"Go first, Captain!"
"We will guard this place!"
Nadav and Jigor, who had shouted those words, ultimately fell before the traitor's sword.
The moment Mori saw Nadav's back, which had always seemed so massive and reliable, crumbling down, he sensed the end.
It's all over. There's no stopping him now.
Yet failure was no reason to collapse in despair.
"The Captain shared his authority with me, so I can deceive the traitor's eyes for a moment."
"But Mori, you..."
"So, Soana must stay by the Captain's side. Soana will protect him better than I could."
Ascending the main tower, one would find a bridge leading outside. Through there, an escape route could be found.
Soana was wise. She would find a way to save the Captain.
Confirming that Soana and the Captain were heading toward the bridge, Mori ran upward with all his might.
He had no outstanding talents compared to the other knights. His martial prowess went without saying, and he could not even speak a single word with ease.
If only he had a lively personality like Jigor, but his timid nature and tendency to be overly conscious of others' eyes made him tremble whenever he stepped forward.
"Hah, hah."
As if to advertise his poor stamina, his breath was already ragged. Under normal circumstances, he might have collapsed right here.
But this moment was different. Mori squeezed out every ounce of strength until his vision yellowed.
"Even if it's just this..."
His Captain had taken in the wicked him, made him a Knight of the Round Table, and even designated him as successor.
He wanted to repay that trust. Though it might be insignificant compared to the sacrifice of the other knights who had stood before the traitor with their swords and met their end, if he could be of help even like this.
Thud!
Finally, he reached the top floor.
The top floor of the main tower held only one room. The Captain's bedchamber. A place where all of the castle could be overlooked.
Mori, breathless, locked the bedchamber door and rummaged through his clothes. Inside his pocket was the fragment of authority the Captain had shared with him.
He couldn't wield this skillfully. However, to deceive the traitor's eyes, he could certainly manage to activate the power intensely for just a moment.
Mori, clutching the pocket, headed toward the window.
The blowing wind carried a thick scent of blood. The broken and collapsed castle grounds were dyed in blood everywhere, and screams overflowed.
"Hrk."
Mori bit his lip.
Honestly, he was terrified. The sight of the castle crumbling overnight, his comrades falling while bleeding, the death soon to claim him—all of it.
Bang!
"Hic!"
Someone struck the bedchamber door violently. Mori nearly screamed reflexively but clamped his hand over his mouth.
Shoulders trembling, Mori looked at the locked door and retreated step by step.
There hadn't been many places to run to begin with.
Bang!
Another loud crash, and the locked door rattled.
Mori clenched his molars tight and put all his strength into his trembling lips.
Holding his breath, he watched the door. The latch, which had been shaking as if it would break at any moment, went quiet.
Did he just leave? Did he realize it wasn't the Captain?
The thought that perhaps he hadn't properly served as a decoy made Mori's heart sink.
Clutching the pocket, Mori desperately activated that power. The moment the flickering green light burst forth brilliantly—
Kwang!
The door, its lock completely shattered by the strong impact, swung open with a metallic screech, hanging askew.
With the sound of heavy armor, bloody footprints marked the bedchamber floor.
"...Hah."
The traitor, discovering Mori standing by the window, let out a hollow laugh. Having dealt with knights the entire way here, he looked quite exhausted.
Even so, as the Captain's first knight, he remained an opponent Mori could never defeat.
"That one's power."
The traitor's gaze fell on the pocket Mori was clutching.
"Doesn't seem like power you should possess."
"The, the Captain permitted me."
At Mori's answer, the traitor frowned. He didn't hide his displeasure as he asked back.
"Permitted?"
"I, I was chosen as his... successor."
Mori had once asked. Why him?
With so many excellent and outstanding knights, why choose someone with no power or ability like himself?
The Captain had smiled and answered then. Someone who could love all things in the world should remain, shouldn't they?
Your heart, which cannot simply pass by even a single roadside wildflower, would be the qualification to wield that power.
Mori couldn't understand most of the answer, but one thing he was certain of.
The Captain had anticipated his own absence.
"A successor is named when stepping down from the position."
"S, Sir Samuel."
"Did He say that? That He would step down in the future?"
The traitor approached with slow steps. Behind those heavy footsteps, red footprints remained deeply marked.
"Or perhaps, did He say it would happen soon?"
The traitor was angry. Crimson fury saturated every word he uttered.
