Translator: Homia
If it was a wild animal on Earth, it would have been crushed by the attack of an animal much larger than itself, like a human on a lizard, but the beasts of this world were different.
Unless they are thoroughly educated and raised from a young age, the beasts will never stop hating humans.
With a growl, the bladed leopard rushed towards the squires.
“How dare you!”
Despite the momentum of the leap, the bladed leopard, who was lightly stabbed by the spear the squires had stretched out, hesitated and retreated.
At least, the bladed leopard’s skin didn’t seem hard enough to ignore the spear.
“I’ll block it in front!”
As soon as the younger of the two took a few steps forward, the bladed leopard swung his front paws like a punch.
The blade, which is about a meter in length attached to the front foot, was the biggest reason why it was called a “bladed leopard.”
Both spears caught in its bladed claws were cut off.
“Boras! The sword!”
As the young boy squire tried to back down in fright, the female squire who was standing next to him shouted with a sharp voice and drew her sword.
Hearing this, the boy hurriedly tried to draw his sword, but it was already too late.
The bladed leopard, grasping the weak enemy, leaped towards the boy.
The boy, who could not even pull out his weapon properly, was caught helplessly and fell off the lizard.
“Argh!”
“No!”
The woman, who quickly urged the lizard forward, used that speed to attack the bladed leopard’s head.
If she made a mistake, she could have attacked the boy beneath her easily, but whether by chance or skill, the attack succeeded in digging into the two eyes of the bladed leopard.
The bladed leopard, who was about to crush the boy, rolled around with a desperate scream.
“Ugh…”
“Die!”
Instead of supporting the boy who was lying on the floor, the female squire charged at the leopard with ferocity.
The process was also dangerous.
The bladed leopard swung its front paws, reacting sensitively to the attacks that stabbed it, even as it ran wild after losing its eyes.
If it accidentally cut her head or neck, she would die in one shot.
“Isn’t that dangerous?”
“It’s not dangerous.”
Arsene unknowingly asked a question out of concern, but Palato’s voice in response was extremely calm.
As if it was normal…
“Originally, squires feed on blood to grow stronger. Knights awaken in the midst of death.”
At Palato’s words, Arsene recalled his moment of awakening.
A cold well, a cold body, and the crisis of death were just right.
“Is that how the knights are originally awakened?”
“That’s right. It’s normal to train your body faithfully to gather mana and to awaken in an extreme battle. Well, there are very few people who awaken without training like you. When I was young, an old senior knight of the lord told me that.”
Only after hearing those words, Arsene was able to resolve one of the questions he had in his heart.
Considering the abilities of Sir Palato that Arsene had seen while fighting, it seemed strange that the knights and the squires accompanying them died so often.
No matter how strong the knights were, it was natural that there were a lot of casualties when they were forced to fight for their lives with death following their steps.
“It’s amazing that there are so many people trying to be squires.”
“Isn’t it natural? If you become a knight, you can get everything, even if you risk your life, it’s worth the challenge.”
After hearing Palato’s story, he was able to understand the psychology of the knights to some extent.
That is to say, they have the mindset of a character in a game with a high requirement for entry.
People who have gone through the same kind of hardship are friendly, but newbies who can’t get over the entry requirements and are more likely to fail are not treated like people.
Arsene was able to enter such a closed society easily because he was already confirmed to join the group beyond the requirements for entry.
It was then that a desperate scream was heard in front of them. It was not a human, but a beast’s.
He saw a bladed leopard lying on its back with a sword lodged in its chest.
The female squire was breathing heavily, sitting on the leopard’s body.
“Looks like it’s over, Sir Palato.”
“Let’s go.”
The three of them took their own mounts and rode to the scene where the fight was over.
It was quite a horrible sight.
The bladed leopard, which had been slashed with the knife, was almost in rags, and the female squire had also been injured all over the body, bleeding, her armor torn like a piece of paper.
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The boy who was attacked first was still lying on the floor, either unconscious or dead.
Palato asked, looking at the chief squire checking if the boy was alive.
“Is Boras alive?”
“Alive. Broken ribs and some head injuries, but nothing life-threatening.”
“He’s an inexperienced guy. For the time being, let’s turn him to the patrol inside the territory.”
“Alright.”
It wasn’t a minor injury at all, but there was no sign of seriousness in the question or answer.
As if it’s always happened.
The female squire, who had been given first aid with medicine and bandages, staggered and walked towards Palato.
“Olga.”
“The hunt… is over. Sir Palato.”
“Did you feel it?”
“I don’t think so.”
“I’m sorry.”
Palato turned around, leaving a soulless and indifferent answer.
Behind him, the female squire was biting her lips as if she was angry.
At that moment, a roar was heard from far away.
Roaaarrr-!
“This sound…”
“It’s a fire monkey, Sir Palato!”
“Stand behind me.”
A few seconds after hearing the sound of trees collapsing with a terrifying force, a gigantic beast over 3m tall appeared out of the forest loudly.
As the name suggests, its eyes were shining as if on fire, and its body muscles were closer to those of a gorilla, not a monkey.
The skin was hairy and didn’t look like it would be easily penetrated.
Against such an opponent, Palato leaned back with a spear in one hand.
At the same time, the jin, on which Palato was riding, also bent his leg accordingly.
“Eat…”
After that, Palato’s jin jumped forward, stretching his hind legs as if bouncing.
Palato also threw his spear with all his might, straightening his body.
“This!”
From jin’s leg to Palato’s fingertips, a bullet-like spear was launched with great virtuosity.
The spear slid smoothly into the fire monkey’s chest without the slightest resistance.
Thick fur and chest muscles could not block the spear with strong power and mana.
Puke!
