The King and the Knight (Part 2)

System had never expected that the lies and suspicion he had used on Big Fool, the soldier ant, would earn him loyalty instead.

Even after hearing System say that he was not the ant queen, Big Fool still attacked the mouse without hesitation.

Looking at Big Fool's mangled body, the blood still streaming from his shattered head and broken legs, System's heart was stirred again and again.

Why... why did you have to do this?

For some reason, System once again sent a mental message to Big Fool. "I'm not the ant queen. I'm a grasshopper."

"..."

Big Fool did not respond, maintaining his silence. His mandibles were spread wide as he remained motionless, still guarding System. Yet his one remaining antenna swayed lightly, clearly showing that he had received System's mental message.

"I really am a grasshopper, not the ant queen."

System continued sending mental messages.

"No, you are... ant... queen."

Big Fool finally responded to System. His mental message was exceptionally resolute, as though he refused to acknowledge that System was not the ant queen.

"...I'm not."

After a long sigh, System explained again. He did not know why he was so insistent on explaining this to Big Fool.

Even though he knew that, once Big Fool understood, he might very well betray him at once, System still did it.

"You are... ant queen."

Big Fool still seemed unwilling to admit that System was not the ant queen.

But in the next moment, Big Fool gave an answer far beyond System's expectations.

Big Fool seemed to have figured something out. He sent System a message: "You are... ant queen. No, you are... queen."

System froze for a moment. He recalled that, not long after first meeting Big Fool, he had been lonely and, without caring whether Big Fool understood or not, babbled to him about many things.

Perhaps Big Fool had learned the word "queen" back then.

"...Why do you think I'm a queen?"

System continued asking Big Fool.

This time, Big Fool did not send him a mental message. Instead, he used [Mental Link] to send him several images.

There was an image of System giving Big Fool that transparent pebble; an image of System usually chatting with Big Fool through [Mental Link]; an image of System ordering Big Fool to eat and eat until he was no longer hungry; and an image of System gently stroking Big Fool's head with his legs...

Many images that had meant little to System were linked together, yet from them he felt Big Fool's extraordinary gratitude and excitement.

"Is that why you see me as a queen?" System sent another mental message.

"Yes."

Big Fool gave an affirmative reply. System knew that if his body could move, a smile would surely have appeared on his insect face.

"What nonsense. I'm clearly male—how can I be called a queen?" System sent back a remarkably relaxed mental message.

Big Fool did not seem to understand. Using his remaining legs, he slowly turned his body and revealed a puzzled expression to System.

System looked at Big Fool, then at the dozen or so ant larvae huddled around him. Suddenly, he understood—

Whether it was Big Fool or these ignorant ant larvae, even if he no longer falsely claimed to be the ant queen, he could still earn their trust.

He had never needed to pretend to be the ant queen in the first place.

System said to Big Fool, "Don't call me queen. That's a title for females. Call me king. As long as I'm here, I am your king."

"King?"

Big Fool sent a puzzled message. Clearly, he could not fully understand what System's words meant.

"A king is someone whose cultivation, wisdom, and abilities are so exceptional that a portion of the people in the world choose him as their highest ruler. Such a person is called a king."

System recalled the explanation of the concept of a king from his previous life. Without caring whether Big Fool could understand, he poured the entire mental message into him at once.

Big Fool clearly did not understand very well. After thinking for a long time, he suddenly sent another mental message. "You are king. Then what... am I?"

"You... you're a soldier ant... No, since I'm already a king, it obviously isn't suitable to keep calling you a soldier ant. Then you..."

System sank into thought. Suddenly, he remembered a profession—knight.

The knights of his previous life had eight great virtues, and Big Fool seemed to possess most of them already.

Humility!

Big Fool had never known arrogance from birth. Although he had the authority to command ordinary worker ants, he had never treated them with malice.

Sacrifice!

Did you possess such courage? When the moment came for you to pay a price in order to fulfill the interests of the majority, would you dare to sacrifice yourself?

Perhaps this was difficult for ordinary intelligent races, but to Big Fool, sacrifice was truly something insignificant.

Valor!

Without question, cowards were unworthy of the glorious title of knight. Those without courage could never pass a knight's trial.

Big Fool was born brave and skilled in battle.

Faith!

