Ch.120120. Estate (3)

The knight who had invaded and occupied my estate with his soldiers unexpectedly looked very much like the textbook image of a “knight.”

He wore chain mail over undergarments made of monster hide, and over that, full plate armor made of metal plates.

The armor, composed of metal parts, was naturally enchanted with preservation magic to prevent rust and spells to enhance durability, along with additional magic depending on options… the so-called “knight-exclusive” armor.

Of course, knights in this world aren’t armed simply with metal armor.

On one shoulder, a shield-like “besagew” greatly reinforces frontal protection, while the shoulders are adorned with ornate epaulets and a thick cloak.

It might seem strange that a cloak would be included in full battle armor worn on chaotic battlefields, but in fantasy worlds, cloaks are more than multipurpose outerwear—they’re practically necessities.

First, they’re made from specially tanned monster hides, giving them high durability and natural resistance to certain elements or attack types.

Additionally, wealthy knights often enchant their cloaks to turn them into magical tools, and some reinforce them with metal plates inside for added protection.

As if to prove he was indeed one of this world’s tank-like knights,

the knight, wrapped in expensive equipment from head to toe, looked flustered upon seeing me mounted on Silver Deer’s back.

Well, even though druids are virtually unknown among common people, a knight of his standing should certainly know about their existence.

Especially since this is near the infamous Alreinos Forest, and a druid appearing from such a place would naturally evoke a sense of foreboding.

And indeed, the knight appeared quite afraid of me.

Looking at him objectively, this knight was exactly mid-tier average.

He possessed a life force that wasn’t particularly lacking in any way, but… that alone wouldn’t be enough to face me.

Just as there’s a difference between a veteran soldier and a conscript who was farming until moments ago, despite both being classified as low-tier, there are also gaps within the mid-tier classification.

Being grouped as mid-tier doesn’t mean all mid-tiers are equal.

Having contracted with eight animal friends, we’ve grown rapidly by sharing strength with each other, and I’m equipped from head to toe with top-tier gear.

In short, the current situation clearly favored me, and I had no intention of rejecting that advantage.

[Knight, I declare this: the land you are currently occupying without permission is my estate, granted to me by Baron Dren.]

I continued speaking, infusing my voice with magical power and fear.

I deliberately added a subtle growling undertone to emphasize my wild nature, while intentionally adjusting my nuance to appear somewhat oblivious.

[Those who trespass and occupy my estate without permission deserve immediate death. However, in my mercy, I declare to you: I will give you one last chance, so leave this place at once!]

At first glance, my request might sound like an act of final mercy, and to some extent, that wasn’t entirely untrue.

But the reality was completely different. From the beginning, I had no intention of showing mercy, which is precisely why I made this offer.

Objectively speaking, these people have accumulated enough bad karma that I could kill them without warning and face no consequences.

They trespassed on private property, set up an encampment,

and occupied the estate with professional combat forces.

Calling it “occupation of private property” is putting it mildly—with just a slight change in wording, this is truly insane behavior.

My social position as the heir of “Alreinos” is roughly equivalent to a count-in-waiting.

In simple terms, they’ve invaded and occupied an estate owned by a count’s heir with armed forces.

It’s a highly probable assumption, but even if these people were backed by another lord eyeing Baron Dren’s territory, their backer would try to cut ties with them in this situation.

Hundreds of soldiers with supplies to station them, plus a mid-tier knight.

Perhaps they intended to strip a small territory of all its resources, or this might have been part of a grand scheme orchestrated by a greater lord.

But regardless, they’ve now encountered me—someone with the power and authority to kill them instantly.

Even if they retreat now at my command, there’s no way for them to survive.

One reason is that they would be disobeying their lord’s orders, and the second is that they would likely be held responsible for this incident.

Knowing these facts all too well, silence prevailed between the knight who couldn’t decide what to do and the soldiers who were overwhelmed by the fear I was emanating.

[…I see, it seems you have no intention of retreating.]

“…?!! I, I was just…”

After realizing I had no need to wait for them any longer, I calmly made that declaration and began gathering magical power throughout my body.

Whatever their purpose was for occupying my estate, no further mercy was necessary.

※ ※ ※

Enervel Gatrang.

He bore the surname ‘Gatrang,’ which was said to be bestowed upon loyal vassals of the ‘Lepante Barony,’ indicating his faithfulness.

Unlike other knights who were essentially no better than ruffians or thugs, he was a knight of outstanding character and deep loyalty, making him one of Baron Lepante’s most trusted men.

Unusually for a nobleman of this era, he was respected by his subordinates and soldiers, and Enervel was the type of general who cared deeply for his men.

And to this Enervel, his lord, the current Baron Lepante, had issued an order. That order was to occupy a certain rural territory.

The Lepante Barony was already a territory with considerable history, but it had also begun to grow rapidly in recent times.

Several factors had converged: high-quality iron ore had been discovered in abundance within the barony, and the recently implemented four-field crop rotation system had been hugely successful, causing harvests to surge.

Thanks to this, Baron Lepante, now with substantial funds at his disposal, had entered into vassal contracts with more than ten knights while expanding his army rapidly by employing over a thousand men-at-arms and hundreds of mercenaries…

Naturally, Baron Lepante’s goal was to flex his newfound power.

Conveniently, there were no territories of significant size near the Lepante Barony, and it was located in a remote region even within the Frankish Kingdom.

Thus, the baron’s ambition grew to an uncontrollable extent, and now his sights were set on the neighboring territories.

Territories that had no special connections to central politics, no unusually strong talents, and therefore could be swallowed without repercussions… such territories.

Baron Lepante, no longer even trying to hide his ambition, targeted several territories, and one of them was this place… Baron Dren’s domain.

It was particularly isolated even among remote regions, and not especially fertile, making it quite poor.

Naturally, its military strength was also unremarkable except for the baron himself, so Baron Lepante sent his most trusted knight to handle the matter…

‘…W-why has it come to this?’

Following his orders, Enervel Gatrang had established a camp nearby to prepare for attacking the barony, when he encountered a completely unexpected presence.

As luck would have it, the location he had chosen for his camp was an estate owned by a powerful magic user, and he suddenly found himself in the position of having forcibly trampled someone else’s property.

While Enervel had some excuses, even as he thought of them, he felt inner doubt.

The situation was too dire from the start.

If he retreated as the figure demanded, he would be held accountable for failing to follow his lord’s orders, but if he attacked the being before him, the result would obviously be death.

[…I see, it seems you have no intention of retreating.]

“…?!! I, I was just…”

Moreover, as the figure finished his ultimatum and took a stance suggesting he was about to attack, the knight had to make a decision as he saw his soldiers lying flat on the ground, looking at him with desperate eyes…

“You may kill me! But please, spare my soldiers! They have families! All of this happened because of my selfish desire to command the soldiers as I pleased!”

By pressing his head to the ground and begging desperately, Enervel Gatrang threw away his honor to protect what was “truly important.”

In the world, this is also called human decency.