How to Live as a Knight After the Ending

Chapter 69: The Path to Life (1)

The method Ossian talked about was this.

First, they need to ask their ally, Mayor Albert, for help.

But there was one crucial element.

He had to approach him openly, in front of everyone.

“Can you reconsider your opinion? Even on second thought, this is crazy.”

Underground keeper asked Osian.

To say the least, the way Osian had spoken was incomprehensible, even from the perspective of an underworlder.

“Thank you for guiding me here.”

Realizing Osian had already made up his mind, the underground keeper squeezed his shoulder.

There was nothing he could do about it, besides, princess Orlea, the key party to the operation, also looked determined.

Underground keeper knew that no matter what he said, he would never be able to stop them.

“If you go up here, you’ll find a street just 500 meters away from District 33.”

So there was only one thing he could say.

“Good luck.”

A word of encouragement to the backs of those leaving.

Osian stared at the underground man for a moment before asking.

“Where have we met before?”

“…….”

Underground keeper paused for a moment.

“That can’t be right, Mr. Osian, you’ve only recently come to this city, and I’m a native born and bred for a very long time. This is actually our first meeting.”

“I see.”

“Yes. But I have ears to hear, and I’m interested in your saga, and I’ve become a fan, if you will, so I hope you’ll write a nice one-sentence paragraph about me.”

Underground keeper turned to Osian and Orlea with the same gentlemanly bow he had given them at the beginning and stepped back.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s not a good idea to be away from my work for too long.”

“……Yes.”

“Then may we meet again someday. The only knight in this world.”

With those words, the underground keeper left the room and disappeared without a trace.

What puzzled Osian even more than the mysterious departure was the way he called him the only knight in the world.

‘What is it? Does he know about me?’

He wanted to go and ask him right away, but he was already gone.

Osian shrugged it off and focused on the goal at hand.

‘If I ever find myself here again, I’ll have to ask him.’

Osian turned to Orlea.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

Osian extended his arm toward Orlea and Orlea climbed onto one of his arms and settled into his embrace.

“Here we go.”

Osian drew his sword with his other hand and leapt off the ground.

*

~The streets in front of the 33rd district~

Soldiers in plain clothes milled about, grumbling.

“Damn it. Why are we waiting in a place like this?”

“You’re lucky, they’re blowing up everybody out there right now.”

“Funny how we’re dragging this out when all it takes is one good shot. What the hell happened to our military discipline?”

His fellow soldier started to say that his opponent was just as tough, but stopped himself.

He wasn’t wrong to say that military discipline had gotten out of hand.

Meanwhile, the disgruntled soldier continued.

“We’ve trained to kill the enemy, we’ve given everything to defend the city of Tirna, to eliminate threats from the outside, so what the fuck is this?”

202nd Airborne Division.

That was the name of the unit involved in the assassination of Princess Orlea.

The role of an airborne unit is to strike the enemy in the rear from the air in times of war.

In other words, they’re the ones who jump into the middle of enemy territory and carry out suicidal dangerous operations.

It was a job that only those with a strong mind, excellent weapons, and a strong body could do.

Naturally, as the elite, they were expected to be treated better than other soldiers.

However, the 202nd Airborne Division had long been a burden to Tirna.

They had trained and trained to keep external enemies at bay, but in this time of peace, their role had become little more than a parasite on the budget.

So in a recent military reorganization proposal, the 202nd Airborne Division was at the top of the list to be disbanded, and that’s how it all started.

“What have we worked so hard for, and now they’re going to disband us?”

Disbanding doesn’t mean you stop being a soldier.

They’re probably going to be split and transferred to another unit but they didn’t like that.

They were a group of men who had gone through grueling training and were bonded by a tight camaraderie.

To disband the 202nd Airborne was to tear them apart, to tarnish their honor.

For what was the bloody training for?

For what had we endured so many years of pain and suffering?

Old men with heavy armor and guns who’d never run a mile in their lives, killing an army that had been with the city since its birth for the sake of ink on paper?

It couldn’t be this way.

It was not supposed to be this way.

“We can’t just stand by and let this happen. We have to fight for our rights.”

“Yes. We have not failed yet, and although we will die for our part in this, the legacy we leave behind will honor others in the future.”

Just then, a strange sight caught the two soldiers’ eyes.

“What is it? Am I looking at the wrong thing? Is that…….”

“……Princess Orlea?”

A blonde girl wearing a fancy dress was standing in the center of the main street of District Office Street.

She was neither cloaked nor hidden, but stood proudly for all to see.

Her appearance defied common sense, so much so that even trained soldiers couldn’t assess the situation for a moment.

“Turn on the radio. We have to finish it before the guards come forward.”

In plain clothes, they naturally put their hands on the small of their backs.

The heavy grip of their pistols beneath the silhouette of their clothes felt unusually comfortable in their hands today.

*

Albert Lorenzo’s head spun at the mention of Princess Orlea and Osian’s disappearance.

“You sent people and they’re missing?”

