The Third Son of a Medieval Knight Family Chapter 10 - Prologue (9)

Lukovich wore an incredulous expression upon hearing Viktor’s speculation.

“No… but that doesn’t seem right, does it? The enemies haven’t even reached the village yet.”

Thinking about it calmly, it didn’t make sense.

Even now, weren’t they watching the enemy while engaging in this leisurely game of hide-and-seek?

They were still crawling north at a snail’s pace.

“What if they organized a separate detachment that moved independently?”

“!”

‘Certainly… that’s a possibility…!’

Lukovich began to sink into thought.

But soon he frowned and opened his mouth.

“If they sent a separate force, that could be possible… but the problem is how they would have bypassed us. To reach our village from the south where they’re currently advancing…”

Lukovich picked up a twig and began drawing a simple map on the ground.

“Like this, unless they pass through this area where we are now, they would have to make a huge detour. That’s because there are no routes suitable for large-scale troop movements except through here.”

“Why is that?”

“As you can see, except for the area past these hills, it’s completely dense forest. You can think of it as too thick to travel on horseback. So unless they come through here… they would have to make this big detour along the road… which means they would inevitably have to pass through other principality territories before reaching our village.”

“So they would certainly be discovered, and fighting would be unavoidable?”

“Exactly! That’s why I think it would be difficult for a separate force to bypass us and attack the village. Unless they came from the east…”

To the east of the Uley region where the village was located, there were dense forests to the south and endless steppe terrain stretching to the east.

The forest was so thick that it was difficult to pass through on horseback, and given the region’s long winters, it was hard to enter except during warm seasons.

Even when the warm season finally arrived, the snow would melt, turning what few paths existed into muddy swamps, making it extremely difficult for large forces to pass through.

Considering that the surrounding barbarians primarily moved on horseback, it was like having a natural fortress.

However, this fortress was only half-effective, as the eastern side of the village bordered the steppe and was completely exposed.

If enemies attacked from the east, they could push in immediately and trample the village.

“But our enemies are the Uley tribes. I’ve heard the east is teeming with different barbarian tribes unrelated to them. They would have their own interests at stake—would they readily lend their passage?”

“That’s right. They aren’t one homogeneous group. They’re the kind who constantly fight among themselves, forming and breaking alliances. It wouldn’t be easy to borrow passage. So coming from the east doesn’t make sense either…”

Viktor let out a sigh.

‘Then perhaps it’s just my needless worry? If it’s simply delayed communication…’

By now, dusk had fallen, and an eerie wind began to swirl around them.

From far away, they could faintly hear the howling of barbarian warriors.

The two men silently surveyed their surroundings, sunk in anxiety and doubt.

It was all incomprehensible—why no communication had come from the village, why the enemies were advancing at such a strangely leisurely pace.

As the snake of anxiety began to coil in his stomach, making his body ache, Viktor widened his eyes and tensed up.

‘Sigh… there’s no point worrying like this. If that’s the case, the only thing to do is to check directly!’

“Lukovich, let’s return to the village.”

“What? But what about those people? If we just leave like this…”

Lukovich still believed that the village was intact and that contact had simply been impossible for some reason.

But Viktor thought differently.

He couldn’t explain why, but something felt deeply wrong!

It wasn’t simply that he was inexperienced and afraid.

His instincts were whispering to him.

Staying here any longer would be dangerous!

Viktor considered himself a rational person, but that didn’t mean he ignored his instincts.

His body possessed not only tremendous strength but also sharp intuition.

Since childhood, this intuition had helped him avoid crises more than once, so Viktor decided to trust his senses this time as well.

“No matter how I think about it, something’s wrong. I can’t explain why, but we need to go back now.”

Viktor was prepared to leave Lukovich behind if he wouldn’t follow.

He couldn’t confidently persuade him with logic, nor did he want to force him to come along.

However, when Viktor spoke forcefully, Lukovich nodded with a resolved expression and quickly began packing his things.

“Well… it’s odd for me to say this after my proposal, but are you just going to follow me? If you really don’t want to, you don’t have to come along.”

But Lukovich shook his head.

“Not at all. You must have your reasons. And if I don’t follow you, I’d have to stay here alone, which I don’t have the confidence to do. Haha!”

‘If I go with him, even if something happens, I probably won’t die.’

Once the person he had decided to serve made a decision.

It was right to follow without objection.

And… honestly, he was a little afraid of being left alone…!

