I Became a Dark Knight in the Game

56 – A Very Ordinary Journey (2)

Morina stroked the mark of the great warrior once, then turned around and stretched her arms.

As she started walking back towards the Gabi family’s mansion, she let out a short “Ah” and looked at Kriel.

A pouch, whose contents were unknown, was thrown from her bosom to Kriel. He caught the pouch flying at an unusual speed in mid-air.

A considerable weight and a rattling sound accompanied it.

“That’s the great warrior’s dignity maintenance fee. This─”

The second pouch was much lighter than the first. Inside were small pills packed tightly together.

“Emergency rations for marching. Eve Kaha’s combat rations. Even one pill is enough for ten days… well, that’s an exaggeration, but it’s enough for a day of marching.”

“Does your order make things like that?”

“How many people have died in wars because they couldn’t eat properly? If supplies go according to the operational plan in a war, that’s a miracle in itself.”

Kriel accepted the pouch and approached Morina.

“Is it okay to give a dignity maintenance fee to someone who only selectively uses the title of great warrior when needed?”

“Just take it.”

“If you’re okay with it…”

Kriel whispered as he got even closer to Morina.

“If you need my name as a great warrior for negotiations with the Gabi family, feel free to use it. But you should discuss it with Armed in advance.”

Morina, who had been tense as Kriel came close enough to see her reflection in his eyes, pouted her lips.

“Honor is a consumable. You should work hard to accumulate it and save it when you can. There are many ways for the order to exert influence without tarnishing your reputation. I’ll leave secular matters to the pink-haired lady.”

“Is that so.”

Kriel scratched his head and asked expressionlessly.

“How does the sacred food taste?”

“Even if it’s made with divine power, sacred food is still sacred food. If you want delicious sacred food, you should visit the goddess of abundance or something.”

Kriel, who had secretly expected the sacred food to taste good, silently put the pouch into his bosom.

Since becoming a dark knight, Kriel had a simple way to satiate his hunger. By killing other living beings and absorbing their vitality.

However, for Kriel’s plan to live with a sound body and mind, such methods were worse than useless. Such emergency rations were the more, the better.

“I’ll gratefully accept it. See you later.”

“Sure─.”

A soft sound, like a cat purring. Kriel left the back gate of the Gabi family without hesitation.

*

After walking along the path behind the mansion for a while, Orisin suddenly spoke.

[Hey.]

“Hmm?”

[Receiving a sword, armor, and even money, this is completely like a… pillar…]

Kriel laughed and opened the inside of his clothes with both hands. Inside, only the pouch of Eve Kaha’s herbal pills could be seen, and the heavy bundle of money for maintaining the dignity of a great warrior was nowhere to be found.

[What?!]

“Did you really think I took that money? Someone who selectively uses the title of a great warrior only when necessary shouldn’t accept such things.”

[Wait. Where did you put the money pouch?!]

“Do you think I approached Morgina for no reason? With appropriate sleight of hand and quick movements, I returned it to the original owner.”

[You knew pickpocketing skills too?]

[How dare you! My noble master would never engage in such nefarious activities!]

[Hey, pickpocketing is much more wholesome than becoming a demon king, you know?]

Kriel didn’t bother to answer and just chuckled. It was a small hobby he had originally learned on Earth to show others. Now, with his superhuman physical abilities, he used it to secretly return money to those who insisted on giving it to him.

“Morgina is quite stubborn too. Pretending to accept it and then running away seemed like the quickest solution.”

[Is it okay to lie even if it’s not against an abyssal opponent, Sir Knight?]

“Oh, my dear horse-head. I have never lied. I did say I would gratefully accept it, but I didn’t specify whether I was grateful for the money or the herbal pills, did I?”

Exchanging trivial jokes, Kriel quickened his pace. Morgina had things to do in the empire, so even if she noticed the whereabouts of the money pouch, she wouldn’t be able to chase after him, but just in case.

*

[Is this right?]

The horse-head ghost suddenly voiced its dissatisfaction. Tuon preached with dignity.

[A true knight never turns away from those in danger.]

[There are too many dangers!]

Orisin lamented the contents of this absurd journey. He agreed with the idea of consulting a spiritist after consulting a priest and a wizard.

