Chapter 19 “A Knight’s Tavern Conversation”

“Nerva?” The sound of him standing up reached my ear. “What are you doing here?”

“Hmm? Drinking. Like everyone else is.” I said to him as I raised my mug.

“O-Oh, r-right. What else, right?” He stuttered his response. Is something like that such a rare and unbelievable occurrence for him? I suppose that is understandable. Maybe for him, a blind man like me will never be able to drink in a tavern like a regular people. Or maybe it is just that he never considered that a blind like me would be able to live normally. “Sorry.”

“Oh, don’t mind it.” I smiled at him. “Ah, may I sit with you? Or perhaps you are waiting for someone?”

“O-Oh, please do.” His heartbeats are still in the level of a confused person. It seems that I have to make him calm first before trying to get anything from him.

“Thank you, Sir Lange. Or would you prefer to be call as Ingolf?”

“Ah, yes. Ingolf then.” He let out a small chuckle. “That will fit the drink better. The last thing I need here is formality.”

“Very well then, Ingolf.” I then took my seat in front of him. I took a sip from my mug and then tapped my mug, renewing the ‘view’. It seemed that no one noticed that he is the private knight of the royal family. The tavern is the best place to blend in after all. Since the ones inside the tavern are usually too busy with having fun, they will ignore a lot of things. “So, it is a surprise to meet you here.”

“Well, I am more surprise to see you.” Right after he said that, his heartbeats rose for a second. Is he surprised? By his own words? “N-No, I d-didn’t–“

“Hmm? Why?” I purposely didn’t give him any time to apologize.

“…I’m sorry. I…didn’t mean to offend you or anything…it’s just…”

“You didn’t expect a blind like me to visit a tavern, is it?”

“…Sorry…”

“No, no, no. That’s fine.” I waved my hand at him to sign to him that it is fine with me. “I get that all the time.”

“…Really?”

“Yes, don’t think so much about it, Ingolf.” I then took a sip from my mug again. I might have to order another one if this keep up. Not that I like to drink, but this is to keep up an appearance while gathering information. But so far the start is good. He didn’t expect me to be here and he even somehow made a blunder to touch about me being blind and able to be in here. “I might not be here all the time but I come here from time to time.”

“I guess that is…understandable.” He then let out a sigh. “Sorry for that though. It’s just that I have never seen someone like you.”

“That’s perfectly fine, Ingolf.” I nodded. “So enough about me. I thought that someone of yours position will not be in this kind of establishment.”

“Hmm…” Oh, another raise in his heartbeats. A few moments ago his heartbeats has become stable. I guess the moment I mention about his position he raised his guard again. “I prefer here than being in one of those high-class tavern. It’s just…doesn’t really suit me.” The sound of him sipping his mug reached my ear. “Besides, some of the militia’s personnel invited me here for a drink. They’ve left though.”

“Is that so?” Hmm, the conversation is going nowhere at the moment. Should I get straight to the point? No…Let’s wait for a bit. “So how is your body feeling? Does the medicine help?” Let’s start with that.

“Feeling pretty good, actually. And, yes, the medicine works wonder. I’ve never seen it before. And it tasted quite good, just as you said.”

“Good to hear, good to hear.” I nodded several times while hearing that. I don’t know whether he really drink that medicine or not. Especially since he still gave out that fatigue feeling. That made me doubts him more. I guess he was just trying to be polite. “It will not be good for a knight such as yourself to not be in their best condition. Ah, I have also heard that you have been having practice fight with many member of the militia. Is that true?”

“Indeed I have.” A quiet sigh came from his mouth. And once again he emitted the same disappointed that I noticed when he was finished fighting his match. He probably remembered the match and then felt the same disappointment again.

“And you have been winning every single match.” I let out a laugh. “Is that true, Ingolf?”

“…It is.”

