Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 032
Chapter Title: What to Do From Now On
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Shan and Roden returned to the mansion and informed Kallion, who had finished his business for the day and come home, that they had received a proposal from Princess Sherin.
Of course, they didn't mention the part where he punched her in the face and made her nose bleed—since that hadn't actually happened. Instead, they glossed it over, saying they'd acted a bit rudely without knowing who she was and ended up in a scuffle with her escort knights.
Kallion clicked his tongue after hearing the story.
"I knew she was ambitious, but does she actually think she can become queen? Surely she's not planning to drag in a powerful Altoin knight like you, endure all the backlash, and then parade you around as a trophy."
"Is that even possible?"
"Who knows. There have been queens who ascended the throne before, but it was always in cases where there were no male heirs in the direct line. Even then, the royal consort usually handled most of the duties."
Kallion answered Shan's question like that, then paused to think before adding,
"But I wouldn't say it's completely impossible. Most of the lords have already backed one of the two princes, but the princess has a heavyweight like Count Paless as her patron. She could also win support from the administrators, the Mage Tower, and the mages in general..."
Count Paless was a powerful northern lord whose territory was surrounded on all sides by rugged mountains and rivers, making it one of the few safe zones in Pendia where monsters were hard to spot. On top of that, the fertile black soil made for excellent farming, producing four out of every ten bushels of grain in Pendia.
"So, she's planning to use you, Shan, to pioneer the Demon Realm, uncover lost magic artifacts, and claim the succession that way?"
"That's the most likely scenario, but she might come up with something else. She's renowned as a genius in magic, after all. But that's not the point. The vassal contract they proposed is a whopping fifteen years."
"It is quite a bit longer than the standard term."
In truth, it wasn't necessarily disadvantageous for either side to sign a long-term vassal contract.
For a knight, it meant they couldn't seek out a stronger, wealthier lord after building fame and value. But conversely, the lord had to honor the contract even if their knight died or became incapacitated and unable to fight.
Unless there was some disqualifying reason, a noble who abandoned a knight who fought and died for them—or ended up crippled—was viewed as dishonorable as a kinslayer or heretic. Nobles, therefore, were extremely selective about the knights they took under their wing.
In other words, if brutal battles lay ahead, it was actually more advantageous to keep vassal contracts short-term.
"If they insisted on such a long term despite that, it's because they see huge potential in you, Shan?"
"Exactly. If you weren't an Altoin, every king and noble in the land would be clamoring for you. In a way, it's a sign they're evaluating us that highly."
Shan averted his gaze, feeling awkwardly embarrassed by the praise calling him a prodigy and such.
"But that's one thing, and fifteen years is another—way too long. If it were some ordinary royal making the offer, we'd jump at it. But if the princess loses the succession fight and gets locked away in a tower, we'd be stuck right there with her. We'd be throwing away our prime years entirely."
Just as nobles had to care for knights who died or were crippled in their service, knights had to remain loyal to their lord throughout the contract—even if that lord fell from grace.
This held true even if the lord could no longer pay a proper salary.
Withholding pay when they had the means was grounds for breaking the contract, but abandoning a lord who'd lost everything and turned penniless was seen as a lack of loyalty and worthy of contempt.
In short, there were two main options.
The first was to accept Princess Sherin's proposal. If she became queen, he might even rise to landed nobility—but the odds of success were low, and the cost of failure would be immense.
The second was to keep operating independently and search for a lord willing to knight him. As the princess had pointed out, finding someone to do that in reality was nearly impossible, but by relentlessly hunting monsters and building unparalleled fame, a path might open up.
The first offered a high peak but total ruin on failure; the second had no real risk of downfall, but realistically offered little chance of true achievement.
After mulling it over for a while as the explanation unfolded, Shan spoke up.
"What if we ask her to shorten it?"
"Shorten it?"
"Combining what you and Kallion said, I could work a few years, but fifteen is too much."
"That's... tricky. Haggling with royalty..."
Roden trailed off, about to say no, when a sudden idea flashed through his mind. It was so obvious in hindsight, yet he'd overlooked it because she was royalty of exalted status.
"Actually, it might not be a bad idea."
"What do you mean?"
To Kallion's question, Roden replied with firm conviction.
"We make her the one who chooses. Right now, we're just dancing to their tune."
