How to Live as a Knight After the Ending

Chapter 117: Heir to the Starlight (1)

Osian’s gaze swept over David and the other aspirants.

Jonathan didn’t understand why he was staring at them, but David was quick to recognize it.

“We’ll let you talk.”

He casually led Jonathan and the other aspirants out of the way.

Once they were out of earshot, Osian looked back at the hooded man.

“I suppose I should start by asking who you are.”

“My name is Asmer. I walk the path of the sword to ensure that the long lineage continues unbroken.”

The man, Asmer, pulled back his hood as he introduced himself.

His short, jet-black hair was cropped short, and he was quite imposing in appearance, perhaps due to his years of training.

Overall, he looked like a man. The same could be said for his size.

He wasn’t huge like Jonathan, but he was on the larger side of the average person.

The weight class itself was bigger than Osian’s.

“Greetings again. And I offer my apologies.”

Asmer’s stiff tone was filled with apology and respect for Osian.

“For daring to test the Heir to the Starlight, I have nothing to say even if I die a hundred times. If the Heir asks me to die, I will gladly sacrifice this one body!”

These weren’t just words to deflect the situation.

Hearing the sincerity in his voice, Osian’s expression was unexpected.

Was this his nature?

“There’s no need to die.”

“You mean you forgive me for my rudeness?”

“It doesn’t matter, I had fun too.”

Besides, if Osian had been in Asmer’s situation, he would have been similarly wary of the other man.

Asmer’s face brightened at that, and he exclaimed, his voice filled with emotion.

“Thank you! To think that you care so much about something like me! Your heart is as wide as the sky, embracing even the clouds, and I dare say I’m overwhelmed!”

“You’re overreacting.”

“No, it’s not overreacting at all! On the contrary, I apologize for not being able to do more than this for you!”

“There is no need to apologize.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

“…….”

Osian didn’t expect such a blind reaction when he told Asmer that he didn’t need to give his life.

It would have been better to not say anything at all, but Osian felt like it wasn’t as easy as it sounds.

“So, who did you learn the sword from?”

“I learned it from my grandfather.”

“And if he was your grandfather, was he family?”

“He is the benefactor who took me in when I was an orphan. He was the one who carried on the vein of starlight, and he taught me the way. The sword I inherited is the same. It is my [More Kindness].”

“Why is the sword named that?”

“Because when I hold the sword and ask for favors, people are kinder to me than when I just ask!”

“Who named the sword that?”

“My grandfather!”

“……I see, and what is he doing now?”

“He’s dead!”

“Oh no. I asked the wrong thing. I’m sorry. It’s good to hear the name of the weapon.”

Asmer shook his head.

“It’s okay, you’re the heir, you deserve it. You can insult my grandfather all you want, I’m sure he’d be pleased!”

‘You little brat. In what country is it okay to curse at dead people?’

Osian barely held back the words that nearly escaped his mouth.

Perhaps he’d shown too much skill in the fight.

Asmer’s eyes, looking at Osian, were shining as hotly as when he encountered his childhood idol, or something more.

“Is there anyone else besides you?”

“No. I am the only one who has been taught by my grandfather.”

“Then what about the other people who control the power of Starlight?”

“Well, I don’t know about that either, for I am a recent arrival in Tirna.”

“But how did you know of me and come to Tirna?”

“I saw the constellations.”

“Constellations?”

Asmer bowed his head.

“Yes. My late grandfather always told me that a being from the distant past, a being who had reached the pinnacle of knighthood, would one day return, and that I should always keep my eyes on the night sky to greet him when he did.”

“The night sky.”

“I doubted him, but not long ago I witnessed it, the stars shining brighter than usual and trembling as if in worship of someone.”

Asmer clenched his hands into fists, shaking as if he could never forget the sight.

It was a tremor of excitement.

“I could tell that this was the moment my grandfather had been waiting for, and the man before him, the man who taught him, the man before him.”

Asmer felt immensely grateful that the moment had come in his generation.

He studied the stars, and was able to determine the direction from which the brightest star shone.

That was where the golden city of Tirna lay.

Asmer had come to Tirna guided by the stars, just yesterday.

“So starlight is all you know how to use?”

“……Yes. I’m ashamed to say, but I can barely make my sword hold the starlight.”

“You have nothing to be ashamed of. It’s enough.”

Osian’s words were sincere.

In this age of guns, no one can handle a sword.

Even with melee cold weapons, no one is truly devoted to the sword.

The starlight had faded, and the knight’s lineage had been severed. Just as he was thinking that, Asmer appeared.

“I’m overwhelmed with undeserved praise,” Asmer said, ”My abilities were always less than this, but I’ve grown stronger recently, no doubt due to my encounter with your starlight.”

Osian didn’t deny it.

Starlight was not just a physical phenomenon of light.

It sometimes resonated with a will that lay dormant in the depths of the heart, burning intensely in the bonds between people.

“Why are you so sure I’m the heir? You could be the only one left in the lineage.”

“When we met yesterday, I would have dared to entertain such unholy suspicions, but I realized just now, as we shuffled our swords, that this is not simply an ability that someone of my lineage possesses.”

Asmer added hastily.

“Besides, I’ve also been looking for news from the city over the past night.”

“Hmph. You’re more serious than I thought. You’re quick on your feet.”

“Thank you! Anyway, from the news I got from the city, they even said that Heir Osian wore a cloak or armor besides his Starlight sword. I was convinced the moment I heard it.”

