Chapter 39: Chapter 39
Right before leaving Hasra after finishing all preparations, a person sent by Prince Elvin arrived, just as Princess Cheryn had warned.
The man, who introduced himself as Baron Rosk, was a handsome man in his late twenties with a neat appearance.
“You say Prince Elvin wishes to form a vassal contract with me?”
“Indeed. I hear you have an acquaintance with Sir Lug, and he spoke extremely highly of you as well. Of course, that is only natural since you are the champion.”
Even as he smiled affably, a demeanor of trying to measure Shan up could be felt.
To hide his uncomfortable gaze, Shan drank a cup of tea before offering his prepared answer.
“I appreciate the kind words, but for now, I intend to prove myself further as a knight-errant.”
“The champion of the Hasra Jousting Tournament proving himself…… Surely you aren’t planning to hunt a dragon?”
“If the opportunity arises.”
Hearing the answer, an absurd expression washed over the baron’s face.
It was a face confused as to whether this guy was speaking seriously or taking it as a joke.
Soon after, Baron Rosk asked with a somewhat gloomy air.
“I’m asking just in case, but you haven’t formed a vassal contract with Princess Cheryn in addition to receiving your knighthood, have you?”
Saying that someone had seen Shan and Roden heading to the estate Count of Palles, Princess Cheryn’s maternal uncle, late at night a few days ago, the baron poked sharply.
“I did not form a vassal contract. If I had, I would have made it known.”
A true knight should feel no shame in revealing their lord’s name.
However, since he really had not formed a vassal contract with Princess Cheryn, there was nothing to be caught on in that regard.
They were merely in a cooperative relationship after all.
Meanwhile, because he was not very skilled at acting, his terrible gaze and the movements of his facial muscles ended up confusing the other party even more.
Staring at Shan intently, the baron groaned and shook his head.
“Yes, that must be it. Hmph…… Very well. If you ever change your mind, please contact me through this.”
Baron Rosk left a single invitation with Shan and then left Weaver Manor just like that.
At that, Roden, who had been standing quietly behind, snorted with a huff and spoke.
“He certainly has his nose high in the air, fitting for a prince’s man. I didn’t expect the prince himself to come, but to send a messenger like that guy.”
“Like that guy?”
“Baron Rosk is a notorious libertine and scum of humanity in the capital. Looking at the level of the people he hangs out with, one can guess what kind of person his superior is.”
For some reason, something akin to personal malice toward that baron bled through Roden’s tone.
Instead of prying into those personal circumstances, Shan brushed off a spider that had perched on Roden’s shoulder.
“Anyway, this makes it even more clear. We must not let go of Princess Cheryn’s side.”
“Why?”
“Because they are no match for her in intelligence gathering! While the two princes can’t even tell whether the princess is an enemy or not, the princess has both of them completely in the palm of her hand, right? Just look at how she predicted today’s visit.”
Saying he had no idea what method she had used, Roden rested his chin on his hand and tilted his head.
“Maybe she fed the prince’s close aides a poison that only she can detoxify and is controlling them…… Considering how she said it didn’t matter even if we revealed everything about hunting the vampire this time.”
Princess Cheryn had said that even if they hunted the vampire of Castaman Castle, Prince Elvin would not even suspect that the information came from her.
Rather, if he found out, he would suspect Conrad’s side instead, was it?
Since there was no way he, a die-hard Old Faith believers member, would take Shan as a subordinate, he would assume someone merely heard a rumor about the vampire and leaked it secretly.
In short, it was a scheme that countered Prince Elvin’s move while simultaneously sowing discord between the two princes.
“Come to think of it, that Prince Conrad really doesn’t take much action. From hiring a vampire this time to enticing me or suspecting the princess, it’s all the second prince’s doing, isn’t it?”
“Originally, the person standing at the top benefits just by maintaining the status quo. Brilliant moves are needed by the disadvantageous and weak side.”
It meant that someone supported by the king’s eldest son status, wealthy and powerful local Old Faith believers lords, and the kingdom’s strongest knight had no need to care about such dark schemes.
Chatting away, the two soon headed to the stable.
The preparations for the journey ended after picking out Arwin and the best horse for Roden to ride and loading the pre-packed luggage onto them.
“Is it not heavy, Arwin?”
At Shan’s question, Arwin snorted as if this amount of luggage was nothing.
Considering that the amount of luggage it carried was about twice that of the horse next to it, it was truly remarkable physical capability.
