CH 65

“We are now entering the Archivold marquisate, Sir Eugene.”

After crossing a river and a few small mountains over the period of two days, Eugene was finally able to catch a glimpse of the Archivold territory. The great noble had reigned as a monarch of the Carls Baggins Peninsula and a margrave of a kingdom.

“Almost half of the peninsula belongs to the Archivold marquisate?”

“Yes, sir. Although the land that they actually ruled was smaller, they had numerous nobles as their vassals, since they were such an ancient, powerful family. Of course, they are now separated and living out their own lives.”

“Oho. You are quite knowledgable for a merchant,” Galfredik expressed his amazement.

“You flatter me, sir. I have been traveling all over the peninsula since a long time ago. As I see it, I am fortunate to know just a little bit more than others.” The merchant Magat humbly bowed. He was certainly worthy of having been recommended by Gardye.

“By the way, did you say that Lord Gabriel’s territory is quite far from here?”

“That is correct. We would have to travel for at least three more days, and we would pass through two other territories.”

“Hmm. And one of them belongs to Lord Essandra, the eldest daughter of the Archivold family?”

“Yes. According to principle, Lord Essandra should have succeeded the title…”

Marquis Archivold had three sons and two daughters. His youngest son, Bemos, was dead, and the remaining children were currently at a standoff, each claiming themselves as the rightful heir. According to custom, the eldest child had the right to inherit the family, regardless of their gender.

The current situation was a result of the abnormal fashion in which the marquis was robbed of his power.

“In conclusion, Lord Essandra has more legitimacy, but Lord Gabriel possesses the strongest force. Is that correct?”

“Exactly.”

Eugene fell into thought as Magat bowed his head. Although Eugene had successfully captured a crazy bandit named Balmong, it was practically impossible to condemn a direct descendant of a marquisate with nothing else.

This was a world ruled by bloodline and status.

Even if the two committed the same crime, the price of the crime would change greatly depending on one’s standing. Soldiers, mercenaries, and slaves would die on the battlefield while knights and nobles were exchanged and released for a price.

‘Then...’

Eugene came to a decision while recalling the information he gained from Gardye.

“I will be meeting with Lord Essandra in person.”

“Yes, Sir Eugene!” 

The squad leaders answered energetically.

“Sir! Sir! Are you going to marry the daughter of the marquis?! I’m against this marriage! If you want to be called a demon king in the future, your partner should at least be a princess… Kieekk!”

Eugene prevented any further bullshit from the spirit by knocking his fist against the entrance to the leather pouch. Then, he continued to ride forward.

***

“Jan Eugene? Who is that?” Essandra Antigo Archivold asked with a frown.

“He is but a shameless man who dared to rob two villages and the silver mine belonging to the late Lord Bemos…”

“Rob? Shameless? Since when did we use these words to call those who claimed land without owners? In that sense, eight or nine out of ten of those who called themselves the vassal of our family are shameless robbers as well, are they not?”

“…I apologize.” Geko bowed. He was a former knight of Marquis Archivold and was currently serving as Essandra’s knight.

Essandra was in her mid-30’s, but she boasted a young, healthy body that betrayed her age. She sat up straight after pushing away her handsome male slaves, who were openly displaying their solid upper bodies.

“Come to think of it, the templars from the Beogalan barony might have mentioned it. He succeeded in subjugating Lord Beogalan’s ruin, correct? Although there’s a lot of talk regarding the wyvern.”

“It’s just a false rumor, my lord. Nothing worth paying attention to. As long as no one has seen the corpse and the materials from the monster…”

“A jealous knight is ugly, Sir Geko.”

“….”

“A sulking knight is ugly as well.”

“It’s not like that…”

“However, I find your loyalty quite adorable. Anyways, the knight Eugene wanted to meet me?”’

“Yes, however, my lord, that knight possessed quite a number of troops under his command. He might have been instigated by Lord Gabriel. You must be careful.”

“Hmm.”

Essandra nodded while recalling her younger brother. It was quite possible for her brother, who was two years younger than her, to try such a childish thing.

“I think it would be best not to…”

“Agree to it.”

“….!”

“However, tell him to come in alone. If he does not like it, he can scram.”

“A brilliant idea.”

Geko’s expression quickly loosened. Even the most reputable of knights would be reluctant and fearful to enter someone else’s castle alone. Moreover, any self-claimed lord commanding over a hundred troops would never agree to such a proposition.

