On the same day that the filming of Goblin Syer was pleted, in the mansion of Rock City, the main city of the Southerory:

  "Movie?"

  Hearing the word suddenly spoken by the elderly man sitting in the distance, Imperial Knight ander Wycliffe showed a surprised expression and quickly asked, "Sir, what did you just say? What movie?"

  The elderly man replied with a look of i, "Yes, a movie, Wycliffe. I didn’t expeething so iing to emerge in the Southerory. I’m quite intrigued. They say there's a showing not far from Nosrick."

  "Th-that's uable, Sir! We’re here to discuss the uping war with the Orgdom with Duke Viktor of the Southerory. How could we waste time on something like that!"

  Despite Wycliffe’s protest, the elderly man just smiled and waved off the discussion as if it were trivial.

  Caught off guard by how such a minor matter seemed to i his superior, Wycliffe felt a headache ing on.

  He then turned and yelled, "Rhine! Where is that idiot Rhine?! Get over here! You’re the one who told the General about this nonsense movie, weren’t you?!"

  "..."

  To no one’s surprise, a knight named Rhine, scratg his head, sheepishly emerged from behind the door. "T-Teacher, I... I only let it slip wheurned. I didn’t deliberately spread the word to the General..."

  "You idiot! Whe back, you're spending a month training with the recruits!"

  "Noooo!!!"

  Yes, in this mansion in Rock City, Imperial Knight ander Wycliffe, his disciple Rhine, and General Wilhelm, who anded all of the empire's forces, were staying temporarily to iate with the Duke of the Southerory about the war with the Orgdom.

  Watg the banter between this master and apprentice, General Wilhelm simply smiled and said, "Don't look at me like that. I was just an ordinary an before."

  "Sir, you’re being far too modest," Wycliffe responded quickly. "Everyone knows that you were once a an for the prince, who is now the king."

  Revealing his past, Wilhelm smiled wryly and quickly ged the subject. "So, let’s go see this movie. They say it’s a revolutionary eology."

  "Hmph, just some trickery by these southern folk. To me, watg a movie is far less exg than the Orgdom’s gdiatorial arenas. If it weren’t for the abolition of svery in the empire, I would’ve set up a simir arena by now."

  Wycliffe's statement made his stance clear—he held little regard for something as trivial as movies, preferring blood and battle.

  It was also true that since Wycliffe had taken office as the Knight ander, his strict military style had signifitly improved the discipline of the entire knight order.

  Even the empire’s army had shown growth under his leadership.

  However, Wycliffe was also a staunch warmonger.

  He was the first to support war in the current flict with the Orgdom.

  Although he had no bag from any i groups, his zeal for war was strohan that of any other fa.

  So, to Wycliffe, movies were just as dull and meaningless as stage pys.

  "Let’s just go a together, Wycliffe. Don’t worry. They say movies are nothing like theater performances, and you won’t doze off halfway through."

  "I refuse. You and Rhine go ahead. I o tiraining."

  Amused by Wycliffe’s stubbornness, Wilhelm said, "Training? Don’t think I don’t know. Ever since you reached the fifth level of Sword Saint, you haven’t found any path for further adva, right? Swordsmanship only has five levels, and Sword Saint is the peak. Anything beyond the fifth level is beyond the reaortals. Aside from that one legendary figure, no matter how gifted one may be, the sixth level has eluded everyone. For those of us at this level, training only maintains our current strength, not adva."

  "But, Sir... you’re only oep away from that level..." Wycliffe said, sounding despo.

  Though Wilhelm's words were cold reality, Wycliffe found it hard to accept.

  The gap between himself and Wilhelm ainfully clear—a chasm that made him keenly aware of his limitations.

  That’s why, despite everything, he couldn’t give up training in swordsmanship, using Wilhelm as both his benchmark and motivation.

  Wilhelm, lost in thought, murmured, "Yes, just oep away. But it’s that siep that I haven’t been able to cross in my lifetime. If it weren’t for meeting that person during my campaign in the Northerory, I wouldn’t even have reached this level."

  Suddenly, Rhine chimed in with excitement, "Ah, General, you're talking about your saviain! I remember, I remember! You got separated from your main ford were nearly killed by a powerful undead outside the northern chaos nds. But in that moment of crisis, a Headless Horseman saved you and ily helped you break through to your current level, right?!"

  "Haha, you little rascal..."

  Though surprised by Rhine's sudden interje, Wilhelm chuckled, realizing how often he had shared this story.

  Yet, even if he had shared it tless times, it still wasn’t enough.

  Wilhelm knew how much the Headless Horseman was misuood by society, and he felt pelled to clear that name, even in small ways.

  After all, the Headless Horseman wasn’t the malevolent undead people believed him to be.

  On the trary, he had saved Wilhelm’s life and enabled his rise to the position of Imperial General.

  Decades ago, Wilhelm had been a young and ambitious knight, already one of the top knights in the empire.

  In order to hone his skills and push for a breakthrough to the fifth level, he led an expedition into the northern chaos nds to hunt monsters and undead.

  However, young and brash, he had uimated the danger of those nds.

  After just two days, his squad entered a disaster, and Wilhelm nearly met his end.

  If not for the sudden appearance of a powerful knight who saved him, he would have been a meal for the monsters.

  Even now, Wilhelm vividly remembered the bight with no head, charging into hordes of monsters and using astonishing swordsmanship to tear them apart.

  That memory haunted him for years, and sihen, he had sought any news of the Headless Horseman.

  But society’s animosity toward undead meant he could never openly ask about him.

  The church had branded all undead as evil, so even as an Imperial General, Wilhelm had to keep this story to himself, only sharing it with a select few.

  Years had passed, and Wilhelm had grown older, but he had never gotten the ce to repay his debt to the Headless Horseman. Nor had he advanced any further in his swordsmanship. The knight’s teiques had brought him to his current level, but he hadn’t been able to move beyond.

  If... if he ever had the eet that Headless Horseman again, perhaps...

  "Anyway, Wycliffe, stop being so stubborn. Since we’ve e all this way to the Southerory, we should try something new. At least in that respect, Rhine is more open-mihan you."

  With no real choice, Wycliffe relutly nodded.

  As the Empire's Knight ander, he had no authority to refuse a direct order from the General.

  Seeing this, Rhine beamed with excitement.

  He had wao see the movie ever sihey arrived, but hadn’t found the time.

  Now, with General Wilhelm’s approval, he finally had the ce to experiehe southerion that had everyone buzzing—the movies!

  Zaztra_Vandesh