The way I understood it: The moment the mc sees sir arnold's helmet he recalls the moment when sir arnold kissed him and told him his objective behind the battle. Of course, we as readers don't get to find out sir arnold's objective as that is something he shares only with the mc. His intention behind the battle is now unknown to everyone, including us readers and the villagers (to whom rebels equals "bad guys"). Only the mc knows his true face and kindness. When a woman calls the helmet "rubbish," the mc looks down, feeling sad for sir arnold who is remembered only as an ex-hero. However, as the mc walks away, we see the spirit of sir arnold without his armor. Remember from before that sir arnold called the helmet too heavy for a 16 yr old boy. Yet throughout the whole story he never once takes off his own helmet. He'd have grown exhausted from the burden of constantly being in battle-mode (we also know he'd been in many battles, which mc as a child admired him for). But here he has finally taken off his helmet. Though the mc is sad once he realizes what he saw was a mirage, he knows that sir arnold's death released him from a lifetime of fighting.
This reminds me a lot of the story about the poisoned king by the same mangaka. Gotta go read that now! ε=ε=(ノ≧∇≦)ノ
The way I understood it:
The moment the mc sees sir arnold's helmet he recalls the moment when sir arnold kissed him and told him his objective behind the battle. Of course, we as readers don't get to find out sir arnold's objective as that is something he shares only with the mc. His intention behind the battle is now unknown to everyone, including us readers and the villagers (to whom rebels equals "bad guys"). Only the mc knows his true face and kindness. When a woman calls the helmet "rubbish," the mc looks down, feeling sad for sir arnold who is remembered only as an ex-hero. However, as the mc walks away, we see the spirit of sir arnold without his armor. Remember from before that sir arnold called the helmet too heavy for a 16 yr old boy. Yet throughout the whole story he never once takes off his own helmet. He'd have grown exhausted from the burden of constantly being in battle-mode (we also know he'd been in many battles, which mc as a child admired him for). But here he has finally taken off his helmet. Though the mc is sad once he realizes what he saw was a mirage, he knows that sir arnold's death released him from a lifetime of fighting.
This reminds me a lot of the story about the poisoned king by the same mangaka. Gotta go read that now! ε=ε=(ノ≧∇≦)ノ