Chapter 28: The Justice of the Deserter

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Lu Kan's identity is fake, his name is fake, his face is fake,

Even his promise to the cavalry behind him,

is fake.

He knows that if he were alone, even assuming the identity of 'Hector,' he could absolutely not break out of the army's encirclement; once combat began, he would instantly reveal his weakness and then be drowned in the Conquest King's army.

In fact, he had already felt despair, believing he had no way to escape this time and was surely doomed.

But at this moment, relying on the keen eyes of a bandit, he spotted a fleeting opportunity and noticed the movements of his fellow cavalry gathering,

Thus, he told the cavalry gathered around him this lie:

"Compared to dying here, for Britannia's future——"

"Knights, now I must fulfill a promise that must be kept; I must go rescue a noble who must be rescued!"

"So, those willing to follow me,"

"fall in!"

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Lu Kan's face looked somewhat grim,

Although he had long known that this 'knight spirit' the iron-clad lot believed in was disgusting, most of the time it amounted to binding one's own hands and feet in life and battle.

This spirit gave the 'three great knight ranks' overwhelming strength over all other professions, yet it also brought about ill effects,

and when this 'knight spirit' truly turned upon itself and began to backfire, Lu Kan still felt a kind of otherworldly distortion.

At this moment, under everyone's gaze, he had no choice but to look toward Su Ya.

Arthur Pendragon is Britannia's future king; Lu Kan learned this secret when, posing as a prophet‑swindler, he was summoned to the palace to serve King Yuse, and it is also why he spoke those words.

He had originally planned to, after leading people away, frankly tell the cavalry that he had an adopted son who was Britannia's future king, and that he 'must find the king and protect his ascension to the throne'—a reason sufficient to give the cavalry an explanation, allowing them to continue following him as his guards all the way to the capital.

As for Arthur Pendragon's life or death, Lu Kan truly didn't care; he was merely using that situation to give everyone an excuse to flee.

But who could have imagined,

that at the next corner he would run into him with his sister?

Now it's fine—the step of 'finding the king' is directly accomplished.

Now,

Under the scorching gaze of nearly a hundred cavalrymen, Lu Kan must give an explanation for his actions at this moment!

So,

Lu Kan then grabbed Su Ya's wrist and lifted it high,

following Su Ya's bewildered blink and the soldiers' sharp gazes,

he shouted in a deep voice:

"I understand your will, I comprehend your knight spirit, and I share your present humiliation!"

"But compared to leading you all to retrieve the king's remains, we now have something even more important!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, I want to tell you a secret!"

The entire plain suddenly fell silent,

all the cavalry dismounted, took hold of their reins, and turned their heads with fervent gazes toward the somewhat bewildered Su Ya, as if they had long anticipated this.

At this moment,

Su Ya then heard 'Hector' raise his hand and speak in an utterly solemn tone:

"He is the child whom King Yuse entrusted to my lap fifteen years ago!"

"The future king of Britannia!"

"This land, prophesied to unite England, Wales, Ireland, and the like——"

"the king of the whole realm!"

Su Ya froze for half a second, then turned his head amid a sea of scorching gazes that made his small face flush red, wearing an expression of 'You were actually planning this,' and stared back in shock at 'Hector'.

He instinctively wanted to refute, to resist this imposed identity and responsibility.

But,

at this moment Su Ya recalled what Mei Li had said,

he thought of the world's setup where the strong are surely rich and powerful,

he thought that whether he wanted to become stronger, become a professional, or merely survive to reach a safe zone,

at this point he had no choice but to rely on these people before him.

Su Ya could not help but hesitate.

This does not conflict with his original plan; indeed, it could be said to be a parallel path—but can he really grasp such a sudden development?

Or rather, can he truly feel at ease using this false identity to lord over these living people, taking and giving as he pleases?

Put another way, if faced with the necessity of ordering them to die in exchange for his own survival, what would he decide?

Su Ya lifted his head and looked around,

gazing at the knights who fixed him with scorching eyes, waiting for him to say something,

He fell silent.

At this moment Mei Li quietly kicked Su Ya's foot and whispered, 'Come on, say something!'

Meanwhile, Lu Kan watched the boy he took to be the 'king's son,' his expression complex; he could feel the youth's inner turmoil and also understand the helplessness of being bound by 'knight spirit.'

But this is the kingdom's rule, the world's rule.

He could no longer say anything, nor even make a promise, after all he was merely a weak swindler.

He could only stare at Su Ya, just as he despised those iron‑capped heads, forcing this 'crown prince' to make his choice—

Lu Kan took a deep breath, released Su Ya's wrist, and half-knelt.

Shush!

The chains and metal plates of the armor rubbed together, producing a sound.

Then——

Shush! Shush! Shush! Shush!

All the knights present, surrounding Su Ya, half-knelt on the ground.

The knights raised their hands to their chests, one hand resting on their raised knee, gazing at Su Ya with an extremely complex look.

Only then did Su Ya come to his senses,

He was shocked by this knightly spirit he had only seen in movies, yet upon closer look he strangely perceived with his unique insight——

In the eyes of these knights who knelt before him and looked up at him,

some did not possess the pure justice of an upright knight, but rather a mixture of fear and trembling, and a helpless numbness bordering on despair.

Their gaze toward him was like that of drowning men spotting the last straw of salvation.

This gaze contained nothing that could be called noble or righteous; indeed it could be called malicious, yet driven by such evil emotion they nevertheless acted like the righteous knights of poetry and storybooks,

even if fulfilling this duty meant sacrificing their own lives.

An indescribable absurdity filled Su Ya's mind,

He gradually understood why Hector, upon seeing him, had not even spoken two sentences before immediately shifting the topic to verifying the correctness of everyone's actions on the spot,

understood why that cavalry captain who stepped forward said those words to challenge Hector,

and why Hector would conceal Su Ya's desertion,

because essentially,

Hector and his knights are no different from Su Ya and Mei Li,

they, too, are deserters!

And fleeing on the battlefield is behavior unbecoming of a knight.

And Su Ya also instantly realized——

If he could not acknowledge them here, could not here give a perfect interpretation of their and his own shameful desertion,

this group of people driven to desperation by their own 'knightly spirit' would truly drag him into another charge against the king's banner!

And just then——

A clear, cold, crisp voice tinged with slight anger rang out from the mouth of the only two people in the venue who had not knelt, echoing around:

"Su Ya Pendragon!"

"What's wrong with you? Why won't you acknowledge your own knights, your own soldiers?!"

Taking the step Mei Li had provided,

Su Ya gritted his teeth slightly, his mind racing, and then, under everyone's gaze, he loudly defended himself:

"Because——"

"They, they're all deserters!"

Upon saying that,

the pupils of all the knights present constricted in unison, their faces drastically changing!

(End of chapter)