Chapter 34

I'm sorry for the delay. Here is the translation:

---

I apologize for the delay. I have not made any progress at all.

Thank you for 1.8 million unique accesses!

Recently, Sol has made a new friend.

His name is Noah Ignis Essex.

He is a relative of the Earl of Essex and also a guild employee, a rather unusual person.

The name of the Earl of Essex is one that any soldier protecting this country would have heard at least once.

During the "Year of Fimbul," the Earl of Essex saved the country from a crisis, and I have met several people of the same age who admired him and wanted to become knights.

On the other hand, there are also those who disagree with his stance of advocating for beastmen.

Sol has never admired the Earl of Essex, nor is he a believer of the Fraternal faith.

However, Sol felt a one-sided sense of closeness to Noah.

This is because Sol, too, is someone who has entered the world of nobility from a commoner background.

Sol was born into a family of gardeners.

Sol's family had served the Keller family, a noble family, for generations.

His father worked as a dedicated gardener, and his mother as a servant.

Sol, from a young age, would follow his father and enter the Keller's garden.

The Keller family had an only son, Ed, who was the same age as Sol.

The people of the Keller family were broad-minded, and they never complained about Sol and Ed growing up like brothers, despite their different social statuses.

Sol's family served the Keller family with proper decorum.

One day, this relationship suddenly changed.

Ed died in an accident.

With no other successors, the Keller family decided to adopt Sol.

Sol's parents were overjoyed, and Sol had no reason to refuse. However, he did not willingly become an adopted child.

Becoming the heir to the Keller family, Sol was no longer called by his real parents.

He was confused when people he had previously talked to as a fellow servant bowed to him.

Without time to mourn the death of his best friend, who had grown up like a brother, Sol had to take his place.

It felt as if he had wandered into a different world, and Sol felt a sense of discomfort.

This feeling continued even after he became an apprentice in the Menthis Knights.

His adoptive parents probably wanted Sol to become a knight and develop a sense of nobility.

Contrary to their intentions, Sol felt that he was becoming more and more out of place every day.

It was then that Sol met Noah.

Sol had heard about Noah from Fran.

There was a young man who had been taken in by the Earl of Essex and was treated as an adopted child.

Sol thought that he must be in the same situation as himself.

However, after actually talking to him, Sol quickly realized that his assumption was wrong.

Noah could speak on equal terms with the captain, whom everyone in the knight's order revered, and even called him a friend.

Noah had been offered the chance to become the Earl of Essex's son but had refused it out of his own will, choosing to learn about the outside world and excel in his work.

He stood up to Marlo's unjust treatment with integrity and, most importantly, gave Sol the chance to become a knight.

Before meeting Noah, Sol thought that someone would surely empathize with his background. He felt embarrassed about this thought.

Noah, more than Marlo or Hans, who wielded power from their noble status, truly had the heart of a noble. That's what Sol felt.

Being able to be by Noah's side as a companion made Sol very proud.

He decided to learn from Noah and become a person worthy of being a noble.

What mattered was not blood but one's mindset. Watching Noah, Sol felt this way.

Finally, Sol felt he could accept himself as a noble.

When Noah, who had been attacked by someone, arrived at the garrison, he did not forget to express his gratitude to those around him.

Because of Noah, Sol wanted to protect him. Fran, though blushing and trying to hide it, probably felt the same way.

Fran had been helped a lot by Captain Smith.

When patrolling the city, apprentice knights cannot choose which squad they are assigned to.

Fran and Sol, due to their backgrounds, stood out among the other apprentices.

Captain Smith, considering Fran's situation, made sure to avoid assigning him to Marlo's squad as much as possible.

Fran's father was a well-known noble, but his mother was a concubine.

Fran was recognized, but he had three older half-brothers from his father's legitimate wife.

Fran's father gave his mother a separate residence, where Fran grew up freely.

He never lacked for food or clothing and was taught manners and weapon handling.

However, that was the extent of his father's support.

There was no prospect of Fran inheriting land or property, and he would eventually have to become independent.

He joined the knight's order at just such a time.

His mother had enough money to live a modest life alone. Fran thought he would leave home and try to make a living.

In the knight's order, even as an apprentice, he would not lack for food, clothing, or shelter.

Fran was confident in his sword skills and thought that becoming a knight might make his father take notice of him.

However, the knight's order was not as lenient as Fran had imagined.

Because of his famous family name, other lower-ranking apprentice knights found it difficult to approach him casually.

However, to nobles like Marlo, who valued bloodlines, Fran was a half-breed.

