What’s wrong, Alma? Oh, are you bored? Ha ha. Well, I have been telling you these stories over and over since you were little,” my father said. Seeing my gloomy expression, he patted me on the head.

“No, that’s not it,” I said, shaking my head. I loved my father’s stories about Sir Sid. I loved them so much that there was no way I would get bored—no matter how many times I heard them. However, I had heard something I didn’t like.

“Sir Sid...is called a barbarian?” Yes, I had found out that my father’s tale of Sir Sid was very different from the story of Sir Sid that everyone else knew. The Sir Sid everyone else knew was savage, cruel, and a very bad knight. It made me absolutely depressed when I thought about how this kind of person might be the Sir Sid I loved so much.

My father looked at my sad face, patted my head, and said, “Which of those do you think is the real one, Alma?”

“The Sir Sid you talk about, Father,” I answered in a heartbeat.

“I’m glad,” my father said and smiled as if he were deeply relieved. “That’s good, Alma. That’s good.” I didn’t really understand the reason for my father’s relief. “That’s right, Alma. We, the royal family of Calvania and lineage of the Holy King Arthur, must tell the true tale of Sir Sid. No matter how much the world may speak ill of Sir Sid, we at least must pay him respect. We must...”

“What do you mean?” I asked, but my father didn’t tell me much.

Instead, he patted me on the head and said, “One day, Alma, a great evil will befall our family. It might happen to you, or it might happen to your child, or maybe another descendant. However, there is nothing to fear. For we have our knight—a true knight who has promised to protect us even in death. Yes, Sir Sid is with us.”

My heart would always pound from my father’s words. Oh, if only Sir Sid would become my knight. How wonderful that would be.

“Well then, it looks like you’ll have to become a great king, Alma,” my father said. He was afflicted with a deadly disease, and my mother had passed away, so he was unable to have any more children. My father understood how cruel it was to make me, a woman, king. Fully aware of all his failings, he still urged me down this thorny path. “If you become a good king, I’m sure Sid will help you,” my father said and patted my head. That’s why I promised him that I would definitely become a good king. A king so great that if I met Sir Sid, he would want to serve me as my knight.

“Come on. Run. Run like your lives depend on it,” Sid said, and everyone moaned. He and his students were at the training ground in Calvania Castle and, as always, the cries of the Blitze class students echoed in the air. All the students were clad in heavy full-body armor as they ran, and Sid watched them leisurely from the edge of the training ground. Starting today, he had decided to attach an iron ball and chain to his students’ legs and make them run. Surely, it was more hellish than anything they had experienced before. However, no one was complaining. Alvin, Tenko, Elaine, Christopher, Lynette, and Theodore’s faces were all twisted in fatigue and agony, but there was a serious look in their eyes. Each of their faces were filled with ambition. It seemed like something had changed inside all of them after the battle in the capital.

“Hmm, I guess they’ve matured,” Sid said to himself as he watched his students. Of course, in order to become true knights, they still had much to learn and much more training to do. The sword, the heart, and the soul. The path to becoming a knight was still a long and rugged one. Even so, if the experience from that battle could serve as a catalyst for something else or become their first step on this long and excruciating journey, then it surely had meaning to it. “I’ll take care of you. I am your instructor, after all.”

After the incident in the capital, the upper echelon of the kingdom was busy with sorting out a practical mountain of issues. Postwar cleanup, reorganizing the orders of knights, rebuilding the destroyed parts of the royal capital, compensating the citizens whose homes had been taken from them, reevaluating the movements of the demon nation to the north...there were many things that needed to be done. In particular, the fact that a great witch of the Dark Order of Opus had used magic to infiltrate the Fairy Knight Academy was a great shock to the upper echelon. There were those among the factions of the three dukes who tried to use the situation to sway the public’s opinion on the royal family’s ability to rule. Most people laughed it away. After the battle, the political representative of the royal family, Isabella, with her perfect political finesse, quickly compensated the citizens. Most importantly, the people had seen the young prince risk her life and face the dragon with her allies. They had been witness to the battle of the knight from the legendary era who served the prince. Everyone praised them as a king among kings and a knight among knights, and the opinions of the three ducal houses were completely dismissed. In the first place, the three dukes had failed to do better than Sid all by himself on the Fabome Plains in the north, so they couldn’t say anything toward the royal family.

The day’s running had ended, and Alvin and the others panted as they removed their armor and collapsed in a corner of the training grounds.

“Good job. You worked hard today.” Somebody threw a towel at Alvin’s head, and when she looked up, she saw Sid standing there by her side.

“Th-Thank you,” Alvin said, smiling. She was slumped over but looked up with her sweat-covered face and smiled.

“You’re all working pretty hard lately. When I first laid eyes on you all, I couldn’t believe such a group of weaklings were trying to become knights, but you’re gradually getting stronger,” Sid said and looked around at his students.

“It’s because everyone, including myself, was made painfully aware of how inexperienced we are,” said Alvin. “Even if only a little, we’re doing our best to catch up to you, Sir Sid.”

