The Lord's 'Talent' (1)
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
“Young master! We're almost there—just a little further! Urk.”
“Don't push yourself, Hans. I'll take the reins.”
“No, I'm fine, young master. This is nothing for a northern warrior, haha.”
Having parted ways with Saula, I was riding toward Kallandra Academy with just Hans.
Most of the group had suffered various injuries after the soldiers and knights threw themselves into protecting me.
Thanks to my artifacts, no one had lost their life or suffered permanent disabilities, but even after I used my consumable healing artifacts, the wounds left by the Chaos energy refused to fully heal.
So, I sent the rest of the group by carriage to the nearby city of Damascus, while I freed one of the carriage horses and headed for the academy alone.
The knights objected fiercely.
Despite their injuries being so severe they could barely stand—and ones that would have left them with lifelong disabilities without my artifacts—they insisted on coming along for my safety.
That's when Hans stepped in.
“You idiots! Can you even protect the young master in your state? You're lucky if you don't get in the way! I'll handle his escort. You lot hurry to the city, recover, and catch up!”
And so, Hans and I ended up riding to the academy alone...
The problem was that Hans had been injured fighting Saula, too.
And as someone who had fought the fiercest battle at the forefront...
The Chaos energy had no doubt penetrated her deepest.
Yet she hid her pain and insisted on accompanying me.
No one asked me about the sudden disappearance of the being who had overwhelmed all the knights.
That was thanks to Hans, as well.
Hans was the first to witness me using my Gift.
And unfortunately, right after I used it, I collapsed—which led her to misunderstand my Gift a bit.
She probably thought it came with a severe demerit that harmed me—like shortening my lifespan or something.
“Young master.”
“What is it, Hans?”
“Thanks to you, everyone survived.”
“...I only did it to save myself, you know.”
“You could have escaped alone. I know you always carry plenty of those escape items. But this time, it seems you used your Gift.”
“...Hans.”
“Young master, you carry the noble blood of House Perseino—far superior to the likes of us. There's no need for you to sacrifice for people like us.”
No, I haven't sacrificed anything.
Sure, it was a gamble, but if it failed, I planned to use 'Jana's Life' to escape right away.
I am Hans.
Hanna Scarlet.
As a knight of Perseino Territory, I've known Grand Duke Perseino's three children since they were young.
Lady Siren, Lady Meiru, young master Luke.
Lady Siren, who inherited House Perseino's blood most purely and possessed overwhelming martial talent.
Lady Meiru, who while not quite matching her sister, had exceptional talent backed by tremendous effort and perseverance.
Unlike his two sisters—and unbefitting Perseino blood—young master Luke had no talent for martial arts whatsoever. Though he did possess the house's stunning beauty.
Yet the young master always dreamed of adventuring the world.
When he was seven, he even wrote a novel about traveling the continent and showed it to me. It was so cute I nearly bit his cheek.
Anyway, the young master had writing skills far beyond his years, which astonished everyone in the castle.
He dreamed of adventure that much, but without the combat prowess of Lady Siren or Lady Meiru, Grand Duke Perseino forbade it.
As the young master grew older, he started bringing in money from somewhere.
He claimed it was from collaborating with some guild in Kallandra, but what guild partners with a young boy, no matter how clever?
Amassing the funds steadily, the young master founded a mercenary band and obtained permission from the grand duke for an expedition.
He said he would excavate hidden ruins across the empire.
In exchange for permission, the grand duke assigned me to him.
Though lacking compared to Perseino blood, my family had served House Perseino for generations as northern warriors of great strength, allowing me to become the young master's escort knight.
I traveled with the young master to ruins across the empire.
As if receiving divine revelation, he effortlessly located dungeon-like ruins and mobilized mercenaries to excavate them.
I'd heard even treasure hunters rarely excavated one in a lifetime.
After several such excavations... it was probably the tenth ruin.
That's when the incident happened.
The mercenaries he'd hired rebelled.
“Listen here, young master. This is already the tenth ruin. The tenth.”
“Yes, the tenth ruin.”
“A commoner might see one in a lifetime—if they're lucky—and you've found ten and reaped the rewards.”
“So?”
“Yet you give us nothing?”
““““Hear, hear!””””
One mercenary with a rebellious streak incited the others.
“Give us nothing?”
“That's right!”
“I don't understand. I contracted with you all, and the contract specified your shares. And unlike the others, I paid you double.”
“Sure, but you've made a fortune! We did all the hard work! Shouldn't we get more?”
“That's enough, mercenaries. Know your place. This is a scion of House Perseino.”
The mood was turning sour, so I stepped in.
“Perseino? So what?”
“What?”
“No one knows we're here but us. We could quietly dispose of you and the knight, and no one would be the wiser.”
“Y-you bastards... do you really mean to make an enemy of House Perseino?!”
“Heh... House Perseino won't know a thing. The young master and knight perished tragically in a ruin trap during exploration.”
They were already set on killing us and looting the young master's goods.
Damn! Don't mercenaries have any honor before the gods?!
...I should've sensed the mood shifting sooner. What a failure as an escort knight.
“......Impossible... I definitely adjusted their favor through rewards... Maybe I swept up too many in the actual game... Reality is different... What now......”
The young master, who always handled everything perfectly, froze in uncharacteristic panic.
I quickly judged the situation and fled with him from the mercenaries.
Against ordinary mercenaries, I could handle a hundred alone.
But these were elite ones handpicked by the young master—advanced mercenaries who could all wield mana.
That's why I'd trusted them. Who knew they'd all betray us?
Fighting them was tough enough—protecting the young master while doing it? Impossible!
“The noble runt's running!”
“Catch him! We can live like kings if we grab them!”
“What are you waiting for? Shoot arrows!”
It was a harrowing escape against hordes of mercenaries.
We barely shook them off, arriving in a nearby city covered in wounds, where we received the lord's aid.
The lord dispatched a subjugation force upon hearing our tale and wiped out the mercenaries. They missed the ringleader, but got the rest.
The problem was my severe injuries.
The priest treating me said if I wanted to keep my life, I could never wield a sword again—specifically, channel mana into one. A sword without mana isn't a sword, so it meant retire.
For a knight like me, who'd lived sword in hand? Devastating.
But it was an honorable wound from protecting my lord, so I accepted it.
The young master, however, did not.
In the dead of night, he came to my sickroom.