The second son of Ruud knight family, I inherited my father's brown hair and sword skills.
A member of a knight family was only considered a human being once he or she became a knight.
So, in my family, the humans were my father, who was a knight, my older brother, and my older sister; my younger sister, Fia, was less than human.
Moreover, her sword skills were terrible. She'd never be a knight.
That meant she'd never become human.
So it didn't matter if she died alone somewhere. In fact, it would be better if she died, since it would reduce the need for unnecessary food.
And yet, my sister was making a big fuss because she went to receive the coming-of-age ceremony early in the morning and she hadn't returned even after the scheduled time.
If she couldn't even clear the coming-of-age ceremony, which was the first step before becoming a knight, then she'd never be able to become a knight. So, just leave her alone. Whether she's a corpse or alive but near death, the beasts or monsters of the forest would take care of her.
However, my sister said she wanted to organize a search party and headed into the forest.
Before I knew it, even I had become a part of it.
Since my sister, who joined the Knight Order before me, was my senior, I couldn't just say no.
Damn, we should have just ignored the tradition of the whole family gathering for the coming-of-age ceremony this one time.
I put on my armor, put my sword on my waist, and joined the search party at the entrance.
I was surprised to see a familiar face among the members who had already gathered.
Even my beloved older brother had gathered here!
While I was impressed by my sister's skill in drawing my brother out, I was also happy and tried to talk to him.
That's when things started to get hectic.
"What is that?"
"It's a monster! A large monster is coming this way at incredible speed!"
When I turned around, I saw a large monster flying towards me, clearly large even from a distance.
A chill ran down my spine.
Wow, that's bad.
It looked like a black dragon.
…Was that really the legendary monster, the Black Dragon King?
If that's the case, we're all dead.
It was unclear whether we could win against it with 300 elite knights led by a captain. The 20 or so knights and squires here were no match for it.
I drew my sword and shouted at my brother.
"We'll defend this place! Brother, please report the monster's appearance to the Knight Order!" (Leon)
However, my older brother didn't move an inch and just stood there staring at the black dragon.
What's going on? My brother, of all people, was so scared he couldn't move?
Just as I was thinking that, my brother said something unbelievable.
"Is that person on the black dragon's back our sister, Fia?"
"……hah??" (Leon)
Could it be that my brother, of all people, was hallucinating from fear?
I looked at the black dragon curiously, and my eyes widened in shock.
That being said, since I had naturally small eyes, it's probably hard to tell from the outside.
...I could certainly see that person, Fia, on the black dragon's back.
...Finally, it seemed that I too had started to have hallucinations due to fear.