A True Knight
Davie let out another laugh at Joseph's question. This mage was a far stranger creature than he had expected. Any mage worth his salt would have been salivating over the fame that awaited him—yet here was this one, calculating his practical returns.
So he's not some noble's bastard, at least.
He found himself taking a genuine interest in Joseph, a man who showed so little appetite for reputation.
"I'll see that you're properly compensated, of course."
Even if Davie had never been granted a title or a fief of his own, he had hardly been cast out as a beggar. He had more than enough gold for this. At his gesture, a servant promptly brought over a pouch of gold coins. Joseph's eyes flickered faintly at the sight of it.
"And besides, this isn't just anywhere—it's a dungeon."
Davie was not ignorant of what a dungeon meant to a mage. Dungeons were places where demonic beasts swarmed for some underlying reason—and those reasons were, more often than not, precisely the sorts of things that would pique a mage's interest. A laboratory left behind by another mage. Traces of some unknown mystery. Things of that nature.
"What if I promised that whatever comes out of it would go to you, Mage?"
What Davie needed was not gold. He needed the reputation of having subjugated a dungeon. Rising to the status of a proper noble through that fame mattered more than anything else. The byproducts of the dungeon, then, he was more than willing to hand over.
"...Hmm."
Davie's proposal was, in fact, quite appealing. What Joseph needed right now was money, nothing else. To make a donation to the Church, he needed far more wealth than he currently possessed.
Two pouches of gold for a single dungeon...
Joseph recalled the dungeon he had found in Kutna. I found an artifact there, too. The one that halted the flow of mana—currently gathering dust at home because he couldn't control it yet.
Gold on offer, plus the dungeon's byproducts thrown in. There was no reason to refuse.
There's just one thing that bothers me...
"If I may ask—where is this dungeon located?"
No matter how he turned it over, he had never heard of a dungeon anywhere near here matching what Davie described. The demonic beasts around Caladon mostly drifted out of Harbert Forest. Harbert Forest did share certain characteristics with a dungeon, but that couldn't be what he meant.
"The eastern coast of the territory. About a week's journey from here."
"A week's journey?"
That was essentially the far edge of the territory. Factoring in the round trip plus the subjugation itself, it would take a month at minimum—possibly well over two.
This... is a bigger job than I thought.
Joseph ran the numbers. He needed to prepare a donation first if he wanted to learn healing magic. He was in the middle of producing artifacts, but the output wasn't high. Putting together a lump sum would take considerable time. Davie's offer was definitely catching his interest. He'd have to leave the city for a while, but in the end it would amount to something like a high-paying short-term gig.
Besides... honestly, all this attention has been wearing me out.
More than anything, Joseph had lately been growing weary of the interest pouring in from all sides. Even just heading out to Harbert Forest, he'd drawn every eye in the vicinity. Having power meant being widely known—but in practice, he couldn't even leave his house in peace, and it was a genuine nuisance.
Might as well use this as an excuse to lie low for a while.
Unlike traveling alone, Davie would handle the logistics, so there wouldn't be too much hardship.
Traveling with a noble is a bit uncomfortable, though...
"Well? What do you say?"
When Davie pressed him, Joseph finally spoke.
"Very well. However, I'd like a few conditions."
"If it's about comfort during the journey, you needn't worry."
Joseph shook his head.
"I still have matters to attend to in Caladon. I'll need time to wrap those up."
"Matters to attend to? You mean making those artifacts of yours?"
"That's part of it... but I also plan to return to Harbert Forest in a few days."
Joseph intended to take mercenaries and explore the northern forest again—the same one he'd visited last time. He'd already submitted a commission, so canceling would be a hassle. More importantly, if things went well, he could pocket a decent sum there too. If he was going to do it anyway, he wanted to handle it as planned first.
"Well now... you've got more guts than I expected!"
Davie looked at him as if examining some curious specimen, stroking his chin. Each time his hand passed over his thick, coarse beard, it made a dry, rasping sound.
"If it's possible, might I join you on that expedition as well?"
"...Pardon?"
Joseph stared at him as if he'd misheard. Davie twisted the corner of his mouth into a grin.
"Ah, I'm not asking for a share of the pay. Didn't I mention? My men died in that place."
He made a show of saying he at least ought to recover the bodies and give them a proper burial. Naturally, Joseph didn't believe a word of it.
A man planning to subjugate a dungeon wouldn't be ignorant of what demonic beasts do.
This wasn't some rural knight like Auger. There was no way. His men's corpses would already have made fine nourishment for the beasts. He was just attaching a convenient excuse to travel with Joseph.
Does he want to gauge my abilities before we set out?