“Well, fine. Let’s hope nothing’s wrong. From now on, move carefully.”

Viktor also didn’t want the village to have already fallen.

What if, somehow, the enemies had crossed over in a way they couldn’t understand, and the village was already occupied?

That would place them in an extremely dangerous position, caught in the middle.

The two men carefully mounted their horses and set out into the dark path.

****

Though the enemies were advancing slowly, meticulously checking their surroundings, the actual distance to the village was close enough that they could reach it in less than a day if they rode at full speed.

As the two men began galloping, avoiding the barbarian scouts, they quickly started to see familiar territory.

The two of them were silent as they rode through the dark night.

Viktor was lost in thoughts about the future, while Lukovich was completely focused on riding his horse through the dark.

‘Wait, since when did he become such a good rider?’

Lukovich was quite shocked.

Viktor, who had never even mounted a horse until very recently, was now riding so comfortably that he could navigate the dark night path without any difficulty.

Riding at night was extremely dangerous.

It was hard to see what lay ahead, and if the horse suddenly veered off in the wrong direction and got caught on a tree, it could be disastrous.

Yet Viktor was riding wildly as if the path before him was clearly visible.

Finally, unable to bear it any longer, Lukovich spoke up.

“Um, Lord Viktor! I’m sorry, but the speed… it’s too fast!”

“Ah, I see. I apologize. Well, how’s this pace?”

“Much better. Thank you! How on earth did you become so good at riding? It’s hard to believe you just learned from me recently!”

Viktor tilted his head.

Indeed, now that he thought about it, though he had only learned to ride a short time ago, he could now control the horse without any discomfort.

No, it was more than that—he felt a sense of unity with the horse, as if they were one body.

‘Podaga, were you a more exceptional warhorse than I thought?’

He had heard that horses, depending on their bloodline, could communicate more easily with their masters and adapt faster.

Perhaps Podaga wasn’t just an ordinary horse but one of good lineage.

Viktor found himself wanting Podaga more and stroked the galloping horse’s mane.

Podaga seemed pleased and snorted roughly.

“Well, Lord Kobarov is a good rider too. I suppose I am his son after all.”

“No, it’s more than that… isn’t it dark around us? You’re amazing!”

‘Hmm, now that I think about it…’

Viktor realized something new.

The darkness around him wasn’t much of an obstacle!

As he began to focus on the need to move quickly, the dark path gradually became clearer to him.

The moonlight was rather faint, but his eyes didn’t miss even that small amount of light, utilizing it to the fullest.

‘This is strange, but is this body really human?’

It was such an unreasonable physical ability that he wondered if his mother, whom he had never seen, might actually have been a different species rather than human.

As they talked and slowed their pace, Lukovich also seemed to find his stability and began riding more skillfully.

“By the way.”

This time, Viktor was the one to speak.

“I haven’t asked until now, but how did you become a slave? How were you captured?”

It could have been a sensitive question, but Lukovich began to answer casually.

“That? I originally came to this area to buy fur from a city further north than here. But the price was higher than I expected, so I thought about finding a cheaper way and decided to visit a pioneer village directly.”

“Was it our village?”

“No. It was a village further up that no longer exists. This was about five years ago. I had finished the trade itself successfully and was on my way out when I was caught by Lord Kobarov with no way to escape.”

“Hmm… that must have been quite unfair.”

To arbitrarily capture and enslave a free merchant of the principality.

It was still an outrageous thing to think about.

Lord Kobarov was truly nothing short of a bandit knight.

“What? No, not at all. I actually didn’t have a permit. I started this business without a permit just to make a living… and when I finally could afford to get one, I found the cost a bit expensive. Hehe…”

“…”

It was a sad story.

Viktor wanted to ask how someone with such a long experience as a peddler could have been so stingy about the cost that he ended up in this situation, but he held back.

One shouldn’t poke at another’s pain.

The conversation died again, and they continued riding.

By the time darkness began to lift, and the surroundings were tinged with a dark blue light.

Viktor could see smoke visibly rising into the sky, curling upward even though it was still somewhat dark.

Lukovich pointed at the smoke and cried out in shock.

“L-Lord Viktor…! That, that…!”

“Hmm…”

The two men rode even faster.

After emerging from the edge of the forest and rushing without pause to a slightly elevated hill just in front of the village, they began to see the entire view of the village.

The village had already been reduced to ashes.