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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“This is Rankbink, who will be in charge of the overall escort. It’s the first time you’re seeing each other in person, I believe.”
“That’s right. Nice to meet you. I’m Jimnis, who received the undeserved position of honorary soldier. And this is my slave, Kayla.”
“I’m Rankbink. It’s nice to meet the honorary soldier whose fame has been rising recently.”
Just in case, I tried to lower my position as much as possible, but fortunately, he didn’t seem to have a very demanding personality.
“I look forward to working with you.”
“The pleasure is mine.”
“Hahaha. I look forward to working with you all. This is an important task entrusted to me by my father for the first time, so I want to succeed at all costs.”
“It will surely be so.”
Rankbink spoke as if it was a given, and the people who seemed to be his attendants and servants also bowed their heads in agreement.
“Then let’s depart right away. Ah, Jimnis. Can you ride a horse?”
“I can.”
“That’s fortunate. Rikinri.”
“Provide horses to the two of them.”
“Yes!”
He was the squire who had visited my house with Banis two days ago.
Kayla and I each mounted a horse and were assigned to the left side according to Rankbink’s instructions.
“We will depart now, Young Master.”
“Do so.”
“Let’s depart!”
Following Rankbink’s words, the group set out towards the Siglen County.
As we moved quietly, Kayla and I guarded one side while following Rankbink’s instructions, and after a considerable amount of time had passed, Kayla spoke to me in a lowered voice.
“They even prepared a carriage for servants, so it seems they want to minimize the travel time as much as possible.”
“Probably. The most dangerous time is when traveling, after all.”
Still, I was quite surprised that they had prepared a carriage even for the servants.
Horses aren’t cheap, and the number mobilized was over ten.
Of course, not all of them were warhorses. Most were pack horses, and the only proper warhorse was the one Rankbink was riding.
Still, even if they were pack horses, horses themselves were expensive animals, so it had to be true that the Owalan Baron’s family took this matter seriously.
“But I don’t understand why the Owalan Baron’s territory needs dwarves.”
I looked at Kayla with a curious expression at her words.
Originally, she should have heard an explanation about the secret passage through me yesterday or the day before, but due to Banis’s visit and the process of entrusting various tasks to Athena, I lost the opportunity to explain.
Therefore, from Kayla’s perspective, it was only natural to have doubts about the request.
“It doesn’t seem like knowing will benefit you. If it was information you needed to know, I would have told you. Just pretend you don’t know.”
I had no choice but to say that since I couldn’t explain it in a place like this.
Fortunately, Kayla wasn’t completely clueless, so she didn’t further question it.
When mealtime came, the servants descended from the carriage in a group and prepared the meals, and the combat personnel, including myself, only had to eat the food they served.
Of course, we still had to guard the surroundings.
‘It’s convenient.’
Therefore, there was no difficulty during the request.
In the first place, we hadn’t even received the dwarves yet, so there was little risk.
‘If there are people targeting the dwarves, they would aim for when the dwarves are actually present.’
When evening came, Rankbink chose a suitable place as the campsite, and familiar artifacts were distributed.
“Master, these are…”
“Sir Kuman must have offered them.”
Temperature control magic tents and boundary stones being installed around.
Thanks to that, it seemed like it would be convenient in many ways.
Since the servants were busy, Kayla decided to set up our tent.
While Kayla was setting up the tent, Rankbink approached me.
I couldn’t help but be a little surprised since I didn’t expect him to approach me first.
“What brings you here, Sir Rankbink?”
“I came to inform you about the night watch.”
Although there were boundary stones, unlike me who only dealt with monsters, we had to be wary of humans as well, so night watch was essential.
‘If the opposing side has an excellent magician, they can neutralize something like boundary stones.’
“You and your slave will take the second watch.”
I was wondering why he came in person when he could have sent someone, but then Rankbink abruptly spoke.
“Keep doing as you are now.”
“…Pardon? What do you mean by that?”
“Like now, don’t think about unnecessary things and focus only on the given task.”
It seemed he had heard what Kayla had whispered to me earlier.
‘He’s indeed like a regular knight. Sharp ears too.’
It was the right choice not to speak carelessly there.
“I heard you were a monster hunter.”
