Chapter 3: ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ (๐)
โHow did he know I was from the Aitz family. . . Oh well.โ
โ. . .Could you tell what I was thinking?โ
โWho else would be hanging around here with a longsword at this time?โ
Now Johan was wearing casual clothes and there was no family crest anywhere, but that longsword was enough.
โMay I ask your name?โ
โJohan. Iโm Johan Aitz.โ
โI canโt believe youโre Sir Gessenโs son. . .โ
โ?โ
Johan looked at the old man with a puzzled look.
โWhat brings you here?โ
โWhat brings me here. . . I always come here.โ
โAh, I apologize. I was rude. . .โ
โNo. Itโs fine. Do as you please.โ
Johan waved his hand and was about to move on. Then the old man spoke again.
โMay I ask one more thing?โ
โ. . .I donโt mind, but who are you?โ
Johan looked the old man up and down. One eye seemed to be blind, it was gray. Other than that, he was dressed normally.
โHeโs a pretty well-kept old man for his age.โ
Johan realized that the old man had a straight back and a sturdy physique. Such old men were rare in the town.
โIโm Kaegal, a wanderer roaming the Empire.โ
โI see. Kaegal. What brings you to this uninteresting town?โ
โAs I said, Johan-nim. Wanderers just wander. Thereโs no reason. Besides, an uninteresting town? This warm and well-kept town is rare in the Empire.โ
Kaegal exaggerated, but Johan didnโt think it was sincere. In the first place, the Aitz familyโs territory wasnโt that great.
Johan decided not to argue. It wasnโt a big deal, and he didnโt feel bad about the territory being laughed at.
โI see. What do you want to ask?โ
โIf youโre Sir Gessenโs son, are you currently training as a squire?โ
โAre you mocking me right now?โ
โNo. Why would I?โ
โIf I were training as a squire, I would be under another knight.โ
When they were young, they entered under another knight as a page, gained experience and became a squire, and later became a knight by making a contribution.
This was the usual case.
Of course, even if they didnโt go that far, the children of noble knight families could say โIโm a knightโ and get away with it, but the son of a lower-class noble without any skills would only end up being laughed at.
โThatโs true, but there could be other cases. Sir Gessen calls another knight to the territory to teach. . .โ
โSo thatโs what you meant. Thatโs what John is getting.โ
Mrs. Aitz had called a retired knight to the mansion to teach her youngest son, John. The old man nodded and said.
โThe youngest. . . So youโre not really training?โ
โIโm not training. Why do you keep bothering me?โ
โIโm sorry. You donโt look like you havenโt trained. . .โ
Johan realized why the old man was acting that way upon hearing his words. For someone untrained, Johanโs appearance was too plausible.
โ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ช๐ด๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ?โ
Even for a wanderer, he seemed to know too much about the lives of knights. Of course, he could have picked it up while working in another knightโs family. . .
โOh my. . . Then Iโll be on my way. Ah. Johan-nim. Is there a place in the town where I can sleep for the night?โ
โGo down the hill and look for a house with a long and wide door. Thereโs no second floor, but thereโs a back room for occasional travelers.โ
If it had been a larger town, there would have been a separate inn doing business, but there was none in this town. There was only a pub that also served as an inn. Of course, it was enough for wanderers to drink, sleep, and go for a night.
This pub was owned by the feudal lord, Sir Gessen. Like other facilities such as the mill, it was a place where people who had received permission from the lord operated and raised income.
โ๐๐ตโ๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ฆ. ๐๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฆโ๐ด ๐ข ๐ด๐ถ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ. . . ๐๐ฐ. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ค๐ข๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ.โ
Spies or suspicious people wouldnโt bother coming to Aitzโs feudatory. There was no value in doing so.
And even if they did, Johan had no intention of stepping forward.
If it was related to the Aitz family, shouldnโt the well-off half brothers or Mrs. Aitz step forward?
๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ
Kaegal quickly became friends with the people in the town. It wasnโt hard to get along. All it took was a bit of skill and some empireโs silver coins.
When a harmless wanderer praises their town and even offers drinks, the usually bored farmers would flock to him and start asking questions.
๐๐ก๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฉโ
There was a hearth in the middle of the dirt floor. A stew that seemed to have been boiling for quite a while was bubbling on the hearth dug into a pit. It wasnโt cooked with a particular dish in mind. Even the tavern owner probably didnโt know exactly what was in the stew. It was always boiled with whatever ingredients were available.
But the town of Aitz was not lacking in salt or spices, so the taste was decent. Thanks to its location on the ancient Empireโs trade route, merchants always brought goods, which was a boon.
Thanks to this, Kaegal was somewhat satisfied. He had eaten much worse dishes before. For a wanderer, this was a feast.
