Chapter 25: A Bond of Travel (1)

They were attacked by monsters at the edge of the forest that served as the boundary with the neighboring territory.

“Damn, these are mid-level monsters!”

“Ugh! They’re heading this way!”

“Fall back! The knights will handle them!”

“Don’t act tough when you can’t even use mana!”

As the soldiers held off the monsters with their shields, the knights shouted and charged forward.

Bang! Bang!

The sounds of breaking and exploding followed.

Simon and I quickly got out of the carriage. We were taken aback by the scene before us.

“Is this your first time seeing something like this?”

The butler, who had followed us out, asked us.

“Are these monsters?”

Simon frowned as he watched the creatures fighting the knights.

I couldn’t help but frown as well.

‘Are they wild dogs, or wolves?’

Though they were as large as a small car, they looked more like wolves.

If they were intact, they might have been mistaken for large wolves.

However, the two monstrous creatures fighting the knights could be called monsters.

Their skin was half-peeled, and the muscles beneath, covered in dark red blood, were stuck like mud tar.

The areas around their heads and chests were so torn that bones were exposed.

They looked very much like the zombie dogs from games, only much larger.

‘How are they still alive… no, how are they moving?’

Some parts were moving even though only bones were connected.

Despite their appearance, which seemed to make it difficult for them to crawl, the monsters were fiercely attacking the knights.

“Undead wolves! Form the formation for dealing with beast-type undead!”

Knight Hugo shouted to the other knights, who quickly adjusted their positions while fighting the monsters.

Shortly after, the monsters called undead wolves were trapped in the circular formation formed by the knights.

Could these really be undead monsters? I had never imagined they would look like this, as the books describing monsters weren’t picture books.

I had thought they would be like gory, scary mutants.

But these were giant zombie dogs, completely fantastical monsters.

This meant that skeletons might really be just bones!

While I was imagining a skeleton army with swords and black smoke, Simon stepped forward.

He already had his sword in hand.

“Are you going to join in?”

Simon nodded at the question from the knight captain, who had been watching from behind.

“It’s a chance to fight monsters. I can’t miss it.”

The knight captain, who had been pondering, nodded.

“I understand. Still, please be careful.”

The knight captain shouted to the front.

“The one on the left will be handled by Sir Simon! Adjust the formation!”

“Understood.”

Knight Hugo, representing the knights, responded to the captain’s command.

The formation began to change according to Knight Hugo’s instructions.

Although the monsters continued to attack, they gradually became isolated and trapped in separate encirclements.

Each encirclement was formed by five knights, and Simon entered the left encirclement.

“Will he be okay?”

I asked the knight captain, standing beside him.

The knights were fighting well, but they couldn’t inflict significant damage on the monsters.

The knights’ swords cut through the monsters’ skin and injured their muscles, but the hardened blood no longer flowed, and the monsters’ movements didn’t change.

Despite the knights’ ability to cut through thick trees with a single strike, they couldn’t cut through the decayed muscles and bones.

‘Now that I think about it, didn’t the soldiers’ spears also fail to wound them?’

Simon, who was going to face these monsters, would be in great danger even with the help of other knights…

The knight captain answered my question.

“Should we say he’s lucky? Although it’s a rare mid-level monster, he’ll be fine. Did you not hear this from Miguel?”

“What?”

“Tsk.”

The knight captain clicked his tongue. It seemed Miguel had left something out.

I would have to console Miguel, who would be scolded later…

“Then, watch this. This is why nobles rule the world.”

Was there a hint of anger and sadness in his matter-of-fact tone, or was it just my imagination?

I couldn’t tell from the knight captain’s expression.

Simon stood before the half-rotten giant wolf, raising his sword.

The monster, which had been fighting the other knights, turned to look at Simon.

Roar!

The wolf, as if alive, opened its jaw, which was only bones, and growled.

It then charged at Simon.

Whoosh.

At that moment, Simon’s sword glowed. A faint sky blue. He had infused it with mana.

However, the knights had also been fighting with mana-infused swords.

Thanks to the mana, they had inflicted more wounds than the soldiers, but they couldn’t deal fatal blows…

Simon showed no fear.

His face was full of confidence, completely different from the expression he had before he died.

The knight captain and the knights didn’t seem worried either.

The wolf, with its mouth wide open, charged at Simon, who swung his sword at the undead wolf.

Danger!

Simon was overwhelmed by the wolf, which was as large as a small car. Simon’s head was buried under the wolf’s head, invisible.

Swoosh!

But in the next moment, the wolf’s head tilted and fell to the side.

The body remained, but the head was severed. Rotten blood oozed from the cut neck but quickly hardened.

Thud!

The headless body of the undead wolf fell to the opposite side.

My goodness. This was an unexpected result.

Was he that strong? It was clearly not a special sword. He seemed capable of easily defeating several knights.

However, the Simon I saw in my previous life and the Simon who just defeated the monster didn’t seem that strong.

