The Knight Commander Abandoned The Kingdom

My Hero

‘My son, what story would you like to hear today?’

‘The hero’s tale!’

‘Again?’

Father showed signs of weariness at those words. Having told the same story more than a hundred times, how could he not be tired?

But for me, the hero’s tale was always fresh no matter how many times I heard it.

‘Well, if our lovely son wants to hear it, I should tell it a hundred or thousand times. Where shall we start today?’

‘Start from where he fights the demon race.’

Father, who had memorized over a thousand stories, always indulged his son’s childish request to hear the same story.

And now, the protagonist of that legend was right before my eyes.

Humanity’s hero who made the demon race vanish thirty years ago, the protagonist of the story I truly loved.

The Hero, Elric Baldwin.

I couldn’t take my eyes off the elderly man before me. Because there stood the person I had admired more than anyone in my childhood, my hero.

‘Judging by that expression, you seem to know me. That’s too much reverence for a dying old man.’

‘How could I not know Lord Elric, the hero of humanity?’

Elric smiled with pleasure.

‘Well, if we’re talking about humanity’s hero now, wouldn’t that be you rather than this old powerless man? I’ve long since retired from the frontlines. Now I’m merely serving, perhaps above my station, as the Imperial Chancellor.’

Though Elric was being modest, the old man still exuded an undeniable presence that couldn’t be ignored even after retiring from active duty.

Leon couldn’t help but smile bitterly. The Empire’s sword hadn’t lost its edge even after all these years.

‘That’s nonsense. Only someone like you, Lord Elric, who reigned as a symbol of hope for all and even put the Demon King into a long slumber, deserves such a title.’

‘My friend, all the achievements I built were only possible because I was born in the Empire. How could such things have been possible without the Empire’s help? It’s incomparable to what you’ve achieved in a place like Ragion.’

However, Leon didn’t yield his position.

‘While Ragion may be lacking, the members who fought alongside me were braver than anyone. Without them, I couldn’t have achieved anything.’

At those words, Elric couldn’t hide his satisfaction.

He knew better than anyone about the demon race, and therefore understood better than anyone how remarkable this young man’s achievements were.

Among his many accomplishments, wasn’t repelling the demon race his most difficult and proud achievement?

Leon’s attitude of attributing all credit to others despite achieving such unprecedented feats was truly worthy of being called a hero.

With such a talent, the Empire would surely enter an unprecedented golden age.

‘If that’s how you feel, there’s nothing to be done about it. More importantly, tell me what you want. Is it the position of Imperial Knight Commander?’

‘That position is too grand for me.’

‘If it’s too grand for you, then the position of Knight Commander will remain vacant from now on. Too much modesty can be poisonous.’

‘I’m being sincere. How could I take such a position when I couldn’t even take care of my original members?’

‘…Well.’

Several more attempts at persuasion followed, but Leon’s resolve remained firm.

‘It seems you have no intention of leading others.’

‘I apologize.’

Elric couldn’t help but sigh. Such a talented individual had walked right in, yet he couldn’t put him to use.

While pondering how to utilize him somehow, a sudden thought occurred to him.

‘Well then, would you consider going to the Academy?’

‘The Academy, you say?’

Why hadn’t I thought of this sooner? The Academy was the perfect place to utilize Leon’s talents to their fullest.

What results could be achieved by entrusting the empire’s future to someone who could turn frontier rabble into legendary warriors?

There would certainly be limits to a golden age that relied solely on Leon.

But if Leon’s teachings could be passed down to future generations, wouldn’t the empire’s future remain bright forever?

There couldn’t be a more fitting profession.

‘At Ludwig Academy, the continent’s finest educational institution, you can fully demonstrate your talents.’

Upon receiving this proposal, Leon fell into deep thought.

Ludwig Academy – wasn’t it a place so renowned that even country folk from Ragion would know of it?

It was the finest educational facility where talents gathered from not just the empire, but the entire continent. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say its students would lead humanity’s future.

He had thought it would be a place he’d never be associated with in his lifetime.

Though he briefly worried whether someone like him could shoulder such a heavy responsibility,

‘I will do my best to live up to your expectations.’

