I woke up early today. Around the time the morning rays painted their cloudy canvas pink and began to shift from a starry night to a gentle azure. A subtle breeze had swept through the open window and raised me from my sleep.

Today, my mom hadn’t given me many errands to do, so I thought the best course of action was to finish them as soon as possible so I had the rest of the day to myself. Plus, Lia wouldn’t be joining me today, so that one be one less distraction to keep me from my tasks. That would give me ample time to go on a little “excursion.”

While I ran errands, I took the time to ask around. The man from the alley I had met yesterday still plagued my mind with curiosity, and I was determined to find out more. I asked around about Vanders until a buddy of his told me that he hadn’t returned yet. Interestingly, he let slip that the guards wouldn’t let him into town.

This bit of information in and of itself almost completely confirmed my suspicions. The day after the knights showed up in town, guards roaming the market square and streets became a frequent sight, but not enough to the point people started to notice. I just happen to be attentive. But yesterday, around noon, men at arms were placed at every exit leading out of town.

So to further confirm my theory I made my way north to the old well. There were two guards stationed where the cobblestone pavement met the dirt road leading north. And as I thought, they wouldn’t let me leave, and I was sent back into town.

This confirmed what I had thought, that they put the village on lockdown. They wouldn’t let anyone in, and they especially let anyone leave.

I knew the knight’s task was of serious concern, and Lia had theorized that they were looking for something. But now I figured they had to be looking for someone instead. Just for further proof, I went back to the alley from yesterday. Like I expected, the wooden crates were now blocking the path inside.

It all seemed to suggest that the man I had met in the alleyway was being chased down by the knights. It made sense. There was a good chance he was a soldier and, seeing as he was here now, he might have deserted. That would certainly be grounds for a crime. The guards had him trapped and he couldn’t receive help from outside. If he was expecting help from Vanders, he wouldn’t get any. And knowing that, he then leaves the alley knowing that they couldn’t meet in secret anymore.

I had also found him out, so there was a good chance he would have stopped going to the alleyway regardless.

But this all meant that he was still here in town.

That was my next mission.

I was going to track him down. I still had a few burning questions about his story that continued to bug me. And if the knights or guards got to him first, I wouldn’t have a chance to speak with him. Plus, if even the almighty knights haven’t found him yet, then a kid like me has a pretty good chance.

There has to be a reason why the knights are going through so much trouble just to find one deserting soldier.

Anyway, since the man was waiting for Vanders, he had to be staying somewhere in town in the meantime. I doubt that he actually spends his nights in that alleyway. So he must have found lodging somewhere. Maybe an inn? No. There were only three inns in town; two in the market square and another on one of the main streets. But surely the knights had already searched there.

He couldn’t be sleeping on the streets because his clothes were clean and he didn’t seem tired at all. If that’s the case then he could be renting out a room in town. And it had to be in town, he couldn’t leave, after all. They weren’t as popular as inns but they still brought in customers. Regardless, I’ll be sure to check them out.

So the most likely answer was that he was renting out a room in town. It was certainly the cheapest option, and for a man on the run, finding ways to save every last bit of money was essential. They would also be the hardest places to search. There were hundreds of places where I could look. Even if the knights had thought of the idea, it would take them a few days to check every possible location. And by then, the fugitive could be gone.

It would logically make more sense to give this information to the knights but they wouldn’t take me seriously. A kid, telling them how to find a criminal who they had been pursuing. There’s no way they would believe me. So it was up to me to find the man, and only then would I decide what to do next.

Finding one person who is trying his best to hide in a town of a few hundred seems like a tedious and demoralizing task, but take one step at a time, your effectiveness rises. Lucky for me, there were two pieces of information that are going to really help me with this case.

First, the man was carrying a longsword. And second, there were only four exits out of the market square.

Okay, the sword first. I’m guessing that he carried it with him in case he was found out, but he couldn’t carry on his hip like a regular knight. That would attract too much attention. Carrying it on his back was a better option, but a sword still sticks out like a sore thumb. He was probably concealing it with a piece of cloth. And maybe some one had noticed.

I started asking the outdoor vendors nearest to the alleyway if they had seen a man carrying a long sort of package on his back leaving the alley.

