episode_0039

On the way back to the village where the guild was, absolutely nothing happened. Not a single thief, not a single monster, not even a single wild animal. Well, I did see some squirrel-like things running around from afar, so if that’s a wild animal, then I’ve seen them before.

Thanks to that, I was able to return in two days much faster than the route I took while observing Ayla, who had become slightly distant from Mathias, and Mathias, who had not noticed it, while listening to Ayla’s detailed explanations like a local guide, such as “What is that tree?” and “What is that flower?” After that, I organized things here and there and reported to the guild, and that is the current situation─

“There aren’t any interesting requests.”

“Is fun important..?”

As Mathias muttered next to me, fun is of course very important.

In fact, ordinary requests, like quests like “Catch a certain monster” or “Get a certain item”, are of much help.

To be honest, the results of the competition are just a bonus, and I feel like I should mainly receive requests that will help Ayla and Mathias grow. I also accepted this top escort mission because I thought that if I did well, I might be able to gain experience in PvP. And that expectation turned out to be correct.

“Now that Mathias has realized his own incompetence, he should work harder. So rather than asking for trivial requests, he should…”

“Princess, you must use your stage name within the guild.”

“..Yes, Maebaltok. Don’t you think Golden Sand has experienced many things? It’s good to have experience in real life, but there are still many shortcomings.”

“That’s…yes.”

“But Princess, your Golden Sand Leg isn’t fully healed yet. Walking is fine, but fighting is impossible.”

“Well, not all requests are just about swinging a sword around. Just look at this ‘Recruiting Document Processors’, it’s a job where you just have to sit still and move your hands.”

“That’s right. If I accept that request, Golden Sand and I will just suck our fingers and watch the princess.”

..Now that I think about it, that’s true.

Even if Mathias and Ayla aren’t blind, it’s clear that they aren’t very good with books. You could force them to sit down and study, but since they’re your clients, it’s a bit much to do. Even if you don’t care about grades, you shouldn’t do anything that could ruin the points you’ve already earned.

“Well, it’s still far from over, so let’s take a rest. And the Golden Sand Bridge will get better.”

Well, since they haven’t had a proper rest since the competition started, both Aila and Mathias might be quite mentally exhausted. Even though they rested for a day or two before and after each request, they kept going like this: as soon as one request was over, they’d immediately move on to another one!

Unless there’s something fun that’s not too dangerous and can moderately annoy Ayla and Mathias, it might be a good idea to take a break.

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Man, Ki-Run was a lower-class noble. To be exact, he was just a commoner belonging to a lower-class noble family, but there was little reason to discuss such details.

“..Fuck, why am I doing this..”

Girne was grumbling and cleaning the streets around the guild. The reason he was cleaning around the guild was because, of course, Girne was also carrying out a request from the guild for the competition, and the reason the request was cleaning was because Girne’s usual friends – that is, the rascals who usually built walls around studying and training – would naturally not be able to carry out a proper subjugation mission.

There was of course the option of not participating in the competition at all, but it was rejected due to the extremely useless pride that the female students would think of him as a coward.

Although he wanted to completely destroy the guild and the academy, he knew that it was impossible. Even in the academy, there were some middle-class nobles who would say, “I’m better than that kid,” and chew them out.

He was stupid, playful, and an undisputed thug, but even thugs like that had to know the top predators they should not attack.

As Girne muttered curses and moved the broom in his hand, something came into his sight.

“Huh? Isn’t that guy Mathias?”

One of the group of people who were cleaning together said. There was no need to worry about being confused because Mathias, who was in the same grade, had an appearance that could never be mistaken for someone else even from a distance. Mathias was walking somewhere alone, and he seemed to be limping slightly, as if he had hurt his leg.

“That bastard Mathias, you’re saying that masked woman and Ayla are in the same group?”

“Ha.. I wish I was on the same team as Ayla.. ”

The gang that raised her continued to spew dirty words at Ayla for a while. Many of the remarks were a bit awkward for someone so young as 13, but when you get involved with bad gangs, you start to use vulgar language.

“But where did all the girls go and why is that guy walking around alone?”

“Do you think those b*tches picked her based on her skills? Since she’s pretty, they’ll just harass her and play with her, or make her run errands and use her as a porter.”

“Wow, damn, I’m so jealous.”

“Well, I guess I’ll get good grades without doing anything.”

