CH 79

“Please take care, Sir Eugene!”

“It was such an honor to be with you!”

“Sir! I will see you at the territory in a month!”

The mercenaries of Moffern and the seven free knights came outside to see Eugene off. The time they spent together was rather short, but Eugene had undoubtedly been the best employer and the leader for all of them. Some of them would no longer have to roam the world without a master after being sworn in by the marquis, and they burned even more with loyalty.

“I will return after accomplishing feats that will not taint the names of Lord Essandra and Sir Eugene.”

“I promise you. The names of Archivold and Eugene will resonate loudly over the skies of the peninsula.”

“Yes, yes. Don’t overdo it. I know I’ve already mentioned this, but make sure to absolutely obey Lord Essandra’s orders. If I hear otherwise, there won’t be any land waiting for you once you return,” Eugene responded.

“Please don’t worry!”

It could only contain three or four small households, but the knights were passionate and eager to possess their own land and farmer tenants. Their profits from their land would be sufficient to feed their horses and replace a few of their equipment. Moreover, Eugene would not be satisfied with managing territory only on the peninsula. The knights’ hearts swelled up at the thought of officially becoming lords of small territories one day. All they had to do was to be loyal to Eugene.

“Then I wish you all luck,” Eugene said.

“Yes, sir!” The mercenaries and knights answered in one voice.

Leaving the large group behind, Eugene passed the gate with Galfredik and a small number of soldiers.

“But…do they really have to take that with them?”

One of the knights muttered while staring at the departing group. His eyes were glued on the undead ogre dressed in a priest’s uniform which was seated on a cart.

“Huh! Isn’t that only natural? Isn’t that the living proof of the miracle? It’s evidence that God declared this land as a sacred place and that he loves the marquisate and Sir Eugene!” One of the other knights quickly rebuked his comrade.

“T-that’s true. I misspoke,” The knight quickly admitted his fault and hurriedly drew the holy symbol with his hand while repenting.

“Oh, God. Please forgive me. I dared to have doubts towards you and Sir Eugene, the one who receives your love.” The knight’s confession caused a fierce wave of repentance to spread through the knights.

“Ohhh! May you bless his path!”

“May God’s protection and blessing always be with you, Sir Eugene!”

Thus, the knights reverently waved their hands in the air and dedicated the greatest blessing they could give to the Origin Vampire.

***

“You came all the way here to give this to me?” Eugene asked.

“Yes, yes. I heard that the person who brought this to the Palin Association was greatly disappointed that Sir Eugene wasn’t there,” Romari answered. She had handed Eugene a letter after leaving the Archivold family’s castle.

Eugene stroked his chin after carefully reading the content of the letter.

“Hmm.”

“What does it say?” Romari asked.

“The introduction is quite long, but it’s essentially asking me to go over in a rush to participate in a knight competition,” Eugene answered.

“Hooh. Has it already been four years?” Galfredik said.

“Four years? What do you mean?” Eugene turned his head and asked.

“Count Winslon holds a competition every four years. It appears that this is the fourth year since the last,” Galfredik answered.

“I see. A knight competition. It must be similar to the one hosted by the Evergrove County, right?” Eugene asked.

“It’s going to be even more amazing. Rumor has it that nearly a hundred people participated in the competition four years ago,” Galfredik answered.

“Is that so? How many participants were there in Count Evergrove’s competition?” Eugene continued.

“Maybe about thirty? Discounting the random nobodies, there must have been about ten proper knights. Even though the Evergrove family acts like they are kings in the area near Maren, they still can’t compare to Winslon.” Galfredik answered.

“Is Winslon that amazing?” Eugene muttered while tilting his head. His response was only natural since he knew at most about ten noble families.

Galfredik responded with a grin, “First of all, they are a family stemming from the first royal family. It’s said that even kings cannot mess with them recklessly because of their enormous territory and power.”

“Really? To what extent?” Eugene asked.

“I’ve only heard of it as well, but it’s said that Count Winslon has more than five hundred troops under his direct control and almost one thousand troops including those serving his vassals. In addition, the Winslon County has a knight order,” Galfredik said.

“A knight order?” Eugene asked.

“That’s right. Dozens of guys like me who are loyal and only obey the count’s orders,” Galfredik answered.

“That’s…definitely incredible.” Eugene was surprised. Hiring dozens of mercenaries for a period of time had cost too much money, which was why he handed them over to Essandra. But Count Winslon had dozens of times the number of troops as well as a knight order!

“Then the knights from the order will be participating in the competition as well, right?” Eugene asked.

