LIGHTNOVELSTORY EP.3
Maria Hofburg.
There were many titles that described her: the second princess of the Empire, daughter of the former Empress, Iron-Blooded, genius sorceress; but the reason I first struck a deal with her was quite different.
She was the member of the imperial family with the most strained relations with the current Empress.
That was my first encounter with her.
“Why did you run away?”
“Uh, um…”
But the reason she was pursuing me now had little to do with that. Given how the Knights Order I had introduced to her were giving me thumbs up from between the curtains, it was clear.
She was the type to quickly dispose of anything or anyone that did not meet her standards. The fact that she had maintained this contract for over two years meant that she was somewhat satisfied with their capabilities.
And the fact that they fulfilled her standards meant they provided sufficient protection from direct threats.
“Didn’t you say you needed money badly, which is why I offered to increase your contract fee by tenfold? So why did you just leave a note and run away?”
“Well, at the time I really needed some quick cash, so I took an advance, and for that, I briefly took up escort duties. By the time the contract ended, I didn’t need the money anymore.”
Just as I suspected.
She had come to press me about that time. Two years ago, when I had been escorting Maria, who was staying a bit outside the capital for some reason.
“And as I’ve always told you, money isn’t that important to me. I’m not in a situation where I need to scrape by on every penny. I can just find the money I need when necessary.”
Roaming around without a care for money had its own charm. Well, calling that an adventure might only apply to scholars or nobles living in abundant comfort, but I didn’t mind.
So what if I was a noble?
While I was chuckling to myself, I suddenly felt a chill beside me. I straightened my back and composed myself.
Maria was staring at me with a sinister expression. The shadows fell perfectly over her eyes, making even someone like me, who prided myself on weathering many storms, feel a shiver run down my spine.
“How can someone who says that accept the escort mission for another noble lady less than a month after leaving my household?”
“What?”
Had that really happened…?
Thinking back, it seemed like it might have. Since I meandered endlessly without paying attention to time, unless I had a contract to settle down, I didn’t really keep track of the sequence of events.
“Are you pretending not to know? I clearly remember you took on the escort job for the daughter of Count Valdeck right after returning from the Great Forest in the west. Where do you think you can hide now?”
“Ah, that time…”
I had remembered after she mentioned it.
I had heard tales of the World Tree and managed to get invited to the Great Forest, a place I’d wanted to visit at least once. At that time, I had run out of funds and had taken on a job.
“I ran out of money, so there wasn’t much I could do. I couldn’t just wander back empty-handed.”
As I answered her, a question suddenly crossed my mind.
“But how does Maria know where I’ve been and what I’ve done? I don’t remember having a specific destination in mind.”
“Ahem.”
In that instant, she rolled her eyes, avoiding my gaze.
“Your story is quite famous in society. If you try to keep up with the trends, you can’t help but hear about it.”
“Hmm, really?”
I knew that it was rare for a young noble to wander like a Don Quixote, and that was how rumors spread. It made it easier to find work, so I sometimes made it a point to roam near big cities.
But was it really spreading to the social circles that much? I had never participated in such events, so I wasn’t sure if that was true or not.
As my masterstroke faltered, Maria quickly retaliated.
“More importantly, how can you spend the sum I gave you in just a month! Make sense!”
“Eh…”
Now that I thought about it, she had given me quite a bit more than just the contract fee once she was satisfied with my services. The more she paid, the more I felt compelled to work hard, which in turn meant receiving even more.
As a member of the imperial family, the amount she gave was substantial enough that a single knight couldn’t possibly spend it all in a month.
And alas, I had spent it all in just a month.
“Strictly speaking, it was more like one day…”
I could never confess to Maria that I had lost all my money watching a gambler’s game among swindlers in a town near the Great Forest.
I considered myself somewhat of a knight and was confident in my ability to see through the schemes of gamblers. Yet, despite that, I still managed to lose all my money, completely unable to keep up with the swindler’s sleight of hand.