“No, I’m jealous of the bullying, not the grades.”

“What are you talking about, you crazy bastard.”

While the gang was joking and giggling, Girne thought for a moment and handed the broom he was holding to one of the gang.

“Hey, just a few people follow me.”

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Mathias continued to walk aimlessly along the street, lost in thought.

The feeling of cutting into the bandit’s body for the first time, the unpleasant feeling of the sword cutting through flesh and bones and breaking them, still lingered in Mathias’ hands and head. Also, the question about Yugram’s future that was thrown out afterwards – it was enough to confuse Mathias.

Can one really settle into a suitable reality?

I have never regretted my decision to become a knight, having been fascinated by the story of the Four Heroes, which I heard so often that I could memorize the entire story.

Even though his parents told him that they could not provide any more support and that he should figure out what to do after entering school, Mathias did not change his mind.

“Anyone can do it if they don’t give up trying.” These were the words of a retired knight in the village that comforted Mathias, who was smaller and weaker than his peers. And to some extent, this has already been proven.

Mathias felt himself growing stronger day by day. Just as he had easily cut down bandits, Mathias’ physical strength and stamina had increased at a rate that was a bit difficult to understand since he began receiving care from the princess, and even his swordsmanship movements that had been awkward before began to move faster than his mind.

If he spends his time like this without any problems, when he graduates, he will easily be able to become a knight who can do the job of a single person. If he enters as a knight of a suitable family and returns to his hometown with his squire, not only his family but everyone in the village will be dazzled by the news of his triumphant return.

Could I be satisfied with such ‘ordinary success’? Such a question constantly tormented Mathias’ mind. Mathias himself found it a bit strange that Aesong, who had only admired the knights, suddenly showed such a desire for success, but for some reason he felt that it had to be that way.

For some reason, Mathias also felt something similar to how Yugram had said that being by Leah’s side was dangerous. Given Mathias’s naturally weak personality, he naturally wanted to walk down this dangerous path that he should have avoided.

‘─Yes. Anyway, my current strength was all given to me by the princess. In that case, I should repay the princess.’

As he said, if Leah hadn’t put Mathias on the team, Mathias would have continued to stand still. He might have gotten a little stronger someday, and he might have left the academy because he couldn’t afford the living expenses. Mathias somehow felt that becoming Leah’s vassal was something fateful.

As he reached his own conclusion and his steps became slightly lighter, a voice woke him up from his thoughts.

“Weakbone, where are you going?”

Mathias turned around at the sound of a familiar voice. It was the Raised Gang, as he had thought. The lower class that Mathias belonged to had many particularly bad gangs, and the Raised Gang was one of them. Mathias, who had a weak personality and was not very skilled, was a very easy prey, and had been bullied quite a bit before he started hanging out with Leah and the others. They were not on good terms, so Mathias’ voice hardened a little.

“..I’m just taking a quick walk.”

“Hey kid, do you see that stiff face? Don’t you have a bad impression? Huh? Are you upset? And what about the walk? Are you running errands for the girls? ”

Girne, who had come walking briskly, put an arm on Mathias’ small shoulder and patted Mathias’ cheek with the other hand. This happened often.

“An errand? That’s not it. Why would the princess ask me to do something like that?”

“Pheuheuph.. Hey, did you hear that? She’s a princess. Hey, are you talking about that masked bitch? What kind of princess is that? You have to play knight to some extent. Oh, or is it because that bitch has already done this and that to you? But then you’re not a princess, you’re a queen─”

As Girne muttered vulgar language, Mathias twisted his body and escaped from Girne’s embrace. For a moment, the atmosphere in Girne’s gang became tense, but Mathias paid no attention and spoke.

“Giren, I don’t know why you came here, but I’m fine with it. Don’t insult the princess.”

“Damn, you really are a knight. But what the hell are you going to do? If you tell me not to do it, should I just say, “Oh, I made a mistake” and stop?”

“I won’t ask you to apologize. But if you insult the princess any longer, I won’t tolerate it.”

The ominous atmosphere intensified as Mathias placed his hand on the hilt of the sword hanging from his waist.

“You crazy bastard. I tried to stop you by taking some of your errand money, but you’re asking me to kill you. What do you think you can do to me, a weak commoner? Are you crazy? Do you think Ayla is right next to you? ”

The four of them, including Gireun, drew their swords, exuding murderous intent.