Chapter 40 : Knight
Chapter 40: Knight
Greg looked at Calimacos with cold eyes.
“Insulting a noble was not a light crime.”
“I knew that. But you aren’t a noble, are you?”
At Calimacos’s words, Greg’s hand trembled.
A knight was an imperial-certified quasi-noble.
If one were to say a quasi-noble was a noble, the commoners would agree.
But the nobles would sneer.
A position ambiguous between commoner and noble. That was why they were called quasi-nobles.
There were cases where a knight born from a noble family inherited the title as it was, but if a commoner became a knight, they reached no more than a quasi-baron.
Calimacos pointed that out.
Even so, it was unimaginable for a commoner to speak rudely to a knight and nitpick at him.
“I tried to see you favorably as someone with strong camaraderie, but you’re indulgent. Insulting me was smearing mud on the baron’s face. Blame your indiscreet tongue.”
Greg’s hand reached for his sword.
A situation on the verge of erupting.
Calimacos was not one to stay still.
Apart from his sneering attitude, Calimacos had been observing Greg with keen attention.
The moment he noticed even a hint of movement, Calimacos stepped back.
Whoosh.
It was a clean draw.
But it did not touch even a single hair of Calimacos.
Greg’s brows tightened, and Calimacos lifted one corner of his mouth.
“Is trying to harm your master’s guest something a knight should do.”
“What?”
“I’m carrying out a request from Baron Tefir. I’m saying you’re not in a position to be swinging your sword carelessly.”
“Captain!”
From the carriage, Mirian jumped up in surprise.
Baron Tefir’s request to Calimacos had been to find his illegitimate child.
Jeremy was dead, and it had been less than a day since Robin, who was supposed to deliver the news, changed his mind, delaying the meeting with Baron Tefir.
The entire mercenary band had wanted Robin to leave, but Calimacos’s remark just now was dangerous.
“We’ll have to go to Regiville anyway. We need to go to Regiville to treat Robin.”
It was true. Even so, Mirian disliked that their plan had been disrupted.
“Do you have proof that you received the baron’s request.”
Greg asked Calimacos.
The blood rising in him subsided at Calimacos’s confident demeanor.
If he truly was Baron Tefir’s guest, Greg would have to apologize for what he had just done.
“There is no proof.”
“…….”
Greg’s hand holding the sword trembled violently.
After being toyed with repeatedly, his face reddened and paled as if a volcano might erupt.
Calimacos’s irritating expression contrasted sharply with him.
“Is there a problem. Whether what I said is true or not is something you can ask your master.”
“Do not test my patience any further.”
Robin watched the situation from the carriage, poking only his head out.
He wondered what kind of man this knight he was seeing for the first time was.
But unlike that curiosity, the situation was turning bad.
A haze rose from Greg’s sword.
Shimmering air mixed with a blue light, forming a blue veil.
It looked like flowing water, yet like burning blue flames.
“Aura? Really? Against your master’s guest?”
“Shut up. Whether you’re telling the truth or not will be known once we return. For now, I’ll shut that mouth of yours and take you back.”
Srrng.
Calimacos drew his sword.
An act of hostility against a knight.
Robin tried to get off the carriage to stop him, but the air turned chilling.
Calimacos was unconsciously leaking killing intent.
‘No. Killing intent is dangerous.’
He looked toward the guards, but they too were frozen by the pressure.
The blue light on Greg’s sword grew clearer.
“Don’t worry, I won’t kill you. Cutting off one limb should make you behave.”
“Baron Tefir would be thrilled, I’m sure.”
“The baron is merciful, so he won’t make much of a fuss.”
Robin looked toward the mercenary band.
Paul, Torgen, Mirian, Brandok, Felix.
None of them looked willing to intervene—only watching.
‘I need to stop them even if I have to throw myself in.’
If Calimacos was swallowed again by his mania, there was no telling what would happen.
Robin feared that.
Tang.
Greg’s and Calimacos’s swords clashed.
