The Castlefolk Are Far Too Friendly
Gate Guard Lukas had been watching the gates of Arden Castle for quite a long time.
In that time, he had learned a few rules that absolutely had to be followed.
For example, bands of rough-looking mercenaries had to be searched thoroughly. If you took a bribe, don’t do it too openly; act smooth about it.
And above all—never talk back to the important people.
As long as you kept those few essential rules, this was actually a pretty decent job.
The pay arrived on time, and if he was lucky, he could even pocket a little toll money now and then. Unless it was night duty, it was a lazy job where he could just lounge in the sun.
So today, as usual, he was doing his job when a short girl in a lavish black silk dress, her face hidden beneath a parasol, came walking toward the main gate.
And behind her followed three women who looked like maids, each of them exuding an utterly unusual air.
A maid with black hair tied into a ponytail streaked with pink.
A stone-faced woman with ebony bobbed hair.
And a red-haired girl with a strange, hard-to-read aura.
All of them were beautiful enough to stand out anywhere.
Hiring people like that as servants…
At a glance, they looked like the children of a very wealthy family, or perhaps people of extremely high lineage with blue blood in their veins.
What is this…?
Lukas narrowed his eyes.
He had clearly never seen clothes like those before.
And the servants behind her didn’t look like the retinue of any ordinary house, either.
She was definitely not someone listed among the high-ranking people he knew.
So he decided to stop her first.
“Halt. What is your business here? State your identity, your name, and the purpose of your visit.”
He asked politely but firmly, just as procedure demanded.
But instead of answering, the girl slightly lifted her parasol.
Pale skin so white it looked as though it had never once been touched by sunlight.
A doll-like face that seemed unreal, like something that shouldn’t exist in this world.
Ruby-red eyes stared straight at him.
……!
Cold sweat broke out down Lukas’s back.
One look was enough to tell him she was no ordinary person.
And the most decisive thing of all was—
“That is none of a whelp like you to know. Step aside.”
Her manner of speech.
Lukas hadn’t seen many high-ranking people in his life, but he had met the occasional noble passing through, and once in a while some great dignitary from outside the territory.
That unforgettable, lofty dignity that no commoner or wealthy brat could ever imitate.
It was overflowing so naturally from her speech, her voice, and even the way she carried herself.
As if it had always been natural for her to stand above others from the moment she was born.
Gulp!
T-this is definitely someone high-ranking!
No, not just “high-ranking” in some ordinary sense…!
She was surely royalty from another country, or someone of equivalent status!
Confident in his experience as a guard, Lukas immediately bent at the waist in a ninety-degree bow.
Then, to make sure none of the other guards made the mistake of offending her and dragging disaster down on their heads, he shouted first.
“What are you waiting for! Open the gate at once!”
“Yes, sir!”
Luckily, the others were perceptive enough to bow without a word and swing the heavy gate wide open.
The massive gate parted to either side.
Clop, clop.
The girl covered her face with the parasol again and walked inside as though it were only natural.
The three servants followed quietly behind her.
Only after the group had vanished completely from sight did Lukas finally let out the breath he’d been holding.
“Haa….”
Who on earth had she been?
Someone like that should at least have had advance notice, but there was definitely no foreign guest visit scheduled for today.
She wasn’t even part of a diplomatic mission. If she had been, she would have had escort knights and banners or coats of arms somewhere in sight. There was nothing like that at all.
…Maybe she’s hiding her status and traveling incognito.
He’d heard that some high nobles and royals occasionally toured cities that way.
Then what he’d done was even more correct.
If he’d carelessly pressed her for her identity and offended her, who knew what would have happened to his head?
“Phew. Count yourselves lucky today, boys.”
Lukas patted the shoulders of the guards who had bowed with him.
It was also a statement meant for himself.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Huh?
What was this?
That was way too easy. I got through the gate just like that?!
According to the proper strategy guide, I was supposed to pose as some merchant or adventurer from outside, build a reason to enter, and then make my way in.
If that didn’t work, I was supposed to brute-force my way through by clashing with the guards, like Cheonma had done.
But I just asked them to open it, and they actually did.
Is it really okay for this to be this easy…? I tilted my head.
Still, a good result was a good result, so I decided to head inside first.
The interior of Arden Castle on the fifth floor was exactly what you’d expect from a classic medieval castle town.
Carts rattled along the cobblestone main road, and the bustling noise of the market spilled out between rows of wooden buildings lining both sides of the street.
There were shops selling fresh bread, weapon stores, clothing stores, and even inns.
Most of the people walking around looked like commoners, and for some reason, they kept sneaking glances at us with curious expressions.
“Wow, I’ve never seen a place like this before! This is amazing!”
Lili’s eyes sparkled as she looked all around.
“Lili, stay sharp. We’re on a mission.”
“Yep! Got it!”
Katarina gave her a light warning, while Siyeon silently kept watch over the surroundings as usual.
Then I should head to the inner castle and meet the lord.
According to Solo Warrior’s strategy guide, Arden Castle was divided into two sections.
The first was the outer castle, where ordinary commoners and merchants lived. The second was the inner castle, where the lord, the knights who served him, and the administrative officials lived.
Of course, the lord resided in the inner castle, specifically in the lord’s manor near the deepest part.
To clear the first quest—meeting the lord—I had to go straight there.
I could roughly tell the direction, but the guide had said people who weren’t good with directions could still get lost on the way.
And I was absolutely the type to get lost.
So it said that if that happened, I should ask one of the resident NPCs in the castle for directions, or even get a guide.
Of course, if I simply asked for directions, they might get suspicious or refuse, so it would be best to clearly state that I was an outsider and pay them.