“Then, I will deliver your message to him.”

Geko delivered Essandra’s words to Eugene’s messenger, and the messenger left the castle with an outraged expression. However, the messenger returned less than an hour later, and this time around, it was Geko’s turn to be dismayed.

***

“Thank you for inviting me.”

“….”

Geko was momentarily at a loss for words. Even though Eugene was armed in plate armor, he appeared calm and composed as if he was currently out somewhere for a drink.

He was truly here alone!

‘Is he insane? Is he relying on his troops outside the castle?’

Although the young knight seemed to possess quite a force, he would never be able to capture the castle with his troops. Moreover, the castle could withstand a siege for up to three or four months with its current food and supplies.

It was obvious that the troops would scatter within ten days if their employer, who was also their commander, was captured. It was also a known fact that mercenaries could only be moved by money.

So how could he willingly enter the castle alone despite knowing these facts? He was either out of his mind, or he was audacious beyond imagination.

“When will I be able to see Lord Essandra? I requested a meeting because I had something to tell her.”

“She will be here soon. You can speak to me. Lord Essandra will never…”

“Hey, why are you acting like that towards a guest?”

Essandra entered followed by her slaves. She took her place on a large, decorated throne, and the slaves rushed to serve her by peeling fruit and pouring wine.

“Would you be Lord Essandra?”

“That’s right. Jan of the Eugene family. I am Essandra of Archivold. You are much younger than I imagined. Quite handsome as well. You must have an elf as one of your ancestors.”

“That’s right.”

“But is it really true that you killed a wyvern? I heard the stories, but it’s hardly believable. My doubts have only grown after seeing you in person today, sir.”

Doubting the accomplishments of a knight was akin to doubting his honor. In other words, Essandra was openly provoking Eugene during their first meeting.

‘Now, let’s see how you will react.’

Essandra observed Eugene with interest in her eyes. Most knights would become enraged or flaunt their accomplishments in a grand manner after being provoked like this.

“It is true that I killed a wyvern. However, is that truly important? I do not think that you agreed to grant me an audience because you are curious about that matter.”

“…!”

Essandra’s eyes filled with astonishment.

“Sir! What manner of speech is that?! How dare you…” Geko quickly interjected.

“Ah, it’s fine. Sir Eugene, I find you to my liking.”

“I wasn’t speaking to earn your favor, but I am grateful you find me so.”

“Hahaha!” 

Essandra burst into a pleasant laugh.

Most of the knights she had encountered thus far could be divided into two categories. Some were intimidated by her extraordinary status, while others attempted to present themselves by flaunting their skills and achievements. There were rare instances where the knights were quite silent and grave, like the protagonists of romance novels. But such knights were always quite prideful, so they could not stand being ignored or disregarded.

However, the black-haired knight in obsidian armor before her was different.

“Fine. I did not agree to meet you to hear such stories, sir. Then let me ask you, Jan of the Eugene family. Why did you ask to meet me?”

“There are two things. I would like to ask for a favor, and I have a suggestion, my lord.”

“A favor? Would you like me to recognize your ownership of the village belonging to my deceased brother?”

“Is that possible?”

“That doesn’t sound like a favor to me. Are you picking a fight?”

All traces of a smile disappeared from Essandra’s face. Eugene had conquered and claimed land that technically belonged to the Archivold marquisate. However, with the current vacancy of a legitimate successor, no one could spare any attention to anyone’s claim of their ownerless land.

If the conflict gave birth to the rise of a new monarch, he or she would regain the land by force or would recognize its current lord in exchange for loyalty. However, Essandra was not yet a marquis. Moreover, none of her three younger siblings had yielded just yet.

As such, Eugene’s words could only be taken as a taunting remark to Essandra.

“Of course not. So would it be possible after you become the marquis, my lord?”

“You are indeed trying to pick a fight.”

“Lord Essandra! If you give me an order, I will…”

Geko started to shout in an agitated voice, but Eugene calmly replied. “I wasn’t trying to provoke you, only making a request. A pity. Then I will move on to my suggestion.”

“Sir, others must tell you quite often about how brazen you are, correct? Or crazy?”

“I have never heard either,” Eugene responded with a straight face.

“Ha.”

