The Third Son of a Medieval Knight Family Chapter 2 - Prologue

“Viktor, were you chopping wood in the shed again?”

He looked at Igor.

Among his brothers, Igor was one of the few who showed any interest in Viktor.

Whether it was the composure that came with being the eldest son, or simply a way to keep tabs on an insignificant brother, Viktor honestly found Igor uncomfortable.

Having someone’s attention wasn’t always a good thing.

“Yes, brother. I just wanted to help the family in what little way I could…”

Igor clicked his tongue before continuing.

“Boy. I’ve told you to leave such tasks to the servants. Have you forgotten whose son you are?”

From the side, Viktor heard Nikita chime in.

“Leave him be, brother. I bet he’s just making a show of it. He’s probably getting restless being cooped up in the village.”

When Viktor turned to look, Nikita gave him a fierce smile.

“What are you looking at? Am I wrong? Stop overthinking things. If you’re the son of a warrior, act like one, you bastard.”

‘This guy has nothing but fighting in his head, as I’ve always thought.’

No doubt Nikita thought Viktor was making a show of wanting to join them in combat outside.

That was just like him.

He belonged to what this era considered “manly warriors” – the kind who found excitement in severing enemies’ heads and plundering other villages.

But that was far from the truth.

Of course, Viktor was well aware that family members excluded him from external activities, but chopping wood was merely a hobby, not some kind of demonstration.

He knew such behavior would only provoke these people further.

And honestly, he had no desire to participate in hunting or plundering outside.

When he was younger, he felt left out, but now he understood.

From what he’d heard, Lord Kobarov was doing things outside that were unbelievable for someone called a knight.

It was hard to tell how they were any different from the barbarians they spoke of!

They would roam the mountains for days hunting animals, and while they were at it, they’d capture other humans who were wandering around.

Whether the target was a barbarian, a traveler, or a merchant from the principality, they would strip them bare if they seemed like there would be no consequences.

They were nothing short of bandits.

They didn’t even make exceptions for people from the same principality, which nearly knocked him over with shock when he first heard about it.

When he saw them boasting that this was their natural “right,” he wondered what difference there was between these humans and the unassimilated tribes outside the principality.

Viktor quietly shook his head.

“Brother, it’s not like that.”

“What do you mean it’s not! If you want something, say it proudly!”

Even as Nikita flared up in anger, Viktor remained calm.

“Would you even listen if I said anything?”

“Are you a child?! If you’re denied, fight for it! A warrior should know how to seize what he wants with his own hands!”

“Brother, that attitude isn’t right. Maintain your dignity as a nobleman of the principality.”

Nikita’s temper flared, and he glared at Viktor with raised eyes.

Viktor stared back silently with his shadowed eyes.

His cold face, unreadable in what he was thinking, exuded an inexplicable pressure.

‘Damn, what kind of bastard…’

Always speaking like a stuffy priest, acting cold in a way unbefitting the bloodline of a warrior – Nikita instinctively felt repulsed by him.

“You insolent bastard, how dare you speak to your brother like—!”

“That’s enough, Nikita. What are you doing in front of Father?”

When Igor slammed his hand on the table to intervene, Nikita reluctantly turned his head away, though he was still seething.

Viktor quietly bowed his head.

“Tsk, tsk. Viktor’s not wrong. But I won’t forgive you for acting so impudently toward your brother.”

“Yes, I apologize.”

After Viktor apologized cleanly, Nikita nodded grudgingly.

Igor rubbed his forehead.

He could understand why Nikita disliked Viktor. That fellow was… somehow a strange anomaly who seemed miraculous to have been born into this family.

Yet there was also a clear reason why Nikita couldn’t act according to his temperament.

Nikita had inherited their father’s fiery disposition more than anyone else.

He was the type who would crack the whip on his brothers or anyone else if his gut told him to.

The reason such a person merely stopped at provocation was probably because Viktor was stronger than him.

Whatever had happened between the two brothers was something Nikita would never talk about, but it seemed certain that he had once tried to teach Viktor a lesson and ended up on the receiving end instead.

Even Igor himself had to assert his dominance over his brother several times before he became somewhat obedient.

But disliked or not, he was still a brother born from the same mother’s womb.

If Igor was to succeed his father in the future, bringing Nikita into the fold was essential.

‘The fourth and youngest are still young, so they don’t matter, but this one is the problem…’

Igor’s eyes gleamed.

It was actually Igor who had established the framework for half-excluding Viktor from the village.

Their father had been indifferent from the start, and the others hadn’t much liked the un-warrior-like Viktor from the beginning, so all it took was a gentle push.

Despite his reputation in the village, Viktor was someone to be wary of.

An oversized, powerful build, plus a mind sharp enough to associate with priests.

Others might think of Viktor as just a quiet man with a large frame, but in Igor’s eyes, he was dangerous.