“They live and die by their reputation, so it’s only natural that they do? If they win, they’ll get a chest full of gold and expensive armament as well,” Galfredik said with a shrug.

“Hmm.”

Eugene answered before resting his gaze on Wolfslaughter, which was hanging next to the saddle. It was a famous blade bestowed to a famous knight by the Winslon County in the past.

‘I could become sworn in to a nobleman who is even greater than Marquis Archivold, and get other equipment on the level of Wolfslaughter. If I’m lucky I could even get the chance to conquer evil lands as well.’

Most importantly, several months had already passed since he received the letter of recommendation. It was about time to go.

“We will stop by our territory before heading straight to Maren. We will depart after making preparations in Maren, which should give us enough time,” Eugene declared.

“Hehe! Good idea. This is exciting,” Galfredik responded with a face filled with expectations.

Unfortunately for Galfredik, Eugene responded with a shrug. “What are you talking about? You have to stay back and protect the territory.”

“Huh?”

“You will need to act as the lord in my stead for the time being,” Eugene continued.

“Master, what are you…”

Eugene glanced behind Galfredik while cutting off his words. “That girl. Why do you think I had her become your aide instead of mine?”

“What? What does that baggage have anything to do with this?” Galfredik responded with a frown, turning his eyes to the limp, drooping body of Selena.

“Don’t you think Lord Essandra will only be satisfied once she gets to know that her niece is in the care of a knight who is trustworthy enough to rule a territory in my stead?” Eugene said.

“Ha…” Galfredik finally realized the meaning behind Eugene’s words.

“I would have preferred real baggage instead. This way, she’s basically my master. Hmph.” Galfredik muttered with a scowl.

“It’s only temporary. It seems like it will take some time for the Carls Baggins Peninsula to become stable again. Delmondo is quite competent, but I could only be truly relieved if I had you here. How could I compare someone like Delmondo with you?” Eugene said.

“Tsk! Well, I guess there will be more opportunities to rampage together in the future,” Galfredik responded.

“Of course. If you ever get bored, go and subjugate the evil lands belonging to Lord Essandra or Sir Beogalan. I’ve already talked to them about it,” Eugene said.

“Oh! That’s good to hear,” Galfredik’s expression loosened as he responded.

Romari, who had been quietly watching the two men, slowly inched her horse closer to Silion before speaking. “Sir Eugene, Sir Eugene. Then what should I do? I think heading to Maren with you and researching that ogre would be…”

“You will stay behind with Galfredik,” Eugene gave a curt answer.

“What? I have to? Why?” Romari asked.

“Then what else are you going to do? Take the undead to Maren? Aren’t you supposed to start smelting the silver from the mine? How much longer are you planning to be a freeloader?” Eugene said.

“No, of course. I’ll do as you said. Yes, of course,” Romari answered with a dejected expression.

Galfredik burst into laughter, “Haha! Master Romari, let’s get along for a while.”

“What? I have to? Why?” Romari gave the exact same answer as before with a curious expression.

“It’s definitely the same words, but why do I feel offended?” Galfredik said.

“That’s because that was my intent,” Romari answered.

“Your harsh words remind me of my dead grandmother.”

“Stop! Talking! About your fucking dog Tallulah and…”

The two started to bicker once more, but Eugene interrupted in a quiet voice, “By the way, Romari, are there other wizards in the Blood Shadow School beside you?”

“Um, as far as I know, my master is the only one. It’s not like our school follows a single student policy or anything, but the conditions for entering and leaving are very strict. But why are you asking me that all of a sudden?” Romari said.

“That’s strange. The wizard I killed, apparently, he told the Archivold family that he belonged to the Blood Shadow School,” Eugene answered.

“…!”

Romari’s eyes grew wide with shock, and she asked back in a hurry.“I-is that really true? That can’t be.”

“Are you doubting me?” Eugene asked.

“No! That’s not what I’m trying to say…” Romari answered in a flurry.

“Then that must mean that they were impersonators,” Eugene said.

“That’s right! Wizards belonging to the Blood Shadow School would never create undead. Only chimeras! The ultimate goal of the Blood Shadow School is the production of chimeras. It’s completely different from black magic, because…” Romari desperately defended her school.

Creating undead was frowned upon because it involved the trapping or controlling of the souls belonging to the subject of magic, regardless of whether they were humans or monsters. On the other hand, chimeras were an entirely new species created by combining various parts belonging to different monsters. As such, souls tailored for the body had to be created. Not only was it more difficult, but it was an entirely different branch of magic.

“Most importantly, chimeras only respond to monsters possessing mana stones. Even though they obey the orders of their creator, they do not oppose those without mana stones,” Romari said.

