I Became a Mythical-Tier Tamer Due To A System Error Chapter 108

‘……I almost died and came back to life.’

My heart pounded wildly.

‘Originally, I had opened the subspace to take out the Titanium Sword.’

Joel Gelhart happened to thrust his sword into the subspace.

I did not pull out the Titanium Sword and instead improvised by closing the subspace as it was.

‘Just like when I put the handcuffs into the subspace during the Victory Festival incident.’

When I closed the subspace with Gelhart’s sword and hand inside, both the sword and gauntlet were stored within it.

‘……This wasn’t my skill, it was purely luck.’

I took out the sword and gauntlet stored in the subspace and handed them to Gelhart.

He stared at me silently.

‘As expected, is he going to get angry……?’

The sword aside, the gauntlet had been completely broken in two.

When the subspace closed, it seemed that only half of it was stored because it had gotten caught on the entrance.

‘I’ll probably have to compensate him for the wrist part that got smashed to pieces…….’

Just as I was troubled by this new problem.

“……You.”

Gelhart was the first to speak.

Gelhart silently looked at the Black Knight.

Though he was wearing armor, his arm probably had goosebumps.

“Phew……”

As Gelhart exhaled, the trembling in his throat was noticeable.

……How long had it been since he last felt fear.

Fear?

No……it was an emotion on an entirely different level.

It was ‘terror.’

‘Haha, my legs won’t move.’

Even when he tried to move, his body froze like a plaster statue.

Gelhart stared at the Black Knight who had taken his sword.

‘……Just how did he do it?’

The Black Knight was a man with ghostlike abilities.

Without so much as a scratch, he had instantly disarmed him.

Wasn’t it like an adult playing with a child?

‘It’s astounding.’

Everything was so astonishing that it could be summed up in just that one word.

‘He didn’t even need to show me his true skills.’

The Black Knight had only defended against Gelhart.

Not once did he attack.

And yet, he had defeated him without even swinging his sword.

‘Even though I felt like he was holding back on purpose…….’

Only now did Gelhart realize that he had been in the palm of his hand.

‘If the Black Knight had properly swung his sword…….’

He might have already ceased to exist in this world.

It was a horrifying thought.

Gelhart tightly closed his eyes.

‘Although I knew he had defeated the captain of the Imperial Knights.’

Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine he was such an incomprehensibly powerful being.

Pointing his sword at such a man out of mere curiosity was endlessly shameful and frightening.

‘I was completely a frog in a well.’

Because there were so many in the academy who admired him, he had grown arrogant.

What was the youngest vice-captain, what was the genius of swordsmanship?

In front of overwhelming power, such titles were utterly meaningless.

‘Compared to this man, I am infinitely small.’

……He wanted to surpass this man.

He wanted to grow stronger by taking the Black Knight as his master.

A flame began to kindle within Gelhart’s heart.

“You……”

He barely steadied his trembling heart and spoke.

“Become my master.”

“……”

My mind went blank upon hearing Gelhart’s words.

‘What the hell is he saying…….’

If anything, I wanted to learn swordsmanship from Gelhart.

‘Anyway……he’s suddenly asking me to become his master.’

Of course, I had absolutely no ability to teach him.

Was he always this kind of character?

I thought he was lazy and impulsive.

‘Teaching, I can’t do……but recruiting him might be easy.’

Under the guise of teaching, I could make him an ally.

After thinking briefly, I lowered my voice.

“Joel Gelhart, you lack one thing.”

“What is it?”

Gelhart widened his eyes as if desperate.

“Experience.”

“Experience……”

I gave him a proposal.

“Join the Black Knights. I will make you stronger.”

“The Black Knights?”

When he asked, I wordlessly pulled out a Black Coat and mask from the subspace.

Along with them, I handed him back his sword, which Gelhart received with both hands.

Perhaps he realized that the mask I had given him was the exact same design as the Black Knight’s.

“……!”

Life returned to his trembling eyes, and his stiff mouth curved back into a smile.

Gelhart had returned to his original character.

“……You do amusing things.”

I had worried he might refuse.

Fortunately, he showed eagerness.

“I understand what you mean. If I work under you……I too can become strong like you. Fine, I’ll join. Ah, can I try this on right now?”

He looked pleased with the mask and coat.

There was no real reason to refuse, so I nodded in response.

Gelhart immediately took off his red cape and put the coat and mask on over his armor.

“Ha ha, with this I’m the same Black Knight as you!”

He moved around like a child in new clothes and laughed out loud.

“……Then, what about Rubin?”

Gelhart asked as he took off the mask.

The smile still hung on his face, but his eyes were serious.

“He is not a member of the Black Knights.”

“Ah, so that’s the ‘truth.’”

Gelhart had understood that Rubin had impersonated me.

“I thought it was strange already; Rubin defeating the captain of the Imperial Knights is nonsense.”

Gelhart stared at me and answered without pause.

“Just give the orders. If you tell me to do something, I will accomplish anything.”

I looked into his eyes for a moment, then handed him an envelope.

“There will be an assembly shortly.”

