Henkyou no Roukishi Bard Loen (辺境の老騎士 バルド・ローエン, in the original Japanese, roughly translated as The Old Knight in Frontier Bard Loen) is a fantasy adventure with art by Morio Kikuishi and story by Shienbis. It began serialization in the seinen magazine Young Magazine the 3rd in September 2016.
The story follows the titular knight Bard Loen, known as the People's Knight and renowned for his strength in battle. Over the course of years, he has dedicated himself to the servitude of the noble Tersia family, especially the young lady Aidra, whom he helped raise. Now in his old age, having never married and no family of his own left aside from his esteemed pupils, he ditches the riches and assets he had under the Tersia family and sets off on a final journey to find a quiet, proper place to die.
Henkyou no Roukishi Bard Loen provides examples of:
- All for Nothing: Kaldus Coendera's decades long plan to steal the royal family's seal from Tersia Family and pass his son Zeon as Joulran Tersia, the true heir of King Windellan, was pointless from the start. Joulran and the royal family have a Shared Unusual Trait of Whirlpool fingerprints Kaldus didn't know about which Joulran's father had confirmed Joulran having as soon as he was old enough, so Bard didn't even have to do anything as it would be clear Zeon is an imposter.
- Almost Dead Guy: While being impaled by a spear, Gyenzera Pain asks Bard Loen where's the "Double Whirlpool" and dies. Bard Loen, who had no interest or involvement in Coendera's ambitions so far, now knows the one of two things Lord Kaldus needs and decides to screw with him for all the trouble he's causing.
- Alternative Calendar: The story starts in a year of 4270 by the local calendar.
- Ambiguous Situation: The "Witch" reveals she was trapped in a house set on fire by villagers trying to kill her, but somehow, she's still here. After casting a lot of fire magic, she turns into a young woman, before going back to her normal appearance. After a short travel together, she vanishes while Bard isn't looking when they leave the forest, leaving the possibility that she might be a ghost all along.
- Ambition Is Evil: Kaldus Coendera used to be a small lord of Dolba, but after warring with neighbours as a self-proclaimed Great Lord of the Shigwentsa region, he tries to connect with the Palzam Kingdeom's royal family to secure his position, even if he has to trample the Tersia Family (who are meanwhile protecting the region from monsters) and innocent people between them.
- Arc Villain: Kaldus Coendera is a persistent threat to Bard Loen and the Tersia Family for the first three volumes. He and his family are sending men to attack Bard after a seal and the "Double Whirlpool", which are parts of a decades-old plan involving the royal family.
- Arranged Marriage: Aidra Tersia got married off to Kaldus Coendera for political reasons, but it didn't calm the tension between two families and they've got divorced only after about a year and having a child. Why she returned is one of the Driving Questions. Prince Windellan requested Kaldus to give Aidra to her, which he obliged to earn favors from him and became a Secret-Keeper that Windellan is the real father.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: An offhand comment by an assassin that he has something else to do after killing Bard Loen clues him in that Coendera Family is searching for something and think he may have it (Unbeknownst to either of them, he does actually have the Plot Device with him). He figures out what that is specifically later, along with the Kaldus Coendera's entire plan, and ruins it in a single move.
- Bait-and-Switch: It seems that Julchaga has stolen the family seal from Bard and gave it to Kaldus Coendera right away, however it turns out to be only after Bard, Julchaga and Vari Todd have conspired together to expose him and selling the family seal to Kaldus was done so Julchaga could get some pay out of it.
- Bastard Bastard: Owald, the adopted son of Rintz's earl Simon Epibalez, decides to sell him and his guests out to Gyenzera Pain and Kaldus Coendera to secure his own position.
- Bearer of Bad News: Bard Loen wanted to write a letter to Lady Aidra about his travels, after not being able to see her in years. Joulran informs him she has passed away a long time ago. In turn, Bard has to tell her old maid about it, who despairs over outliving the much younger Aidra.
