Fortunately, Bilford seemed to have successfully delivered word of Karl’s arrival as a messenger.
Though the reception did seem somewhat excessive.
Karl had naturally assumed that House Hilpin would receive him at the castle, yet Baron Hilpin himself had ridden out in haste to greet Karl in the middle of an unpaved dirt road.
“Lord Karl, I am Maldin, head of House Hilpin.”
Maldin, whose hair and beard were streaked with gray, dismounted and respectfully greeted Karl.
Judging by his black eyes and large, heavily built frame, there seemed to be some credibility to the rumors that Balturan blood from the North ran through his veins.
As an imperial prince, Karl possessed the status to receive Maldin’s greeting without dismounting, but he readily climbed down with Harmon’s assistance and approached the bowing man.
“Lord Hilpin. It is a pleasure to meet you.”
Maldin appeared somewhat surprised when Karl willingly dismounted and offered his hand.
But he soon smiled warmly and respectfully accepted Karl’s handshake.
When Karl released his hand, Maldin did the same.
“Your messenger is resting comfortably at the castle, Lord Karl.”
Because Bilford had personally arrived carrying Karl’s cloak, Maldin first made a point of informing Karl that he had treated the boy with considerable courtesy.
Even an ordinary messenger had to be treated according to the authority of the person who had sent him, but far greater caution was necessary when that messenger arrived carrying an imperial prince’s cloak.
Karl himself was not even the main concern.
If Maldin carelessly mistreated a messenger bearing the crest of the Imperial Family, the consequences could become impossible to handle.
“Thank you.”
“Not at all. Ah, rather than standing here talking on the road, why do we not proceed to the castle so that you may recover from your journey?”
Maldin spoke with a genial smile, and Karl readily nodded.
As Karl struggled back onto his horse with Harmon’s help, Maldin’s eyes briefly swept across the surroundings.
It did not seem that Karl had ridden all the way here with that sickly body when there was a carriage available……
“You look remarkably gallant on horseback.”
“Hahaha. Even if it is merely flattery, thank you.”
Maldin quickly grasped the situation and praised Karl over something trivial.
Karl pretended to swell with pride and laughed.
With Hilpin’s knights and soldiers guarding their surroundings, Karl rode beside Maldin while exchanging idle conversation.
“We have prepared a banquet for you, Lord Karl. Hilpin may be a small territory, but I assure you that you will be able to enjoy yourself without lacking anything.”
At those words, Karl raised his brows in apparent confusion, his expression turning childlike.
“What? But what about the gnoll subjugation?”
At Karl’s innocent face and voice, Maldin threw back his large head and laughed heartily.
“Hahahaha! Hilpin may be small, but we would hardly struggle against mere gnolls. Most of them have already been dealt with. His Majesty the Emperor truly is merciful. To think he would send such a dependable subjugation force over something as insignificant as gnolls.”
For an instant, Karl’s clear green eyes, which had seemed innocent as a child’s, rippled with unfathomable depth.
“Is that so……. What a shame. I thought I might have some fun.”
Karl pouted like an immature child.
He looked exactly like the Fourth Prince Karl of the rumors: a foolish, sickly brat ignorant of the world, lost in fantasies of commanding his tiny subjugation force and achieving some magnificent military feat.
“Hmm. Perhaps we should have left a few alive. It is a shame, given your admirable fighting spirit, but would you at least like to see one of the gnolls we killed?”
“Ah! That sounds quite interesting!”
It appeared as though the experienced and shrewd Maldin were skillfully coaxing the naive Karl along.
The imperial soldiers struggled to keep their expressions under control, while Catherine merely followed behind Karl with her usual expressionless face.
By the time they reached Hilpin Castle, the place was so peaceful and quiet that it truly seemed as though everything had already been resolved.
The roads were clean, there was no commotion, and soldiers leisurely patrolled atop the walls.
“It cannot possibly compare to the Imperial Palace, but welcome to Hilpin Castle.”
Maldin smiled smoothly as he led Karl inside.
