Chapter 237

Sacrifice

Humans considered every nonhuman race little different from animals or monsters.

That made the Holy Empire practically the natural enemy of an alliance made up of orcs, goblins, and beastfolk.

And this was not merely some political policy.

It was religion.

Religion!

There was almost no room for compromise at all.

From the very beginning, we had somehow ended up fundamentally opposed to the strongest human nation on the continent.

I could already feel my future plans becoming complicated.

“Hey, human mercenary. If you don’t mind, why not leave that axe with us?”

“Yeah! It was made using an ancient method. We’ll do it for free, so leave it here!”

“A solid mithril axe! We could melt the whole thing down and forge it again from scratch! It could become the greatest masterpiece of my life!”

“Humans probably couldn’t even work with that much mithril properly, but give us one week and we’ll make you a brand-new axe!”

The dwarven blacksmiths had already been noisy enough, and now they began spouting nonsense while I was trying to think.

“Are you insane, dwarf?”

We were leaving tomorrow morning.

How exactly was I supposed to hand Silvertusk over for an entire week?

In the end, we spent the rest of the day in Rockhands without accomplishing much and departed early the next morning.

All we had gained were three days of additional food loaded into the wagon and a dwarven-made iron longsword to replace Vans’s broken mithril-alloy blade.

Normally, even an iron weapon made by dwarves would have been extremely expensive.

But the dwarves simply gave it to him.

Apparently, it was their way of repaying us for letting them examine a solid mithril axe forged using methods that were several centuries old.

They had terrible manners, but their sense of fair exchange was surprisingly proper.

“If the Holy Empire wants dwarves dead, yet dwarves live openly here in Partan, I assume relations between the Kingdom of Partan and the Holy Empire aren’t particularly good.”

We were inside the wagon, travelling toward the border after leaving Rockhands.

It was something I had been thinking about ever since yesterday.

Everyone looked at me as though wondering how I could possibly not know something so basic.

I no longer cared.

My diplomatic prospects had effectively collapsed before diplomacy had even begun.

I needed to gather as much information about the political situation as possible.

Besides, I had already realised that the chance of anyone suspecting me of actually being an orc was practically zero.

There was no reason to hold back on questions anymore.

“Originally, the Kingdom of Partan, my Kingdom of Winston, the Kingdom of Elaim, and the Kingdom of Kasin formed an alliance against the Holy Empire.”

Vans, being the well-educated son of a duke, answered on behalf of the group.

“The Kingdom of Elaim contains a great elven forest, so humans there coexist with elves.”

He continued.

“Partan has many mining regions, which is why dwarves live alongside humans here.”

So the elves had not been driven into the mountains either.

“Winston lies between Elaim and Partan. We joined forces with both kingdoms to oppose the Holy Empire and protect the nonhuman races.”

Vans paused.

“Elves, dwarves, and beastfolk in particular.”

He added,

“There are beastfolk living inside Winston as well.”

“Hmm.”

They had driven out orcs, goblins, and the beastfolk I knew, yet now they claimed to protect other nonhuman races.

The whole thing sounded ridiculous.

It sounds more like several human kingdoms opposed to the Holy Empire conquering the continent decided to ally with elves and dwarves.

While thinking that, I noticed something odd.

“Wait.”

I looked at Vans.

“Beastfolk?”

“Yes.”

“So there are wolffolk in Winston? Or buffalofolk?”

Vans tilted his head.

“What are buffalofolk?”

Then he frowned.

“And wolffolk aren’t beastfolk. They’re monsters.”

I wanted to make exactly the same expression he was making at me.

“Then what kind of beastfolk live in Winston?”

“Catfolk, rabbitfolk, and dogfolk.”

“...”

That sounds suspiciously like humans only kept around the cute ones that weren’t threatening.

But there was little point complaining about events from generations ago.

It was far more productive to think about what came next.

Saving this kid might actually have been one of my best decisions.

Viewed from that perspective, the situation was not entirely pessimistic.

Vans might act naive, but he was still the second son of one of the most powerful ducal families in Winston.

And according to him, Winston had been resisting the Holy Empire together with Elaim, Partan, and Kasin...

“Wait.”

I frowned.

“What happened to the Kingdom of Kasin? Didn’t you say there were originally four kingdoms in the alliance?”

“...Kasin withdrew from the alliance around thirty years ago and adopted the religion of the Holy Empire.”

“...Then what happened to the nonhuman races living there?”

“They were not incorporated directly into the Holy Empire, so I’ve heard there were no large-scale massacres.”

