Chapter 1
The scent of flowers was sweet, birds chirped high among the trees, and the sun shone brightly above us as we played in the valley with wooden swords. Every child dreams of becoming a knight... right?
At least, it had been my dream for as long as I could remember.
My father was a knight, after all. It was hard to imagine becoming anything else.
I still remember the last time I saw him. He was leaving for another battle, as usual, yet something felt different that day. I ran to hug him before he mounted his horse and said:
“I cannot wait to grow up and fight by your side as a knight.”
But I had never seen such disappointment in his eyes.
“Little Eustace, I pray I shall never see thee as a warrior. Perhaps the world will no longer need warriors once thou reachest my age. Thy old man hath witnessed enough wars for a lifetime.”
“But I want to be a knight.”
“Mayhap thou dost not understand my words today, child, but remember them well, for one day thou shalt need them. There is no honor in taking another man’s life.”
He was a wise man.
Sadly, it was the last time we ever spoke. He never returned from that battle.
Why do I dream of him now?
“Eustace, wake up! The battle is upon us!”
I had overslept... again.
“Captain Rowan, my apologies. I was exhausted and did not notice the sunrise.”
“I do not wish to hear excuses. Prepare yourself. We march soon.”
“Yes, sir.”
And so we marched toward a nearby village.
I could not understand why we were there. Why must we kill them? Had they even harmed anyone from our kingdom?
But it was not the time for questions. I had a duty to fulfill.
Or perhaps not a duty.
Was killing all I truly did for a living?
The village held no more than ten families. They stood no chance against us.
And so the massacre began.
Ten soldiers were more than enough to slaughter fifty villagers, most of whom did not even possess swords.
The screams of rage and terror echoed across the fields. Smoke rose from burning homes as torches consumed the village. The earth itself had turned crimson with blood, yet not a single drop belonged to us.
Eustace could not move.
He stared in horror as the other knights butchered men, women, and even the elderly without hesitation. Not a trace of guilt could be seen upon their faces.
Lost within the echo of his father’s words, Eustace became unaware of his surroundings.
A villager seized the opportunity and swung an axe toward him.
Eustace managed to dodge, but not completely.
A sharp pain spread across his face. Warm blood trickled from the wound near his mouth.
Still frozen in doubt, he could not bring himself to raise his sword.
The villager prepared to strike once more—
—until suddenly he began coughing blood.
Eustace watched in shock as a fellow knight pulled a blade from the man’s back before severing his head in one brutal motion.
The head rolled across the blood-soaked ground and stopped at Eustace’s feet.
“Get your bloody head out of your arse, Eustace.”
Eustace could not answer.
It felt as though the dead man’s eyes were still staring directly at him.
The battle lasted less than an hour.
Soon, no villagers remained alive.
Without speaking a word to anyone, Eustace wandered toward a nearby river and cleaned the blood from his wound.
Behind him, the soldiers celebrated their victory with food and drink beside the very corpses they had created.
“What the hell happened to that lad back there?”
“Eustace, ye mean?”
“Aye, him. Nearly got himself killed.”
“Dunno. Don’t much care either. Told Rowan he was not ready.”
“QUIET!”
The voice of Captain Rowan silenced them all.
“Eustace is stronger than the lot of you together. One day he may even surpass me. He is Godefroy’s son, after all.”
“Then thou shouldst speak with him, captain. We shan’t risk our lives for a man who refuses to fight.”
Rowan approached quietly before sitting beside Eustace near the riverbank.
“Boy... is everything all right?”
“S-Sorry, captain. It shall not happen again.”
“If thou refusest to fight, I cannot send thee into battle again. So do not apologize. Tell me what happened.”
Rowan sighed heavily before continuing.
“I recruited thee because thy father was like a brother to me.”
“I know... It is just... why did we have to kill those people?”
Rowan looked at him in silence for a moment.
“Why dost thou care? Thou art a knight. A knight kills whoever he is commanded to kill.”
“I... understand.”
Yet the disappointment in Eustace’s voice was impossible to hide.
“Listen, boy. Three winters ago, thou begged me to let thee become a knight, and I allowed thee to fight beside us in honor of thy father. But I cannot keep a man at my side if he hesitates to kill.”
“I shall overcome it.”
“We ride home at sunrise. Perchance all thou needest is rest.”
“Aye... perhaps.”
Rowan returned to the others, leaving Eustace alone beside the river.
Is no reason needed to kill?
I dreamed of becoming a knight. I wished to protect the kingdom with my sword and shield...
But those people were nothing more than farmers.
Why did they have to die?
The night dragged on, yet Eustace could not sleep for even a single moment.
By morning, the company had begun its journey back toward the kingdom.
Most of the soldiers laughed, drank, and sang proudly of their victory while Eustace rode in silence, haunted by the final words of his father.
I must speak with the king.
He must answer my questions.