โBut. . . about Sir Gessenโs son. . .โ
โWhich son?โ
โThe tall, well-built one.โ
โAh, Johan-nim.โ
โI saw him for the first time, and his presence is no joke. Is he the successor?โ
โWhat? No. No. The successor is Philip-nim.โ
โBut I can understand why youโd be confused. At first glance, Johan looks much more like a knight, doesnโt he?โ
โYou fool. Can you become a successor just by looking the part? Donโt say such nonsense.โ
โ๐๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.โ
Kaegal listened to the farmersโ conversation with interest. He poured them a light beer and asked a question, and they started talking on their own. They usually didnโt have a chance to relax and chat like this, so they couldnโt stop talking.
โ๐๐ช๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ? ๐๐ต ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง. . .โ
To Kaegalโs eyes, Johan was a young man born with a body given by the gods. Elastic and strong muscles, quick reflexes. He was the very embodiment of a warriorโs physique.
What was surprising was that he was trained enough to fight at any moment.
Could a young man who had not received any instruction be capable of such training on his own?
Kaegal became interested. He didnโt believe in the prophecy of the witch of Asman, but now that he saw Johan, he began to trust the witchโs prophecy.
โ๐๐ก, ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฅ, ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ง๐๐ค๐. ๐๐ก๐ ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ. . . ๐๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก๐ฐ๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ข๐ซ๐. . . ๐๐ง ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ง๐จ ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ. . . ๐๐ก๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ ๐๐ซ๐ฎ๐ง๐ค๐๐ง, ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ซ๐. . .
โ๐๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐๐ข๐๐ข๐? ๐ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ฏ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก๐ฐ๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐จ๐๐ฒ.
โ๐๐ ๐ข๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ญ๐, ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎโ๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ญ.
โ๐๐๐ฆ๐ง ๐ข๐ญ. ๐๐จ๐ฎโ๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐จ๐จ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐๐ก ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐๐ค๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐จ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ.
โ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ข๐ญ, ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐จ.
The witch laughed softly. The scent spread in the tent made Kaegalโs old body feel heavier. Kaegal shook his head.
โ๐ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐จ๐ข๐ง.
With one Empire gold coin, you could play and eat for several months even in a city with high prices. There were plenty of serfs who had never seen a gold coin in their lives. But he didnโt think about saving it.
Only a fool would break a promise with a witch.
Kaegal didnโt believe in gods, but he was an old assassin who believed in superstitions.
Even this witch was not a witch from the Asman Empire, far to the east of the Holy Empire. It was rumored that the witches of the Asman Empire were even called upon by the Sultan to predict the future.
โ๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฉ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎโ๐ซ๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ, ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฅ.
โ๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ค ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ. ๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฉ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ข๐ซ๐ ๐๐ก๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ก.
โ๐๐ฌ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ญ๐ก ๐จ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ? ๐๐ก๐ ๐จ๐ง๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ, ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฅ, ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐.
Neither Kaegal nor the witch had a respectable status.
The witch was a heretic who believed in a different god than the Holy Empireโs church, and Kaegal was an assassin.
The unofficial swordsmanship guild of the Holy Empire, <๐๐๐ง๐จ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฌ>!
Kaegal was one of the masters of that guild.
In the Empire, there were official swordsmanship guilds that purely honed their swordsmanship and pledged loyalty to the feudal lord of the city, and there were illegal guilds that hid in the shadows of the city and took illegal requests.
A guild where delinquents, thieves, and murderers gathered.
Not all swordsmen who learned swordsmanship were righteous. The underground swordsmanship guilds flourished as much as the aboveground swordsmanship guilds. And <๐๐๐ง๐จ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฌ> was one of the most prosperous among the underground swordsmanship guilds.
Kaegal, who had lived without regrets all his life, had one regret as his death approached.
That was the fact that his skills would disappear as they were.
Unlike the official guilds, the unofficial guilds were far from the concept of master and disciple, and the transmission of swordsmanship. They had to learn on their own and steal swordsmanship on their own. If they couldnโt, they would die.
Kaegal was proud to have mastered the secret techniques of swordsmanship handed down in <๐๐๐ง๐จ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฌ>. He melted what he had experienced and felt into it and created a new swordsmanship.
But. . .
There was no one to teach.
The young men who newly joined <๐๐๐ง๐จ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฌ> were trash, just like the people who joined <๐๐๐ง๐จ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฌ>. Even if they tolerated their dog-like and vulgar character and temperament, their skills and talents did not please him.
Was he supposed to take as disciples those clumsily evil guys who might use the swordsmanship he taught to kill him right away?
Kaegal didnโt want to do that. He suddenly realized why the official guilds were strong. They would naturally be strong because they received systematic instruction and transmission.
In the end, Kaegal went to the witch. He tried to get a prophecy with the feeling of grabbing at straws.
And now.
Kaegal was happy that the prophecy was unexpectedly not wrong.
๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ
โ๐โ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ถ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ฅ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ.โ
โMay the blessing of the divine be with you.โ
โMay the blessing of the divine be upon you.โ
Valberga, a clergyman in charge of the church in the feudal territory, bowed before Johan. He spent the afternoon assisting with church duties alongside Valberga.
Most of Sir Gessenโs sons were far from devout. Amidst this, Valberga was delighted to see Johan frequently visiting the church, demonstrating his faith.
โJohan-nim. The divine is surely watching over your dedication.โ