After finishing breakfast with mint-flavored jerky stew, we headed back to the road towards the nearest city.
The smell of rotten meat didn’t cling to our tightly dried clothes; not even a hint of sweat was present.
Since I didn’t use soap or detergent, I expected at least some stench or stains to linger, but thanks to the purification abilities of a dead spirit, both the clothes and our bodies were surprisingly clean.
It felt like we wouldn’t have any trouble entering whatever city we found, starting from the entrance.
And indeed, it turned out that way.
“Hey, horseback travelers! Stop immediately!”
A group of men blocked our path not at the city gates, but smack in the middle of the empty road.
“Didn’t you hear? Stop! If you don’t, we will attack!”
These thirty-somethings were armed with bows and swords, spears and armor.
If they were bandits, I would’ve charged in without a second thought, but their gear and hygiene were definitely not what you’d see from a typical bandit.
“…What’s going on here?”
So, I halted Schwarz as per their demand and placed my right hand on the hilt, asking why they were blocking our path.
“This road is closed by the order of Baron Braum. Turn back.”
“Closed road…? Not even in a territory, but the road?”
“It’s a special measure taken for the safety of travelers. So, step back obediently.”
They were the knights and soldiers of Baron Braum, the lord ruling this area.
As a mere baron’s vassal, their skills probably didn’t even reach the level of the kingdom’s knight squad’s rookies, but…
Anyway, they wouldn’t unsheathe their swords for no reason if they weren’t bandits.
I relaxed my tense muscles and with a smile, asked for further details.
“For safety… Is there a roaming monster around or something?”
Roaming monster hunts were usually one of the main requests for adventurers, but it wasn’t rare for a lord’s soldiers to take action when adventurers were unavailable.
It seemed like that might be the case here.
Seeing three knights around indicated there might be a troll lurking nearby, and if that was the case, it made sense to block the road.
So I asked if any monsters had appeared, and the knight at the front frowned as he thumped the butt of his halberd against the ground.
“Why are you asking so many questions? It’s none of your business, so just scram. Do you take the Baron’s orders lightly?”
…This guy’s got some attitude. He won’t last long.
“Should we kill them…?”
No, Friede, what are you saying?!
She turned to me like a possessed doll and asked, her eyes saying she was ready to spring out and slice that knight into sushi the moment I gave the green light.
“Whoa, whoa! Calm down, Friede.”
I hugged Friede tightly with my left arm to soothe her and naturally covered her mouth.
“I get how you feel, but we’ll be the ones getting hurt. Let’s just turn back.”
‘Should we kill them,’ huh? Thankfully, her voice was so quiet that the Baron’s knights didn’t hear; if they did, swords would’ve been drawn immediately.
How dare they say such nonsense to a knight… or something like that.
Even though I technically am a knight… revealing that fact wouldn’t change the outcome, just dress up the ensuing sword fight as “dueling.”
“Huh? What did you just say?”
“Nothing. We’re turning back as you wish. Now, if you’ll excuse us.”
I brushed off the knight’s question with a vague reply and turned Schwarz around to head back the way we came.
There was no point in exchanging more words; it could only lead to a fight. I felt a little annoyed over their rudeness, but I wasn’t about to draw my sword over a bit of frustration.
I’m not some crazy serial killer; just because I’m ticked off doesn’t mean I should smash a perfectly fine person’s skull in.
Even if I mentioned they wouldn’t live long, sending them off to meet their maker was a different matter entirely.
“How ridiculous. Stop.”
…But this punk seems to be begging to get himself killed.
Clearly not pleased with my response, the rude knight aimed his halberd at us, grumbling annoyedly.
“What’s this about?”
I clicked my tongue and turned my head again. I was just following his instruction to scram, and yet he’s still hanging around like some pest.
“What did I say? You turn around and leave, but you just mutter and turn your back? How impudent! Do you think a mere adventurer can mock a knight?”
Is he really insane?
“Ha…”
I let out a sigh of exasperation and looked at the other knights behind him.
They should be stepping in to help. What are they doing just standing there while their fellow knight acts like a complete jerk?
“Hey, Sir Rood. Calm down a bit. The Baron’s orders were just to send the travelers back, not to interrogate them.”
