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Eugene traveled for nearly fifteen days before finally arriving at the Winslon County.
“There’s a village if we head straight this way, let’s stay there today,” Eugene said.
“Yes, master,” Luke immediately answered. Luke’s appearance was similar to a knight’s aide instead of a slave. After Luke contributed greatly in the matters involving the Carls Baggins Peninsula, Eugene decided to make a massive investment in Luke.
Partec and his group were able to repair or replace their equipment with the large sum they earned since they had signed an official contract with Eugene. However, Luke had only earned a few silver coins because he was a slave, which was why Eugene had to invest his own money in him.
As a result, Luke was wearing a plate coat over full-body mail and was armed with a long, pentagonal shield and a shortsword. As a native of Brantia, Luke possessed a good physique and a strong demeanor. With the addition of new equipment, he appeared quite fearsome. It was to the point where regular mercenaries would avoid eye contact with him.
“Hmm! Slave number one is becoming quite useful. If we raise him well, he could become as skilled as the big bear before we transform him into a vampire,” Mirian pointed out. Eugene agreed with Mirian’s sharp predictions. Luke had an excellent physique and skills, as well as a good head. He would likely grow into an outstanding knight.
“But I can’t believe there’s someone who’s even less talkative than the old man-child. Unbelievable,” Mirian added.
Luke was indeed very quiet, even more so than Felid. Felid was rather naive, so his emotions would surface on his expression from time to time. In contrast, Luke’s expression rarely changed. It was probably due to the thorough training he received ever since he was young.
Like master like man, or in this case, like owner like slave.
In fact, there was a time when Eugene and Luke remained completely silent for almost half a day, quietly riding their horses. What Eugene had said regarding the village was the first word that had been spoken in nearly two hours.
“Sir, even though he’s your slave, you need to be very careful. He must have more than ten vipers slithering in his heart. [1] One day, just like those bastards who were sucking and licking each other in my pond, he might pounce on you and… Kiek!”
The spirit’s head recessed into her body after suffering a light blow on the top of her head for the first in a long time.
“H-How cud ye…” Mirian shouted sorrowfully. She was forcibly transformed into liquid that was then stuffed into the pocket. Eugene made sure to firmly place the flap over the pocket.
Eugene laid his eyes on Luke for a moment. The slave was quietly riding his horse in front of him.
Eugene called out, “Luke.”
“Yes, master,” Luke answered.
“Aren’t you curious as to why I brought only you?” Eugene asked.
“I am curious,” he answered.
“Then why won’t you ask?” Eugene said.
“I think you brought me with you for a reason. And that reason would as always be justified.” Luke answered without a change in expression, even though he was essentially praising Eugene.
But Luke sincerely meant every word.
***
Recently, Luke found his everyday life enjoyable and thrilling. He thought that his life was over when he was captured in battle one year ago. However, he regained his hopes and expectations after meeting his second master in an unfamiliar, foreign nation.
Unbelievable skills, grace as boundless as the sea, and an incomprehensible level of luck that could only be attributed to God’s grace. Luke firmly believed that he could go beyond his goals if he continued to follow his young master. He could not understand where Eugene’s limits lay.
‘The knight king. Master Eugene is the reincarnation of the knight king.’
The knight king was a legendary hero of the island nation of Brantia. Anyone walking the path of a knight knew of the knight king. Luke had also developed his dreams after hearing the epic stories of the knight king when was just a child.
His dream had faded after losing the battle and being captured as a slave, but the master he encountered in a foreign nation allowed Luke to dream once again in a different direction.
‘There were eight knights who served the knight king with the wisdom of eagles and the bravery of lions.’
Sir Lalavane, one of the eight knights and Luke’s second favorite figure in the story of the knight king, started as a prisoner of the king and eventually became a knight after serving as an aide. He was a figure who existed for hundreds of years and carved out a path that was incredibly similar to Luke’s.
‘Master will definitely become the knight king. And one day…!’
It was only known to himself, for now, but Luke was completely certain about it.
“As long as the flame of my soul burns, I will follow you master. I will never have any questions regarding master’s decisions.” Luke said.
“….”
