Talentless Beast Knight - An Original Novel

Arc 2, Ch. 2 - The Lost Time

Arc 2 - Swing

Ch. 2 - The Lost Time

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My sluggish, heavy steps echoed throughout the growing silence of the evening.

Warmly, the sun said its goodbye, leaving only a faint orange amidst the expanding indigo sky.

The familiar scent of fruits and vegetables began to dissipate slowly among the decreasing number of sellers as they grabbed every valuable item and took off to their own homes.

The sounds coming from the forest outside the village were the only things that kept me from being completely alone.

But that background turned into a blur as my mind kept coming back to what Rick had told me.

I couldn't disagree with him no matter how much I disliked it: I'm a coward and will always continue to be one. That's an immutable fact, something I have no control over.

I always ran from things that could hurt me, and I do realize that, but, you know...

That doesn't mean I can't dream! It's nice to admire something from afar, imagining yourself in an impossible position or having what you've always wanted to have.

And being a Beast Knight was one of those things: unreachable, unrealistic, admirable... My childhood dream.

However, from the moment I was born, it had been decided that I wouldn't become one of them. I don't have a Crest, and in no way, shape, or form was it something malleable: either I was born with it, or not.

And the fact that I didn't have it made me curious. What was the thing that blocked me from pursuing my dream? How does it work? And why?

Those questions kept pursuing me to this day.

But one thing everyone knew, child or adult, Beast Knight or not, was that a Crest was the connection between a Beast and a human.

Humans alone can't produce a single drop of magic, but with a Crest, things are different. Humans can link to Beasts with the Crest, and thus be able to use the Beast's magic to an extent.

Royal researchers throughout the empire are earnestly analyzing crests, their characteristics, and why they allow humans to use the beasts' magic. It's one of the mysteries that still can't be fully explained yet, along with beasts themselves.

"Oh."

By the time I noticed, I had reached my house.

Without wasting much time, I opened the door and entered the house as the nostalgic smell of my mother's signature meat roll rushed to greet me.

The scent lifted up the corners of my mouth. No one could resist her meat roll, not even the strongest of men or the most ferocious of Beasts.

I ate the succulent meal with a grin up on my face, momentarily forgetting all of my worries.

After eating and settling down my stomach, I went to my bedroom, only for my mind to be overwhelmed by those complicated thoughts again. I plopped down on the bed.

"Ugh..."

I rolled around in the sheets for a while, then lay sprawled out, staring at the wooden ceiling. My conscience was still hazy from the tiring confrontation with Rick, if I could even call it that.

I accepted the fact that I'm a coward, I did.

So please, my heart, stop aching...

*Pyon, pyon*