Chapter 36

At the point of posting this, it has over 11,300 bookmarks and over 30,000 points...

Phew, hmm!? Thud...

Since it was pointed out that it's hard to read, I tried to break it up into paragraphs and add spaces, but... hmm, it's difficult.

"Ah, t-thank you...!"

Without even drawing the emerald steel sword at her waist, Nod subdued the group of ruffians. A voice called out to Nod's back.

The speaker was the person who had been surrounded by the ruffians.

After receiving the words of gratitude, Nod turned to face the person and spoke to them.

"Are you alright?"

"Y-yes, I'm fine... Thank you."

The person was wearing a black cloak that blended into the twilight.

They were short, and their face was hidden under the deep hood of the cloak.

The cloak was loose-fitting, making it hard to tell if the person was male or female at first glance.

"Oh...! I'm sorry!"

The person must have remembered they were wearing a hood, as they pulled it down to reveal their face.

The sound of rustling fabric was heard as the person's face, which had been hidden under the cloak, appeared. They looked young, with a gender-neutral appearance and slightly long hair, appearing younger than Nod. Nod judged from their appearance and the high pitch of their voice that they were about the same age as his sister Lilia.

"My name is Eri, Erisio. I am very grateful for your help."

Erisio, who had introduced themselves with a gender-neutral appearance, spoke with a relieved expression, expressing their gratitude to Nod.

From the slimness of their figure, it was hard to imagine that Erisio was used to rough work. Nod empathized with how Erisio must have felt when surrounded by the ruffians.

"Yes, you might have heard, but I'm a member of the knight's order. You can relax."

"Y-yes..."

"The patrol knights will be here soon, so I'll hand you over to them. What happened?"

"Well, actually..."

The streets of the capital, which were being swallowed by the twilight, were deserted.

However, there were still residents nearby. The knights would surely arrive soon after receiving a report of the commotion.

In the meantime, Nod asked Erisio to tell him what had happened, partly to help them calm down.

"I was late coming back from the shop, and then these people started bothering me... There was no one around, and before I knew it, I was surrounded."

Erisio's voice trembled as they spoke, gripping their thin wrist, visible from the sleeve of the cloak.

The slight shaking of the cloak suggested that the fear was only just setting in. In the dim light, their complexion seemed pale.

Nod waited for Erisio to calm down before asking another question.

"Were they trying to rob you?"

"No... I belong to the magic academy, and... they were saying things that only someone involved with the academy would know."

"Hmm... Were they hired by someone?"

Nod glanced at the ruffians lying unconscious on the cobblestones. They didn't seem like people who would be involved with the magic academy.

"Do you have any idea who?" Nod asked, turning his gaze back to Erisio.

Erisio looked away, hesitating, but eventually answered.

"There's someone at the academy who has been harassing and obstructing me, and I think it might be them..."

"I see."

So, it was bullying.

Nod, looking at Erisio's cloak—worn by mages—thought that there are always useless people around.

"A little rough treatment, and they'll sing right away..."

"No, it would be pointless."

In response to Nod's suggestion to torture the ruffians to get information about their employer, Erisio shook their head.

Apparently, these useless people were very cautious, and there would be no evidence from the ruffians directly involved.

"I see... Then, let's tie them up."

"Ah, wait a moment."

There was nothing else to do here.

Thinking this, Nod decided to bind the unconscious ruffians so they couldn't escape.

He was about to go to the carriage to get the sturdy rope he used for adventuring when Erisio stopped him.

"What is it?"

"I can create it... This will do."

"...I'm surprised."

As soon as Erisio said this, they closed their eyes and began muttering.

It was a spell.

When Erisio finished the incantation, a pale blue light—indicating the activation of magic—faintly illuminated the surroundings, and then the phenomenon occurred.

The ground, the cobblestones of the capital, rose up, and the earth that emerged began to change shape. It became thinner, transforming further...

In Erisio's hand, it became a chain that made a metallic sound.

"It's an application of alchemy."

Erisio, with a slightly proud expression, handed Nod a chain long enough to bind the ruffians.

As Nod took the chain, he was impressed by the magic he had just witnessed and said to Erisio,

"No, breaking the cobblestones isn't good."

It's vandalism, he added, and in front of him was the scene of the ground rising and the cobblestones cracking and scattering.

§

When Erisio panicked and asked, "What should we do!?", Nod asked if the damage could be repaired with magic.

Hearing this, Erisio managed to calm down and repaired the cobblestones with the application of alchemy.

The cracked cobblestones were quickly restored to their original state.

Shortly after, two patrol knights arrived in response to a report from a resident, making it a close call.

The patrol knights, seeing the unconscious ruffians tied up and sitting on the ground, and Nod and Erisio, who looked like an adventurer and a mage, approached them with a threatening demeanor.

Nod, who had anticipated this, showed his identification and told them he was a squire.

The patrol knights, seeing the badge indicating his affiliation with the Iron Dragon Knights, exclaimed, "The Iron Dragon Knights...!" and relaxed their guard towards Nod.

Nod was not a full-fledged dragon knight who had been granted a knight's title, but he was officially a member of the Iron Dragon Knights. Therefore, even as a squire, he could call himself a knight. (Though this was an exceptional case, as it was unusual for someone to join the knights directly without attending a military academy.)

The patrol knights, recognizing Nod as a knight from his mannerisms, still seemed puzzled by his un-knightly appearance and asked, "What about your outfit?"

Nod replied,

"I was just on my way to pick up my new armor. This is from before."

Nod was indeed on his way to pick up new armor, so he wasn't lying.

Hearing this, the patrol knights assumed that Nod had sent his regular armor for repairs, and they understood why he was wearing the less knightly scale armor.

