Letting go of Sen’s leg, Sen jumps back being wary of the knight not taking his eyes off him, analyzing his body to predict his next move. 

“Listen, I'm not going to hurt you. Well not anymore.” the knight says, raising his arms. Sen’s muscles still tense with his eyes stalking his movements. “Still don’t believe me, ok then.” The knight reaches his waist unbuckling the silver and golden scabbard holding his sword, placing it on the ground to his side and takes a step forward. “See?” Sen quickly steps back, his eyes darting towards the knight's hip. “Oh yeah, I don’t carry a dagger, if I lose my sword in battle then I simply don’t think I can call myself a knight. But I don't think you’ll ever believe me, which I don’t blame you cause I wouldn't believe myself either.” The knight raises his hand and slowly turns around to show Sen he is weaponless, “See, no dagger, no sword. Just wanna talk.” Sen relaxed his muscles making him almost collapse from exhaustion.

“Looks like you were on your last bit of energy.”

“What do you want to talk about?” Sen asked hesitantly 

“Well first, we need to take care of what happened with the two 5th class knights you knocked out and the bandages you stole. Don’t worry, I’m not gonna turn you, even though it would be way easier to.” the knight said scratching his head. “For now let’s go. I know what to do.”

“We’re just gonna leave them here?”

“Yeah they should be fine, I think.”

The mysterious knight and Sen walk through the region going back to the cart. Feeling the lingering eyes of the people stare at him, Sen couldn’t help but feel that his original plan to blend in was about to be completely gone.

“So are you gonna tell me who you are or what you want?” Sen said while hiding his face. “You don’t exactly blend in, you know. Compared to everyone else here you're the odd one out, even from those other knights.”

“Yeah I’ve heard that a lot.”

“So who are you exactly and what do you want from me?”

“I guess you have no patience.”

“Yeah, especially when I don’t know who you are.”

“Well you're about to find out.” He says as they approach the cart. “For now you just need to nod your head.”

“What’s taking those  damn knights so long?” The man says in frustration pacing back and forth kicking the ground. “If I knew this was going to happen then I would’ve picked better knights…” The man stops in place seeing Sen. “HEY KID. Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in?” The man screamed while marching towards Sen. “Just wait till…” The man abruptly stops in his tracks when his eyes land on the knight standing next to Sen. “3..3rd Knight Commander Gordon.” The man says, strutting his words. “Sir…uh what are you doing in this lower part of the kingdom?”

“Well I was out hunting in the Dead Forest doing a mission and decided to take a break to come back.”

“That’s wonderful sir. I hope everything is going well. But I must inform you that the child next to you has stolen medical equipment from the cart that was provided by Lady Evelyn.”

“Oh I see. Well this kid is actually with me. See he’s my squire.” 

“Your squire?” 

“Yeah my squire. I was in the forest with him to gain some training before the start of the academy, then we got separated and he was attacked. See.” The knight grabs Sen’s wrist showing the infected wound on his hand. “I assume he took it so he could wrap it without it getting worse.” 

“Oh I see. If that was the case then I would understand why, but the fact still remains that he did steal it from the cart.” 

“Yeah you're right.” 

“Wait a minute.” Sen intersected “When you showed up, you made the statement that the resources were free and for the people in need. And a wound like this is one that if not taken care of quickly could be the end.” Sen stated with power behind each word.

“Ahh well that’s true…” the man nervously says with beads of sweat dripping down his face. 

“Well Lady Evelyn is always known for looking out for the people, the knights included. And myself and Lady Evelyn have a pretty strong relationship, so when we’re in the capital I can visit House Elwen and discuss it with her. So I hope everything is settled then.”

“Ah then I guess everything is settled then Commander Gordon. I’ll see you when you visit the capital city.” 

“Yeah I’ll notify the royal knights when I do.” 

The man scarcely and quickly turns back to the cart packing everything getting ready to leave. 

“Oh and I forgot to mention, those two knights that were chasing after my squire are in a back alleyway near the fountain. Don’t worry, they're only knocked out.”

“Ah then I should get them.” 

“Yeah, you do that. Let’s go squire. We should get that hand taken care of. “ 

Inside a small busy inn Sen and Gordon sat alone at a table far away in the corner away from anyone. 

