Chapter 10
Chapter 10
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Squire
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The Grand Duchess's palace, which I was seeing for the first time, was truly magnificent.
Even Don Alphao's mansion had been incredibly lavish.
But they'd made that place look downright shabby by comparison.
Reddish walls encircling the palace, expansive gardens, and fountains.
Gazing at the palace where dark yellow and gray blended exquisitely into a luxurious hue, I couldn't help but let out a sigh of admiration.
I'd never been to Europe, but it felt like it could stand toe-to-toe with the palaces of ancient European kings.
-Creak.
As the carriage came to a stop, Charles opened the door.
How massive was this place?
My own house wasn't cheap, either... I suddenly wondered how much this palace must have cost, but I couldn't even begin to guess.
"It's easy to get lost if it's your first time, so please follow me closely."
I nodded at Charles's polite words and glanced around sidelong.
Delicate marble sculptures and classical oil paintings caught my eye whether I wanted them to or not.
Would one of those be enough to live off forever without working?
In modern South Korea, starvation from lack of money was rare, but this world was different.
It was a brutal place where you could end up sold into slavery without cash, thanks to how primitive society was.
Probably the biggest change in me since arriving here was turning into a total materialist.
I recalled the time I'd gone three days without food due to having no money and ended up eating the watery gruel beggars slurped up in front of the city gates.
"We're now before Her Highness the Grand Duchess's throne room. Please mind your posture."
Charles paused before a massive door and scanned me from head to toe before speaking.
"Your shirt collar is wrinkled."
I let Charles adjust the collar at my neck.
"Better now?"
He gave a small nod.
-Sir Charles and Squad Leader Aiden, enter!
A powerful voice rang out from within.
It was clearly a woman's voice—pleasant to the ear, yet laced with an inexplicable authority.
Charles opened the door and stepped in, so I followed cautiously.
Luna sat upon a throne atop a high dais, surrounded below by several men.
-Step, step.
As Charles approached the throne, I trailed carefully behind.
He bowed his head.
"As per Your Highness the Grand Duchess's command, I have brought Squad Leader Aiden."
Luna's expression was impassive.
She rested her chin on her hand, gazing down at me arrogantly with cold red eyes.
"Well done. Squad Leader Aiden, I've heard tales of your recent exploits outside. You captured a lowlife of poor character and uncovered the vermin gnawing at this grand duchy, yes?"
Was she really summoning me just to give me a reward?
I answered the impassive Luna looking down at me.
"You overpraise me."
I knew she had a cold personality, but seeing it up close made her seem even more devoid of warmth.
We'd even slept together, for crying out loud.
"Modest, are you? But your deeds merit a reward. Bishop Bodean, by the laws of the land, what reward does Aiden deserve?"
An elderly man responded to Luna's words.
"A two-rank promotion to Deputy Guard Commander. With the previous deputy arrested yesterday, leaving the post vacant, naming him would be fitting."
Was that Bodean?
The man from the original story who aided Luna in ousting the regent with great merit.
Even Luna, who rarely reconsidered her decisions, would think twice on Bodean's advice.
Honestly, becoming deputy commander would be more than I could ask for.
I hadn't done it for the recognition anyway.
Wait... but becoming deputy would delay my escape even further, wouldn't it?
Running away as someone personally appointed by the Grand Duchess would be a grave insult to Luna.
She might even send assassins after me.
That... I had to avoid at all costs.
"Is saving my life and capturing those who suck the blood of my people worth a mere promotion like that?"
But seeing Luna claim the reward was insufficient, I swallowed hard inwardly.
"By law, however, two ranks is the maximum."
This isn't good. I might get force-promoted.
If I didn't step in here, it'd mess up my future plans, so I hurriedly spoke up.
"Your Highness the Grand Duchess, forgive my impertinence, but I merely did my duty. Please withdraw the reward."
The room fell silent as I tried to speak with as much decorum as possible.
