When I Cleared the Death Game World, I Reincarnated as a Villainous Noble Even if They Talk About Doom Flags, I'm Actually Immortal. - Chapter 7

Laura once dreamed of becoming a knight.

The gleaming armor, the upright posture, the noble presence—the way knights returned victorious from monster hunts made them look like heroes.

She longed to be just like them.

But becoming a knight wasn’t easy.

In the empire where she lived, knights weren’t just fighters—they were elite warriors, personally chosen by nobles to serve as their household’s sword.

To be accepted as a knight, one needed unparalleled strength and unshakable dignity.

These qualities weren’t easily obtained, which was why most knights attended the Imperial Academy to train.

Laura pushed herself relentlessly to gain admission.

She ran daily, training without fail.

She begged the town’s apothecary, an old woman, to teach her academics.

She worked multiple odd jobs, scraping together the tuition fees.

Even after entering the academy, the struggle didn’t end.

She had to compete against her fellow students.

She had to earn money to support herself.

She never stopped pushing forward—until, at last, she became a knight.

The noble who accepted her was the Orion Marquisate—one of the five most powerful noble families in the empire.

To serve such a distinguished house as a knight—

She believed it would be a position of honor, filled with duties worth fulfilling, and that she would be thanked by the people for her service.

Her future was supposed to shine brilliantly, like polished gold.

But reality wasn’t golden at all.

It was rotten.

Drenched in filth.

The Orion Knights were a cesspool of corruption.

Instead of upholding law and order, they colluded with criminal syndicates, taking bribes to cover up crimes.

Many knights barely trained, doing the bare minimum before drowning themselves in alcohol.

Even when civilians pleaded for protection against monsters, they outsourced the task to mercenaries rather than handling it themselves.

Calling them “knights” was an insult to the very title.

Laura had immediately decided to report their corruption.

The disgraceful state of the knight order was beyond unacceptable.

Surely, if she brought this to the marquis, the knights would be reformed.

With righteous conviction, she resolved to put a stop to their crimes.

But it seemed that a young woman fresh out of the academy was far too easy to read.

One day, the knight commander called her to his office.

His tone was light, almost amused.

“I see you’ve been quite… proactive since joining us, Laura. It’s good to have enthusiasm, but if you rush ahead too fast, you might stumble.”

His words were casual, but his meaning was clear.

It was a warning—a threat disguised as advice.

If she tried to expose them, the knights would silence her by force.

But Laura refused to back down.

She clenched her fists and spoke firmly.

“By the honor of the sword bestowed upon me, I cannot turn a blind eye to the corruption within this knight order.”

At her declaration, the commander burst into laughter.

A deep, mocking laugh—one he couldn’t even bother to suppress.

Laura stiffened.

Why?

Why was he laughing at her oath as a knight?

What part of her words were funny?

“Why are you laughing?”

“Do you really think you were chosen as a knight because of your skill?”

“Are you saying I wasn’t?”

“Of course not. You weren’t chosen for your talent—you were chosen because you have a pretty face and a nice figure. No one gave a damn about your swordsmanship.”

Her mind went blank.

Everything she had worked for—everything she had bled and struggled to achieve—

Meant nothing.

She had believed that her effort had made her worthy of knighthood.

She had endured endless training, studied until her eyes burned, and worked until her body ached.

But none of it had mattered.

Her entire life’s struggle was irrelevant.

The only reason she was accepted—

Was because she was attractive.

It felt like her entire existence had been rejected.

A heavy weight settled in her chest, dragging her down like a stone sinking into deep waters.

Her body felt cold—as if something vital had been drained from her.

“I… I…”

“Let me make one thing clear.”

The commander’s voice turned sharp, his amusement fading.

“I have no intention of letting you resign. If you attempt to report us from the outside, it will be an inconvenience.”

Laura fell silent.

“And should you attempt to run… well, it would be a shame if your parents suffered some unfortunate accident.”

A chill ran through her spine.