[Sorry, Albert, they evacuated to the underground before we could make contact…….]

“……It’s worse underground. If they make a mistake, they’ll cause friction with the people down there. I can’t guarantee their safety.”

[Or maybe it’s for the best, the fixer isn’t stupid, he’ll try to bide their time out of sight and out of mind.]

“Yeah. It’s better that way. Time is on our side.”

Some of the people who had been sitting on the sidelines now began to offer to help.

Among them were some who could be called military generals.

‘Rascals.’

The death of Princess Orlea was not a loss for the military. In fact, it would be a gain.

But at the same time, they were thinking of cutting off the 202nd’s tail, considering the failure of the operation.

‘By raising their hand as they do now, they’re effectively admitting the failure of the princess assassination and moving toward cutting off the tail.

He wasn’t completely at peace yet.

That’s why the guards all over the 33rd District are now running around with sweaty feet.

“It’s okay, we’ll just stall for time. They just need to get stuck somewhere, keep their head down, and be quiet.

Albert’s prayers were cut short when a telegram from the sentry at the main gate of the city hall shocked him.

“What?! Say that again!”

The sentry’s voice trembled as he spoke over the communicator, the power emanating from his massive frame.

[It, it… five hundred yards beyond, on the boulevard, Princess Orlea appeared.]

“……!”

Albert clung to the window, eyes wide.

“This……!”

His eyes caught a glimpse of the tousled blonde hair and colorful blue dress beyond.

Albert barely held back a curse.

He hoped the guard had been caught napping.

If this was real, the assassins had a golden opportunity.

“Why? They’ve already sent out all the guards near the district office, so there’s no one here! If you have the brains to think, something like this……!”

Albert’s scream was barely finished.

-Taang!

A brutal sound that ripped through the air echoed across the sidewalk in front of the city hall.

The 202nd Airborne, lying in ambush, had opened fire as soon as they spotted Orlea.

No, no. It’s too late.

Albert’s eyes filled with despair as he saw the future of war clearly before him.

And then, just like that, he saw the miracle of hope.

*

-Boom!

Sparks flew through the air as a bullet oxidized and disappeared.

Orlea didn’t fall, she stood upright, staring at the ward office.

It was the soldier who fired the shot that panicked.

“That guy is…….”

Before she knew it, a man was standing beside her.

A black-haired man in a black coat with a sword dangling from one hand parried the incoming bullet out of thin air.

Parrying a flying bullet with a sword? That meant the opponent was at least a mana user or a mutant of the physical enhancement class.

There was no way their weapons could penetrate him now.

“What about reinforcements?”

“They’re here! They’re not far away, it’s faster this way!”

Before the words were out of his mouth, soldiers in ponchos emerged from every rooftop and alleyway.

When they spotted Osian and Orlea standing proudly in the middle of the street, they paused for a moment, shuddering.

They couldn’t understand why anyone would do something so bold.

At the same time, the soldiers who had heard the news and rushed over also widened their eyes at the sight of the two.

It was a sight that seemed unreal, as if time had frozen over this vast distance, even if only for a moment.

Orlea watched the people in her field of vision shuffle about in confusion.

Her heart was pounding like crazy, despite her outwardly calm demeanor.

“Orlea……!”

Marquis de Debussy appeared at the entrance to the city hall with the rest of his escort, his eyes a mixture of anger and bewilderment as he glared at Orlea.

Osian spoke up as more people arrived on the scene.

“This sets the stage.”

Orlea nodded wordlessly.

The reason they were out in the open for people to find them was to draw attention to themselves.

“Let’s go.”

Orlea took a trembling first step.

At the same time, sparks flew in front of her eyes.

Before she knew it, Osian’s sword was outstretched and he was swinging it at an angle.

The sparks scattered as the bullets disintegrated before her eyes, and the thick smell of lead and gunpowder wafted past her nostrils.

Even in the bleak royal castle, there are traces of primordial destruction and death that have never been seen before. And now, facing it was a young girl, destined to fight a larger world.

“Believe.”

Osian’s words gave her courage.

A pure white flame burned deep within the girl’s heart, where nothing existed before.

A flame like starlight.

-Sigh.

Taking a breath, Orlea took another step forward.

-Taang! Kaang!

Sparks exploded before her eyes.

The wind blew in with the impact, sending the blonde hair sprawling but she was safe.

The 202nd Airborne, arriving one by one, shouted at the sight.

“What the hell are you doing? Fire more!”

“Put it all on her!”

“Kill him!”

Words of cursing and vengeance seized Orlea’s ankles.

“Don’t stop.”

-Kaang!

Before she knew it, Osian’s sword was blazing white.

The orange flames were consumed by the pure white holy light.

“Do not be afraid.”

-Ka-ang!

The knight swung his sword.

“I will.”

-Ka-ang!

He opens the way for the girl.

“Because I’m by your side.”

At the end of this path is a future she would never have dreamed of otherwise.

Life is something you can only get by pushing through death.

So let’s go…to a life full of possibilities.