If human knights placed their faith in religion and kings, then ants placed theirs in their queen, and Big Fool placed his in him—System.

Honesty!

No matter where one was, honesty was a virtue worthy of praise.

Big Fool, the soldier ant, simply could not lie.

Justice!

Impartial and selfless, strictly abiding by the law.

Ants were born with their own code, and Big Fool, the soldier ant, was no exception.

Big Fool, the soldier ant, directly possessed six of the knightly virtues.

System said, "Since I'm the king, then you'll be the knight who protects the king!"

"Knight...?"

"Mm. A knight."

System gave Big Fool, the soldier ant, an affirmative answer, while also sending her images from the fantasies in his mind.

In the images, a knight diligently honed his swordsmanship and martial arts every day, endlessly hacking at wooden posts.

Clad in armor, the knight held a great sword and knelt on one knee before the king to swear his allegiance, reciting the knight's oath.

Then the scene shifted. The knight mounted a warhorse and charged at the enemy, battling them in a bloody melee. After that, System's fantasy moved into a magical world, where the knight rode a flaming red dragon through the sky and attacked a densely packed army of undead...

"This... is a knight?"

"Mm."

"Knights are stronger than rats."

"Yeah, stronger than rats..." System agreed with Big Fool, the soldier ant. Then, thinking of something, he continued, "Big Fool, let me give you a name."

"...A name?"

"Like how I call you Big Fool, I'll give you a new name. How about Sava? No, soldier ants are female, so a more feminine name would suit you better. Your name will be Shawa."

"I... Sha... wa."

"You, Shawa."

System sent Shawa a message, confirming her name.

And at that moment, the boiling, surging blood throughout System's body suddenly cooled—his third molt had finally begun...

Shawa, with only her left foreleg remaining, stared at System for a long time. She found that her king had not responded for quite a while, as though he had fallen asleep.

She still could not fully digest or understand the various mental messages System had sent her, but the image-memory he had transmitted left a deep impression on her.

Especially the image of the knight kneeling on one knee before the king and swearing allegiance. Shawa liked it very much. She wanted to swear an oath to System like that too.

Shawa tried her best to arrange her body into the posture of a human kneeling on one knee to pledge loyalty. However, nearly all of her legs were gone, and she simply could not perform such a difficult movement.

Using her only remaining left foreleg, Shawa attempted to plant the stinger at her tail into the soil, so that she could assume a posture similar to a human kneeling on one knee.

But after trying hundreds of times in succession and falling several dozen times, she still failed.

In the end, Shawa could only lie flat on the ground and make a barely recognizable oath of allegiance to System. Rather comically, she even pressed her sole remaining leg against the exoskeleton on her chest.

"I, Shawa, swear... allegiance to the king. I vow unwavering... loyalty, never to leave his side."

After Shawa finished her oath, she used her remaining left foreleg and the movable joints of her abdomen to twist her body toward the outside of the cave.

The exoskeleton on Shawa's head was somewhat shattered. Several of her legs had been broken one after another because of the rat, and many wounds had bled heavily, leaving her body extremely weak.

Yet Shawa felt as though her body was brimming with strength.

She was the king's knight. She had to protect the king's safety.

Three hours later.

With her crippled body, after falling and rolling down countless times inside the cave, Shawa finally crawled to the cave entrance.

More than ten minutes later, several dark brown worker ants gathered around Shawa.

In ant society, there was only one fate for crippled ants like Shawa, who had basically lost the ability to move.

She would be killed by the other ants, and then her corpse would be collected.

Dragging her disabled body, Shawa began her first battle since officially becoming System's knight!

Several hours later.

Near System's temporary nest, dozens of worker ants appeared, busily patrolling as they guarded the temporary nest where System was located.

Among the worker ants was a particularly strange soldier ant. Five of her six legs were gone, and four worker ants carried her along.

Many tiny new wounds covered her body. Her weakness seemed to have plunged her into sleep.

Yet even in sleep, the soldier ant held her head high, looking immensely proud...

As she slept, Shawa had a dream—her first dream.

In it, she rode a lizard and effortlessly defeated the mouse that had offended the King.

With her body whole, she proudly swore a knight's oath to the King. The King even rewarded her with a red pebble.

The King's legs had even patted her on the head...