“I didn’t even know there was an alley there,” answered the first vendor I questioned. Needless to say, he wasn’t much help.

After questioning the other vendors, many of whom had no valuable information or just wrote me off as just being a meddling kid, I finally found two people who were willing to comply. One of them, a peddler, said he had definitely seen a man carrying around a long and heavy looking object yesterday. And the second, a farmer, gave me a little more information. He told me that a suspicious looking man in a hooded cloak bought some of his fruit and was carrying with him something wrapped in cloth.

He gave me the most valuable intel. First, he gave me an idea of his current appearance. He would be wearing a brown cloak with his hood up, and the cloth hiding his sword was white in color.

Second, the fruit vendor was right next to the west exit of the market square, and he also pointed out that the man walked into the street. So now I had an idea of his relative location. There were fruit vendors everywhere, so he chose this one because of the fact it was closest to the room he was renting. And with four streets leading out from the market square in each cardinal direction, the town was basically split into four sections. But now I knew he was somewhere in the western part of town. That narrowed it down a lot.

So I began there.

It was a good thing I woke up early. It had only been a short while since the bell tower chimed its six o’clock tune. So it was probably six thirty in the morning. At this time, there weren’t many people out and about, only the early bird vendors that tried to get the best spots. This would be the perfect time for a fugitive to come out for breakfast, not too empty but not too crowded. He probably figured that the knights wouldn’t be out this early.

I started by roaming the streets in the western part of town, and along the way I would ask people if they knew anyone who rented out rooms. That would yield the least results, so just keeping my eyes open was my best bet.

Though my odds of finding the fugitive were low, the only thing I could do was hope for a chance encounter with him. But for that to happen, I had to devote my full attention to my surroundings

From further down the street, two figures approached me. One noticeably taller than the other and considerably bulkier than him. As they got closer and the detail got sharper, the morning sunshine bounced off from the bigger man’s body, making me shield my eyes with my hand. It wasn’t until they came within earshot that the clanking of metal betrayed the man’s identity.

“Oh, whatcha doing up so early, Sam?” When he caught a glimpse of me, Chief Latlan called out to me as the knight who had accompanied Liena strode up next to him.

“Nothing, really. I woke up early, so I decided to just get my chores out of the way as soon as possible.” That seemed like a good enough lie, I mean, it was half true.

“That’s always a good state of mind to have,” he affirmed. “You always need to use your time wisely.”

“So, why are you up early, as well.”

“I’m helping this here knight with the business they came here with a few days ago.”

At the mention of himself, the knight, standing proudly at his side, gazed down on me with cold eyes. His eyes said nothing, almost as if he thought nothing of me. That I was just another roadblock in the way of him completing his mission.

But either due to him being with the Chief or for some other reason, he swallowed his pride and presented himself.

“I am the Imperial Knight Andor, ranked second in the order,” he announced while giving the well known knights solute. “I was assigned on important business here, though, that is all I can say.”

“Well, like you already heard, my name is Sam, rank yet to be determined. I was assigned to run errands for my mother.”

I tried to make a lighthearted joke but the knight didn’t seem to care. That only made me regret telling it in the first place. But the fact that he seemed completely indifferent made me feel a little better. Though, frankly, it didn’t seem like he was paying attention to me at all.

After a quick chuckle from the Chief, which boosted my mood, he continued with the reason he had stopped to talk.

“By chance, have you seen Lady Liena the last few days? I know you and Lia had an encounter with her the day she arrived, but we haven’t seen her since the evening of that day.”

“No, I haven’t,” I answered plainly. “She seems to be a very fickle character. From my impressions, her mind seems to be elsewhere at times and she goes about her responsibilities rather carelessly…”

But… I was going to say, but the knight who had wanted nothing to do with our conversation up until now scoffed.

“She’s a sorry excuse for a knight,” he began, quite bluntly, not holding back his words. “To this very day, it remains a mystery to me as to how she was given the title of ‘knight’. She’s irresponsible, never takes things seriously, and often refuses orders from superiors. And it just so happens that I was assigned this task with her. But where is she now, huh? She’s nowhere to be found.”

