Establishing Discipline
“Good grief. Of all the rotten luck to have at my age. How did I ever end up in such a miserable situation?”
“Indeed.”
As evening began to darken, the castle’s servants sat scattered throughout the first-floor hall. None of the cleaning or organizing Dieter had ordered had been done. Ever since he left, they had abandoned their work and idled away the hours.
Just as they had at the main estate, none of them had any intention of serving a bastard as their master.
“After breaking my back for more than thirty years, this is all I receive in return. Young Master Oskar has cast us aside.”
“I thought that by this age, I would have saved enough to retire from service, buy a farm somewhere, and live comfortably. Instead, I have been stranded in a place like this….”
“Enough grumbling. What has happened cannot be changed, so there is no point in continuing to complain….”
“How could I not complain? We have been abandoned in a remote backwater crawling with monsters!”
Wilhelm suddenly shouted in response. He was the most senior servant among them and had served the family longer than anyone else. However, because of his age, he had long been treated as a useless relic whose time had passed.
Eventually, he had been ordered to accompany Dieter to the Bricks Territory. It was only natural that he would be dissatisfied with his present circumstances.
“As though being stranded in this godforsaken backwater were not enough, those of us who spent our entire lives at His Grace’s side must now serve a mere bastard. It is truly deplorable.”
“Elder Wilhelm! You should not say such things….”
“Why not, young man? Am I wrong? I doubt Sir Hakon’s thoughts are much different.”
Wilhelm glanced toward one side of the hall as he spoke.
Hakon was leaning against a pillar without doing anything. He was merely waiting for Dieter to return.
‘Should I have forced myself to accompany him after all? I was ordered to watch his every move whenever he was awake….’
BANG!
At that moment, the door suddenly flew open, and Dieter entered.
Everyone’s gaze immediately turned toward him. No one knew where he had been, but the intelligence and vitality shining in his eyes gave him a markedly different air than before.
“…What are all of you doing?”
Dieter’s expression hardened the instant he surveyed the hall. It was a natural reaction when nothing had been cleaned and everyone was sitting around idly.
“Did I not order you to clean? From what I can see, nothing has changed.”
“Young Master, everyone walked for several days before arriving here. Surely we deserve some rest. You rode here comfortably in a carriage, so you may not understand.”
“……”
“Besides, there is clearly far too much to organize. What difference will it make if we rest for a while before beginning? We will clean the room where you are to sleep later, so you need not worry.”
Wilhelm’s brusque answer was unmistakably insolent.
Rather than responding, Dieter strode toward him and drew the hunting knife from his waist.
SWISH!
The blade came to rest against the back of Wilhelm’s neck with a brief whistle through the air. Wilhelm froze in shock.
“W-Why are you suddenly doing this, Young Master?”
“Why are you suddenly behaving this way? Have you forgotten your position and circumstances, Wilhelm?”
“W-What do you mean…?”
“I am the lord of this castle and the master you are required to serve. I am no longer the bastard you openly despised!”
Dieter’s roar was so forceful that it seemed to stir the dust within the hall.
Wilhelm was not the only one affected. The other servants also stared at Dieter with frightened expressions.
“Move at once! Or would you prefer that I assist you? Must you lose a limb or two before you can lift those heavy backsides of yours?”
“N-No, Young Master! I apologize! Please forgive me!”
Wilhelm shouted as he trembled uncontrollably.
After glaring sharply at him, Dieter finally withdrew the knife and turned his gaze toward the others.
“W-What are all of you doing? Get moving! Did you not hear the Young Master’s order?”
“R-Right! We will do as you commanded, Young Master! No, my lord!”
“Everyone, get to work!”
Beginning with Wilhelm, who hurriedly rose while shouting, everyone began moving in a panic.
They cleared away the broken furniture and swept up the thick layers of dust. Dieter watched them bustle about the hall for some time before speaking again.
“I will be upstairs. Send my meal up when it is ready. However, the cleaning comes first.”
“Yes, my lord!”
“We will proceed without delay!”
Unlike before, the servants answered with impeccable courtesy, bending deeply at the waist. Dieter left them behind and climbed the stairs.
“Good heavens, that was terrifying. He drew a knife on us without the slightest hesitation. He was never like that at the main estate….”
“He certainly seems different from how he was there. Did something happen to him?”
“Is that what matters right now? Close your mouths and get moving before we lose our heads!”
While the thoroughly cowed servants whispered among themselves, Hakon watched Dieter’s retreating back and thought,
‘Something about him has changed. What happened?’
Dieter had displayed an entirely different side from the one Hakon had observed at the main estate.
Could something have happened to him during his absence?
At that moment, Dieter abruptly stopped on the stairs and turned around.
“M-My lord, is something wrong?”
“Do you have another order for us?”
Everyone looked at him as they asked in tense voices. Dieter spoke in a blunt tone.
“Has anyone here ever done any tanning?”
“Young Mas—no, my lord, are you certain you know where you are going? We have already left the castle far behind and ventured deep into the forest. At this rate, I fear we may become lost.”
Hakon’s grumbling voice came from beside me.