Or perhaps he simply wanted to start the subjugation as soon as possible. Either way, Davie would have to keep camp here until Joseph joined him. If Joseph were a mere commoner, Davie would have dragged him along without a word of discussion—but he couldn't pull that kind of stunt with a mage of Caladon.
"That's fine, but..."
Joseph's gaze flicked instinctively to Davie's armor. He was the only person here wearing a full suit of metal plate. Unlike Auger's, though, this armor was marked with small nicks and scratches here and there—it didn't look like something freshly commissioned.
"Worried I might get hurt?"
Joseph flinched slightly. He had, vaguely, been thinking exactly that—but admitting it here would be a grave discourtesy. He couldn't deny it either. Judging by Davie's reaction, the man had already caught on.
"...My apologies. It's a dangerous place, after all."
It was a place crawling with insect-type demonic beasts, with things like Cry Peepers—giant crows or eagles, he still wasn't sure—wheeling overhead. This time they wouldn't be slipping through quietly. They intended to hunt those things head-on. Of course he was concerned.
"Have you met knights before, Mage?"
"...I have."
The faces of Auger and Manir flashed through his mind—two knights at opposite extremes.
The words sounded rude at first glance, but they carried Davie's confidence as a knight. Then, as if considering something, he nodded.
"If you're that concerned, how about a light spar with one of your private soldiers?"
"...A spar?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. We'll take training weapons and go at it—nothing that would cause serious injury."
Davie lifted the corner of his mouth, looking thoroughly self-assured. Joseph was briefly taken aback, then started thinking.
...A proposal that's hard to wriggle out of.
He could roughly guess Davie's thinking. Joseph had doubted his abilities, so Davie intended to demonstrate his strength by beating down a private soldier—without being outright rude about it.
Even so, the confidence is staggering.
Davie hadn't even stepped out of his tent while Joseph was arriving. He knew the private soldiers existed, but he hadn't actually laid eyes on them. And yet he seemed certain he wouldn't lose, not even as a remote possibility.
...Is a true knight something else entirely?
Manir had been skilled enough to hold a troll at bay by himself.
Is this arrogance... or is he actually stronger than Manir?
There was no way to know. If it was the latter, the man was a monster.
"I'd be honored if you'd spar with them. It would be a great help to my soldiers as well."
Whatever the reason, Joseph had no grounds to refuse. Turning this down would only sour a noble's mood for no good reason. And besides, it really would benefit his soldiers.
"Excellent! Then let's get ready!"
Davie nodded vigorously at Joseph's words. The grin on his face looked almost boyish.
They won't go down in a single blow... surely.
Joseph naturally didn't expect his soldiers to win. But they had, in their own way, been through all kinds of experiences in a short time. Even a knight shouldn't be able to just—
No... I can't be sure.
Joseph sighed inwardly.
Afterward, all the baggage in front of Davie's tent was cleared away, creating a wide open space. The private soldiers, having heard about the spar, looked thoroughly bewildered.
"A spar... with a knight, sir?"
They were visibly flustered by the sudden turn of events. They'd encountered knights before, sure—but to face one head-on, one-on-one?
"...Who's going, then?"
"Anyone feeling confident?"
At Joseph's question, the three of them exchanged glances. Then both pairs of eyes turned toward Jiren.
"Among the three of us, Jiren's the strongest."
Derik answered with a faintly dissatisfied look. Through actual combat, they had a rough sense of each other's abilities.
"Jiren, you all right with this?"
"Yes, sir."
Jiren nodded without much hesitation and stepped straight out into the clearing.
"A manly fellow!"
Davie, waiting on the opposite side, looked Jiren over as he spoke.
"What's your name?"
"Jiren, sir."
"Right. What weapons will you take?"
"A shield and an axe will do."
"Not bad."
Jiren received a shield and a training axe from a soldier. The weight and shape were different from what he usually used, so he kept turning them over in his palms, getting a feel for them. Davie stood waiting for him to grow accustomed.
Meanwhile, Derik, standing beside Joseph, spoke up carefully.
"Sir Joseph..."
"Worried after all?"
"Yes... um, what happens if the knight gets hurt?"
"...?"
What kind of question was that? Joseph looked at Derik in surprise, and Derik scratched his face, embarrassed.
"No, I don't mean it seriously... just hypothetically."
Joseph glanced at Auk standing beside Derik. Auk gave a slight cough and looked at Joseph as well. Apparently they were both thinking the same thing.
"...You lot aren't ordinary either, are you."
"Sir?"
Who, in this situation, pictured themselves beating a knight? Had traveling with Joseph given them this much nerve, or had they always been like this...?
"No, don't worry about that. Even if you win, nothing dangerous will come of it. I'll take responsibility."
"Understood."
Jiren, standing out in the clearing, turned and answered.
"You were listening?"
"...Sorry, sir."
Jiren bowed his head, then turned back to face forward.