Omens
The count let out a satisfied hum as he savored the sea god’s flesh Kyle had brought him. “Mmm… this is delicious.”
Fish normally lost its freshness and spoiled quickly after death. According to what Kyle had said, eating something that had been dead for days all the way inland should have been nothing more than a dream. But Kyle had Yuri by his side. The Grand Duke’s daughter of the North and a master of ice magic. At Kyle’s request, Yuri had flash-frozen the sea god’s meat, and the perfectly preserved flesh had made the long journey to the count’s territory without spoiling.
“Does it suit your taste, Father?”
“It does. I never thought I’d get to eat fresh seafood like this.”
“It’s expensive, after all. Fish.”
Even in a world with magic, the difficulty of enjoying seafood was much the same as on Earth. To freeze fish with magic required hiring a mage, and that came at a steep cost. To make it profitable, you needed to transport a massive quantity of fish. But freezing that much required a high-level mage. To cover the cost of such a mage and still turn a profit, you needed even more fish… and so on. This endless vicious cycle had made eating ocean fish an impossible luxury for commoners living inland.
“It’s fortunate that Lady Yuri knows ice magic.”
“Father. You can just call her your daughter-in-law comfortably.”
“…Right. I’ll do that.”
The count let out a helpless chuckle as he watched Yuri boldly pursue his son. He genuinely wondered what was so charming about the boy. Well, he had become a Master, so at least in terms of ability there was nothing lacking. With that alone, they would never have to worry about food for the rest of their lives…
Once the meal was over, the count spoke to Kyle with careful hesitation.
“I’m sorry to give you work during your vacation, but… there’s something I need you to do.”
“Huh? What is it?”
“It’s nothing major. Just patrol the territory.”
Kyle’s eyes sparkled at the count’s words.
While Kyle had been away at the academy, strange things had been happening in the count’s territory. For some reason, damage from monster attacks had increased far beyond normal levels. It was bizarre, but the reason became clear soon enough. The count had dispatched knights to protect the suffering people. Then monsters appeared somewhere else, and he dispatched knights again. Dispatch after dispatch after dispatch. In the end, only the bare minimum of knights needed to guard the territory remained. There was no more room to spare.
“It’s strange. Something like this is extremely rare even across hundreds of years of imperial history.”
“Then shouldn’t you request support from the empire?”
“I already did. The reply was ridiculous. They said they couldn’t lend His Majesty’s troops just because we’re being harassed by mere goblins and orcs.”
If the empire had been a powerful centralized state that ruled its entire territory directly, this would never have happened. But this world operated under feudalism, and the emperor’s actual authority wasn’t that strong. He wasn’t the supreme being that people from the 21st century often imagined—one who had completely conquered and ruled a nation. He was simply the strongest noble. And from the perspective of the strongest noble, sending away troops that would weaken his own forces in the current situation was something to be avoided.
“That’s true… things have been far too peaceful lately. On top of that, the power held by the nobles has been steadily accumulating.”
The emperor had begun to worry that if any cracks appeared in his own power, other nobles might aim for his throne. It was unlikely that the heavenly seat, passed down so smoothly, could be stolen easily. Still, the pinnacle was always a position where one had to worry that someone might covet their place. And so, with no hope of receiving aid from the imperial family, the count turned to Kyle, who happened to have free time on his hands.
“I’d be grateful if you could go out, exterminate the monsters, and do a little scouting if you notice anything strange.”
“That’s easy enough.”
Kyle readily accepted the task. The moment his son, a Master, agreed to handle it, every last trace of worry vanished from the count’s face. After all, there was nothing a Master couldn’t do. At least, as long as the request wasn’t to hunt a legendary dragon or to topple the empire itself. And simply asking him to take care of a few monsters was an overwhelmingly trivial matter in a Master’s eyes.
“Are the preparations for departure complete?”
“Yes, sir!”
