Road to Bezeina County
After sharing a deeper conversation with Princess Rihella Leyseras of Bezeina County, we decided to set off on the journey together—not just her, but her maid and the four surviving knights as well.
The reason was simple. If those Black Moon bastards were involved, they'd pursue the survivors no matter what to complete their mission. Leaving a trail behind would only speed up their chase.
Besides, abandoning them felt too much like a cliché from this dark fantasy world. You know the one: the left-behind folks get caught by the enemy, tortured horrifically, beheaded, and only then does the protagonist regret it.
"Thank you once again. To think you'd even save worthless lives like ours... Ah, I haven't introduced myself properly. I'm Chern."
As I stood lost in thought near the inn where we'd spent the night, preparing to depart in a nearby alley, one of the knights named Chern approached right up to me and bowed deeply in gratitude.
"Just meeting a great one like you is a lifelong honor, but to travel together from here on... If my comrades had survived, this would've been the ultimate bragging right and drinking story..."
"Comrades... From the aura I sense, you can all wield it, right? Were you part of the royal knights' order?"
"Ahaha... Yes, that's right."
The young knight let out an awkward laugh, scratching the back of his head hesitantly before pulling something from his pocket and staring at it as he continued.
"I was a sergeant in the 102nd Regiment of the royal knights' order, responsible for managing quite a few soldiers."
"I see. I heard most of the royal knights stood against the empire and the rebels, staking their lives... Were the Leyseras royals truly worth such loyalty?"
"Of course. They understood the value of soldiers better than anyone and always worked to improve our conditions."
The young knight puffed out his chest proudly, boasting about his unit without a hint of falsehood.
Watching him, I turned my head, thinking once more that this dark fantasy world wasn't just war, blood, hatred, and fear.
And I said casually,
"I don't know how long we'll travel together, but while we do, I'll give you all some sword lessons in my spare time."
"R-Really?"
"I can't always stay by Her Highness's side to protect her. And with my eyes like this, fighting while guarding someone is quite the chore."
I lightly touched the ragged cloth covering my eyes and added,
My matter-of-fact words drew a soft "Ah" from the young knight.
He fidgeted like he'd made a mistake, glancing cautiously before asking another question.
"Um... I know it's terribly rude, but... how did you reach the master's realm without sight or one arm?"
His voice mixed pure curiosity and awe.
It made sense—even lifelong knights struggled to attain it, yet a man with the worst physical conditions had.
But I pondered for a moment.
Usually, you'd spin a tale of bone-grinding training or a fateful encounter. A plausible excuse.
I had no desire to bother fabricating a lie.
"Nothing special. I just gained talent in exchange for my sight and one arm."
The plain, unexaggerated truth.
The young knight froze in bewilderment, then deflated with a chuckle.
"Ahaha, as expected of a master—your jokes are brilliantly absurd. Thanks, it eased the tension."
He'd firmly misunderstood it as me lightening the mood with nonsense out of consideration.
Well... no point correcting him with talk of contracts or the system and its headaches, so I just shrugged indifferently.
"Ahem, anyway, it's about time to head out."
The knight cleared his throat to reset the mood, gave me a light nod, and said,
"I'll go check on the others at the carriage."
"Go ahead."
He hurried off with lighter steps.
I listened quietly to his footsteps fading on the dirt, then grabbed my remaining gear and followed slowly.
On the road to Rosonto Kingdom, home of the first of the Seven Disasters, Eretoa of Corrosion.
The first four days passed without issue as we rode the carriage straight east, but now it felt like we'd need to take a major detour.
Simple reason.
In a decent-sized village for resupply, we'd spotted mercenaries and bounty hunters clearly hunting Leyseras's last royal.
"...The patrols are too tight. This is hundreds of kilometers from the empire at least..."
Speaking for me as I rested my mind amid the carriage's rumble and jolts, Rihella's maid cautiously scanned around with wide eyes.