“So the story is indeed true. Then you really are the rumored private knight of the royal family.” I sipped my drink again while assessing his reaction. Hmm…no significance change from his heartbeats or from the aura he emitted. I guess he expected me to know that from the moment I mention about his fight. “Fighting in consecutive match over and over again. Winning every match effortlessly. And yet…you didn’t give out the feel of a victorious champion.” Ah, there it is. The change I was waiting for. Although his heartbeats did not show a significance change, but the overall feel has already changed. For a second, he let out an aura of being on guard, but then it dissipated and turned into a slightly more relaxed one. Quite a strange character this knight is. Then suddenly a laugh came from him. “What is it?”

“It is very amusing that the fact that the first one to notice that is not the soldier who fought me or my colleague who has been with me for so long, but a man I’ve just met not long ago.” Another laugh came from him again. “And he is blind to add for that matter. What an interesting fellow you are.” He then kept laughing again and again. I just smiled at him since his laugh was a genuine laugh that seemingly came from the bottom of his heart. It also seemed that the feel he gave out changed yet again. “Please forgive me for that, Nerva. Please believe me that I did not mean to offend you with that.”

“Don’t mind it, Ingolf. I am actually honored to be the one that can see that for the first time. And since I don’t have any eyes that makes it an achievement, don’t you really think so, Ingolf?” I let out an amused smile.

“You got that right, Nerva.” And then another laugh came from him. “Then a toast for that achievement of yours, shall we? Lift your mug, Nerva.” I could feel the aura of him getting better. Might as well ride the flow for the moment. If I could get to befriend him, I might get more information than I expected. I then lifted my mug and then I felt him hitting it with his own mug. “Cheers!”

“Cheers!” I then joined him in emptying our own mug. The usual burning sensation went down my throat and I felt my body heated up slightly. It felt good to have this kind of drink in this cold night. And then at the same time, the sound of our mug hitting the table resounded.

“Care to have another, Nerva? My treat.”

“Very well. I’ll take that offer of yours.” I nodded.

“Good! Waiter! Two mug for me and my friend here!” He shouted to the direction of the bar. “I guess…I’ll try asking him…about the prophecy.” Hmm? What’s that? I could hear him muttering slightly under his breath. Prophecy? The sound of him taking a breath reached my ear. An aura of seriousness mixed with the relaxed aura from before. “Nerva, you said that I was not happy even after winning all of those fights, right?” I nodded right away. “Well, you are right there, my friend. I felt quite disappointed, actually.”

“Disappointed?” I tapped my chin as he said that. “May I know the reason? Maybe I can be of some help.”

“For you to understand the reason, I will have to start from the start. This might take some time.”

“I don’t mind.” I leaned forward. “Actually, after you’ve treated me with some drink, this is the least I can do.” Another chuckle came out of my mouth.

“Thanks a lot there, Nerva.” He let out a chuckle. “Okay, so let me start with my history first.” Wow, that back? This indeed might take some time. “As you might know, I am not of noble birth. I am just a simple peasant living out the easy life in one of the village near the capital back then. My usual job there was to hunt for game and also to collect wood.”

“Oh, a woodsmen. Go on.”

“It was peaceful for quite some time. But then the civil war started, everything changed.” His tone got dark and gloomy. “Bandit started to appear here and there. My village is also affected.”

“Your village got attacked, am I right?”

“Correct.” He let out a sigh. “Thankfully, the damage is not that severe. But we felt that it might be bad if we let them do anything they want for long. And since they controlled the road that lead to the capital, our trade will be affected sooner or later. Before they are able to control the whole road, we have to take some action.”

“Oh, so your village attacked the bandit?”

“Yes, we did.” I see. No wonder his achievement is always related to something like bandit subjugation or thief raid. He started from that even from before being a knight. “We contacted the neighboring villages and then gather a good number of people willing to help us.”