It was such a brief collision that it lasted merely a fraction of a moment.
Greg’s sword bounced slightly from the recoil.
Calimacos grinned.
“W-what…… this was impossible…….”
Greg’s face was filled with panic.
It had been a sword wrapped in aura.
Aura could slice through solid iron as if it were tofu.
He had intended to cut the opponent’s sword and then continue forward to slice off his arm.
But it had been stopped. And worse, it had been pushed back slightly.
Greg swung his sword again.
Ting.
The impossible happened once more.
Greg’s sword could not advance straight.
“An opening.”
Before Calimacos could thrust his sword into Greg’s forehead—
A black-haired kid slipped between them.
“Captain, stop! Mister, you stop too!”
When Greg came to his senses, the sword before him had halted.
Had the kid not suddenly intervened, Greg’s forehead would have been pierced.
Silence settled over the surroundings.
A knight had lost. To a lowly mercenary.
“A knight is someone who protects people. Why would we fight among ourselves!”
He did swear something like that at the investiture.
Though it had long turned into an empty formality.
“It may be presumptuous, but this little mercenary is correct. Sir Greg came to rescue the Elize Merchant Company, so returning with them fulfills your goal.”
Palacio, watching for an opportunity, spoke with slick ease.
He lightly disguised the mercenary band as the Elize Merchant Company and reminded Greg of his original objective.
Greg nodded while looking at Calimacos with shaken eyes.
Calimacos sheathed his sword and looked at Robin.
The skin of Robin’s right arm was turning blue.
“Excuse me.”
The man wearing an eyepatch walked toward the horse tied by the guards and dragged it over.
He touched another’s property without permission, but no one could stop him.
“Robin, get on.”
“Huh? It’s not even our horse.”
“I’m borrowing it. If they don’t like it, they can complain to the baron.”
“Captain, I’m fine.”
“You’re not. If I leave you like this, you’ll end up one-armed.”
Calimacos carefully lifted Robin onto the saddle.
Once atop the horse, Robin’s view rose higher.
Everyone’s attention turned to Robin.
“Come slowly. Let’s meet at the Winged Chicken Inn in three days.”
With Robin in front of him, Calimacos sat on the saddle and spoke to the mercenary band.
They waved goodbye to Robin and Calimacos.
“If you touch my stuff while I’m gone, be prepared. Guards, get moving.”
Calimacos continued acting annoyingly until the moment he left.
Perhaps the shock of Greg’s defeat was too much—none of the guards said anything, only listening silently.
Clip-clop, clip-clop.
Robin and Calimacos rode swiftly on the horse.
* * *
They crossed in a single day a distance that would have taken three days on foot.
Having ridden since morning, the two of them were able to reach Regiville before sunset.
His hips were sore, but Robin’s treatment took priority.
“Where are we going now?”
“The church. We need to hope there’s a proper priest.”
They arrived before a building with a higher ceiling than the others.
Bad memories resurfaced for Robin.
He had been kidnapped in Stonegoth, and the place had been the church’s underground.
Knock, knock.
The arched door opened, and an elderly man stepped out.
Wearing a black clerical robe, the old priest looked back and forth between Calimacos and Robin before speaking.
“Please come inside.”
The interior filled with soft candlelight gave a cozy feeling.
Past the chapel, the room they were led to had several beds.
Patients who had arrived earlier were lying on the beds resting.
“Let’s see.”
The priest examined Robin, who sat on the edge of the bed.
Every time the priest pressed a sore spot, Robin winced.
“A fracture in the right arm, a cracked rib, several lacerations… the bleeding was stopped early.”
“Can you treat him.”
The priest nodded slowly.
“You’re in luck. I have holy water prepared beforehand.”
“Then I’ll ask for your help.”
“Very well. Since he’s a child, I’ll give you a discount. Twenty silver.”
Robin’s eyes widened.
He hadn’t known priests received money for treatment, and twenty silver was far too expensive.
