The Third Son of a Medieval Knight Family Chapter 8 - Prologue (7)

“…and that’s how other principalities settled below our Ruth Principality. And even further south, the old empire still boasts its might.”

Viktor was slowly guiding his horse.

Four days had passed since he began patrolling after returning to the village for resupply, but there had been no sign of enemies anywhere.

He’d considered venturing further, but they had already traveled quite far from the village.

The experienced hunters beside him had also advised that going any farther would be dangerous, so they decided to explore the surrounding area slowly for now.

Beside Viktor, Lukovich was eagerly satisfying his curiosity.

Lukovich, once an experienced peddler, possessed more diverse knowledge than expected.

Some might dismiss such knowledge as trivial, but to Viktor, it was as precious as treasure.

What was where, what was famous there, and how to get there…

Though this information wasn’t precise and was generally vague, it was certainly better than nothing.

This was an era without proper maps, let alone compasses.

Any knowledge was absolutely beneficial.

‘I can’t believe I’ve lived here since birth only to hear about these things now.’

The villagers were even more ignorant than Viktor, and those who did possess some information were unwilling to share it.

Such people were usually close to Lord Kobarov or members of the family, so Viktor couldn’t do much about it.

There was no library in the village, and books were harder to find than gold.

The priests who occasionally visited were somewhat favorable toward Viktor, so he had to content himself with the scraps of information that fell from their lips, but now those days were over.

Viktor could feel his fondness for Lukovich rising rapidly.

‘I must learn everything I can from this man.’

“So to summarize, there are several small principalities below ours, and below them is a huge country called the old empire? And to the east, there are unexplored lands and barbarian tribes stretching out?”

“Exactly right!”

“Then what about the west and north? I’ve heard there’s also an empire to the west?”

“Haha, you’re well-informed. I haven’t been to the west myself, but I’ve heard they trade quite actively with us. They say half of the principality’s goods come from the old empire, and half from the western empire.”

“I see… But why didn’t you trade with the west?”

“Well… it wasn’t my specialty? Only large merchants can trade in all directions. Small peddlers like me usually developed one or two trade routes and stuck to them.”

Viktor nodded.

According to the priests, the western empire was a place where wars erupted daily and people died constantly, and although they were brothers of the same faith, many had strayed from the right path, making it a regrettable neighborhood.

But from what he was hearing now, the western empire seemed to be resource-rich with good weather, and the principality actually depended on food and horses imported from there.

It seemed likely that, just like the Catholic Church and Orthodox Church from his previous life, there were subtle conflicts among the priests.

Otherwise, there would have been no need to specifically point out only the negative aspects.

‘I’ll need to be more discerning about what the priests say from now on.’

This was why having more information was always better.

With the experience from his previous life, Viktor never blindly trusted or naively believed in a single source of information.

Even now, while Lukovich’s words were helpful, he understood they weren’t perfect and was filtering them appropriately.

How much time had passed as they conversed and walked?

Finally, when they reached the summit of the hill they’d been aiming for, the view opened up dramatically.

“My God…”

“Holy shit…!”

Near the horizon below the hill, an enormous number of people began to appear.

Viktor’s face hardened.

“Is that them…!”

The enemies had approached close enough to encounter their scouting party.

Imagining he could smell the metallic scent of blood at the tip of his nose, Viktor unconsciously wiped it.

War was approaching.

****

“We need to report this immediately!”

As one hunter urgently stated, Viktor waved his hand.

“That’s true. But we also need people to keep watching them… How about splitting our numbers? We could send one person back and have three of us keep watch.”

“Hmm… sending someone alone might be risky if they encounter wild animals while riding. How about two?”

Lukovich carefully suggested, trying not to offend Viktor’s sensibilities.

Adding comments to a noble’s words was always a nerve-wracking affair.

Viktor accepted his suggestion without much deliberation and with good cheer.

“You’re right, the distance to the village is considerable, and setting up camp alone would be difficult. Thank you for the advice.”

Lukovich breathed a sigh of relief.

He knew that Viktor was a generous noble, but still, offering him suggestions was incredibly tense.

It wasn’t just the difference in status, but also his imposing physique and intimidating aura that made him difficult to approach casually.

“Haha… it’s nothing. If you’ll entrust me with the task, I’ll report this as quickly as possible.”

“No, you’ll stay with me. We’ll send those fellows.”

“Ah… understood?”

‘What’s this about?’

Lukovich felt a strange sense of dissonance but couldn’t pinpoint what it was.

Viktor smiled good-naturedly and continued.

“With those fellows, I’d be too bored for words. Besides, we’ll just be observing from a distance and can flee if necessary, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Oh, no! Surely you don’t think I was trying to run away out of fear? I, Lukovich, am not such a coward!”

As Lukovich vigorously waved his hands and became serious, the role assignments were neatly settled.

****

After the two hunters had left to report, vanishing into the distance.

Viktor stroked the blade of his axe and addressed Lukovich.

“Lukovich. Do you know why I wanted just the two of us to remain?”

The axe blade seemed to gleam ominously.

Lukovich turned pale and cried out.

“Don’t tell me…! Are you going to kill me because you don’t like me? Lord Viktor, if I’ve been presumptuous, please forgive me!”

