ALL NOVEL chapter 2
2 – Becoming a Viscount
“…The Viscount and his sons who went to the battlefield have all… fallen in battle…”
After a moment of silence, my mother spoke up.
“What, what did you say…?”
My mother suddenly grabbed her head and eventually collapsed.
“Mother!!!”
“My lady!!!”
“My lord… Kendrik… Bendrick… how could you bring such a trial upon me…”
I quickly grabbed my mother’s arm to support her.
“Mother… are you okay?”
“Edric… immediately bring Gerald Kyeong, your teacher, to me. There is no proper knight to protect this viscounty except for him and the stable.”
My mother said with difficulty, grabbing my shoulder.
While Eileen moved my mother to the room and Robert Kyeong went to find Gerald Kyeong instead of me, I immediately approached the messenger and asked for detailed information.
“They say that although the Westburn men are shameful and do not know how to be knights, they may mistake one nobleman, but why would they deliberately kill three people at once? What happened?”
“T-That’s…”
**
“Damn it…”
I was shouting fiercely in my heart to Chang-seong Esther. What sin did Silverwood commit to deserve this trial?
I kept shouting “Chang-seong” since earlier. Who is Chang-seong Esther? Well, she’s a god in this world.
Roughly speaking, she emerged from the darkness like blackness and became the first light. She made this land and took two pieces of dirt from the earth to make man and woman… something like that. Unable to bear the corruption of the world any longer, she descended to the ground as a human body…
Oh, there’s something like that. I don’t remember the name, but it felt similar to the religion that ruled the world in my past life. It wasn’t exactly the same.
What am I explaining so vaguely? How can I understand properly if the priest keeps preaching in incomprehensible words? And I don’t know because I fall asleep every time during mass. Don’t ask.
Anyway, the reason I’m looking for Chang-seong intensely is that the story I heard from the messenger was too shocking.
According to the messenger, the unit led by my father and brother, which gathered only knights, did not even know they were being lured after several small victories.
They were lured to where the enemy wanted them and ended up surrounded by the enemy. Normally, they would have had to try to break through the enemy’s encirclement and return to their rear when they realized they were in a state of siege, but…
Unfortunately, knights of this era often have a tendency to act recklessly.
Under the command of a certain father, a young knight who was serving in the military couldn’t bear it anymore and suddenly exclaimed, “How dare you resort to such dirty tricks rather than facing me head-on like a true knight! (This seems to be the average mindset of knights in this era.) If you claim to be knights, then face my sword with honor!” He valiantly charged forward.
The problem was that upon seeing this young knight, the rest of the men (including our lord and his two sons, of course) were deeply moved and followed suit, shouting, “Long live Viscount Silverwood!” Naturally, they ended up mostly as prisoners. (Unfortunately, a few of them met an “unfortunate” accident during this process, and didn’t come back alive.) By the way, it is said that the first young knight to charge forward ended up being captured as a prisoner, thanks to being hit by a thrown loaf of bread by the enemy and begging for mercy while sobbing. Crazy fool…
What? They’re all dead? They became prisoners? What nonsense!
From here on begins the grand madness party. Take a seat.
After being captured as prisoners, the West Beren army stripped off everything from my father, his brothers, and even the knights who served under him, except for the tattered armor they were wearing inside.
Usually, even if they capture enemies, the nobles tend to treat prisoners with dignity. Unfortunately, the West Beren army that held our father as a prisoner seemed to be a group of mercenaries hired by West Beren from a foreign land, so they disregarded the etiquette between nobles, as savages would.
The disgraceful treatment from these uncivilized West Berens caused immense shame and humiliation for my father, his noble entourage, and mainly triggered the characteristic mindset of the knights, “I would rather die than be caught by scoundrels like them.” So they kept looking for opportunities to escape from the hands of these barbarians.
Eventually, during the night when the West Beren army was intoxicated with their victory and their guard was momentarily relaxed, my father’s party managed to cut the ropes that bound their horses with the hidden dagger they had secretly concealed in their bundles and quietly fled to the nearby village. They barely succeeded in escaping. (Of course, more casualties occurred during this process, but it is not a significant part of the story.)
So, late at night, after their successful escape, my father’s group ended up staying at the house of a peasant in the village. However, a big problem arose here.
The landlord, despite walking around at this pitch-black night wearing only tattered clothes and claiming to be an important noble, received them warmly without getting angry about being woken up while they were sleeping.