Vans’s expression darkened slightly.

“But Kasin now enslaves its nonhuman population.”

Wiggins joined the explanation.

“And relations between Partan and Young Master Vans’s Kingdom of Winston have also become complicated.”

“Although the alliance still exists because of the Holy Empire, minor disputes between Partan and Winston have been occurring for decades.”

Vans nodded.

“Because the alliance consists of separate kingdoms rather than a unified state, its cohesion has gradually weakened over time.”

“Haa...”

A sigh escaped me.

Nothing in the world ever seemed willing to become simple.

No.

Think about this properly.

Crisis also meant opportunity.

The Holy Empire and our alliance could never truly coexist.

That was not even a matter of what either side wanted.

Their religion itself made peaceful coexistence nearly impossible.

Meanwhile, Kasin had betrayed the old alliance.

Relations between Partan and Winston were weakening.

If so...

Could the Greenskin Alliance eventually fill that gap?

Could we form an alliance with Winston and Elaim?

My eyes naturally shifted toward Vans.

I really need to handle this kid carefully.

Suddenly, the young noble sitting in front of me looked remarkably valuable.

Chapter 238

Sacrifice

A day and a half had passed since we left Rockhands.

According to Guts, we would reach the border city around noon tomorrow.

After passing through the checkpoint, another half day by wagon would bring us to Winston’s border gate around evening.

Aside from the night attack on our way to Betony City, we had not experienced a single serious battle.

Leaving Betony as quickly as possible and avoiding towns and cities seemed to have worked.

“Mounted riders approaching from the side, Young Master!”

Naturally, nothing in life ever remained easy for long.

Maybe that was simply my life.

“Six riders! They’re heading directly toward us!”

“Wiggins, prepare Fireball!”

The moment Guts reported the riders, I shouted toward Wiggins.

He immediately began preparing his spell.

Elin and Burke grabbed their crossbows.

They had other primary weapons, but as experienced mercenaries they at least knew how to use crossbows.

Compared with the hobgoblins, their skill was honestly terrible.

Thud-thud-thud-thud!

Five horses thundered toward the wagon.

Whether because they were warhorses while ours were draft animals, or simply because mounted riders were faster than a wagon, the distance rapidly shrank.

Once they came close enough, I noticed something strange.

One arm?

The rider at the very front was controlling his horse using only his left hand.

“Target the horses!”

That was not the important part.

“They look like knights!”

They had entered our effective range.

[Fireball]

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Wiggins’s spell flew first.

Bolts fired by Burke and Elin followed.

Fortunately, all three aimed at the horses instead of the riders.

The three leading mounts were caught directly in the attacks.

Thud!

Thud!

BOOM!

Two horses collapsed with bolts buried in their bodies.

The third was struck directly by Fireball and practically exploded.

“Krahahahahaha!”

The one-armed knight who had been riding at the front leapt into the air as his horse exploded beneath him.

Still laughing wildly, he swung his longsword through empty space.

“What the hell?!”

Two pale slashes of energy tore away from his blade and flew directly toward our wagon.

SLASH!

CRASH!

Both attacks struck the wheels.

The wagon, still moving at full speed, lost control and violently overturned.

“Ghk.”

“That was close.”

“Th-thank you, Mr. Karath.”

The moment the wheels shattered, everyone sensed the danger and jumped clear.

Fortunately, no one was crushed.

Wiggins, being a mage and slower than the others, had needed me to grab him on the way out.

But escaping the crash did not make our situation any better.

By the time we recovered from rolling across the ground, all six enemies had already reached us.

“Damn it.”

Guts stared at them and muttered bitterly.

“Of all people, it had to be Viscount Tex.”

“Viscount Tex?”

I looked toward the one-armed knight.

“You mean him?”

“There is only one Aura Expert on the continent famous for being a knight without a right arm.”

Aura Expert.

I had suspected something the moment I saw those slashes fly through the air.

It seemed crossing the border peacefully was no longer an option.

“How could they sell a direct descendant of their own family to his sworn enemy...”

Guts muttered something under his breath.

“Enemy?”

I looked at him.

“What do you mean?”

“The current Duke Ludwig is the man who cut off Viscount Tex’s right arm.”

“Ah.”

So negotiation was impossible.

This was essentially the same as the relationship between the Greenskin Alliance and the Holy Empire.

“Hehehehehe.”

Tex began laughing madly.

His gaze went directly to Vans.

“So you’re Ludwig’s second son.”

His smile widened.

