“Any of you bastards know how to read and write?!”
The moment Martin, the conscription officer who had shouted at the top of his lungs, finished speaking, he realized his mistake.
'What the hell am I saying?'
He let out a self-mocking chuckle inwardly.
There was no way any of these serfs knew how to read or write. To make matters worse, this was the most remote backwater in the entire territory. More than half the village's population consisted of serfs. It was the very definition of a village in the middle of nowhere.
Apart from the village chief, who supposedly represented the settlement, there probably wasn't a single person here who could read even a line of text. It would be much quicker to find a scribe to assist with administrative work once he returned to the city.
Just as Martin was about to give up on the idea, however...
“I can!”
Someone in the crowd raised his hand high and shouted.
Puzzled, Martin turned toward the voice.
And at that very moment, his eyes widened.
The person raising his hand didn't look remotely like someone who could have been born and raised in a backwater village like this.
His shabby clothes were stained with sweat and dirt.
His filthy appearance, clearly the result of not washing properly, was unmistakably that of a serf. Yet the person beneath those clothes was an entirely different matter.
His tousled hair shimmered a brilliant gold beneath the sunlight, and his striking features were handsome enough to put even the children of most high-ranking nobles to shame.
'...He dresses like a serf, but he's handsome enough to rival most nobles.'
A powerful suspicion suddenly flashed through Martin's mind.
'Perhaps... he has noble blood running through his veins.'
In fact, most noble families regarded brilliant golden hair and blue eyes as proof of their bloodline. The boy's appearance matched those characteristics perfectly.
As Martin examined the boy with growing interest, the village chief suddenly flew into a rage.
“Jake, you bastard! What kind of ridiculous nonsense are you spouting all of a sudden?!”
Shouting furiously, the village chief strode toward the boy and raised his hand as though he were about to strike him.
But the village chief never got the chance.
Martin acted first.
“Stop.”
The cold voice cut through the square, bringing the village chief to an abrupt halt.
As though he hadn't been raging just moments earlier, the village chief instantly adopted a servile expression and bowed repeatedly before Martin.
“Oh, esteemed conscription officer! There is no need to listen to that bastard. It seems this foolish brat is trying to pull some trick because he does not want to be dragged off as a soldier.”
“Is that really the case?”
Martin turned his gaze toward the boy as he asked.
The boy shook his head vigorously and shouted.
“No! I really do know how to read and write! It's the village chief who's lying!”
“W-what...! You bastard! Even now, you insist on...!”
When the village chief tried to strike the boy again, Martin's brows furrowed sharply.
'What an irritating old man.'
His irritation was steadily mounting. It seemed he needed to teach this ill-mannered village chief exactly where he stood.
“Village chief.”
“Yes?”
“This is your final warning. Stay out of it. I will decide whether that bastard is lying or not.”
The village chief flinched at the icy warning.
With fear written across his face, he stumbled backward before finally retreating in a hurry.
Once the surroundings had quieted down, Martin approached the boy.
Up close, the sight was even more remarkable.
Brilliant golden hair and blue eyes that seemed to contain the sea itself. No matter how Martin looked at him, those weren't features that could have come from an ordinary serf's bloodline.
“Did you say your name was Jake?”
“Yes! My name is Jake!”
“And your parents?”
“I don't have any! No, I don't even know who they are! I was told I was abandoned on the outskirts of the village when I was just a baby!”
'Just as I thought...!'
Martin nodded inwardly.
At that moment, his suspicion that noble blood flowed through Jake's veins turned into certainty.
Judging by the circumstances, either a fallen noble family in desperate straits had abandoned its son in this remote village, or a high-ranking noble had secretly disposed of an illegitimate child who might have become a political liability.
“How did you learn to read and write?”
“I occasionally had to visit the village chief's house to do odd jobs. Whenever I went there, I watched him work over his shoulder and gradually learned whenever I had the chance.”
It was a calm answer.
But upon hearing it, the village chief erupted once again.
“Th-that is absolutely ridiculous! Esteemed conscription officer! That bastard is lying to you!”
“Village chief, I believe I warned you not to interfere.”
“B-but that bastard is clearly...!”
“Tsk.”
Martin's patience finally ran out.
He gestured toward two of his subordinate soldiers with a nod.
“Drag that man away. Give him a beating until he comes to his senses.”
“Yes, sir!”
At Martin's command, the soldiers immediately seized the village chief by both arms and dragged him toward a corner of the square.
Moments later, the village chief's screams rang out, accompanied by the sickening sound of breaking bones.
THWACK!
“Aaaaargh!”
The villagers and serfs murmured in terror, but Martin didn't so much as blink.
He glanced briefly at the bloodied village chief before turning his attention back to Jake.
“Very well. I shall test whether you truly know how to read and write. If your words prove true, I will appoint you as a scribe. However, if you have lied to me...”
Martin's gaze shifted toward the battered village chief.
At the unspoken threat, the boy swallowed hard.
But his eyes didn't waver.
He soon nodded and declared firmly,
“I'm confident I can do it!”
“Good.”
Martin then took a parchment scroll from inside his clothing and unfurled it.
It was a conscription register densely filled with the names, ages, places of origin, and other details of those selected for this round of conscription.
“Read everything written here.”
“Understood.”
Jake accepted the register and began reading aloud.
“Abel, sixteen, Croden Village. Valen, twenty-one, Croden Village. Damon...”
His voice continued steadily and clearly, without a single mistake.
Watching him, Martin was genuinely impressed.
The boy really did know how to read.
But then again, it wasn't entirely beyond belief.
'With noble blood running through his veins, it wouldn't be strange for him to possess an exceptional intellect.'
Suddenly, the seemingly absurd claim that the boy had learned to read simply by watching over someone's shoulder began to sound perfectly reasonable.
“...That is enough. You may stop reading.”
After a while, Martin interrupted Jake and placed a hand on his shoulder.
But at that very moment, Martin couldn't help being surprised once again.
The boy's body beneath his shabby clothing was unexpectedly solid.
It felt different from a physique developed through ordinary farmwork.
'Ha! Judging by his physique, he seems to possess considerable talent for martial arts as well!'
An exceptional natural intellect combined with outstanding physical talent.
To think that someone so gifted had been wasting away in a remote village like this.
Martin felt as though he'd discovered a pearl buried in the mud.
“I hereby appoint you as an assistant scribe to the conscription officer. Make your preparations for departure and return to me before sunset.”
Martin spoke in a noticeably warmer tone than before.
Jake's face immediately lit up with joy.
Martin thought that even the boy's smile looked remarkably noble.