Oct 28, 2025
“Freedom.”
The knight-errant stared through his helmet at the group of bandits.
“You honestly believe you have freedom?”
“Yeah; I mean, we do what we want, when we want, how we want… you get the picture.” Said the leader smugly.
“Yeah! You tell ‘im boss!” Cried the smallest thief.
The knight-errant cried beneath his helmet, but the bandits couldn’t hear it.
“Is that so? Do you understand what freedom entails?”
The bandits looked confused, except for the leader.
“Yeah; it means we do what we want, when we want, how we want… you get the picture.” He said smugly.
The knight-errant gripped the handle of his sword tightly, but didn’t approach them.
“You are not free.”
The bandits looked confused.
“The hell you mean we’re not free?”
The knight-errant felt a lump form in his throat.
“Don’t you see?! The path you walk leads to destruction! To misery! You walk a road that is yours to make, but at the end there is nothing! Y-you…”
The knight-errant was only able to stand because of his training.
“You are slaves to yourselves. Your impulses. Your upbringing. Your s-sins will follow you—“
At this, the tallest bandit shifted uncomfortable.
“And you will never be rid of them! Can’t you see?! You cannot be free of guilt until you move beyond yourself! To the divine!”
The knight-errant let go of his sword, extended his hand, and took a step towards the bandits.
“P-please… while you yet draw breath, there is ho—!”
A sword was thrust through the knight-errant’s armor, piercing his heart.
The tallest bandit held the sword with both hands.
“I make my own path.”
“Good job!” Said the leader encouragingly. “He was really boring.”
The sword was pulled out of the knight-errant’s chest with the sound of metal scraping against metal and flesh tearing.
The knight-errant laid on the ground, looking up at the bandits as he died.
“P-please… there is still… time…”
The knight-errant died.
And the bandits moved on.