As they entered the castle, Karl subtly scanned his surroundings.
Then, without attracting attention, he gestured toward Catherine, who should have been somewhere behind him.
They had never established any specific signal, but Karl trusted that Catherine would understand his meaning well enough.
In the first place, Catherine had probably already noticed that something was wrong even without Karl telling her.
Karl continued wearing his foolish, naive expression, constantly laughing and marveling at Maldin’s colorful stories.
Maldin never allowed even a moment for Karl to fall into thought, filling the silence endlessly with amusing conversation.
“Ah, Sir Catherine! I will go ahead with Maldin!”
“Yes, Lord Karl.”
Somehow, Karl had already begun addressing Maldin by name as though they were old acquaintances.
He turned around, casually called out to Catherine, then disappeared into the castle with Maldin.
Guided by a knight of Hilpin, Catherine led the soldiers toward their quarters.
“Rest, but remain prepared to move out at any moment. You did not come here to enjoy yourselves.”
Even under Catherine’s stern warning, the soldiers were more than satisfied simply to be allowed to rest.
It was their first proper rest in ten days.
Catherine was so obviously a loyal knight that anyone could recognize it at a glance, so none of the soldiers questioned her instructions.
Afterward, Catherine was escorted inside the castle as the Fourth Prince’s knight, but an attendant and a knight remained constantly at her side, never straying even a step away.
“I need to check on my squire.”
In Karl’s place, who appeared to have been completely taken in by Maldin, Catherine even remembered to look after the messenger.
Since Bilford was her squire in the first place, there was nothing particularly strange about it.
Just as Maldin had said, Bilford was being treated quite generously.
He had been resting in a fine room without even washing, still clutching Karl’s cloak against his chest.
The moment Catherine entered, he sprang to his feet.
“Sir Catherine. Lord Karl’s cloak.”
If something happened to Karl’s cloak while Bilford’s attention wandered for even an instant, the consequences could truly be irreversible.
With that thought in mind, Bilford immediately handed the cloak to Catherine.
Catherine carefully received Karl’s cloak and lowered her head slightly.
“…….”
For the briefest instant, it seemed that her breath brushed against him.
To the attendant and knight watching beyond the doorway, it merely looked as though Catherine were playing some mean little prank on her young squire.
“Rest. Do not even think about attending the banquet. You are not permitted to do so.”
“Yes, Sir Catherine.”
Holding Karl’s cloak against her chest, Catherine left Bilford behind and walked out of the room.
After the door closed, Bilford, now alone, washed himself and changed his clothes.
Dressed in lighter clothing, he rested quietly until around sunset, when he was served a generous dinner.
After eating, he returned the empty dishes, extinguished the candle, and quietly lay down on the bed.
Then, after the sun had completely set, the banquet began and loud noises started echoing through the castle.
Not long afterward, while everyone was preoccupied with entertaining the Fourth Prince Karl and his knight Catherine, the insignificant common-born squire whom no one was paying attention to silently disappeared.
Bilford, the man who would become Aingir’s most loyal hunting hound while still barely into his twenties and accomplish more achievements than one could count, could not yet wield Mana.
But he was already an excellent warrior.
No one noticed that Bilford had vanished.
***
“Hahahaha! That is magnificent!”
“You truly should have seen it yourself!”
Karl remained at the center of the banquet, constantly bursting into childish laughter.
At the Imperial Palace, he was merely the insignificant Fourth Prince.
Here, however, he was practically a king.
Everyone strained themselves to keep Karl entertained.
“Wow!”
“What do you think? Quite impressive, is it not?”
“This is a gnoll?”
Karl repeatedly exclaimed in amazement while examining the stuffed gnoll Maldin had prepared.
Despite its hunched back, it was as tall as an adult man, with tightly packed muscles, coarse fur, and sharp teeth.
Like an immature child, Karl circled around it, then cautiously touched it.
He immediately shuddered in disgust and pulled his hand away.
“If I had arrived just a little sooner, I could have killed one of these myself!”
“Hahahaha! Indeed!”
