Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Opening the Heavens (2)
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Grita accepted my proposal without much thought.
She said they were in desperate need of reinforcements anyway due to the heavy losses among the squires.
I immediately brought Sasha over and introduced him to her.
His aptitude was tested on the spot.
To put it simply, Sasha was no longer a beggar.
Surprisingly, it was Grita who took Sasha in.
She, who hadn't taken on anyone new with her own Ascension in mind, accepted Sasha as her squire right then and there.
It was a decision she made after hearing that Sasha was the one who had quickly relayed the news to Komlat when the mercenaries and I made our desperate escape with the refugees, allowing reinforcements to arrive in time.
“His aptitude and his character are both rare talents.”
Watching Grita shower him with praise left me with mixed feelings.
I was the one who brought Sasha, but I felt a strange twist of jealousy.
I grumbled to myself.
Damn talented bastards, I wish they'd all disappear from the world.
“I wanted to be your squire, Hyeongnim...”
Oblivious to my feelings, Sasha spouted such nonsense.
“Shut it.”
Anyway, I pawned Sasha off on Grita and left the inn.
As I was walking down the street, someone else greeted me.
“Esquire.”
It was Bok, Garon, and the other mercenaries from the Forsaken Dogs mercenary company.
“We heard you'll be leaving soon...”
Having heard the news from somewhere, they asked where I was going after leaving Komlat.
It wasn't something to hide, so I told them the truth. After hearing me out, the mercenaries whispered among themselves for a while.
“We'll go with you.”
“...?”
I asked for a reason behind their sudden declaration.
“Just seems like it'd be fun to follow you around, Esquire.”
I was dumbfounded.
For a mercenary company to move its base of operations meant abandoning all the credit and connections they had built up.
Of course, the guilds in each city shared some information, so it would be better than starting completely fresh, but they'd still have to deal with local hostility and would clearly be at a disadvantage in many ways.
To move their base despite such disadvantages, just because it seemed fun.
What kind of ridiculous nonsense was this?
“The requests we get in Komlat are all pretty much the same.”
“And since we're living by the sword anyway, wouldn't it be better to play in the big leagues?”
Bok and Garon, as if aware of this, hurriedly added.
Still, it all sounded like childish nonsense to me.
“Big fish live in the big leagues. Terrifying ones that'll swallow little fish like you in one bite.”
Despite my scolding, the mercenaries just grinned.
“...You're really going to follow?”
“Yes.”
An unhesitating reply, as if they had already made up their minds.
“We trust you, Esquire.”
“The Relief Knights, that was fun.”
“That's right! Where else would we have gotten to see a sorcerer!”
The way they chattered on as if I were some fairy from a tale, guiding them to dreams and adventure, was truly pathetic.
Grown men, so immature.
But it would be ridiculous for an outsider like me to argue about their decision.
“...Do as you please.”
After parting with the mercenaries, I was walking down the street when I saw Anton in the distance.
When I told him about the Forsaken Dogs' decision, he thought for a moment before speaking.
“How about this?”
He said that while clearing the debris, they had found the corpse of a Chimera that the enemy hadn't managed to retrieve. He felt the existing reports were insufficient, so he planned to send the corpse to headquarters and use this opportunity to publicize the existence of Chimeras.
To do that, they needed someone to safely escort the corpse to the guild headquarters in Gesentium.
“Knight Gunther and the Forsaken Dogs could team up again. As the Relief Knights.”
He was saying he wanted to entrust the task to us and the Forsaken Dogs.
I weighed the pros and cons in my head.
First off, accepting Anton's request had far more advantages.
We would get paid, and since it was an official mission, the guilds in each city would accommodate us. It would be much easier than moving without a formal request.
The problem was the possibility that the Blue Tower would target us to retrieve the Chimera's corpse.
That part seemed manageable somehow.
But instead of giving a direct answer, I postponed the decision, saying I would discuss it with Gunther.
After parting with Anton, I wandered the streets of Komlat for a long time.
“You're back.”
When I returned to the room, Gunther greeted me.
Across from him sat Godrec, the lord of Komlat.
“My lord.”
I offered a light bow and greeted him, but the lord gave a dismissive wave and spoke to Gunther.
“Considering the goodwill I've shown you, shouldn't you reconsider?”
“If you feel so apologetic, you should just accept my proposal.”
It was obvious what kind of conversation they'd been having.
“My lord.”
I immediately interjected.
“What exactly is this 'goodwill' you speak of, my lord?”
The lord frowned.
I couldn't tell if it was because he was displeased with me for tactlessly interrupting his conversation with a superior, or if he found my feigned ignorance of his goodwill preposterous.
Not that I needed to know.
“I gave you the best room in the inner castle and provided all sorts of conveniences. Surely you're not going to feign ignorance now.”
The lord didn't hide his displeasure.
Just a short while ago, he had acted as if he would give his heart and soul to make Gunther stay, but now he was acting like a debt collector.
“As I said, I am also...”
“Master.”
I stopped Gunther from stepping in and turned to face the lord.
“Hoo.”
I took a deep breath and let it all out at once.
“Do you think a Holy Knight, who considers austerity a virtue, would be comfortable staying in such a luxurious room?”
“Yet, why do you think he endured such discomfort to stay here?”