Somehow, she'd gathered all their information and approached them with a meticulously planned strategy. Rather than being dragged along, Roden thought it better to reset the board entirely.
Always grasp the information and take control of the situation.
A flicker of pride crossed Kallion's face as his son put Kallion's own mantra into action.
"Specifically?"
"We'll act like we're not interested in the offer. If she came here herself, she must be pretty desperate, and we've already shown our skills by taking down two knights barehanded. Come to think of it, she's the one with her life on the line—she should be the more desperate party."
In truth, even if Shan never became a knight, he had plenty of ways to make a living as a monster hunter or mercenary.
He was only aiming higher due to his personal ambition to rise in status and the wishes of acquaintances like Roden.
Of course, the same went for Princess Sherin. If she didn't stir up trouble chasing the throne, she could marry into a decent family and live comfortably.
It was a battle of nerve—a tense game of chicken and negotiation, the domain of merchants.
The idea itself wasn't particularly novel, but for lowly Altoins and merchants to attempt it against royalty was a staggering breach of the class system in its own right.
"If she doesn't reach out, it just means they weren't that keen on us to begin with. We wouldn't have gotten good treatment as vassals anyway."
And when she did contact them, they'd counter with terms far more favorable to their side.
Kallion let out a disbelieving chuckle at Roden's proposal.
"Heh... Something like that would be unthinkable for me—blasphemous, even."
For a merchant like Kallion, who had spent his life bowing and scraping not just to nobles and royalty but even their lackeys, the notion was utterly alien.
Rejecting the princess's demand was embarrassing enough; to boldly stand firm and wait for her to bend? It was the kind of audacious choice only the young could make.
"Fine. Handle all future talks yourselves. This is beyond my wheelhouse."
"What? But Father..."
Whatever choice Shan made, Kallion would inevitably be dragged in too. A quick investigation would reveal who'd been backing him all this time.
"I'm getting old. Aging isn't all good—it teaches wisdom alongside cowardice and servility. I'd just end up habitually groveling before the princess, and that wouldn't help negotiations."
Kallion took a light sip of the tea in front of him and sighed.
"You're twenty now. I had already started my trading company at your age. You still have much to learn about the business, but your head seems sharp enough. I trust you can handle this on your own."
Over the next ten days or so, Shan did absolutely nothing, just as Roden had suggested.
Of course, that didn't mean he neglected his usual routine of maintenance training to keep his body from stiffening or weakening.
He simply spent the time indoors without stepping outside.
The one exception was when he got word that the item from the blacksmith Kallion had introduced him to was ready.
The smith looked more haggard than when Shan had first met him—probably exhausted from the grueling work.
"Here you go."
"Whoa."
Shan let out a small exclamation as he examined the helmet and shield the blacksmith handed over.
The shield was just a bit larger than an outstretched palm—shaped more for actively parrying than passive blocking.
The helmet, as requested, had a fully open face for unobstructed vision.
The originally pale metal had darkened to an almost black sheen, impossible to recognize even if the original owner came back to life.
"Notice anything odd about the internal structure? I added some materials to the existing alloy and processed it specially..."
Stripping away the complicated details from the blacksmith's explanation, the conclusion was surprisingly simple: strikes to the center of this modestly sized shield would have their impact dramatically reduced.
The downside was that the edges were somewhat fragile, making it tricky to handle.
It required overwhelming reflexes to position it precisely—a perfect match for Shan.
"It's amazing this works without any magic..."
"That's what a lifetime of craftsmanship is for. I'll bill Kallion for the payment."
"Sure thing!"
Grinning ear to ear, Shan hurried back to the mansion and dragged Roden out to the garden to test the new shield.
"Hit me as hard as you want?"
"Yeah. If we're both on guard, it's not real practice."
"Fair enough. Not like my swings are dangerous anyway."
Roden burst into a hearty laugh, then hardened his expression and leveled his hefty mace.
With a shout, the metal-wrapped club came flying in with enough force to crush bone.
'As expected...'
As Knight Darkal had once noted, Roden had solid talent as a natural warrior.
To be precise, his technical skill was average, but his physical prowess was exceptional.
His superior build and the raw strength it produced rivaled most knights Shan had seen.
The issue was his spirit, which had stalled midway through tempering after he once abandoned training, and the fear that froze him when facing blades.
With that thought, Shan precisely aligned the shield on his forearm against Roden's swinging mace.