Before long, Shan, armed in full plate armor like a knight, and Roden, standing behind in the chain mail he favored, exchanged greetings with the mansion’s people and stepped outside.
Now it was time to set out on the vampire hunt.
*
In Laven, a small city in north-central Pendia, there was a tavern where mercenaries often gathered.
In truth, calling them mercenaries sounded grand, but it was closer to a gathering of idlers who had run off saying they were sick of farming while fighting monsters and might as well make fighting monsters their profession.
If they were a real, proper mercenary group, it was only natural they would go east near the Demonic Realm, or west or south where foot traffic was heavy.
“Nothing happening today either, it seems.”
“Who caught the earth spirit that showed up in Old Man Ettin’s field?”
“Who knows. Maybe he dealt with it himself.”
“Dealt with it my foot. If that old geezer stepped up, he’d have only added fertilizer to the ground……”
While the bored mercenaries were chatting idly with no work to do, the tavern door slammed open.
Turning their heads with thoughts of ‘perfect, we were bored anyway’, the mercenaries quickly pulled their feet off the tables and took upright postures.
It was because the person who opened the door and walked in was a boy knight clad in full plate armor.
‘Whoa.’
‘A knight!’
‘He’s young?’
‘What business does he have here?’
While everyone merely watched with a mix of interest and vigilance without daring to speak up, the giant man standing behind the knight spoke first.
“I am Roden, a squire serving Sir Shan of House Barendil! From now on, we shall recruit brave warriors to set out on a vampire subjugation!”
“A vampire…… you say?”
“Why would a person who is a knight go so far as to hire mercenaries just to catch something like that?”
An ordinary vampire could be handled with more than enough ease by just a few mercenaries, so no matter how young he looked, wasn’t it strange for a knight to hire mercenaries to catch such a creature?
Their question was resolved immediately by the words that followed.
“The opponent is no ordinary vampire, but a high vampire capable of disguising itself as a human!”
“Ohhh……”
“Was there such a monster in this neighborhood?”
“Pass for me.”
While those expecting a big job with high pay listened earnestly, there were also those who showed a thoroughly indifferent attitude.
It was because the young age of the knight visible to their eyes was not trustworthy at all.
Originally, knights and mercenaries shared a relationship like shepherds and sheepdogs, so if they set out on a vampire hunt and that young knight died helplessly, wouldn’t they be put in danger as well?
Just then, a mercenary who was relatively well-informed stared closely at Shan and exulted in surprise.
“Ah, come to think of it, could you perhaps be Sir Shan, the champion of this Hasra Jousting Tournament?”
“That is right. It seems rumors have already spread all the way here.”
As Roden answered on his behalf, exclamations of “Oh!” erupted among the mercenaries.
“The champion of the jousting tournament? When he’s that young?”
“That’s right. There was an uproar that this tournament’s champion was a boy not even fifteen years old. They say he’s an Altoan, no less.”
“Heo.”
“At that age, he’s younger than my youngest brother.”
Although there were those who slandered the jousting tournament as child’s play for knights, everyone still acknowledged that anyone who won it was a person of extraordinary skill.
If it was a group led by such a powerful knight, the story was a bit different.
“When do we depart?”
“Right now, we head north.”
“What about the pay?”
“Will hunting allowances be provided as well?”
After repeating several negotiations, Sir Shan came to lead sixteen mercenaries under his command in an instant.
There weren’t many high-level mercenaries in such a small city, and in fact, considering their purpose, a large number was not necessary, so this amount was just right.
Roden handled the entire negotiation process, and everyone clicked their tongues, saying that despite looking like a hearty knight, he was as shrewd and quick with calculations as a merchant.
A moment later, the hired mercenaries received another shock upon seeing the horse their knight rode.
From its exterior, which possessed a mysterious luster as if clad in metal, to its build a full head taller than other horses and its elegant frame, it was truly a horse that looked as though the Goddess herself would ride it.
“Wow, that is……”
“It’s a Mount Horais battle horse. I heard it was the grand prize of this capital jousting tournament.”
“Sir Shan’s warhorse is extremely fickle and picky about people, so do not approach it carelessly.”
At Roden’s stern warning, everyone nodded, but it was difficult to hide the desire blooming in their eyes.
If they stole and sold one such horse, they could pocket money that couldn’t be earned even by working as a mercenary for a lifetime.
Of course, it was something they wouldn’t dare dream of with the owner, the jousting tournament champion, right in front of them.
Once the employment contract was finalized, the party immediately left the city and moved north.
