Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Preceding Achievements**

'If I were to gain a capable person as a bodyguard...'

Ethan began to filter through the people he could potentially gain in his mind. While more subordinates were better, what he needed most urgently was someone who could serve as a bodyguard.

'The King of Mercenaries might not have been the King of Mercenaries in this era, but he would already be a renowned mercenary. He wouldn’t come to serve as the bodyguard of a mere baron’s eldest son.'

If he were to choose a bodyguard, it had to be someone who could stay with him for the long term. That meant someone with good character who, once they pledged their loyalty, would never break it.

'No matter how strong they are, if they have a bad character, they’re just asking to be betrayed.'

Ethan methodically crossed names off his list, aligning them with the current era. After doing so, only one name remained.

'Yerika, the granddaughter of the Great Mage Hecate.'

Hecate, the Great Mage who once ruled the continent, was one of the eight-circle mages renowned across the continent but died as a public enemy.

'It was said that his excessive obsession with magic was to blame.'

While this was the rumor that spread, the truth was different.

As a student studying Hecate’s magical knowledge in the magic tower, one could hear stories about Hecate’s disgrace and find clues about it.

Following those clues, one would discover that Hecate was unjustly killed.

'He was essentially assassinated by three noble families of the Twelve Stars.'

There was someone who had to bear the disgrace and the aftermath.

It was Hecate’s only granddaughter, born to his only daughter.

Yerika, Hecate’s granddaughter, inherited his talent and had the genius ability to understand and make any magic her own after seeing it just three times.

However, after Hecate’s death, she suffered greatly. She was branded as the child of a criminal, had binding spells inscribed on her body, and was imprisoned with her mother.

During this process, her mother died, and Yerika managed to escape by partially removing the binding spells.

'She must be dreaming of revenge.'

Currently, she is hiding in the Dark Forest.

She hasn’t fully removed the binding spells and hasn’t dealt with the poison and curses that limit her magic, so she is still in a weakened state.

But there was one problem.

'The Dark Forest is quite far from the barony.'

It was questionable whether he could go there in his current condition.

However, Ethan made up his mind.

"Still, she’s much better than any bodyguard I can get around here. Not just for the present, but for the future as well."

If he could just enable her to use magic, she would be a top-tier mage. As the granddaughter of a Great Mage, once she fully awakens, she would become a Great Mage on par with Hecate.

She was far more suitable as a bodyguard than any sword-wielding knight.

"The only problem is that Yerika trusts no one, but there’s a way to handle that."

He already had a plan in mind.

It wasn’t for nothing that he had cleared this game more than ten times.

* * *

Ethan was about to leave for the city of Ferren, which was a bit away from the barony.

But he couldn’t leave quietly.

"Are you really sure you’ll be fine?"

"The baron ordered us to go with you."

"We will all go together, young master."

"No, there’s no need for the entire knight squad. Captain, calm down. I’m fine. I can walk now."

While he did need a bodyguard, there was no need for the entire knight squad.

After some negotiation, Ethan chose one knight.

'I can’t go alone, after all.'

They wouldn’t let him go alone, and he needed a bodyguard in case of any unexpected situations.

'If so, this person is the best choice.'

"Please take care of me! Young master! I am Schudlen Mark."

Schudlen Mark.

In the future, he would be the strongest knight of the Vickers barony and Nathan Vickers’ bodyguard. Currently, he was a new knight, but in a few years, he would become a knight with considerable influence.

'If I recruit Nathan Vickers as a companion, he would have come along.'

Ethan had a good memory of using Schudlen as a subordinate.

'But he’s just a new knight now. In other words, his loyalty hasn’t been firmly established yet.'

If so, it was entirely possible to redirect his loyalty to himself.

He wasn’t an incredibly great figure, but he could certainly handle his own.

Schudlen, still a new knight, asked boldly.

"May I ask why you are going out? I can prepare accordingly!"

"There’s no need for complicated preparations. Just do your best to protect me."

Despite wearing decent armor, his body was still fragile.

If he encountered a strong enemy, Schudlen would need to protect him.

"I will do my best."

'I’ll have to tell him about the Dark Forest when we get closer.'

It would be too much of a shock if he told him now.

* * *

Ethan and Schudlen headed to a magic item shop to buy necessary materials.

"Welcome!"

"Do you have any dimensional pouches?"

"Ah! You came at the perfect time. We have only two left. As you know, dimensional pouches are expensive but worth every bit. They sell out quickly even when we get new stock!"

A dimensional pouch was an item that could expand inventory space by about ten slots.

But in the current situation, where there was no inventory, it was a precious artifact that could serve as a small inventory.

"100,000 gold."

"100,000 gold? I know the market price."

"You know the market price well. Yes, 100,000 gold. This is a good deal."

"No, no. Wasn’t it around 110,000 gold?"

