Dan stepped into the room, hanging his coat on the wall. He immediately spotted Aleck at the table, his guarded posture in a way that gave an instinctive understanding of self-preservation—a rare trait for someone so young."Perora of one of the students?" Dan asked, his eyes slightly narrowed as he studied the subtle yet telling movements.Perora sensed that Dan was staring at her, so she gave him a sharp look, frowning. "Yeah, his name's Aleck. He came to this area yesterday and is staying at Anna's," she replied with a hint of a warning in her voice.Dan flinched slightly under her gaze but recovered quickly. Turning back to Aleck, he extended a hand. "Nice to meet you, Aleck. I'm Dan, a knight in service to Count Hemzel. He governs this area, including the slums."Aleck hardly looked up at him, his mind focused more intently on the savory pork wafting through the air from the kitchen. "Oh. Nice to meet you," he mumbled in a vague manner of speech, eyes wandering to catch sight of where the porky smell came from.Dan and Perora traded a look. Both exchanged a side-eye toward Aleck's oblivion.Dan couldn't help but think to himself, "How can a person be so vulnerable at the same time as so clueless?"Damn, to think that the old hag, who never bends, would take in a student again. She must need a chore boy," Dan muttered, clearly expecting a reaction. "Uh, I'm not her student," Aleck replied, meeting his gaze. "She just took me in to work for her." Dan seemed unimpressed by the answer and retorted, "You're pretty boring, aren't you?" "Leave the kid alone, Dan. You're way too old to be acting like a delinquent," Perora interjected sharply, her voice tinged with anger. The two exchanged a tense stare, and Aleck couldn't help but wonder why they were acting this way. Aren't adults supposed to be calm and composed? "Silence!" Rodger snapped, throwing his knife at the floor with a sharp clang. "How many times do I have to tell you two to behave in front of guests?" Rodger's voice, cold and authoritative, made the air in the room feel heavy. "It's my fault," both Dan and Perora mumbled at the same time, awkwardly looking away from each other. Rodger gave a slight nod and turned to Aleck, his tone softening. "Shall we start lunch?" Aleck gave a small smile, and Rodger's expression warmed. He was pleased to see the boy's response. The meal consisted of pork soup and potatoes. "Damn, Rodger. Your school's going pretty well for you to be having pork, huh?" Dan said sarcastically. Rodger shot Dan a look that sent a chill through him. "I'm sorry," Dan muttered, looking down, suddenly aware that he'd crossed a line. Rodger cleared his throat. "The main reason I called you here today is to tell you that I know about the Perfect Soldier project. I know what kind of kid you are. I, too, was one of the instructors to your teacher, Ethan, along with Anna." Dan and Perora exchanged confused glances, neither fully understanding what they had just heard.Rodger's voice was stern as he looked straight at Aleck. "I know you didn't come here to learn swordplay or some nonsense like that. Just tell me, why are you here?" Aleck could not even speak before Perora cut him off with a sharp voice. "Dad, stop—" Rodger silenced her with a swift glance. "No, let him speak." Aleck shifted uncomfortably in his chair, his eyes vacant, as if he was seeing something outside the room. "I want to be a knight someday. Rodger's face hardened. "The kingdom won't make you one, Aleck. You've already crossed the war general by turning down his mission. You might not realize it, but once Ethan is gone, they'll come after you. And when they do, it won't be a fair fight. You'll be hunted down and die a slow, painful death." Aleck sat still, his eyes unfocused, lost in thought. Rodger leaned in slightly, his voice lowering. "What will you do then? You might be strong enough to kill a few, but they won't come at you directly. They'll use every dirty trick they have to bring you down. You're just a kid—eleven years old. You don't know what you're facing." Aleck's eyes finally looked away from their distant stare. His voice was low but firm. "I do not want to be the knight of the wealthy, I want to be that knight who protects. Rodger and Ethen shared a look, concern evident in the set of their jaws. Ethen's face relaxed a fraction, but skepticism was still there, burning in his eyes. "You have a long way to go before you can protect anyone," he grumbled.Dan scoffed, his eyes narrowing as he stared at Aleck. "You? Save people?" His voice was thick with disdain. "What I hate most in this world is all the fake crap people spew to make themselves sound like they're something special. I'm sorry to break it to you, kid, but you won't save anyone. Hell, you won't even save yourself. Finish your meal and come outside. I'm going to show you exactly why you can't save anyone."With that, Dan grabbed