Chapter 508 - 438: This is My Knight’s Path! Six-star Earth Military Rank

However.

The machinations of politics, the gloom of war.

An Jie, his Knight Tutor and the only person in this world who had ever truly cared for him, had sacrificed herself to cover their retreat, dying a brutal death right before his eyes.

Heinrich, the Imperial Knight with a heart of pure sincerity whom he respected from the bottom of his own, had held the rearguard alone to cover their retreat and died on the battlefield.

Knight Adrian had also told him before they parted to stand where the light shines.

And during the four years he spent recuperating in Verne, he had witnessed the unyielding struggle launched by a young Priest with firm conviction, and by countless Mortals whose courage shone like a brilliant light, all under the shadow of a wicked conspiracy.

Reinhardt had to admit it.

All of it had changed the course of his life.

If not for these great and vibrant people, Reinhardt would not be fighting fearlessly on the front lines for a strange world that was not his home, nor would he be reluctantly playing political games with those vermin for the sake of the Administrative Region’s stability.

Years later, when he once again answered that question from the Holy Word Scripture, he finally understood. A homeland could be a place name, a town, a country.

But none of that mattered. What mattered was longing, regret, joy, and sorrow.

Because a homeland is wherever the people you remember once lived.

If he were asked why he fought.

After so many years, Reinhardt had a different answer.

It was for those who had fearlessly sacrificed themselves for him and for this world: his Knight Tutor, An Jie; Heinrich the Dragon Hunter; and Kirk, the Verne Judge whose body he had never found, but who had died because of him.

Their ideals, everything they had stood for, were like a blazing torch.

Now.

That torch, bright enough to illuminate all the darkness in the world, was now in his hands—the flame passed down to him.

Standing firm in the wind and snow, Reinhardt’s steps were without hesitation. He put his Power Armor’s Full Coverage Helmet back on and strode out of the manor.

—

「One minute earlier.」

「Outside the manor.」

Matthias, taking a break after his shift, sat on the curb holding a ’light meal’ specially prepared for the Holy Fire Guard by the Governor’s private chef.

He took off his Full Coverage Helmet and glanced at the spoon, which was as thick as his finger. A wave of emotion washed over him; Matthias couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a moment to sit down and eat like this.

Not to mention that the delicacy in his hands was, at a glance, clearly made from precious ingredients.

Governor Sacker had told him it was just a simple meal, but the cowardly fool didn’t know that before becoming an Imperial Knight, Matthias had not only been born a nobleman, but his family’s influence was also far beyond what the governor of a mere Stereoscopic City could possibly imagine.

More than the value of the food itself, Matthias hated being fooled with lies.

Still, the food itself was quite delicious.

After all, it was common for an Imperial Knight to go half a year without taking off his armor during wartime. If not for the purely practical reason that the indescribable ’paste’—specially formulated by the Mechanist Cult—was the fastest way to replenish calories, the noble-born Matthias would have rather scavenged for food in the garbage heaps of the Lower City District than eat what he’d consumed on the battlefield.

However, compared to the composed Matthias, the other Holy Fire Guard sitting beside him, Metaron, wore an exceptionally grave expression.

"His Lordship has been meditating in the manor for three days. I’m worried..."