A King is Born on the Road

KBR C82.

* * *

It was after the sun had completely set when the four of them arrived in front of the oasis.

Everyone in the party just stared at the only tree standing in the middle of the desert, admiring it for a while.

In the desert covered with night, the sacred tree that glowed with holy energy grew with countless twigs.

The water of the oasis where the sacred tree was located was cold and clear. Covered in sand, they entered the oasis, washed themselves, and drank water.

Tamati and Cadella, who were only in the maze the whole time, enjoyed this time as if they were in heaven.

After spending such a pleasant time, Iris approached the flowers blooming under the tree.

The flowers seemed to have continued to bloom to purify the tired sacred tree. But even this flower was not enough now.

With her hands, Iris carefully dug up the soil to keep the flower’s roots as intact as possible. And packed the flowers.

The four enjoyed the freedom of leaving the maze for a moment. Then Hayer raised his head and looked somewhere.

“The monsters… are moving.”

Hayer was looking in the direction of the Siere border.

Cadella watched, his vision swaying in the hot heat, then sat down with his hands over his mouth.

“What is th-that…!”

At Cadella’s words, both Iris and Tamati looked in that direction. A large, white, termite-like hill¹ was slowly moving away toward the Siere border.

It wasn’t the only one. They were made here and there without knowing the cause and were moving around like a herd of animals.

Iris looked at the strange figures and opened her mouth heavily.

“As expected, monsters continued to appear here as well.”

Hayer nodded at her words.

“It’s a desert, so it seems that few people have seen the monsters because there are few people living here.”

From here, it looks like they were going to go over to Siere, but they certainly didn’t know when or which would come this way.

There was no time to lose.

Hayer Asheri drew his sword and slowly approached the tree.

He gritted his teeth when the pain of his injury came to mind. He decided to cut down the sacred tree quickly before the memory and pain could control his actions to cut it.

And the moment he was about to cut the sacred tree, Tamati put his hand on Hayer’s shoulder.

When Hayer turned around, Tamati said in a discreet voice.

“I will do it.”

Then all three looked toward Tamati.

Hayer shook his head as if it were nonsense.

“This is my job.”

“I want to do it.”

“To be honest, I don’t know, but Milord’s body won’t be able to bear this wound.”

This one was no joke. Hayer was sincerely warning that this wound would hurt the body.

Then Tamati said in a low voice.

“I saw it when I came out. I cannot cross this desert again with this body.”

“Why not? That can’t be.”

“I know my body. I have only a few days left in my life. Besides, if you get injured further here, will you be able to lead this party back across the vast desert?”

“……”

Hayer could not immediately answer. It was because Tamati was right.

This was a desert near the border of Siere. The best way to cross the desert from here again, of course, was to re-enter that maze and exit on the other side.

He wasn’t afraid to enter the maze. It may take a long time, but he was confident that Iris would find the way.

But inside were the Royal Knights, and Kernin Lepos, who also considered Hayer and Iris as strong competitors.

Hayer, who barely managed to win against a single Meppo, was not confident of winning if the entire Royal Knights rushed at him. So in fact, Tamati was right from the start.

Hayer had to take Iris and Cadella across the desert again. And if he gets more injured here, he will be a burden, let alone a guard.

Tamati continued in a tone of genuine joy.

“What a delight this is! Could there be greater glory in a traitor’s life? I had a happy time with the person who may be the king of Luwan, and I can sacrifice my life for this continent.”

At the ambiguous words of Tamati, who did not say who the ‘person who may be the king of Luwan’ was, Iris asked in a trembling voice.

“But then, even more so than when you were in the labyrinth… It’s short, life… if you were in that maze, you might have lived longer…”

Tamati laughed cheerfully at her words.

“Princess, wasn’t that labyrinth a punishment for traitors? Everyone must have been like that, but for me too, life in that maze was a punishment. I wasn’t happy even for a single day.”

Tamati spoke as an old man, with the faces of two young people and a child who were looking sadly at him.

“But what do you think? I was so happy every day when the four of us were together. Before I died, I saw this desert again, and I saw an oasis and a sacred tree. This is a gift from Tilla to me. I don’t know why you gave a gift to someone like me.”

After convincing the young people like that, Tamati looked at Iris.

“Your Highness, grant me a glorious death.”

Hayer shook his head as to disapprove of Tamati’s words.

It was short, but Tamati was a good adult and a knight to Hayer. They shared a lot of jokes, and it seemed like they laughed a lot.

Iris looked at Hayer’s shaky eyes, but also at Tammati’s unyielding eyes.

He was not sacrificing. He was just chasing his own glory.

And Iris always respected his choice first. She hid the pain in her heart and nodded.

“I allow you, Lord Tamati Sepate.”

“Thank you, Princess.”

He bowed his head and reached out his hand to Hayer to borrow his sword.

“If I die after wielding the sword with that sentence, there will be no regrets. No, there may be some lingering feelings, but I think it can be something to talk about when meeting Tejas.”

“……”

“Isn’t it one thing you can do for me? You are a distant junior of my best friend.”

At Tamati’s persuasion, Hayer eventually held out the sword with a trembling hand.

Tamati stood under the sacred tree with the sword and looked back at the three young children.

Cadella was about to faint from crying. Tamati originally thought to himself that tears increase when one gets older.

Hayer, who was used to losing his comrades in battle, but was not used to losing them through sacrifice, was slowly gathering his mind.

Iris…

Iris Lepos was looking at Tamati. It was like looking at a subordinate going to war. The gaze made the knight, Tamati Sepate, glorious.

Iris, who might be used to death and parting, was trying hard not to reveal those feelings.

She recognized that Tamati, who had lived as a traitor for a long time, wanted honor the most right now.

Tamati drew the sword and raised it.

Hayer, who had been controlling his emotions for a while, said with difficulty.

“Isn’t the sword too heavy for an old man?”

“Do you know how to stay young forever?”

Hayer closed his eyes for a moment at Tamati’s words, then smiled as hard as he could and replied.

“I’ll be quite young for a while.”

Tamati laughed at Hayer’s answer.

He knew at that moment that sharing jokes in the face of death remained a tradition of the Tejas Knights.

His dear friend seemed to be standing here.

Tejas asked to part ways with a smile, saying ‘this life won’t be the end of our relationship anyway’, even when he saw his colleagues lose themselves and even when he lost them.

That was Tejas Claudius’s way.

Tamati murmured.

“It’s been a while, Tejas.”

In fact, he had no face to see his friend. When he was young, he sought justice so much, but when he got older, he rebelled against power. So, taking this opportunity, Tamati hoped to have the face to see his friend.

Tamati drew the sword. And for the first time in a really long time, he swung a single blow and cut down the tree.

At the same time, the sacred tree fell and blood dripped on Tamati’s clothes. Then he collapsed on the spot.

“Tamati!”

Cadella ran to check Tamati’s breathing.

He died, and Cadella burst into tears again.

In the distance, the monsters Cadella had spotted, slowly moving in all directions, stopped in place. When the sacred tree stopped, the monsters stopped too.