“Alright let me see your hand.” Gordon demanded to Sen as he took a sip of his stew. 

“What for?”Sen asked, pulling his hand back. 

“Who else is going to heal your hand?”

Sen hesitantly moves his hand outward to Gordon opening his palm revealing the deep wound. 

“This is a deep cut, and by the looks of it, and with it getting infected it was on the verge of getting worse with all that fighting you did.”

“Yeah well I had no choice.” 

“Well you should be fine now in a minute.” Gordon reaches into a pouch pulling out a small dimly glowing red bottle. 

“What’s that for…?” Sen asked as Gordon poured  the liquid on his hand. A quiet sizzling sound is heard as the liquid comes into contact with Sen’s hand. A burning sensation like his hand being over an open fire spreads into his hand forcing him to pull his hand back. 

“Ow, what the hell is that?” 

“Hey, stop moving. I have to use my healing potion on your hand to get rid of the infection.” 

“Ok but that hurts.” 

“Well if you want me to help you you have to stay still.”

Sen grits his teeth holding back tears from the pain of the healing potion. 

“So how did you get this bad of a cut anyways?” Gordon asks Sen, trying to distract him from the pain. 

“A group of some guys attacked me and one of them had a knife and tried to stab me, so I grabbed the blade and stopped him.” 

“Why’d they attack, did you take something again?” 

“No, they just didn’t want a rat like me there and were trying to provoke me.” 

“And I guess the provocation got to you.” 

“Yeah but dealt with them easily.” 

“Hmm, I see. So where did you learn to fight like you did? If I had to guess I’d assume that your dad taught you.” 

A silence fills the gap between them as Sens' gaze goes cold and empty with no response. 

“I never had the chance to learn from my dad, he died when I was young. So I learned from watching all the knights training and getting into fights to defend myself.” 

“So you live out in the streets. That’s why you stole the medical equipment” 

Sen nods 

“How long have you been out on the streets?” 

“2 years. I’ve been on the streets ever since my village was destroyed by the black dragon.” 

“The pitch black dragon?! The one that appeared and destroyed that village out in the slums.” 

“Yeah. That one.” 

“I remember the entire 3rd squad being sent out after it was spotted. By the time the knights got there it was already too late, everything and everyone was gone. We researched the dragon only to find that the dragon is old as time and that wherever it goes it leaves a trail of physical malice monsters. We searched to find any possible survivors, but we couldn’t find anyone.” 

“That’s because there were no survivors. Everyone…everyone died. Everyone but me.” 

The silence grew thicker in the air as Gordon finished wrapping Sens' hand. Tears welled up in Sens' eyes remembering the great loss he had suffered. 

“I can’t imagine what that felt like and I’m not going to pretend I can relate. I don’t think anyone could understand what you’ve been through. But there’s no changing what happened. You must live with the mark that is left on your heart and carry with you wherever you go.”

Tears start falling down Sens' face. 

“Hey kid… I mean Sen, what I said before, about you being my squire, I didn’t just say that to get you out of trouble.” 

Sen uses his sleeves to wipe his tears. 

“What do you mean?”

“Most knights are from people joining and going through the training themselves, but in some instances some knights pick someone they believe would make a good knight and they label them as squires. From what you’ve learned from watching the knights, I see potential in you to be great and possibly even become someone strong enough that no one can stand against. And if you be become strong enough you could get revenge for  what happened to you village” 

Sens' eyes light up at hearing Gordon’s idea. 

“You mean if I become a knight… I could get back what was lost from me.” 

“I’m not saying you can bring them back, but let their soul follow you into peace instead of pain and agony with that dragon.”

Sen clenches his fist. “What will I have to do?”

A small smile crosses Gordon’s face “If you become my squire, you’ll have to go to the academy, where you’ll train with others trying to become knights. It won’t be easy, you’ll be there with other squires and with you being the squire of a knight commander a lot of people will have their eyes on you, especially the other commander squires and some from the royal houses.” 

Sen fist tightness even more with the thought of being given a chance at a different life he’s been dealt. 

Gordon stands up and walks over to Sen, putting his hand on Sen’s shoulder “You were dealt a bad hand from the start, what matters now is what you do with that hand and how you chose to play. I bought you a room upstairs for you to sleep for the night, so think about it and we’ll talk in the morning.”