“That pretty face looks exactly like his did twenty years ago.”

He raised the stump of his missing right arm slightly.

“Just looking at you makes an arm that disappeared decades ago ache again.”

“Krahahaha!”

The fact that he was laughing while talking about pain confirmed that the man was not remotely sane.

Vans glared at him sharply.

Then his expression became resolved.

He drew his new longsword.

“They’re after me.”

He spoke quietly without looking at us.

“I’ll hold them off. Everyone else, run.”

Guts and the others looked genuinely moved.

I merely snorted.

The kid was trying to act impressive.

“Vans.”

I stepped forward.

“I’ll handle him. Protect everyone else.”

If you die, the entire reason we came this far disappears, idiot.

Not to mention the large political plan I had just started building around you.

“But he’s...”

Vans looked startled and tried to protest.

I ignored him.

“Hey.”

I looked directly at Tex.

“One-arm.”

Silence fell.

“Did you come here to donate the other one too?”

“...”

Not only the enemies, but Vans and my companions stared at me in shock.

“Hehehe.”

Tex finally broke the silence.

“Krahahahahaha!”

“So there really is another lunatic here who desperately wants to die!”

“Enough barking.”

I lifted Silvertusk.

“Come here. I’ll cut the remaining arm off nice and clean.”

Tex laughed again.

Then his face abruptly went blank.

“Prevent the second son from escaping.”

His voice became cold.

“But do not kill him.”

He pointed his longsword at me.

“I will cut off this madman’s limbs first.”

His eyes returned to Vans.

“Then I will personally remove the second son’s head.”

“Yes, Viscount!”

The knights moved immediately toward Guts and the others.

“Krahahahahaha!”

Tex charged me without bothering with any sort of probing attack.

BOOM!

His longsword collided with Silvertusk.

The impact sounded like an explosion.

The same technique Roberto used!

A pale haze surrounded the edge of Tex’s longsword.

An aura blade.

The symbol of an Aura Expert.

“Oh?”

Tex’s eyes gleamed when I stopped his attack.

“That really is an unusual axe!”

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

His longsword came again.

Damn it.

A longsword was obviously faster than an axe.

The strength of an axe was not speed.

It was the destructive force concentrated into a single blow.

BOOM!

But even when our weapons collided directly, the aura blade meant I could only match him.

And the only reason I could manage even that was because Silvertusk was absurdly strong.

With an ordinary axe, my weapon would probably have been split apart during the first clash.

“Krahahaha! You’re big. That makes cutting you much more satisfying!”

Worse, he could attack from range.

Whenever I swung Silvertusk hard enough to force him away, Tex simply retreated and slashed his sword.

Each time, a piece of the aura blade tore through the air and carved another wound into my body.

“Hehehe.”

Tex’s eyes gleamed.

“You’re making me curious.”

He looked at my armour.

“That leather isn’t ordinary either.”

Then he grinned.

“No matter.”

“I’ll just keep cutting until you die!”

His attacks accelerated.

Whoosh!

SLASH!

Every swing left another injury.

Small wounds accumulated until blood covered most of my body.

“Ghk!”

That groan did not come from me.

It came from Guts’s group.

Even with Vans, an advanced Aura User, protecting them, defending everyone against five knights was too much.

If Tex had not specifically ordered them to keep Vans alive, the others might already have died.

“Hehehe.”

A laugh escaped me.

Seeing my blood-covered body shaking with laughter, Tex gave me a strange look, perhaps sensing some kind of kinship between lunatics.

“So you’ve finally lost your mind.”

“Krahahaha!”

“Heh.”

I smiled.

“No. This situation is just funny.”

And it truly was.

Vans was the genius second son of a ducal family.

Exactly the sort of character who would appear as the protagonist of some grand adventure story.

From that perspective, what was I?

The mentor or companion who helped the hero through his first real adventure and crisis.

And the fate of characters like that was painfully obvious.

They helped the protagonist.

Then they died.

The protagonist became enraged and awakened to greater power.

Afterward, the newly awakened hero defeated every enemy alone.

The entire sequence practically wrote itself.

For some reason, I suddenly felt like a sacrifice placed here for the sake of someone else’s character development.

“Sorry for laughing.”

I adjusted my grip on Silvertusk.

“I just realised I feel like a supporting character.”

I had struggled all the way from a hellish monster-infested wilderness just to build a place where my people could live.

And now the story wanted to assign me the role of sacrificial mentor?

How could I not laugh?

“There’s just one problem.”

My smile widened.

