Chapter 65: Captain Gordon
The middle-aged man remained still for a long second before he put his sword back in its sheath.
With a deep bow, the man said, "I apologise for my rudeness, Sir Edgar."
The blonde boy didn’t respond, but his gaze observed the man.
His appearance was rather ordinary.
He had brown hair tied behind his head, a neatly trimmed beard, and weathered skin that showed years of travel.
His leather armor was covered in dust and dried blood, yet despite his exhausted appearance, his posture remained perfectly relaxed.
His defining feature was the thick brown moustache that looked like a deer’s tail.
Edgar slowly put aside the pole he had in his Sage Hand, though not too far from the man’s neck, and asked,
"Who are you?"
"My name is Gordon," the middle-aged man spoke. "I was the head knight of the Soragon Bazaar under the Yamhad Clan."
Edgar’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "The head knight?"
"Yes." Gordon gave another respectful nod. "I served the Yamhad Clan for nearly twenty-three years."
His voice was steady, but the exhaustion hidden beneath it was impossible to miss.
"I was away escorting a merchant caravan when the Nightmare Tide struck."
Edgar looked around and found a few of the refugees standing nearby.
They nodded and confirmed, "He is telling the truth."
Only then did Edgar throw the pole away. "How strong are you?"
"I am still a Level Four Knight," he spoke honestly. "I have been stuck at this rank for a while."
Folding his arms, Edgar asked, "So, what do you want?"
Gordon lowered himself onto one knee, the movement startling everyone nearby.
"My Lord Theo once asked me to keep his daughter safe." He slowly lowered his head. "If Lady Hera truly lives within this Fortress, then my duty has not ended."
The veteran knight placed his right fist over his chest.
"I request permission to serve Lady Hera once more and, if you permit it, to serve this Fortress as well."
His eyes lifted toward Edgar as he waited for an answer.
"Stand up," Edgar replied without any change in his tone.
The man with the long moustache stood up and waited for further instructions.
"Your loyalty lies with Hera," Edgar said. "Your only job is to protect her and nothing else."
For better or worse, Edgar was not in need of a knight who was not loyal to him.
"...I understand." Gordon nodded with a hint of disappointment.
Edgar turned around and began walking, gesturing for the man to follow him.
"How did you hold the pole behind my back, my lord?"
’I am not your lord.’
Edgar thought inwardly before replying, "It’s a secret."
Gordon did not ask again, instead, his eyes moved toward the top of the Fortress Wall.
He was looking at the ⟨Watch Tower⟩ with a confused expression.
"If you don’t mind me asking," he said quietly, looking at Edgar, "don’t you need people to operate them?"
Edgar stopped and looked at the tower before looking back at Gordon.
As if on cue, Nightmares began to appear outside the Fortress, and the ⟨Watch Tower⟩ began to fire.
Edgar started walking again. "No."
Gordon looked at the towers, which kept bombarding the Nightmares below with disbelief.
"..."
The veteran knight’s footsteps gradually slowed.
He had spent countless years of his life fighting Nightmares.
He knew better than anyone how difficult it was to accurately shoot them in the middle of the Eternal Night.
Yet these towers... never missed.
"They can distinguish friend from foe?" Gordon couldn’t help but ask.
"They can," Edgar answered without even turning around.
"...Amazing."
He spoke in a shaken voice.
"I have traveled the kingdom for twenty years, and I have never seen anything like this. Did you create it? How did you create it?"
Edgar frowned and paused in his steps.
He turned and looked at the man. "Wait, you traveled for twenty years and served the Yamhad Clan for another twenty?"
"Yes."
"...How old are you?"
"Sixty-three."
"....."
Edgar found it hard to believe.
The man looked no older than thirty, yet he claimed to be as old as Oswald.
Sensing his gaze, Gordon looked embarrassed. "It’s just my inherent aging and the Nightmare I chose to follow."
Edgar keenly noticed the way he talked about the Nightmare.
’What does he mean by that?’
Before Edgar could ask, six or seven people rushed toward them and stopped.
They all quickly saluted the man, who was much older than he looked.
"Captain Gordon!"
The group stopped a few steps away before bowing respectfully.
Their eyes were filled with relief.
Among them were three soldiers wearing damaged Yamhad Clan armor, a middle-aged hunter, and two young men Edgar vaguely remembered seeing around Soragon Bazaar.
Gordon gave them a small nod. "So you all survived."
"Barely."
One of the soldiers forced out a bitter smile.
"We searched everywhere for you. We thought..."
Gordon shook his head. "I won’t die so easily." His expression then turned stern. "Why are you all without weapons?"
"...W-we threw them away before arriving here," one of them spoke.
"We didn’t want to look aggressive in front of the lord."
"..."
Edgar and Gordon looked at each other, and both had the same ’These guys are stupid’ look on their faces.
The blonde boy walked forward to say something but paused when he noticed one of them visibly flinch.
He was the youngest among them, with barely any facial hair and a big mole on his right cheek.
Edgar couldn’t help but ask, "...Why did you flinch?"
"..Y-you are intimidating, my lord," he replied with a straight back, which the others nodded in agreement.
’...Am I really?’
Edgar wondered before asking, "What is your name?"
"I am Wavin," he replied. "...I came here with my old mother."
Edgar slowly nodded, remembering the young man’s face.
’Wait, what was I going to tell them?’
Edgar forgot what he was about to say.
Not wanting to look like an idiot, he simply said, "I want you all to enroll in the patrol team."
"Yes, my lord!!"
They all responded loudly, making everyone look over.
Edgar nodded and walked past them, with Gordon walking just behind him.
Turning his head, Edgar asked, "What did you mean by ’the Nightmare I chose to follow’?"