How to Live as a Knight After the Ending
Chapter 336

Neo's figure, standing tall in the midst of the fierce battlefield, was visible even from a great distance.

"I can't believe they actually did it."

And the same went for the airship floating high in the sky.

Shaloni, who had been looking down at the ground from a high altitude, lowered the binoculars from her eyes. There was no need to use binoculars to magnify the view. The dazzling starlight was visible with perfect clarity.

Stars aren't visible in the sky from here, so what kind of magic is it that stars twinkle in this worldly city?

Setting aside its beauty, Shaloni was amazed at Osian's group who had finally emerged victorious from that fierce battle. She felt so excited that she wanted to chatter away about it, which was unusual for someone who was always so cool and composed.

"It's unbelievable."

The man who was looking down at the ground with Shaloni spoke. He was Shaloni’s strong supporter, and also the Chief of Staff who closely assisted the current chairman, Shaloni’s grandfather.

Director Zahart, the man who was essentially evaluated as second only to the chairman, was here with Shaloni.

"When you first made your request to me with such significant conditions, I thought you were making an overly emotional judgment."

Shaloni’s ability to provide enormous support to the knights, which was not befitting of her position, wasn't solely due to her own abilities.

Zahart's hand was involved in most of that support. Of course, Shaloni’s guts in setting those conditions couldn't be ignored, but from her position, this was a very risky gamble.

"When you told me that you were giving a mission to people whose names weren't even properly known, I thought you had gone crazy."

"I find that statement hard to interpret."

"You were the one who loved fairy tales and stories full of fiction when you were young, and told me you wanted to be like that. I still remember that day vividly."

When he brought up the old story, Shaloni blushed slightly and glared at Director Zahart. Of course, Zahart didn't bother to respond at all. Before that, his gaze had been constantly fixed on the starlight twinkling on the ground.

"You're not planning to go after that, are you?"

Shaloni asked just in case. Objectively speaking, now was indeed the perfect time for them to intervene. Battle Trench had lost most of its troops, and Osian's group who had fought against them had nearly exhausted their stamina.

If Antique Gear were to intervene now, they could easily pick up whatever they wanted. For instance, the artificial intelligence automaton.

"I'd like nothing more than to take that, completely disassemble it, and analyze it."

Zahart did not hide his feelings and Shaloni didn't blame him. His words meant that he had already made up his mind in a positive direction.

"But we can't do that. We've already made a promise. Even if we can't make credit, it's important to give trust. We won't intervene as we agreed beforehand."

This airship was equipped with weapons that could be deployed for reinforcement in case of an emergency. Shaloni knew that too. So she had even thought about supporting Osian's group if anything dangerous happened.

Of course, the moment that happened, they would end up in a full-scale war with Battle Trench. It wasn't something Shaloni could do on her own. Still, she wanted to help. She knew intellectually that she shouldn't, but that was how she felt.

"Shaloni. Why did you believe in them?"

Zahart asked. Shaloni looked down at Neo, who was surrounded by starlight. Along with Don Quixote and Osian, who were riding on both of his shoulders.

"It was a kind of insight. I believed they were trustworthy enough to support."

"Even so, your support was excessive. There are not a few voices within the company pointing that out."

"You mean the voices of my older sisters and brothers."

"Yes. Those guys are determined to eat you alive."

"Would you not believe me if I said that my excellent eye for people, which I inherited from my grandfather, was right on target here too?"

Zahart turned to look at Shaloni. Along with a questioning gaze that seemed to ask if she was really going to answer like that.

Shaloni smiled slightly and honestly expressed her feelings.

"I just wanted to believe in them."

"That's..."

"Yes, I was being emotional. I know it was foolish. But everyone has moments like that, don't they?"

"But you're from a family of corporate owners. Such behavior cannot be forgiven."

"Right now, I'm not a corporate owner, just an ordinary employee. Of course I'm bound to be inexperienced."

"You certainly know that's not a valid excuse."

"Maybe so. But I just wanted to see it."

As Zahart said. Shaloni, too, liked implausible fairy tales and old stories that others didn't believe in when she was young.

Especially, what she loved most were novels about knights.

Those brave and strong knights always stood at the forefront, defeating monsters and striving for justice. She remembered how cool they looked when she was young, and she used to throw tantrums to her grandfather saying she wanted to be like them.

It was an embarrassing memory she didn't even want to recall now. But sometimes she missed those days.

"There's someone who's walking the path I couldn't walk. I was curious about what choices that person would make when facing insurmountable walls, and how the ending would turn out."

Zahart shook his head at Shaloni's somewhat melancholic words. He had thought that the immature days of her youth had all disappeared as she grew older. But it seemed that they hadn't disappeared, just had been pressed down deeper.

'Who would believe that this girl, who looks so cold on the outside, actually has a heart hotter than anyone else?'

Should he be thankful that she didn't run out there right away, saying she wanted to join them? Perhaps this is why the chairman personally asked him to take good care of Shaloni.

Because she, above all others, resembled the chairman in his prime.

'But even more than that.'

Zahart's gaze returned to the ground. The starlight that had been enveloping Neo's body was fading away. Even that process was a spectacle, like watching hundreds of millions of fireflies moving. It was a sight that even Zahart, who had become so accustomed to the water of this city that he barely felt excitement over most things, couldn't help but admire.

But more than that, what caught his interest was the man who had led Shaloni's request to success.

'Osian.'