Bang! A loud clang echoed through the garden.
"Whoa, I hit harder than I thought... You okay?"
"Yeah. This thing's incredible. Hard to believe there's no magic on it. My arm doesn't hurt at all. You can hit harder."
Shan grinned, fascinated by the shield strapped to his arm.
An attack like that should have shaken his body even if perfectly blocked, but the shield hummed and dispersed the impact he would have taken.
With fighting spirit infused into his defense, it might even handle a cockatrice's strikes reasonably well.
Of course, one solid hit to the center would shatter it, so no ordinary person would dare try.
Afterward, Shan blocked repeated wild swings from Roden without taking a single step back.
The clanging of metal drew startled glances from the servants multiple times.
Finally, exhausted Roden threw in the towel first.
"Hah... huff... damn. Can't do anymore."
"Good work."
Despite blocking hundreds of blows over several minutes, the shield bore only faint scratches.
Delighted with his new gear's performance, Shan donned the helmet for the final test and clasped his hands behind his back.
"...You're really doing this?"
"Yup."
"Seems dangerous no matter how I look at it."
"It's fine. Gonna kill me?"
"Be careful."
After repeated warnings, Roden took a deep breath and swung the mace.
Clang! His head rang, vision flashing white.
"Urk."
"You good?"
"Kinda... whoa, feels like my brain's rattling."
Slumping down, Shan removed the helmet, rubbed his throbbing occiput, and marveled.
It wasn't swung to cave in his skull, but it packed enough power to knock him out—yet the helmet absorbed it better than expected.
As the two young men horsed around, sweating and swinging weapons like typical rowdy lads, a maid approached and called for Roden.
"Young master, pardon the interruption, but we have a guest."
"Who?"
"She said 'Mage Lin' and that you'd know who she is..."
Realizing her identity, Shan and Roden exchanged glances.
Her previous alias 'Sheri' was similar— the princess clearly had no talent for pseudonyms.
Probably just something obvious enough to get the point across.
"How many came?"
"Three."
"Tell them we'll wash up and be right there."
Once the maid left, Shan eyed Roden with wonder.
He hadn't expected her to show up quite this soon.
"She got here fast."
"I pulled a few strings, actually."
"Strings?"
"Bought some magic potions and tools for monster hunting recently."
A few items useful for Demon Realm explorers, purchased from the Mage Tower—word would surely reach Princess Sherin, who had ties to the mages.
Plus, with the princes' assembled warriors departing for the east just days ago, she might suspect they'd join them.
If she still didn't come, he really would have headed east.
Not to Shedil, where the princes were expanding, but to hunt monsters here and there.
After leisurely washing up in the bath and changing clothes, Shan and Roden entered the drawing room to find Princess Sherin waiting, as expected.
She wore the same amethyst glasses, this time with a hood pulled low for disguise.
"Greetings, Your Highness."
After a polite bow, Shan looked up at the two escorts behind her.
They seemed fully healed over the past ten days; their broken bones had mended.
They glared with hostility, but Shan read unease and fear in their eyes.
Sherin alternated glances between Shan and Roden before abruptly offering a wooden basket instead of words.
"Take it."
"...Pardon?"
Caught off guard, Shan accepted the basket with a dazed look.
Lifting the cloth cover revealed a well-baked apple pie, golden-brown.
"To apologize for my rudeness last time. It might sound boastful, and I'm embarrassed, but I kneaded and baked it myself."
An apple pie handmade by a princess—a luxury even great nobles rarely enjoyed.
It might have been better if it weren't from the so-called 'witch' princess.
Roden eyed the girl's sly gaze and instinctively sensed foul play in the pie.
Who knew what wicked potion a master mage like her had mixed in?
Especially since her escorts had been thoroughly trounced last time—she surely harbored grudges...
"Thank you, Your Highness. It looks delicious. If it's not rude, may I try a bite?"
"Go ahead. Seeing you enjoy it would delight the maker."
But Shan ignored Roden's suspicions, thanked her politely, and took a bite.
Then, marveling, he turned to Roden and handed him a piece.
"This is seriously good! Try some, Roden."
"Uh, sure..."
In this atmosphere, he couldn't say, 'Who knows what this girl's put in it—I can't eat it.'
Forcing down a piece, Roden watched Sherin smile sweetly.
"I'm glad you like it. Consider it an offering from the vanquished to the victor."
