Only Obedient to Me! Sir Knight Chapter 29

[Familiar energy… damn wizard!]

“Familiar energy… damn wizard.”

“Pardon?”

Van was bewildered by Rowy’s sudden remark. And Rowy… looking as if he hadn’t been tense at all, was thoroughly excited.

“Ha, I’m seriously amazing. Demon-tongue translation magic! It works perfectly!”

“Ah, yes.”

Van turned his head back toward the demon with a sour expression.

‘Why on earth is demon-tongue translation even necessary….’

Meanwhile, the demon was spouting all sorts of curses. It was even more grueling because he could understand them.

[I will kill that wretched thing and quench my thirst with his blood!]

…Since it was obvious it would only say things like that, what was the point of understanding the demon’s words? Van blocked the demon, which was charging at Rowy in a fit of rage.

“Your opponent is me.”

[Wretched thing! Wretched thing!]

The demon hurled insults and launched a reckless attack at the one blocking its path. It was a much faster and stronger attack than a human’s, but… that was it. Glancing briefly at Rowy, who was moving the people to safety with magic, Van focused on the demon in front of him. Van had once faced The Great Demon Mamon alone. A mid-level demon like this… and since it seemed to have trouble using its full power, he could handle it alone. Van thrust his sword at the demon once more. Holy flames soared everywhere the blade passed. It was an overwhelming opponent for a demon whose power hadn’t fully returned. Even as its whole body melted upon touching the holy flames, the demon blocked Van’s attacks several times. However, it didn’t last long. Eventually, unable to endure any longer, one of the demon’s arms was consumed and burned away by the flames.

[Arghhhh!]

With a terrifying scream, the demon fell to its knees. Yet, its eyes remained savage.

[I cannot ruin the great work… Master….]

‘Did you say “Master”?’

Who is it talking about? The Great Demon Mamon had been dead for a long time. Who could a demon of that caliber possibly call “Master”…. Could it be that another high-level demon was still alive? Van’s expression grew grave.

[My Master will not forgive you!]

In an instant, the curse energy radiating from the demon’s body concentrated on one point. Van lifted his sword into a defensive stance, but the demon wasn’t aiming for Van.

“This!”

Van rushed toward Rowy. But Rowy’s reaction was even faster. A massive surge of mana brushed past Van and slammed into the demon. Crushed by the intangible energy, the demon shrieked in fury.

[Aaaaaah!]

The demon was no longer maintaining its form. Looking like flickering black smoke, its body gathered and dispersed, as if it were about to vanish. And as the demon lost its power, Rowy’s memories slowly began to return.

Rowy had definitely stopped this demon once before. It was in the memories he had lost. It had certainly been with the low-level demon. Rowy hadn’t felt that it was very difficult even when facing both of them. So why, then, had this happened?

“I remember now. You, you were sealed by me. I definitely locked you in the castle that day… but why didn’t I remember? You weren’t even that strong.”

[You insignificant human!]

With a roaring voice, a curse shot out from the demon again. This time, Van wasn’t too late to step in. After blocking the curse with The Holy Sword, Van closed in on the demon. Even though its body was almost completely collapsed, the demon lunged at Van again.

A boom echoed every time the demon and The Holy Sword collided. The island was carved up and trees toppled by the demon’s final struggle. But Van didn’t blink an eye. Rowy also assisted from behind. A massive amount of mana restrained the demon’s movements.

The demon gathered its last remaining strength to spew curses, but it was no match for the two of them. The distance between the demon and Van closed in an instant, and then, the holy flames descended.

[Everyone! I will drag you all to hell and keep you under my feet!]

Even as its whole body burned away by the power of God, the demon spat out curses until the end. And until the very last moment, the demon….

[Because of an insignificant human… I cannot… ruin Master’s… great work….]

It looked for its Master.

‘Master, you say… just who….’

However, Van could not continue his contemplation. The moment the demon finally vanished completely, Rowy suddenly collapsed.

“Master!”

Van quickly scooped Rowy up. But Rowy only hung limp and powerless.

‘He was fine until just a moment ago, what could this mean….’

Van, holding Rowy, gritted his teeth. Rowy’s whole body was hot as if it were on fire.

. ꕤ ｡ ˚⋆

“Is the young master still not awake?”

“Yes….”

At Finn’s question, Van nodded, his face hardened in dread. Everyone who had been taken by the demon had regained consciousness on the return boat. But Rowy remained unconscious even as a full day passed.

Van sighed with worry for Rowy. After the battle with the demon, the captain, having seen the soaring holy flames, had risked danger to come to the island. While the surprised captain moved the unconscious people to the boat, Van had remained frozen, clutching only Rowy.

‘You must get him to a healer quickly!’

If it weren’t for the captain’s urging, Van likely would have kept holding Rowy there for a long time. That was how they ended up in Sota. He had heard that the residents of this island had worshipped demons for a long time, but there was no other way. With Rowy in such a state, the two of them couldn’t just go back to the castle on their own.

Fortunately, the people were all kind. Especially the sociable Finn, who, despite not being in the best condition himself, had gone to great lengths for Van and Rowy. The two were currently staying at Finn’s house. But a whole day had passed, and Rowy still showed no signs of waking up.

A healer had already visited several times at Van’s insistence, but the healer was just as clueless about the state of the wizard who had suddenly collapsed. Fortunately, the fever had gone down after taking medicine… but Van planned to take Rowy to Seren tomorrow if he didn’t wake up.

“Brother, you should get some rest too. You look terrible.”

“I am fine.”

Though he answered consistently, Van never took his eyes off Rowy. Finn, who had tried to say more, eventually swallowed his words and left the room. Soon, the sound of the door clicking shut was heard. Van let out a deep sigh. Thanks to Rowy, who had blocked the demon while emitting immense mana, they had managed to defeat it without much difficulty, but….

‘If this is the result….’

Unable to hold it in anymore, Van buried his face in Rowy’s hand.

‘I can’t even protect one person like this, yet I call myself a servant of God, a holy knight….’

Van had been called the Commander of the Knights in the church, but that title was meaningless now. It was because almost no one had survived the final battle against The Great Demon Mamon. Keeping the mission bestowed by God required massive sacrifices. Everyone had met their end under God’s will, and yet, he had no regrets about it. He had thought that peace had finally arrived after that.

‘But why, once again, like this….’

The face of Rowy, who had his eyes closed, was pale. Van stroked Rowy’s face tenderly. It broke his heart that the person he most wanted to keep from being hurt was the one lying there unable to wake up.

“…Rowy.”

When did his feelings grow this big? Well, he had been a person he couldn’t take his eyes off from the start. The reason he hadn’t felt any particular resistance to suddenly being sold as a slave was that the owner he met was Rowy. Because all this person wanted was someone to cut pie for him and hold him to soothe him.

He was a lonely person. And by comforting such a Rowy, Van had been comforted himself. When the church suddenly collapsed and he found himself swept up in all sorts of bad events, making him think that God might have abandoned him, he met Rowy, who gave him a place to belong. And he also gave him a purpose.

‘He even gave me a new name.’

Van smiled faintly. A selfish, impulsive child. Objectively, that was how Rowy could be described. But at least to Van, even that innocent appearance felt lovely. Once he realized he felt everything about him was lovely, he was already completely captivated.

‘I had hoped I could stay by his side for a long time….’

However… if this person had been dragged into this because of him—born with a mission to kill demons—then, wouldn’t it be right for him to leave? Demons were always hovering around Van. It was the inescapable fate of one chosen by God.

‘Rather than putting him in danger, it would be better to leave alone….’