The Doctor Who Wanted to Be a Knight

That pitiful young man wore a tattered nobleman's robe. He was clearly a pirate captive.

When he saw Li Ang, he let out a long breath and softly praised the Creation Goddess. "Damia above! Sir! Thank you for saving me..."

Li Ang was somewhat confused. After half a year on this continent, he had seen people from every country in the arena and had learned a little about the gods each nation worshipped. Damia was not a faith of Fieltzwe or the Lionheart Kingdom.

"You worship the Creation Goddess Damia? Then you must be Baxian—but that is supposed to be at the southernmost tip of the continent. How did you end up on the west coast?"

The young man nodded eagerly, a smile appearing on his face. "Praise Damia... So there are still people on the west coast who know the Creator God! Sir, your friend seems to be injured. I think I can help..."

"You're a doctor?"

Kloze also put away his rather improper look. "That would be wonderful. I've got an unlucky fellow here with an injured foot..."

As he spoke, he casually tossed aside the leg-broken pirate cowering in the cave, clearing the bed for him. Then he turned and called out, "Karn, help Sammer inside..."

The poor pirate with the broken leg was thrown onto the ground and let out a scream like a slaughtered pig.

The young man frowned. "Sir! You shouldn't treat an unarmed injured man like that!"

Kloze turned back, his gaze sharp. "Kid, you need to understand that he is still our enemy..."

Li Ang waved a hand between them. "All right, all right, Kloze. Take this poor fellow outside and question him first. See if he has any important information... You don't mind looking at my friend's foot first, do you, young doctor?"

The young man uneasily glanced at the pirate on the ground, then at Kloze and Li Ang, before nodding hesitantly.

Like catching a chick, Kloze lifted the pirate off the ground with one hand, carried him outside the cave, and tossed him beside the fire.

Before they could even interrogate him, the pirate was already crying out, "What do you want to know? I'll tell you everything. Don't hurt me..."

Holding a bowl of soup and sipping it slowly, Li Ang found a clean spot in the cave to sit down. He watched the young man dress the foot injury of the Meitengheim swordsman named Sammer.

"What's your name, doctor?"

The young man worked seriously, and his technique was quite professional. Without even turning his head, he answered, "My name is Ansen. I'm a student at the Theological Seminary in Erudition City, not a doctor..."

Ansen?

Li Ang had to struggle to remember that name. He had spent more than half a year in the arena, and with nothing but training and matches over that long period, he had nearly forgotten many things.

Ansen came from Aishikeman, a large southern city. He was also the son of a minor noble.

However, after losing his fief, his father had become a merchant.

His family had wholeheartedly hoped that he would become a noble priest. Their entire family were devout believers in the Creation Goddess Damia.

Thus, Ansen had been sent to the Theological Seminary in Erudition City.

But like all families, his parents had never asked what the young man himself dreamed of...

Ansen could not endure the seminary's tedious chanting and copying. He had also witnessed the clergy's complete lack of compassion toward the lower classes, and how they acted righteous in public while committing every sort of vice in private.

He did not wish to associate with such clergymen, so he had run away to pursue his own dream.

He still believed in and respected Goddess Damia, but he longed to become a knight—a true knight possessing all eight knightly virtues. He felt that the Radiant Cross Knights in Erudition City might fulfill that dream.

Unfortunately, he had boarded the wrong ship in Erudition City... a ship flying the Radiant Cross banner. It had carried him along the Sava River across half the continent to the west coast. They were pirates, and that cross banner had merely been a successful disguise.

Fortunately, Ansen had learned quite a bit of medicine during his years at the seminary, so he had become the pirates' temporary doctor—at least until his father paid enough ransom.

According to Ansen, this camp had originally held nearly fifty pirates, but Li Ang and the others had encountered less than half of them, because more pirates had gone to Erudition City again.

Ansen did not know why they kept traveling back and forth to Erudition City, but it did not seem to be for delivering a ransom note to his family. The pirates had not made him write a plea for help, and there was no need to send so many people just to deliver a letter.

It was also because the pirate chief was absent that they attacked any strangers on sight...

"So what will you do now? Are you planning to go home?"

Li Ang asked. He had gotten along fairly well with Ansen. He was a polite, kind, and upright young man.

Moreover, in Li Ang's somewhat hazy memories, this Ansen should have been a companion he had recruited in the game.

However, reality was obviously very different from the game. Ansen's face bore no resemblance to the crude character model from the game. His youthful, acne-speckled appearance made him look like a high school student.

And companions could only be encountered in taverns in the game, yet Ansen had appeared in a pirate den...

Ansen shook his head. "If I go home, I'll have to go to the Theological Seminary. I don't want to return there... Mr. Li Ang."

Li Ang gave him an approving thumbs-up. "Sticking to your ideals is a virtue. If you're willing, my party happens to be short of a doctor."

Ansen sighed. "If possible, I would rather be a knight than a doctor... Thank you for taking me in, Lord Li Ang."

Li Ang smiled, his expression somewhat strange. "The Radiant Cross Knights are famous for their medical skills, but I hear they no longer treat commoners? Are you planning to become that sort of knight?"

Ansen paused, then shook his head. "No. Treating commoners should also be a knight's duty. No matter what others do, I want to become a true knight."

Li Ang watched Ansen continue to dress the wounded man's injury with meticulous care, then finally nodded seriously. "A true knight... You will get your wish."

After saying that, he drained the soup in his hand, tossed aside his helmet, rummaged up a piece of iron wire from a corner of the cave, and began picking the shackle locked around Ansen's ankle.

For a modern person, this crude single-spring lock was truly easy to open. Besides, this was also one of Lyon Griffin's street tricks from his youth.

With a crisp click, the spring snapped open. Ansen rubbed his ankle and said, "Thank you, Mr. Li Ang..."

But Li Ang stood up with a look of surprise.

Because his Mount and Blade system had not given him any notification at all.

The message he had waited so long for—"Ansen has joined your party"—still had not appeared.

There was still only one Great Swordsman and twelve Meitengheim Adventurers on the party list.

Meanwhile, Ansen looked at the short piece of iron wire in Li Ang's hand with a complicated expression, his gaze toward Li Ang filled with disbelief.

"My lord, that pirate outside seems to know something strange, but he will only tell the doctor..."

Kloze came in, saw that his subordinate had been bandaged, and his gaze toward Ansen gained a trace of warmth.

Li Ang looked at Ansen, his own gaze somewhat complicated.

Ansen walked out of the cave and crouched before the pirate. The pirate whispered something into his ear, then looked at him eagerly, his eyes filled with the desire to live.

Ansen fell silent for a while, then nodded to the pirate. Rising to his feet, he turned back to Li Ang. "He hopes you will spare his life..."

Li Ang bared his teeth in puzzlement and asked the pirate on the ground, "You clearly know I'm the boss here. Why bargain with Ansen? He can't make the decision."

The pirate grimaced into what was probably meant to be a smile. "Because I know he will keep his word... If you kill me, he won't tell you anything."

No one in Pendor was a fool. Even a pirate understood what would benefit him most.

Li Ang looked at Ansen. "You decide, future Radiant Knight."

Ansen paused, then bent forward in a respectful bow. "Then please spare him. He is already crippled and can no longer do evil."

Li Ang nodded and smiled.

He heard the notification he had been waiting for—"Ansen has joined your party."