Leon ultimately accepted the proposal.

After all, it was a recommendation from none other than the hero he had admired since childhood.

There was no reason to refuse, especially since he was secretly looking forward to shaping talents who could command the continent.

Elric smiled with satisfaction at that response.

‘I was worried you might decline this time too, but I’m glad. I’ve prepared a meal to commemorate this special day. Surely you won’t be so cold as to leave?’

‘How could I? Even for all the gold in the world, I couldn’t buy time with Sir Elric.’

‘So you know how to flatter too. I like you more and more.’

After some light conversation, the prepared dishes were served one by one.

The specially prepared dishes for the new hero who had arrived in the empire captured Leon’s attention.

As Leon stared intently at the food with an innocent expression, Elric’s eyes grew warm like those of an elderly man watching his grandson.

‘Seeing how much you like it makes all the preparation worthwhile. Don’t hold back, eat plenty.’

‘I’m grateful for your generous hospitality.’

As soon as Elric finished speaking, Leon tasted the food before him.

‘This!!’

Leon’s eyes widened as he took his first bite.

‘Could there be poison in it?’

Elric was greatly startled by Leon’s reaction. Surely only those he trusted would be here, so who would dare tamper with the food?

‘This is incredibly delicious. I’ve never experienced such flavors in my life.’

‘……’

Elric felt slightly embarrassed for unnecessarily overreacting.

Regardless, Leon continued eating without concern.

‘For the cuisine to be at this level, I truly made the right choice coming to the empire.’

Elric felt something odd as he watched Leon eagerly empty each dish as it was served.

While this was indeed a meal prepared with the finest ingredients and staff, Leon was a figure ranked among the continent’s top 10 strongest. This shouldn’t be anything special to him.

‘Tell me, what kind of food did you usually eat?’

Though asked with skepticism, the answer that came back was shocking.

‘Since joining the knights, I’ve never eaten anything other than military rations. I apologize if I’ve shown an embarrassing side of myself because of that.’

‘What?’

A vein bulged on Elric’s forehead.

It was because the Empire had provided supplies to Ragion. If Ragion fell, the impact would obviously reach the Empire as well.

As he had personally overseen the matter, there shouldn’t have been any shortage of supplies, so it made no sense that Leon had been eating low-quality combat rations for 15 years.

While he had expected some level of embezzlement, did those pigs in Ragion stuff all of that into their own bellies?

If they had even a shred of conscience left, they should never have done that.

Leon, unaware of these circumstances, was concerned about Elric’s suddenly changed complexion.

‘You don’t look well, are you feeling unwell?’

Elric found this man both admirable and pitiful, as he worried about him even while being distracted by his first taste of such delicacies.

‘As you say, I’m suddenly feeling nauseous. I apologize for not being able to continue dining with you despite being the one who invited you.’

‘Then I shall take my leave as well.’

‘Didn’t you say this was your first time having such delicacies? There’s no need to stop on my account, please sit back down.’

Leon shook his head.

‘How could I possibly swallow any food while you’re feeling unwell, Sir Elric?’

Since becoming known as the Hero, a symbol of hope that had to be absolutely perfect, had anyone ever shown such concern for him?

Elric barely managed to suppress his softening expression.

The young man before him was so endearing that he couldn’t help but wonder if this was how it would feel to have a grandson.

Whatever might happen to Leon in the future, he would support him.

Even setting aside personal feelings, he was someone who deserved such treatment.

‘If you insist, let’s end our meeting here and look forward to next time. Follow that intelligence department friend from earlier. You’ll need a place to stay before entering the Academy.’

‘Thank you for your consideration.’

Thus concluded the meeting between two heroes who understood each other better than anyone else.

***

The dean of Ludwig Academy, Phillips Marcus, was an old friend of Elric.

He eagerly opened the letter from his friend whom he hadn’t heard from in a while, but was soon disappointed to find it was a letter of recommendation rather than personal correspondence.

As Phillips read through the recommendation letter with a disinterested expression, he had to stop at one particular passage.

‘Leon Meyer is coming to the Academy?’

The dean’s expression turned to shock at the appearance of such an unexpected heavyweight.