I never thought he’d find the information in the meantime.

Osian’s head was spinning at the thought of such blind loyalty.

“However, the people of the city still dismissed your power as a rumor or an exaggeration. I apologize that I didn’t dare to beat those impious bastards with my own hands!”

“……Uh, yeah. Well done.”

Osian looked slightly annoyed.

Perhaps it was an illusion to feel uneasy that he was facing a fanatic even worse than Martinez?

“And, dear Heir, there is one thing I would like to ask you, if I dare.”

“What is that?”

“I followed the starlight of the Heir into the city, but at the same time, I felt a very blasphemous presence. It was the power of the ancient Death Star. Do you know anything about that?”

“Death Star.”

Of course, there’s no way I wouldn’t know.

But what I found surprising was that Asmer knew about it and could sense its aura.

‘I wonder if the stories of my gaming days have been passed down like legends.’

At first, Osian answered Asmer’s question.

“In an old ruin, a flesh-and-blood being awoke.”

“No way!”

“But you need not worry. It won’t be able to rampage anymore.”

“So the Heir has already taken action! That’s great!”

No, not great.

Now that I think about it, is it great?

Osian asked Asmer other questions, and Asmer answered them as best he knew how.

‘So, to sum it all up, a knight from the distant past taught the power of the starlight to the next generation to keep the lineage alive.’

It has been passed down through the ages, all the way to Asmer to welcome the return of the true knight who will one day return.

‘The return of the true knight.’

Osian knew instinctively that this meant him. But there were still unanswered questions.

‘How did they know I would return? How am I recorded in the past history of this world?’

Osian remembered playing the game.

If you take a rough guess at the unfriendly main storyline, which isn’t explained very well, most players end up killing a god and doing something called ‘ascension’.

Of course, it’s possible to get a different ending depending on which bosses you defeat and which choices you make along the way.

Generally speaking, the Ascension ending is the canonical one, and that’s what players follow.

‘But I did not ascend, and remained in this world. Were the fragments of my power scattered all over the world? So what is it? Did I ascend and then come down? Or was the ascension a failure?’

I pondered, but no answer came.

“Asmer.”

“Yes, Heir!”

“First of all, it must be true that you don’t know the other Heirs, right?”

“Yes, it is!”

“You haven’t heard any rumors?”

“I haven’t heard any rumors either, until I came to this city, I was too busy training swordsmanship in a corner to care about anything else.”

“Hmm. By that logic, even if there are others, you might not know of their existence because they are similar to you.”

“Sorry!”

‘No, I mean, why do you keep apologizing?’

Osian shook his head.

“I’m not sure if there are others or not.”

“Heir. Do you mind if I say something?”

“You may speak at ease.”

“The moment you appeared, the heavenly bodies had already begun to move. The impact will not be small, and if there are other knights besides me……they will definitely sense the flow of the heavenly bodies and move.”

“That means, no matter how well they hide, they will show themselves in the end.”

“Yes. There’s more to it than that. When the Heir appears, the dormant powers will be awakened in response.”

‘Dormant powers.’

Osian remembered the apparition he’d encountered at House Goldiron.

What others thought was a ghost was the power he had left in this world.

There was no guarantee there weren’t others like it.

No, there must be.

“You need not worry, I, Asmer, will stand by your side and protect you!”

“Weaker than me.”

“I apologize for being weak!”

“Never mind, so do you have a place to stay now?”

“No, I kept wandering around last night, so I haven’t found a place to stay yet!”

“Then you don’t have any connection or anything like that here.”

“Yes.”

Hmm.

Osian stroked his chin.

Asmer, with his ability to wield the Starlight Sword, was a human beast in his own right.

What if he still had a place to stay?

“Follow me.”

Osian led Asmer to Violet Fox.

“Ah, Mr. Osian. Who is he? Hoo-hoo. Is he a new client?”

Ronan greeted Osian with the morning’s paper.

Just as Osian was about to say something, Asmer drew her sword and stood in front of Osian as if guarding him.

“Heir, be careful, this man is dangerous!”

“Hmm?”

“What?”

Panicked, Osian and Ronan stared at Asmer.

But Asmer didn’t care what they were doing, he just stared straight at Ronan and shouted.

“Look at this guy, he’s dangerous from the get-go! Those eyes! That smile! It’s suspicious! He must be hiding something black inside!”

“No, he…….”

Osian tried to stop him, but Asmer wouldn’t listen.

“Besides, look at him, he doesn’t falter at all when he sees my sword, he must be one of the city’s most feared and dreaded beings, hiding some sort of skill!”

Asmer was convinced, but Ronan was not.

Asmer’s words and actions baffled him so much that he didn’t know how to respond.

He was even more surprised to see someone other than Osian wielding a sword.

“Mr. Osian. Who is this?”

Ronan, who immediately realized that this was not his client, turned to Osian and asked.

“You bastard, how dare you speak to the heir!”

“Hee hee hee, you’re funny. Are you saying I shouldn’t even speak to him?”

“How dare you defile the Heir’s ears with your serpentine three-headed tongue, you……!”

“Asmer. Enough.”

“Yes, Heir!”

Asmer bowed his head deeply, as he always did.

Osian turned to Ronan and spoke frankly.

“I was wondering if we could use another new fixer.”

Osian glanced at Asmer.

He was still wary of Ronan. He wouldn’t be so wary even if he saw his enemy.

“… … It won’t work, right?”

Ronan couldn’t help but say.