The Third Son of a Medieval Knight Family Chapter 21 - Knight of the Principality (7)

Everyone in the area murmured as they stared at Viktor.

His massive build, well-equipped armor, and flowing surcoat.

The large knight mounted on an even larger horse emanated a terrifying aura.

Without a helmet, his handsome face was clearly visible, and his shadowed eyes seemed to blaze with fire.

A knight straight out of an epic!

Even the barbarians seemed bewildered, halting their horses and beginning to observe Viktor.

Viktor calmly began to scan both the barbarians and the mercenaries.

His appearance was so magnificent that the mercenaries couldn’t help but let out sounds of admiration.

Beside him, Lukovich quietly muttered.

“If only you hadn’t thrown that mace, you would have looked truly magnificent…”

Lukovich had seen it clearly.

The sight of Viktor riding beside him, drawing his mace, and hurling it without warning, causing the chest of the barbarian warrior who was hit to cave in as he flew into the air!

That was closer to a monster than a heroic knight’s feat.

While Lukovich was having these disrespectful thoughts, Viktor slowly opened his mouth.

“Withdraw.”

As his low, cold voice echoed, a barbarian warrior shouted.

“^$#…How dare…@%!”

‘Hard to understand… where on earth are they from?’

The barbarians he had met previously could communicate well enough to converse, but these ones before him were speaking with an even heavier dialect.

‘Are they from further east?’

Unless they were from beyond the eastern edge of Uley, it didn’t make sense.

While Viktor was momentarily lost in thought, one of the barbarians drew a bow from behind, and before anyone could stop him, shot an arrow toward Viktor.

Tick!

Reflexively raising his hand to deflect the arrow, Viktor’s eyes gleamed.

‘The draw strength is weak. At this level, I could take it directly with my body without issue.’

However, the surrounding crowd erupted into even more commotion, as if they had seen a monster.

“What kind of knight is he?! He deflected an arrow with his bare hand!”

“I don’t know either! But one thing’s for sure! The knight isn’t on their side!”

That was one of the frightening aspects of knights.

Armored with solid plate and equipped with weapons, a knight was difficult to injure under normal circumstances.

Of course, knights as exceptional as the one before them, who could casually deflect arrows, were rare.

Maksim, admiring yet feeling hopeful, raised his voice.

“Support the knight!”

Waaaah!

As the mercenaries suddenly reversed course, breaking formation and charging, the barbarians visibly faltered.

‘Now’s the chance.’

Targeting the enemy when they’re weakened was battlefield common sense!

Viktor drew the battle axe strapped to his back and charged toward the barbarians.

Whoosh-!

“Aaaagh!”

A warrior who instinctively tried to block the axe was torn apart along with his sword.

Though Viktor wielded the two-handed battle axe with just one hand, its power was more devastating than what most warriors could muster with their full strength.

Sprayed with a fountain of blood, Viktor pressed forward even faster.

Then, firmly gripping his horse with his thighs to stabilize himself, he used his waist strength to swing the axe in a wide horizontal arc.

Whooooosh-!

With a chilling sound, three warriors around Viktor collapsed, spewing blood before they could do anything.

Neither shields nor armor were effective against the terrifying force behind the heavy axe.

The one who appeared to be the leader of the group urgently shouted.

“$^&*…don’t! Don’t engage…#$%”

It seemed to mean something like don’t directly engage with Viktor and evade instead.

Viktor paid no attention and swung his axe again.

One warrior performed an impressive maneuver, diving beneath a horse’s belly as if falling, but it was useless.

The axe slicing through the air unbelievably changed direction mid-swing.

The handle bent as if about to break, and the axe blade bisected both horse and warrior.

Splurt!

As blood sprayed, the barbarian warriors now screamed in terror.

“Retreat! Retreat!!”

Finally, with clearly understandable words, the enemies began to flee as if their tails were on fire.

“Where do you think you’re going, you bastards!”

As the mercenaries, with excited faces, tried to chase after them, unwilling to let them escape easily, Viktor spoke.

“Don’t pursue them.”

At his words, all the mercenaries instantly halted.

Viktor was momentarily bewildered.

‘Wait, what? They’re quite obedient.’

But anyone present would have reacted the same way.

Nobody in that place would dare disobey the words of a knight who had appeared suddenly and slaughtered the barbarians.

The mercenaries looked up at the knight with tense expressions, like disciplined soldiers.

The knight, covered in blood and holding a massive battle axe with one hand, was honestly… terrifying enough to make one wet themselves.

****

“…”

“…”

As everyone stared at him without saying a word, Viktor unconsciously spoke again.

“It would be difficult to chase after mounted men. Don’t push yourselves.”

“Hmm… that’s true.”

“Indeed it is.”

At his words, the mercenaries nodded in understanding.

Indeed, none of them were on horseback.

Running after them would have been futile.

From among these mercenaries, one man darted forward like an arrow and bowed his head to Viktor.

“Thank you so much, Sir Knight! We’re alive thanks to you!”

Maksim bowed his head desperately, concealing his heart-pounding nervousness.

‘You stupid bastards, do you know who you’re standing before?!’

