I Became a Childhood Friend With the Villainous Saintess

216 – Side Story – Argen Bertus (1)

The Bertus family was a poor noble family on the outskirts of the Grand Duchy of Illencia.

All he has is a title with no power whatsoever.

The estate existed only on paper, and their living conditions were only slightly better than those of other commoners.

So the only person who believed that the surname ‘Bertus’ made him special was Arzen’s father.

“Son, haven’t I told you many times? You are different from the other vulgar people outside. You are a true nobleman. And yet, you have come to hang out with vulgar people!”

“… … .”

He used to be upset that his son was hanging out with the village friends, but it really didn’t make sense to Arzen.

My name makes me different from my other friends.

What on earth does that mean?

The herbalist family living at the foot of the mountain seemed happy even without a last name like Bertus.

Ranya, the daughter of that house, knew how to smile beautifully, and her parents did not beat her even when they were drunk.

It goes without saying that he does not force his children to achieve dreams that he himself could not achieve.

The herbalist couple took great care of Ranya, who was weak.

Argen thought that his father was a slightly less intelligent adult than other people.

He wanders around the damp places in the city center every day, bringing with him his resentment.

It’s only natural to waste money on alcohol without doing any work.

The reason Argen said his father was a ‘slightly’ bad adult was because he bought him a sword.

And anyway, the parents who gave birth to me were everything.

A knight must be honorable.

And it was the law of an honorable man to respect his parents.

No matter how narrow-minded a person my father is, this would not be an exception.

Argen considered himself to be just a little unlucky.

“Argen. Where have you been?”

“Mountains. Running on mountains is better for your stamina than running on flat ground.”

“Yes. I have to work hard. My family was originally a renowned martial family. Our ancestors were on the path to becoming sword masters, but… … ”

“Yes. I train hard every day.”

Yes, Argen wanted to become a knight.

A knight in shining armor riding a magnificent horse.

He started down this path when he was young because he couldn’t bear his father’s abuse… … but now he was dreaming the same dream.

It was a minor incident.

Argen didn’t really know what he wanted to be when he grew up.

Then one day, Ranya asked me this.

“Argen, will you grow up to be a knight?”

“Probably not.”

“Wow! I recently went to a big estate with my father. There I saw a knight riding a white horse. His armor was shining in the sunlight. I’ve never seen anyone so cool. I’m sure you’ll become a great knight like him.”

“okay?”

“Yeah! Argen can do anything I can’t. You’ll definitely achieve your dreams.”

Arzen couldn’t sleep that night.

The look in Ranya’s eyes as she spoke of the knight was so dazzling – when I thought of it in the middle of the night, it felt like the surroundings were brightening up.

That’s how the boy’s dream began.

Let’s become a knight who protects the big city as Ranya said.

After I become a knight, I will one day return to this village riding a white horse.

And then… … umm.

Arzen turned his head and cleared his mind.

For a young boy, it was awkward and embarrassing to have vague feelings.

Time passed so quickly.

After training, I help Ranya go out to gather herbs and sometimes we eat together at Ranya’s house.

Looking back, it was a really happy memory.

That was until one day my father came back with a very happy face.

“Argen. I have a wonderful opportunity for you. The position of Squire of Lord McGallan has become vacant. You wouldn’t want to miss this opportunity, would you?”

Squire.

It was also called the Seed of a Knight, and was a position for becoming a kind of apprentice knight.

Argen soon discovered that he had been sold for a small amount of money, but he wasn’t particularly angry.

I didn’t expect it from the beginning, so there was no reason to be disappointed.

The word opportunity itself was true.

The place we had to leave was said to be a very terrible battlefield.

But that was okay. After all, a knight is supposed to overcome adversity.

If you want to become a knight, you have to overcome at least this much.

I didn’t tell her because I thought she would worry.

There is such a thing as “if.” It can’t hurt to be careful.

─I definitely thought so.

The day before leaving for the battlefield.

After finishing our hike with Ranya, the sky was dyed red.

The sunset was so beautiful that Argen said something he had been reluctant to say.

“I promise, Ranya. I will definitely return as a great knight. When I return, will you marry me?”

“Okay. I promise.”

Lanya smiled at him.

The boy now has a reason not to die.

* * *

You’re wrong, Ranya.

Knights aren’t all that cool.

War was fundamentally a terrible thing.

There was no romance, no dreams, no hope in killing people.

