Ch.47Mid-Term Check (3)

The son of Baron Ingnel (fourth son), ‘Lord Ingnel,’ was an ordinary knight of the Frankish Kingdom.

Born as a noble’s child, he devoted himself to training, awakened his Aura, and proudly became a formal knight. Among his siblings, he was the only one to reach intermediate level, thus winning the competition and inheriting the position of successor (minor lord).

Of course, since the abilities required of a “strong warrior” and a “lord” differ, Baron Ingnel suggested that Lord Ingnel undertake a “knight-errant journey” to gain various experiences.

Knight-errant, or Knight-errant, typically refers to a freelance knight not bound by any special employment relationship or feudal contract.

However, in this medieval fantasy world, a knight-errant is originally, as in fairy tales and old legends, a romantic knight who pursues honor while disregarding material gain, like those appearing in chivalric literature.

Therefore, those who call themselves knight-errants in this era fall into two main categories.

One is a knight who truly wanders as a ronin because they are not employed anywhere or possess no territory, and the other is a knight who, despite having affiliations, moves with some purpose or mission.

And a knight-errant who embarks on a “knight-errant journey,” commonly abbreviated as an “errant journey,” precisely falls into the latter category.

In other words, an errant journey is the most important thing in a world where the most crucial virtue required of superiors is none other than military power—allowing knights who have awakened their Aura to tour within the Frankish Kingdom and gain combat experience.

A weak leader, apart from everything else, is highly likely to face insubordination from subordinates stronger than themselves, and in a world where noble status is established through “protection,” lack of military power is considered a problem equivalent to lack of qualification.

Therefore, many territorial nobles frequently send their children on errant journeys when they come of age, and as this practice becomes popular among “subordinates” as well, errant journeys naturally become a trend.

And Baron Ingnel, who was similarly faithful to this tendency, likewise set out on a knight-errant journey.

However, the most problematic aspect of this process is, naturally, the supplies consumed by the knight and his attendants.

Even the poorest knight-errant, being a “knight,” would be accompanied by at least 10 attendants (including servants, squires, etc.), and the supplies consumed by more than 10 people pose a considerable burden to bear normally.

Moreover, if from a family with some influence, most attendants are essentially cavalrymen or mounted infantry who ride horses….

Naturally, the resources consumed by these cavalrymen are by no means insignificant.

Hay or grain to feed the horses, horseshoes, saddles and other tack, plus all sorts of miscellaneous items needed for horse care.

From the beginning, it would not be strange to consider it virtually impossible for a group of just around 10 people to bear such consumption.

Therefore, the most convenient way for these knight-errants to acquire their supplies is to visit suitable villages along the way and “requisition” food and materials.

Of course, even in this world, extorting like this on someone else’s land is naturally a very rude and unpleasant act, but would the lord who rules that village really want to confront a formal knight for the sake of mere serfs?

Naturally, most lords cover up this “traditional” illegal requisitioning under the name of custom, and considering that a knight on an errant journey is likely to be a young master from a wealthy noble family, this is somewhat unavoidable.

They think of it as a cost of maintaining relationships between noble families, simply passing on whatever damage is inflicted on mere serfs.

“Listen! This is Lord Ingnel, a knight-errant! His Lordship has set out on an errant journey to strive for the safety of you lowly ones, so you should respond to the requisition with gratitude to him!!!”

Thus, when Lord Ingnel stopped at a frontier village, he sent one of his servants, as he had always done, to replenish the depleted food and satisfy the growing desires of his subordinates, but….

“….Ignored? You say they ignored?”

Seeing the palisade gate that remained closed even after his servant made such a declaration, his pride was hurt, and he angrily declared to those who “dared” to disobey a noble’s order and ignore his words for a whole minute.

“Attendants! Trample the rye fields! Punish their rudeness with your hooves!”

“Yes, sir!” they responded in unison.

Just as he had done to villages that refused or ignored his requisition demands, he ordered all 15 members, including himself and his attendants, to use their horses to damage the farmland outside the village.

