Chapter 034: Calamity
The elevation of one’s realm and the advancement of swordsmanship—when do they occur?
I believed the greatest catalyst came from a life-or-death duel with a worthy rival.
In that sense, I recalled my past life.
Well, tiresome as it was, there was no helping it.
The countless knights of the Kingdom I faced—nine out of ten boasted the rank of Sword
Expert, yet not a single one inspired me in the slightest.
That was solely in terms of ‘swordsmanship.’ So, I excluded the Old Knight Jayden from this.
Anyway.
‘The swordsmanship of the Empire….’
It wasn’t that I was awestruck by some fledgling Kingdom knight, barely at the mid-to-low tier of Sword Expert, who by chance unleashed a miraculous feat and revealed their talent.
Throb.
My Ghost Eye burned.
Something intense, beyond the grasp of reason, churned within me.
It was as if the Ghost Eye was forcibly cramming the principles of swordsmanship into my mind.
Will.
The realm of intuition.
‘…I think I understand.’
The torrent of electrifying realization that had scorched my mind subsided.
It was different from the Snowflower Sword. A sublime foresight, almost divine, glimmered faintly.
It was an epiphany about the similarities between Imperial and Kingdom swordsmanship—more than that, the realization that both systems stemmed from a single root.
‘With the swordsmanship I newly acquired and honed in the Kingdom, I can aim for a connection with Imperial swordsmanship.’
Thud.
The sound of Bruce’s heavy pauldron colliding with the ground snapped me out of my reverie.
As Joel staggered, Janson and Adeline dismounted simultaneously.
“Joel!”
“Haha… Lady, I did it.”
“Well done, Joel. I’ll make sure to tell Eugene about your duel just now. In great detail.”
While Adeline comforted Joel, Janson couldn’t even approach.
He alternated between looking at Joel and the fallen Bruce, his bewildered gaze reflecting his complex emotions.
“H-How…!”
My eyes turned to the squire, who collapsed as if his legs had given out.
He crawled toward Bruce, his trembling hands unable to do anything.
I whistled to catch the squire’s attention.
I meant to avoid startling him, but he looked at me as if he’d seen a ghost and flinched.
“You said earlier—that guy and a Ludglen knight were sworn brothers.”
“Y-Yes, yes… That’s right.”
“Then you must know a lot about Ludglen.”
“Well, s-since I live there…”
“Good timing, then. I won’t harm you, so answer my questions sincerely.”
His eyes, partially hidden by shaggy hair, gleamed visibly.
The boy hurriedly straightened his posture and bowed deeply toward me.
“A-Anything, just say it, sir…!”
“I heard there are Imperial refugees in Ludglen. I’d like to meet them. Can you guide me?”
He lifted his forehead from the back of his hand and glanced up at me.
Before our eyes could meet, he buried his head again.
“O-Of course…! My father is the village chief of the Imperial Firefield Village!”
* * *
The world is full of strange connections, but a case as peculiar as this must be rare.
Loui Munter.
That was the name of the kid who, until moments ago, had been slaving away as a squire for a Kingdom knight.
There was a reason we hadn’t immediately recognized each other as Imperials.
“My memories of the Empire… I barely have any. They say I was three when I came here.”
He added that he was now eight years old.
I didn’t bother responding and silently followed him.
“Th-The path is a bit rough. You have to keep up.”
I had parted ways with Adeline, Joel, and Janson at the village entrance.
Loui and I were crossing a forested hill near the village.
He said this was the only way Imperials could enter Ludglen.
“…Why go through all this trouble?”
I wasn’t just asking why we had to take a mountain path instead of a perfectly good road.
Thorny bushes grew thickly between unlogged trees.
Tall grass occasionally sliced at my skin as we passed.
With every step, my feet sank into piles of fallen leaves, and he warned that straying even slightly could lead to stepping on a trap.
‘This isn’t a path meant for people.’
Loui glanced back and tilted his head, as if asking what I meant by that.
How long did we walk?
Firefield Village.
As the name suggested, it was a settlement carved into the mountainside.
I surveyed the area and couldn’t help but let out a low groan.
Even calling it a remote mountain hamlet felt generous.
It was as if all traces of life had withered away.
An old man with bony arms swung a hoe, women crouched here and there weaving straw, and a snot-nosed kid, tugging at my clothes and staring up at me, met my gaze.
“I’m Mateo Munter, the village chief of Firefield.”
Like the others, his face was caked with grime.
As he spoke, he shooed away a mosquito tangled in his scruffy beard, a pitiful sight.
“…Bihen Benkou. The eldest son of the Benkou family.”
“Ah, yes. I heard from this one. You’re from the Empire…”
Loui peeked out from behind his father, having hidden there moments before.
The boy and his father…
There wasn’t the slightest hint of joy at meeting a compatriot in a far-off land.
Instead, they radiated wariness and not just them—everyone hiding and watching from the shadows was the same.
Caught off guard by the unexpected situation, I was at a loss for words.
Mateo spoke cautiously.
“A noble… I didn’t realize.”
He tried to bow as if in reverence, but I quickly stopped him.
I forced a smile.
“I’d like to hear about your situation.”
It seemed this would be a long story.
* * *
Around the time Bihen arrived at Firefield Village…
Adeline’s party, under disguised identities, entered Ludglen.