It was a very cool declaration, but on the other hand, it was slightly creepy. For a moment, Eugene thought that Luke was more like his vassal than Galfredik.
***
Eugene rested in the village and organized his equipment and things. Then, he rode his horse without break for two days and arrived in ‘Winslon,’ the main village of the county.
The villages or areas housing the main castle of some nobles had the same name as the family name of the nobles. This was the case for the Winslon County.
Winslon was protected by high walls, and it was a very large, bustling place, as was expected of the main village belonging to one of the most prominent nobles in the kingdom. It wasn’t as large or spectacular as Maren or Moffern, but it was incomparably better than all the villages Eugene had seen so far.
‘So this is what I should expect from a noble considered as one of the three best ones in the kingdom. His territory is very different.’
“Welcome to Winslon, sir knight. Are you here to participate in the competition?” A guard asked Eugene. As if to prove the prestige of the county, even the regular guards wore a hauberk[2], and circular helmets.
“Kieeeek!? And that’s just an ordinary soldier? Then what about the knights? I think we found ourselves a real tycoon here,” Mirian exclaimed.
Eugene responded while inwardly empathizing with Mirian’s admiration.
“That’s right. I am Jan of the Eugene family.”
“All right. Will you be signing personally? If you have a seal, you can stamp it instead,” the guard said.
There were many knights who were unable to read and write, it appeared that the Winslon County had been quite considerate.
“I will do both,” Eugene said.
There weren’t many opportunities for Eugene to use the seal, so he wrote his name before pressing the ring seal detailed with the sophisticated symbol of a black dragon.
The seal was quite nice, but his writing was rather… cute.
“Thank you for your cooperation, Sir Eugene,” the guard said with an even more polite attitude. There weren’t many knights who were able to write and carried personal seals with them.
“You could go straight to the castle or stay in the village. However, please refrain from fighting with your weapons in the village until the end of the competition.”
“There must have been quite a few accidents,” Eugene responded.
“Honorable, chivalrous sirs would not cause such accidents. However, some people have too much confidence in their blades and sometimes cause disgraceful mistakes.”
“Hmm.”
Eugene was rather surprised. It wasn’t because there were knights who dared to cause trouble right in Count Winslon’s front yard. Rather, it was because of the guard’s elegant and confident way of speaking.
“Then, Sir Eugene. I wish you the best of luck in the competition.”
“Thank you. By the way, can you tell me your name?” Eugene asked. This was quite unusual from Eugene, but he asked because he had taken a liking to the guard and since he knew nobody in this place.
“Are you…talking to me?” The guard asked.
“That’s right.” Eugene nodded.
The guard took on a strange expression for a moment before responding with a large grin. “Drak. It’s Lanslo Drak. You can just call me Lanslo.”
Seeing as he had a family name, it appeared that the guard stemmed from a noble family. It appeared that the rumors were true, that great nobles like Winslon had nobles serving as mere soldiers. Eugene nodded while having such thoughts. “All right then, Lanslo. I will see you again.”
“Yes, until next time.” Lanslo wiped the smile off his face and saluted. Leaving him behind, Eugene entered the Village of Winslon.
***
‘Amazing.’
Eugene was impressed after seeing Winslon Castle standing proud at the end of the long, wide bridge. Even the road was wide enough to fit two carriages at once.
“Kieeeeeeek!? S-sir! Please forget everything that this foolish spirit has said so far! Now that’s a real castle! As the future demon king, you need a castle as grand as that! Kiek! Kiek!”
It was to the extent that Eugene could almost sympathize with the spirit’s unfiltered desires. The biggest, grandest castle he had seen until now was the main castle of the Archivold family. But Winslon Castle appeared twice as large as the Archivold family’s castle.
Eugene’s castle, which was being built in the Village of Varan by the people from the Moffern guilds, couldn’t even be compared to a quarter of the castle that lay before him.
‘As expected, titles aren’t everything.’
Being strong and powerful was the way to go. In terms of status, Baron Bommel was inferior to Viscount Fairchild. However, everything was meaningless in face of one’s power. That was why Eugene had been able to meet with Essandra even though he was a mere knight.