Roden only then revealed the destination to the mercenaries under his command, out of concern that there might be the target’s henchman inside the city.
“The vampire we are to catch is at Castaman Castle.”
“If it’s Castaman Castle…… does a high vampire live in such a place? It’s my first time hearing of it.”
“Ah, come to think of it, there was talk that vampires were unusually swarming in that area.”
“Is that so?”
Seeing how even the local residents living relatively nearby were half-doubting, it seemed he had disguised his identity quite well.
It was clear that unless Princess Cheryn had intercepted the communications between the lord of Castaman and Elvin through whatever path, there would have been no way to uncover his identity.
“The target is the lord of Castaman.”
“Pardon?”
“No, Sir Knight. That is……”
Castaman Castle was closer to a manor too small to be called a fief, but in any case, the lord of that place was a noble.
Could it be that they were hired for a strife between nobles? After calling it a vampire hunt?
Seeing the mercenaries filled with perplexing concern, Roden scolded them with a fierce face.
“That fellow is merely a monster impersonating a status by purchasing the title of Castaman’s lord. Even if something goes wrong, there is nothing for you all to take responsibility for.”
“A-Understood.”
At Roden’s solemn expression and gaze, the mercenaries backed off in understanding.
Looking at appearance alone, that squire looked even more knightly than the knight himself, so they couldn’t dare bring themselves to disobey.
*
The opportunity for the mercenaries to learn the skill of that boy knight who didn’t look like a knight came before long.
Half a day after leaving Laven City and heading north, a bear appeared before them just as they were about to set up camp.
“What, it’s a bear?”
“Be careful. That thing is more dangerous than most monsters.”
Most of the carnivore spots in Pendia’s food chain were held by monsters, but even among them, a few apex predators like bears or tigers overcame that competition and managed to survive.
Naturally, the ones that survived by clashing with monsters were that much larger and more ferocious, making them formidable foes even to armed warriors.
It was not impossible to catch, but a tough opponent for which significant injury and perhaps even death had to be prepared during the process.
As the gaunt, enraged bear, seemingly famished, approached while huffing, the mercenaries stepped back hesitantly.
Watching that scene, Shan dismounted from his horse, stepped forward, and commanded.
“Everyone fall back.”
“Yes!”
How could they dare disobey the employer’s command; as everyone fell back, the starved bear rushed forward immediately.
It was because it interpreted all the threatening enemies in front stepping back and leaving only the smallest individual as a signal of a prey group leaving behind a single prey item as bait before retreating.
That misinterpretation decided the beast’s life and death.
Shan stood quietly holding his newly received spear, then accurately thrust at the approaching bear’s head.
Thwack! Even though he did not put much force into it, the spear blade pierced through the bear’s thick hide and skull, rummaging through its brain and ending its breath.
‘Nice.’
Shan looked down at the fallen bear and smiled with satisfaction.
Even without using Fighting Spirit at all, it possessed a sharpness that smoothly dug through bone and flesh as if stabbing cheese, and a firmness that did not break even when the heavy bear’s weight bore down upon it.
At this level, even if the opponent were a large monster, it seemed he could sufficiently inflict a fatal wound with a spear.
‘As expected, it was good that I chose the spear.’
In fact, it wasn’t that he hadn’t thought about choosing armor instead of a weapon, but since A Thousand Shapes was difficult to use in front of others after all, he needed a weapon he could use openly.
Furthermore, such a long spear was also difficult to make and use with A Thousand Shapes due to size limitations.
When he pulled the spear from the fallen bear’s head, only then did the surrounding mercenaries let out exclamations as if released from being frozen.
“Wooo……!”
“Is that a knight?”
“A bear isn’t even a match for him at all.”
Though they had heard he was the champion of the jousting tournament, to be honest they had been a little anxious due to his young appearance, but seeing his performance completely wiped away such feelings.
Even those green glowing eyes, which began to glow faintly as it gradually grew dark, somehow looked trustworthy for no reason.
For dinner, they butchered and roasted the meat of the hunted bear to eat.
Naturally, because it was hunted game meat, it was tough and had a strong odor, but since eating fresh meat while camping was a luxury in itself, no one complained.
“I heard cooking this guy’s paws in a certain way makes it a delicacy.”
“Can this tough thing even be cooked?”
“Huh? That’s why it’s a special dish……”
The mercenary who was about to answer without much thought stiffened rigidly upon realizing the person who asked just now was the boy knight.
After a brief moment, he quickly answered with a servile smile.