Their first stop was none other than the stables.
“The… Gremio Trading Company!?”
The stable master’s eyes nearly popped out.
Joel quickly shut the man’s gaping mouth.
“Now, now, keep it quiet. There are many eyes watching, so we’re being cautious.”
The Gremio Trading Company was, simply put, a phantom company.
The reason this nonexistent entity gained fame among Conwell’s seasoned merchants was a tale in itself.
It was because of the staggering amount of intelligence Adeline had spread while traveling across Conwell.
Here, intelligence meant the payment Adeline made—under the guise of Gremio’s transactions—for rumors, local gossip, and verified information from merchants.
For small-scale merchants, the lucrative deals offered by Gremio were too tempting to resist, or they spilled everything just to curry favor.
Gulp.
The stable master pressed his lips shut, afraid even the sound of swallowing might escape.
The legendary Gremio Trading Company, rumored to be the ultimate mark, the king of suckers, had come to him of their own accord.
No wonder his dreams last night had been so vivid!
“Haha… What brings the esteemed Gremio Trading Company to such a humble place…? Oh, my manners! Let me fetch some drinks—”
“Being a border region, you must see a lot of travelers and horses passing through?”
Joel cut the master off, casually surveying the interior.
“Oh, yes…! Naturally. How should I put it? A sense of grave responsibility, guarding the borders of Conwell? Yes, I carry that weight myself. Haha…!”
“Ho, I see. The master seems to have quite the attachment to Ludglen.”
The master’s eyes suddenly widened, as if his pride had been pricked.
“This stable, mind you, has been run by my family for three generations—three! I’d wager no one knows the ins and outs of Ludglen better than me. Yes, absolutely!”
He knew Gremio only dealt with local, established merchants, which fueled his passionate outburst.
At that moment, Joel nodded and stepped back, clearing the master’s line of sight.
As if uninterested, a woman stroking the manes of horses munching hay in the stalls came into view.
‘….’
The master tightened his lips.
A merchant’s instinct, perhaps.
He sensed this woman held the real purse strings.
Tension was inevitable.
“Janson.”
At Adeline’s call, Janson, waiting outside, brought in Rollsventley—Adeline’s prized horse.
The master’s eyes widened.
“L-Lipizzaner Urgini…!”
“A purebred. You’d know, as someone who handles horses.”
How could he not?
The master was so captivated by the horse’s elegance that he couldn’t even respond to Joel.
The deal momentarily faded from his mind.
Then Adeline stepped forward.
“We’ll have to put the deal on hold for now.”
The master’s head snapped around, confusion overwhelming him.
“I heard on the way here… rumors of a group of Imperials living here.”
Her voice, clear despite the veil covering her mouth, reached him distinctly.
The master’s mind raced.
He’d never heard Gremio shunned Imperials.
But a wealthy merchant would surely be sensitive to even the slightest impurity.
So, he decided to explain in detail.
“You mean the Firefield Village folks. Last spring, I believe… A group of Imperials migrated from the west. Everywhere they went, lords and knights chased them off, and they had no way to return to their homeland. Plus, the demonic beasts here are far fiercer than in their lands, making a nomadic life impossible.”
The master clicked his tongue before continuing.
“There were a lot of kids. That really tugged at my heart. Who hasn’t raised a child? How they ended up in such a state… Well, pity from someone like me doesn’t change their lot, but thankfully, Sir Fred took them in. As a knight of the Sharon Faction, he claimed it was out of compassion for the unfortunate…”
Suddenly, the master narrowed his eyes.
He rubbed his thumb and forefinger together, his demeanor shifting.
“In my view, Sir Fred’s a clever one. He saw a chance to rake in taxes. Look at Ludglen—flanked by hills inside and out. The inner hill, unlike the one bordering Theodore, is just the right size for reclamation. Plus, it’s a noble cause, so even if things go wrong, his honor won’t take much of a hit.”
“Go wrong, you say…?”
“You know how it is. Knights with tax rights always find ways to line their pockets. Sharon Faction, Langster Faction—it’s all the same.”
“….”
“They give them a place to settle, protect them from demonic beasts… In the end, the Firefield folks treat Sir Fred like a king.”
As Adeline and Joel exchanged glances, the master’s voice sank.
“That’s the root of the trouble… Or rather, it was inevitable. At first, they collected taxes lightly, as if to offset the labor of reclaiming the hill… But Sir Fred’s tyranny has grown worse by the day.”
To call a knight’s actions tyranny—Adeline instantly recognized it as his unfiltered truth.
“Daughters, sons… For them to have to sell their own children… How could anyone understand their anguish?”
His long sigh carried deep sorrow.
The words he left unsaid unintentionally created a heavy silence.
“….”
Traveling Conwell under the Gremio name had sharpened more than just Adeline’s eyes and ears.
By storing the joys and sorrows of serfs in her heart, the young lady of the ducal house had grown broader and stronger than anyone.
Adeline closed her eyes briefly, then opened them, sealing her resolve.
“The Imperials of Firefield Village… They had nowhere to turn with their grievances.”
“Exactly. And lately, there’s even talk that Sir Fred and his lot are involved in shady deals…”
“His lot?”
When Adeline questioned, the master glanced around nervously, as if afraid of being overheard in his own stable.
Lowering his voice to a whisper, he said:
“The transporters.”