Well, I wasn’t particularly aggrieved. Who could possibly lose that much money in a single round? I wasn’t that foolish.
However, in my stubbornness to outsmart the gambler without any magical aid, I ended up escalating the game and lost everything. By the final round, the swindler was sweating profusely, obviously terrified.
Of course, I still kept in touch with him like a brother thereafter. I discovered he was conning tourists to gather funds for his sister’s medical bills. It was during my surveillance to get my money back that I found out. So, I just decided to help him out and told him to use the money for the treatment.
Yet, regardless of his circumstances, the fact remained that he had indeed swindled me out of all my money. It was also true that this led to me losing all the funds Maria had given me, hence why I was in a hurry to find a job.
“…Was there perhaps some ulterior motive at play?”
“Uh, um…”
I couldn’t respond. I might have been moved by his determination to save his sister even through gambling, but Maria certainly wouldn’t be. She earned her “Iron-Blooded” nickname for good reason. She valued laws and principles above all else.
I needed to come up with some sort of excuse. My brain was whirring away, but nothing I could think of seemed suitable to say.
That’s when it happened.
“Stop!”
Suddenly, a bunch of fools appeared, blocking the royal carriage, boldly displaying the royal seal.
They were bandits.
It was my first time seeing bandits looking like ropes sent from the heavens.
“I’ll just be a minute.”
“Wait. You have an escort, so just wait! No, wait, I said—!”
Clunk.
Before the command from the Princess could drop, I hurriedly jumped out of the carriage. Whatever happened next, my future self would figure out.
–
Though the sudden appearance of the bandits was unexpected, the princess’s escort didn’t flinch. It was curious how the bandits showed up right before they arrived, but the knights were certainly not weak enough to be caught off guard by mere bandits.
Thus, they swiftly unsheathed their weapons and surrounded the carriage. They could easily sweep the bandits aside if they wanted to, but for now, their priority was protecting the VIPs.
Clank.
However, upon seeing the person leaping down from the carriage, everyone relaxed their battle stances.
“How many are there?”
“About fifty, I’d say.”
“Fairly standard.”
Wilhelm stepped forward. Everyone there recognized his prowess.
Though he had lost his previous master for various reasons and had also been cut off from financial support, his pride and sheer tenacity had transformed a ragtag band of former knights into a real knights order.
“Good timing. I’d been itching to get out of the carriage for a while now.”
He drew his sword and stepped forward. Unlike the knights, he wore no steel armor or proper helm, yet nobody dared obstruct him.
Donning a cloth bearing his family’s crest and the insignia of the knights order, he addressed the bandits.
“First of all, do you even realize who you’re blocking?”
The bandits snickered at Wilhelm’s question.
“What does it matter? Do we need to know who we’re robbing and killing?”
“It does matter.”
Wilhelm lowered his body and gripped his sword tightly, angling the point toward the ground.
“If you knew the person inside is of the imperial family and still dared to block the way, then I can’t just let it slide, so I’ll at least spare your lives.”
“…What—”
Pwoosh.
Before the bandit could finish speaking, the sound of blood gushing forth erupted. The arm of the foremost bandit was cleanly severed from his shoulder.
“Guuaaah!”
With the fallen bandit’s scream echoing behind him, Wilhelm sheathed his sword clean of blood and resumed his stance.
“Next.”
Unfortunately, the man he had incapacitated hadn’t been the leader, as the remaining bandits drew their weapons and charged at him.
Wilhelm swung his sword imbued with magical energy, felling one foe after another. The bandits attempted to retaliate, but their swords didn’t stand a chance even to offer a decent struggle.
“Impressive, as expected.”
Jonas, the vice-leader of the Iron Cross escorting the Princess, murmured.
“It’s true that his talent is due to his lineage, but the position of vice-leader of the Count of Brandenburg’s knights order is far too significant to be merely a result of good blood.”
