Chapter 47: Chapter 39: Stand Where the Light Shines, Reinhardt (2)

He’d fought for the Empire his entire life, so he knew a thing or two about how things worked up top. The young man walking beside him had clearly been caught up in some enormous trouble. Lord Sedon had dumped him here, and though the letter didn’t say it outright, it was obvious he was meant to protect the young man for the time being.

Whether it was because he admired the young man or because he would be of great use in the future, he would carry out the old commander’s orders to the letter.

Assigning Reinhardt to Dietlinde’s Ninth Squad was partly for his own personal reasons, but also because he wanted Dietlinde to keep him safe.

Unless they ran into a Fear Knight or a Scaya Pure-blood Dragonfolk, Dietlinde’s strength as a Five-star Military Rank Knight was more than enough to protect Reinhardt.

At this thought, Fei Ning laughed heartily, squeezed Reinhardt’s shoulder, and leaned in conspiratorially to whisper in his ear, "So, have you thought about Dietlinde? If you ask me, you should just give in. I know her personality. She’ll definitely treat you right!"

’Reinhardt joined the Battle Group based on his own merit and a letter of recommendation from Sedon. Why does it sound like I’m here to be a kept man?’

"Then you might as well just kick me out."

"Kick you out? Dietlinde would try to kill me! Anyway, you’re an official member of the Battle Group now, Recruit Reinhardt! As your commander, I order you to attend the banquet tonight!"

After speaking, Fei Ning, this nearly forty-year-old bald brute, gave a wicked grin and started dragging Reinhardt toward the tents.

Although Reinhardt had been with the Iron Blood Battle Group for less than half a year, and all sorts of random troubles seemed to find him every day, his time here had brought a rare warmth and tranquility to his heart.

It was like a clear, cool spring flowing through his heart.

As if he had returned to the home he once knew...

There were no sharp internal conflicts like in the Steel Knight Order, no suffocating conspiracies, and no lingering resentment between Knights of noble and common birth.

And above all, there wasn’t that omnipresent hand, like a deathly cloud, looming over his head.

The seventy Knights of the Battle Group, despite their wildly different personalities, were all willing to take orders from a man-child of a commander like Fei Ning... one could only say that his comrades in the Iron Blood Battle Group were a real cast of characters.

Maxim, the young Knight who’d had his arm around his shoulder earlier, was also a member of the Ninth Squad. He was a One-star Military Rank Knight who had joined as a reinforcement last year.

However, his comrades in the Battle Group often teased him about being a Four-star Military Rank. It all started when he’d first joined. They’d thrown a bonfire party to welcome him, and when the topic of Military Ranks came up, Reinhardt said he was a Four-star Military Rank Knight. No one believed him; they all thought he was bragging.

Both his personal records and the letter of recommendation handwritten by Sedon himself listed his Military Rank Level as Two-star Military Rank, from before the fortress fell.

Besides, what would a seventeen-year-old Four-star Military Rank Knight be doing here, instead of making a name for himself and serving the Empire in a main battle group?

Reinhardt never argued with them.

He had long since buried the events of the Northern Icefield deep within his heart. Besides, if the others knew what had happened there, they would inevitably be dragged into the massive conspiracy as well.

As Reinhardt walked side-by-side with Fei Ning, the fine rain pattering on his face, the vivid, smiling faces of his comrades in the Iron Blood Battle Group flashed before him, and his thoughts drifted back to Frostfire Fortress.

But there, there was only the biting cold of snow.

The smiles of those he once knew were frozen in his memory.

The words Knight An Jie had spoken to him in the underground bunkers still echoed in Reinhardt’s mind, refusing to fade.

’Some answers are things you must find for yourself, Reinhardt.’

On the day he left the fortress, Knight Adrian escorted him a long way. They spoke of many things on the road, including Vice Commander Erich and Knight An Jie, as well as Sedon.

Erich and An Jie once had three children, but tragically, all three died on the battlefield. Their youngest son had also been a member of the Steel Knight Order, but he died in the autumn of 1438.

