Reborn: Knight's Code

7-1

The next morning Ash woke beside both Lillanis and Shina. The night before when Shina had stayed behind, Lillanis had said nothing and neither had Ash. He didn’t know why but the complaints that screamed through his mind before at Shina’s advances no longer bothered him. In the span of only a few days, the way he thought had changed. In truth, those thoughts were not deeply ingrained in his being. They were only things that were left over from his past life and when he was confronted with a difference, Ash was shocked at how easy it was change his own thoughts, but he had always prided himself on his adaptability.

Shina was a little disappointed that she couldn’t go with Ash when he left with the knights, but she didn’t argue. Instead she decided to go with Lillanis and the others as they went to hunt ogres in the labyrinth.

When Ash arrived in the dining room to await breakfast, he found both Maria and Marilyn waiting on him. Marilyn pushed aside the main course of the meal and instead focused on the small breakfast pastries that Gilda had brought out.

While they ate, Milly crawled up into Ash’s lap and happily ate from his plate. Marilyn kept giving him envious looks while Maria’s cold eyes bored into him, making the whole meal needlessly unpleasant.

To help pass time, Marilyn explained more about the knights as she tore through an entire plate of pastries.

There were eight main knight jobs or guilds, depending on how you looked at it. They were Temple, Redemption, Renegade, Retribution, Heavy Scout, Light Scout, Mage, and Support Knights. Temple Knights were Heavy Knights that commonly rode horses and carried a large tower shield and a one handed axe. Redemption Knights used light shields and long swords. Renegade Knights also rode horses, wore medium armor and used great swords. Retribution Knights wore medium armor and used duel medium length swords that were slightly curved. Heavy Scouts like Marilyn wore medium armor and used long swords and bows. Light Knights like Maria used long daggers and throwing knives and wore light armor.

The last two kind of knights were special and rare. Mage guilds were one of the few guilds that only took in people with select abilities. Unless you had an inborn affinity, ability or mana manipulation ability, it was impossible for one to join or train as a mage. Skills could still be learned, but their effects were minimal. Mage Knights used magic along with sword arts, while Support Knights used white magic like Lillanis to heal others, but were also trained in the use of swords and long bows.

Marilyn’s group consisted of a Temple Knight, Redemption Knight, Retribution Knight, Heavy Scout, Light Scout, and a Support Knight. With Ash, they would have seven in the group but the Temple Knight, who was little use in the dense forest, was going to stay back. Since the knights fought with groups that were close to the same level, that meant that all of them were close to the same level but they were not in an official party. They used the stones so that they were linked to higher level knights so that their level rose faster. Ash still didn’t completely understand how the stones worked on higher level groups. From his knowledge, in most parties if there was a five level difference, it affected experience but with the stones that was negated. The stones linked to each person in the party like a proxy and adjusted themselves to all show the same level as the person with the highest level. This meant that when one of the lower level knights killed a monster, they received less experience, but it also meant that when one of the higher level knights killed one, the lower level knights received a large amount of experience from the kill.

Ash saw the use of the stones and he was happy that the knights used them. Marilyn had joined his party but the rest of the knights wouldn’t do the same. That meant that Ash didn’t have to worry about his identity being exposed.

After they finished their meals, Ash and the two scouts left the manor and headed toward a small inn at the edge of the town. The inn wasn’t the cheapest in the city, but it was still one of the lower class inns in the slums. As soon as they entered the building, the scent of stale ale and mold assaulted his nose.

Ash was lead to a large table near the back of the inn where four heavily armored and armed people sat idly chatting. Upon seeing Ash with the two girls a young man in his early twenties stood and gave a light bow. “You must be Master Hawkwing,” the man said with a slightly bitter tone. “I am Den, a Retribution Knight and the captain of this squad.”

“As you have guessed, I am Ash Hawkwing but I would prefer to be called Ash,” Ash said with a slight nod of his head.

Ash was seated while Den went over the plans and what everyone’s parts would be. Maria as the Light Scout would move far ahead of the group while Marilyn would move slightly ahead of the group. Ash along with the others would move as a solid group with Den at the front.

After they finished eating and Den was sure everyone knew their roles, the group of six left the inn. None of the knights seemed to care that Ash’s level was far below theirs. It seemed that the knights took on the same view as Zelan had. They believed that one’s skill was far more important than the person’s level. Thanks to Marilyn’s support, none of the knights looked down on Ash.

It was a two day journey to where the bandit camp was located. For the first day, the knights would be sticking to the main road. On the second day, they would enter the woods and march for close to a day then camp outside of what they believed to be the bandits range. On the morning of the third day, they would attack the camp as the sun came up.

Even though they didn’t plan to encounter the bandits, they still had Marilyn and Maria stay in front of the group to look for anything out of the ordinary. Most people wouldn’t mess with a group of knights. Not just because of their training, but because reprisals were always fast and harsh. If someone attacked a knight, the chance that they would reach the king’s court for trial was almost nonexistent. That said, the ones that would attack the knights would do their best not to leave a single person alive after they were done.

One such group that often attacked knights were a band made up of mostly members of the Beast Tribe. Unlike last time Ash traveled, this time he rode upon a large horse that belonged to the Temple Knight that had stayed behind. While they rode, Den told Ash about the people they had the most to worry about.

The group of roving beast men had been fighting against the kingdom for over fifty years. It started when the previous king issued a law forbidding any but those born human to have the right of the King’s Law. This law prompted those not born with full human bloodlines to revolt. This though did not change the views of the people, but instead many of the nobles used it as a reason for their harsh treatment of non-humans.