Essandra fell into a daze after hearing his response. She found him to be a breath of fresh air in the beginning, but it was clear that she was mistaken. She could not understand how he could be so audacious. It seemed as if he was out of his mind. However, Eugene paid her reaction no mind and stated his true purpose in meeting with her. 

“There is an opportunity for Lord Essandra to become the next Marquis Archivold.”

“What?”

It was out of the frying pan right into the fire – Essandra had almost given up. Now she would either pummel this crazy knight and chase him out of the castle or just kill him outright.

“I captured the boss of the men who had previously occupied the silver mine of Mount Nadir. His name is Balmong, and he is responsible for the murder of a noble.”

“And?”

“He told me something interesting. Apparently, a knight named Andre promised to pardon him in the future and have him sworn in as a knight as well.”

“….!”

Essandra’s expression instantly cleared, and her eyes were filled with genuine shock.

“You should know who Sir Andre is, correct? I heard that he is a knight serving one of your brothers, Lord Gabriel.”

“I-is that really true!? The noble murderer was brought in by Sir Andre?”

“You have been doubting me for a while. I swear on my honor that I am telling the truth. I have a notarized document from the guild leaders of Moffern as well.”

“I’m sorry about this! I never meant to doubt you, sir. I apologize.”

Although she had never spoken such words to any knight in the past, Essandra hurriedly apologized rather than becoming angry.

“Then that murderer. Did you bring him with you?”

“Yes. I believe he could be quite helpful for you in your quest to become the next marquis. Am I correct?”

“Yes! It’s going to be of great help!” Essandra forgot herself and shouted excitedly.

“Then I will hand over Balmong, so please fully acknowledge me as a lord. That is my suggestion.”

“Hey! Bring me a pen and paper!”

***

“Ahahaha! Is that what it was? Lord Beogalan was done in. He was always a little petty and greedy. However, he is still a loyal man. He is one of the few lords who did not get involved in the peninsula’s current mess.”

Essandra was quite broad-minded for a noble. After accepting Eugene’s proposal, she treated Eugene in a casual manner as if the two of them shared a long history with each other. As such, Eugene could communicate more comfortably as well.

Of course, he found her excessive expressions of interest, such as tapping his arm while she talked, to be quite burdensome.

‘It would be a mess if Mirian saw this.’

He could feel her fussing and shrieking inside the leather pocket, but Eugene never opened the cap.

“But after the incident, he was very honorable and took care of things in an organized fashion. I could take a breather thanks to him.”

“That must be because his finances were freed thanks to you, sir.”

“His finances?”

“You killed the wyvern in the ruin, right? That would make it much easier for him to do future subjugations. And since the past failures would have caused a growth in the population of monsters in the ruin, Lord Beogalan must have organized another subjugation as soon as you left.”

“Ah…”

It appeared that Essandra was quite intelligent on top of being generous.

“Anyways, his pockets must have been quite happy thanks to you, sir. Hmm~ Anyways, I also need to subjugate evil lands in my possession as well…”

“Do you own evil lands as well, Lord Essandra?” Eugene asked while straightening his posture.

“Naturally. I have a few dungeons owned by the family. The problem is that my younger sibling’s territory is located on the way to the dungeons. The fourth, Edrique.”

“Hmm. You don’t get along with him?”

“Our relationship is neither good nor bad. It seems like Edrique wants the whole thing to come to an end as quickly as possible, whether it will be me or Gabriel taking the spot, he doesn’t seem to care. But if he openly sides with one of us, he would be going against the other, right? He’s watching from the sidelines because he’s scared. He is asking me to pay the toll according to the number of heads if I want to pass through his territory.”

“He’s trying to show Lord Gabriel that he won’t be standing on Lord Essandra’s side.”

“You have a good head, Sir Eugene,” Essandra smiled coyly while touching Eugene’s arm.

“Anyways, he wants 10 silver coins for each of the subjugation team’s members. Completely ridiculous. I won't have anything left over if I have to pay the toll after hiring a knight and a bunch of mercenaries. That little brat, forgetting how much I adored him when he was little.”

“My lord. That dungeon, could I subjugate it in your stead?”

“What? Come on~ Of course not. You have over 100 troops under your command, right? Then the toll would add up to…”

“I will go alone.”

Essandra’s mouth was wide agape after hearing Eugene’s answer.

“…Sir, are you sure no one has called you crazy before?”

“As I have told you already, I never heard someone calling me that,” Eugene replied with a straight face.