Masked Knight

The man was dressed in a black robe with an expensive leather belt around his waist and a little cloth bag on his back. Although it was dark, his golden hair gleamed brightly.

“Who are you?” Rody was nervous and on guard. His body was taut, all ready to rush forward.

“Relax!” The man smiled. He did not look old. “In fact, I am the one who should be asking that. Who are you?” His voice was slow. “This is my home!”

“Your home?” Rody was a bit confused.

"Of course!" The man smiled and moved two steps closer. The moonlight finally shone on his face, revealing a handsome face. He had sapphire-like eyes and blond hair as bright as the sun.

"In fact, that horse behind you is my horse. And this woman on the floor is my sister," he whispered and snorted. "But don’t you worry. I bear no malice. In fact, I would like to thank you!"

“Thank me?” Rody, surprised, looked at him warily. He never had a good opinion of these nobles.

"Yes, thank you!" The young man laughed. "I have grown weary of this place for far too long. In fact, I was already planning to escape from this place. In other words, run away from home! However, I didn’t expect my sister to come to the stable at such a late hour. Fortunately, you have helped me with this problem. Hehe!"

“You.... How long have you been here?” Rody asked cautiously. He really could not figure out what the young noble wanted.

"Not long, I just happened to see the entire thing. Heh, I really did not expect that you, a Grade 2 swordsman at best, could actually defeat my sister! It seems you are not as dumb as you look!" The young man said with a devious smile. His voice had that standard aristocratic tone. Pretentious.

“What do you want to do now? Call the guards or arrest me?” Rody took two steps forward, hoping to get closer to him.

"Hey!" The young man immediately took two steps back. "Stop! I mean no harm! In fact, I am grateful to you and I do not want to fight with you! I cannot defeat you! I am not even a Grade 1 swordsman. I object to using force to solve problems!" He waved his hands during the confusion and smiled. "That is why you do not need to worry about me."

He spread out his hands to motion that he had no ill intention. He then went to the wall, removed the saddle from the railing and walked towards the door.

“You... You are just leaving like this?” Rody stared at him incredulously.

My God! I just knocked out the man’s sister and he did not even spare a glance? He even wants to leave? Is he mad?

"Why not?" The youngster frowned, "I am tired of this aristocratic life. The heir of the Tulip Family? Go to hell! Why should I partake in centuries-old traditions? I am not interested! I am going to leave! Do you know what I like? Freedom! Do you know the meaning of freedom? Let me tell you! Whether you are rich or poor, without freedom it means nothing! I am an artist! What I need is freedom! Not family rights and honor! I am going to the docks! There is a merchant ship going to sea tonight! They are going to the East! Dear God! Beautiful East! That is a real dreamer’s paradise! It can grant my desire to be free!"

“Have you ever seen the ocean? The blue ocean, when it is calm, is the most beautiful thing in the world. However, when it is angry, it would swallow up everything! Heavens! How miraculous! I am going to go and have a wonderful life!” He laughed happily.

Rody felt like he was looking at a lunatic and could not utter a single word.

Fortunately, he is just crazy, not here to find fault with me.

Just as Rody thought like that, the madman stopped to look at him and then looked at Nicole lying on the ground.

"Ah... I can’t go off like this... Although she always bullied me and nags a lot, she is still my sister. Also, she is beautiful and unconscious. I cannot just leave her here in case you have any bad intentions." The young man shook his head seriously.

Rody tensed up immediately.

“Put it this way, I am sorry to have to do this but I have no choice. After all, if I just leave you here with her, I will not have peace of mind.”

“You... What do you want to do?” Rody looked at him tensely as he slowed down his pace. He spoke softly, “Can you beat me?”

“Fight? Why fight? I hate violence!” The young man smiled cunningly. “I never liked to use violence! I like to use my brain! The brain! Do you understand?”

“What are you talking about?”

The young man looked at him with pity and sighed, “Enough. You better lie down now!” Then he suddenly slipped his fingers into his mouth and whistled.

Rody immediately tried to check what was wrong but before he could react, Garrus, the horse behind him, had reared up after hearing the whistle. Its two front hooves rose up and kicked Rody’s body.

Rody was flung away, without any chance to scream. His body crashed into the horse shed, broke a hole in the plank, and ended up outside.

The young man seemed relaxed. He shrugged as he looked at the hole in the wall. When he saw that Rody was really unconscious on the ground, he smiled in satisfaction.

“See, I don’t even need to do anything! Great. Now you two stay there and have a good nap.”

He did not grab the reins for Garrus but went to the next stable for another horse.

“Garrus! I am sorry but I cannot take you! I know you want to leave this forsaken place as both you and I are alike. We believe in freedom. But I still cannot take you along! I am going sailing! I will leave my horse behind at the dock. I may need to spend a year or more sailing in the ocean, but you cannot stay on the boat for so long.” The young man laughed at himself. “Why am I even talking to you? You are just a horse.”

After that, he waved at Nicole with a laugh, "Goodbye my dear sister, your little brother has troubled you a lot. I will go and write my own life story! Take care, my sister! Also, wish me luck!"

He got on the horse and kicked its belly softly, leaving the area with a laugh.

As he disappeared into the darkness, he could not help but shout loudly.

“Freedom! I am coming!”

Many years later, Seth would understand a gospel truth. It is that the world will always make people feel helpless. No matter how you want to escape, God will not let you succeed. In the end, you will be bound to fate. There is no escape.

“Destiny. Destiny is a mischievous bastard. You may think it does not exist. However, it would jump out all of a sudden, kick you in the arse, laugh at you twice, before disappearing again.”

Years later, that would be known as a famous quote from an elegant scholar named Seth.

In brief, Seth was totally lost in his joy of a successful escape and was looking forward to embracing freedom.

On the other hand, the young virgin swordsman would be facing a lot of trouble.