Even though his veins were bulging on his forehead and he turned red with frustration, his stature remained calm and at attention. And, though his voice was loud and clear, he never raised his volume. He just continued with his rant.

“It still amazes me that Lady Cynthia, a greater knight than I could ever dream of being, decided to take her on as her pupil. That girl isn’t even a tenth of what she was. And now that she is gone, her problem child is left to do as she pleases, completely disrupting the established order. If that girl couldn’t even defend her teacher, what hope does she have on the battlefield. If you ask me, she should be expelled immediately and cease being a knight.”

I didn’t know Lady Liena enough to make a firm judgment on her abilities as a knight. But from what I’ve seen of her, she seemed to be a good person. And, though she was a fickle creature who ventured out to who knows where, I’m sure she was still keeping her mission in mind.

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Both her and the knight before me represented the essence of being a knight, though, in different ways. Knight Andor represented the strong, intelligent, and relentless traits of a knight while Lady Liena represented their kindness, generosity, and their constant search for peace. Plus, if Lady Cynthia had taught her for roughly five year and Lady Liena still acted the way she did, then her mentor must have seen nothing wrong with her personality

So, if Knight Andor held Lady Cynthia at such a high regard, then he has to accept Lady Liena as who she is because her teacher let her express herself that way. Or maybe that thought had never crossed the proud knight’s mind.

Still, I felt bad for Lady Liena. She was obviously still young and her teacher had just passed away. There was obviously still a lot she could learn, but never got the chance to. It just wasn’t fair for her to be talked down to like that given her situation.

I just hoped that she never had to hear those things about her.

“Well, anyway,” the Chief tried to get back on topic. “All we can say is that we don’t know for sure what Lady Liena is doing at the moment, but it would be a great help if you could let us know if you see her.”

“Yes. It would help us with our assignment,” the knight commented. “With this town being much smaller than a city, we should be wrapped up in the coming days… There’s nowhere else for you to run.”

That last part came out as a murmur as he turned to look away, like if he were scanning the area. I’m sure that he probably didn’t one anyone hearing that. I don’t know if the Chief heard it, but since I was looking right at him, the barely audible fragments of whispers and the movement of his lips combined to help me make out most of his sentence

Then, almost as if he had come to challenge his statement, I saw the figure of a man turning the corner down the road, heading toward us. Both Knight Andor and the Chief had their backs facing the man, so they didn’t notice him, but I did. A man in a brown cloak, with a part of a white package peeking out above his shoulder.

He must have noticed the gleaming armor of the knight because in the next moment, he abruptly stopped, turned on his heel, and made his way onto a new street.

That’s a bit of information I’d like to keep secret. For now.

“Anyway.” I quickly came up with an excuse. “I have to get to Lidia’s house and pick up a few things for my mom.”

“Oh, well, we won’t keep you any longer.” The Chief apologized and with a subtle motion of his hand, he signaled the knight that their business awaited them.

I started down the street in the direction I had seen the man leave, gradually picking up my speed so as to not look suspicious. By the time I was about to turn the corner, I decided to check behind me, just in case. I had felt it for a while now, even yesterday. And sure enough, when I turned, I saw two eyes looking back at me. I don’t know if they noticed my stare but I quickly turned away. It was a good thing to know that I was being watched.

Some time had passed from when I saw the hooded fugitive turn the corner, so my odds of catching up to him had slimmed. So you imagine just how surprised I was when I turned the corner only to find the man I had been chasing down leaning against a wall, arms crossed, with his hood obscuring most of his face in a shadow.

“So you’re not stupid after all, kid,” he began. “Or maybe you are because now you're guilty of a crime.”

I could see the corners of his mouth rise with a chuckle.

“It’s not a crime if no one finds out,” I fired back.

“Then you’re already better off than me.”

He pushed himself off the wall and began walking down the street, signaling me to follow.

“I’m just curious, is all,” I mentioned

“Well, kid, it’s like I told you before, I was just a soldier. But I’m guessing that you already figured out that I’m—or at least, I was—a knight.”

“Yeah. It’s not hard to come to that conclusion when you’re waving around that flashy sword.”

“This here, kid,” he said while pointing to the sword on his back with his thumb, “this is my partner. It was forged specifically for me and it has saved my life countless times. It never leaves my side. It’s the only one I have left.”