- Beast Man: While most of the focus is on the human characters, there are races of demi-humans in this setting, such as the Gelkast and the monkey-like Jameen. The demi-humans seem to suffer some Fantastic Racism, as they are regarded by humans as uncivilized savages, but they have their own societies and codes of honour, as well as traits that are kept secret from humans like the Jameens' ability to calm and tame demon beasts, an idea that's unheard of among humans.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Kaldus Coendera has quickly rose from a lord of a Dolba district to the Great Lord of Shigwentsa and currently has eyes on the royal family of the Palzam Kingdom. After 20 years of anticipation, it turns out his plan is full of holes, while he spends a fortune on it. With no attempt to do so sooner, he outsources taking care of Bard Loen to his family members, who are not up to the job and even gets his nephew killed. After getting his hands on one of two Plot Devices, he thinks it's good enough to fool the royal convoy. Bard later informs him that the second Plot Device is Joulran's inherent physical trait, so there's nothing Kaldus could do anyway and he probably just sent his son to his death. Oh, and the fortune he used to fund his rise to power used the money he essentially stole from Windellon for Aidra and Joulran's care and even outside his flimsy plan, he would have eventually been forced to face the consequences of deceiving and stealing from the Palzam royal family for years.
- BFS: Gordon Zalcourse wields a fabled "wall-sword" that is as wide as he is and works more like a hammer. After it breaks, he switches to an actual hammer.
- Chekhov's Skill: Loen is taught herbal medicine by the "Witch" rather early on in his travels. These skills he learned from her prove helpful when he comes across an ill Priest Vari and helps him recover. Due to this favor, Vari is more than willing to hear Loen out for his plot to Out Gambit Kaldus.
- Combat Pragmatist: Bard Loen is fighting a fabled mercenary Ven Uril, who is paid by Yotish Pain. Since the contractor is standing right behind him nearly defenseless, Bard Loen kills him instead. Ven Uril decides to return to the Coendera Family to discuss the problem with his payment instead of doing the job.
- *Crack!* "Oh, My Back!": As an old man, Bard Loen regularly complains about his back or shoulder pain.
- Creepy Good: The "Witch" has a habit of staring right into Bard Loen's face and speaking aggressively when he's not being polite enough, but is otherwise a Cool Old Lady who was a selfless herbologist in the past.
- Death by Despair: While not explicit, it's heavily implied Aidra's failing health and ultimate death was at least partly caused from Aidra believing her lover had long forgotten and abandoned her, which wasn't helped by the death of her brother only a few years prior to the story. In any case, Bard consider her death an indirect consequence of Kaldus' actions.
- Death Glare: After explaining to Kaldus how his plan was All for Nothing, including all the deaths that happened because of it, Bard just glances at all the guards and they freeze in place, and he leaves.
- Didn't Think This Through: Kaldus decides to outsource eliminating Bard through his family members for his plot to ensure he doesn't get in the way of his plan. However, none of them are suited for the task and he only succeeds in getting some of them killed. He also recklessly discards Ven Udik, a warrior capable of killing Bard, because he didn't protect his nephew, despite it being pointed out that Yotish's death was caused by his own carelessness.
- Dramatic Irony: In Chapter 11, we see Windellan promising to return and Aidra and be together with her and their son. At this point of the story, Aidra has already died a short while before he was able to contact her again and unaware she died never knowing he never forgot about her due to Kaldus stealing the money he routinely sent for her and their son's care.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": The "Witch" never reveals her name, only asks that she be called by that title, regardless of Bard's protests about being a terrible way to refer to oneself. She's called this way for being a herbologist misblamed for a plague and currently knows some actually magic.
- Evil Gloating: After thinking he won, Kaldus Coendera monologues to Bard how he'll be the father of the future king and will be able to tax the rest of the Shigwentsa as much as he wants, while blaming Tersia family for Aidra's death, so Bard should join him while he can. Bard calmly tells that his imposter prince doesn't have the one identifying trait required (the double-whirlpool fingerprint), and Kaldus realizes he just completely screwed up.
- Evil Is Petty: One other reason why Kaldus Coendera wanted to marry Aidra is because Bard has injured him in battle decades ago, and he's good friends with her, so Kaldus decides to rob Bard of everything he cherished along other plans. In general, Kaldus' hatred of Bard is one other factor in antagonizing to the point Bard messed with his plot out of revenge for the people he hurt, including Aidra.