“Impressive.” Indeed impressive. This man really has the guts to do it. Usually people will just stay in their own village and tried their best to defend what they could. But by gathering the neighboring village, he could organize a better way of protecting themselves. It has a greater risk, true. But it has a bigger chance of getting the threat of bandit away from them. Risky, but it is better than to just lie down and submit to heir threat.

“It’s not an easy task, but it works. We armed ourselves with anything we can get, trained ourselves for a bit, and then made some patrol group to make the area around us safe. After a while, we heard that the royal family is trying to eradicate the bandit. We then decided that it might be the chance to get rid of the bandit once and for all.” His tone contained a hint of pride in it.

“And then you attack them?”

“Uhm…not exactly.” And awkward laugh escaped his mouth. “We know that we will not be able to do it by ourselves. We contacted the royal family’s army when they are near and then offer them our assistance. Since we know the terrain like the back of our hand, it helped them tremendously. We also offer them to stay in our village and use it as their base.” Oh, not just brave, but he is also a man that knows his limit. His strategy is good too. If they risked everything in their attempt to attack the bandit and lost the battle, then they put the fate of their village into the hand of the bandits, sealing their death. I am beginning to realize why The Count has taken a liking to him and decided to take him to be a knight. “With their assistance…err, no. I mean, as we become their guide and assisted, they managed to exterminate the bandit thoroughly. We did lose a few of our comrade there.” That sentence was delivered with a rather saddened tone. “But it is a price we pay for the safety of our family and the whole community. May their soul rest in peace knowing that their sacrifice is not in vain.”

“My condolence.”

“Thank you. Ah, here’s the drink.” Just as he said that, I could noticed a person came near us bringing our drink. It was not Mena, so I didn’t call out to her. Ingolf sipped his drink immediately and then put down the mug with a slight thump. “Ah, that’s good! Where was I?”

“After the last battle.” I reminded him after I took a sip of mine.

“Oh, yes, yes. After that, it seemed that one of the general that command the force noticed me and taken a liking to me. Well, since I was one of the leaders of our group, we often speak with one another. He then offered me to be a soldier of his troop after seeing me fight the bandit.”

“Was that The Count?”

“No, it was one of his subordinates.” Ah, yes. The Count was probably fighting together with the current king against the other noble’s army. “Long story short, I was drafted into his army. Raised a few ranks after participating in the civil war and finally managed to get a noble right. Heh, even after all that year, I am still unable to believe that.”

“Believe that. You deserve that after surviving the horrible war.”

“I guess you’re right. Well, not long ago, I was still a knight but then suddenly The Count offered me to be their private knight. Unbelievable!” He then let out a small chuckle. “I was unable to believe my ear when I heard that. Of course I was happy to be able to become a private knight.”

“But then something happened, right?” The moment I said that, he became silent. But then a soft laugh came.

“You really are a sharp one, eh?” Then a sound of him drinking could be heard. “Well, you’re right. But before I continued, do you believe in prophecy, Nerva?”

“Prophecy?” I would be lying if I said no since we, The Watcher, move quite often due to prophecy and such. And most of the time, the prophecy is right on target. Especially if the prophecy came from The Twin. “Depends, I guess. I will not believe all of them. But I will believe some of them.”

“Ho, what made you believe then?”

“Instinct, I guess.” I shrugged my shoulder as I said that. “I don’t have any other explanation.”

“Well…then you might be the correct one to hear this.” He then let out a sigh before continuing. “You see, right before I depart with the royal family’s convoy here, I met a fortune teller.”

“Okay, a fortune teller, is it?”

“Yes. And she told me that I will have a dangerous encounter in my next journey.” Once again his tone turned dark. “At first, I shrugged that off as a useless story. But then…I have a dream.”

“A dream?” This is getting more and more interesting.

“Yes. It is a dream where I am facing a dangerous and mighty beast. Strangely, the beast in my dream is just a big smoke. I…always dies in the end of my dream. But…that is not the worst part.” He then took a sip. It seemed that the memory is quite hard for him since he took a bit more sip than usual. “I…saw my teammates, my comrades, and the whole royal family…decimated. They are not eaten….but just…killed.”