He fell into whispers toward the end and failed to say anything else. For what must’ve been anything from thirty seconds to a minute we walked in silence, until I hesitantly spoke.

“You know I have to tell Lady Liena about you.”

His ears twitched at the name but he didn’t respond, almost like he didn’t want to put up a fight, as if he were tired. Frustration mingled around him as he thought of the right words to speak. “Let me ask you something, kid. If your commanding officer ordered you to do something that you knew was undeniably wrong, would you still do it?”

He was your commanding officer. You have to do as you’re told, don’t you. It keeps order in the midst of the chaos of war. They were chosen to lead for a reason. Because they are better. Because they know better. So you should do as they say, I told him, but…

“That… That right there,” he began. “Everyone in this damn empire are ignorant fools. They see themselves as knowing better. But the fact that they don’t even know what’s beyond their own homes, that fact that they’re lost in their own minds, the fact they can’t see. That’s what makes them ignorant.”

“That’s how you see things?”

“Kid, in this world, people only do as they are told. They only know what they are told. They don’t take it upon themselves to find answers for themselves. They’re tamed and oblivious fools.”

He paused, halting in his stride to look down at me.

“That’s why, kid, I’m going to need your help.”

* * *

I got up bright and early the next day, just like the day before. I had some important business to attend to at the moment and I couldn’t afford to waste time. Right now was the time when there would be the least amount of guards roaming around, so our plan required us to use our time wisely.

Though we wanted there to be the least amount of people around, we didn’t want to look suspicious walking around when no people were out. Starting just before people started to pile into the market square would be the optimal time.

I told my mom that I would run her errands early today because Lady Alea wanted me and Lia to help her out. It wasn’t completely a lie. I had promised to help Lia with her healing magic. If our plan played out flawlessly and quickly, I should have had time to do so, but that wasn’t important right now.

I made it out the front door, my mom none the wiser and wishing me a good day. The streets were bare for the most part with only a few people walking around. But as I neared the town center, where the market square was located, more and more people filled the streets or left their homes and shops to wander about or complete their tasks. But unlike them, I wouldn’t be running errands today.

Passed all and the vendor stalls that were packed in the market square, on its northern edge, the Chief’s home was nestled in between other buildings. With a clenched fist, I gave the heavy, oak door a firm knock sure to be heard on the inside. Within a few seconds, light footsteps could be heard approaching until they reached the door and creaked open.

“Oh, Sam?!”

I was greeted by a slender figure taller than me. Her dark brown hair reached to just above her elbows and her fair skin served in contrast to her lightly tinted lips.

This wasn’t part of the plan. Abort! Abort!

A fair bit of anxiety filled my body from head to toe at the sight of the unexpected face. Well, it’s not like I shouldn’t have expected her to answer. She lived here, after all.

Standing in front of me, the Chief's daughter, Sena.

“U-uh...um, g-good morning, Sena. I haven’t seen you in a while.”

Alright, calm down. There isn’t any reason for you to be nervous. It’s just that pretty girl that’s always kind to you and you’ve developed sort of a crush on. No need to panic.

“Yep, it’s good to see you again, too,” she smiled.

“The Perfect Girl” was a good way to describe her and her innocent charm, beautiful figure, and abundant kindness. But did she really have to be sixteen?! I’ve known her for awhile now, so she practically sees me as her younger brother.

“So, what can I help you with today?” she asked, pulling me out of my fit of disappointment.

“I was hoping I could speak with you father.”

Wait! Am I playing it too fast. I’m already asking to meet her father. No, I met him a long time ago.

“He's a bit busy right now, but I’ll ask if he has some time.”

And with a smile that said I’ll do my best she invited me inside before running off to fetch her father. She truly was what all men wanted in a wife; kind, caring, proactive. Damn it, mom and dad. Why didn’t you get married five years earlier?

Before long, pairs of footsteps rang down the hall before the Chief, with Sena behind him, appeared. Sena waved goodbye and disappeared into her home to do whatever sixteen year old girls do

“I didn’t expect to see you here so early, my boy.”

“Well, it’s just that I have some important information for Knight Andor and I didn’t know how else to find him except through you,” I explained.