At Kyle’s question, the knight demonstrated with his own body that everything was ready. The knights, carrying only light gear, immediately mounted their horses. Once he confirmed they were all in the saddle, Kyle gave the order to depart. Normally the lord would issue such commands personally, but right now Kyle was acting in his stead.
“Let’s go.”
The knights spurred their horses at once and galloped out of the territory. Since it was a place he had visited before, Kyle pulled the reins without hesitation. After riding for some time—long enough for the horses to be panting as if they might collapse—they finally arrived at the village that had sent the messenger. Kyle tilted his head in confusion.
“What the… why is there nothing here?”
The village that was supposedly suffering from monster attacks was completely empty. Not only were there no monsters, there weren’t even any people. Sensing something was wrong, the knights gripped the hilts of their swords. That was when arrows came whistling in from somewhere.
“It’s an ambush!”
At the senior knight’s shout, the others pulled the shields from their backs and blocked the incoming arrows. Kyle casually flicked the arrows away with his sword and stared quietly at their attackers.
…Hmm. Should I just stay back?
He could wipe them out in an instant if he stepped forward, but he wanted the knights of his family to grow if possible. Deciding he would only intervene in an emergency, Kyle watched their movements carefully.
The ones who had shot arrows at Kyle and the knights exchanged cautious nods.
“They really are knights from the Meyer family.”
“What about the kid at the front?”
“Looks like the family’s heir… Perfect timing. We’ll take him with us.”
They nocked more arrows and fired again. But there was no way they could defeat heavily armored knights with mere arrows. In the end, it came down to a clash of cold steel—swords and spears against swords and spears. Still, they were confident.
Those pathetic Meyer family knights… compared to us…
Their bodies were covered in mystical tattoos drawn by a black mage. One day, a black mage had suddenly appeared and offered them power. There was only one thing the black mage wanted in return: the conquest of other families. So they had done exactly that. They had set their sights on the neighboring Meyer family and begun a series of calculated ambushes. The sudden increase in monsters and the scattering of the knights had all been part of their plan.
“Here they come.”
They watched as the Meyer knights charged forward on horseback only to hesitate when blocked by the trees, then rushed in. While his subordinates clashed with the Meyer knights, their leader leaped toward the Meyer family heir who was standing alone in the distance, staring blankly in their direction.
He hadn’t expected the boy to leap straight down from that height in a single bound. The heir had made no preparations against a surprise attack.
What a greenhorn—!
Thinking it was perfect, he swung his sword to sever the boy’s arm. A moment later, he realized he was rolling across the ground.
Huh…?
While he was still trying to figure out what had just happened, a sword strike slammed into his jaw and knocked him unconscious.
Kyle looked down at the attacker who had tried to ambush him and tilted his head.
“I was planning to knock him out in one hit. He’s tougher than he looks…?”
Frowning in confusion, Kyle used his sword to swiftly slice open the man’s armor. The moment he saw the pitch-black tattoos glowing inside and felt the dark mana, his expression hardened. These bastards weren’t ordinary at all. The instant he realized that, Kyle kicked off his horse’s back and shot forward.
The attackers, who had been locked in a close fight with the Meyer knights, blinked in shock when they saw Kyle charging in. They couldn’t believe their leader had been taken down in such a short time. Their leader was someone who could easily overpower most Experts, after all. But they didn’t have long to think about it. Kyle’s next series of strikes subdued them in the blink of an eye.
Kyle looked down at the attackers whose arms and legs had been sliced so they could no longer move and spoke.
“Tie them all up. Oh, and that guy over there too.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
The knights stared at Kyle in disbelief. The opponents they had struggled so hard against had been suppressed in an instant. They quickly moved to restrain the attackers.
While they were being bound, Kyle cautiously entered one of the houses in the village. The village that had supposedly suffered a monster attack. Its people had been brutally murdered inside their homes. Had monsters really broken in, killed them all, and then displayed the corpses like this? No.
These bastards…
They were the ones who had killed everyone and left the bodies behind. The moment he realized the truth, Kyle ground his teeth in rage and swore to himself that he would uncover exactly who was behind this.