LSK – Side Stories: For all of you. (Part 2)

*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.

 

Neo looked at Creus, speechless. The latter was rather rugged and scuffed; his clothes were untidy and there were even a few tears in them, and his face was covered in bruises. Creus looked nothing like the ever elegant and graceful Sun Knight. The only thing one could say in his favour was his beautiful golden hair; it still shined beautifully under the sun despite it being all messed up.

"You've been fighting?"

"I was beaten up." Creus winced as he spoke, the bruises acting up as he spoke. "But it's alright!" he smiled brilliantly. "Roland helped me beat them back!"

"Incompetent!" Neo snorted. "You should fight your own fights!"

"But why?" Creus immediately objected. "There were ten of them! Even with Roland there were only two of us! Two winning against ten is already quite impressive!"

"Shouldn't you be saying one against ten?" Neo retorted with a snort. "With your sword skills, you couldn't have dealt with even a single one."

'Although, as good as Roland's sword skills are, could he really have managed to fight against ten and still win?' A shred of doubt crept into Neo's mind.

"I did help!" Creus insisted.

Neo looked at him disbelievingly.

"I may not have been able to help fight against them, but I helped to block their blows, and I helped to divert their attention away from them, and I even managed to get help! If I hadn't gotten Leithe to help, Roland wouldn't have been able to defeat all ten of them either!"

"You know Leithe?" Neo asked in surprise. 'This boy might not be strong, but he sure knows all the ones who are strong…… I guess one can say that this is a talent too?'

"Nope," Creus replied frankly.

"… …" After a moment of speechlessness, he reminded the boy, "But you said you got Leithe to help."

"Oh…!" Creus sighed impatiently and said matter-of-factly, "I knew at first glance that he was a good guy. If he were to see Roland and I getting beat up by so many, he would have immediately jumped in and help without asking why! So when I saw Roland losing against them I immediately ran to get him!"

Neo was speechless. 'One could call this a talent too, a talent for being a cowardly person……'

He then asked the boy the same question without much hope, "Forget it. I want to ask you this: Why do you wish to be the Sun Knight?"

When he heard this question, Creus' eyes immediately lit up.

"'Cause I want to stand in your place!"

"My place?" Neo frowned, not really understanding him. Is he saying that he wants the Sun Knight's position? But what a strange way to say so.

Creus gestured wildly with his hands whilst saying excitedly, "Yup! Your place. You have so many people standing by your side to your left and right! I counted; there're eleven of them! I want them to stand by my side too; it'll be like I have eleven brothers! That would be awesome!"

Neo chuckled at that. "Even if you were to become the next Sun Knight, they won't be standing by your side. The ones who will be standing by your side would be the next generation's Twelve Holy Knights."

"Huh?" Creus didn't really seem to understand that. "Next generation? Will there still be eleven of them?"

"Of course."

"Then that's alright!" Creus beamed at that. "That's still eleven! As long as there's not one less. But it would be better if there's one more; six to my right and six to my left, how cool is that!"

Neo couldn't really say what he felt when he heard such an answer to his question, so he moved on to the next question. "And what would you sacrifice your life for?"

Like any ordinary twelve year old, Creus had never thought about such a question before. He looked down and frowned as he thought hard. Neo wasn't in a hurry and patiently waited for him to figure out his answer.

Finally, Creus looked back up with a smile. Just then, the afternoon sun glinted on his golden hair, dazzling Neo for a moment.

"I would sacrifice my life to protect."

~O~O~O~O~

Neo smiled as he looked around the hall, everyone's gaze upon him as they waited with baited breath for his decision. He then announced loudly, "I've decided that the next Sun Knight shall be – Creus!"

The entire hall fell silent, but only for a moment before it erupted.

"Why did you choose me?"

Creus certainly looked shocked. Even though he had stepped forward, his eyes kept turning to look behind him at a certain friend.

"Well, about that……"

Neo looked at Roland. The latter's face, arms and legs were unmarred by any bruises or cuts. He then looked back down at Creus with his badly bruised face and smiled faintly, "Probably because of that beautiful golden hair of yours."

~O~O~O~O~

How absurd!

The Twelve Holy Knights plus one soon-to-be-wed royal knight had gathered in the Sun Knight's room and opened up the underground cellar. They had then left carrying barrels of wine with them to some random prayer room where they proceeded to get drunk. After several bottles of wine each, it could be firmly declared that they were all totally and completely smashed.

Roland sighed at the sight before him, yet, in a strange way he felt rather relieved. The absurdity of the real Twelve Holy Knights' actions made the absurdity of a Death Knight staying in the Church of Light insignificant in comparison.

After all, is there anything more absurd than the existence of a wine cellar under the Sun Knight's room?

Roland looked at the most absurd of them all – the Sun Knight. The latter – in a rare occurrence – had finally succumbed to the staggering amount of alcohol in his blood. His cheeks were flushed red and his blue eyes unfocused.

This was so different from his image of the perfect Sun Knight, and yet, why was he the one chosen to become the Sun Knight?

Roland had to admit that this had been bothering for the past ten years. As he recalled the questions the previous Sun Knight had asked him, Roland wondered if Creus had been asked the same questions too. Could it be that he had given a better answer than him?

"Creus."

"Hmmm?"

Roland finally voiced the question that had been plaguing him for more than ten years now. "Why did you wish to be the Sun Knight?"

"For all of you!"

'For all of us?' Roland looked at him carefully. The latter was swaying on his feet and irrefutably drunk. Perhaps he wasn't really aware of what he was saying? Roland frowned, but in the end he couldn't resist asking another question. "And what would you sacrifice your life for?"

"Huh? Whaz zhat you say?"

Creus was now slumped on the table, a silly smile on his face. Roland repeated his question in a louder voice: "What would you sacrifice your life for?"

Creus stared at Roland and then at the rest of the knights gathered in the room before smiling drunkenly.

"For all of you!"

 

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