The nd of Alpainus who worshipped the god of the light, Airos, had frequently suffered for thousands of years from the attacks of the Children of the Shadows who were cursed by the god of light, but due to the presence of The Holy Knights Order, the nd enjoyed a prolonged period of peace. However, 536 years ago, during the unprecedented Battle of the Red Moon, almost all of the Holy Knights from every order were deployed to the Dark Pins to quell the rebellion of the Children of the Shadows. Out of the 10,000 Holy Knights, 1,216 of the surviving Holy Knights followed the High Priest Clodine Becket to the Blessed Hill of Systine where they made their final stand against the army of shadows. During his final moments, the High Priest Clodine Becket pnted his staff at the hill, decimating all approaching enemies for 100 days straight.
By the time the red moon disappeared from the sky, the battle which was ter known as The Battle of the Red Moon was decred won, and The Holy Knights’ First Tribunal became a well-defended refuge for humankind. Later, 50 years after the battle was won, the people of Alpainus ventured out and began to rebuild their empire, and The Holy Knights’ First Tribunal which witnessed a great history of mankind was turned into the academy it is known today with the intention of telling the ter generations of the legacy and sacrifice of the High Priest Clodine Becket and the 12 Orders of Holy Knights…”
“…I have so many questions,” Ban Yue grumbled while he stared at the blue window that only he could see.
When Ludville took him to the academy’s main building this afternoon to look for more information, Ban Yue immediately suggested for them to check the library. However, just as he expected, the materials which would have contained information about Clodine Becket and the history of this pce had mostly disappeared, leaving several shelves empty.
Ban Yue could already guess where most of the books could’ve gone. They were most likely already sitting at the bottom of a certain shredding machine’s bin and long turned into confetti.
Back then, because he had thought that the items seemed out-of-pce, Ban Yue picked a few items and titles and stored them in his inventory. Upon doing so, he discovered that he could read them through the system’s interface and was greatly relieved. He had been reading for several hours, but by the end of each book, he was left with more questions.
For one, none of the books went into detail about the shadow puppets who were also known as the Children of the Shadows. All Ban Yue read about them was that they were unintelligent and puppet-like entities who instinctively attacked any forms of life nearby. In some cases, they were also found to mimic the behavior of humans in pces where there is a prolonged absence of life like the Dark Pins. However, none of these books detailed why the shadow puppets were cursed by the god of light. Ban Yue also had no idea what was so special about the Blessed Hill of Sistyne that Clodine Becket led the Holy Knights here to make their final stand.
Ban Yue remembered a line from one of the books he read earlier. He looked at his inventory and clicked on the book item
“…Thus, wherever magic exists, life exists, and wherever life exists, magic also exists. Magic in its rawest form is a blessing received from the very essence of nature. Whoever respects nature shall be blessed, and anyone who thinks they’re above it shall be condemned and suffer their wrath…
“…There are many types of magic. There is magic obtained from the essence of the wind, water, earth, and fire. Those who shared the power of the wind shall hear the secrets it carries. Those who shared the power of the water shall be able to tame its raging waves. Those who shared the power of the earth shall gain the power to create from nothing. And those who shared the power of the fire shall gain the authority to attract or repel and to harm or defend. But among them all, the one who reigns supreme is the one who shares the power of light which has existed since the beginning of time. For light breathes life into whatever is in the soil and nurtures whatever is in the water, and wherever the light reaches, the wind also does, and wherever fire exists, light also does. And so, while the absence of the wind, water, earth and fire thwarts the power of the wind, water, earth, and fire, the absence of light thwarts all. Anyone who shares the power of the light is blessed by the white moon which is ever-present even behind the veil of the clouds…”
The people of Alpainus worshipped Airos as the god of light. However, even though Ban Yue read the books again and again, he kept on getting confused whenever the words life, nature, and magic came up.
Ban Yue had almost given up when he realized one thing.
Whenever he heard the word “god of light”, his mind would interpret it as the “god of everything” who blessed the people of Alpainus with magic. He realized his mistake then, and the pieces quickly fell into pce.
The god, Airos, whose power of “light” breathed life into everything was one thing, and Nature who bestowed magic to the people, was another. All along, there weren’t two forces at py in this scenario – Clodine Becket and the shadow puppets – but three – Clodine Becket who was blessed by Airos, the shadow puppets, and Nature who had blessed the rest of the Holy Knights and the Hill of Sistyne.
If this was the case, then Ban Yue could only guess that the Children of the Shadows were cursed by the god of light, Airos, because they did something that vioted the sacredness of life – something that involved unjust deaths.
Ban Yue could come up with two possible things.
Indiscriminate killing or human sacrifice.
Because of this, the puppets feared the light which reminded them of the god who punished them. Meanwhile, if the god of light could be considered an ally of Nature, it would make sense why The Holy Knights’ First Tribunal was built in this pce which was surrounded by nature on all sides. The High Priest and light mage Clodine Becket who was leading a losing war had headed to the Blessed Hill of Systine because Nature favored the light and was the source of all magic. The Blessed Hill of Systine wasn’t blessed by the god of light, Airos, but by Nature itself.
Upon realizing this, Ban Yue groaned loudly and resisted the need to pinch the space between his eyebrows. He had realized the complexity of the situation he had somehow managed to find himself in.
Ludville who had been ying face down on the bed for the past fifteen minutes jumped and turned his head towards Ban Yue with an armed expression. Ludville had insisted on helping Ban Yue look for information, so he had taken out his own pile of books from the library and transported them to the dorm while utilizing Ban Yue’s form as a box. At the moment, those same books were scattered all over his bed and were flipped to random pages. He had stopped reading moments ago after exciming that his brain was starting to melt.
“W-what’s wrong? Is…is it really bad?” Ludville inquired about Ban Yue’s findings with a very worried voice.
But Ban Yue, not wanting to scare the child any more than he should, only sighed and said mildly, “No, I just remembered Xu Rong.”
“Xu Rong? Who’s that?” Ludville was confused at the unfamiliar and unusual name.
“Someone who caused us to fall into this mess.”
Yes, right at this moment when Ban Yue was beginning to feel despair, he suddenly remembered the face of Xu Rong moments before he ran off on him. Xu Rong was a decent liar who managed to fool his teammates a lot, but he had one mannerism that gave him away whenever he lied to Ban Yue. Whether he let his guard down because it was Ban Yue he was lying to or he was merely not aware of it himself, Ban Yue himself wasn’t sure, but he could tell whenever Xu Rong lied because Xu Rong would look at him straight in the eyes and blinked less.
Ban Yue wasn’t the type to hold onto grudges because he was aware of himself. There were things he could settle but chose not to because he found them too bothersome. However, for those he could no longer tolerate, Ban Yue always made sure to settle them on time. Therefore, at the end of every year, when everything was done, Ban Yue would then cim that he had no grudges against anyone and would march into the new year with a positive state of mind.
For Ban Yue who was now having a hard time after colpsing at the train station because Xu Rong who was supposed to take over the shift had run off on him several times in the past, the temptation to strangle a certain someone overflowed. But Ban Yue who was about to die due to a nightmare didn’t think just strangling Xu Rong was enough.
A low crazed ugh came out of Ban Yue’s throat. He promised to serve Xu Rong a cold and well-deserved revenge once he returned to the real world. Ludville, who was unaware of Ban Yue’s evil pns, was at a complete loss when he heard Ban Yue’s strange ugh. However, thinking that mental battles were something he also faced frequently, he only sympathized in silence and shriveled in his bed.