The Third Son of a Medieval Knight Family Chapter 15 - Knight of the Principality

“I-I’m so sorry…”

Lukovich repeatedly bowed his head in apology.

Though he had been quite confident when they first set out, now his shoulders slumped in defeat.

“Hmm, can’t be helped.”

Viktor scratched his head.

Looking around, there was nothing but trees, trees, and more trees.

The only reason he wasn’t completely terrified in the midst of this dense forest was that there seemed to be a path worn down by occasional travelers, suggesting they weren’t entirely alone in these woods.

“I thought this area would be fine since I’d been here once before… but it’s changed too much.”

“Don’t worry about it. Fortunately, we’ve at least found a place with a path.”

Viktor meant it as a joke, but Lukovich’s face turned ashen.

‘Where on earth are we…’

Leaving Lukovich to pull at his hair, Viktor continued pondering their situation.

At first, things had gone well—they’d headed east, crossed the steppe, and then turned north.

The path north had been clear, following markers left by fur traders, making the journey smooth and easy.

But then, at some point, the markers disappeared, and that’s when their troubles began.

-There’s a fork in the road.

-According to my memory, if we go this way, we’ll definitely reach a temporary trading post for furs!

-…There’s nothing here.

-Ah, I might have gotten confused. This time I’m certain! If we go this way…!

-…There’s nothing but forest.

-This can’t be right…!

Unfortunately, Lukovich’s guidance had been utterly useless since then.

Trying to navigate this vast forest with nothing but outdated memories was far too reckless.

‘If only we could come across someone to ask for directions.’

But the surroundings were completely silent.

Since fleeing the village, they hadn’t encountered a single person, not even a shadow of one.

The northern region of the principality was that vast and sparsely populated.

Viktor sighed and brought his horse to a halt.

The sun was already setting.

“We should rest for a while.”

“Yes. I’ll look for a suitable place to set up camp.”

With his face burning from embarrassment, Lukovich quickly ran off to find a campsite.

Viktor smiled slightly watching his retreating figure, then dismounted to check their supplies.

They hadn’t brought much food to begin with, and their provisions were starting to run low.

‘I’ll have to start hunting tomorrow.’

Food wasn’t the only thing they lacked.

Though water was fortunately plentiful, they were short on camping supplies and even vinegar for maintaining armor. Most importantly, they needed proper weapons.

Viktor drew the curved sword tucked at his waist—a weapon he’d taken from a barbarian warrior.

Not only was the blade in poor condition, but it seemed to be made of low-quality iron, making it weak.

‘And this belonged to their leader, no less…’

Viktor frowned in displeasure.

Beyond the poor quality of the weapon, he didn’t know how to properly wield such a curved sword.

Each weapon required its own fighting technique.

Having never received proper training, Viktor preferred axes or blunt weapons that were easier to handle.

He returned the curved sword to its sheath and fingered the leather pouch tucked away inside his clothes, lost in thought.

‘With the money I have… I should be able to commission a decent weapon and even get a few spares.’

When he had shown the gold coins to Lukovich recently, the experienced peddler had been quite surprised.

‘My goodness… these are…!’

‘Is this your first time seeing gold coins?’

‘Though I was a humble peddler, I have seen gold coins before. But these are no ordinary coins. They’re not something you’d easily find in the countryside.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘These aren’t gold coins issued by the principality. See the hammer mark on the back? That’s proof they were minted by dwarves.’

‘Dwarves?’

‘Yes. If you travel past the principality and head toward the lower parts of the Western Empire, there’s a large peninsula where dwarves are said to live. The currency they produce is known to be impossible to counterfeit. From what I know, these coins are accepted in almost every country and are highly valued.’

‘So you primarily traded with dwarf coins?’

‘What? Hahaha, Lord Viktor. You overestimate me. Dwarf coins are mainly handled by large merchant companies or high-ranking nobles. Peddlers like me mostly used principality coins or bartered. Ah, please don’t misunderstand. I’ve seen them in person before, so I know what they look like! Please believe me!’

‘…I didn’t say anything.’

Ending his reminiscence, Viktor closed his garment and patted his chest.

A satisfying feeling even without eating!

He still wondered why Lord Kobarov had kept this precious money in the storehouse rather than a private location known only to himself, but that was all in the past now.

The current owner of this money was Viktor himself.

‘By the way… he’s taking quite a while.’

The sun had almost set, and darkness was falling, but Lukovich, who had gone to find a suitable camping spot, had not returned.

“Lukovich-!”

Viktor called out loudly, but only echoes returned; there was no sign of the man.

‘Should I go look for him?’

An ordinary noble would have been furious by now, ready to use the whip, but Viktor wasn’t particularly concerned.

By the standards of this era, he was a lenient nobleman.

In his mind, beating someone for being a little late seemed more strange.

Viktor stroked the back of his horse, Podaga, once, then slowly began to ride in the direction Lukovich had disappeared.

****

Lukovich squeezed his eyes shut.

Hisssss-!

A massive snake, its mouth wide open, had approached right up to his face and begun making a terrifying sound.