A man affiliated with Violet Fox, a firm that gathered some of the most renowned people in the field of fixers. The request that would normally have gone to Basilio went to him because of Basilio's whim.

Nevertheless, he successfully completed the request from District 49.

And that success story was the same this time.

It was clearly an impossible request. Zahart knew well how nonsensical the operation was—simply rescuing Neo from the underground facility and escaping.

To make matters worse, Battle Trench's secretly constructed massive weapon, Giant, even woke up in the middle of it all. That alone would have made it difficult for anyone who jumped into that scene to preserve their lives.

Clearly that's how it should have been.

'He really succeeded. As if he carries miracles with him.'

He had heard that the brilliant starlight was also one of the powers he controlled. What on earth was that starlight? Was it the manifestation of the miracle that had allowed him to succeed thus far?

Whatever it was, it was good. The important thing was that Osian had proven himself tremendously with this request.

'It's not just him.'

The people Osian brought with him. Even those who had been nameless and rolling around had all survived and shown their own achievements. It was unbelievable, but this was reality.

"I wonder how I should report this to the chairman."

"Excuse me? What did you just say?"

"Nothing. Just talking to myself. But we should retreat now."

Zahart's gaze moved away from the ground and toward the distance. Shaloni's expression also hardened.

Three black shadows could be seen cutting through the dark night sky.

"It wasn't a small incident in the city. Rather, their appearance is even a bit late."

The security forces of the Tirna city government had arrived at the scene.

The light scatters as the massive cluster of stars that had been united breaks apart into countless pieces. Each one of those pieces was starlight filled with someone's dreams and wishes.

As the light completely disappeared, Neo slowly lowered his sword.

[Ah. It feels a bit disappointing.]

He muttered as if he already missed the sacred light burning from his sword and the presence of the cloak that had enveloped his shoulders.

Osian, who was riding on Neo's shoulder, looked down. He could see people shouting cheers and approaching from below.

His knights including David and Jonathan. And also Asmer and Lupona. They all showed signs of exhaustion from the fierce battle, but none of them had died.

Rather, they had grown even more by using this battle as a stepping stone, which was visible to the eye.

After waving his hand to them, indicating that everything was okay, Osian approached Don Quixote who was on the other shoulder.

"Are you alright?"

Don Quixote silently nodded. For him, everything in this moment must feel like a dream.

Neo died right before his eyes. And when he faced the unbelievable war machine, the steel giant, coming to life, he thought it was all over.

But he survived that fight, which was unbelievably disadvantageous. Neo came back to life through the body of the steel giant and defeated all enemies.

Don Quixote had read many chivalric novels, but what he experienced tonight was even more novel-like than those novels. It was a series of fantastical events that felt like a midsummer night's dream.

"In the past, I thought the end of stories was quite futile. Most chivalric novels had open endings that were empty and unrealistic."

Don Quixote looked with warm eyes at the gradually diminishing light.

"What is a happy ending, and what does it mean to get what you want? Even I, who dreamed of being a knight, knew that was impossible."

That's definitely what he thought. That's what he thought, but...

"Sometimes reality is more fictional than fiction."

"That's why it's reality. Things happen that we can't even imagine. There are many bad things, but there are definitely good things too. Just like now."

Osian said to Don Quixote, who nodded his head as if he agreed.

"So now, just enjoy this victory."

"Understood."

As the light completely disappeared, and the flames in the ruined surroundings had almost subsided, Osian spotted three airships flying from beyond the sky. It was Tirna's security forces.

"There was such a commotion, and they come only when the situation is almost over."

It sounded like a complaint, but he couldn't entirely blame them. The area where they fought was a secret place that Battle Trench had purchased with money. They had even gone to great lengths to place fake factories around it to deceive people's eyes.

The city government probably vaguely knew that Battle Trench was doing something here but they didn't stop them. It wasn't anything that crossed a major line, and Battle Trench also lobbied a huge amount of money every year.

In other words, they kept an implicit rule of taking money behind the scenes and keeping their mouths shut. But the incident that occurred this time was not something they could ignore even if they wanted to.

A war machine was mobilized. Not just any war machine. It was a super-large automaton, each capable of exerting enormous influence.

The security forces, who belatedly learned of the situation, must have been in a tremendous state of emergency. It was already a feat that they sent three airships just to make a show of force.

[Um, so what should we do now?]

Neo, who had the most direct and indirect connection to this incident, asked in an anxious voice. After all, he was the one possessing the body of the most threatening war machine.

"Well, I don't think we're in time to avoid this place, at least."

The airship, which had arrived by now, shone a searchlight toward them.

[You have caused a disturbance in Tirna. We warn you. Surrender immediately. If you do not, we will not hesitate to use force.]

Because it was a battleship built for combat, their threat was not just empty words. Neo immediately raised both hands. It was a sign of surrender.

Even that was threatening when a 13-meter-tall body raised both hands and took a posture saying, "I surrender."

Two of the airships maintained their position in the air, while the remaining one slowly landed on the ground. Then the door opened, and heavily armed security forces poured out.

"Heh. I really came after receiving a report, but actually seeing it in person leaves me speechless."

And the man representing them, Sestain, who had reached the top of Tirna's security forces, exclaimed in admiration as he looked at Neo's massive body.

"Huh?"

Then, seeing a familiar face of a young man riding on Neo's shoulder, he unconsciously blurted out such a sound.

Osian waved his hand to him with a faintly smiling face.