Therefore, to inherit the territory in the future, he had to avoid giving him any grounds from the start.

Grounds to claim superiority.

****

Though he was drinking with his mouth, Igor’s eyes remained fixed on Viktor, causing him great discomfort.

‘Damn… did I eat too much meat?’

He didn’t think the earlier confrontation was the issue.

After all, Igor was the one who seemed to keep Nikita close but also strangely distant.

Then it must have been because of the meat.

‘But… I only ate what was placed in front of me. Is even that too much?’

Viktor felt wronged.

To be given dirty looks just for eating his portion.

This place was truly impossible to get attached to.

As if reading Viktor’s thoughts, Igor tore off a large chunk of bread and addressed him again.

“By the way… do you really not want to go outside?”

Viktor tensed at Igor’s subtle question.

This man had a snake-like, sinister quality and enjoyed speaking with hidden meanings.

There was no shortage of servants who had fallen for Igor’s smiling words and paid dearly for it.

“It would be a lie to say I don’t want to go out.”

As Viktor answered calmly on the surface, Igor’s eyes narrowed.

“Really…? So you were making a statement with that wood chopping after all?”

“What… that’s just something I do to pass the time.”

Viktor answered carefully.

“But brother, you know, I’m an adult now, and staying only in the village makes me feel… a bit self-conscious, to be honest.”

“Is that so? Well, you’ve never gone hunting outside even once, so I can understand why you’d be itching to go.”

Igor stroked his chin.

Though he appeared relaxed on the surface, Viktor could see he was quite displeased.

Viktor hurriedly continued.

“Well, honestly, I don’t know how you’ll take this, but rather than hunting, I’d like to follow the priest who’s coming to the village.”

“The priest? You want to follow the priest?”

Igor stopped stroking his chin at this unexpected statement.

“Are you saying you want to go to the monastery?”

Viktor shook his head.

“Not exactly, but I’d like to see… perhaps a larger city. I want to broaden my horizons.”

Based on the nobles he had met so far, a monastery would be no different from a prison.

Having to live piously and ascetically every day.

It would be natural for a priest, but nobles who valued living freely without self-restraint didn’t seem likely to favor such a place.

“Well, no fool would willingly walk into a monastery… I only asked because you follow the priests so closely.”

Igor nodded his head and continued.

“You must feel quite stifled. Born in this village and never having been outside.”

‘What is he getting at?’

Igor wasn’t the type to simply empathize with his situation.

Viktor was ready to throw his wine cup if Igor was about to criticize him for being the third son without a mother yet having the audacity to think about going outside.

Originally, with his memories from his past life, Viktor was considered a quiet, good-natured man by northern standards, but he was clearly an adult who had been raised with this place’s education.

While he had nothing to say about being ostracized from a distance, he had no intention of tolerating direct confrontation.

However, Igor came out with unexpected words.

“But you’re an adult now, and today’s harvest was quite substantial, so you’ll soon have an opportunity to go out.”

By harvest, he undoubtedly meant today’s plunder.

“Brother, what do you mean?”

“Today’s banquet is quite magnificent, isn’t it? What do you think is the reason?”

The surrounding atmosphere had already gone beyond boisterous to chaotic.

The massive bonfire in the middle of the banquet hall shot high into the sky, scattering sparks everywhere, and even in the dim surroundings, people were writhing about as if in the fire itself.

Igor moistened his throat with alcohol and lowered his voice slightly.

“Father seems to have caught someone quite significant during this patrol.”

“Hmm… did he capture a merchant from the principality?”

Igor’s face hardened at Viktor’s words.

“What nonsense are you talking about? Why would we capture a licensed merchant? Only vermin who wander around without permits.”

The “permit” mentioned here likely meant not having paid the taxes required to enter the territory.

Small peddlers or those without trading permits often didn’t pay taxes in such a barren village.

Even if it was positioned along a trade route, it was essentially a remote frontier among frontiers.

It was difficult enough just to visit in the first place.

Rather, in his opinion, it seemed more absurd to seek out people who hadn’t even visited the territory yet and strip them of their assets and bodies because they hadn’t paid taxes…

“I heard there was quite a large group roaming near the downstream of the Uley River. Father said it looked like a group of over 100 people.”

There were almost no groups in this area where many people traveled together.

There was hardly any benefit to traveling in groups.

With such a large group moving around, even animals would avoid them, making hunting difficult, and preparing meals for everyone would be a tremendous task.

“That’s suspicious, isn’t it? There’s no reason to travel like that around here.”

“Yes. Very suspicious indeed.”

Viktor racked his brain.

If they were talking about the downstream of the Uley River, from what he’d heard, it was a close place that could be reached in about two days from here.

They could be soldiers sent from another principality, but the family’s territory was located in the eastern part of their principality.

If that was the case, it was most likely they were barbarians.