LSK – Side Stories: Faking reality. (Part 3)

*Disclaimer note: This is merely a translation of the original Chinese version. I do not claim any part in the creation of the original story.

 

When he saw that no one was going to answer him, Creus sighed resignedly and took out the card. Even though it sounded more like his teacher was giving him a task just for the sake of explaining away his absence, he dared not treat it as a joke and ignore it. If his teacher found out that he had ignored his orders, he'd probably experience firsthand why exactly his teacher was acknowledged as the strongest Sun Knight in history.

"Are you really going to see that necromancer?"

Creus blinked and looked up in surprise. Right away, he recognised the boy in front of him. "Little Blaze Knight? Why aren't you in class……? Never mind, forget I asked."

In the middle of his question, he suddenly remembered that he himself was not in class either. And the reason for it – 'My teacher has a date with the Princess' – was better left unspoken. So, thinking of his own situation, he realised that the other might have a similarly unspeakable reason.

"Well?? Are you really going to meet with that necromancer?!" Jacques asked impatiently.

"Of course," replied Creus with a shrug. "My teacher told me to, so I have to."

Jacques stared at him blankly. He couldn't understand why the Sun Knight would have given such a task, but he quickly gave up on figuring it out and just settled for warning Creus, "We, the Church of Light's greatest enemy is the undead, and necromancers are always dealing with the undead. You do know that, right?"

Of course he knew that. Creus scratched at his face and mumbled, "But, it's an order from my teacher……"

"This…… He must be testing you!" Jacques finally came up with a reasonable explanation. "Perhaps he's testing you to see if you would really betray the Church of Light and consort with necromancers!"

Creus didn't think that was the case at all. He knew his teacher far better than Jacques did. Disobeying his orders was among the top three on Neo's list of most hated things. Even if he had to betray the Church of Light, Creus was pretty sure that the consequences of that would be far better than the punishment he would suffer at his teacher's hands should he not do so.

"Well, no matter what it is, I still have to go. It's getting late, so I need to leave now. Bye!" Creus hurriedly bid goodbye to Jacques as he rushed off. It was already nearing evening and he had yet to carry out his task and meet the necromancer. If he had to meet with a necromancer, he'd rather have the meeting take place whilst the sun was still up.

"You--!" Jacques stared at him with bulging eyes before pulling out his sword. "Stand where you are! I absolutely forbid you from consorting with necromancers!"

When he saw that he had drawn his sword, Creus was stunned and felt at a loss…… He then thought, if Jacques already knew that he was going to meet a necromancer, knowing that he knew magic shouldn't make much more of a difference, right?

Oh well, if he blabbed about it, he'll just deny it when they ask.

"Ice Wall."

Jacques stared in surprise at the four ice walls surrounding him. The walls extended all the way up to the ceiling and effectively caging him in.

From outside the frozen walls came Creus' voice. "The Ice Walls will disappear after I've left, so you can come out then."

Jacques felt furious at that and he hacked at the walls with his sword wildly, but the walls held firm against his onslaught. "You bastard!" he yelled. "Let me out! I forbid you from consorting with necromancers! I'm warning you, I'm going to tell my teacher about this!"

"Go ahead and tell him. Just remember to tell him that this was the Sun Knight's orders," came Creus' unconcerned voice.

"Creus!!" Jacques roared from within his icy prison. "I will never acknowledge you as the Sun Knight, you hear me?! You traitor!!"

The faint sound of Creus' footsteps slowed at that before picking up again.

~O~O~O~O~

Jacques was so mad that he immediately stormed up to his teacher and told him about everything. But to his surprise, he didn't get the reaction he expected.

"If that's Neo's orders, then it can't be helped," said the Blaze Knight resignedly. When he saw his student's stunned expression, he sighed and warned him. "You should never mess with Neo. He's not exactly mild tempered. He's not at all afraid of me, and with the exception of Judge and the Pope working together, no one else can stop him."

"But, Creus is going to meet a necromancer!" Jacques cried out. "I'm not acknowledging that guy as the Sun Knight! I'm going to expose his true colours!!"

And with that, he stormed away again.

"Expose his true colours, huh? You've got your work cut out for you then, with so many of them……"

As Blaze looked on as his student ran off, he muttered, "Forget Neo, how many of the other Twelve Holy Knights actually match the descriptions of the legends?"

But then he remembered that his own student seemed to be a perfect match with the Blaze Knight of the legends.

"At least amongst the next generation, you won't have to put up a false front."

Now that he thought about it, he felt rather fortunate that he didn't have to brainwash his student into becoming another person. He suddenly felt rather cheered up.

~O~O~O~O~

Jacques stormed through the streets for a while, stirring up a lot attention from by passers before suddenly realising that he hadn't a destination and had no idea where to go. But as he was still feeling angry with his teacher, he refused to return to the Holy Temple and continued wandering aimlessly around the city.