After seeing Gelhart take the envelope, I moved first.

“Come to the place written in that letter.”

I leapt high and vanished from sight.

Tread, tread…….

Iris walked the night streets alone.

It was the place the Black Knight had promised.

On a bench where the street trees lit the road like spotlights.

Something caught my eye.

‘What is that?’

I hurried over there.

I picked up the object left on the bench.

‘……A mask.’

It was the one I had only seen in newspaper photos.

The Black Knight’s mask.

Along with it, a black-painted coat and an envelope lay beside it.

I opened the envelope at once.

「Eris, you are worthy to bear the weight of this mask.

Come to the place below now.

From. Black Knight」

I was thrilled to have been acknowledged by the Black Knight, but the feeling lasted only a moment.

‘……Am I to become a comrade of the Black Knight too?’

Putting aside my joy, a sense of duty began to boil up within me.

I changed into the Black Coat and put on the mask.

I ran toward the location written on the envelope.

‘Is this the place?’

It was a remote spot at night where not a single person could be seen.

A two-story abandoned building the Academy had discarded.

Step, step.

I entered the building.

Moonlight streaming through broken windows painted four shadows on the floor.

‘……I’m not the only one.’

There were four people who looked exactly like me.

They were of such identical quality that I could not tell who the real Black Knight was.

I tried to guess by height.

Two tall ones, and two about my height.

‘The Black Knight was tall, so perhaps he’s one of those two?’

I was lost in thought for a moment.

Clack, clack…….

Footsteps sounded in the auditorium as a sixth figure appeared.

His form emerged between shafts of blue moonlight like a spotlight.

“You are the knights I have carefully chosen.”

He was the only one to speak.

He was the real Black Knight.

“The path we walk is dark and thorny, offering no reward; fighting from the shadows always carries danger.”

The Black Knight stopped walking.

He looked at the five knights below the auditorium one by one.

Though he wore a mask, I felt as if our eyes met.

“Do not worry.”

Hearing sincerity in his voice, I gained the conviction that I could give everything.

“You will soon be me, and I will be you.”

It was difficult to speak at length.

My throat hurt from lowering my voice.

‘Well, this welcome meeting should be enough.’

I decided to explain why I had gathered them.

“Vice President Rubin.”

When his name slipped from my mouth, he glanced up without the slightest movement.

“Coincidentally, I am not him.”

Did that mean he had already expected it, or that he had only just realized it?

I saw some of them nodding slightly.

“He committed long-standing corruption in the student council and already has forces that absolutely support him; if a public dispute over me breaks out, it could unintentionally escalate into a much larger conflict.”

I spoke with an expression of regret and clenched one hand into a fist.

“Before Rubin’s influence expands further, impeaching him is the only peaceful solution; those who can impeach Rubin are……”

The Black Knights were an irregular faction that should not have existed within proper governance.

Paradoxically, I intended to use this ‘fracture’ to restore the proper order.

“Only Her Highness Princess Arlhardt and his knight, Duke Ren can reveal the truth; help them to understand it.”

I emphasized that those two were most important and spoke with force in my voice.

“……We will reconvene later when we are ready.”

It was late at night.

I barely held back a yawn for the sake of dignity.

‘……I’m getting sleepy and cold, so I should end it soon, but what do I say now?’

It felt 2% lacking to just finish like this.

Wouldn’t it be strange to disappear without saying anything?

‘What would be a good line to wrap this up with…….’

Maybe it would be better to quote something like a proverb.

Just then, a passage I had once read in a book came to mind.

I lowered my voice and stretched out my hand.

I struck a pose that would look cool in a game.

“The beginning may be small, but the end will be great, if you are the ones who can make it so.”

I casually threw out some words that might boost their morale and then vanished.

The next morning, in the dormitory bathroom.

“Pwah!”

Eris washed her face and looked into the mirror.

The Black Knight.

The excitement of having met him still hadn’t faded.

Because of it, she hadn’t slept properly……

‘On top of that, I learned a truth the other cadets don’t know.’

Vice President Rubin was nothing more than an impersonator of the Black Knight.

And even the fact that he had committed major corruption in the student council.

‘The others probably don’t know any of this.’

Rubin had not only stolen all the credit by declaring himself the Black Knight.

He had even won the hearts of the other cadets.

‘Even now he has fanatics; as time passes…… things will spiral out of control.’

Following the Black Knight’s will, this truth had to be revealed as soon as possible.

‘And every word he spoke carried meaning.’

She recalled what the Black Knight had said as he left.

“The beginning may be small, but the end will be great, if you are the ones who can make it so.”

What did the Black Knight’s final words mean?

As she walked to class in her uniform, she thought carefully.

‘Does it mean that even though the Black Knights are only five now, in the future they will grow into a larger order?’

That must be it.

Now there were only five, but in time, thirty, fifty, even a hundred could join.

Then what did this part mean?

“If you are the ones who can make it so.”

……Make it?

Us?

“Ah!”

Eris let out a small exclamation.

‘He meant for me to recruit others into the Black Knights too!’