As the terrible smell and fear washed over him like a wave, he instinctively swung the club he was holding.

Thwack!

Hit by the clumsy swing, the snake seemed to become even more enraged and lunged forward with its fangs bared, ready to bite through Lukovich’s head.

That’s when it happened.

Whoosh!

With a sound of slicing through leather far more powerful than before, the snake’s head went flying.

“What are you doing here?”

“L-Lord Viktor! Thank you! Thank you so much!”

Lukovich ran to him like a rolling ball, tears welling in his eyes.

Viktor looked at the snake, which was still writhing around despite having lost its head.

The snake was enormous.

Almost 8 meters long, and so thick that it appeared larger than the thigh of an average adult man.

“I didn’t know such large snakes lived in these parts.”

As Viktor muttered, recalling nature documentaries he’d watched in his previous life, Lukovich quickly replied.

“That’s a Steel Snake. God in heaven, mercy… to have encountered a real Steel Snake and survived!”

“I’ve never heard of it.”

“You’ve never heard of the Steel Snake?”

Lukovich leaned against a nearby tree to stand up, then quickly began scanning their surroundings.

“How strange. I thought every child in the principality would have grown up hearing stories about the Steel Snake…”

“Is it a famous tale among nobles as well?”

“Well… that I’m not… but I’m sure all noble lords have heard of it at least once. That snake is a familiar of witches, after all.”

Viktor looked at Lukovich with a start.

Lukovich wasn’t joking; he was speaking with complete seriousness.

“To think we’d encounter a witch’s snake in these mountains… Lord Viktor, we must leave immediately. There’s nothing good that can come from crossing paths with a witch!”

“Calm down, Lukovich. The snake is already dead.”

The snake, its head blown apart, was still twitching and moving.

Lukovich, watching with a disgusted expression, continued with disbelief.

“I’ve heard that Steel Snakes have skin so hard that even blades can’t pierce them… how did you kill it?”

“I punched it.”

“?”

Lukovich, who had unconsciously given Viktor a look of disbelief, shook his head.

‘He must be joking.’

He was well aware of his master’s great strength by now, but this still seemed too far-fetched.

‘I’ve heard its skin is harder than steel…’

After all, when he had struck it with his club, the snake hadn’t even flinched.

“…”

“…”

“…Really?”

“Why would I lie about that?”

When Lukovich looked stunned, Viktor calmly asked him a question.

“By the way, where’s your horse?”

“Ah! Well… when that snake suddenly appeared, my horse got startled and threw me off! I think it ran away somewhere…”

Viktor nodded.

“Let’s find the horse first. And as we go, explain what you know about witches.”

****

Witches.

Wicked beings who worship heretical gods, practice dark magic, and conspire with barbarians.

That was roughly what Viktor had heard about witches as a child.

The priests would denounce the dangers of witches and their evil rituals, spittle flying from their mouths.

Young Viktor had thought,

‘Are they priests of indigenous beliefs displaced by the Orthodox Church?’

Of course, he never dared to voice this thought.

If he had, he would have lost his chance to hear more stories about the world from the priests.

‘My family rarely spoke of witches.’

The Kobarov family had not yet fully assimilated into the faith.

They still maintained some of the customs and traditions unique to the northern region.

Perhaps for this reason, family members didn’t like to talk about witches, since priests would jump in fright and be horrified when the topic arose.

Still, from young Viktor’s perspective, family members didn’t seem to dislike witches either.

So he had always been curious about who these people actually were…

“…and that’s how much witches love young girls! I’ve heard some witches sneak into villages at night to steal girls and use them as food. And in some evil villages, people deliberately offer girl children to witches, asking for blessings of good harvest… truly unforgivable acts!”

Lukovich appeared to be more devout than Viktor had thought.

He was earnestly telling what sounded like folk tales suitable for village children, passionately insisting on how witches were cursed beings and how associating with them was blasphemous.

Of course, from Viktor’s perspective, Lukovich’s explanations—despite his experience as a peddler—seemed excessively fanciful and amateurish when it came to theology.

Still, seeing how fervently he spoke, it was obvious he would be terrified if they actually encountered a witch.

Viktor raised his hand to interrupt him.

“So… why are you stopping?”

“I think I see your horse over there.”

“Ah! You stupid foal! Finally found you. I’ll bring it right away, sir.”

As Lukovich stopped his interesting but nutrient-free talk and ran toward the horse, Viktor crossed his arms.

In the distance, a horse was wandering around unsteadily.

The forest was already shrouded in darkness, but the stars in the sky, and particularly the full moon, were casting an unusually bright light upon the earth.

The horse wandering through the strangely bright forest almost looked dreamlike.

Viktor narrowed his eyes.

‘That horse… something’s not right.’

Viktor’s exceptional vision could easily detect something wrong with the horse’s eyes.

Despite the considerable distance, the staggering horse’s eyes were fixed precisely on Viktor.

As the horse’s eyes, which had been staring in their direction, dilated and the pupils began to roll unnaturally, Viktor instinctively realized.

Those weren’t the eyes of a horse, but human eyes.