He was walking down a street when he suddenly spotted a familiar figure…… Creus?

'Hadn't he gone looking for the necromancer? Why would he be wandering around on the streets?' thought Jacques in puzzlement.

But just as the questions were being raised in his mind, he suddenly spotted the lollipops in his hand. Speechless…… so he went to the candy store first? What is he, a kid? A fifteen year old guy still eating sweets?

As he watched Creus get further and further away, he followed behind without a second thought.

He followed Creus all the way into one of the poorer sections of the city. Jacques had never been to this part of the city before, so he looked around him curiously, taking in the dirty streets and old beaten down buildings. As he crinkled his nose against the disgusting stench, he could hardly believe that this was still part of the Sprouting Leaf City.

Not too long after, Creus turned in into one of the old wooden houses.

'Is that the where the necromancer lives?'

Jacques was still pondering on whether he should barge in or not when he saw Creus coming out. The guy was even waving at the house as he called out, "I'll be leaving now then. I'll come and visit you some other time…… Oh alright! I'll bring strawberry lollipops with me next time I visit. I don't want to have to make another trip out to the candy store again every time I come here. Good bye!"

'Next time?!' Jacques glared at him. 'This bastard actually intends to come again?!'

Jacques hesitated as he watched Creus walk back, before deciding against following him back. He drew his sword before stepping towards the broken down wooden house.

When he had walked up to the door without incident, he shot out a leg and gave the wooden door a good kick, kicking it open. He then shouted "Come out! Show yourself, necromancer!"

The inside of the house was covered with cobwebs and dust. If he hadn't just seen Creus walk in and out of this house, he would never have believed that anyone was living here.

He stomped into the house angrily, swinging his blade and cutting a dust-covered table into two. "Stop pretending! Come out! I know you're in here, necromancer! I just saw Creus talking with you just now!"

"I don't think I remember inviting you in, little boy."

Jacques' heart thudded at the voice. He spun around but couldn't tell where the voice was coming from; he didn't see anyone who could have spoken.

"Did Creus tell you to come?"

"I have nothing to do with that bastard!" Jacques cried out angrily. "I'm here to get rid of you!"

"That bastard……? Is that how you address the future Sun Knight? Is that really proper, little Blaze Knight?"

The owner of the voice seemed to have recognised him.

"I refuse to acknowledge that bastard as the Sun Knight!" he roared. "That evil bastard, he has no right to be the Sun Knight, consorting with evil necromancers like you!"

"Evil bastard? You're calling Creus…… evil? Hahahahaha!"

"What're you laughing about?" shouted Jacques. "He's consorting with you, a necromancer! If that's not evil, then what is?"

"Oh? Your views on good and evil are too naïve! But……" the previously light voice suddenly turned dark and foreboding. "You know what? People hate this kind of blind self-righteousness of yours the most, little Blaze Knight."

The floorboards suddenly shook, and Jacques hurriedly muttered an incantation, casting out holy light. However, the holy light only managed to chase away a small part of the house's illusion. He wasn't able to see through the illusion to the rest of the house.

But even though he couldn't see the rest, he could still see clearly the figure of a little girl stepping slowly towards him, a lollipop in her hand. Even though he had an inkling that this little girl was the necromancer herself, he still couldn't force himself to attack a girl.

The girl walked up to him and said, "Since you hate Creus so much, I don't think I need to let you go. In fact," she giggled. "If I killed you, he'd probably thank me instead!"

"What're you talking about--"

Before he could finish, he was suddenly attacked by a dark figure. Even though he had caught the sound of someone coming at him, he hadn't had enough time to do more than raise his sword and block the blow aimed at his chest.

He staggered back from the hard blow, and when he had steadied himself again, he saw that his attacker was a pale faced man with blank eyes and stitched up skin. He didn't look at all alive…… an undead!

An undead wearing a pink apron and wielding a broom.

When Jacques realised that the weapon the undead had attacked him with was actually a broom, he felt like laughing. A little girl necromancer and an apron-wearing undead…… Why was this so different from the descriptions he had been told?

But even if it was just a broom, Jacques dared not let his guard down when he saw the undead coming at him again. He hadn't forgotten that this very same broom-wielding undead had managed to force him back a few steps with just one blow.

"You're not bad! This undead was a pretty skilled swordsman when he was still alive, you know!" praised the little girl. "But, I can't allow you to destroy him. If you destroy him, who's going to help me sweep the floor?"

Just then, the floorboards suddenly shook, causing Jacques to wobble unsteadily. Fortunately, the undead had not taken the opportunity to attack him. But then, the floor beneath him suddenly gave way, and he fell down into pitch black darkness. He could only hear the sweet but cruel voice of a little girl calling out, "Little Blaze Knight, I wonder what your expression will look like when you realise that you've died and become an undead? Hehehe!"

 

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