“I don’t know well either, but a peddler said so. That the Ajun folks like to cook and eat bear paws……”
“I’d like to try eating it once.”
“If I learn the recipe later, I will definitely offer it to you.”
When the knight, who had been keeping his mouth shut and leaving everything to his squire since signing the contract and starting the journey, opened his mouth, the other mercenaries were flustered while also feeling glad.
After all, wasn’t an employer you could talk to more trustworthy and comfortable than an employer you couldn’t talk to?
Fortunately, because they had seen him finish off the bear in a single blow a moment ago, there was no fool brave enough to look down on Shan and try to stand above him.
In fact, keeping his mouth shut tight all this time and only striking up a conversation now was something calculated up to that point.
Of course, it was after receiving Roden’s advice.
However, an incident capable of making striking up a conversation and becoming friendly like that mean nothing occurred that very night.
Those who opened their eyes at a terrible scream realized that two mercenaries who were supposed to be on night watch were missing.
Going to the place where the scream came from, one of them was screaming in agony with one leg crushed.
“P-Please save me, please, save……”
“Haa.”
Realizing the situation, Roden let out a sigh.
Right behind him could be seen the other night watchman, who had died with his skull crushed, and Arwin, who was thoroughly enraged from being woken up while sleeping.
They had met a gruesome end while secretly trying to steal the horse and run away while everyone was sleeping.
Stealing an employer’s, or even worse, a knight’s horse was naturally a serious crime for which they would have no right to complain even if executed on the spot.
But since everyone knew each other through mutual acquaintances, they hesitated, not knowing what to do.
Unlike the mercenaries who were frequently mobilized in wars between humans, such as in Libert, the mercenaries in this vicinity who mainly fought monsters were not very accustomed to killing people.
In the end, Shan, unable to bear watching their pathetic display, stepped up himself.
When the boy knight, who had been conversing amicably just moments ago, calmly drew his sword and chopped off the man’s neck, everyone let out a gasp.
“Discard the corpses far away. Monsters will take care of carrying them off.”
“U-Understood.”
Truly, saying that a knight was a knight no matter how young, he was merciless beyond belief; the mercenaries looked at each other and clicked their tongues.
*
“Over there is Castaman Castle.”
On the second day since leaving the city, a guide mercenary spoke while pointing at the castle situated on top of a hill.
Castaman Castle was truly in the form of a feudal manor to the point of being typical.
Beneath the stone walls situated on the hill, a church, a mill, and a village were protected by a wooden palisade, and the surroundings were encircled by farmland and meadows where sheep grazed.
“Alright, then everyone move according to plan.”
“Understood!”
“Let’s go!”
With shouted, Shan and Roden directly entered the Castaman manor while leading their armed mercenary unit.
Farmers who were working while enduring the scorching summer midday sun were startled by the mysterious force that suddenly appeared and let out shouted.
“Bandits, it’s bandits!”
“Elli’s father, come out quickly! Bandits have come!”
“No, wait a minute. The one in front looks like a knight…”
At least a sharp-eyed person among them recognized the attire of Shan approaching at the lead and restrained the others.
Around that time, Roden shouted in a tremendous voice emanating from his thick chest and throat.
“We are! The force led by Sir Shan of House Barendil! We have come to subjugate the vampires of this fief, so humans must not act recklessly! Anyone who flees will be judged as a vampire’s minion!”
At the out-of-the-blue story, the residents felt confused, yet stopped short of fleeing blindly and looked at each other.
Taking advantage of that gap, Roden immediately gestured and instructed the mercenaries behind him.
“Now, catch them quickly!”
“Yes!”
The mercenaries pushed the villagers who had come out to do field work into the palisade, then blocked off all possible escape routes.
Twelve out of the fourteen took on that role, and the remaining two continued to attend to Shan and Roden.
“Having mercenaries under command to order around certainly makes things convenient, right?”
As Shan watched that scene with a peculiar expression, Roden beside him spoke in a small voice.
Just as he said, if only the two of them had come, it would have been difficult to control over a hundred people.
It would also have been tough to handle various tricks, such as the lord or his henchmen blending among them and secretly returning to the castle to alert an attack or incite the residents.
“That’s true. Though the feeling is a bit strange.”
“Why?”
“Because it reminds me of the old days.”
Was it not just like this back when the Steel Lion Corps slaughtered the people of Willow Village in the past?
Of course, there were no knights back then, though.
Just then, a priest who ran out from the church building between the village and the castle saw this scene and shouted fiercely.