“I see. But do ordinary people know the difference?” Eugene asked.

“Probably not. Moreover, our school isn’t very public because of our founder’s identity…” Romari trailed off.

“But since the impersonators were using your name, wouldn’t that make things difficult for your school?” Eugene asked.

“Yes…Ah! But since the wizard was killed by Sir Eugene…” Romari said.

“The other one is still alive,” Eugene interrupted.

“What?”

“The dead wizard had a student. It appears that he escaped after discovering his master’s death. There’s no guarantee that he won’t create an undead and exploit the name of the Blood Shadow School,” Eugene continued.

“Heuk!” Romari’s expression quickly dimmed.

She looked to be a serious person when she first met Eugene. When things started to flow to Eugene’s liking, he revealed the bait to make the catch. Even though she was only a small fish, she could grow to be very big in the future.

“However, I took the magical tool and the journal from the dead wizard. I’m not sure if this would be of any help…” He muttered.

“It will! It will! Please, give it to me! I will definitely find out their true identities! I swear it on the name of magic and my school.” Romari immediately took the bait and shouted fervently.

“All right.” Although it was quite ridiculous how fast Romari changed her attitude, Eugene nodded with satisfaction.

Mirian, who was laying comfortably on Silion’s mane, spoke while thumping her large belly. “Tsk, tsk, tsk! The greed of wizards is even bigger than the bellies of dragons. They don’t know when to be satisfied. Tsk, tsk. Burp!” It was all too shameless to be coming from a spirit who had literally stuffed herself to the brim at breakfast.

***

“Oh, I greet the great Ori…I greet my lord,” Delmondo quickly corrected himself and bowed deeply. It appeared his heart still fluttered with awe and fear whenever he saw Eugene.

“Everyone except the administrator, you may all leave,” Eugene said.

“Yes, sir.”

The servants, who were all villagers hired by Delmondo, bowed before leaving. Eugene sat comfortably in a chair before continuing, “I guess everything is going well. The village was quite bustling.”

“Yes. The guild leaders of Moffern actively cooperated. First…” Delmondo quickly knelt on one knee before giving an accurate, concise report. The report was even better than the ones he gave to his immediate superior during his time as an imperial official.

“…As such, the castle is expected to be completed in half a year, and we plan to run the territory by hiring those recommended by the guilds. Do you have anything you would like to point out?” Delmondo spoke carefully, unable to hide his anxiety.

Eugene nodded. “I trust that you will do well on your own.”

“Ah! Thank you for trusting me to…”

“Since you will die if you don’t.”

“I swear on my life that I will do my best,” Delmondo immediately responded with a brighter expression, then he bowed his head afterward while trembling.

“I won’t be returning to the territory for a while. Take your orders from Galfredik. The troops who came with me and the wizard will be staying behind as well,” Eugene said.

“I will follow the will of the great one,” Delmondo said obediently.

The status between himself and the vassal of an Origin was comparable to the gap between heaven and earth. Moreover, Galfredik was even more difficult to deal with for Delmondo. He could already that a bleak future awaited him.

***

Gardye and the other guild leaders of Moffern did not spare their praise after hearing about the incident regarding Eugene and the Archivold marquisate. As a result of Eugene’s heroic deeds, the roads leading inland of the peninsula would be opened once again for the first time in nearly two years. Moreover, Moffern’s guilds would be tasked with the disposal of monster by-products and mana stones from the various dungeons, as well as the silver from Eugene’s mine.

This wasn’t all…

“You may have already guessed, but Lord Essandra has no intention of stopping here. She is planning to demonstrate her force to the southern territories and cities of the peninsula. She appeared to be looking forward to Moffern’s support,” Eugene said while handing the guild leaders a letter.

Gardye and the other guild leaders were so overjoyed that they even shed tears. The letter contained Essandra’s signature along with the seal of the Archivold family, and it was a long list of supplies required for her army.

Peace and stability would allow merchants to fill their bellies slowly, but war would immediately satiate them. Thanks to Eugene, the land surrounding Moffern became quite peaceful. Fortunately for them, the southern part of the peninsula would continue to be noisy due to Essandra. It was a golden opportunity for the City of Moffern to rake in money.

“Horray! Horray! Horraayyy!” The overjoyed cries of the guild leaders resonated endlessly as the ship with Eugene and the various by-products left the port.

Of course, Eugene was very satisfied as well.

‘I can’t believe that they agreed to build a castle, develop the mine, and even pay the mercenaries for the time being. What a fortunate outcome.’

This result was achieved because the interest of both parties exquisitely matched. Eugene felt satisfied even without knowing the details.