“Do you disagree that thanks to the Master's presence here, you, my lord, were able to sleep soundly?”
“Have you forgotten that the Master slaughtered three sorcerers and repelled a Madosa for the safety of Komlat?”
“Was it not goodwill towards Komlat that, as a knight, he did not shy away from harsh labor, helping with the restoration and caring for the injured?”
I listed all that Gunther had accomplished for Komlat right in front of the lord.
*Gape.*
The lord's mouth fell open.
His face screamed that he never expected me to so brazenly list his achievements.
I didn't want to be so harsh to the benefactor who had lined my pockets so well, but I had no other choice.
If I left him be, the overly righteous Gunther might say something foolish about repaying a debt that wasn't even a debt.
To begin with, Free Knights were prey for the Empire's nobles.
Even if they both acted arrogantly, one side consisted of righteous fools who couldn't even properly boast of their deeds because of their honor, while the other side consisted of swindlers who would invent achievements just to take credit for them.
Naturally, Gunther was the former, and the lord was the latter.
Wasn't he trying to ensnare Gunther just by providing a few conveniences?
Just a while ago, he was calling him Komlat's savior, acting as if he'd give his heart and soul.
If I hadn't been here, he would have taken Gunther for a fool.
He would have made some ridiculous demand, telling him to repay the debt for a few paltry conveniences.
Not while I'm still breathing.
“Ah. I've spoken out of turn. You must have known all of this without me listing it one by one, my lord.”
I decided to push it one step further.
“Come to think of it, I almost committed a great discourtesy.”
I implied that if the lord, the representative of Komlat, were to ignore the one who had rendered such great service, he might earn the disgraceful reputation of a shameless man.
I added that since he was from a monastery and detached from worldly things, he had perhaps been too modest.
“It's a relief that I've realized it now.”
In short, it was a demand to offer a reward on his own accord, unless he wanted to lose face.
It was a different kind of honor from that of knights, but nobles also lived and died by their reputation.
The lord's face, which had been about to wipe its mouth clean of any obligation, turned dark.
I enjoyed the look on the lord's face.
I was already looking forward to seeing what reward he would offer.
“Yan.”
But that only lasted until Gunther called my name.
“That's enough. Can't you see you're making the lord uncomfortable?”
That damned Gunther, instead of backing me up, threw a wrench in the works.
“I did not do it for a reward, so please pay no mind to this child's words.”
“Master!”
“Haven't we already received more than enough of a reward from the guild? Greed invites disaster.”
Unable to bear watching Gunther scold me, as if he were determined to ruin everything, I whipped my head away.
“Haha. I was planning to reward you handsomely, but since you put it that way, I shall not tarnish a Knight's austerity.”
Seizing the opportunity, the lord drove the final nail in the coffin and fled.
“Agh, agh!”
I beat my chest and screamed.
Gunther's righteousness was so frustrating.
Then I stormed out the door.
“Wander around until you've calmed down. I won't say anything even if you come back late tonight.”
I let Gunther's words from behind me go in one ear and out the other.
Gunther seemed to think I'd stormed out in a fit of pique, but he couldn't be more wrong.
“My lord!”
I immediately chased after the lord.
Waddling with his corpulent body, the lord flinched and turned to look at me.
“It's just that...”
*Ahem.* Clearing my throat, I spoke to the lord.
The lord's face turned dark once more.
* * *
The next day.
“Alright, everyone, line up!”
“This is a gift from the lord, so be grateful!”
Low-ranking officials from Komlat Castle were in the public square, handing out wheat and oats.
“What's gotten into that cheapskate lord?”
“I know, right? Why'd he open the storehouses?”
As the citizens tilted their heads in confusion, some passing beggars whispered.
“I heard from someone who works in the castle...”
“The commander of the Relief Knights gave his share of the reward from the lord to the citizens...”
“They say that's how Holy Knights do things, or something.”
Hearing this, the citizens began to praise Gunther.
“A Holy Knight is truly different.”
“I wish all the knights in the world were like the commander of the Relief Knights.”
“Hey now. You think someone like our Knight Gunther is common?”
I watched the scene quietly.
The heavy feeling in my chest, as if a large stone had been lodged there, finally began to ease a little.
“If I can't have it, no one can.”
It was upsetting to see what should have been in my pocket being scattered about, but it wasn't unbearable when I thought of the lord shedding tears of blood as he watched his storehouses empty.
And so, after listening to the citizens praise Gunther for a while, I returned to my room.
“I hear the lord is distributing relief grain to the citizens. See? Even if I don't accept it, it ends up with those who need it.”
Listening to the oblivious Gunther's carefree words, night fell before I knew it.
“I'm heading out, Master.”
“I can go with you if you want.”
“What am I, a child?”
With Gunther seeing me off, I left the room.
“Esquire Yan?”
“Ah, I have some business to attend to. Just stepping out for a bit.”
It should have been suspicious for me to be leaving the castle at this late hour, but the guards opened the side gate for me without any probing questions.
It was the same at the outer gate.
And so, I headed out of the castle without any hindrance.
Under a sky with a new moon, where the starlight was especially bright.
“You've come.”
Grita was waiting for me.
“Little squire.”
She said to me.
“Tonight, your heavens will open.”
She said that after tonight, the world around me would change.