Luna's cold eyes gazing down at me flickered slightly.
"Oh? You're refusing the reward yourself? Most would inflate their achievements to claim one. Are you rejecting it because it's too small?"
Too small? If anything, it was too big.
Big enough to throw off my departure timing if I wasn't careful.
I hurriedly bowed my head and dropped to one knee like in some movie.
"No, the reward exceeds my station. But I merely followed the law, so rewarding that would be unjust. No nation rewards adherence to the law. I beg you to withdraw it."
The throne room was silent for a long while.
With no reaction for quite some time, I cautiously lifted my head to look at Luna.
The Grand Duchess was slowly scanning my body.
What was she thinking right now?
"Aiden, can you read and write?"
"Yes, I can."
The locals' words sounded like Korean and looked like it too, so it was only natural.
"Can you handle basic arithmetic?"
Aren't four operations something elementary school kids learn?
"Yes, I can."
Luna gave a faint smile at my obvious reply.
"Good. Do you know anything of tactics?"
"Tactics, you say?"
"How to fight in battle and wage war."
I had no idea why she was suddenly asking something so out of left field.
"I know of hammer and anvil in battle, and that in war, it's best to attack in numbers against the few."
If you played battle games, you'd know hammer and anvil. And obviously, overwhelming the enemy with numbers was easier in war.
But Luna nodded as if she saw it differently.
"Very well. The Guard Commander position is vacant, so I appoint you as Guard Commander. Continue serving my revival efforts henceforth."
In the grand audience chamber, only my hollow groan echoed.
"Pardon?"
***
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The carriage ride home from the Grand Duchess's palace.
A deep sigh escaped me unbidden.
"Hah, what the hell is this."
I'd clearly said I didn't need it, but Luna slapped the hat on my head anyway.
Now my schedule was all screwed up.
I'd planned to sell the house and leave in a few months.
"How am I supposed to leave now?"
I had no clue what a Guard Commander even did.
Hell, I'd only become squad leader a few days ago.
This kind of rocket promotion was unheard of.
Vain, the capital of Heyron Grand Duchy, was the heart of the duchy.
The Guard Commander post there wasn't some poker win—it wasn't something you'd hand to a guy you'd met just days ago, right?
Personally, I wanted to grab Luna and ask, but she scared me too much to try.
"So now what...?"
I didn't even know what Guard Commanders did from the start.
As squad leader, I knew it involved patrolling with the squad even before becoming one, but what the heck did a commander do?
I pondered deeply, but only one thing came to mind.
"Don't Guard Commanders just take bribes? Anything else?"
I'd lived in Vain for months now, but I really didn't know the job.
All I'd heard were rumors of them taking huge bribes from Don Alphao and enjoying favors at brothels.
"Wait... doesn't this mean I can't take bribes anymore?"
There were tons of people greasing palms in Vain.
Don Alphao was a big shot in the underworld, but I'd heard major merchants and nobles shelled out plenty too.
Honestly, I'd flipped the Alphao Family because of our bad blood, but bribes from merchants or nobles? Those should be fine, right?
Merchants paid to cut transit taxes, nobles to hush up incidents in Vain.
But now... taking bribes would be tough, wouldn't it?
I might not have minded before, but with the mood already sour over corruption, getting caught?
I vaguely sensed the death penalty looming.
"Speaking of, her glare was murderous, huh?"
It'd only been one night, but the way she looked at me was seriously vicious.
If she hated seeing me that much, why summon me?
Luna probably didn't want to see me at all.
Given her personality, she'd only met me to reward merit.
She was strict with herself, so even poisoned by aphrodisiac, she wouldn't look fondly on our night together.
This was a deeply conservative society, after all.
Sure, depraved nobles existed, but they kept it hidden—few flaunted it.
Such behavior was seen as vulgar in noble circles.
In a world with real gods and divine power, it was condemned outright.
