Record of Lodoss War 6: The Holy Knight of Lodoss 1 (novel)

Record of Lodoss War 6: The Holy Knight of Lodoss 1
Author	Ryo Mizuno
Illustrations	Yutaka Izubuchi
Japanese title	ロードス島戦記６ ロードスの聖騎士（上）
Romanized title	rōdosu-tō senki 6 rōdosu no hijiri kishi (ue)
Publication information
Original release	28 November 1991
Chapters	Prologue (プロローグ) The Birth of Evil (邪じや悪あくの胎たい動どう) The Stolen Ritual Vessel (盗ぬすまれた祭器) Chasing the Black Shadow (黒い影かげを追って) The Staff of Life (生命の杖つえ)
Pages	320 322 (re-release)
ISBN-13	978-4044604097 (1991) 978-4041011508 (2014)
Novels
← Previous	The Kings’ Holy War
Next →	The Holy Knight of Lodoss 2

Record of Lodoss War 6: The Holy Knight of Lodoss 1 is a Japanese light novel written by Ryo Mizuno and illustrated by Yutaka Izubuchi. It is the sixth novel in the Record of Lodoss War series and adapts from Record of Lodoss War RPG Replay III. It follows the adventures of Spark, a knight in training from Flaim, and his companions, Garrack, Leaf, Greevus, Ryna, Aldonova, and Little Neese.

Mizuno opted to divide the story over two separate books to avoid a delay in publications. He initially planned to release The Holy Knight of Lodoss concurrently with the release of the final episode of the OVA, but missed it by roughly a week due to a busy schedule. For this novel, Mizuno decided to make Spark the protagonist, because he wanted Parn, now more mature and experienced, to be viewed through the eyes of a younger generation, in particular Spark. About the time this novel was written, Mizuno intended Parn and Deedlit to return as the main characters for the next novel. Because these are the final volumes of the series, all villains—Wagnard, Ashram and Karla (contrary to the anime still in Woodchuck's body)—will see their stories concluded.

The Holy Knight of Lodoss 1 was adapted into the Chronicles of the Heroic Knight anime and manga.

Synopsis

　Neese of the Six Heroes is about to reach the end of her lifespan. She is visited by her daughter Leylia, son-in-law Slayn and granddaughter “Little” Neese, who have come to say their goodbyes. In a private moment with Slayn, Neese tells him Leylia is not her biological daughter, but that she was brought to her by a priestess, who said Leylia was actually the reincarnation of Naneel, an archpriestess of Kardis, the goddess of destruction. About 40 years ago, Naneel was released from an ancient seal, but was defeated by six adventurers before Naneel could resurrect Kardis. However, Kardis did bestow her with reincarnation magic. When one of the six adventurers, a Marfa priestess, learned that Naneel had been reincarnated as a baby, she brought that baby to Neese's care.

　After Slayn leaves the room, Neese is visited by three old companions from the time of the Demon War; Wort, Flaibe and Karla, still in the body of Woodchuck. After Wort and Karla leave, Neese dies in Flaibe's presence, confident that new heroes will rise to protect Lodoss.

　In Valis a fort at the border, not too far from the city of Adan, is suddenly taken over by an army of Marmo, led by Pirotess. A Valis warrior named Keddie is among the casualties. On the other side of the Forest of No Return, the armies of Count Amosun and Duke Raster are fighting for complete control of Alania. Duke Raster has secretly allied himself with Marmo, shifting the battle in his favour as he prepares for the final battle. The Independence Movement in Zaxon, led by Cecil, is struggling against Alania and villagers are being evacuated from Zaxon to Tarba.

