The Green Hood

Far from the oblivious cheers of the royal knights above, hundreds of meters below the surface, there was a lone man kneeling, frozen in place. He was small and slender with silver hair and tattered clothes. A prisoner, hidden from the world.

He was blindfolded and gagged with his arms crossed and tightly pulled in opposite directions, an uncomfortable position that allowed no movement. Not just his arms, but his legs too. He was completely restrained from head to toe.

Even with a torch, it was hard to see within these corners, but no one could miss seeing his deeply blackened bruised knees, constantly grinding against the rough stone floor.

“Four weeks ago, we were given an anonymous tip. Warning of a potential thief once again making their way into the castle vault. When he arrived, we had fifty men around the perimeter just to catch him. Of course, I was there as well,” Sir Logan said. “It was difficult to restrain him completely, we had no choice but to lock him in place as soon as we had the chance.”

Frederick just listened in silence, in awe with what he heard.

His arm cuffs were imbued with mana, giving him just enough to survive through the days, but being unable to move for so long left the foul stench of feces and urine. The living conditions were inhumane. To live like this, dying would be an act of mercy.

“Why are you showing me this?” he asked.

“You will likely die if you join us.”

The stale air grew colder. The risks of this mission were clear. Frederick knew as much. This was something he, and every other knight, had anticipated and accepted. In fact, this was the very thing that was expected of them. To protect the Kingdom of Avalon, even if it cost their lives. That was the pledge he made the day he was chosen to be a knight.

“This is different,” Sir Logan grimaced. “The Domain of Demons, it’s a death sentence, and the King knows this.”

After years of battling against the demon race with the tides of battle slowly shifting to the demons’ favour, having their lands destroyed, and women and children massacred as though they were nothing more than cattle, the King had grown desperate. Slowly he started to take more risks, putting the lives of his own men, the loyal warriors who swore to protect the kingdom, in jeopardy. To ensure mankind can continue on.

“The King has gone mad. He’s willing to sacrifice all of us if it means preserving the Kingdom.”

The simmering frustration in Sir Logan’s heart reached Frederick. The Demon attacks on the Kingdom Borders had only gotten more and more rampant and if it kept escalating at this rate, it wouldn’t be long before they would be completely taken over. Simply playing defensive was no longer an option.

“King Thorian must have been waiting for another hero of legend to appear… but that’s a naive, fruitless, wish. Tales of angels from another realm coming down to save us?' Sir Logan scoffed. “Delusional fools still believing in fairy tales…”

Sir Logan turned to face Frederick, determined, and pointed toward the man in the green hood.

“I won’t let naivete guide me, not like the King. If we want to win this war, we cannot wait for heroes of myth, in reality, all we have are demons. Our own demons. Beings who are powerful, crude, deplorable, hard to control, yet capable of doing things most knights can only dream of. I will take these scoundrels, and use them against the demons. Even in the worst case, if we achieve nothing, if we become nothing, humanity hasn’t lost yet.”

Frederick remained stunned. Sir Logan was planning to go on his own in this mission alongside a group of criminals, “demons” who represent the worst of humanity. Meanwhile, he’d be left to go back to his usual position, being called to defend against the demons after they already attacked?

“You’re so full of shit,” the Green Hood interjected with a raspy and mocking voice. “You can probably fool that dog next to you, but I’m not buying any of it. You think you’re better than the King? That’s funny, all I hear is another delusional fool.”

“Talking like that is considered treason.”

Frederick immediately resorted back to his knightly persona, but his voice lacked the power and conviction he normally would use.

“Tsk–” Robin clicked his tongue. "Don't give me that shit. You’re pissed off too, aren’t you!?”

Robin was still blindfolded, but somehow, it seemed like he could see right through Frederick.

The gag had already long been undone. He probably had it removed a long time ago and just wore it whenever people came close. Before the chained man could say anymore, however, the chains ignited a bright blue hue and crawled up until it reached the man and shocked him until he screamed in pain.

“Silence. You have not been permitted to speak, scoundrel. If I wanted to, I could turn off the mana flow in your cuffs right now and you’ll die a slow agonizing death in the coming weeks,” Sir Logan said.

“Go ahead,” he scoffed. “I’d rather die than be kept like this any longer.”

Sir Logan’s apathetic taunts hadn’t pierced through Robin’s rough exterior. Despite being shocked and threatened with death, he gave an ugly smirk. All the while Frederick, who had already been bothered by the inhumane conditions Robin had been put under, stepped forward.

“Master, maybe this is too much. If he truly is a criminal who had wronged the Kingdom to this degree, shouldn’t he have already been executed or imprisoned for life? This is…” Frederick’s voice trailed off. He had been trained to not care for the enemies, but for the longest time, the only enemy in his eyes were demons. There was no reason to treat fellow humans this way.

“As much as I wanted to, the truth of the matter is this scoundrel’s skills would be an invaluable asset,” Sir Logan replied.

As someone who always battled in the frontlines, and lived back in the countryside when not, Frederick was largely oblivious to the Kingdom’s inner workings. He had heard of a thief in green, but it was true he didn’t know much about him.

“For about five years now, this man had stolen more than enough from the nobles to buy several patches of land–”

It wasn’t just the amount he stole that put a bounty over his head, but how difficult he was to capture as well. His athleticism was unmatched, casually outpacing tens of guards and marching as if he knew the castles and the streets better than the nobles who lived within it themselves. For the longest time, he remained completely untrackable, so it became a blessing when they were finally tipped off of his whereabouts.

“Though one piece of information did reach my desk about you,” Sir Logan continued. “There was a particular village that reported sightings of you. More frequent than anywhere else in the kingdom, even if scarcely. Protecting a criminal is a crime punishable by death, perhaps they should be beheaded for treason.”

“You–!” Robin shouted in rage and lunged forward, but couldn’t move an inch. The restraints were too tight. “Touch them, and I’ll kill you! I’ll kill every single one of you!”

Robin bit his pale blue lip till it bled. Barely any blood came out, but his rage could be felt.

In turn, Sir Logan shocked him again, this time stronger than before. Robin screamed in pain and almost lost consciousness.

“Control your temper, scoundrel. If it was me, I’d rather put your skills to good use. Don't make a mistake that puts their blood on your hands.”

Slowly, Robin calmed down, clearly still frustrated, but doing whatever he could to not lash out.

“I… I get it…” he said. “I’ll join your team or whatever.”

Sir Logan simply scoffed. There lay the greatest thief to have ever lived, and he was completely tamed by the Red Knight of the Kingdom.

Frederick watched everything unfold, faced with the ‘realities’ of this world. Using criminals was a necessary sacrifice to win the war. That was fine. Tomorrow, he could return to his station, battle demons like he normally would. Forget about everything else and do as he’s told.

Still, something had been gnawing at his heart. Like a terrible itch he could not reach. An answer he couldn’t find for a question he couldn’t yet understand. But somehow, he felt the answer could only be found out there. That’s why, he no longer hesitated.

“Master,” Frederick called out.

“What is it, Frederick? Do you finally understand why–”

“I challenge you to a duel. If I win, let me join this mission.”

Frederick, no, the Finest Knight of Avalon Kingdom faced the Red Knight.