CHAPTER 5 – SETTLEMENT

“That young man is a knight, administrator.”

As if he had read Rude’s expression, the knight behind him said with a smirk.

The knight was riding a mount that Arsene saw for the first time in his life.

A creature that looks like a four-legged dinosaur, whose body is made of metal from its legs to its head.

It was a completely different existence from the other mounts, which were obviously living beings.

“Is this your first time seeing a Jin?”

When Arsene unknowingly looked at the mount with a curious expression, the knight questioned him.

Only then did Arsene, realizing his mistake, corrected his expression and made excuses.

“It’s my first time seeing it. My father used to ride a different one.”

“If he’s a knight of a fortress in the outskirts, that’s to be expected. The jin will eventually be destroyed if a wizard doesn’t take care of it.”

“Oh.”

The administrator, who had been quietly listening to the conversation between the knight and Arsene, intervened.

“So… Sir Arsene, you mentioned that you’re the son of Sir Lenock. Are you sure you are referring to Sir Lenock from Krata Fortress in the east, who regularly trades demonic by-products with our estates?”

“That’s right. Unfortunately, powerful looters have recently stormed in and the fortress has been occupied, while the fate of my father, Sir Lenock, is unknown. As you can see, I’m still young, so it’s hard to take care of my body.”

“Do you have any proof that you really are the son of Sir Lenock?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Hmm… “

Administrator Rude, who was squinting and tapping his chin as if measuring his opponent’s words, asked as he looked at the knight next to him.

“Do you have any ideas, Sir Palato?”

“Don’t you think the administrator’s judgment is more important than the opinion of a swordsman like me? First of all, it’s true that he’s awakened his magical powers. And he has pretty good potential. It’s not easy to have that much power without at least one of your parents being a knight.”

After pondering for a moment on Palato’s advice, Rude made a decision.

It was difficult to prove his identity, but he awakened as a knight at a young age, and his speech and behavior were also precocious for his age.

He concluded that it would be more beneficial to treat him as a knight of the territory than to kill or drive him out.

Of course, it was a matter for the lord to decide whether to accept him as a knight of the territory, but the lord he knew was not that great of a person who would want to miss a knight that came in for free.

“Um, first of all, I would like to invite you to the lord’s residence by my authority, Sir Arsene. But until we are sure of your identity, you must leave your weapon with us and accompany our soldiers.”

“All right.”

After all, it was nothing like a treasured item or heirloom, but a sword stolen from a plunderer, so Arsene calmly handed the sword to the soldier next to him.

Slowly walking towards the lord’s residence, Sir Palato spoke first.

“But you look young. When did you awaken? You’re small for a knight.”

“I’m ten years old now. I awakened it recently.”

“I envy you. It’s better when you’re younger. I was barely awakened when I was almost 20.”

With such grumbling words, Palato took off his helmet and hung it on the saddle.

What was revealed was the face of a man in his mid-thirties who grew a beard and had unusually curly hair.

Contrary to his pleasant voice, his cheekbones were raised and his cheeks were drooping, making him look depressed.

“You’ll most probably have a hard time in a while. For a few months after awakening, you’ll get taller incredibly fast. Especially when you’re in the growing period.

After hearing that, he realized that both Sir Palato and Sir Lenock were tall, more than 2 meters.

Sir Lenock was tall as well as his son Pilus, so he thought it ran in the family, but if he became a knight, he would grow taller.

“I’ve only seen my father, are all the knights tall?”

“Of course. I’m also pretty small among the knights. The tallest knight I’ve ever seen seems to be over nine feet tall.”

Since it meant that he was about 270cm tall, Arsene was doubtful.

“Maybe because you’ve awakened at a young age, which is a period of growth, so maybe you’ll get as big as that knight.”

“I really hope I won’t get that big.”

As they talked, they crossed the farmland and entered the village where houses were built here and there.

The villagers looked tired, but they were dressed in fairly neat clothes and they didn’t look malnourished.

Looking at it, Arsene realized once again how terrible the fortress he had lived in was by the standards of this world.

Except for the castle, it was like an ordinary medieval farm where neither monsters nor looters appeared, compared to that place that looked like a beggar’s den at the end of the century.

