Chapter 405: Chapter 402: "You are the most competent Knight of Light I have ever seen.
Southern District, outside the outermost barrier, sea monsters obscured the sky, and the air was tinged a light grey with black spots.
Beneath the city walls, the injured lay on white cloths, healing radiance flickering over them, as cries of pain echoed across the land.
A Knight of Light with golden hair and armor, holding a blue water jug, and carrying a broken knight’s sword, slowly walked into the blood-red sunset.
He was extremely careful with the jug in his arms, treating it as if it were a fragile treasure.
His steps were very slow as he began to ascend the staircase of the city wall. However, with each step he took, his pace quickened, as if he was leaving everything behind.
The viscous sunset gradually coated his exquisite armor, emitting a layer of bright white light. He cradled the blue jug in his arms carefully and hung a necklace over the jug in his hand.
The sea breeze whipped fiercely as his bright red cloak fluttered up and down behind him like flowing fire.
...
[Half an hour earlier]
"What is this, Nailuo?" Su Ming’an asked.
"This is Sherrod’s sister," Nailuo handed over the jug, "She was in refuge in the Southern District and didn’t manage to escape... She was assimilated into a sea monster."
Perhaps because she also possessed the talent of the Element of Light, Xie Changying didn’t lose her divine wisdom like the other sea monsters.
After becoming a sea monster, her memories gradually returned, her emotions slowly began to surface. Her form, like those of other mutated sea monsters, gradually solidified, becoming indistinguishable from a human.
— She gradually remembered, on that crumbling island, there was a brother who loved her.
She disguised herself as a human, surged into the crowd during the chaos when the barrier was opened, and hid inside the jug, which was picked up by Nailuo as he passed by.
"To maintain her rationality, she has already expended too much energy and can no longer maintain her form. She can only hide inside this jug," Nailuo handed the jug to a trembling Sherrod, "Before she dies, she wants to see her brother... that is, you, just one more time."
Sherrod took the jug.
At that moment, there was completely no light left in his eyes.
"Changying?" he called softly.
No one responded.
The sea monster, now in a deep sleep and no longer able to respond, lay hidden within the small jug, no longer making a sound.
Sherrod clutched the jug tightly.
Just like the woman he remembered, he held the blue jug as if it were a mahogany box.
His usually upright head slowly, ever so slowly, lowered.
The sea breeze and the snow stuck in his hair, a dense fog of sadness in his eyes, which slowly became unresolvable.
The necklace with the photo clung to the jug, tinkling crisply.
"Changying," he whispered softly:
"...Happy Birthday."
...
...
The blizzard spread outward.
Beneath the city walls, Su Ming’an stood against the wind and snow.
A translucent, almost transparent sea monster’s soul rose from his body, her eyes closed.
Her energy from when she was alive was completely depleted, and she was now about to enter an eternal slumber.
The only things that could awaken her were either a vast number of ordinary lives and souls or a uniquely divine life soul.
But if Sherrod chose to sacrifice his soul as well, the Red Rose would not be able to save him.
At this moment, Su Ming’an finally understood what it truly meant to be The "Brave".
He was the only one, the most valuable, the one who could lift Pulaya out of this disaster.
He was irreplaceable.
"Sherrod," Su Ming’an said to Sherrod, who was walking step by step up the city wall, "You’ve already done enough. You don’t have to be involved in this. Even if Pulaya has no other divine souls that qualify, we can substitute it with the lives of many other residents."
His words were straightforward, completely indifferent to the looks from others.
In his eyes, Sherrod, having awakened his self-awareness, was far more precious than those machine-like NPCs.
Sherrod did not have to offer himself up, to become one of the countless sacrifices, a miniature reflection of the Knight of Light.
...He was clearly a "person."
A living, breathing, talking, self-thinking person, alive on this Earth.
If there must be such a sacrifice,
Why must the sacrifice be him?