Good, that’s how you should intervene.
One knight who met my eyes grabbed the shoulder of the knight named Rood, trying to dissuade him.
Judging by the formal language, he didn’t seem to be a comrade but rather his subordinate…
“No, they’re acting suspiciously. The Baron’s orders, yet they even question. Suddenly they want to flee….”
It seems Rood wasn’t going to listen to the knight trying to calm him.
The other knight standing behind and the soldiers arranged like a screen all just shook their heads with ‘What’s his deal this time?’ looks, but didn’t step in.
“There must be something up for them to act this way. As a knight of the Baron, I can’t just let suspicious folks go.”
Rood was claiming to be fulfilling his duties as a knight of the Baron.
However, his gaze betrayed an obvious mischief and sadism, one he wouldn’t bother to hide.
“You lot, I need to see what you’re up to, so get off your horse and kneel. Refuse, and I’ll break your legs and throw you into the dungeon.”
From the way he spoke, it seemed he took pleasure in being a bully to ordinary citizens or travelers, doing it only because he thought he could get away with it.
“Speak of nonsense.”
Instead of getting off my horse, I placed my hand on the hilt, scowling and unleashing a string of sharp insults.
“What? Nonsense…? Ha, this insane adventurer…!”
“Shut your trash can mouth. You think a petty thug picking fights with passersby deserves to call himself a knight? As a fellow knight, I’m embarrassed.”
“…You’re a knight?”
“Correct. I’m the daughter of Sir Veloren, the former kingdom knight, and a knight of the Esther family, Fernhilde Esther.”
So, I’m a knight too, just like you. So shut your mouth and let’s part ways peacefully while I’m feeling generous. That was the point of my introduction.
I didn’t plan to reveal my name, Fernhilde, here… but still, anything was better than a bloody brawl.
It wouldn’t be hard to chop him up, but getting swarmed by the Baron’s soldiers after would lead to a huge mess.
“What nonsense… Lies should at least make sense to be believable.”
But Rood seemed startled, blinking his big eyes twice before spitting on the ground and laughing.
“Looks like you picked up a sword somewhere, running around claiming to be a knight, huh? A rag like you riding a pack horse is no knight at all.”
A ragged horse, huh? Can’t say he’s wrong.
Friede and I were wearing patched-up clothes, cleaned but still ragged from yesterday’s battle, and Schwarz was a pack horse, not a proper steed.
My armor, too, looked like old, shabby metal plates to those without an eye for quality, just typical equipment for adventurers.
They say you see as much as you know, after all.
To the knight dressed head-to-toe in shiny armor, my appearance might indeed look unworthy of a knight.
Maybe that’s why he acted so arrogantly from the start, seeing me as just some common adventurer.
“A knight on a pack horse, huh? Sounds like Veloren hasn’t even got enough for a decent outfit and for her a proper horse, huh?”
Now that crossed the line. How dare he speak someone’s name so casually.
“You’re not a knight, just a lowlife worse than a commoner.”
This punk really needs to die.
The moment I thought that, my sword already smashed through his helmet, shattering it into pieces.
His skull burst open like a watermelon hit by a hammer. The knight’s body convulsed before it fell down lifeless.
It was a strike faster and stronger than any I had ever dealt. He ended up dead without a chance to react, even though he used to be a knight.
“Sir, Rood?!”
“This crazy… what’s happening suddenly?!”
Only then did the Baron’s soldiers jolt awake, their screams echoing as they hastily raised their weapons.
Shock, horror, fear, disbelief. And enmity.
Just looking at them, it seemed words wouldn’t solve this entire mess.
I wiped the blood splatter off my cheek with my thumb and sighed deeply inside.
I messed up. Damn it.
My mouth had that bitter taste. But somehow, I felt a bit relieved too.
◆◆
That day, Baron Braum received three skulls.
Rood, Bron, and Jace.
The skulls of the three men he had knighted.
The bodies of twelve soldiers were just a bonus.
The wandering monster known to have slain thirty people: the creature of Pinwood Forest.
The moment the rumors about it being a monster even surpassing the capabilities of a knight spread, everyone knew.
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