Volume 5, Chapter 15 – Who?

“The so-called way of the knight is to protect the weak and uphold justice.”

“Yes, in your eyes, in our eyes, that is how it is. But… have you never thought that this so-called Paladin’s way of the knight that we have always clung to is actually the source of every tragedy!”

As the knight girl spoke, her gaze swept earnestly around the hall.

“The way of the knight is not some narrow kind of justice. As Paladins, what we ought to do is not merely uphold so-called justice!”

“And sometimes, when we supposedly stand up to protect the weak, how is that not also, in another form, ruining the lives of those weak people!”

“Absurd!”

At Fisiel’s words, a voice of rebuttal rang out from the crowd.

“Is there anything wrong with upholding justice! The justice we uphold is the faith we Paladins have always clung to! Is there anything wrong with us upholding justice and holding fast to our faith!”

“Justice, then what is justice?”

Fisiel asked in return.

What she got back was the collective laughter of the Paladins.

“Justice is protecting the weak! Justice is upholding the light! Justice is resisting the darkness! Justice is punishing evil and promoting good!”

“That is the justice as you understand it.”

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Even though they were mocking her, there was not the slightest hint of panic in the knight girl’s eyes.

On the contrary, her gaze grew even more resolute.

“The justice you talk about can only be called the justice of one side.”

“The justice I speak of is justice for everyone.”

“Justice for everyone? Then explain it. What is justice for everyone?”

Among the Paladins, voices of dissatisfaction rose up.

“What is justice for everyone?”

As she spoke, Fisiel’s gaze was firmer than it had ever been.

“Justice for everyone is making those weak ones who need it understand how to protect themselves. Justice for everyone is making the strong understand that they cannot casually oppress the weak. Justice for everyone means we cannot just swing our hands around and act recklessly at every unfair thing we see in front of us!”

“Justice for everyone means taking the bigger picture into account and understanding how to adapt. While still holding fast to the faith of us Paladins, we must also be able to reach out to help everyone who needs help.”

“What you are saying is far too complicated. Can you use some straightforward example to explain this justice you speak of?”

In response to Fisiel’s words, although some of the Paladins present fell into thought, the vast majority still wore expressions of refusal.

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“Explain it? In fact, my own case is enough to explain it.”

“The Northern Fortress is the only pass the Kingdom Faction has to block the Stronghold Beastmen.”

“If the Northern Fortress is in our hands, then the Beastmen of the north can only send large armies every year to attack the Northern Fortress that guards the pass. Every year, the Beastmen can only launch assaults and use war to reduce and consume their food and population. Doing this, the Beastmen themselves also understand that with the Northern Fortress in our Kingdom’s hands, it is as solid as an iron wall. Unless a Throne-tier steps in, it is a fortress that cannot be broken.”

“And if the Northern Fortress were in the hands of the Beastmen, then what kind of scene would that be!”

“The Beastmen could use the Northern Fortress as a starting point and send out troops every year to raid the Kingdom. Of course, those raids would have almost no effect on the grand dukes and nobles shut inside their castles. But for those commoners who can only maintain their lives through their own hard work, it would be fatally dangerous!”

“And I, Fisiel, a Paladin, in order to keep the Northern Fortress from being seized by the Beastmen and in order to protect the safety of the commoners of the entire Kingdom, led a lone army and resisted the entire Stronghold Beastman force at the Northern Fortress.”

“Two hundred thousand troops were beaten down to only one hundred thousand. The knight order of ten thousand under my command was also reduced until not even a tenth remained.”

At this point, Fisiel slowly closed her eyes.

“Yet for the Northern Fortress, their sacrifices were worth it, because they gave their lives for the commoners of the entire Kingdom Faction.”

“And afterward…”

The knight girl slowly opened her eyes again.

“In the face of the surging Stronghold army, I was powerless. At that time there were no reinforcements and no supplies.”

“And in order to hold the Northern Fortress, I chose to betray the Kingdom.”

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“That is right, in the eyes of you righteous Paladins, I defected from the Kingdom, I defected from our faction, and I betrayed the principles of us Paladins and went against your justice!”

“In your view, I, Fisiel, should have stubbornly held the Northern Fortress and then died fighting to my last breath beneath the sea of Beastman troops as numerous as the sands!”

“Is that not right? If it were you, you would surely think that only by doing that would you be upholding a Paladin’s justice, right?”

Hearing Fisiel’s question, a few Paladins lowered their heads, their expressions thoughtful.

Most of the Paladins, though, still wore utterly self-assured looks.

“To sacrifice ourselves for the faction and offer ourselves up, is that not exactly the justice we Paladins should cling to?”

At these words, the knight girl laughed instead of getting angry.

“This is your justice?”

“This is the justice you insist on?”

“Laughable! Hidebound! Rigid!”

“If I had died back then, if I had died to stubbornly hold the Northern Fortress, would you still have the time now to stand here and take part in an election for the King of Knights!”

“If I had died and the Northern Fortress had fallen into the hands of the Beastmen, then would that not mean that the sacrifice of my two hundred thousand troops and the ten thousand Paladins under my command had become nothing but meaningless effort with no value at all!”

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“That is why I say that the justice you insist on is so laughable!”

“Although that is how I used to think, in that moment I changed my mind.”

“Why should I stubbornly cling to the Paladin’s justice? Why should I willingly sacrifice myself for the Northern Fortress?”

“At that time, what I was thinking about was not only myself but also the crisis that would come after the Northern Fortress fell.”

“So for the sake of the safety of the Kingdom’s commoners, in your eyes I betrayed the Kingdom, yet after I joined Dawn I succeeded in protecting the Northern Fortress!”

When her words reached this point, the knight girl’s voice suddenly stopped.

Then, with a stern gaze, she looked around the hall once more.

Meeting that fierce gaze, those Paladins who had been brimming with indignation just moments before all instinctively dodged her eyes one after another.

Only after she had swept her gaze in a full circle did the girl speak.

“I will just ask you this. If it were you, do you have the ability to hold the Northern Fortress? To hold this shield that protects the weak commoners of the Kingdom?”

“I will just ask you this, who among you!”