As usual, his brow was furrowed. He looked rather anxious as he examined the dense trees surrounding us.
“Of course I do. You can see that I am consulting the map. We are heading toward the monster habitat marked here.”
“I am saying this because that map itself looks highly suspicious. You are attempting to navigate with something that appears to be several hundred years old. Naturally, that makes me uneasy.”
Ignoring Hakon’s dubious reply, I kept my eyes fixed upon the maps.
I was looking both at the ancient map in my hands and the map displayed within the Status Window that only I could see.
[Region - Bricks Lowlands]
Beneath those words at the top of the Status Window was an image of a map depicting the surrounding area.
It was one of the additional functions of the Status Window that had become available after I completed the trial several days ago.
-Wherever you travel from now on, a map will be created automatically, and you will be able to consult it whenever you wish. Lord Ragna called this function the Minimap.
Before I left the tomb, Doumar had given me that explanation along with a physical map of the territory.
As Hakon had said, it was exceedingly old. However, the terrain itself had not changed significantly, so I had encountered little difficulty using it to navigate the forest.
“More importantly, have you truly not changed your original plan?”
“No. We are going to hunt a Griffon. If possible, we will capture it alive.”
We had no money, and reclaiming the manor’s ruined farmland would not produce an immediate harvest. The territory was in a thoroughly hopeless state.
Therefore, the only way to begin operating the territory immediately was to make use of the monsters that could be found everywhere.
“Griffons provide many valuable materials. Their beaks, claws, bones, and even their feathers are all traded for considerable sums. Furthermore, if we capture a young or subadult Griffon, we may be able to tame it and raise it at our manor.”
“I suppose that might be possible, provided we are not torn to pieces first.”
“……”
“Are you aware that fully grown Griffons are said to be so vicious that taming them is impossible? It reportedly takes nearly ten soldiers to hunt one successfully. Of course, there are only two of us at present.”
Hakon answered sarcastically.
He clearly disliked the fact that the two of us had set out alone to hunt a Griffon.
I could understand his feelings, but I did not appreciate the way he continued behaving so obstinately when we had no other choice.
“I understand that you are displeased with the situation, but must you keep saying such ominous things?”
“I am merely telling you what I know. Besides, is it not my duty to protect you, my lord? I cannot help considering the potential dangers.”
“You may return to the castle if you are so dissatisfied. Of course, you cannot do that when you have been ordered to watch my every move.”
Having been struck directly where it hurt, Hakon firmly closed his mouth.
I ignored his displeased gaze and opened the Status Window.
[Record No. 177 - Griffon: Most individuals possess extremely violent temperaments and are remarkably agile both in the air and on the ground. They are swift enough to catch a mounted rider. Avoid attacking from the front and aim for the sides of the torso. Using a bow or crossbow is also effective.]
It was Ragna’s record concerning Griffons.
I had repeatedly read it over the past several days while preparing for a successful hunt.
Although I was not particularly pleased about it, I had devised a diversionary tactic involving Hakon and practiced coordinating our movements. It was an exceedingly simple hunting strategy, but it was still better than charging in without a plan.
‘One Griffon should not be too difficult to kill, provided Hakon does not lose his nerve and flee halfway through….’
We continued toward the Griffon habitat. Before long, signs of the creatures appeared before us.
“Wait. Stop.”
After halting Hakon with my voice and a gesture, I approached a bush ahead of us. Several white feathers were caught among its branches, which bore clusters of blue berries.
[These are the down feathers of a Griffon. They are extremely soft and are used as materials for luxurious garments and similar products.]
The fact that down feathers from beneath the wings, rather than ordinary outer feathers, had fallen here meant that a Griffon frequently passed through the area.
The map had been correct. We had already entered its territory.
“So we have finally arrived. I sincerely hope we do not become a Griffon’s lunch today.”
“Rather than grumbling, why do you not draw your weapon?”
I snapped at Hakon as I readied my mace and the wooden shield strapped to my back.
The shield had been made by dismantling doors and furniture from the castle and fastening together the usable pieces. It was far too crude to be called a proper shield, but we had no alternative with our current resources.
‘There is probably only one. Griffons are solitary monsters that do not form packs.’
Of course, male and female Griffons sometimes lived together as a pair. In the worst possible situation, we could be attacked by two at once.
I prayed that would not happen and took another tense step forward.
RUSTLE!
The bushes to our left shook, and a massive figure abruptly emerged.
It was a monster with the head, forelegs, and wings of a white-feathered eagle and the body of a lion.
[Griffon]
[A monster resembling a combination of a lion and an eagle. It is so massive that its shoulders stand higher than those of a fully grown bull.]
Just as the Status Window described, its size was truly imposing.
It was my first time seeing a Griffon in person, but a single glance was enough to tell me that it was fully grown. In other words, capturing and taming it was impossible.
‘Then we have no choice but to hunt it.’
I made my decision in an instant, leaped backward, and shouted,
“Hakon! Move to its flank!”
SCREEECH!
At the same moment, the Griffon shrieked and charged.
I swiftly raised my shield as I watched its razor-sharp claws and beak hurtle toward me.