Whatever the case, the important thing was that I'd saved my neck.
-Captain Aiden, we've arrived.
"Got it."
I opened the door, greeted the coachman, and headed inside.
-Creak.
Dark living room.
-Fwoosh.
I lit the fireplace in the living room and stared into the flames for a bit.
Squad leader yesterday, commander tomorrow...
I never dreamed it'd turn out like this.
***
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ That evening, after Aiden left.
In the Grand Duchess's palace garden.
Luna gripped her sword with both hands, staring at a tree some distance away.
Then she closed her eyes.
For a brief moment, she remained utterly still.
Luna opened her eyes, her red gaze flashing as she swung the sword wide...
-Whoosh.
A faint something sliced through the air with a thin sound.
-Boom!
The tree toppled.
'My focus is off.'
It was a fine strike, but Luna wasn't satisfied.
She aimed for even higher realms.
Staring straight ahead, Luna spoke.
"Charles, what did your investigation turn up?"
"It's full of suspicious points—not just one or two."
"Like what?"
Luna had found Aiden intriguing during the audience.
He knew more than expected.
Being able to read and write here meant some education, at least.
You could learn with effort, but realistically, only nobles or the wealthy could afford it.
Most scraped by day-to-day, with no time for studies.
And those who could do arithmetic? Far fewer than the literate.
But...
-I know of hammer and anvil in battle, and that in war, it's best to attack in numbers against the few.
Knowing military theory and tactics was another level entirely.
That sparked Luna's suspicion.
You didn't learn that unless you were an officer or high noble.
So Luna figured Aiden was a high noble's son.
But then why was he in the duchy? That raised questions.
Charles spoke up.
"First, he listed his birthplace as Seoul."
Luna frowned at the unfamiliar word she'd never heard before.
"Seoul?"
With countless cities, villages, and forts here, "Seoul" was utterly alien.
"Yes. Age twenty-three. Status: commoner. But no other records exist."
Luna felt perplexed at Charles's words.
"Could the documents be falsified...? Probably not."
No one would fake them unless they wanted to be chased out of Vain.
'What is he? Not a spy, surely?'
A spy wouldn't make documents that stood out so much.
So the Grand Duchess pondered slowly.
'Hammer and anvil is basic, the surest tactic. Attacking many against few is fundamental strategy.'
Both basic, sure.
But Luna highly valued Aiden for boldly stating the fundamentals before her.
She knew how crucial basics were.
Nothing stood without them.
So she'd pegged him as noble-born, maybe a spy infiltrating the duchy, but his documents were sloppily done.
Suspiciously so, like how he'd even gotten Vain citizenship.
"How did papers like that pass inspection?"
"Well... His looks resemble East Continent natives, so they thought he was from an East Continent city."
She scowled at Charles's explanation.
"Is there a city called Seoul in the East Continent?"
Charles had traveled the East Continent before.
He shook his head.
"'Seoul' is unfamiliar even there. It's surely not an East Continent place name."
In the end, Luna found Aiden's identity even harder to pin down.
But at least, not a spy.
A spy wouldn't list an unknown name.
'I thought he was a noble in hiding, like the rumors said?'
She'd heard the rumors too.
About a noble youth with sword skills good enough to save Swordmaster Luna.
But she'd dismissed them as nonsense.
His skills that day had looked pathetic.
If truly skilled, he'd have used a sword to fell knights, not a crossbow.
A real expert would fight knights head-on, but she'd seen him dodging them.
Luna, burned by betrayals, reasonably suspected Aiden hid his identity as an agent of outside forces approaching her. She'd ordered Charles to investigate quietly, but it only deepened the mystery.
"Sir Charles, don't you have a squire?"
"Yes, that's right."
As an idea flashed through Luna's mind, a faint smile crept across her face—chilling to behold.
"Now that he's commander, he'll need a secretary and guard. Assign your squire to Aiden for surveillance."