　In the city of Blade, Flaim, an apprentice knight called Spark is on his way to Akroyd castle after receiving an invitation for a banquet there. Spark is an heir to the position of chieftain of the Fire tribe, and a cousin of Nardia, the former chieftain, as well as a possible heir to the throne of Flaim. Spark tells a guard the purpose of his visit, and is asked to wait. When he later enters the audience chamber he is met with King Kashue, Slayn, Deedlit and Parn, whom he idolizes. In the presence of Parn, Spark doesn't know how to act and brazenly asks Kashue to attack Marmo, which displeases Kashue. After Spark leaves, Kashue, Slayn, Parn and Deedlit discuss Lodoss' current affairs. When the banquet finally begins, Spark is not present. Kashue and Parn discuss him, and Kashue believes he is promising and considers sening him to Kanon, where Parn is headed next. Parn decides to take Spark to a duel to get to know him a bit better and starts looking for Spark.

　Elsewhere in the castle, Spark is wandering around aimlessly, his mind still occupied with his encounter with Kashue and Parn. He wonders if Kashue actually dislikes him. As he continues wandering, Spark eventually finds himself at Akroyd's treasury. When he leaves again, he hears sounds of struggle coming from the room and hurries back to find the guards defeated. Spark believes a single thief may be responsible and decides to stay and look into the matter alone, hoping a good end to the situation will elevate his chances with Kashue and a possible promotion. It turns out there are five thieves, all dark elves, and Spark understood he made the wrong decision. He manages to severely hurt one dark elf, then throws his sword at the others, and flees, wounded.

　Parn eventually finds the wounded Spark, and the latter informs the former of the dark elves at the treasury. Shadam orders his men to search the area. Kashue calls for Slayn. The gates of the city of Blade are immediately sealed and the drawbridge raised. Slayn fears that the Marmo are trying to carry out a terrifying plot, which is to resurrect the “Evil Goddess” Kardis, the goddess of destruction—a goddess born with the purpose of destroying the world. The person behind it is Wagnard. “Two Keys, One Door, and Kardis lives once more,” Slayn mutters, and explains that for Kardis to be resurrected two keys are required, the Soul Crystal Ball and the Staff of Life and one door, or Doorway, which is a person in whose body Kardis is to descent.

　When Spark awakens, after being healed by Greevus, he is ordered to meet with King Kashue. He honestly admits to Kashue he didn't sound any alarm because he wanted to take any credit for himself. Parn, also present, says to Kashue he wants to give him one more chance and that Kashue should send him to retrieve the Soul Crystal Ball from the dark elves. Kashue had thought of sending Spark to Valis, where to Staff of Life is being held, but agrees with Parn's proposal. Deedlit wonders if Spark can do both tasks.

　In the knights' quarters, Spark meets with two mercenaries; a muscled human man called Garrack and a half-elf girl called Leaf. Kashue arrives and tells Spark of his two missions: deliver a letter to King Etoh of Valis and track down the thieves and reclaim the Soul Crystal Ball. Besides the two mercenaries, the dwarf Greevus and a sorcerer named Aldonova, will also join Spark. Following this, Spark and Parn finally do a practice session together and Parn gives Spark some advice. He also tells him to not become who only carries out the duties given to him. That night, Spark and his new party leave to pursue the dark elves.

　That same night, on the outskirts of Blade, a female thief named Ryna, a member of the Thieves’ Guild from Raiden, that has a branch in Blade led by a certain Sithnia, is looking at the city. Ryna, like many other women, were moved to the guild in Blade because the guild master in Raiden, Fourth, is said to dislike women. Ryna is thinking about sneaking into Blade, but decides this well-lit and lively night might not be the right night. She and her comrade Randy have heard that thieves have entered Blade. Because of Fourth's good connection with Kashue, they believe the thieves are not related to the Thieves’ Guild. As Randy and Ryna talk, Ryna suddenly notices the water moving unnaturaly, as if disturbed, and the sound of a splash. The duo decides to run upon noticing a mysterious figure, followed by four more figures. They deduce the five figures must be the thieves, with one seriously injured. Randy suddenly trips over something and falls—some tendrils had emerged from the earth and grabbed his leg. Randy realizes he won't be able to escape in time and urges Ryna to run for help, which she eventually does.