At some point, Argen realized that he was fighting for survival rather than honor, but nothing changed.

The knights that the boy full of dreams first met were all pathetic people.

A coward full of nothing but vanity. A pleasure killer who just enjoys bullying the weak. An unreasonable and incompetent old fart.

Competent people are competent in a few ways, while incompetent people are always creative enough to easily surpass expectations.

The madness of the battlefield that devoured humans eventually swallowed up even the boy’s dreams.

“The wolf skin turned inside out! It’s Argen Bertus!”

“Kill him! I will award ten gold coins to whoever kills him!”

“Why can’t I kill that one guy!”

The boy grew up to become a knight, but he never achieved his dream.

Because the knight he dreamed of was not a grim reaper who took lives indiscriminately.

Some on the battlefield accused Argen’s sword of being crazy, but that wasn’t true.

In his pursuit of black efficiency to the limit, he simply killed humans like a machine.

There was no room for madness in that dry and dull sword.

As the number of corpses he killed increased, his notoriety spread throughout the battlefield.

When we were about to face the ‘wall’, the Grand Duke of Illencia himself came to see us.

“I was looking for a great knight. The Order of the Spear-Tip needs some new faces. Argen Bertus, I guess I was looking for a gentleman.”

“I am not a knight.”

“No way. I clearly heard that Kyung was officially appointed as a free knight.”

The Grand Duke of Illencia was a strange man.

Even though it was my first time seeing it, it felt like he was staring straight into my head.

Arzen inadvertently revealed his true feelings.

“I have been knighted to fight on the battlefield, but I am not yet a knight.”

It was nonsense. It was so long that even I could hear it without thinking.

Nevertheless, Grand Duke Illencia nodded willingly.

Before he knew it, a satisfied smile was on his lips.

“He became a knight, but he is not a knight. Then it is not a matter of status, but of the king’s attitude. What kind of person does the king think a knight is?”

“I don’t know anymore. When I was young, I had a dream, but now I can’t figure it out.”

“If you don’t know, you can find it again. If you follow me, I’ll help you find your way. We’ll talk about whether you’ll become my knight later. What do you think?”

“I am…….”

Arzen went to the Grand Duchy of Illencia.

Although he had not yet joined the Order of the Spear Tip, the Archduke was the nicest place Arzen had ever seen.

As Lanya had once said, there were many knights in magnificent armor.

But they too are nothing more than murder weapons on the battlefield.

If he were to return to the battlefield again, he would swing his sword without emotion.

His heart was moved one day when the Grand Duke of Illencia took him on an outing.

Next to him was a beautiful young woman who was said to be engaged.

The Grand Duke had the happiest expression on his face I had ever seen, yet he kept his distance from Young-ae.

When the outing was over and Youngae returned.

Arzen asked.

“Your Majesty always walks three steps away from Young-ae. What is the reason?”

“It’s my way of protecting her. She’s still secretly afraid of me.”

“Then, does that mean that Young-ae doesn’t love you?”

“Well, I don’t know yet. But I’m sure it’s getting better little by little. I believe that when the time comes, she’ll pull me closer.”

It’s a way to protect your heart.

After that, the Archduke told many stories.

Today, Youngae took the first step forward.

A little distance creates a deeper relationship.

The world is full of contradictions, so if you change yourself just a little, everything can change.

Human emotions are greater than magic.

“To me, knights are people who protect me and my territory. If we expand the meaning a little further, we could also say that they are people who protect others.”

“That’s what people usually say. I don’t really agree with that though.”

To Argen, knights were still cruel murder weapons.

A butcher who kills people for money. The only difference from mercenaries is that his shoulders are somewhat stiff.

People think of ‘Guardian’ when they read the article, but Argen thinks of ‘Massacre’ first.

“I thought so. But listen. I am not fit to be a knight. I am more suited to looking after documents in the back than fighting on the front lines. However, there is one person I must protect.”

“Are you talking about Youngae?”

“That’s right. What do you think? If I were to risk my life to protect her, would I be a knight to her?”

“… … Well, I’m not sure about that.”

“Haha! Think about it slowly. You don’t have to answer.”

The words of the Grand Duke of Illencia continued to linger in Arzen’s mind.

It felt like I knew something, but it was still a bit confusing.

His worries were resolved only after quite some time had passed.

It was the day when my father, whom I had forgotten about, came to visit me.