What I needed for that was the “gold” I had earned while climbing the tower so far.
I couldn’t take it out outside, but inside the tower I could withdraw gold from my inventory as physical currency, and it was treated like money used within the tower.
All right, then. I’d take out one gold coin, and ask someone nearby who looked like they knew the area…
“You there. Halt a moment.”
I stopped a young man who was walking by. From his clothes, he looked like a fairly ordinary merchant.
“Yes?”
“Show me the way.”
Of course, I was about to add that I was from outside and would pay a fair reward. The moment I tried to extend the one gold coin I was holding tightly in my hand—
“Y-yes, of course, my lord!”
The man immediately bowed his head and started groveling.
……?
“W-where would you like to go?”
He was trembling as he asked.
I quietly put the gold coin back where it had been.
It didn’t seem like I needed to hand this over after all.
“To the lord’s manor in the inner castle.”
“T-the lord’s manor! Understood! I’ll guide you there, sir!”
The man hurried ahead as if someone were chasing him.
And not long after, we arrived safely at the entrance.
“I-is this far enough, sir? T-then may I… take my leave…?”
“Go ahead.”
As soon as I gave permission, the man vanished almost like he was fleeing.
???
What was this?
Why was everyone in this world so nice?
Thinking about it, it seemed like this was all thanks to the outfit Lili had made for me.
In a medieval setting, fancy clothing probably functioned like a symbol of status.
In fact, the strategy guide had said what you wore mattered quite a bit.
I’d been worried that wearing something too flashy might draw suspicion, but who would’ve thought it would help instead?
Wow. Even the climber forum people probably wouldn’t have thought of this.
Acting like a high-ranking person while dressed in luxurious medieval clothing isn’t the kind of idea a normal person or a lunatic would come up with.
…I’d ended up doing it by accident.
Anyway, easy navigation success.
Now I just had to go into the lord’s manor and meet the lord.
One thing, though: meeting the lord wasn’t easy.
The lord wouldn’t meet outsiders carelessly, and I was supposed to make an appointment in advance or request an audience through one of the lord’s close attendants.
That meant a mountain of annoying steps.
That was the proper route.
But.
I decided to take the Cheonma route again here.
In the medieval world, status mattered, but showing force seemed to count as proof in itself.
According to the extra reply Cheonma had added to Solo Warrior’s guide, if you cut down the guards and then kept cutting down anyone who came after, they ended up treating you with respect instead.
So this time, I was really going to show some power.
Surely if I came across as rude even in the lord’s manor, they’d stop me this time, no matter how high they thought my status was?
Then real guards would come, and after subduing them, I could go meet the lord with dignity.
And so I arrived in front of the lord’s manor gate.
A sentry in armor standing guard on either side of the door approached us.
“Halt. This is the lord’s residence. What business do you have….”
“Step aside.”
I said it in an arrogant tone.
All right, now for the real—!
“……!”
The sentry’s expression stiffened.
Then—
“J-just a moment, please wait inside! I’ll report to my superior immediately!”
He rushed to guide me inside, then darted deeper into the manor at once.
…….
And a little while later, the one he brought back was not another group of guards.
It was a neatly dressed old gentleman.
From his appearance and clothing, he looked like the head butler of the manor or something similar.
Well… fine, up to this point.
It made sense that a low-ranking sentry couldn’t handle this and would bring someone above him.
But what if I acted rude even to this old man who obviously looked important?
That would definitely cause friction.
Since I was already inside, I folded up the parasol, looked him straight in the eye, and said,
“This body has come to meet your lord.”
It was an absurdly arrogant attitude, not only looking down on the other party but even looking down on the lord himself.
The butler’s eyes widened to the size of saucers.
Hm. Was that too much?
Just as I was feeling a little sorry about it—
“T-th-this is impossible…. Those eyes…! That appearance…! Y-you really came to fulfill the promise…!”
The butler bowed so deeply it looked like he might drop to the floor.
Then he hastily called over a servant beside him and relayed something in a rush.
As soon as the servant heard it, he hurried off toward the inner hall.
…?
Promise? What promise?
I hadn’t made any promise, had I?
Well, maybe even this could still make sense…?
Maybe he’d mistaken me for another noble.
My head was filling up with question marks, but Noble Bearing was at least handling my facial expression perfectly.
“We shall escort you, honored guest.”
The butler fawned over us as he guided us inside.
And so we went straight to the lord’s reception room.
Inside the spacious chamber, lavishly carpeted in rich fabric, a middle-aged man with a grave face was waiting for us.
He had a long black beard and wore a luxurious deep-blue cloak over his shoulders.
At a glance, he was unmistakably the lord.
But then—
“W-welcome!”
The moment the lord saw us, he sprang to his feet and greeted us nervously.
No, no, this can’t be right.
No matter how much I might look like an important person, it didn’t make sense for the ruler of this castle to be nervous too!
As I was trying to figure out what on earth was going on—
“Th-there’s a chance… that you, honored guest, might be a vampire?”
The lord asked cautiously, his voice trembling.
Vampire?
I froze for a moment.
Well, yes, I was one… but weren’t vampires the kind of monsters that got persecuted in medieval times?
Was he going to bring garlic juice and splash it everywhere or something?
That stuff tastes awful.
I wondered if this was going to be a problem, but because of the passive skill, I had no choice but to square my shoulders proudly, put a hand on my hip, and answer.
“Indeed. This body is the great origin of blood. I am the True Ancestor.”
“Ah, ahhh! So the one from legend has truly appeared!”
The lord suddenly clasped both hands together in overwhelming emotion.
……I don’t get it anymore.
I decided to stop thinking about it.