“Even if your past wasn’t good, your contributions to the Owalan family and territory are real. That’s why I don’t dislike you. Even this dwarf matter would have been difficult to cooperate on if not for your achievements. Even if we had received cooperation, we would have had to pay a big price.”
“Just keep doing as you are now. Then you can become a member of our territory.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
He seemed pleased with my attitude and lightly tapped my shoulder.
After he left, I grabbed the shoulder he had tapped.
‘Tsk. It’s bruised.’
Although it looked like a trivial hand gesture, it had a different impact since mana was imbued in it.
It wasn’t a severe injury, and it was a warning done in a way that didn’t damage my pride, so it could be considered truly gentlemanly at this level.
I covered my shoulder and told Kayla, who had finished setting up the tent, that she had worked hard as if nothing had happened.
Honestly, this level of incident was really a minor thing for me, so I soon stopped thinking about it.
Rest, night watch, continued travel.
A simple cycle repeated over the course of four days, and during that process, Kayla and I showed a dedicated attitude towards our duties.
Perhaps satisfied with my attitude, under Rankbink’s protection, we were able to naturally blend into the group and secure a certain level of friendship with the squire and servants.
As for Banis, he was originally favorable towards me, so I even had to keep a distance from him to some extent.
Seeing my attitude as discreet, Rankbink showed an even more favorable attitude towards me.
Thanks to riding horses, we were able to cover a distance that would have taken a week in just four days, and we were able to rest until Banis and Rankbink brought the dwarves from the Siglen County.
And so, the dwarf we saw…
Was dragged in with eyes covered, hands and feet bound in chains, and half hanging.
And was loaded like luggage into the back of the servants’ carriage.
Despite dwarf slaves being rare and highly valued, their treatment could be considered at the level of trash.
Well, in the first place, the treatment of other races in human kingdoms wasn’t very good.
Discrimination and contempt were the foundation, and subtle exclusion was the norm.
Still, if their abilities, especially combat prowess, were outstanding or their appearance matched human preferences, it could be considered slightly better.
Of course, this is based on the premise that they are not slaves.
If they were slaves, even combat prowess or beautiful appearance would only be objects of greed.
‘Their treatment is even worse in the Holy Empire and the two kingdoms under it.’
They have a fundamental sense of being the chosen people and discriminate against even fellow humans if they are not of the same faith, treating other races almost like monsters.
Ironically, compared to the Holy Empire, that level of treatment could be considered relatively good.
‘In the first round, I was terrified.’
Now it’s a common sight, so I just let it be.
Of course, I still think it’s stupid.
There was no way efficiency would come from being treated like that.
Of course, if you think about it that way, being a slave in itself is a state that’s perfect for losing hope, but still, I think the efficiency would have been better than being treated like that.
“Young Master, unfortunately, it seems we won’t be able to stay within the territory today.”
“If that’s Sir Rankbink’s judgment, then do so. As I said, the completion of the mission is the most important thing.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
Banis wasn’t a complete idiot, so he accepted Rankbink’s opinion to move as quickly as possible.
Therefore, as soon as we received the dwarves, we set out on the return journey without a moment’s rest.
I had a slightly different opinion, but I didn’t say much.
‘No matter what, wouldn’t it be suspicious if a group of this scale just leaves the territory a day after arriving?’
I wasn’t the one in charge, and I was confident I could survive no matter what happened, so I decided to just quietly go along with it, but I couldn’t help but have doubts.
Contrary to my concerns, there were no incidents like being ambushed on the first day.
Now that the dwarves were under our protection, we moved with heightened vigilance, and as the peaceful state continued on the second day, the atmosphere was starting to relax a bit.
Even Rankbink, who could be considered the on-site leader, was satisfied with the overly peaceful state and was lenient enough to overlook some loosening up.
‘It should have been the opposite.’
Although he did it to test me when we were going, when coming back, he should have been more tense since the dwarves were in our hands, but the sight of him letting his guard down because the territory was getting closer and we had come about halfway didn’t look very good.
However, amusingly, that wasn’t a bad situation for me.
Thanks to Rankbink loosening up a bit, I was able to act a bit more freely.