Even this sight brought to mind the end of Priest Ador in the past for no reason.
“Nameless knight! By what right do you oppress the weak like this? The Goddess is watching you!”
“Actually, I came to carry out the Goddess’s will. Priest, please cooperate with us.”
“Cooperate, what on earth……”
Shan dismounted from Arwin, approached the flustered priest, and held out a well-polished, gleaming silver coin.
Seeing this, the priest’s eyes shook violently.
“We are only going to do a simple test…”
Before he could even finish his words, Shan swiftly bent his waist and dodged an incoming attack.
The right hand of the priest, who had been fine until just a moment ago, turned pale like marble, and his fingernails were long and sharp like talons.
Completely abandoning human form, the vampire, with a bat-like snub nose and glowing blood-red eyes opened wide, growled.
“Just how on earth did you figure it out?”
“As expected, there wasn’t just one.”
Originally, priests of the Goddess Order were the ones who had to be most vigilant against monsters possessing human-like form and superior intelligence, like high vampires, hiding themselves.
Princess Cheryn’s advice (that if it managed to hide for a long time, there was a high possibility that the church on that side was in cahoots in some way) was correct.
“I-It’s really real!”
“Ugh!”
Though they had heard the story, when the priest really transformed into a vampire’s form, the two mercenaries behind them recoiled in horror and aimed the spears they were holding.
Inwardly, they also felt relief at the fact that they had not really been caught up in a fight between nobles.
However, as if to make their vigilance meaningless, the vampire that charged with beast-like swift speed was sliced into several pieces in an instant by the longsword Shan drew and collapsed.
In the eyes of the mercenaries, who did not know that in the midst of it the fellow tried to cast hypnosis magic through its eyes or that it became meaningless before Shan’s formidable Fighting Spirit, that was all it looked like.
Shan watched with fascination as the entrails and flesh scattered on the ground squirmed to attach themselves back together somehow.
“Certainly, a high vampire’s regenerative power is incredible……”
Even a troll wasn’t to this extent; wasn’t it truly a level of vitality that was beyond supernatural, even transcendent?
Come to think of it, he also needed to check how powerful the regeneration reduction effect was when stabbing with a spear, but fortunately, since the castle lord still remained, it seemed he could test it on that side.
As Roden, who followed behind, scattered the silver powder he had prepared as if sowing seeds, the body struggling to cling together burned white.
If it were a high vampire in an intact state, it might be different, but in a state chopped into pieces like this, its resistance to silver dropped extremely low, so it could be finished off with this method.
Afterward, Shan and Roden instructed the mercenaries to conduct a simple test on the villagers.
The method was pressing a silver coin firmly against a patch of skin.
Originally, vampires were one of the races that showed an allergic reaction to silver along with werewolves, and although high vampires had a certain degree of resistance, they could not avoid a mild inflammatory reaction.
At least for confirming identity, even that much was sufficient.
“Unnecessary killing and plundering are strictly forbidden. If I receive a report regarding that upon returning, I will punish you severely, so be aware of that.”
“Of course, my lord. A few of us are even relatives with the people of this neighborhood through a few degrees of separation.”
At Roden’s stern warning, the mercenaries bowed and answered.
In fact, that was why they had intentionally hired locals instead of hiring mercenaries in the capital.
Of course, in the process, there was also a slight risk of a vampire’s minion being mixed in.
After giving the instructions, Shan and Roden took two mercenaries and headed straight for the castle where the manor’s master would be staying.
But just then, a pitch-black thing shot out from atop the castle and could be seen flying away.
“No, that……”
“Could it be?”
Originally, vampires had been called bat-men in the past, just as werewolves were called wolf-men.
It was because they were close to a hideous mix of human and bat forms.
However, the individuals among them whose wings developed enough to enable flight were extremely rare, but it seemed the lord of Castaman Castle belonged to that sort.
This was proof that even as a high vampire, he possessed power on a different level from the guy caught earlier.
Watching the guy pull far away, the mercenaries exclaimed in panic.
“T-That thing!”
“What do we do?”
“What else do we do? We catch him.”
Shan took the spear hanging at Arwin’s flank, then cut the rope connected to the luggage tied to the saddle with a dagger and dropped it.
He felt the beast lightly bound forward in a body that had instantly become light.
“I leave cleaning up here to you! Just don’t enter the castle!”
“Understood!”
Leaving Roden’s answer behind, Shan spurred Arwin and sprinted toward the vampire flying far away.