The villagers, who saw the administrators, knights, and soldiers, all bowed their heads and expressed obedience.

Compared to the fortress, where there was relatively little distance between soldiers and the general public, the difference in status there was much more noticeable.

‘That’s good.’

Compared to a commoner, Arsene was now going to live as a knight, so it wasn’t a bad thing at all.

He had no intention of being bound by the notion of a past life without a class system.

Arsene looked at the jin, the mechanical mount on which Palato was riding, and asked.

“By the way, is that jin a living thing?”

“I don’t know either, but the wizards say that they are magical creatures, so it’s like they’re living beings… but it’s a bit vague to see them as living because they don’t need to eat and drink. If the driver provides his mana, it can keep moving and never gets tired. In addition, the jin and the knight are connected in spirit, so I can direct the action I want right away. It’s not without reason they say that you’re a true knight only with a jin.”

With those words, the jin, who Palato was riding, tapped all four feet and shook his body.

“It’s like this. Oh… Just in case, I don’t mean to insult your father. The knights who command the fortresses of the frontier are noble people who do not hesitate to do hard work for the peace of mankind. The fortresses are small and often have no wizards, so it’s hard to repair the jin.”

“That’s right. There were no wizards in the fortress I lived in.”

Arsene calmly agreed with Palato’s rather apologetic comment as he tried not to have a slip of tongue.

He never thought of Sir Lenock as a real father, so he wouldn’t have been offended if Palato intended to insult him.

In fact, Palato described the knights of the outlying fortress, including Sir Lenock, as ‘noble people’ in a way to console him, but how many of them actually are like that?

Most of the knights of the fortresses were either pushed out of a place such as a territory by a political mistake or caused socially unacceptable problems and were close to being expelled.

Or he wanted to be king in a small and shabby place because he didn’t want to obey any lord and bow to his knight seniors.

‘It doesn’t matter if he’s dead or alive.’

It was no exaggeration to say that what Lord Lenock did as a father to Arsene was really life-threatening.

From the moment of birth till now, in Arsene’s memory, Lord Lenock had never considered him a son and had never done anything for him.

It wouldn’t be surprising if he didn’t even know Arsene’s name.

If Arsene had no memories of his reincarnation, he might have longed for his father’s affection, but Arsene, who had already been sufficiently loved by his father in his previous life, did not dare to seek affection from his current ugly father.

Since he has been able to inherit the lineage of knights and make a living, it will be enough to give them a minimum amount of respect, at least on the surface.

After passing through the village and crossing the gate of a large castle, administrator Rude called a maid.

“Sheila! This is a precious guest, so prepare clean clothes that fit and give him a bath, a meal, and a place to rest.”

“Yes, sir.”

After Arsene followed his maid to bathe and change into new clothes, he was able to eat warm and delicious food for the first time since his reincarnation.

Even though servants sometimes served delicious food when he was younger, it was at most roughly-grilled beast meat.

By comparison, the meal served to him now was freshly baked warm bread, chicken stew, and fruit pie, so it was incomparable.

It was enjoyable except that two armed soldiers were always following behind.

I washed up and ate well, so I was sleepy, but I still had work to do to fall asleep.

He took a bath, ate, and now was sleepy, but he still had work to do before he could fall asleep.

Just in time, a knock on the door was heard.

“Come on in.”

It was administrator Rude who opened the door and came in.

“Sir Arsene, the lord wants to see you.”

“All right.”

Arsene replied and stood up, but the administrator did not intend to guide him, and just stood there blankly.

He opened his mouth carefully as Arsene was thinking about what was going on.

“Well, let me first say that I don’t mean to insult Sir Arsene. Have you ever learned from your father about the manners of meeting the lord?”

“No. I didn’t learn anything at all. It would be an honor if the administrator could teach me.”

At Arsene’s words, the administrator warned him of some rhetoric and actions he shouldn’t use.

Fortunately, there weren’t that many things, so he was able to understand them quickly.

Since the lord was waiting in the first place, there would have been no time to teach him complicated things.

After passing through the neat marble corridor filled with ancient magic, he was able to reach the lord’s office after turning several times.

The administrator said, carefully knocking on the door.

“Lord, Sir Arsene is here to see you.”