“…I see…”

“You know, I kept seeing that dream over and over again. And the dream kept becoming more and more vivid each time. Even after arriving here, I kept seeing it. I….don’t know. But…my instinct screamed that this might not just be an ordinary dream.”

“And connecting that with the previous fortune teller’s story, you think that it might be a prophecy or some sort?”

“….I know that this might sound crazy…but, yes.” He then let out a very heavy sigh together with the sound of him ruffling his own hair in frustration. “I shared this with my comrade and friends…but they just shrugged it off as just me being worried about the trip. After a few tries, I stopped. I was at lost. But then one of my comrades said something to me.”

“What is that?”

“If you are that worried about it, then why don’t you try to get stronger? If you are strong, then whatever may come, you can just slash it away with your sword.” He paused for a while. And then continued with a tired tone. “I guess he was right. It might mean that I am just not strong enough. And then I decided to train myself. But…”

“You never feel the training you’ve done is enough. And then you tried to find a strong opponent in the militia but found no one. The time goes on and you still felt weak.”

“…Heh, you are one sharp man, Nerva.” A mocking laugh came from his mouth. “That’s right. I worried that when time comes, I will not be strong enough.”

After that, a short silence came over us. His story was more than I expected. I know when regular people heard his story they will probably dismissed it as just a man’s excessive worries. But for me that have a prophecy being told to me, I couldn’t just shrugged it away. His story is just too much of a coincidence. I felt that the story he told me might connect more with the demise of the marked soul more than I expected. The more I heard his story, the more convince I am that this man in front of me is someone that will lead us to our target. I really have to get him onto my side, one way or another.

“…Tell me, Ingolf. Do you really want to get stronger?”

“I do.” An immediate answer. “I want to protect my teammate, my comrades. I also want to protect the royal family who I am indebted so much. They are my benefactor and they have taken care of me so much in the past.” I tried to digest his statement. I tried to find any hint of lies in it. I couldn’t find one. I guess there is only one way. Let’s get to it before the day is over.

“I will tell you this. You will not find anyone strong if you try to fight the militia soldier. But, I can introduce you to a strong opponent.” A sense of excitement leaked from his figure the moment I said those. “Are you willing to meet that person?”

“Of course I will!” His voice was calm, but he couldn’t hide the excitement that his heart told me. “I will do anything for that!”

“Well.” I chugged my drink and emptied the mug in one completely. “Meet me in the training field. I will introduce you to that person.”

“I will.”

“Good. Bring your sword.” I then left my seat and then exited the tavern.

“Nerva!” A shout came from the direction of the entrance of the training field. Since no one is here at this time of the night, his voice resounded very clearly. I kept sitting on the bench at the edge of the field, waving toward his direction.

“You’re fast.”

“Of course! I don’t want to make the person wait for me.” The sound of him walking near me is accompanied by the clinking sound of his sword that was hanging from his waist. “By the way, who is this person you’re talking about?”

“Patience. It will not be long. Just wait for–“ Then a sudden sound entered my ear. Ah, good. The actors are all here. “Well, you’re lucky. The guest arrived.”

“Really?” His voice became as excited as a kid. I guess he really wish to become strong with all of his might. “Where?...Oh!”

“Ah, Nerva, there you are.” A very familiar voice greeted me. I then stood up and moved toward the newly arrived person. “This better be an important match.”

“It is, Eryell. Don’t worry about it.” I grinned at her.

“Oh, Ms. Eryell Reystone!” A rather loud voice came from behind me. I then picked up the sound of him walking toward her.

“Hmm? Sir Lange?”

“Yes, I am Ingolf Lange.” I could ‘see’ him bowed to her slightly. “I have heard of your accomplishment.”

“Accomplishment?”