But the problem was how to find one. Spiritists were an even rarer profession than wizards. They were not easy to find.

‘Wouldn’t it be better to go back to the Duchy of Argetlam and post a job advertisement at the mercenary guild or something?’ Orishin’s suggestion was dismissed.

It was because of Kriel’s experience. Not all those who claim to be mercenaries who handle spirits are frauds, but it is extremely rare to find an ‘intelligent’ spirit master who can academically analyze Orishin’s condition and find a way to break the curse.

“If it’s a high-ranking position in a place like the Ten Great Mercenary Corps, I don’t know. The Duchy of Argetlam has been a peaceful territory for the past few years. There is no reason for mercenary groups driven by conflict to come close.”

[Then where are we going?]

“There is a race that comes to mind when you think of spirit masters.”

[Elves? Would they welcome outsiders with their temperament? Even if we find them, they probably won’t let us in. The ones who lived with dwarves in the Great Mountains have long since lost their temper due to noise complaints. The ones who are religiously passionate about taking care of the World Tree have somewhat strange personalities…]

“Don’t worry. I have a plan.”

Kriel shook his head and said, reminding us of who we met in the gateway city.

[Lewein Lir. Are you talking about the advisor wizard of the gateway city? Indeed, he was a collateral descendant of an ancient fairy noble family.]

Rarely, Tuon spoke without any excuse related to chivalry. Kriel nodded.

“During the Abyss Prevention Society, we couldn’t properly use Lewein Lir’s letter of delegation. Although he is a collateral, he is still capable enough to hold the position of advisor wizard at the border. With a letter of delegation written by such a capable person, the main family is likely to listen to what kind of person we are.”

Showing the invitation to the Abyss Prevention Society and Lewein Lir’s letter of delegation, politely inquiring if they could introduce a spirit master who has ample time and knowledge to consult on the matter of abyss purification.

It was Kriel’s plan. A very convincing plan that made Orishin dance with joy even with just his head left.

[The Lir family’s place is quite remote, but it won’t take long. Considering your walking speed.]

“There’s no rush this time, so I plan to take it easy. We’ve been running around too much lately.”

After this conversation, Kriel moved at a really slow pace compared to the previous travel speed.

If you only looked at the speed, it seemed like he was leisurely enjoying the journey. But the content was different.

[How come every village we pass has troubles!]

As if cursed, every village Kriel stopped by to rest had its own set of problems.

It was sometimes a monster that appeared out of nowhere and killed livestock, a strange creature that stole shadows and ran away, or poison that spread in the water source of a mountain village.

Kriel answered calmly.

“That can happen.”

[What?!]

“The aftermath of the Demon King War probably hasn’t completely disappeared.”

Orishin closed his mouth. Kriel calmly recalled the past journey.

The monster was chopped up, and the strange creature playing with shadows was scolded by Orishin because it was a native spirit. It was a sight to see it run away with a disgusted expression, probably due to the generation gap. The item spewing poison in the contaminated water source was, of course, a cursed item touched by the abyss.

Sometimes he used his sword directly, or after using his sword, he called the lord or the lord’s deputy to ask for cleanup, heading towards the Lir family.

During the fortnight journey, Kriel was able to obtain four copper coins and two silver coins.

[You vulgar curved sword. Are you dissatisfied with your master performing chivalry? How can that be? Is your honor curved because you are curved?]

[No, that’s not it. What I’m saying is that accidents happen everywhere we go, so I wish it would be quiet for a while…]

During the night, while Kriel went to find the source of the poison, Orisin, using his purification abilities as a unicorn, treated the villagers’ poisoning and purified the drinking water.

“Don’t worry. There won’t be any trouble for a while.”

Kriel pointed with his finger to the other side. Although obscured by the forest below the ridge, faintly unique buildings could be seen.

Houses built inside giant trees. It was the unique architectural style of the ancient fairies, seen in the territories of families descended from the bloodline of ancient fairies.

‘I’ll just get the spirit master’s opinion and then rest a bit before heading to the Armedne festival.’

Dreaming of a retreat in a place with good mountains and water, Kriel descended the ridge as if flying.