She could do nothing.

She couldn’t run.

She couldn’t fight back.

Her reason to fight—her pride—had been shattered.

She told herself she endured this to protect her family back home.

She forced herself to accept her fate.

And so—

Laura gave up.

Before she knew it, Laura had become a proper knight of the Orion Marquisate.

Her days were spent accepting bribes in exchange for covering up crimes, using the dirty money to drown herself in alcohol.

As long as she was drinking, she could forget—

Forget the ugliness of the knights.

Forget the dreams of her past self.

At least, that’s what she had believed—until recently.

(…It’s morning already?)

Laura sluggishly rolled out of bed.

The pounding headaches she used to feel every morning were gone.

For some reason, she hadn’t felt like drinking lately.

Lying in bed, lost in thought, morning always seemed to arrive before she realized it.

She knew why she had lost the urge to drink.

A few days ago, Lior had started running in the courtyard.

No one knew exactly why, but it was obvious that he was training his body.

Every single morning, without fail, Lior would run.

And every time Laura saw him, she was reminded of herself.

Of the girl who had once run toward her dream, never stopping, never looking back.

At night, when she reached for a bottle, those memories resurfaced—and her chest tightened.

She lost the desire to drink, as if the weight of her past had drained all enjoyment from it.

(…It’s raining today. He won’t be running in this weather, will he?)

There was no reason to run in the pouring rain.

Lior would probably rest for today.

At least, that’s what she thought—yet her feet carried her toward the courtyard.

(…)

He was still running.

Soaked to the bone, drenched in heavy rain, Lior kept moving.

His breathing was ragged, his steps unsteady, yet he never stopped.

Why?

Why was he pushing himself like this?

The other servants watched with cold indifference.

The maids whispered, calling Lior’s behavior strange.

The knights scoffed, mocking him for wasting his time.

The bureaucrats even started betting on how long his training would last.

But Lior ignored all of them.

Eyes fixed straight ahead, he ran without hesitation, his gaze shining even in the storm.

It was something Laura had never been able to do.

Her efforts had been trampled.

The pressure from those around her had crushed her.

So she stopped running.

She gave up.

She told herself she was tired—that it was pointless to keep going.

She drowned herself in alcohol, threw away her pride, and let herself waste away.

Unlike Lior, she had failed to keep moving forward.

She had chosen to stop.

Splat.

Lior collapsed, his legs giving out beneath him.

The beastkin maid, always at his side, rushed toward him.

Laura watched in silence.

Maybe this was it.

Maybe, for today at least, he would finally stop.

“Lord Lior, are you all right?”

“Hah… hah… I’m fine. I’ll keep running, so please wait for me.”

“But… it’s raining so heavily today. Perhaps you should rest?”

“I’m sorry, but… I still want to keep going.”

Lior smiled weakly, standing up despite the pain in his legs.

“When I want to do something, I refuse to give up… even if it kills me.”

The words stabbed through Laura’s heart.

Why?

Why had she given up?

She had once admired knights more than anyone.

She had worked so hard for so long.

And yet—

At the first rejection, at the first obstacle, she had let it break her.

“I refuse to give up, even if it kills me.”

His words weren’t just determination.

They were a declaration—a belief he would never surrender.

He was everything Laura once was—and everything she had lost.

She envied him.

He was brighter than anything she had seen in years.

Before she knew it, her legs were moving.

She burst into the courtyard, the heavy rain instantly soaking her clothes.

The cold raindrops against her skin cleared her mind.

It felt as if she had broken free from a long, suffocating fog—

Like standing at the peak of a mountain, gazing at the first light of dawn.

“Let me join you.”

Laura matched Lior’s pace, running beside him.

Up close, she realized—he was smaller than she had expected.

Lior blinked in surprise, looking up at her—

Then, a bright smile spread across his face.

“Thank you. Having someone to run with makes me even more motivated!”

The storm raged on around them.

But in Laura’s heart, the sky had cleared.