Everyone burst into laughter at Karl’s words.
Pretending complete ignorance, Karl gulped down alcohol as though it were an ordinary drink.
His hollow cheeks flushed red, making him look somewhat precarious.
Karl babbled childish nonsense, staggered drunkenly, barely remained standing with Harmon supporting him, and allowed himself to be swept along by whatever those around him said.
A man who appeared to be around thirty sat near the head of the table, silently watching the spectacle with his lips twisted.
Maldin’s only son, Fardin, did not like what he was seeing.
No, he was struggling so hard to restrain his anger that he wanted to storm out immediately.
Fardin glared at his father Maldin, who was skillfully controlling the banquet, and at Karl, who seemed completely helpless as Maldin toyed with him.
The memory of himself cheering when he heard that the Imperial Family had dispatched a subjugation force and encouraging the soldiers flashed through his mind, making him dizzy.
He was ashamed.
He felt guilty.
He could not face them.
“…….”
Then suddenly, Fardin felt something strange.
For a moment, he thought his eyes had met Karl’s.
Karl was supposedly completely intoxicated, yet despite drinking several glasses of alcohol with that sickly body, his eyes seemed astonishingly clear and lucid.
But as though to prove that it had merely been Fardin’s imagination, Karl eventually collapsed completely.
Seeing Karl unconscious, Catherine, who had been standing to one side of the banquet hall, quickly approached and carefully lifted him into her arms.
No matter how much of a knight Catherine might be, she was still a woman, yet Karl was so skeletal that he fit easily into her embrace.
It was almost painful to look at.
“Harmon, please lead us to his room.”
Carrying the drunken, unconscious Karl, Catherine followed Harmon out of the banquet hall.
The banquet ended amid the resulting confusion, and a bright moon hung high in the dark sky.
Catherine carried Karl into his room.
The instant Harmon closed the door, Karl’s eyes snapped open as though everything before had been a lie.
“How did it go?”
“Gasp!”
Harmon sucked in a startled breath.
Ignoring him, Karl pushed himself out of Catherine’s arms and stood perfectly well on his own.
He swept his disheveled long hair back, tied it firmly behind his head, and straightened his clothing.
Catherine seemed somewhat startled as well, but soon spoke in a low voice.
“I ordered Bilford to assess the situation.”
“Good. Just in case, keep the soldiers under control. Return to your room and remain on standby without appearing suspicious.”
“Yes.”
Without another word, Catherine gave a precise salute and left the room.
“Harmon, help me put on my armor.”
“Ah, yes.”
Harmon answered reflexively, yet he could not begin to understand what Karl was planning at this late hour.
Nor could he understand how Karl, who had been drunkenly fooling around only moments ago, could suddenly become so calm and cold.
‘That was close.’
Karl broke into a cold sweat as he felt a slight wave of intoxication.
When he first drank a little alcohol and felt nothing at all, he had assumed his transformed body could no longer become drunk, so he had begun drinking far more freely.
Apparently, he had overdone it.
He was slightly dizzy.
With Harmon’s assistance, Karl dressed himself and felt how constricting his clothes had become on a body that had grown considerably in only ten days.
Karl undid the top two buttons of his shirt.
Over it, he put on his gambeson, then fitted the smooth plate breastplate over his torso and fastened the longsword that had now become familiar at his waist.
After draping his cloak over his shoulders and tucking his helmet beneath one arm, Karl drank some cold water and stood silently, staring at the door.
Harmon had no idea how to interpret the situation, so he merely remained behind Karl in silence, carefully watching him.
Karl stood as motionless as a statue.
His body was still painfully thin, but with the cloak concealing everything except his head, he somehow seemed like a different person.
He had grown so rapidly over the past several days that the cloak, which had once dragged across the floor, now merely covered his ankles.
“Lord Karl.”
“Come in.”
At the whispered voice, Karl immediately answered.
Bilford quietly entered.
When he saw Karl waiting in the dark room fully armed, silently watching him, he hesitated for a moment before whispering.