Yet, my father’s party complained arrogantly, demanding food in this late hour as if they should be grateful just for being accommodated.
The landlord demonstrated extraordinary patience even at this point. Because if these guys were real high-ranking nobles, he feared the consequences of mistreating them.
Therefore, the landlord provided them stew, stale bread, and a small amount of precious salt. But my father’s party complained again, saying that the bread was hard and didn’t taste as good as the soft white bread they usually ate.
At this point, the landlord’s patience was on the verge of snapping. However, suppressing his anger, he silently cursed in his mind while enduring.
But the landlord couldn’t tolerate their next actions.
Some of the “part” of my father’s entourage took advantage of the fact that others were asleep and engaged in inappropriate behavior with the women in the landlord’s house. (I swiftly erased the memory of one of my brothers being among them from my mind. If I remember such things, I will go insane.)
The status or identity of the woman who was assaulted by these men is unknown. It seems that even the messenger didn’t grasp that part of the situation.
Anyway, the landlord quietly went outside and gathered the villagers after witnessing the violation of the women in his house amidst the snoring scoundrels. The harm caused by these foreigners in the landlord’s house brought great sadness and anger to him. Not long after, the village where the landlord lived received three (+@) new skulls.
And now, here is the messenger in front of me, telling how he managed to hide in the chaos and successfully escape all the way to the Viscount’s territory… Should I praise him for that? Or should I just smash his head against the wall with an axe hanging in the study? I’m seriously contemplating this.
Now that I think about it, strictly speaking, he’s not even a messenger. He’s just a damn deserter. Moreover, he abandoned the lord he served.
I sincerely wanted to handle this bastard somehow, but unfortunately, I don’t
“I’m not sure exactly when they will arrive…. But if those bastards attack all the way to Silverwood Barony, it would probably take about 4 days. If they capture prisoners and regroup their troops, it might take a little over a week for them to come.”
There was nothing else to investigate, and I didn’t want to listen anymore, as it would only make me angry. I roughly dismissed the messenger in front of me. Oh well, I firmly warned him that he wouldn’t have a pleasant sight if he dared to spread the story you know so carelessly.
Everything that happened to my father and brothers is sealed forever. If such a story spreads in the world, it would be embarrassing for the Silverwood Baron and result in a total disgrace.
That guy himself would be ashamed and never be able to speak about it. If this story even leaks out a bit, he won’t be able to see the morning sun.
“Jerald Kyeong has been brought here. Lord Edric.”
In the meantime, the messenger arrived with my master.
“Master, you’ve come!”
“I heard some news about your father and brothers. It’s unfortunate.”
After swallowing his sigh for a moment, my master looked at the ceiling and spoke with a sense of embarrassment.
“If I knew something like this would happen, I should have kept you longer and trained you harder… I regret letting you play thinking there is plenty of time.”
“Well…”
Although my master was an easy-going person compared to other knights, I had no words because wasting each day of my life without receiving the training I was told to do was my fault, even if I had a hundred mouths to argue.
“Anyway, the most important thing in the current situation is that both your brothers and your father have left for Changseong. That means you are the sole heir of Viscount Leon.”
Suddenly, my master’s gaze became sharp, and he walked towards me.
“And all rulers must be knights. If they cannot protect the weak and punish evil, rulers have no meaning.”
My master stood right in front of me and sighed before continuing.
“To be honest, you don’t yet have the qualification to become a knight… but considering the current situation, there is no other way.”
Thump!
“Congratulations on becoming a knight, Edric. No, Viscount Silverwood.”
I barely regained my composure while gently rubbing my frozen cheek with my hand.
The feeling of becoming a viscount overnight.
Well.
It wasn’t exactly a pleasant feeling.
Sigh…
Ah, damn it. I’ve got a bloody nose again.
**
“Master, what should we do now? The enemies will reach the Barony within a week, at the latest.”
“Lower your voice. Lord Edric is now the head of this family and my lord. And as for your question… Hmm, please wait a moment.”
Sir Robert pondered for a moment, then left the reception room and returned with a large map, which he spread out on the table.
“When Viscount Leon attacked Westborne, there were devoted men who paid scutage instead of responding to the summon order. Let’s gather them first.”
Robert pointed to a place on the map where there were believers who did not respond to the father’s conscription. “This is something they shouldn’t do. Unlike before, this time, the conscription is for defense, so they have no choice but to respond to the conscription.”