"Looks like the nearby Yurta Barony's made some deal with the Genos Empire."
Rowen the knight captain and another knight chimed in.
"Lords tied directly or indirectly to the empire have no choice but to cooperate somehow."
"Come to think of it, that newspaper two days ago said Genos was openly seeking continent lords' aid."
The carriage's anxious occupants turned to each other in unison.
The air grew heavy.
I felt their gazes—Rihella and her followers—shift to me one by one. Expectation mixed with anxiety, the natural faith that I'd handle it.
No need to indulge the hope, but no need to ignore it either, so I let out a small sigh and spoke.
"The empire's more desperate than I thought. Bounty hunters this far out means going straight to Rosonto will be exhausting."
Rowen asked carefully,
"What should we do, then? Even bypassing Yurta, if nearby domains cooperate with the empire, we'll hit their net eventually."
"Hm... I do have one route in mind."
I recalled.
A year ago, the slave caravan that cared for me so long had earned royal recognition, shifting to legit business in a domain they now controlled.
"Head south about 40 kilometers from here, and you'll hit Bezeina County. It was the old Bezeina count's land, but now my acquaintance Bedin runs the place de facto."
"Bezeina? Isn't that a fairly large county? You're saying one man swallowed it whole?"
Rihella asked in surprise.
I nodded roughly and continued.
"Don't know the full details. But in a world where wars erupt and people die over trifles, swapping a castle with money and force is nothing. Anyway, we can shake pursuit and regroup there. Everyone agree?"
The group exchanged silent looks.
Rihella nodded as representative.
"We'll follow the great one's judgment. Lead us."
"...Understood."
That 'great one' title... wish they'd drop it. Feels like middle-school syndrome.
I directed the coachman to turn.
The carriage rattled southward along the dirt road, leaving Yurta Barony behind as it picked up speed.
We reached Bezeina County's north gate as the sun dipped low.
As expected, mercenaries and bounty hunters crowded before the massive walls, having heard the rumors.
They stopped passing carriages routinely, shoving wanted posters with Rihella's description.
As our carriage neared, three or four rough-looking mercenaries blocked the road, raising spear shafts.
"Halt! Gotta check who's inside. Word is Leyseras rats are hiding nearby."
"......"
"......"
Tension gripped the carriage.
I heard Rowen and the knights grip their sword hilts.
I leaned casually toward the window, fiddling with my eyepatch cloth.
Hm... Guess I'll handle them roughly.
That's when a guard-uniformed man by the gate, yawning as he watched, ambled over.
He shoved through the mercenaries irritably, then froze upon glimpsing my face through the open window.
"Wh...?"
His spear clattered to the ground.
He rubbed his eyes in disbelief, then stared holes through me, muttering,
"Th-that face... No way, Leon?"
"That voice... Harka?"
Harka—Bedin's longest-serving right-hand man from the slave-trading days.
I knew he'd rise, but guard duty in a county? Impressive.
Harka's shocked shout puzzled the inspecting mercenaries.
"Hey, Harka, what's up? We gotta check 'em."
"Check my ass, you lunatics!"
Harka shoved a nearby mercenary's shoulder in panic.
"Move your asses! Who do you think this is, pointing spears at him? Wanna die that bad?"
The mood soured instantly; mercenaries and hunters backed off, grumbling but yielding to his fury.
He spat at them, returned to the window, and gushed emotionally,
"It's been forever, Leon! Boss has been drinking nonstop, missing you with no news... How do you show up outta nowhere like this!"
"Just been busy. Heard you swallowed the county whole... Nothing illegal, right?"
"Of course not! Thanks to you, we clawed out of the gutters! Anyway, I'll escort you right in. Clear the way! Bezeina's VIP has arrived!"
He bellowed at the gate and led the way.
Inside the carriage, Rihella and the knights—who'd held their breath—stared at each other in stunned relief as it resolved so anticlimactically and decisively.