Chapter 133
Knights, brimming with lofty dreams, descended upon the village only to find their expectations shattered, leaving them with vacant stares.
“…Excuse me? Could you repeat that?”
“There’s no need for all of you to stay. Others are on their way.”
Yan dismissed the throng of knights with a flick of his hand, as if shooing away flies.
Set chuckled at Yan’s gesture, “Do you, in your youthful naivety, believe you can protect this village alone?”
“Huh?”
As Yan cocked his head, Set let out a sardonic laugh.
“In this village lurks a man named Jackson, a notorious criminal. I’m slightly concerned he might harm you, my lord.”
“Pfft!”
Laughter echoed from behind.
Set turned sharply, his eyes cold. There stood Valdes, hand over mouth, trying to stifle his mirth.
“Why do you laugh? Do you think we can’t handle one scoundrel?”
Valdes paled under Set’s glare, crushed by the mana-laden voice.
Set smirked at Valdes, who was now clutching his throat, gasping for air.
How dare a mere peasant laugh at a knight’s words?
It was then.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Chills!
With Yan’s voice, the oppressive force pinning Valdes vanished as if washed away.
‘…!’
Set shivered, turning his head slightly. Yan, who had just been smiling, now glared with terrifying eyes.
“What are you trying to do?”
Set bit his lip, at a loss for words.
‘He’s no ordinary noble.’
In an instant, Yan had not only dissolved Set’s momentum but was now overpowering him in return.
It was as if a finely honed blade had reached right before his neck.
Set forced a smile and said, “Ha… For a mere commoner to laugh at a knight’s words. Such insolence would never be tolerated in the capital.”
He thought mentioning the capital, a world apart from rural nobles, would temper the young lord’s anger.
But the unexpected happened.
“So what if this isn’t the capital?”
“Ah, well, that’s not…”
“And you’re not a knight of this domain. You’re a knight dispatched from the royal court to guard the Forest of Beasts, and that child is a rightful citizen of my territory.”
Yan’s gaze bore into Set.
With each passing moment, the pressure exerted on Set grew stronger.
“How dare you touch a citizen of my territory in my presence?”
Set trembled, bowing his head not out of guilt or repentance, but because the overwhelming force compelled him to.
“I… I apologize, my lord!”
“If you could have dealt with this Jackson fellow, you should have done so before I arrived. Why leave him be until now? Is that the conduct of a knight?”
‘Chivalry in this era?’
How many knights today truly embody chivalry?
Certainly none among those who served with him in the capital.
After all, they learned the sword for advancement, not to protect the weak!
It was then Set realized the flow of events.
This lord wasn’t a fool without powerful allies who had appeared in Armenia alone.
He was strong enough to subdue others by his own might.
‘He must have dealt with Jackson. Damn, I should have observed a bit longer…!’
Had Set known the lord was this formidable, he would have come humbly from the start, leaving pride and bile behind.
Struggling, Set spoke.
“There was no… no justification! As you said, we are not knights of this domain…”
“Smooth talker, claiming there was no justification.”
Yan openly mocked Set’s words.
Yet, Set had no retort.
“I’m sorry! I won’t dare step foot in this domain again! So please…”
Set’s forehead hit the ground as he pleaded.
Lying prostrate, he turned his gaze towards the knights who had accompanied him.
‘…!’
Before they knew it, they were sprawled on the ground, eyes rolled back, mouths foaming in a most unsightly manner.
Set looked up at Yan with fear in his eyes.
‘What in the world is this guy? At such a young age, could he be… a superhuman?’
Had Set served in the capital for just two more years, he might have heard of Yan’s name.
But since he began guarding the Forest of Beasts, he was out of touch with the empire’s affairs and unaware of Yan.
“Take them and get out.”
At Yan’s icy command, Set scrambled to his feet, forcibly lifting the knights who had come with him, and they fled in disarray.
As they hastily departed, Valdes stared blankly at the scene.
Yan called out to him with a smirk, “Why are you here?”
Valdes snapped back to reality.
Then, looking at Yan, he said, “Ah, well… I mean…”
“…?”
“Is it possible for me to become as strong as you, my lord?”
Yan grinned at Valdes’s question.
“I heard you wanted to volunteer for the Dragon Soldier Project?”
“Ah, yes. I did consider it…”
Valdes began to fidget.
Yan tilted his head, puzzled.
‘What’s with him?’
He soon realized.
Yan asked with a sly smile, “Do you want to learn from me?”
“Cough!”
Valdes coughed awkwardly and bowed his head.
Yan watched him and chuckled.
“Yes.”
“It’s probably too difficult anyw… What?”
“I said I’ll teach you.”
Valdes’ mouth fell open at Yan’s unexpectedly easy acceptance.