　When Ryna reaches Blade, guards open the gate for her after she says she has information on the thieves, though did hold her at halberd-point as soon as she entered. At that moment Spark and his party arrive and thus comes to learn Ryna, who tells Spark she is a mercenary rather than a thief, where the thieves are. She also tells them about her fallen comrade Randy and Leaf is able to replicate what happened to Randy with her spirit magic, summoning the spirit Gnome. Ryna asks to join, using her knowledge on the thieves to persuade Spark, and Spark accepts, increasing his party to six. When the party leaves Blade, the guards notice a little figure in white robes behind them.

　Spark and the others follow Ryna to where Randy got trapped, but find him deceased, fatally wounded in his chest. After a moment for Randy, Spark and the others continue their pursuit of the dark elves. Ryna wants to tag along to avenge Randy and Spark again accepts her request. Four days later, they arrive in the city of Hilt. There, Spark talks with Governor Randal, who also fought in the War of Heroes and the Flaim civil war. Randal has in his possession clothes of one of the thieves and shows it to Spark. The clothes belonged to the wounded dark elf, who had succumbed to his injuries. The clothes were found recently, suggesting the dark elves weren't far away. Randal also mentions that a young priestess girl was spotted passing through Hilt. To one of the guards the girl had said she is "guided by a god, chasing a dark nightmare". The latter worries Spark, as he believes it may have something to do with the dark elves.

　In the inn where Spark's comrades are staying, Garrack decides he wants to have a talk with Ryna. He doesn't trust her and doesn't believe she is actually a mercenary. When confronted, Ryna admits that she is actually a thief. Garrack is suspicious of Ryna's intentions, but Ryna assures him she's only after avenging Randy. Garrack decides it was wrong for him to doubt her. When he wants to leave, Ryna stops him and confronts him with her own suspicions. Garrack says that he really is with Flaim's mercenary corps, but he is also a nobleman. His current job is to act as a shield for Spark. Following their conversation, the two decide to get along better from this time on.

　The next day, Governor Randal is preparing his soldiers for battle and tells Spark the dark elves have been found. At Randal's order, everyone, including Spark and his party, departed. Spark was given a horse for the battle. After a while, Spark notices black-clad figures and a white-clad figure behind them, and decides to go after them. He charges at the black-clad figures, and takes out one of them, before he and the white-clad figure, the priestess he heard about in Hilt, fight the other three. With two more dark elves taken out, the last one tries to flee. Ryna goes after the dark elf, catches up to him, but then gets constrained by the dark elf's spell; the same one that was used on Randy. At the same time, however, the dark elf is caught within Ryna's whip. When Ryna gets momentarily distracted, the dark elf manages to throw a dagger, hitting Ryna in the chest. Spark then slays the dark elf before it manages to remove the whip. Greevus and the priestess girl try to save Ryna with their magic. When the bodies of the dark elves are searched, the Soul Crystal Ball is nowhere to be found. Garrack says that the dark elves must've given the treasure to a carrier, while they continued to act as decoys. Spark decides to return to Hilt and report to Governor Randal.

　In Hilt, Spark wonders if he should abandon his mission to deliver the letter to King Etoh, and search for the Soul Crystal Ball instead, but ultimately decides to go through with Kashue's request. Aldonova meets with the pilgrim girl, who he recognizes as “Little” Neese, the daughter of Slayn and Leylia. She explains that she left her home without her parents' consent, because of the urge of her mission—she is the “Doorway” needed for Kardis' resurrection. She inherited this from her mother, Leylia. With the Soul Crystal Ball stolen, Neese now wants to go to Valis to protect the other key, the Staff of Life. Since the theft of the Soul Crystall Ball, Neese has also been experiencing “dark nightmares,” which involve an older, evil man calling for her from inside a huge cavern with a large statue. Wagnard, the dark wizard, is scheming the resurrection of the “Evil Goddess” Kardis, the goddess of destruction. Originally, Leylia would've been the sacrifice, because she was the reincarnation of Naneel, the priestess of Kardis. Perhaps by giving birth to Neese, Leylia was no longer fit to be sacrifice. Or she simply passed her status as “Doorway” on to Little Neese.