The reason behind the law was not as simple as the nobles protested. The truth was that after a long run of peace, the number of people had increased and so had the need for slaves. To fill this need, the king had decided it would be best to use those that were viewed as a lower class to fill the void.

From the way that Den explained it, Ash could tell that the knight both understood and hated the law, but he was forced to uphold it. Ash tried to ask himself what he would do if he was in the same position as the king at the time. No matter how he thought about it, Ash could think of no answer that would satisfy both the demand for labor and his own feelings on the matter. He himself owned slaves, but as far as he was concerned they were slaves in name only. Though Ash told himself that it still bothered him whenever he thought about it deeply.

They didn’t ride hard nor fast, but at a gentle pace. Den said it was to not to rise suspension to those that may be looking. Still, at the relaxed pace, they reached the planned campground well before sunset.

Other than a simple camp, Ash had no experience at what to do, so he simply sat back and watched as the knights moved about. Each knight set up their personal tents in a circular formation around the fire. Ash’s was to be positioned between Den and Marilyn’s tents.

Since the sun had not yet set the knights stripped out of the armor and began to spar. Each knight carried with them old blades that were purposely dulled to practice with. Ash sat back and watched the practice and it was easy to see why Den was made the captain. His movements were fluid and he easily bested the other knights.

After Den had fought the other four knights, he tossed a practice blade to Ash with a large grin on his face. “Care for a little fun?”

Ash deftly caught the blade and made a few practice swings as he stepped into the sparing circle. The blade was slightly longer and heavier than the one he was used to and the balance was a bit off, but for practice it would do.

Den made the first move, coming in hard with a low slash. Ash sidestepped the attack while striking at Den’s exposed side, but the experienced knight easily anticipated Ash’s move and his sword moved in and knocked the incoming blade aside. Ash continued to test Den by launching small quick attacks. At the same time Ash was testing him, Den was watching Ash closely.

After their swords had met a number of times, Den decided it was time and pressed his attack further than a single strike. Den came in with a simple overhand strike. Ash met Den’s blade with his own forcing it aside. With his attack parried, Den did not pull back, but instead rammed his shoulder into Ash knocking him from his feet.

As Ash fell to the ground, Den used a low strike but Ash was quick and pushed back with his feet while using his left hand to push from the ground, sending him in a small roll that ended with him crouching on his feet with his sword at the ready.

Ash let short laugh then pushed off from the ground and charged at Den. Ash attacked with his full power and speed, but Den blocked each strike but each time his movements dulled. As Ash’s seventh strike came in, Den could no longer keep the pace and Ash’s blade stopped only millimeters from Den’s neck.

“Well done,” Den said with a weak smile as he pulled himself to his feet. “I found it hard to believe everything Marilyn had said about you, but it seems she was right. You are a far from being a pampered noble.”

“My master would take that as a complement,” Ash said laughing as he shook his head.

“Who was your master? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Zelan, of the Seven Swords Guild,” Ash said as he remembered the woman crazy fool who had trained him only a short few weeks before.

“Seven Swords Guild,” Den said with a slightly shocked expression. “How in the nine hells did you get a member of the Seven Swords Guild to teach you?”

“Bad luck,” Ash said slightly joking.

With the sparing finished, the small group sat around the campfire telling stories. Every knight seemed not to only know the stories, but also to have been present when most of them were made. The knights came from various backgrounds, but most of them were children of knights.

The Temple Knight who had been left back was named Ford and had once been an orphaned peasant that a knight had picked up as a squire. Den’s father was a knight and had been raised since birth to lead. The Redemption Knight, Jen, a young azure haired woman was the only other peasant born knight in the group. She never said much and when she did speak, it was never in a pleasing tone.

Marilyn and Maria were not only childhood friends but also cousins. Marilyn’s father was the head of the knights while Maria’s mother was his right hand. The last knight, Ren, was a sickly looking man who used white magic to support the other knights.

The five knights acted and looked completely different. It was almost impossible for Ash to think that given other choices, the five in front of him would have gathered without the knighthood to tie them together.

After a meal of stale bread and beans, the knights settled down to sleep. Two people would have to stay on watch at all times. At first they were going to skip Ash in the rotation, but after he demanded to be allowed to help so that one person would not be forced to take a double watch, he was placed on the first watch with Maria.

For the first half of the watch Maria just looked at Ash with scornful eyes. “Marilyn is mine,” Maria said after just silently staring at Ash for more than an hour.

“I have no interest in Marilyn,” Ash said honestly. With Emelia, Lillanis, Shina, and the others, he had his hands full with women. The last thing he needed or wanted was another woman to deal with.

“Just so you know,” Maria replied, her eyes carrying the weight and meaning behind her words. The fierce look of those eyes on such a young a pretty woman nearly made Ash laugh but he wisely held it back. 

Ash didn’t reply to Maria and moved off to the other side of the camp. He could deal with all kinds of people, but Maria just seemed to want to dislike him so he saw little point in talking with her, much less trying to befriend her.

Sitting with his back against the fire and looking out into the darkness, it was the first time Ash truly felt alone since coming to this world. At first there had been Rachel and Jun. They had not been around all the time, but he knew that they were around. After that was Emelia, then Yuki. It seemed that he had quickly surrounded himself with people.

As the cold air blew past him, Ash looked up to see small specks of white drift from the sky. Sticking out his hand, Ash tried to catch one of the falling flakes but as soon as it touched it hand it melted and turned into water.