Yan laughed at Valdes’s reaction.
He had planned to recruit Valdes anyway.
Unlike in his previous life, Valdes hadn’t taken Momon’s drugs, but even without them, Valdes’s martial prowess was exceptional.
It wasn’t obvious due to his youth, but Yan could see it.
If properly nurtured, he had the potential to become a superhuman.
“Th-thank you!”
Valdes bowed deeply in gratitude.
Yan waved his hand dismissively and asked,
“By the way, you know the way to the Forest of Beasts, right?”
“Yes? I do, but… why there?”
“Why? As the lord of this region, I need to know about the biggest thorn in our side.”
“Really?”
Valdes tilted his head in confusion.
Yan stood up.
“Get ready. We’re heading to the Forest of Beasts now.”
“The Forest of Beasts?!”
The Forest of Beasts was a forbidden zone designated by the empire.
It was not only illegal to enter, but also incredibly dangerous.
Yet, Yan moved forward as if he had no concerns.
“There are all sorts of monsters swarming there!”
“You wanted to learn martial arts, didn’t you?”
“…?”
“The fastest way to get stronger is to constantly cross the line of life and death. You know that, right?”
“Ah.”
A shadow fell over Valdes’s face.
He couldn’t help but think he had chosen the wrong person to ask for lessons.
* * *
Yan, with a large backpack slung over his shoulder, looked at Valdes who had just emerged at the village entrance and clicked his tongue in disapproval.
“What have you packed so much for? Going on a trip?”
“The Forest of Beasts is perilous. I’ve brought essentials for survival, should we become stranded.”
“Such an exaggeration.”
Valdes asked with a worried look, “But is it really okay to have driven those knights away like that?”
“The knights? Oh.”
He must be referring to the knights of the Forest of Beasts that he had dismissed earlier.
Yan shrugged nonchalantly, “They didn’t seem brave enough to cause trouble. Even if they did, it’s not a concern.”
They were merely sixth-grade knights.
Moreover, they were the rejects, demoted and sent to this remote place from the capital.
If those cut-loose kites caused any trouble, it wasn’t something to worry about.
At most, they would abandon their post at the Forest of Beasts and flee somewhere else?
Yan snorted with a twisted smile, “Such men are dispensable.”
And if they abandoned their duties for some foolish endeavor, there was no need for him to intervene.
The Inspection Bureau would take care of it.
‘By the way, what happened to Diana?’
He had formed an alliance with her to fight the Special Task Force Commander under the promise of ending his dreadful ways.
‘Did she find satisfaction?’
It would have been better if she had come to see for herself, but it seemed she couldn’t leave her post due to internal affairs at the Inspection Bureau.
Still, the lack of any contact so far probably meant she was content.
As Yan was lost in thought, Valdes sidled up to him and whispered, “My lord, we’ve arrived.”
Yan looked up and whistled softly.
“Whew.”
Dark, twisted giant trees loomed before them.
A line of huts, presumably where the knights had stayed, surrounded the area.
Pointing with his finger, Valdes indicated that this was the entrance to the Forest of Beasts.
It looked as if a demon had opened its maw wide.
“But there are no knights around.”
“They must have packed up and fled.”
Yan recalled the knights who had begged him for acceptance earlier and twisted his lips into a wry smile.
“Is that so?”
Valdes spoke with an uneasy face.
Yan patted Valdes’s shoulder and walked towards the entrance of the Forest of Beasts.
Valdes swallowed hard at Yan’s back and called out,
“Let’s go together!”
He hurried after him.
And so, the two slowly entered the Forest of Beasts, one of the empire’s forbidden zones.
There were those watching from afar.
“…Set, is it really okay to just stand by?”
They were the knights who had been harshly dealt with by Yan earlier.
Set watched Yan crawl into the Forest of Beasts and curled his lips upward.
“It doesn’t matter. There’s no one to tell that we’ve left our post.”
“Huh?”
“If we don’t extract them, how will they ever come out of there?”
Despite Set’s words, the knights still looked anxiously in the direction Yan had gone.
As Set had said, the interior of the Forest of Beasts was a labyrinth; without following a line from the outside, one would inevitably get lost.
But having witnessed Yan’s monstrous strength firsthand, the knights couldn’t easily be reassured.
Set watched the anxious faces of the knights and let out a sly laugh, a truly vile expression on his face.
“Have you forgotten what lies within?”
Even as he spoke, Set felt the hairs on his neck stand on end.
The other knights, too, relaxed their faces only after hearing Set’s words.
The monster that had wiped out the imperial troops sent to subdue the Forest of Beasts in the past.
That was the monster they recalled.
“Let’s help that monster feast after a long time.”
Let’s make the lord become the monster’s prey.
At Set’s words, the knights swallowed hard.