They broke the growing rye ears with horse hooves and destroyed the cabbage that was beginning to form.

Additionally, they cut down bean plants with swords and severed the leaves of turnips that had emerged from the ground, preventing them from growing.

They were truly exemplary plunderers and robbers. These men, who were even ready to set fire to fields or buildings if necessary, at some point became engrossed in such ruthless destruction and began to rampage….

“This is not amusing! How dare you show such disrespect in a village directly governed by Lord Alzar, the son of Baron Alzar!”

But when a formal knight came out and shouted that in response to their requisition demands,

Lord Ingnel and his attendants, who had casually stopped by the village, could feel that something was going terribly wrong.

“Ah, Alzar….?!!”

As a successor who was well-versed in noble common sense, Ingnel knew well the weight that the name “Alzar” carried in this Frankish Kingdom.

The royalist faction friendly to the royal family. The noble faction (or anti-royalist faction) hostile to the royalists or the royal family. And the neutral faction that did not lean toward any specific faction.

The kingdom’s nobility is divided into these three factions, but the House of Baron Alzar belongs to the neutral faction among them.

More precisely, it is a territorial noble family that has been rising recently by absorbing neighboring territories.

A high noble with power that cannot even be compared to that of Ingnel Barony, which is average among the kingdom’s baronies—a power not much different from what one might call a “great noble” and a rising prestigious family.

And now, Ingnel has essentially declared war against such a House of Alzar.

Even though many turn a blind eye to “requisitioning,” this is clearly a fault.

Attempting “requisition” in a village directly ruled by the next Baron Alzar provides such a strong justification that one could not resist whatever might be done using this as a pretext.

Questions like why the successor to someone equivalent to a great lord would be playing the role of a frontier village headman are entirely meaningless.

‘I’m doomed, doomed, doomed, doomed….’

Frustration, anger, fear, and all sorts of other emotions mixed chaotically and struck Ingnel’s mind violently.

This situation is obviously no ordinary matter, and in the worst case, it could easily escalate into war or result in the revocation of his succession rights.

Moreover, although Lord Ingnel is the minor lord (successor) of the House of Baron Ingnel, he is ultimately in a situation where replaceable personnel (siblings) exist.

In other words, he could not deny that his father, whom even his son could not consider to have a bright personality, might sell him out if necessary.

Therefore, faced with the significant fact that a catastrophe beyond his capacity as a mere knight had erupted, he was unable to maintain his composure and eventually made an extreme decision.

‘If there are no witnesses… if I kill them all…!!’

He ultimately made the extreme choice to resolve all this through violence.

“Kill them! Kill them all! Leave no one alive—!!”

Evidence destruction. Saying that if no one knows what happened, it is as good as non-existent, he ordered his subordinates to massacre everyone.

Of course, Lord Ingnel’s words are not entirely wrong, but whether this can actually be achieved is a separate issue.

Setting aside whether they can really kill everyone here without exception, can mere death silence mouths in a world where all sorts of supernatural powers exist?

From quasi-necromancy using soul magic to psychometry-like magic that reads the memories of objects. Here, there are all sorts of extraordinary methods available if one has power and money.

But it was unlikely that Lord Ingnel, whose eyes had gone wild, and his company would pay attention to such detailed circumstances, so he issued orders to his attendants while also drawing his weapon to kill those lowly creatures himself.

What he held in his hand was a unique polearm with the handle (hilt) of a longsword extended like a spear.

If classified, it would be close to a type of polearm, and Lord Ingnel, raising this, was about to strike it down toward the crude palisade.

A massive weapon wielded by an intermediate knight, infused with Aura and the impact force from horseback, would surely break through that palisade and create a breakthrough in an instant.

-Clang!!

Of course, that would have been the case if the lightly armored knight who had been issuing warnings from the watchtower until just moments ago hadn’t closed the distance in the blink of an eye and blocked it with a parrying dagger.