"Did He tell you He would discard everything without a single regret?"
"The Captain—!"
At Mori's sudden outcry, the traitor's steps halted. However, his cold gaze remained fixed on Mori.
Precisely on the pocket he held.
The traitor looked as if he wanted to snatch the pocket from Mori's hand immediately, stomp on it, and crush it to pieces.
Noticing this, Mori pulled the pocket precious against his chest.
"The Captain simply desires freedom."
"...Freedom?"
"That, that one has suffered for a long time, and deserves to be liberated from duty!"
"Is that freedom eternal death?"
The traitor, who had paused briefly, stepped forward again.
"How can annihilation with no promise of afterlife become freedom?"
The traitor's question, filled with mockery, didn't seek an answer. It was merely a monologue.
Yet Mori answered without realizing it.
"E, even if that's the case."
Already clumsy with words and now trembling on top of it, he kept stumbling over his speech.
Mori wet his dry mouth with his tongue and forced out his voice.
"You, you have no right to judge that, Sir Samuel."
The closer the traitor came, the stronger the bloody scent piercing his nose became. The armor soaked in blood until its original color was unrecognizable, the dangling sword—everything was terrifying.
Most terrifying of all was the traitor's distorted face. Whether Mori's answer had deeply offended him, he glared at Mori with a vicious aura.
Yet Mori, trembling in fear, didn't stop speaking.
"The Captain's freedom is solely the Captain's choice."
His hesitant steps had nowhere left to retreat. Behind him was only the wide-open window, and beyond that, empty air.
Cold wind pierced his back, soaked in cold sweat. It was so cold it hurt like a blade cutting into him, and goosebumps rose.
"We simply follow the Captain's will."
At Mori's answer, the traitor erased even the mockery he had been wearing.
In his cold gaze, neither compassion for a comrade nor guilt from betrayal could be found.
"Unfortunately, your views and mine do not align."
The traitor raised his sword. A distance close enough to reach with a swing.
This is the end.
In that instant, Mori resigned himself. He no longer possessed the words to hold this traitor back.
His judgment was swift. Mori willingly leaned his body backward. Still clutching the pocket precious against his chest.
Because he couldn't let even this be shattered beneath the traitor's feet.
His defenseless body plummeted at terrifying speed. Feeling the wind rush past, Mori squeezed his eyes shut.
Thud!
A dull sound, shocking pain, and a faint warmth of unknown origin. That was all he remembered.
The place he died was near the main tower entrance. However...
It seems the place of death doesn't matter.
Mori, gazing straight ahead, smiled bitterly and parted his lips.
"That is correct."
Aneli, who had been standing idly while touching the windowsill, quickly turned around.
Mori pointed to the windowsill she had been touching and continued.
"Th, that place."
The bedchamber's scenery was exactly as it had been before death. Even the bloodied footprints the traitor had left, all of it.
The bloodstains had faded in color, but it was enough to recall that time.
"This is the Captain's bed, bedchamber, and I... fell from there."
Aneli looked at Mori with an unreadable expression, then turned her head back toward the window.
At that moment, the wind blew, tossing her long hair about wildly.
"...Higher than I thought."
"The Captain wanted to se, see everything at a glance."
"The Captain of the past certainly had many desires."
Aneli murmured quietly and let out a deep sigh.
"Mori."
"Yes, yes."
"What do you wish for?"
Mori didn't immediately understand her words. So he couldn't answer and wore a bewildered expression.
Aneli, looking outside, turned back with a puzzled look at Mori's lack of response, then let out a short exclamation and added an explanation.
"Rest, I mean."
"Ah...!"
"You've regained your head now."
At her words, he reflexively touched his neck. Above the hollow nape, he felt his chin, his cheek, his hair.
"That's right, th, that's correct."
Since he regained his head, it must be time to find rest.
Mori, standing dazed with his large eyes blinking, quietly lowered his gaze. His long eyelashes settled neatly with the motion.
"I am your successor who swore to embrace all things. I followed your traces to protect the teachings from being distorted."
Sudden tension made his palms sweat. Mori joined his hands and continued speaking haltingly.
"My rest is to follow the Captain's will..."
But Mori soon fell silent. He had instinctively realized this wasn't it.
Just as the Captain's freedom was the Captain's choice, Mori's freedom was something Mori had to choose. A faint light entered his dazed gaze.
"Suc, successor."
"What?"
"The Captain's successor."