“I’d rather be the main character.”

Sorry, Vans.

I had absolutely no intention of dying so you could awaken dramatically.

I give up on hiding my strength.

Tex was not someone I could defeat using aura alone.

Yet strangely, I did not feel like I was going to lose.

Aura was not my only weapon.

Chapter 239

Sacrifice

“You’ll die today, so perhaps you really will become the protagonist of a tragedy.”

Tex listened to my nonsense with an eerie smile.

Then he charged again.

The longsword in his only hand swept toward me with enough force to cut my body in half.

BOOM!

I barely matched his speed and brought Silvertusk around.

A deafening impact erupted when sword met axe.

“Krahahaha!”

The instant our weapons separated, Tex attacked again.

It was the same pattern as before.

I could stop one strike.

Maybe two.

But the speed difference between his longsword and my axe meant the third or fourth would inevitably slip through.

Each successful attack opened another wound and sent more blood running down my body.

Tex seemed almost excited by the sight.

His sword moved again.

[Fireball]

I cast the spell directly toward his right side.

“!?”

For the first time, genuine surprise appeared on Tex’s face.

The Fireball slammed into his exposed flank.

With only his left arm remaining, defending against a sudden attack from the right was considerably more difficult.

BOOM!

Yet even after taking the spell directly, Tex showed no sign of serious injury.

As expected.

I had anticipated that much.

An advanced Aura User could already infuse aura into a weapon.

Once someone reached Aura Expert, that aura extended beyond the weapon and formed a hazy, translucent blade.

Tex had gone even further.

He could launch that aura blade through the air as a ranged attack.

Naturally, someone at that level could also reinforce armour with aura.

Doing so in response to a surprise attack should have been difficult.

But something about Tex made me feel that he was fully capable of it.

“Krahahaha!”

After briefly looking startled, Tex regained his confidence.

“So that was your hidden trick!”

He moved to attack again.

Tap.

The Fireball had knocked him slightly off balance.

To correct himself, he shifted his left foot sideways.

Then, to generate power for the longsword in his left hand, he stepped forward with his right foot as he began swinging.

His blade was already travelling directly toward my neck.

“Hraaah!”

I ignored it.

Instead, I swung Silvertusk toward his side as though I intended to trade my life for his.

Tex’s eyes held absolute confidence.

His sword would reach me first.

His right foot came down.

“!?”

The ground vanished beneath it.

His posture collapsed.

BOOM!

My axe slammed into his flank.

“Ghk!”

He must have reinforced his armour with aura even in that instant.

His body did not split in half.

But this was Silvertusk, a solid mithril axe infused with my aura.

And I had struck the exact same place that Fireball had hit moments earlier.

The armour at his side crumpled inward.

Blood spilled from Tex’s mouth.

Yet the dominant emotion on his face was not pain.

It was confusion.

He was an experienced knight.

An Aura Expert.

Someone at his level did not simply misstep and lose his footing in the middle of battle.

He clearly had no idea why the ground had suddenly collapsed.

If you don’t understand it, then get hit.

I had no intention of explaining.

“Hraaah!”

I swung at him again.

Even while confused and wounded, Tex reacted like a veteran.

His longsword intercepted Silvertusk.

BOOM!

At the instant our weapons collided...

Hummm.

Mana surged through the surrounding air.

A sharp blade of wind formed.

[Wind Cutter]

It flew directly toward his back.

“Hup!”

Tex released a short shout.

Wind Cutter struck his armour and shattered uselessly.

As expected, he could sense the mana disturbance that appeared before a spell activated.

But what about a spell that produced no obvious disturbance?

Flare!

While his attention remained focused behind him, a [Fire Arrow] appeared without warning and shot directly toward his face.

“Aaaagh!”

This time, Tex failed to respond in time.

He staggered backward with a scream.

As I thought.

This kind of magic is extremely useful against humans.

Fire Arrow.

And the [Dig] that had collapsed the ground beneath his foot.

Both were ordinary spells modified using principles from the Sigmund School.

I overlaid the original mana pattern with meaningless patterns until the spell resembled the natural flow of ambient mana.

Naturally, creating those false patterns doubled the calculations required.

Without casting time or preparation, Second Circle magic was about the highest level I could use this way.

But against humans, Second Circle was enough.

Unless aura reinforced their bodies or armour, even a Second Circle spell could injure a human.

Hit a vital point and it could kill instantly.

The world really was strange.

Viscount Tex was strong enough to cut apart creatures like Drakes or a Wyvern Lord by himself.