“You’re in luck, then—“ the Chief began before a baritone voice interrupted him.

“What is it, boy? Chief Latlan thinks highly of you, so I’ll hear you out.”

A stout man, dressed in a complete set of dark grey armor, save for a helmet, stepped out of the doorway in the distance, his plates of armor rattling as he approached.

“Oh, you’re already here. This’ll make it a lot faster than.”

“Get to it, boy,” the impatient knight ordered. “I have things to do.”

“Well that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” At that, I got the knight’s attention.

“What the hell are you talking about? Why would you have any interest in that?”

“For you two knights being on a secret assignment, you give away more details than you think,” I cleared things up. “If you pay attention, even a kid like me can figure what you’re up to.”

The knight stayed silent at my revelation and a stern sense of shock spread on his face. Taking his reaction as an affirmation that I was onto something, I continued to elaborate.

“If it’s about that fugitive your two have been tracking down, I believe I can give some much needed information.”

The knight continued his silence. A few seconds of idleness went by before someone spoke, but it wasn’t Knight Andor.

“You and Lady Liena really need to watch what you say more carefully. Revealing details like these can really get you—“

But the Chief was cut off before he could finish.

“—So you know of our operation?” the knight began, now with a more firm voice. “What of it? It’s not like you would have any useful information.”

There he went again. The adult speaking as if he held all the answers, denying any possibility of others having the answers he searched for. It really pisses me off. They have no grounds for such thinking, and yet…

So maybe as a sort of power play, to show the arrogant knight that even he could fall victim to incompetence, I told him everything I knew.

“You came here with Lady Liena to track down and capture a fugitive knight named Ernst. To prove I know who I’m talking about, I’ll give you this piece of information. The weapon given to him when he was knighted was a blazing sword.” The knight could only stand dumbfounded and shocked that a mere kid knew so much, possibly even taking a step back. Regardless, I continued.

“It just so happens that I met and spoke to him on two seperate occasions. I believe that’s more than both you and Lady Liena have achieved” That statement was just me having fun, but a soft smile did appear on my face. “I also managed to track him down to a room he was renting on the west side of town. It almost seems like I completed the job you couldn’t even start. I just thought I’d let you know before he skips town. Even with all those guards, it’s only a matter of time before he escapes north and is out of your grasp.”

The knight looked on stunned while the Chief remained in an awkward silence. The whole house seemed to have entered a void with only the three of us residing in it. With a sharp gaze, Knight Andor looked at his feet with his hand to his chin in deep thought. The information that I had brought up was probably new to him. And since I had unearthed so many details, he was probably mulling over its validity.

A whole minute must have passed before the pensive knight took a step forward.

“So, you’ve come to me today to reveal to me the location of our fugitive, is that correct, boy?”

“Right.”

“And this information is accurate?”

“If you want to catch him, you’d better hurry up. He’s not going to stay in this town forever.”

“Hmm,” he mulled it over. “Chief Latlan,” the knight ordered in a strong and clear voice. “Round up twenty men at arms as well as your doctors or anyone that is skilled in healing magic. We shall leave in half an hour once the boy has revealed the fugitive’s location.”

“Tw-twenty men?! That many?” the Chief asked, not able to believe his request.

“Actually,” he rephrased, “seeing as Lady Liena is nowhere to be found, maybe twenty-five men would be better.”

“B-but that’s almost the entire garrison here, save the few guards at the gates.”

The Chief, astounded at the number of men requested, broke out into a cold sweat, asking if this amount of manpower was truly necessary for one man. But the knight didn’t change his answer.

“For this fugitive, this is the absolute minimum needed. We knights are trained to be the equivalent of thirty men, and on good days, as much as fifty. He was a promising prodigy, so we need to be careful. I assume your men are trained well, so twenty five will have to do. If Lady Liena decides to show up then our chances of catching him grow.”

With a reluctant expression, realizing that all this caution was truly necessary, the Chief ran off to the barracks to inform the head man at arms on the operation. I stayed behind with Knight Andor. There was still a bit of information that I needed to relay to him.

Soon, a little town house in the western parts of town would be surrounded by twenty armed guards and a knight.