“Sir, sir! If it’s such a beautiful castle, even if it’s for thousands, no, tens of thousands of years, I could…Keugh!” Mirian started shouting excitedly before being stuffed back into the pocket. She was proving to be exceptionally distracting today.
Eugene narrowed his eyes.
‘Hmm?’
“Master, over there,” Luke whispered after stepping up, he noticed what Eugene saw.
“There are knights near the middle of the bridge,” Luke continued.
“I see them as well,” Eugene answered.
Clop. Clop.
The two horses slowly started crossing the bridge. The sturdy stone bridge, which was decorated with elaborate sculptures, only reached the middle of the river. The other half of the distance was occupied by the drawbridge of the castle. It seemed to have been designed in preparation for a possible siege.
There were four knights standing at the boundary of the bridge and drawbridge. The villagers and castle residents crossed the bridge casually without any hitch, although they appeared to be a little wary of the knights. But when Eugene and Luke tried to cross the boundary, two of the four knights stopped them on their way.
“Stop,” one of the knights said in a harsh tone. He was dressed in a cylindrical plate armor and was equipped with two shortswords on either side of his belt.
“Who are you, and where are you from?” The knight continued.
“Jan from the Eugene family,” Eugene answered.
“Never heard of it. Are you here to participate in the knight competition?” The knight asked.
“That’s right,” Eugene responded.
“Then get off your horse. You must pass a test to cross,” the knight declared.
“A test?” Eugene narrowed his eyes.
The other knights stepped forward as well.
“There are far too many nobodies wanting to participate in the competition because of the prize awarded to the victor. So we decided to only let participants in after they passed the test, sir,” one of the other knights explained.
“Decided? Who did? Did Count Winslon make the decision?” Eugene asked.
“No, we did,” one of the knights responded.
“We?” Eugene said.
The knight in the cylindrical armor raised his voice after snorting disdainfully, “It appears you lack comprehension. Or are you trying to play with words because you’re scared? Step down from your horse and participate in the test. I’ll tell you in advance. It’s a mistake to think that we will respect you just because you possess expensive armor. Who knows? Maybe you stole it or cheated it from someone.”
“Ah.” Eugene finally came to a complete understanding of the situation and slowly dismounted from Silion. “So, you are saying that since there are many knights who arrived early and settled in the castle, there aren’t very many spots left. You’re doing this to get a place in the castle and to get rid of competitors who arrive later. Am I right?” he said.
Eugene wasn’t wrong, but the knights’ gaze gleamed coldly due to Eugene’s direct words. The latter’s straightforwardness was rather unpleasant for them.
“But the guard said it’s forbidden to fight with weapons in the village. Are you saying we should fight with our fists?” Eugene asked.
The knight in the cylindrical armor pulled out his shortswords before speaking with a grin. “Sir, are you an idiot? This isn’t the village. Technically, we are standing on a bridge located above a river between the village and the castle. Count Winslon didn’t say much about this either.”
“I understand,” Eugene responded.
Count Winslon was a nobleman who was incredibly fond of outstanding knights. He was known to support knights without wanting much in return. In other words, there was a high possibility that he hated knights who were incompetent and unskilled. It was the only explanation for him to tolerate such a forced ‘test.’
“You will have to beat me. Think of this as the competition. You will have to risk your life,” the knight in cylindrical armor said.
“Hmm. So all of you sirs are my competitors?” Eugene responded.
“Ha! Now you finally understand,” the knight spoke with a grin while cracking his neck.
The three knights were looking at Eugene as if they found the situation entertaining.
Eugene calmly looked around at the three before continuing, “Then would it not be better for more competitors to disappear?”
“Huh?” The knight responded.
“It seems like you are the one who lacks comprehension,” Eugene said before raising his hands above his shoulder.
“…!”
The knights belatedly realized the meaning of Eugene’s words. Their eyes filled with shock.
Whoosh!
Luke quickly threw two battle axes after catching Eugene’s cue. As the weapons settled in Eugene’s hands, he charged at the knights without delay.
1. Koreans usually use snakes to represent a cunning and vicious person. ☜
2. chainmail covering their thighs ☜