“Two villages near the forest west of the Barony of Hilpin have been completely destroyed. Troops were dispatched to stop the monsters, but they have not even managed to bring the situation under control yet.”
“The soldiers in the castle?”
“It appears that most of them were brought in merely for appearances.”
“Has Sir Catherine finished preparing?”
“Yes.”
Karl nodded at Bilford’s report, then turned toward Harmon and spoke firmly.
“Harmon, remain in the castle.”
“L-Lord Karl!”
“That is enough. If Lord Hilpin asks, answer him honestly.”
Leaving the startled Harmon behind, Karl walked out of the room.
After Karl left, Bilford quietly closed the door, rested one hand on the hilt of his sword, and moved ahead of Karl while carefully listening for anything suspicious.
‘What in the world is happening?’
Despite his outwardly composed appearance, Bilford’s mind was in complete turmoil.
Karl was moving without hesitation, like a blazing fire.
It was almost as though he had become an entirely different person.
Cold sweat rose across Bilford’s skin.
He felt as though he had been bewitched by a demon.
“Sir Catherine.”
“Lord Karl. Preparations are complete.”
Karl left the inner castle, nodded at Catherine’s words, and headed toward the quarters where the soldiers had been resting.
Catherine had suddenly barged in late at night and ordered them to prepare for departure.
Their resentment had therefore reached its peak, and when they saw the fully armed Karl striding toward them, they gritted their teeth.
Yet the instant their eyes met Karl’s, wrapped in an indescribably strange presence, their grievances vanished as though startled into hiding.
The sight of Karl staggering into a carriage with Harmon’s assistance suddenly seemed like a complete lie.
Without anyone’s help, Karl vaulted onto his enormous white horse in a single motion.
Catherine and Bilford mounted their horses as well, but Karl did not immediately depart.
Instead, he quietly looked toward an unexpected guest.
“This is the duty entrusted to me.”
Milton spoke calmly from atop his horse.
When Catherine had suddenly sought him out, Milton, the imperial physician, had prepared himself without asking a single question and come with them.
Karl nodded and put on the helmet adorned with a red plume.
In truth, he had worn the helmet only once before departing, so it felt awkward and constricting.
But he could hardly enter a battlefield with his head exposed.
Karl had absolutely no intention of dying like an idiot because some blind attack happened to strike him in the skull.
Slowly inhaling, Karl ran his fingers over the visor and spoke in a low, decisive voice.
“We depart.”
Then he urged his horse forward from the very front.
He glanced toward Catherine riding slightly behind him on his right, matched his speed to hers, and the soldiers charged after them.
“What is the meaning of this…!”
“Move!”
Hilpin’s soldiers rushed over in confusion at the commotion, but even beneath the moonlight, Karl’s red cloak was clearly visible as it streamed behind him at the head of the formation.
At his shout, they recoiled and moved aside.
“Open the gates! Do you intend to obstruct a subjugation force acting under His Majesty the Emperor’s orders?”
No one could understand how such a powerful resonance could emerge from that gaunt body.
Some could hardly believe that the voice belonged to Karl at all.
Terrified by the sharp command, the soldiers opened the gates before they even realized what they were doing.
Karl never slowed.
He charged straight through the gates and out of the castle.
The morale of the imperial soldiers had been scraping the bottom even before their departure, yet despite the cold air of the late night, their minds suddenly sharpened and their bodies burned hot.
“Huh! Huh! Huh! Huh!”
Thirty imperial soldiers ran in rhythm, gripping their spears tightly as their cloaks billowed behind them.
The packs and shields strapped to their backs suddenly felt light as feathers.
“What in the world is happening!”
Maldin, who had drunk heavily while entertaining Karl, came rushing out in his nightclothes.
“Damn it! That fucking brat!”
When he learned that Karl had led the soldiers westward, Maldin seized his disheveled hair and roared.
He had believed that he had deceived Karl perfectly.
But even that belief had been part of Karl’s deception.
Karl had already left Hilpin Castle with the soldiers.
There was no longer any way to stop him.