I couldn’t understand at all. I had to ask the knight captain.

The knight captain, unlike before, explained in detail.

“The inherited abilities of nobles come from the heroes who defeated the Demon King during the Great War. Although the blood has thinned over time, making them weaker, and only some abilities are inherited, they are still fatal to the demons and monsters led by the Demon King.”

I thought heroes were people with various superpowers…

In fact, were the heroes specialized weapons against the Demon King and his demons?

“Even now, with the Demon King and demons gone, these abilities are still effective against the remaining monsters. I, who have only a trace of this blood, am the captain of the knights.”

A hint of self-loathing could be felt in his matter-of-fact tone.

“The Duke and Sir Simon possess the mana techniques of Carlos, the hero who founded our kingdom. These techniques are excellent for dealing with people, but they show several times more power against monsters.”

That’s why he could decapitate the monster with one strike?

Simon was still standing before the monster, still excited from his first hunt.

Standing before the fallen monster with a glowing sword, Simon looked quite impressive.

Unfortunately, there were no young girls to cheer for him.

While Simon was regaining his composure, the other monster was also being finished off.

As I watched the other fight, the knight captain asked me.

“Would you like to try fighting, Sir Alex?”

I shook my head, looking at the monster that had lost a leg.

“I can’t properly control mana. Besides, it seems it will be over soon.”

The knight captain nodded, satisfied with my answer.

Indeed, it was a trap.

A test to see if I knew my place or if I was hiding something from Simon.

Honestly, I was curious if my mana would work, but there was no need to get involved here.

Bang!

At that moment.

Something flew from the forest.

A half-rotten wolf. Another undead wolf.

The wolf was flying towards the dazed Simon.

A flying undead, like a projectile.

It was absurd, but I quickly threw my sword.

Whirl!

Thanks to the spin, the sword hit the undead’s body with its flat side instead of embedding itself.

Thud!

Perhaps due to the timely infusion of mana, the undead was slightly pushed to the side.

This would have been impossible in my previous life, but with mana, it was entirely possible. Hail mana.

“Huh!”

Simon was startled by the undead that grazed him.

His impressive appearance crumbled in an instant. It was fortunate there were no young girls to see it.

Thud.

The knight captain, who had rushed forward, swung his sword at the wolf on the ground.

Crack!

With a sound of something breaking, the wolf’s head shattered.

“Wow!”

I opened my mouth in surprise.

No, he said he only had a trace of the ability!

Simon’s eyes were wide open. He seemed very surprised as well.

If that’s a trace, is Simon really weak?

While I was having these doubts, the knight captain was also frowning.

He examined the headless monster and frowned.

“It was already dead…”

What does that mean? Undead are obviously dead.

Seeing my expression, he explained again.

“My sword can’t break it like this. The monster was already damaged before it flew here.”

I looked in the direction the undead had flown from.

A sturdy young man stood between the trees. He had a neat face that didn’t match his build.

He wore leather armor and held a large broadsword in one hand.

A mercenary?

He scratched his head, looking apologetic.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t expect it to fly that far.”

The knight captain stepped in front of me.

“Are you a noble?”

The knight captain asked first.

He was a man who had killed a mid-level monster that was difficult for a single knight to handle and sent it flying. Or did it fly while he was killing it?

In any case, he couldn’t be an ordinary mercenary.

“I am a noble, but… I was kicked out of my family. Since I have no land or family, I can be considered a commoner.”

What does that mean? If you’re a noble, you’re a noble, not a commoner just because you were kicked out.

I couldn’t understand the meaning of his words, but the knight captain could.

The knight captain looked at me, then back at the man.

“Are you… a bastard?”

“Yes! Thanks to that, I’m no different from a commoner.”

Ah, that’s why.

A bastard, someone in the same situation as me.

“Hmph!”

While we were talking, Simon, perhaps angry at being startled, went back into the carriage.

Since he had already apologized, it was hard for him to be angry given his personality.

“Um, it seems the young master is very angry. Should I apologize again?”

“It’s fine.”

The knight captain shook his head at the man’s question.

“I’m relieved. I was surprised to see the young master in such a predicament. He looks young but is truly remarkable.”

He praised me, looking at me.

“Thanks to you, I survived. I was about to run away in fear.”

If I hadn’t been there, would Simon have been crushed by the dead monster, and the man would have run away?

As I had felt before, the changed situation due to me was very interesting.

Meanwhile, the other monster was also finished off.

After cutting off all four legs, the head was chopped off several times like chopping firewood.

“Where are you going, by the way?”

I looked at the knight captain. Was it okay to say?

“I’m going to the Iero Marquis family.”

It seemed it was okay to say. The man’s face lit up at the captain’s words.

He looked very happy, but a hint of unease crept in. What’s wrong?

“Um, can I go with you?”

He continued in a very happy voice.

“Even though I was kicked out, the Iero Marquis family is still my home.”