“Twenty silver? That’s too expensive.”
“Robin, stay quiet.”
Calimacos took twenty silver coins from his coat.
He handed them over without a word, and the priest smiled before disappearing.
“I don’t have money like twenty silver.”
“Don’t worry. Who said you had to pay. I’ll deduct it from Mirian’s wages, so just accept it.”
“That makes it even worse. How could I accept such a large sum without shame.”
“Aren’t you siblings through oath?”
“Well, yes, but……”
“Mirian will feel hurt if she hears this. She formed the oath because she wanted to support you—would you refuse her goodwill?”
Robin thought about it from Mirian’s perspective.
What if the person he wanted to protect was hurt, and they refused treatment?
It would be painful.
‘I’ll pay her back much more later.’
He resolved to repay them several times over in the future.
Creak.
The priest entered carrying a transparent bottle.
Inside, water sloshed gently.
When the cap was opened, a refreshing scent spread.
‘It looks just like water.’
The priest sprinkled half the holy water over Robin’s arm and body.
It didn’t have the immediate effect of a potion, but Robin felt his body becoming refreshed.
“Drink the other half. If you rest well, the bones will heal within a week. The lacerations may leave scars.”
“…Thank you.”
“Rest comfortably and leave whenever you wish.”
Leaving those words behind, the priest exited the room.
“Thank you, Captain.”
“Alright.”
The two of them remained silent for a moment.
The sound of other patients shifting filled the space.
“You must be tired. Get some sleep. I’ll come again tomorrow.”
“Goodbye. See you tomorrow.”
Only after Calimacos left did Robin finally relax.
Major incidents had happened one after another.
The bandits’ raid and their assault on the hideout.
He had witnessed terrifying killing intent and mania.
He had seen a knight for the first time, and though the aura-wrapped sword had been mysterious, it wasn’t as impressive as he had expected.
Their original plan had been to delay coming to Regiville, but they had ended up here after all.
‘What will happen next?’
He didn’t know what might occur, but Robin now felt he had something to rely on.
With the Calimacos Mercenary Band, things would be alright.
‘For now, I should focus on recovering.’
Perhaps because the day had been exhausting—
Robin fell asleep as if collapsing.
Calimacos scrubbed off the blood-soaked grime from his body and changed into neat clothes.
With the old filth washed away and his outfit arranged, the right side of his face was handsome enough to be called a fine-looking man.
But because of the eyepatch and scar over his left eye, few knew it.
Contrary to what one would expect from a mercenary who lived by the sword, he disarmed completely and strolled through Regiville.
With the red sunset at his back, he arrived at a mansion in the center of the city.
As he approached, the guards recognized Calimacos and opened the gate immediately.
“You haven’t changed.”
Guided by a servant, Calimacos stood before the reception room door and knocked.
“Come in.”
The voice was neither low nor high, but it carried firmness.
When he opened the door, a middle-aged man was drinking tea.
“It’s been a while, my lord.”
Tefir gestured toward the seat opposite him.
Calimacos sat, and Tefir asked,
“Will you have a cup of tea.”
“I will.”
A waiting servant brought tea.
The steam rising from the cup carried a wonderful aroma.
“I have something to discuss privately, so the rest of you may leave.”
“Yes.”
Once the servants left, only the two remained in the reception room.
“Since you’ve come to Regiville, I assume there has been some progress on the request I gave you.”
“Of course.”
Setting down the teacup, Calimacos continued calmly.
“His name was Jeremy. An eight-year-old boy with blond hair and golden eyes. He’d been working at Burt’s General Store in Stonegoth, and he had a locket necklace engraved with the crest of House Tefir. Inside the locket was a strand of blond hair.”
“Ohh.”
With eyes full of expectation, Tefir looked at Calimacos, urging him to continue.
But contrary to that hope, Calimacos’s next words were not what he wished to hear.
“Jeremy is dead.”
Tefir’s eyes sank deeply.