“Let him in.”

After a deep, low voice opened the door, the administrator took a step back.

When Arsene entered the room, a man who appeared to be in his early 40s was sitting on a large chair, and behind him stood Palato whom he had seen a while ago, and a female knight he had never seen before.

“It is an infinite honor to meet the lord. I’m Arsene, son of Lenock.”

“I am Nut, the lord of Beluan. So, Krata Castle… Sir Lenock’s son?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Surprisingly, the lord was not a knight.

Arsene believed that the lords of territories were also knights, the same as the lords of the fortresses, but after he thought about it, it was natural.

A gangster in the neighborhood needs to fight well to become a boss, but the boss of a giant mafia organization doesn’t have to be good at fighting.

The larger the size of the organization and the stronger the force that can be exerted, the less they need individual power.

“Sir Lenock trained as a knight in our Beluan territory when he was young. Did you know?”

“Ah… yes, I heard about it in passing.”

“He was also a friend who spent his childhood with me. He was a good man and a good knight. If I hadn’t made a stupid choice…Well, I heard Sir Lenock’s life or death is unknown.”

“When the looters invaded the fortress, he was out hunting, but he didn’t come back that evening. Usually, he came back in the late afternoon. It was too dangerous to stay in the fortress, so I don’t know what happened after that.”

“I hope he comes back to us in good health. I don’t think there’s any doubt that you’re Sir Lenock’s son. You look like Sir Lenock from childhood. I mean, he used to make girls cry when he was a kid.”

The attitude of the lord, who giggled as if recalling a pleasant past, was fresh, but what he said was even more shocking.

Lenock, as Arsene remembers, was always a drunken, red-faced, beardy middle-aged man.

When he heard that Sir Lenock made a girl cry, he thought it was because he was a rapist, not a playboy.

He was still pretty, so Arsene thought he had a decent face, but the thought of him growing up that same way was terrifying to imagine.

‘I need to take care of my face from now on.’

“So, do you want to entrust yourself to me temporarily until Sir Lenock returns?”

The lord’s eyes were sharp as he asked the question.

In other words, the question was, “Did you come here to eat until your father comes back?”

Seeing that he was sensitive even about feeding only one child, he thought that even if it is a territory with a large territory, it would not have enough resources.

“If the lord allows it, I would like to train and serve as a knight in this territory.”

In the past decade, he had fully felt how powerless and miserable the weak in that world was.

Living as an ordinary person in the midst of looters, beasts, and many other threats is like holding onto a wooden plank and wishing to survive in the raging waves.

Arsene wanted strength and power.

To be respected by everyone, so that no one could harm or ignore them.

At Arsene’s words, Lord Nut grabbed his chin and stroked his mustache with his other hand.

“Sir Palato.”

“Speak, my lord.”

“Didn’t you say that he was quite good as a knight?”

“The potential of a knight is either present or absent, so it is impossible to judge it haphazardly, but if he is nurtured well, he may become something like Sir Ramune.”

When the name of the strongest knight in the Beluan territory came out, Nut’s mouth was filled with a satisfied smile.

In fact, even if the quality of the knight was insignificant, the knights are so rare that they cannot be ignored, but talented knights were especially rare.

“In the name of Lord Beluan, Arsene, I will train you as a knight under Lord Palato.”

Then he held out his left hand, which had his signet ring.

For a moment, Arsene stood still, not knowing what he wanted, and Administrator Rude, who was standing behind him, coughed and whispered in his ear.

Arsene couldn’t have known such customs, as Rude only taught him simple manners and not how to swear loyalty.

“Get down on your knees and swear allegiance to the lord. All you have to do is say, ‘I swear upon my name, I will never betray unless I am betrayed by the lord.’”

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Hearing his whispers, Arsene quickly knelt down on one of his knees and bowed his head, reciting the oath.

To be honest, he thought it was a formality close to a skit, but people there were greatly governed by this ritual, so he had to follow it.

“As Arsene, the son of Lenock, I swear upon my name, I will never betray unless I am betrayed by the lord.”

“I, Nut, son of Delos, the lord of Beluan, swears that you, Arsene, will be protected under my name unless you betray me and the land. I swear in the name of the almighty Leha.”