As the mercenaries stared blankly up at the knight, Maksim had to restrain himself from wanting to break their necks right there.

Nobles didn’t like commoners holding their heads high.

Knights were even worse.

These war machines could use their terrifying power without hesitation.

If he was displeased, it wouldn’t be strange at all if he turned his weapon on everyone present.

As Maksim bowed his head and desperately signaled with his eyes, the other mercenaries began to bow one by one.

“Thank you so much, Sir Knight!”

“We will never forget this debt of gratitude for as long as we live!”

Viktor looked at them with bewildered eyes, then turned back to Maksim.

“Are you their leader?”

“Yes, that’s right! Though it’s nothing special, I run a small mercenary company.”

Even the leader of a small mercenary company would typically be more confident.

Even when facing knights or nobles, they needed to maintain some level of pride for their subordinates to trust and follow them.

But Maksim couldn’t bring himself to act arrogantly before this knight.

Of course, there was gratitude for the help, but the main reason was that impossible strength.

Few mercenaries could act impudently before a knight who could cleave a person in half.

“I see. What’s your name?”

“Maksim, sir!”

“Very well, Maksim. What were you doing here?”

“We were escorting a client to Permikoff. But these damn barbarian bastards vilely attacked us on the highway…”

As Maksim answered carefully with his hands politely clasped in front, the novice mercenaries looked at him in surprise.

Maksim, a hardened and fierce typical northern mercenary, had a foul mouth and even rougher hands.

When rookies made mistakes, they would be cursed along with their parents and even nonexistent children, and if they were unlucky, they might even be tied up and thoroughly stomped on.

But the veteran mercenaries nodded as if this was natural.

Indeed, their captain was an experienced, intelligent, and reliable mercenary.

There was no point in maintaining pride before such a knight – it would only result in disaster.

Maksim was simply being as wise as possible.

‘What luck!’

Viktor silently rejoiced at Maksim’s words.

He had been planning to enter the city anyway, and now he had met people who could vouch for his identity.

Though entering alone wouldn’t have been a problem, it was better to be accompanied by others.

Viktor wiped the blood from his face and asked Maksim.

“You must have had a difficult time. So, is that man your client?”

Seeing that Viktor appeared to be in a good mood, Maksim swallowed a sigh of relief and nodded vigorously.

“Yes, we were escorting that merchant’s caravan. Master Bostov! It’s all over now!”

The merchant called Bostov was still trembling beside the wagon with his ears covered.

He must have been terribly frightened.

Hearing his name called, the merchant cautiously raised his head to assess the situation, then carefully approached at Maksim’s gesture.

“Sir, this knight saved us all.”

“Ah, may God’s blessing be with you! How can I ever repay such a debt of gratitude…!”

Bostov immediately burst into tears as he spoke.

Seeing a grown man, and moreover a seemingly experienced merchant, shed tears, Viktor was taken aback but maintained a calm demeanor.

“Bostov, was it? May God’s blessing be with you as well. The enemies have retreated, so dry your tears and tell me. Who are you and what are you doing here?”

‘A true nobleman indeed.’

Bostov wiped away his tears and nodded.

Though there was a slight eastern accent, it was the clean intonation used by nobles of the principality. Moreover, not only his manner of speech but also the formality showed he was certainly a well-educated knight.

‘I wonder how such a person came all the way here with just one attendant…’

Bostov quietly lit up his eyes.

The principality was already in a chaotic situation.

A well-trained knight with formidable strength was always welcome.

Especially one who seemed to lack backing!

“Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Bostov of House Smolen. Though unworthy, I am a merchant belonging to the city’s veche. I had come out briefly on some business nearby and met with this great misfortune… but I am truly delighted to have made such a precious acquaintance arranged by God himself!”

His verbose yet elegant speech and refined manner.

Bostov was a merchant in name only, essentially no different from a noble.

‘Well… they say merchants in cities behave like nobles, don’t they?’

He wasn’t formally recognized as a noble by the Grand Prince, but cities had their own rules.

Cities possessed self-governance rights, and Viktor had heard that the veche, a council of city nobles, dominated politics, so he wasn’t surprised.

“Viktor of House Kobarov. I’m from a humble house in the east, so you probably won’t know it.”

“Hahaha, a house that produced such an excellent knight as you must undoubtedly be a great house, even without my having heard of it. More importantly, what do you say? Would you honor me by entering the city together? I would very much like to repay you.”

As Bostov skillfully glossed over the family talk and made his proposal, Viktor nodded.

It was exactly what he had wanted.

‘With the endorsement of a merchant belonging to the veche, it will be easier to find work in the city.’

“That sounds good. I was heading to the city anyway. Perhaps I can hear some of your stories on the way. The kind that might help a country bumpkin like me.”

“Pfft-!”

“Ah, no… Sir Viktor. Please refrain from such jokes… we have never harbored such impure thoughts!”

Maksim choked as if something had gone down the wrong way, and Bostov turned pale, waving his hands.

Viktor’s attempt at lightening the mood didn’t seem to be very funny.

As the master became unusually downcast, Lukovich inwardly muttered.

‘No matter what you say, it’s not going to be funny coming from a knight covered in blood…’