his coat and walked out, his boots heavy on the floor.Rodger looked up from his meal, his voice calm but firm. "Go outside and spar with him. If you can't even beat him, then forget about being a knight that protects people."Perora, still caught off guard by the shift in tension, hurried after Dan, trying to calm him down.Aleck let out a quiet sigh, feeling the weight of the situation settling on him. Maybe he should have just gone back to the inn and skipped this whole thing, he thought. But there was no turning back now.Dan lived with his parents near the slums in the city of Alenora, within the jurisdiction of Count Hamzel. The city of Alenora was starkly contrasting: while the rich nobility lived in great houses luxuriously, the slums that Dan dwelled in were sordid and full of trouble. Yet the family was quite content despite the poverty. Dan loved them dearly and made sure Dan had everything that he needed. They could even starve themselves to death for him. Living in Alenora wasn't easy, but it was home, and he knew it like the lines on his palm, something he had always felt as safe within his family's unassuming walls. There was peace until Dan had just reached five years. One night, the count's knights stormed through the slums. They were told to get rid of an asserted gang of robbers but showed no mercy. They ransacked homes, destroyed properties, and even took people's lives where they stood in their way. Dan's parents were innocent people, and by mere accident, they became victims in the crossfire. The knights said it was merely collateral damage-a casualty in the political squabble with nothing to do with the commoners. To Dan, though, it was a betrayal, because those taken from him were good-natured individuals who were taken away from him by the powerful.Dan's pain and loss transformed into a fire burning intensely within his heart. Those very knights he used to regard as guardians turned out to be enemies in his book of life. He hated them more than anything on this earth for killing his parents and breaking his life. They tore the families apart, and he had promised himself to make them pay for this. His purpose in living was only revenge. His objective was to kill the knights who had destroyed everything he loved.Dan was now driven for revenge; he could have no better option but to join the knights of Lord Hamzel-the same ones responsible for much of his sorrow. There was bitter irony in all this. His logic had been to bring them down from within gain their trust, and increase his hold and influence enough so he could then act at an opportune time. Dan was prepared to give away everything to make that revenge a success. But like many of his plans before, this one crumbled. As soon as Dan was inside the lord's house, he realized the cold truth: the knights he had once hated were already gone. The knights who committed the atrocities against his family were no longer part of the order. They were punished, and removed, and their legacy buried under the orders of the lord. The system he thought so corrupt had already made a move to rectify the wrongs he suffered. Dan's thirst for revenge now seemed futile. Knights he sought to destroy were already dealt with, and only the consequences of a broken world remained, one that he no longer knew how to navigate. It was during this dark time that Dan met Sir Rodger. The Lord, who seemed so epitomical of all that Dan loathed and detested, was issuing the orders to punish knights who broke the law. Dan had expected a corrupt man, but he got a knight with an unorthodox sense of honor beyond the politics and pseudo-power of the kingdom. Sir Rodger was a man of his word, a soldier who had seen the worst of the world and had come to realize that not all knights were the same. Under Sir Rodger's guidance, Dan learned that being a knight was not just revenge and blind loyalty. Not just the swordsmanship a knight had to learn but honor and protecting the weak. This started to make Dan realize his wants in life were not pure revenge but rather driven to stand up for something, even if it would hurt one's personal wants to further the greater good.And yet, in this very same light of being told what to do and becoming a knight by Rodger, the flames of hate still burned inside his chest. He could not forget his parents, and he could not forget the agony of losing them. The lessons of Rodger could make him forget some of the anger; however, Dan was still in a tug-of-war within himself. His way was complex and full of turmoil. He wanted to be a protector, a knight who fought for justice, but the shadow of his past, the burning desire for vengeance, kept going on and pushed him back toward his old goal. Dan's path to true knighthood, being a protector, was still unclear, and he could not even tell if he could ever really break out of the cycle of hatred and revenge that had dominated his life.