His sword skills, which he thought were proficient, were too rigid and could not keep up with self-taught swordsmen like Alice.

Still, Fran finally got the chance to become a knight.

He thought that once he became a full knight, he would join Captain Smith's squad.

He was looking forward to it.

The barracks were in an uproar.

Only a few people knew that the Earl of Essex had come to see Noah.

Fran was drawn to the center of the commotion.

Sol was by his side, but Fran did not notice him at the time.

There, Captain Smith was being restrained by Baldo.

Fran saw that Captain Smith's hands were drenched in red.

Captain Smith looked up at Fran.

His expression remained calm as usual.

Fran felt something crawling up his spine and shuddered.

The bright future Fran had envisioned was painted red.

Gerald and Luke were in the corridor of the knight's barracks.

They were exchanging information about the two men who attacked Noah and about Hans and Marlo.

The red-haired man, who said Hans was his employer, did not say anything more.

The other man seemed to have been hired without knowing anything.

"So, what's Hans saying?"

Luke asked Gerald.

Gerald shook his head and sighed.

"Nothing yet. He's sticking to the story that he didn't do it. Marlo isn't talking either."

"…We should probably get more information from the attackers first, sir."

"Yeah. This way."

As Luke said this, Gerald started walking down the quiet corridor.

Gerald was not just an apprentice knight.

Like Luke, he was secretly working as a collaborator within the knight's order.

They arrived at the cell where one of the attackers was being held.

Gerald nodded to the guard, who stepped aside to let them in. Gerald and Luke entered the small cell.

"I have some questions for you."

Luke said to the red-haired man, who was bound hand and foot.

"There's nothing else to say."

The red-haired man said this while looking down. Gerald asked him without hesitation.

"Was it you who attacked Noah's carriage and made it look like an accident?"

"Noah?"

The other man, who seemed to know nothing, spoke up.

"Yeah. Noah Ignis Essex. That's the name of the person you attacked."

"Huh, Essex? I, I didn't know that! I was just told to attack a guild employee! Right, right?"

When Luke mentioned Noah's name, the man, who was shaken, shouted at the red-haired man for confirmation.

The red-haired man only smiled enigmatically and did not answer.

They were only told to attack a guild employee. If that was true, Luke was also a target.

He had been attacked, but something didn't feel right. Luke thought so.

"Another thing, are you a follower of the Fraternal faith? Especially, do you worship the Holy Knight Lavrius?"

At Gerald's question, the red-haired man's smile widened.

At that moment, a distant scream was heard, followed by multiple angry shouts.

"What's that…?"

Gerald told one of the guards to check it out.

Luke had a bad feeling.

Was it really due to internal strife, and did Hans orchestrate it?

What if that premise was wrong?

Hans and Marlo were followers of the Fraternal faith, but the fact that they worshiped the Holy Knight was not mentioned in the investigation report.

What was their true purpose?

If the fake beastmen, the carriage accident, and this attack were all the work of the same person or organization, why did they go through such roundabout means?

The Earl of Essex was currently at this garrison.

Normally, the route of the Earl of Essex's journey would be kept secret even from the captain for security reasons.

However, the Earl of Essex, who had heard about Noah's attack, changed his planned route and came to the Menthis Knights.

If their goal was to lure the Earl of Essex using Noah as bait...

Multiple thoughts converged in Luke's mind.

Come to think of it, there was a captain who worshiped the Holy Knight. It was Smith.

After escaping from the attackers, when Luke reunited with Smith, he was the first to ask if Noah was safe.

"…The goal has been achieved."

Luke's gaze returned to the cell from his swirling thoughts.

The red-haired man said this with a strangely clear voice and bowed his head.

"Hey!"

Luke saw a trickle of red blood from the side of the bowed head.

"Damn it. Sir Gerald! He bit his tongue!"

"Aaaaah!"

The other man backed away.

Luke desperately reached through the bars to put his fingers in the red-haired man's mouth.

However, he could not open the tightly closed teeth, nor could he clear the airway or return the tongue to its original position.

By the time Gerald and the guard arrived with the key, the red-haired man's breathing had already stopped.

Luke tried to convey his thoughts to Gerald.

At that moment, the guard who had gone to check the situation outside returned.

"Report! The Earl of Essex has been attacked, and Lord Noah Ignis has been injured!"

"…Who, who did it!"

Gerald grabbed the guard by the collar.

"T-That's the thing. Captain Smith has been arrested…"

Luke was certain, in the worst possible way, that his thoughts had been correct.

2015/01/11 Revised