If the "Brave" is destined to sacrifice himself to save the majority—
Why must this Brave be him?
Clifford watched the scene silently, and finally, even the usually rational old man couldn’t help but speak up.
"Knight, you don’t have to go this far," he said, "You have already given enough to this land. Let others handle such matters. To ask you again would be unfair to you."
Sherrod turned around.
His eyes, holding a blue jar in his arms, seemed to be describable as "blazing" at that moment.
...As if a vivid flame was burning within his eyes.
"No one owes anyone anything," Sherrod said, "If I don’t do this, I will be failing myself."
He did not look at the injured people watching him, nor did he look at the silent Clifford.
His gaze was fixed on Su Ming’an.
"..." Su Ming’an met his gaze.
He stopped in the silence of his gaze.
In the eyes of the knight, a surge of intense emotion rose— it was the certainty of a decided heart.
"Captain. In the discussions with travelers from other worlds, I’ve heard them mention you. They’ve said many harsh things, many discussions targeting you," Sherrod said:
"They say, as the ’Number One Player’, you are the strongest among them."
"They say, your ranking is always first, your completion route is always the most perfect, and you maximize the use of props, tasks, and NPCs without ever leaving room for error."
"They say, ’Number One Player’ should lead them, should be their leader."
"Logically speaking, it shouldn’t be like this. The captain doesn’t have to be responsible for these people, the captain also makes mistakes, and is not always the strongest."
"But, strangely enough, as I understand it, Captain, you have always done so, you’ve always maintained the strongest, you’ve never let these people down. Even when cursed or misunderstood, you have never given up leaving this position."
"You, quite rightly stood at the very front of the war, rightfully became the commander of the battle, naturally, as if destined, gave speeches as a leader in front of everyone."
"Captain."
"—You too were constrained by a system called the ’Number One Player’."
Su Ming’an’s pupils contracted.
The snow hit his face, a piercing coldness.
"But, what does it matter? We all know, Captain, you are a human, not an NPC," Sherrod smiled.
The wind swept through his golden hair, his voice becoming more steadfast.
"Just like, before the Transmarine Operation, in that speech, Captain, I sensed the emotion in your words, you were not entirely calm, you were not merely ’strategizing’ us," he said.
...While trying to move us, you too were infected by the ’love’ you spoke of.
—So, may I conclude that this constraint is not purely mechanical, but also a decision of your self-thinking as a human?—Then."
The setting sun fell on his shoulders, blood-red lay on his eyelashes, and his smile, was like a splendid flower blossoming.
"...As someone who is also a ’person’ like you, I am willing to be constrained by the system of the ’Knight of Light’."
"I am a person. I am... someone who cannot just sit idly by, someone who cannot just watch many residents die in my place."
"I am a ’person’ as defined by the ’Knight of Light’—able to think independently, an autonomous life, willingly becoming an embodiment of the ’Knight of Light’."
"I am, in the stories, part of this land, a miniature version of the ’Knight of Light’s’ impression, a ’victim’ in the spirit of the mission."
"...I am also a free soul, a person capable of independent interaction with you."
"The reason I spoke these words is twofold: not only is it the so-called ’character set’ and ’system’ at work, but also because I possess a brain capable of organizing these words."
"Mission, spirit, affinity with the light—these are inherent to me."
"I am a being constituted by everything naturally bestowed upon me; people call this fate."
"I bear these, I accept these, I—reflect on these."
"I am willing—still to this day, troubled by the emotions that surge within me—and the knight’s spirit I adhere to."
"If someone must die for the greater good—"
"—I am willing to be that ’forever pledge.’"
"Captain, this is the result of my careful thought and sound decision."
Su Ming’an gazed at him.
The gradually calming blizzard seemed like a thin fog, stretching between them.
The determination in his eyes shone brightly the whole time, reminiscent of seashells reflecting sunlight on the beach.
Sherrod turned away.
He walked down the steps rapidly, and then thrust the blue canister he held into Su Ming’an’s hands.
