Prologue

Prologue

There was no floor... and no ceiling.

It was an endless space of white that extended as far as the eye could see. The ground — or what passed for it — felt like a vast expanse of clouds, and his steps produced no palpable sensation of contact. Sain knew right away that this was not reality.

I’m in a dream.

He knew with absolute certainty that he was currently not within the confines of reality, but rather his own dreams. After all, this wasn’t his first time being here. Until very recently, he’d been having this same dream all the time. This was the place where he’d conversed with her.

“...Goddess.”

“Here! I’m here! Goddess incoming!”

Soon after the voice rang out in the empty space, a woman appeared in a flowing white outfit, her golden hair falling over her azure eyes. The woman was the goddess, or more specifically, the goddess of light, Vicitaelia. She was an honest-to-god, er, honest-to-goddess deity, and belief in her was widespread throughout the West Continent.

Normally, the goddess could not directly interact with humans. Sain, however, was an exception. In taking up the mantle of the holy knight, he’d sworn to be the goddess’s sword and shield.

“It’s been a while since you’ve shown up in my dreams like this... You were popping up on almost a daily basis until just a while ago. What’s the matter?”

“Mmm, nothing in particular. I just thought that, since you’re starting school, it’d be better for me to stay out of your dreams until you’ve settled in.”

“I see. That’s very considerate of you.”

“Oh, it was nothing. Don’t wo— No! Wait a minute!” The goddess suddenly raised her voice. “I came here to ask you something!”

She glared at him with angry pufferfish cheeks and said, “Sain!”

“What?”

“Are you still trying to become the dark knight?!”

“Of course.”

“Hnnnngh, hnnnnngh...”

Sain watched her groan in frustration for a while before letting out a sigh. When he was a child, he’d sworn to be the goddess’s sword and shield. In exchange, he’d been granted her blessing and became the one and only holy knight. However, he made it clear that he intends to put down his mantle of the holy knight and resign. Now, he was aiming to become the knight of the goddess’s opposite number. In other words, he wanted to become the dark knight.

The holy knight was the one who saved the good, while the dark knight was the one who punished the evil. The holy knight was praised by the people for helping, protecting, and guiding those in need.. Meanwhile, the dark knight was feared by the people for hunting, threatening, and killing those who were guilty. As a result, unlike the holy knight, the dark knight was seen in a negative light by the populace. That, however, was probably not what the goddess was talking about. Sain knew that this lady before him was just upset that he wanted to quit his job as her knight.

“J-Just so you know, I’m still not okay with this! You’re my knight, Sain dear! I’ll never let him have you!”

“Hah. Unfortunately, you won’t have your way. I’m going to become the dark knight, and that’s that. This future is inevitable.”

“No you won’t! You won’t you won’t you won’t!”

“I can and I will! Mark my words. I’m going to become the dark knight one way or another. Even if you say no, the darkness... it pulls me toward its infinite depths. Ha ha ha... It’s too late. The darkness has me. This is my fate!”

“I know what people at school are calling you these days, by the way! Darkness Dork!”

“How do you know that?!”

For Sain, his new nickname was extremely humiliating. Its origin was obvious, of course, and was a fitting moniker for a fellow who, despite not having a shred of talent, spent all day going on and on about doom and darkness and how he was going to become the dark knight. His jet black outfit didn’t help matters, as it made him stick out like a sore thumb. As a result, his fellow classmates had honored him with a unique nickname, demoting him from merely stupid to Darkness Dork. They say there’s only a thin line between a genius and a fool, but in Sain’s case, he was a mile away from the line on the fool’s side of the court.

“I’m your master, Sain dear. Naturally, it’s my responsibility to watch over my knight!” the goddess declared proudly as she placed a hand over her voluminous chest.

Sain rolled his eyes and muttered, “Peeper.”

“P-P-Peeper?! You take that back! I’m no peeper! I’m just watching over you!”

“That’s what it means to peep, damn it!”

“Y-You could have said no! I would have stopped!”

“The fact that I even need to say so is the problem!”

To her credit, the goddess had a point. Had Sain made a clear refusal in his head to her watching over or interfering with him, she would have gotten the message and backed off. However, making a conscious effort to deny her permission on a daily basis was tiresome, and it’d also make him feel a little guilty. Nevertheless, he needed to keep her out of his life.

I can’t let her find out.

She didn’t know the true reason behind why he was avoiding her — why he was trying to become the dark knight. He’d kept it from her, because if he told her now, it’d only make her sad. It wasn’t time yet.

“...Anyway, unless you have a good reason, could you stop peeking from now on?”

“Hnngh... b-but, it’s my responsibility to watch over you...”

“No, it’s not.”

During all of their interactions, the goddess’s obsessive overprotection left him feeling weary to the core. This time was no different. Even in his dreams, he could feel the fatigue setting in. Chances are, he was going to wake up with a goddess-induced hangover.

“I swear, the things I put up with... Did you hear anything else that you shouldn’t have?”

“Wh-What do you mean shouldn’t have? It’s not like I’m spying on you all the time... Hmm...”

She put a contemplative finger to her chin for a while before something came to her.

“Oh, on that note, it’s almost time for that, right? The thing they do in the academy.”

“What thing?”

“Um, what was it again? That thing. Mmm...”

She kept twirling her finger in the air, as if she was trying to draw out a thread from a tangled ball of memories. After some time, she clapped her hands together excitedly.

“Oh, I remember! The field exercises!”