Ethan grinned and added 10,000 gold.

"Ah."

"I have something else I want to buy, and I’d like to get some information as well."

The shop owner was not the only one surprised.

Schudlen, his bodyguard, also looked at Ethan with a puzzled expression.

Ethan seemed different from the one he knew.

His manner of dealing with people was far from what Schudlen was used to.

However, the shop owner quickly understood Ethan’s intentions, quickly collected the gold, and smiled even more warmly.

"Of course. What else are you looking for?"

"Silver Chalice."

"Silver Chalice is in limited supply, and it’s currently hard to obtain."

"Hard to obtain?"

Ethan tilted his head.

Silver Chalice would become a rare herb at a certain point, but not now. It shouldn’t be that hard to get right now.

He needed Silver Chalice to make a magic nullification potion. Yerika, Hecate’s granddaughter, was bound by magic and couldn’t use mana properly, so she needed to drink the potion.

The shop owner’s expression darkened slightly.

"Actually..."

"Is there a problem?"

Ethan’s tone changed naturally.

"There’s someone who has a monopoly on Silver Chalice. As you might know, this back alley is controlled by a guy named Grenol. He suddenly started buying up Silver Chalice and swept it all away. I couldn’t resist his threats."

'Ah, I see.'

Ethan’s eyes lit up.

'Those back alley gangs are probably up to something with Silver Chalice.'

Among the achievements, there was one related to preceding actions.

If he dealt with evil-aligned individuals, he could clear this achievement.

'I haven’t cleared all the preceding achievements before.'

While every achievement had an end, the preceding achievements seemed endless.

Even after he had done good deeds from the beginning to the end, earning the title of a saint among the lowest, the preceding achievements didn’t end.

'This is a good opportunity.'

"What are those guys planning to do with the Silver Chalice?"

"From what I heard..."

According to the shop owner, they seemed to be making poison with Silver Chalice.

He added,

"It’s strange. They don’t seem to have the skills to make poison."

'Maybe it’s that.'

Ethan immediately thought of a quest.

It was the beginning of a quest that would shake the continent, known as the Silver Chalice Gate incident.

'There was a famous Poison Mage who intentionally released poison-making skills to conduct various experiments.'

The Poison Mage, known as the Poison King, spread his poison-making skills to create an incredibly powerful poison, which he used to kidnap the princess of the Holy Kingdom as a hostage.

His goal was the kingdom’s treasure, the Divine Blade.

'Then I can also earn a lot of points for the preceding achievement.'

Ethan smiled and said to the shop owner,

"Then I’ll get the Silver Chalice myself."

* * *

"Master, are you really going to those back alley gangs?"

"I plan to. Just in case, do your best to protect me. Dying from a random sword strike would be the most futile thing."

"I can definitely protect you! But there’s no need to go to a dangerous place! The back alley gangs have nothing to lose. They might act recklessly if someone enters their territory!"

"Probably."

Ethan agreed straightforwardly.

"Then why, why are you going?"

Schudlen was a new knight, not filled with heroism or a desire to show off his chivalry.

That’s why he couldn’t understand Ethan’s actions.

This wasn’t the Vickers barony, and he had no particular grudge against the back alley gangs in Ferren.

"Is there a reason to do good deeds?"

'I want to clear the achievement and get likes.'

Ethan simply wanted to clear the achievement.

But when Schudlen heard this, he was shocked.

"Ah..."

Schudlen made a short sound, as if he had realized something.

The young master had such thoughts.

He had forgotten.

Wasn’t the knight he once wanted to be someone who did good and helped the weak?

A knight was, after all, such a being. Someone who acted with no hesitation in doing good.

Seeing Ethan, who was more knightly than himself, Schudlen bowed deeply.

"I will follow you, young master."

Unintentionally, Ethan had earned Schudlen’s loyalty.

* * *

When the noble Ethan and the knightly-looking Schudlen entered the back alley, the thugs quietly retreated.

Schudlen observed Ethan. From their conversation, it seemed Ethan had a strong sense of heroism.

If so, he would likely try to deal with the back alley gangs.

Schudlen needed to be ready to step forward at the right moment, so he remained tense.

The moment Ethan stepped into the back alley, the thugs raised their weapons in caution.

Ethan calmly spoke.

"I’m just walking through. If you don’t bother me, I won’t bother you."

Schudlen was surprised.

Ethan, who had shown heroism earlier, was now calmly responding.

Ethan whispered to him,

"Just hit them on the head. There’s no need to draw blood."

The sense of experience. It felt like a veteran mercenary with ten years of experience was standing in front of him.

"Yes, young master."

Something was different.

He was different from the people of the Vickers barony he knew. Ethan showed something much greater than what he had seen in Nathan.

Of course, Ethan had no intention of capturing the thugs.

'To clear the achievement faster, I need to catch the big fish.'