“Count of Brandenburg?!”
“I only found out after making a deal with the Prince.”
Zophie, the commander of the knights order, cast a side glance toward the carriage. The curtain of the carriage window, which had been firmly drawn shut while the Princess and Wilhelm were inside, was now pulled back.
The Princess was staring intently at Wilhelm through the window.
Seeing that made Zophie shake her head. Even now, thinking back, it had been quite horrific when Wilhelm had suddenly left without a word.
Who could have imagined that someone who seemed so cold and aloof would cause such a ruckus that he could shatter a vessel while yelling for someone to come to him?
Zophie, who only remembered Wilhelm as a carefree wanderer, and who had just recently been introduced to him through his own connections, couldn’t understand why the Princess was reacting so strongly.
So, she had asked the lady-in-waiting, only to learn that this carefree fellow was actually the son of the Count of Brandenburg. Additionally, he was the youngest individual ever to hold the position of vice-leader of that family’s knights order.
Of course, now she knew that wasn’t why the Princess was so fixated on him, but back then, with that kind of background, it made sense for the Princess to be so attached.
…In truth, the fact that she had buried her fear of her own lord deep inside her heart only added to that understanding.
At that moment, Wilhelm’s voice rang out.
“Zophie!”
“You called for me!”
“These ruffians are no ordinary bandits!”
At his shout, the Iron Cross knights’ gazes sharpened.
“Their weapons are far too extravagant! I’ve never seen bandits wielding steel swords and properly tanned leather armor!”
Everyone began to guess what that meant. This was part of an assassination attempt on the Princess, which often occurred. Realizing the situation, they all adjusted their stances accordingly.
“Leave ten men to guard the carriage and engage the rest in combat!”
“Yes, Commander!”
Upon Zophie’s command, the knights moved according to their roles.
If it were merely about killing the enemy, Wilhelm alone would suffice. But when it came to subduing those attempting an assassination without killing them, a larger force was necessary.
“Subduing them without killing” also included preventing suicides, and no matter how skilled a knight was, one could only work with two hands; they couldn’t possibly restrain that many adversaries at once.
“Waaaaah!”
“Crap, they’re escaping!”
With more than half of the bandits already dead or incapacitated by Wilhelm, the Iron Cross knights joining in meant the assailants, or rather, the assassins, had no chance of survival. The situation was resolved in an instant.
Once the ones who had either died, committed suicide, or fled were accounted for, nearly ten prisoners were secured.
Wilhelm shook off a few drops of blood before sheathing his sword.
Zophie, having witnessed that sight, hurried off after receiving a call from the Princess and made her way to the carriage. She then headed to Wilhelm to convey the order given to her by the Princess.
“It’s a message from Her Highness.”
“A thank you would be sufficient. This was a piece of cake—”
“Whether or not you’ve earned your keep, stop goofing around and return quickly.”
“What?”
Regrettably, this lifeline was not infallible. Wilhelm squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them before heading towards the carriage.
As the carriage door swung open, the Princess awaited him with a completely different, razor-sharp expression that was sufficient to intimidate anyone who met her gaze.
“…For now, I’ll let it slide. It doesn’t seem like the right time for this.”
He nodded at the Princess’s words.
Though there had been an assassination attempt, the atmosphere among the group wasn’t overly serious. After all, assassination attempts against the imperial family were as common as daily meals. Especially since the current Empress had ascended to her position.
Naturally, the prisoners didn’t possess any valuable information.
The carriage continued its journey toward the capital.
“…Is it still like this?”
At Wilhelm’s question, Maria nodded.
“It’s always been like this. At least since I met you, I no longer have to step in personally.”
At those words, Wilhelm recalled the image of the unstable girl he had first encountered.
Simultaneously, an uneasy feeling crept in, suggesting that they would face considerable hardships on this journey. Unfortunately, he had a knack for being right about his premonitions.