After finishing their preparations to leave and saying goodbye to the villagers, Jake came running over.
“Kain! Are you really leaving?”
When all the knights turned to look at him, Jake nervously glanced around.
“It’s fine. He’s my friend.”
At Kain’s gesture, the knights looked away, and Jake spoke quietly.
“You’re going to the kingdom, right? Now that you’re actually leaving, it feels kind of... sad.”
The way he trailed off made it obvious that he had something else to say.
“What do you want to say?”
“Can I... come with you? You’re royalty, aren’t you? I’m confident I can wait on you well. You can just use me like a servant.”
Kain knew.
He knew that Jake’s lifelong dream was to leave the village and see the kingdom.
“Fine. You can follow me. But only until you get settled. After that, what you do is up to you.”
“Thank you! Really, thank you, Kain! No, Young Master!”
Having grown up an orphan, Jake had little tying him to life in the village.
It would be good for him to step into a wider world as well.
Dmitri mounted his horse and looked around at everyone.
“Then, let us be off.”
***
Several days into their journey, Serena rode up beside Kain.
“Kain. I’m sorry I never told you.”
“......”
“As you’ve already heard, I am a princess of the Kingdom of Asel. Although I’m an illegitimate child, I only left temporarily to avoid being caught up in the struggle for the throne. I never imagined twenty years would pass....”
Kain had already heard the entire story before his regression, but he quietly listened to his mother’s calm confession.
“Do you think you’ll be able to live comfortably in the Kingdom of Asel?”
“Of course. Don’t worry.”
At the end of their long journey, the Kingdom of Asel finally came into view.
Kain silently looked up at the towering spires of the royal palace in the distance.
‘Hunting dragons alone isn’t enough.’
There were humans who worshipped them.
Traitors who hid everywhere like cancer cells and sold their own kind to dragons.
‘There’s a dragon’s dog hiding inside that palace too.’
Kain’s eyes gleamed coldly.
‘I’ll root them out one by one.’
***
When Kain woke, an unfamiliar ceiling filled his vision.
A plush bed, a soft blanket, even curtains embroidered with golden thread.
He began his day in a room so extravagant that even the word luxurious hardly did it justice.
‘My life in the royal palace starts today.’
In truth, royal palaces were familiar environments to Kain.
Before his regression, he had become famous as a Magic Swordsman and had frequently been invited to royal palaces across the continent.
Before leaving his room, Kain recalled what had happened the previous day.
The very first thing he had done upon arriving at the palace.
He had asked the Court Mages to examine his mother.
“Your Highness... forgive us, but we cannot even identify your illness.”
Even the kingdom’s finest Court Mages had bowed their heads.
‘As expected. Just like in my previous life.’
His mother’s incurable illness couldn’t be treated by human medicine.
Ten years from now, his mother would collapse because of that illness.
‘But this life will be different.’
Among the Lord’s relics was one said to cure every disease.
Now he had one more reason to collect the relics.
‘I have ten years. That’s plenty.’
CLICK—
Kain opened the door and headed toward the garden, where he spotted his mother.
Jake was beside her, attending to her as a servant.
And then there was—
‘Dmitri Sellow.’
His mother’s personal guard knight stood nearby.
‘Perfect. I was planning to find him anyway.’
As Kain approached, Jake was the first to greet him.
“Kain!”
“Even if we’re friends, you should address royalty properly.”
“Ah, s-sorry. Young Master Kain... you’re here?”
“That’s right, Jake. Mother, did you sleep well too?”
“Of course, Kain. Did you sleep well last night?”
“Yes, Mother.”
After exchanging greetings, Kain got straight to the point.
“Mother. Since Sir Dmitri is here, I’ll tell you now.”
“Hmm? Tell me what?”
“I want to join the Asel Knight Order.”
“What?”
Before the startled Serena could say anything, Kain continued.
“Meditating at home isn’t enough. I want to train my body and become stronger. Strong enough to protect you.”