Those were monsters Buddy and I had once needed to fight together in the Grimwood Mountains.

Yet here Tex was, struggling because of Second Circle spells that would barely scratch those monsters.

“Aaaaargh!”

After taking Fire Arrow directly to the face, Tex retreated while wildly slashing his sword.

Aura blades tore through the air in every direction.

But I was not stupid enough to be hit by attacks fired blindly by someone who could barely see.

I blocked or avoided the wild barrage.

Then Tex finally stopped.

“I’LL KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD!”

His eyes were bloodshot beneath the fluid running down his burned face.

Apparently, even while being struck by Fire Arrow, he had managed to close his eyes in time.

Still, burns covered most of his face.

Tears and fluid continued obstructing his vision.

There was no reason for me to fear someone who could barely see.

For the first time since the duel began, I charged first.

“Hah!”

Silvertusk collided with his sword again.

But now the initiative belonged entirely to me.

Every time axe met sword, I mixed in Third Circle spells such as [Fireball], [Wind Cutter], and [Icicle Lance] to disrupt him.

Whenever his attention became fully occupied with those visible spells, I slipped in a surprise Second Circle spell concealed with the Sigmund School method.

After several more exchanges, Tex looked worse than I did despite my body being covered in blood.

His armour had been crushed in multiple places.

Burns and frost-covered wounds covered his body.

His hair hung wildly around his face.

He looked like a half-dead madman.

I need to finish this quickly.

If Tex’s subordinates noticed that their lord was losing, they might abandon the plan to capture Vans alive.

They could kill everyone else and join the fight.

Or take hostages and try to threaten me.

“Hup!”

I swung Silvertusk at Tex again.

Then...

Flash.

A strange light ignited in his nearly lifeless eyes.

BOOM!

Sword and axe collided.

This time, Silvertusk began to move backward.

“!?”

The aura surrounding Tex’s longsword had changed.

The hazy blades intertwined and compressed together, becoming denser.

What had once looked like a translucent shimmer was beginning to take on an almost physical form.

And unlike before, that dense aura blade was eating into my axe.

The edge of Silvertusk itself was being ground away.

A solid mithril axe reinforced with aura was being damaged.

“Grrrrgh!”

Blood filled Tex’s mouth as he forced the sword forward.

I did not know exactly what technique he was using.

But he had clearly pushed himself beyond his previous limits.

If I simply continued resisting, the future was obvious.

My axe would fail.

Then my upper body would be cut in half.

So I gambled.

Mana spun violently through the infinite circuit inside my body.

I drew from it.

Part of the mana converted into aura and flowed into Silvertusk, helping me hold the sword back.

The rest resonated with the surrounding mana.

[Icicle Lance]

An ice spear formed.

Tex had committed everything to his attack.

I judged that he would have little aura left for defence.

CRUNCH!

The spear pierced his armour.

Then it drove straight through his heart.

But in the instant I focused on the spell, Tex’s sword forced Silvertusk aside and continued toward my chest.

I desperately leaned backward.

Too late.

The aura blade had already touched my armour.

SLASH!

Fully materialised aura tore through the leather.

Blood erupted across my chest.

“Haa.”

Yet when I looked down at the blood pouring from the wound, I only sighed with relief.

At the final moment, I had infused aura into the Twin-Headed Ogre leather armour.

It bought me the smallest amount of time.

My chest had still been cut open.

But I had narrowly avoided death.

“Grrrrgh.”

Tex stood there with an ice spear through his heart.

Strangely, he looked satisfied.

Apparently, he thought I was about to bleed to death.

In that case, shattering his expectations was simply good manners from the victor.

[Healing]

I looked directly at the dying man and calmly cast the spell.

The blood pouring from my chest gradually slowed.

“Grrrr...”

Tex stared at the sight with empty disbelief.

Then, with one final wet sound from his blood-filled throat, he collapsed.

Chapter 240

Sacrifice

I watched Tex’s corpse for a moment.

Then I turned toward the others.

“Damn.”

Tex was dead, but I had lost far too much blood.

And now that I had already revealed my magic, killing every remaining knight one by one with Silvertusk seemed unnecessarily tedious.

I manipulated the mana still circulating inside me.

Hummmmmm.

A massive wave of mana spread outward.

[Icicle Lance]

Dozens of ice spears formed in the air.

Guts and the others were mixed into the battle, so using Fourth or Fifth Circle area magic would have been dangerous.

This was the safer solution.

“Aaaagh!”

“Block them! Block them!”