"Pardon?"
Did she mean she'd lost because she got punched and her nose bled?
Perplexed, Sherin shook her head at his baffled reaction.
"No need to make me say it twice—it's embarrassing. I admit my defeat. I've come first, as you see. Name your terms."
Shan couldn't hide his surprise at the unexpected words.
She acted as if she knew they'd deliberately make her desperate for a counteroffer.
Anyone would think she'd eavesdropped on that day's conversation.
Roden, equally shocked beside him, cleared his throat lightly and spoke.
"Forgive me, but fifteen years is too long."
"I need a safety net. You must be prepared to fall with me if I lose, to fight with true devotion."
"Once Shan is knighted by you, he couldn't possibly enter a vassal contract with anyone else anyway."
"As a freelance knight, Shan could amass ridiculous fame. And once knighted, their title can't be revoked—so I need assurance you'll stay by his side."
Roden steeled himself with courage swelling in his chest and faced the princess without flinching.
He ignored the two knights behind her glaring as if to say, 'Insolent cur.'
They were no match for Shan anyway...
"Very well. How much shorter?"
"Five years."
"Too short. Seven—"
"Your Highness."
Then, Shan, who had been sitting quietly, interrupted by calling her name, breaking the flow.
All eyes turned to him.
"Speak."
"If I enter a vassal contract with you, I want to know exactly what I'd be doing and what your plans are."
Roden nearly betrayed his panic at the unplanned question.
Asking her to reveal her plans upfront? No sane princess would agree.
Whatever it was, if they leaked it afterward, who knew what repercussions?
As expected, discomfort was evident on the princess's face, hidden beneath her glasses.
"Decide your loyalty after learning my grand design? That's not the way of a knight."
"I'm no saint, but I don't want to follow someone truly evil."
"Not even a minor injustice for your dreams?"
"That's why I'm asking—to know if it's minor or not."
It was unusually eloquent for Shan—simply his usual straightforward honesty, phrased politely without embellishment.
"Is that your condition?"
"If our goals don't align, you'd be the one taking the loss unilaterally, so it's hardly a condition."
When Sherin subtly tried to leverage it as a bargaining chip, Roden stepped in to shut it down.
Tsk. She clicked her tongue lightly, sighed, and spoke.
"Fine. We're the desperate ones here, so no choice... I intend to become queen."
"Your Highness!"
One of the knights behind her—a woman—startled and tried to stop her mistress.
Many suspected as much, but hearing it straight from her lips carried far more weight.
"Enough. If you want to hear it, I'll tell you. Why? Because the two who'll inherit the throne someday—Conrad and Elvin—are utter morons. If either becomes king, Pendia is doomed. It's already a rat hole with nowhere lower to sink, but I hate that. I want to steer this country toward betterment, and I know I'm the only one who can."
The escorts squeezed their eyes shut at the vulgar, arrogant outburst—unimaginable from a princess's lips.
Shan gazed at her and asked,
"Why are you the only one who can improve the kingdom?"
"Because I recognize Pendia's problems and have the ability to fix them. Do you know its population has stagnated for decades?"
"No."
"Pendia still has vast lands fit for habitation. Fertile fields where wheat sprouts just from plowing and seeding. Yet everyone except the elite is trapped inside walls, trembling in fear and starving."
Having traveled Pendia's lands himself, Shan could empathize.
Most commoners lived within crude walls of wood or stone, venturing out to fields or forests in dread of monster attacks.
If someone got mauled, they just resigned themselves: "Nothing to be done."
"Can you solve this, Your Highness?"
"Yes. Once my current research is complete, I'm confident we can push the monsters' range entirely beyond the Demon Realm based on it."
"That research—"
"I can't reveal what it is yet. It's classified."
Her tone was firm on that point alone, so Shan backed off.
Watching from behind, Roden realized the atmosphere had shifted oddly.
'This is...'
This was supposed to be about negotiating terms for Shan to be knighted by the princess.
Somehow, Shan had turned the tables, interrogating her like a judge while she pleaded her qualifications for queenship.
"I'll pursue the throne in earnest once that research is announced. Naturally, those two will try every dirty trick to eliminate me. The problem is, I lack the physical might to fend them off."
That's why she needed a powerful knight like him. Sherin removed her glasses, fixing Shan with fierce crimson eyes.