- Experienced Protagonist: Bard is a knight with 40 years of experience in his belt who just retired to have a quiet end to his life. Even with regular back pains, only a few can rival him in a fight.
- Face Full of Alien Wing-Wong: Geliadra fruits are known to have their seeds replaced by eggs of a parasitic bug, which spread like pollen. If a human breaths them, they cause death by being Eaten Alive from the inside and an exponentially faster spread across the populace. Strangely, Goliosa fruits always grow nearby and acts as an insecticide.
- Feudal Overlord: The Lord of Torium overtaxes his population and instructs his bodyguard to aim for the throat so the assailants wouldn't die right away. He was eventually killed by three starving children learning his habits and attacking with Poisoned Weapons. Everyone was happy.
- Fictional Currency: The local money is called Gyel.
- Food Porn: Bard likes to eat, so the manga regularly features the cooking of various meals in great detail.
- Foreshadowing: Bard can't accept Simon Epibalez's gold as a reward for saving him, so he takes a small amount and uses his fingerprint as a signature in case he'll need the rest. Fingerprinting happens to be the way to identify that Joulran Tersia, and not Kaldus's imposter Zeon, is the heir of the royal dynasty. Also, the fact he learned about this from Aidra is another hint of the real identity of Joulran's father, who comes from a royal family that has a Shared Unusual Trait of a certain fingerprint pattern.
- Gladiator Games: Bard gets captured by the ape-like Jameen and has to fight a tiger Yergar in an arena to prove his worth.
- Good Is Not Soft: For The People's Knight, Bard isn't above killing unarmed opponents or using trickery. If his life is in danger, anything goes.
- The Good King: The newly coronated Prince Windellan Ceegals is labeled as a war hero and is active with lawmaking and charities. He's also the lover and father of the heroic Aidra Tersia and her son respectively.
- The Great Offscreen War: The war between the three families in the region Bard lives in took place before the events of the story, though we occasionally see flashbacks to it.
- Hellish Pupils: Ven Uril is a mercenary with cat-pupils, though he's a bit of a Cloudcuckoolander and otherwise is pretty reasonable if you're not his target.
- Heroic Bastard: Prince Windellan is the bastard son of the king, but he is a war hero favored by the public and the nobility due to his strength and deeds, which eventually make him take over the throne. The primary reason he was chosen is for him inheriting the whirlpool fingerprints, despite having a commoner mother.
- Honorary Uncle: Joulran is the son of Lady Aidra, with whom Bard Loen was good friends with in her childhood, so he considers him effectively being his grandfather.
- Honor Before Reason:
- Upon Yotish Pain's death, the mercenary Ven Uril decides he has no business against Bard and follows the contract to return his employer's corpse to Kaldus Coendera. Since Yotish technically joined the fight he wasn't supposed to which was why he got killed, Ven considers this a breach of the agreement and demands full payment. He hasn't considered that the Lord would not be happy with his nephew being killed right in front of his alleged bodyguard, and on top of that Gyenzera Pain, the father, sends assassins after him. This also applies to Gyenzera's side because Ven was their best shot to kill Bard, which Bard himself lampshades was quite foolish if they wanted him dead and even Kaldus was dismayed by.
- Jogg Ward threatens villagers on Coendera's behalf, then duels Bard Loen who's protecting them. Who he also has a personal grudge against for defeating him when he was younger. After Bard falters due to old age pain, Jogg loses interest in both him and the villagers.
- I Was Quite a Looker: The "Witch" temporarily shows her young appearance in a Stripperiffic shaman dress while burning parasitic plants.