The fire monkey vomited blood because of the spear, which was stuck exactly in its lungs, and then opened its mouth wide to shoot out fire.
For an average person, the moment he took it on, the heat would be enough to make his lungs ripen.
However, Palato naturally pulled out his shield to block the fire and stepped back.
Surprisingly, the shield was only slightly burnt, and the fire attack had no effect on Palato or the Jin he was riding on.
“Stand back! The spear is stuck in his lungs, so you don’t have to be impatient!”
The fire monkey showed a brilliant fighting spirit despite the blood-filled lungs and inability to breathe.
Using its limbs like a gorilla, it rushed forward as if trying to drag Palato, who somehow managed to injure him, to hell together.
But compared to Palato, who was riding a jin, it was nothing short of a sloth’s struggle to catch a cat.
While avoiding the fire monkey’s charge, he inserted a spear into its lungs from the opposite side. The fire monkey struggled desperately and collapsed as if his life had run out.
Arsene approached Palato, who was catching his breath, and expressed pure admiration.
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“You’re amazing.”
“This is nothing. It’s hard for the squires, but a fire monkey isn’t difficult for a knight. If I could teach you one more thing…”
As Palato turned his head toward Arsene and spoke, the fire monkey, that was lying behind, stood up using its hands.
It looked at Palato’s back, its eyes brimming with hatred.
“Sir Palato!”
As if answering Arsene’s startled cry, Palato drew a sword from his waist and turned around, swinging his sword.
The fire monkey, reaching out its hand towards Palato, fell to the ground with its head flying in the air.
“Most of the beasts have strong vitality. Never let your guard down until you cut their head.”
“…okay.”
Only then did Palato smile, taking off his helmet and combing his sweaty hair.
“Wasn’t that a pretty good lesson just now?”
“Did you do it on purpose knowing it was alive?”
“I’ve been paying attention. In fact, the right way is to shoot a fallen opponent from a distance with a spear or something.”
Palato said so and tapped the spear on the saddle.
It’s a bit daunting that the great scene just before was deliberately staged to teach a lesson, but Palato’s brute force left a deep impression.
Palato’s ability to fight against Arsene, other squires, or knights on the training field was less than half of his actual level.
The battle he just showed was like a textbook of how a knight who handled a jin skillfully could gain the upper hand in the fight against monsters.
“Seeing Sir Palato makes me want to have a jin.”
“Cheer up. Won’t it happen when you have enough skills as a knight? Of course, you’ll have to ask Sir Luden.”
Later, under Palato’s instructions, the chief squire split the belly of the fire monkey and took out a round bead.
According to Palato, the bead contains strong heat.
“It’s also something that will take care of the winter in our land. If you use a stove with this marble in the winter, it gets hot. One grain can heat a large building all winter.”
“Is that also made by Sir Luden?”
“Of course. If not a wizard, who would make such a thing?”
So afraid and reluctant of the wizards, but you maintain a civilization that relies on them.
Arsene found this reality very ironic.
However, it was the social structure of this world that both wizards and knights had no choice but to depend on each other to some extent.
A wizard has no ability to fight against strong monsters or other knights, and a knight has no ability to create tools to assist in battle and everyday life.
Arsene, who thought so, suddenly became curious.
Does Luden have any complaints about this situation? In a situation where they are almost isolated in the tower in the corner of the territory, he is constantly required to create only the magic equipment needed for the land.
‘I’ll have to ask him when I get back.’
“Are you stupid? Few places treat a wizard as well as this one.”
The next day after returning from outside patrol, that was the answer he heard as soon as he asked Luden.
Luden, who was frowning with one eye as if looking at all sorts of stupid people, continued.
“As I said before, I learned magic when I was young, and saw it while traveling around, but most of the lords are bastards. It is not unusual to lock a wizard in a tower, and it is common to cut off his ankle or pull out his eyes to prevent him from running away. Some people think that the wizards are evil, so they should be hunted and killed.”
Then, growling quietly, he added.
“My teacher had one of his ankles cut off too, because of the lord who wanted to keep the wizard from escaping.”
Arsene nodded silently at Luden’s cruel words.
“It’s not that I can’t get out of the tower, it’s that I don’t want to. My lord never stopped me from walking around. There’s nothing good about going out and seeing people, so why would I go out?”
Luden, who bowed his head with a slightly apologetic look, swung the hammer.
The sword, which had been completely crooked, began to unfold little by little as it heated with magical powers.
“Anyway! Weeble’s! Sword! And! Armour! Are! As! Dirty! As! Him!”
It was Luden who cursed the owner of the sword every time he swung the hammer.
When he first met Luden, Arsene’s question of why the wizard was so muscular was quickly resolved after a few more meetings with Luden.
As he said when he first met Arsene, Luden was not only a wizard who created Jins but also a blacksmith who made the weapons of the knights.
He is said to be the best blacksmith in the realm because he can use magic power for crafting and repair, and at the same time, he can enchant weapons and armor.
“Can’t hammering or repairing be done by magic?”
“If you know such magic, please let me know. I’m actually trying to teach Elise how to hammer, and it’s hard for me. This girl should be learning to fix things. Where’d she run away to?”
Luden, who was complaining, waved his hand at Arsene.
“Go find Elise. I might be mistaken, but I think she’s running away only when you come. If you had a love fight, let it go.”
“I’ve never properly talked to her before, what kind of love fight is it? She’s also just a child.”
“You sound like you’re not a child. You’re the same height and the same age.”
Arsene kept his mouth shut because it was true.
Since he came to the estate, he was often treated like a knight, so he sometimes forgot his physical age.
Although he has been eating a lot and growing taller recently, he was still ten years old.
“Come on, go and find her. If I can’t hold a hammer when I’m old, who will make your jin?”