Knight An Jie had suffered a severe injury in her youth and had been unable to bear children for twenty years. Though she was a taciturn Knight, after her youngest son’s sacrifice, she poured all her heart and soul into the youths at the training camp.

When Reinhardt asked him why the Steel Knight Order remained so loyal to the Empire, Adrian’s answer was quite thought-provoking.

’Where there is light, there will be darkness. We are Knights of the Empire, but we are also Knights of the Human World. When the darkness comes, it is our duty to protect that light.

Remember, no matter what happens, you are a Knight of the Empire.

Stand where the light shines, Reinhardt.’

When they spoke of Sedon, Adrian had said one more thing.

’Ten years ago, he was already the vice commander of the Seventh Corps Death Squad. He is a man more complex than any of us can imagine.’

Memories always have a way of putting one in a trance, and painful memories are like scars that last a lifetime.

Fei Ning, the bald brute, was like a mischievous boy who had just pulled off a prank. He dragged Reinhardt to the entrance of Dietlinde’s tent, then gave a thumbs-up to the men of the Iron Blood Battle Group. His proud expression was as if he were showing off some great ’accomplishment’ he had achieved.

Dietlinde was already waiting inside the tent.

She greeted Reinhardt with a warm hug. Seeming to notice that the young Knight she had fallen for at first sight was a bit dazed, she smiled and said, "Feels like a dream, doesn’t it? Haha, welcome to the Iron Blood Battle Group family!"

’Dietlinde always carried the faint scent of tulips. She was tall, with sincere, passionate blue eyes. Compared to her, that daughter of Lord Hearn I met at Frostfire Fortress—a girl not even sixteen—had eight hundred different plots brewing behind a single look.’

’She thought she hid it well, but after all my years of wandering from place to place, my intuition is rarely wrong.’

’Or rather, in all these years... that bastard Sedon is the only person I’ve never been able to figure out.’

Reinhardt pushed his memories aside and smiled. "So, how long are you planning on hugging me? I can’t breathe."

Dietlinde’s brow furrowed slightly. Unlike Commander Fei Ning, whose nerves were thicker than steel beams, she could clearly tell that Reinhardt’s smile was forced. He obviously had something on his mind.

Setting aside her playful mood, she gestured for Reinhardt to sit down. After a moment of consideration, she asked, "Did someone upset you?"

Reinhardt reverted to his usual demeanor. "Joining the Blood Corps made me think of some things, but it’s all in the past."

It was at this moment that Dietlinde suddenly noticed a deep-seated world-weariness in the eyes of the seventeen-year-old boy before her, a look that completely belied his age.

She glimpsed the personnel file in Reinhardt’s hand, and her brow tightened as she saw the large sections that were blacked out.

The file in Reinhardt’s hand was, without a doubt, the most heavily redacted one she had ever seen in her life. Aside from his name and Military Rank, all other related information had been completely blotted out.

Although Reinhardt had been recommended by Sedon, she had always assumed that the endearing young man might have some Knight Talent, but not enough to pass the Empire’s official Knight Order examinations. It would have been a waste to let him go, so he was recommended to the Blood Corps instead.

But now, a huge question formed in her mind.

And in that instant, the young Knight Reinhardt—who had once seemed ordinary in her eyes, yet had still managed to captivate her heart—was suddenly shrouded in a dense, impenetrable fog of mystery.

’Where did Reinhardt serve before? The Radiant Forbidden Army? But he’s too young to meet the service requirements for the Forbidden Army. Why would his personal file have so many classified redactions?’

’A secret legion is even more unlikely. Almost all Knights who retire from those units take positions in the National Church Court; they would never come to a Mercenary Corps.’

At this moment, Dietlinde suddenly realized that the silent boy sitting beside her was far more complex than Commander Fei Ning’s simple introduction had led them to believe.

’But just what kind of identity could he have, for the National Church Court to redact his file to this extent?’