Five or six spears shot toward each knight simultaneously.

The knights frantically swung their weapons.

To their credit, they managed to stop most of the Third Circle spells.

But while they were focused on the barrage...

SLASH!

The blood-covered Vans rushed forward and severed the heads of the two nearest knights.

“You bastards!”

Apparently furious about how badly they had been beaten until now, Guts and the others worked together and quickly killed another.

Only two remained.

There was no need for me to interfere.

“Haa...”

Vans cut off the final knight’s head and released a long breath.

The moment the battle ended, Guts and the others dropped heavily onto the ground.

“Mr. Karath.”

Guts looked up at me.

“What exactly are you?”

So we were back to that question.

“I never imagined you could use magic too.”

Elin looked toward Wiggins.

“Mr. Wiggins, what level of mage would that make him?”

“...At least Fourth Circle.”

Wiggins hesitated.

“Probably Fifth Circle.”

“An advanced Aura User and a Fifth Circle mage?”

Burke stared at me.

“Is that even remotely normal?”

They began exchanging questions, collectively pressuring me.

Vans was staring too, practically dying of curiosity.

I considered what excuse to use this time.

“Ah!”

Elin suddenly shouted.

“The Butcher Roven!”

What nonsense was she talking about?

Butcher Roven?

Roven had been the false name I used four years ago...

“You know!”

Elin pointed at me.

“The man who supposedly devastated Lindberg territory four years ago!”

“Ah!”

Guts’s eyes widened.

“The one who killed seven of Lindberg’s knights?”

“I remember hearing that Roven was an intermediate Aura User and a Fourth Circle mage.”

Burke slowly looked toward Silvertusk.

“And his weapon was supposedly...”

“A gigantic double-bladed axe about as big as a man’s torso.”

“...”

Everyone’s gaze naturally settled on the axe in my hand.

Guts looked stunned.

“I thought Viscount Lindberg invented half that story because he was embarrassed about losing so many knights...”

Elin stared at me.

“This is actually worse than the rumors.”

“Yes.”

I gave them a bitter smile.

“I’m Roven.”

At this point, admitting it seemed easier than inventing another terrible lie.

At least they still had not discovered I was an orc.

“Wow.”

Elin suddenly looked delighted.

“Now that I think about it, everything makes sense.”

“I heard Butcher Roven spent years training in the Grimwood Mountains using the same kind of methods as the Gray Wolf.”

Guts slapped his thigh.

“Oh! Of course!”

He looked as though he had solved some grand mystery.

“He spent all those years buried in the Grimwood Mountains doing nothing but training. That explains why he doesn’t know basic things about society!”

They were creating my alibi for me.

At this point, I almost regretted not introducing myself as Roven from the beginning.

“Mr. Karath!”

Elin paused.

“Or should we call you Mr. Roven?”

“Just how many years did you live in the Grimwood Mountains?”

“And how did you learn magic?”

Wiggins leaned forward eagerly.

“Aura can at least be developed through training, but magic is extremely difficult to learn without a teacher!”

“And you reached Fifth Circle!”

Questions came from every direction.

“Just call me Karath.”

I raised a hand.

“As for magic... I happened to discover a dungeon inside the Grimwood Mountains.”

I took pieces of my actual life in the mountains and rearranged them into a story they could accept.

I left out everything about the tribes and the alliance.

Instead, I told them about being chased by a Drake.

About discovering Renstein’s dungeon.

About hunting various monsters throughout the mountains.

“Wow...”

Elin stared at me.

“When you tell it like that, you really do sound like the protagonist of some adventure story.”

“Hahaha!”

Guts laughed.

“If Mr. Karath becomes any more famous, bards might start singing songs about him.”

“Maybe someone will even stage a play called The Life of Karath! Krahahaha!”

Everyone reacted with amazement.

Vans in particular looked as though his eyes were about to turn into gemstones.

The runaway noble boy who craved adventure and romance was practically glowing.

The conversation continued in a cheerful mood for a while.

Then Wiggins suddenly frowned.

“Wait.”

Everyone looked at him.

“If Mr. Karath is Roven... doesn’t that mean he can’t enter the Kingdom of Winston?”

“What?”

Wiggins continued with irritatingly perfect logic.

“Lindberg territory was nearly ruined because of that incident.”

“And Roven currently has a bounty on his head throughout the Kingdom of Winston.”

His gaze shifted toward me.

“A commoner killed seven knights.”

“Knights are practically equivalent to minor nobles.”

“So...”

Silence descended across the barren plain.