“Whew... Kain. You don’t need to protect me. The opposing factions that sought the throne have all been dealt with, and more importantly, Dmitri is here to protect me.”
At first glance, her words made sense.
But Kain couldn’t agree.
The enemies he was wary of weren’t humans.
They were dragons.
‘And there are people who follow those dragons.’
That was precisely why he had to join the knight order.
If he wanted to openly drive humanity’s traitors out into the light.
“I’ll protect you myself, Mother. Sir Dmitri can’t protect you forever.”
“Kain....”
“Please allow me. Sir Dmitri too.”
Dmitri met Kain’s gaze and nodded.
“I am in favor of it. Given Young Master Kain’s resolve, I believe he will adapt well.”
Serena remained unable to shake her concern for a while before finally sighing in resignation.
“Very well. If that’s what you want, then try it.”
“Thank you, Mother.”
***
On the way to the knight order, Dmitri looked at Kain’s back as the young man walked ahead of him.
‘He didn’t show the slightest agitation even at the village chief’s death.’
He was still at an age when death should have been difficult to face, yet he had watched the execution with cold, unwavering eyes.
‘He has the temperament to become a good knight.’
But that only applied to his mentality.
Whether he possessed any actual talent remained to be seen.
A knight’s true strength came from Aura.
When they arrived at the training grounds, the knights were already lined up in formation.
“I told you that we would be receiving a new member today. Allow me to introduce him. This is Kain Asel, son of Her Highness Princess Serena Asel.”
Kain stepped forward.
One might have expected them to welcome him with applause, but the knights remained silent.
If anything, they merely stared at him with displeasure.
Every noble here had earned their place by passing a legitimate examination and surviving brutally fierce competition.
What knight would welcome someone who had entered without any of that, solely because he was royalty?
“Why aren’t you applauding?”
Only after Dmitri reprimanded them did a scattering of applause finally break out.
“Then we’ll begin training. Since this is your first day, Young Master, please observe from over here.”
Kain nodded and watched the training from one side.
With his arms crossed arrogantly.
***
‘Nothing special.’
That was Kain’s impression after watching them train for over an hour.
Anyone sufficiently sensitive to Aura could gauge another person’s level of achievement.
The knights training here were around 2-Star to 3-Star.
The Sword Master-class knights he had seen before were 7-Star, so compared to them, these men were little more than greenhorns.
‘Of course, in their eyes, I probably look even greener.’
By using the mana from his Circles, Kain could conceal the presence of his Aura.
It was a technique only someone like him, with two hearts, could use.
To everyone else, he would appear to be an ordinary young man with no detectable power whatsoever.
‘Their Aura is at a higher level than mine, but that’s all they have.’
Technique alone couldn’t kill dragons.
Kain still possessed all the knowledge and experience he had accumulated over a thousand years.
There was nothing here worth watching.
‘Even so, there’s one reason I’m here.’
To uncover the traitors.
Among these knights was a member of a family that had joined hands with dragons.
In his previous life, their identity hadn’t been discovered in time, resulting in enormous losses.
But what if he provoked a knight from that family?
‘I can easily drag them out into the open.’
While Kain was thinking that, the training ended.
“Ten-minute break.”
After announcing the break, Dmitri approached Kain.
“Young Master Kain. What did you think?”
“Well, it wasn’t bad. Their stances are solid.”
“......?”
Apparently that wasn’t the answer Dmitri had expected, because he looked slightly taken aback.
“Was there something you disliked?”
“Their level seems a little low.”
Perhaps Kain’s voice had been too loud.
The atmosphere around them suddenly turned chilly.
Dmitri glanced around uneasily.
“Ahem. Young Master, if you say something like that so loudly, you may earn their dislike....”
“I’m only telling the truth. Are there any stronger knights? Sword Masters like you, Sir Dmitri?”