"What about this person?"

Nod showed the hilt of his sword, which bore the crest of the Felis family, changing the patrol knights' treatment of them from suspicious individuals to nobles.

Nod answered for Erisio, who was nervous about the damage to the cobblestones.

"His name is Erisio. He's a mage from the magic academy, yes."

"I see, and these people?"

There are different titles for those who practice magic, such as mages and wizards. It would be very rude to call them by the wrong title.

A wizard is a mentor-like figure, like an instructor, while a mage is their apprentice.

Collectively, they are called mages, but this is like calling a knight a "frontline combatant"—a general term that doesn't accurately describe an individual's position.

So, Nod glanced at Erisio and started to say "mage," gauging the reaction, and then, seeing no problem, continued without correction.

Erisio looked younger than Nod, but geniuses can be found anywhere. Some of the kingdom's wizards, who had revived the labyrinth, had received the title of master in their early teens.

"Who knows, they're probably ruffians. They surrounded Erisio, and I happened to pass by and helped. I drew my sword, so I roughed them up a bit..."

"I see, thank you for your assistance."

It's rare for weapons to be drawn in towns or villages, let alone in the capital where the king resides, which is a serious crime.

I'll also let them know that they seem to be a group called the "Martino Gang," as one of the ruffians mentioned.

"They've been causing trouble in the slums recently. To come into the city center like this..."

The patrol knights' expressions were hidden by their masks, but their voices sounded bitter.

They had apparently been ignored because they rarely caused trouble in the city, but the fight with Nod and the ruffians might lead to a crackdown on the Martino Gang soon.

"Be careful, it gets dark early this time of year."

The patrol knights warned Nod and Erisio before roughly dragging the bound ruffians to the station.

They would likely face harsh interrogations, but Nod felt no sympathy.

"So, what now?"

"What do you mean?"

"Even if they don't attack again, I can escort you to a nearby area."

"No, no! That's too much trouble!"

Erisio, reflexively waving their hands, hesitated but then seemed to agree with Nod's suggestion, slowing their hand movements.

"Don't be shy. If you want, I can take you to a nearby main street."

"Ah... Yes, that would be fine. Thank you for taking me to the main street."

Nod, who had agreed to "escort" Erisio to a nearby main street, told Erisio to "wait a moment" and had them wait by the carriage. He climbed up to the driver's seat and quietly instructed the creature in the back, "Stay quiet," to which it nodded silently.

Nod untied the rope of the curtain on the driver's side and lowered it. He had added it because the creature, which had grown larger, might be seen even in the back of the carriage.

The curtain swayed in the twilight, making it impossible to see inside the back of the carriage from the driver's seat.

"Alright, you can come up."

"Yes, thank you... Let's go."

Erisio climbed up to the driver's seat with Nod's help, and Nod firmly grabbed their thin hand, pulling them up.

"Let's go."

Nod simply said this and drove the carriage towards the main street.

§

Although helping Erisio, who had been surrounded by ruffians, took some time, Nod dropped Erisio off on the main street after they repeatedly thanked him and then headed back to the armory.

On the way, a rumbling sound, which could have been a growl or a complaint, came from the back of the carriage, but Nod coldly told it to "hold on a bit longer."

When he stopped the carriage at the armory and got out, the sun had already set behind the city walls, and darkness had fallen.

"Sorry, I'm late."

"Hey, we were just about to put out the fire. Where were you dawdling?"

"I was helping someone."

"In that case, I'd appreciate it if you could feed me dinner quickly."

The shop owner, who had seen Nod's face from the workshop side, sarcastically said, "Not dawdling, I hope."

Since Nod was the one who was late, he apologized again.

"Well, it's done as promised."

"Really, this is..."

The shop owner pointed to a magnificent suit of armor.

The armor was made from materials from the general spider, such as its carapace and tanned skin.

However, it had been processed with advanced techniques, giving it a metallic feel while still retaining a biological atmosphere.

"This is my new armor..."

"Yes, the materials from the spider are interesting. When polished with a special method, the carapace becomes as hard as metal, and the hairy skin becomes strong and smooth."

Nod, listening to the shop owner's explanation, was fascinated by the armor.

Under the indoor lighting, the armor, which glowed dully, resembled a full suit of plate armor worn by a top-tier knight.

Nod had expected something more adventurer-like, but he was surprised by the knightly appearance and secretly excited by it.

"Since you said you became a knight, I made it look like one as a service."

The shop owner grinned, and Nod felt nothing but gratitude.

"Thank you, I'll take good care of it."

"Alright, don't break it easily."

After receiving a detailed explanation of the armor and accepting the general spider armor, Nod left the armory at night.

Newt, who had been in the back of the carriage, noticed that Nod was unusually cheerful and chirped happily, "Kyuu!"

Nod and Newt returned home in high spirits after it had completely darkened, but they were greeted by Nod's sister Iris's "You're late!"—that's a story for later.

Since September, I've realized that if I don't write every day, it gets harder. (Death sentence)

Thanks to everyone's support, I'm in the situation I described in the preface. It's amazing.

The model for the equipment that appeared here is that. Nel○ula. The author really liked it. Wu○rai! (Is that the correct kanji?) And so on.

While the design is different, the new armor makes Nod look more knightly. What does "knightly" even mean? (Philosophy)

The author likes to imagine but is not good with details.

I haven't decided what kind of armor the Hamil Kingdom's knight armor (self-funded) will be.

Will it be like Tol○kia, Why○ran's guards, or something like historical plate armor...

I don't know!?

Thank you to those who are correcting typos and pointing out inconsistencies.