“Is that so? Well, it’s a good attitude, so keep it up.”

“Ha ha. Okay.”

“Okay, then how about tomorrow we add one more iron ball?”

“P-Please, go easy,” Alvin said with a smirk as Sid pulled out another ball and chain with a clank. They shared a passionate gaze, and Sid, taking notice, chuckled.

“What’s up, Alvin? Your training is about to become even harder, but you look like you’re in a good mood.”

“What? W-Well that’s because...” Alvin’s voice trailed off, and she muttered in embarrassment and lowered her gaze. “I-I’m happy that you’re going to be by our side like this,” Alvin said, and Sid was silent. “I’m really glad that...you didn’t disappear after the battle, Sir Sid,” Alvin mumbled, sounding truly relieved as she looked at the back of her right hand with the sword crest on it.

“Apparently, this is Arthur’s will.”

“My ancestor’s will?”

“However, what really kept me connected to this world was you, Alvin,” Sid said, looking back at her. “You’ve shown me your determination and worthiness as a king. As such, it’s only natural that I offer you my sword.”

“N-No, I’m still not...” Alvin panicked and tried to be humble.

“Yeah, you’re not much of a king yet,” Sid said with a gentle smile. “Jeez, you’re just like your ancestor—just like Arthur. Even though you talk big, you’re naive, sloppy, and careless.”

“U-Um...”

“But that’s what drew me to him. Well, I’ll be watching over you by your side for a little while. I am your knight after all,” Sid said and smiled at Alvin, who was starting to get a little depressed. For a moment, Alvin’s eyes fluttered.

“Ha ha, thank you very much,” Alvin said as they smiled at one another. “Sir Sid?”

“What is it?”

“Thank you for becoming my knight,” she said, leaning slightly forward and looking at Sid. Alvin felt her cheeks become warm, but she didn’t care about that. She just had something she wanted to tell him. “I’m...really happy. Thank you so much.”

“No need to thank me. I did it because I wanted to.”

“Still, I’m happy. I mean, I’ve been dreaming about this day ever since I was little.”

“Alvin?” There was silence between the two of them, but it wasn’t an awkward one. It was the kind of gentle silence that made one feel at ease.

“I’ve... Ever since I was little, I’ve—” Alvin began to say something, but she was interrupted. “T-Tenko?!” Without a word, Tenko had made her way between Alvin and Sid. “What are you doing all of a sudden?”

As Alvin panicked, Tenko remained silent and puffed out her cheeks in a somewhat unhappy manner. Eventually, she exhaled like she had given up and started to speak. “Um, Sir Sid...”

“What is it?”

“Um, it’s just...I missed the opportunity to say this after the attack, but...there’s something I wanted to tell you,” Tenko said. Sid, however, tilted his head, puzzled at how odd Tenko was acting. “I’m very sorry for all of the rude things I’ve said to you!” Tenko’s ears flattened, and her tail drooped as she bowed her head in apology.

“Hm? I wasn’t really worried about that, but what’s with this all of a sudden?”

“You’re not a barbarian. You were a knight. More than any of us, more than anyone, you were a true knight.” Tenko raised her head and took Sid’s hand like she was pleading with him. “I want to be a knight like you! I want the strength to protect someone and the strength of mind to be a knight. So please teach me! I ask you, as a knight who lived in the legendary age, to guide and encourage me through my inexperience. Please, master!” Tenko desperately implored.

For a while, Sid was silent, but before long he said, “Sure, all right. Leave it to me, apprentice. But I’m warning you, I’m tough. Do your best to keep up.”

“M-Master! Y-Yes!” Tenko’s face broke out in a smile as her ears perked up and her tail wagged. “I-In that case, master, from now on, please leave all of your personal care to me! As your apprentice, it’s only natural, right?! A-Also...” As Tenko got carried away, she proceeded to suggest how she should behave as Sid’s disciple.

“H-Hey, Tenko?! Just so you know, Sir Sid is my knight, okay?!” Alvin protested, puffing out her cheeks.

“B-But Sid is also my master!”

“What?!”

“I think of you as my best friend, Alvin, and I really care about you, but I won’t give up when it comes to this!”

“Huh?! What?! Wh-What are you saying, Tenko?!”

“Huh?! I-I wonder what! Ha ha ha.” The two of them began to have a big vague argument. As they fought loudly, Sid looked up at the sky. It was a brilliant blue as clouds slowly drifted by, and sunlight poured out from overhead. It was almost as if it was blessing the path that Sid was about to take.

Yeesh. So, are you telling me to live a second time, Arthur? Sid lifted his right hand to the sky like he was trying to reach his old friend and lord who lived deep in his memory and asked, Why did I come back to life? Why do I have to live a second time? Just what happened between you and me? Sid still couldn’t remember. He didn’t know, but...Well, at any rate, it looks like I won’t be bored. He smirked as he looked at Alvin and Tenko quarreling by his side. Sure, okay. I’ll live. Just watch, Arthur. Watch me walk this new path of chivalry, Sid thought as his determination reached out far, far beyond the sky.