“They are veterans who have trained for decades. You are not yet at the stage where you should train alongside them. Young Master Kain, you must first work through the fundamentals step by step....”
“No. I’m saying this group is beneath my level.”
This time, even Dmitri couldn’t keep his expression under control.
It was a statement that could only be taken as an insult to a knight’s honor.
“Young Master Kain, what you just said sounds excessively arrogant.... You have never even held a sword before, have you?”
“Even so, I think I could beat knights at that level.”
The atmosphere froze.
Disappointment now appeared on Dmitri’s face as well.
‘I didn’t realize he was this kind of person... He possesses all the arrogance of a noble....’
Whatever Dmitri thought, Kain remained stubborn.
“If you don’t like what I’m saying, why not test me?”
“How?”
“A spar. Preferably with that man over there.”
Kain pointed directly at the only red-haired man among them.
“What’s his name?”
“Servan Ragnar.”
A smile spread across Kain’s face.
‘Found you. The traitor family.’
***
Dragons were an overwhelmingly powerful race that threatened humanity.
Naturally, there were those who came to worship that power.
‘Valensius Drake, the bastard who stabbed me in the back, was one of them.’
The Ragnar family was no different.
A family of traitors to humanity who worshipped dragons.
If Kain provoked people like them and forced them into the open?
‘I can ruin them publicly.’
Every family that worshipped dragons had to disappear.
The Ragnar family would be his first stepping stone.
‘I’ll use this match to draw out the head of the Ragnar family.’
Now all that remained was to see whether this man named Servan would take the bait.
Fortunately, the plan worked.
“If it is a spar, I’ll accept.”
Servan accepted the challenge with a fierce gleam in his eyes.
***
‘Is this bastard insane?’
Servan couldn’t help but be dumbfounded as he looked at Kain.
Someone who had never even held a sword was challenging a 2-Star knight.
‘The current princess is the illegitimate daughter of the late king. I heard she was hiding in some rural village....’
Then didn’t that mean Kain was royalty mixed with commoner blood, born after she fooled around somewhere?
He had already been an eyesore after getting into the knight order purely because of his status.
This was perfect.
Servan would crush that arrogant pride of his.
“Servan. There’s no need to spar with him.”
When Dmitri stepped in to stop him, Servan shook his head instead.
“No. I’ll do it. He seems so confident that I’d like to teach him a lesson.”
“That’s right, Sir Dmitri. You might as well see what level I’m at while we’re at it.”
With Kain joining in as well, Dmitri could no longer stop them.
“Hmm... Very well. We’ll hold the spar. However, you must wear all the protective equipment. Servan, you will use a wooden sword and no Aura. Young Master Kain is a beginner, so treat this as an instructional spar.”
“Of course. I’ll go easy on him.”
The corner of Servan’s mouth curled upward.
Despite what he said, he had no intention of going easy.
‘I’ll toy with him slowly and make him understand how powerless he is.’
But then, look at this.
“Young Master Kain?”
“I don’t need armor. A wooden sword is enough.”
“It is still dangerous. Even a wooden sword can injure you if it hits....”
“That’s why I’m telling you it won’t hit me.”
Even now, Kain was arguing with Dmitri while looking down on him.
‘Do I really look that easy to you? You’ve got lowborn blood in you, yet your arrogance reaches the heavens.’
Servan decided to crush his momentum from the very beginning.
He raised his wooden sword vertically.
Servan gave the customary salute before the spar, and Kain raised his own wooden sword in response.
“If you’re both ready... begin!”
The moment the knight acting as referee finished shouting—
DASH—!
Servan’s wooden sword shot toward Kain’s head with vicious force.
It was a blow that would knock him unconscious instantly if he failed to dodge.
The attack came so suddenly that there should have been no time to block.
But—
WHACK—!
“Ghk!”
The opponent before Servan’s eyes vanished.
Then an intense pain exploded across his back.
That was the beginning.
Of Kain’s merciless beating.