Watching Lukovich prostrate himself as if sprung by a coil, Viktor spoke with a flat voice.

“…It’s nothing like that, so get up.”

“Huh…? Then why the axe…?”

Looking at Lukovich, who was cautiously raising his head to glance his way, Viktor said with a composed expression.

“What did you think of those two?”

“Those two…? Well, they didn’t talk much, but they did what needed to be done. They seemed like experienced soldiers to me?”

“Yes… they seemed like experienced soldiers, you say?”

Lukovich stood up unsteadily, watching Viktor cautiously.

“Don’t you find that part a bit strange?”

“Pardon? Well… I was chosen because of my experience as a peddler, but weren’t they elite soldiers selected to guard you, Lord Viktor? I don’t see anything particularly strange…”

Viktor shook his head slightly.

“That could be the case. But you see, those men are quiet, too quiet.”

The people in the village where Viktor had been born and raised, regardless of rank, were all macho, so-called “real men.”

While it was natural to be differential to superiors in a system where social hierarchy was firmly established, even within that framework, people would show their boisterous northern temperament once they became somewhat familiar.

Lukovich too, though cautious, was a typical northerner.

Even while trembling, he said what needed to be said.

In the north, being taciturn was not considered a particularly good virtue.

Of course, a man should have a certain weight to him, but nonetheless, a man with few words was likely to be treated as unmanly unless he was a priest or monk performing a vow of silence.

Look at Viktor himself—how much gossip had he endured simply because he didn’t participate in trivial vulgar jokes?

‘If even direct family members behave this way, how could hunters remain so tight-lipped and endure? That’s not like the villagers I know.’

Though Viktor had initially liked the quiet hunters, as time passed, he couldn’t help but feel something was strange.

They were quiet, too quiet!

Viktor had been consistently friendly, so typical northern warriors would have shared at least two or three boastful battle stories by now, but they were abnormally tight-lipped.

“What do you think? Isn’t it strange?”

“Now that you mention it… it does seem odd.”

By now, Lukovich was also deep in thought with quite a serious expression.

‘These guys do seem different from the village men I’ve met so far…’

Of course, suspecting something merely because someone was quiet would be unreasonable.

But Viktor didn’t choose to ignore even small details.

If the situation wasn’t critical, he might have let it go, but staying vigilant cost him nothing.

Having made up his mind, Viktor became even more careful around them.

Whatever their intentions, since he had the intuition that something wasn’t right, there was no need to show his vulnerabilities.

Additionally, Igor’s inexplicable kindness after their previously cold relationship also weighed on his mind.

His instinct was whispering to be cautious.

‘Igor… whatever you’re thinking, if you come after me, I’ll make you regret it.’

Viktor’s eyes began to gleam intensely.

****

“There’s no need to stay with suspicious men like them. That’s why I sent only them.”

“…Lord Viktor. Then why did you keep me? Shouldn’t I be more suspicious, being nothing but a rootless slave compared to them?”

After the words left his mouth, Lukovich began to regret them intensely.

‘Damn this loose tongue of mine!’

But curiosity was curiosity.

Why had Viktor kept him behind?

“Lukovich, I trust you.”

“…!!”

Viktor smiled.

“I have no proof… well, let’s say the conversations we’ve shared are my evidence of trust. If you betray me, that too can’t be helped. It would simply mean I misjudged you.”

‘Ahhh…!’

Lukovich found himself instinctively dropping to his knees.

This man was on a completely different level from the other members of House Kobarov he had met.

‘Is this what true noble dignity is…!’

If Viktor had been suspicious, in this remote area with no witnesses, he could have cut him down and no one would have said anything.

After all, he was merely a kidnapped slave.

Lukovich swore with tears in his eyes.

“I will serve you with all my loyalty…!”

“No, loyalty is a bit… isn’t Lord Kobarov your master?”

Viktor raised him up, looking slightly bemused.

Lukovich was moved once again and made a vow.

A true northern man should be willing to die for someone who trusted him!

However, if Lukovich had known Viktor’s true thoughts, his feelings might have been somewhat different.

‘He seems experienced and useful, so I’ll keep him by my side for now. If he turns out to be suspicious, I can always get rid of him later.’

Viktor didn’t particularly trust Lukovich.

Of course, he wasn’t suspicious of him either, but how much could you trust someone you had just met?

Viktor wasn’t naive enough to trust people so easily.

“Come, come. More importantly, look at that. How long do you think it will take for that army to reach here?”

“Ah! Yes, just a moment please!”

Lukovich hurried to examine the enemy formation.

“Hmm… there are a significant number of enemies. Even though they seem quite far away, we can see them clearly from here. I don’t know this area in detail, but I’d say they’ll arrive in at least a day.”

“A day…”

“We still have some time, but they’ll deploy scouts too, so we might encounter them soon.”

“Hmm… do we need to engage with them? It would be better to keep our distance and withdraw.”

Lukovich’s expression brightened as he nodded.

If they had to fight, that would be unavoidable, but there was no need to take unnecessary risks.

‘Dying here would be a dog’s death.’

Fortunately, Viktor wasn’t a war maniac who craved military achievements or needed to fight to feel satisfied.

They began preparing to move while keeping their eyes on the gradually approaching army.