Since I had already been recognized as part of the group on the way to the Siglen County, there were even fewer restrictions on my movements.
“You’re curious about Sir Rankbink’s exploits?”
“Yes. He seems to have extraordinary skills, but I haven’t had the opportunity to hear about his exploits since I haven’t been in the territory for long.”
“Hmm. Sir Rankbink’s skills are indeed not ordinary. He has always taken the lead in pioneering villages.”
During a brief rest after dinner, I had a casual conversation with Rikinri, Rankbink’s attendant.
There was another attendant named Canbus, but he was currently on guard duty, so Rikinri was the only one I could talk to.
I was reluctant to directly ask Rankbink because he had a somewhat authoritative side.
“Although you can hear the stories elsewhere, wouldn’t Sir Rikinri, who has been on-site with him, be able to explain it better?”
“Well, that’s true, but…”
In contrast, Rikinri initially didn’t like me very much, but as Rankbink acknowledged me and naturally accepted me, he also started treating me in a slightly more friendly manner, unlike before.
Therefore, such casual conversations were possible.
“Hmm. If Honorary Soldier Jimnis wants to know, I should tell you. Let’s see… Where should I start? His greatest achievement was when pioneering the second village. At that time, Sir Rankbink faced a group of Giant Ents…”
Through the stories I heard from Rikinri and observing Rankbink throughout the journey, I was able to roughly estimate his combat level, and it was decent enough for a knight in a frontier territory.
‘He can use aura, and his sensory amplification is also good. Since he leads the pioneers at the frontline, he has abundant experience too. Hmm… I wonder why someone like him is in a frontier territory.’
However, the purity of his aura itself was not high.
Knights who can use aura are classified as expert-level, and their level is determined by the purity and completeness of the aura’s form.
Among them, Rankbink was at the lower-level, with both purity and completeness being low.
Although aura is not an absolute indicator of combat power, it does have a significant impact.
However, his command ability was also decent, and thanks to his leading by example, the mercenaries hired by the Owalan Baron’s family also genuinely respected him, so his value couldn’t be evaluated solely based on his level.
Of course, since it was a story heard through Rikinri, his attendant, there might be some exaggeration or embellishment, but most of it was likely true.
‘It means he’s someone the lord can trust.’
His combat style could also be partially known through the eyes of others. He was said to have a style of acting calmly according to the opponent without rushing.
Even though I openly gathered information like this, I was even more welcomed by them.
My desire to know more about Rankbink seemed like the enthusiasm of a fan wanting to know as much as possible about a respected knight.
Of course, I had no such feelings at all. Although I intentionally made it seem that way, it was just an act to avoid suspicion.
While gathering information about the only knight of Owalan and achieving my intended goals, an incident occurred.
“…Master. We’re being pursued.”
Kayla was the first to notice the abnormality.
“Pursued?”
“Yes. And not just one or two.”
I glanced in the direction Kayla pointed.
But I couldn’t see anything.
Since I couldn’t use magical energy here to amplify my senses, I had no choice but to give up on directly confirming it myself.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. At least thirty of them. All on horseback. However, they’re not pursuing us very quickly.”
There was no hint of playfulness in her eyes.
Although she had never played a joke on me before.
The funny thing was, even though we were mainly guarding the sides, the pursuers Kayla mentioned were following us from behind.
It seemed to be due to the difference in skill level and the somewhat lax state.
I left the lookout to Kayla and moved naturally to Rankbink’s side.
“We’ve spotted a suspicious group. Suspected to be pursuers.”
“…Pursuers?”
He turned his gaze in the direction I was guarding, but I shook my head and corrected the direction.
“From the rear.”
“The rear?”
Rankbink’s gaze turned to the rear, and soon his brows furrowed, and a faint flow of mana was felt.
“…You’re right. It’s not just one or two. How did you discover them?”
“Thanks to my slave.”
“I see. The slave’s merit is the master’s merit. I won’t forget your current merit. For now, return to your position.”
The pursuers were not moving in a hurry.
Therefore, there was still some leeway, and Rankbink seemed to not want them to notice that we had discovered their presence.
“Tsk. Just one more day and we would have arrived…”
I heard Rankbink clicking his tongue softly as I returned.
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