- Improbable Weapon User: Gordon Zalcourse and his "wall sword", a longsword so wide that it can be used as a shield. What really sells it as this trope is the way he uses it, which is to hold it straight upwards in front of him, seemingly blocking his view, before swinging it straight down on his opponent (flat side first). While it initially appears a bit goody, Gordon is actually quite effective with it, as the target has to either dodge backwards, in which case he gets back into position (almost effortlessly it should be noted), or they dodge to the side, in which case Gordon will simply swing the sword to the side to catch them with the actual blade. Played with, in that Gordon's specialty is actually in axes and hammers, and he is incredibly good with them to boot, but he uses swords because those are more "knightly" (the wall sword was simply something he had made to compensate for regular swords being too light for him), and he later averts it by just using a hammer.
- Knight in Shining Armor: Bard Loen picked The People's Knight as his title and manages to live up to it. He rescues anyone in need, has a smart female horse named Stablos, is loved by his people and is a champion of Lady Aidra.
- Mr. Exposition: Most the text is Bard's Inner Monologue regarding the state of affairs in the region, strategizing in combat, or cooking recipes.
- Named Weapons: Younger Bard Loen used to have a demonslayer sword called Moragravielo.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Played with. Kaldus' whole plan to gain a connection to the Palzam royal family was faulty from its conception since the Palzam royal family has a unique fingerprint, but his decision to chase after and even kill Bard Loen to keep him from getting involved is what leads to him finding out about what it is and deciding to step in precisely to screw with Kaldus in the highest form possible.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: The "Witch" gave a girl she treated like a granddaughter a medicine that saved her from a pandemic in their village, even though she was asked by her mother to never reveal it to others. The girl then told everyone, who refused to hear when "Witch" told them that this was the only dose of the medicine left. The villagers, including the girl, convinced themselves she was a witch responsible for the disease and set her house on fire, with her inside.
- Not Worth Killing: After Kaldus's Despair Event Horizon and asking if he's going to be killed, Bard judges his actions between being Necessarily Evil from an economic point, a Snowball Lie to the prince-turned-king he had to keep, and injustice to the farmers, soldiers and Aidra who've died for his ambitions. He just intimidates him to return all the money and leaves him to whatever his fate ultimately will be.
- Lizard Folk: Gelkasts are the classical lizardmen hunters with the customs of warrior's glory. Zoy Engdal rescues Loen from a wolf Kijiel and gives him shelter.
- Looks Like Cesare: Kaldus Coendera has a permanent Creepy Shadowed Undereyes, dark hair with a few of unadjusted strands and a bit of egocentric personality.
- Magical Weapon: Bard buys a blunt sword as a temporary replacement for his broken one. Turns out the sword is enchanted and slices the head off a bear Kijiel.
- Meaningful Name: Bard's horse Stablos is a gift by Lady Aidra, who's said the name has a secret meaning. She's named after a folktale about the princess gifting her knight a horse that always appeared with the spell "Stablos".
- Mistaken for Thief: Gordon Zalcourse assaults Bard Loen because "only bandits would walk these paths" and ignores Bard's introduction. Bard had trouble disarming him.
- Obsessed with Food: Bard Loen is concerned about finding new recepies a bit more than the political chaos surrounding his land.
- Oh, Crap!: After Kaldus's victorious gloating how he managed to pass his son Zeon as the king's son, Bard as a jest tells that the heir is supposed to have whirlpool fingerprints. Kaldus immediately realized that he's very much opposite of winning and it's too late for him, so he promises to return the money to the villagers and the king.
- Old Master: Despite the old age, Bard is more worried about overcooking the fish than the assassin in front of him. While he thinks The Undefeated Knight is an exaggerated nickname, he lives up to it by beating a dozen of armored guards with bare hands.
- Out-Gambitted: In the end, Kladus ends up outgambitted by Bard Loen. He planned to pay Julchaga to steal the seal from Bard, and use it to confirm that his son Zeon is the actual prince, rather than Joulran, and the priest had told him the "Double Whirlpool" was a code meant only for Lady Aidra so it doesn't matter anymore. However, both were architected by Bard, who found the priest Vari first and told him about the situation, confirmed he had the seal first, and then sends it to Kladus via Julchaga to fall for the trap, while the "Double Whirlpool" is actually referring to the fingerprints that would confirm the identity of the child, which Kladus couldn't fake. Kladus' whole plan then falls through as the priest Vari is aware of it and they have a foolproof way to verify the identity of the real prince.