He knelt down.
His blood-red cape trailed behind him as he bowed his head in an extremely humble plea, kneeling before Su Ming’an.
"I’m sorry, Captain, for letting you down; I... can no longer join you for barbecue," he said softly, "Please... let me do this."
Su Ming’an sighed softly.
"Are you sure?" he asked, "Those you save may just be a bunch of NPCs controlled by the system, entirely different from the precious you."
"No. I’ve come to understand... there really isn’t much difference between them and me," Sherrod said softly, "Whether it’s independent thought or being controlled. They are all vivid lives... just like my sister Changying. They all, just like me, cry, laugh, feel pain when hurt, die when killed, and possess their own thoughts and faith. I... cannot stand by and let so many of them die in my place."
Knight’s spirit.
It was that so-called knight’s spirit again.
It shaped such a righteous and humble Knight of Light, granted him room for self-reflection, and willingly guided him along a predetermined path.
But now,
it is no longer possible to define this kind of end as ’destined.’"
"Lemons, television, chocolate," Su Ming’an asked, "If you didn’t care about them and thought just for yourself... would you still not want to see a world without war with me?"
Sherrod smiled.
"Captain," he said, "a world without war can also be right here."
...
...
[Meeting an Otherworld Traveler, Day One.]
[Today, Pulaya welcomed many new and interestingly spoken individuals. They don’t seem to fear the Soul Hunt or the Royal Family’s authority, which I find both curious and concerning.]
[They say they are ’Players’; I think, maybe I should find out what exactly ’Players’ means.]
...
[Meeting an Otherworld Traveler, Day Two.]
[I met the Captain.]
[The Captain is very impressive, having completed the task on Flower Street all by himself. I heard from the others that the Captain is the strongest ’Player’ among them. I am curious about what this really means, but since the Captain did not bring it up, I will not ask.]
[I would really like to invite the Captain to join me for that barbecue place, which, according to legend, was where the world-saving hero had his send-off before boarding the airship—a beautiful symbolism.]
...
[Meeting an Otherworld Traveler, Day Three.]
[There is no Soul Clan on Thirteenth Street—we and the Captain became ’accomplices’.]
[Grandmother Gerald said I am the most accomplished Knight of Light she has ever seen.]
[My relationship with the Captain is getting better.]
[I have come to understand the meaning of ’Players,’ and their gaze towards me is strange, like that of a predator eyeing its prey.]
[But the Captain is different.]
[Only the Captain is different.]
[He has always been communicating with me as an equal, seeing me as a soul alongside him.]
...
[Meeting an Otherworld Traveler, Day Four.]
[Leken told me that lemons can be served with barbecue, I want to share this with the Captain.]
...
[But the Captain is no longer paying attention to me.]
...
[Why.]
[Changying’s birthday is coming soon, and she really wants to meet the Captain.]
...
[Meeting an Otherworld Traveler, Day Five.]
[From early this morning, the radiant warm sunshine of Pulaya disappeared.]
...
[Why can’t Pulaya’s peace be maintained forever?]
[The Princess seems very pained.]
...
[Is this really necessary, Captain.]
...
[The Captain affirmed my existence.]
[He said that I am an independent person.]
...
[Meeting an Otherworld Traveler, Day Six.]
[The Princess left.]
[Gradually, from the players’ conversations, I understood the Captain has his own reasons.]
[They say, the Captain is the ’Number One Player.’]
[To lead them, to protect their world, the Captain gradually became a knight like me. Everything he does is for a better ending.]
[I understand him.]
[The Captain told me that I am the legendary Brave.]
[When Pulaya faces a disaster, I could be the most likely person to resolve it, greatly mission-oriented.]
[I am willing to accept this responsibility.]
[Before I was taken away by Red Rose.]
...
[I saw Changying curled up in the canister.]
...
[Suddenly, I desperately want to protect them.]
...