　The next day, Spark and his companions, including Ryna and Neese, depart for Valis. They travel via Loran and Marnie, then past Lenoana Lake. Once in Valis, Spark and the others meet with King Etoh and hand him King Kashue's letter. After Etoh finishes reading he, he tells Spark the letter also contains a message for him, which is to return to Blade immediately, if the Soul Crystal Ball is not recovered. Kashue's message causes Spark to think Kashue never trusted him to retrieve the Soul Crystal Ball, so, before returning, he wants to try one last time to find the treasure. With Ryna, Spark deduces that if the thieves are in Valis, they would be in Roid's harbour. Spark and his party, but without Neese, decide to look around there.

　While Spark and the others begin their search, Neese meets with Etoh, who already recognized her as Slayn's daughter. Etoh reassures Neese that the Staff of Life is safe. He also tells her attempts had been made, again involving dark elves, to steal the treasure, but the attempts were unsuccessful. Neese intends to travel to Marmo, but knowing that the treasure is safe will make her do so with ease of mind. At the harbours, Ryna has a strategy for finding the thieves; which is to spread rumours that they (Spark and his group) are looking for a ship to Kanon, which is where they believe the thieves will be headed. The strategy eventually works, but in the wrong way. On the streets, Spark and his group are surrounded by Valisian sailors. Because Spark does not recognize them as such, he introduces himself as mercenaries looking for a job. He adds that they're interested in working for Marmo. The sailors attack Spark and his companions, who run away. Leaf buys everyone some time by using her spirit magic. While trying to escape, Spark finds himself separated from his companions. He suddenly meets a man, who signals Spark to come inside his residence. Once Spark is inside, the man suddenly tells Spark to come to the pier tonight; he'll take Spark and his companions to Kanon, where he can be a mercenary for Marmo.

　Spark returns to his companions and tells them the story of the Marmo man. Why is a Marmo man, and maybe a disguised Marmo ship, in Roid's harbour? Wondering what only one man, and maybe one ship can do, Spark is unsure about what to do with the information. Is there even a ship? Neese advices Spark to only think about what he finds important, the rest will come naturally. His doubts are trival. Spark reacts annoyed at Neese, saying that all she has to worry about is her sect, while he, as a knight, has to worry about the entire land. Neese sighs and walks out the room. Aldonova then informs Spark of Neese's destiny as the Doorway, and the two role of the two treasures his missions were connected to. Spark regrets his response to her and decides to tell King Etoh the whole story. Spark believes the Staff of Life must be protected at all costs, decides to ignore Kashue's order, and assist King Etoh in his fight. With this decision, Spark finally understands what Parn meant to say during their sparring session. Garrack and Ryna believe Kashue will be delighted with Spark's decision. Spark goes to meet King Etoh and tell him everything, but as he does so, a guard comes in, informing the king that Valis' Temple of Pharis is on fire. Together with his comrades, he rushes to the temple.

Characters appearing

• Neese
• Mirelle
• Leylia
• Slayn
• Little Neese
• Wort
• Flaibe
• Karla
• Keddie
• Pirotess
• Duke Raster
• Cecil
• Claude
• Wagnard
• Spark
• King Kashue
• Parn
• Deedlit
• Erhart
• Shadam
• Greevus
• Queen Nafka
• Garrack
• Leaf
• Aldonova
• Ryna
• Randy
• Governor Randal
• Paul
• King Etoh
• Queen Fianna

Gallery

Artwork from the novel.

Cover artwork without text (by Izubuchi) Map of Lodoss Map of eastern Lodoss Spark meeting Parn (by Izubuchi) A dark elf (by Izubuchi) Leaf (by Izubuchi) Spark, Ryna and Garrack (by Izubuchi) Spark and Leaf (by Izubuchi) Little Neese (by Izubuchi) Wagnard at Kardis’ altar Valisian ship (by Izubuchi)