- Phantom Thief: Julchaga is a famous young thief who steals expensive items after sedating the owners without being seen, though he fails the first time due to Bard catching him. He also proves to be a Master of Disguise and very agile.
- The Plague: The Dead Ash Disease covers the body with hurtful black spots and spreads on contract. If a victim is discovered, the army is mobilized to burn down the village entirely, and any surrounding ones if there's a suspicion of movement. Two former bandits gave a false report about it because an inn was built on top of where they've buried their loot.
- Pocket Protector: Bard is saved from death at Jogg's hands by keeping his cutlery set on his chest, which hinders his greatsword from slicing his chest and saves his life. Said silverware is not only a gift from Lady Aidra, but contains the royal family seal inside.
- Pragmatic Hero: Bard isn't above sacrificing Stablos to the beasts to distract them, despite the protests of younger knights and the decades of companionship. With the corpse being relatively unharmed, he cuts some parts of it for meat, taking some skin to be remade into a memento while leaving the rest for the forest.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Jogg Ward kicks his minion through the wall for trying to kill a villager who refuses to side with them. Because the village chief is still useful, but his wife on the other hand is not.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: The Priest Vari Qwezkal Todd acts as the King's official in the Shigwentsa region. But despite his childish personality, upon hearing from Bard Loen how the Coendera Family has been acting lately, he decides to side with Bard and feigns ignorance at Kaldus's attempt to pass his son Zeon as Joulran.
- Reckless Sidekick: Gordon Zalcourse is introduced by mistaking Bard for a bandit, then makes him his master without asking and abandons his lord position to travel. Bard is bothered by his immature attitude, but can't refuse his family after hosting him and it's also mentioned that his sister is the one that does most of the lord's work regardless.
- Red Baron:
- Bard Loen's title is The People's Knight (Gal'Degash Guera), but he is also known as The Undefeated Knight for an obvious reason.
- The mercenary Ven Uril is called the Red Crow (Roro Spear), named after a bird one sees when they're about to die.
- Jogg Ward has earned himself a nickname Raging Wind (Banzal).
- The Reveal:
- One of the recurring questions is why Kaldus Coendera had returned Aidra to the Tersia Family after marrying her for one year and a half. Another question is what the royal convoy is doing here at this time. It turns out that Joulran is actually Lady Aidra's child with Prince Windellan and not with Kaldus Coendera as believed, and Kaldus let them be on the prince's request. Windellan, now the king, asked Kaldus where his son is, which gave him an idea to pass his own son as him. It's also heavily implied Kaldus also did this to steal the money Windellan had been sending for Aidra and Joulran's care without their knowledge.
- What the "Double Whirlpool" is that Kaldus is desperate to obtain. It's a genetic trend of the royal family. Fingerprints of the people who descend from the first king are often in a double whirlpool shape, and they are used to confirm the heritage of children, as 50 days after they're born, children have their fingerprints taken to confirm their identity. Joulran Tersia has that trait and King Windellan has the scan, which is something Kaldus Coendera didn't know.
- Royal Bastard: A lot of noblity characters are said to be illegitimate children, including Windellan Ceegals, Owald Epibalez, Jogg Ward, and even Joulran Tersia.
- She Is All Grown Up: Bard has been friends with Aidra since she was 12. When he meets her next time 3 years later, he can't help but note that now she's a noble lady.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: King Windellan and Aidra end up in one when the former has to return to his country over a Succession Crisis. While he did send Aidra and their son money for their upkeep, Kaldus laundered the money in order to gain political power and even sent the mother and son back likely to ensure they wouldn't catch on. Ultimately, by the time Windellan is able to successfully become king to retrieve Aidra and Joulran, Aidra has already passed away without ever hearing a word about her lover.
- Stealing from the Till: King Windellan has been sending a lot of allowance money to Kaldus Coendera, to support Aidra Tersia who is the mother of his child, but nobody is allowed to know Kaldus isn't the father. Kaldus uses all that money for his own political gain without neither Aidra nor Joulran knowing about the money, and likely sent them back to keep them in the dark about Windellan's allowances.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Joulran looks quite a bit like his mother Aidra, but he also shares some similarities to his real father Windellan.