“Being able to lead a hunt so skillfully. Taking down a mighty beast with your spear. Marvelous spearmanship and dangerous huntress, the one known as ‘Silent Spear’.” I could sense Eryell became a bit embarrassed hearing those praises. Well, i guess that is understandable. I heard similar remarks all the time from the soldiers. In fact, her nickname ‘Silent Spear’ is only the better one. There are such as ‘Mad Huntress’, ‘Death Whirlwind’, and also ‘Mad Tigress’. I, of course, never discussed that nickname with her. It might not be the best conversation topic with her.

“R-Really? I’m flattered.” She said that with a very mixed feeling, eh?

“I am very sorry for taking you out of your busy schedule, Ms. Reystone.”

“It’s fine. I was just finishing my patrol. So are you the one that will be in the match, Sir Lange?”

“Indeed I am. I know that I am not strong enough, and that’s why I am trying to get better while I can. As you know, my job requirement for strength is very high.”

“I understand. Although you are strong enough to hold a battle against many of our soldiers quite effortlessly, you still think yourself not strong enough?”

“Sadly, it is the truth, Ms. Reystone.” I could hear him clenching the hilt of his sword. “I need to get stronger. Or I will not be qualified to protect the royal family.”

“Hmm…I guess I can understand that. That is some dedication, Sir Lange.” Eryell then let out a soft sigh. “Very well, to honor that dedication, I will allow this match. Usually we don’t allow the use of this field without supervision. Well, even with supervision, almost no one will use it at this late of night.”

“Thank you very much! I don’t know how to thank you for that, Ms. Reystone. I am very grateful for your understanding.”

“Don’t mind it. It is a service to the kingdom too. Okay, so who’s your opponent, Sir Lange?”

“…Huh?”

“…Huh?” Ah, I’ve been waiting for this. I’ve just been standing in silence waiting for them to realize it. “What do you mean by that, Sir Lange?”

“F-Forgive me, Ms. Reystone. But…aren’t you the one that will fight me?”

“Me? I never heard anything about that.” Yup, no one said anything about that. “The only thing that I was informed of is that I will be the referee of a practice match. Nerva called me here for that.”

“What?” I then could feel both of them shifted their attention toward me. I couldn’t only chuckle slightly. “Nerva, what’s the meaning of this?” I could hear Ingolf’s tone started to contain anger. I guess he will get angry.

“Now, now, Ingolf. Calm down.” I then walked toward Eryell. “Eryell, may I borrow your sword?”

“Huh?” I then put forward my hand toward her. “I…suppose.” Then the sound of her pulling out the sword from the scabbard entered my ear. “Here.” She gave me the sword and then I gripped the hilt.

As I swing it around, I felt the quality of the sword. It is made quite wonderfully. The hilt is strong and the blade is stable. As expected of a sword given to one of the militia’s leader.

“Nerva!” Ingolf shouted at me again. “What’s the meaning of this!?”

“I said calm down.” I ignored him and then gave my cane to Eryell. She took it and then I pointed the sword onto the ground. “Eryell, this will be one of the times that I will reveal my real self to you.”

“Huh? Nerva, what are you talking about?”

“I will say this first. The strength you see when I fight with your grandfather is far from my real strength. But now…” I then faced toward Ingolf. Once again, the feel of someone getting angry came out of him. He didn’t even try to hide his anger against me. Good. That might make him stronger. “I will show a bit more than before.” I then walked toward Ingolf. “Ingolf Lange. You are trying to become stronger. You will never be able to do that by fighting the normal soldier. But I will show you someone who can. And you will fight that someone this night.”

“What are you talking about!?” Hearing his shout full of anger, I couldn’t help but let out a loud laugh. This might become more interesting than I thought. Let’s see the strength of the one that has received a prophecy.

“I am talking about myself. This night, your opponent is none other than the man stood in front of you. The blind man, Nerva.” I then pointed my sword at him. “Let’s see how strong you really are, Ingolf Lange.”