- Switched at Birth: Kaldus Coendera tries to claim that the son King Windellan is looking for, Joulran, has been raised as Zeon Coendera after a switcheroo. It proves to be fruitless as Joulran Tersia has an unusual physical trait only the royal family members have and Vari knew about Kaldus' plot and was feigning ignorance to let his guard down. Bard points out said son would likely be executed for trying to deceive royalty.
- Succession Crisis: Windellan ended up in one with his legitimate half-brother that had him sent out to Kaldus' territory for his own safety. He decides to willingly go back to regain his rights as heir since despite his illegitimacy, he had the double-whirlpool fingerprint that makes eligible to be king, resulting in a fight that lasts for nearly thirty years before he ultimately ends up becoming the next king.
- This Is Reality: Bard once meets a farmer boy who wants to be a knight. Bard has to explain that not only it's unlikely he would even be taken in, he'll have to earn for his equipment himself, and the only thing knights are good for are killing beasts or knights of other nobles. The reason why Bard has made it was because he had earlier training and he has gained a favor from Lord Elzera by chance. Not very heroic, but the kid finds fighting monsters noble enough.
- Tragic Dream: A variant. Prince Windellan's dream was to become king to bring enough stability to the Palzam Kingdom to safely reunite with Aidra and Joulran and he spared no effort for nearly thirty years. But ultimately while he succeeded in becoming king, Aidra ended up passing away shortly before he could return for her and he never got to see his son grow up either.
- Ungrateful Bastard: The "Witch" used to be a skilled herbalist, but when she tried to cure an epidemic and unable to keep up with the demands, she was blamed for causing it even by the people who did get better and was burned in own house.
- Used to Be a Tomboy: As a child, Lady Aidra Tersia was inspired to become a warrior, but gave up on that dream, along with that personality, after wandering into the forest nearly getting herself killed by a wild Kijiel.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Jogg Ward, the illegitimate child of Kaldus, is a man that walks around with an open shirt at all times. Lampshaded and invoked when he refuses an advice from his minions to wear any protection before dueling Bard implying this is deliberate on his part.
- Walking the Earth: Bard Loen has grown to be 58 years old, so he retires and sets off on a journey to meet new people and find his final resting place. As he feared, the Coendera Family are trying to get him involved with the region's politics.
- The Wall Around the World: The known world is surrounded by a giant wall called Han Dessa Rou. The Tersia lands of Pakura District have a section without the wall, which is the entrance to an unexplored forest where the monsterous Kijiel come from.
- Whole Episode Flashback: Chapter 11 is an entire flashback chronicling how Prince Windellan and Lady Aidra fell in love, Joulran was born, and then how the family was separated.
- Wild Card: Julchaga works with Coendera Family only becuase they're paying handsomely. After he delivers Aidra's letter, he is proven to be a Nice Guy while not "on the job". Then he conspires with Bard Loen to trick Coendera Family while they'll be paying for it.
- Women Are Delicate: Bard has spent his live in an environment where "men protect and ladies are protected", so he is rather offended that Goriola Kingdom has female knights. On top of that, Viscount Doriatessa is a noble as well, so her risking her life feels like throwing away the privileges the kingdom provides for her. Still, he admires her tenacity and admits he could broaden his worldview. She wants to provide a proof of strength to the next royal contest specifically to prove herself, but as she's only 19 Bard correctly guesses that despite her swordsmanship, she operates mostly on emotions and lacks in skill.
- Worldbuilding: While it's almost close to standard medieval setting, the world has own language, religion and proverbs, as well as many named plants and animals.
- Worthless Yellow Rocks: Bard during his travels ends up with a very high-quality demon pelt that he doesn't think is very valuable as they were common where he originally lived. However, Julchaga reveals that demon pelts are very valuable, and the high-quality pelt that he had would be worth a small fortune in itself, which causes an unscrupulous merchant to try framing the leather craftsman he hired to make the pelt into armor to steal it for himself.
