He was a former nobleman.
He was born the third son of a marquis, and was raised up without much trouble. Because his elder brother inherited the estate, he was raised comparatively freely.
He had a limited talent for magic, but still studied diligently.
Until from one day onwards, he started to grow crooked.
While playing as a child with a toy as that had been given to him, it broke.
He thought he’d be scolded, but that didn’t happen. Instead, a new toy was given to him.
After a while, he lost interest in that toy and broke it on purpose.
And as he thought, instead of getting scolded he got another new toy.
His lessons were taught by a home tutor.
So that he’d not get upset, the tutor constantly praised him, and the boy believed him.
This state of affairs went on, and as no one ever challenged him in anything, he developed a baseless self-esteem.
His heart grew arrogant with the pampering and his ears wouldn’t hear anything but flattery. Knowing nothing of failure, he became overconfident in himself.
He found his pleasures in wasting money on extravagance, playing around with women, and harassing those weaker than him.
Eventually, he came to desire the marquis’s estate.
He started planning what he needed to do to get it.
He skillfully hid his crooked personality, and in other people’s eyes he was just a snob.
At the age of 20, he obtained the position of the feudal lord’s assistant.
Around the same time, a mysterious collaborator taught him a new power.
He already knew of the power of money, women, and authority. Now he also knew of the power of violence.
With enough compensation, it was simple.
Using his authority and assets, some treasure here, a jewel there, and a certain organization would sweep it all under the rug.
There was nothing that could pose a problem.
But one year ago, he tasted the flavor of his first failure.
The country had a monopoly on precious gems. So when anyone had questions or problems, they came to his office.
When a business contract caught his eye, he hid it in a boat with a strange shape. He then immediately went back to destroy the evidence.
And that’s when the failure happened.
The boat vanished.
When he next saw it, it was taking part in a famous local contest. That boat was floating in a place where it attracted the attention of the public.
He’d either get his hands on the boat or destroy it and the evidence with it.
But both attempts failed. The other party was more formidable than expected.
Failure tastes bitter.
The man swore revenge on the person who caused that bitterness. He didn’t think even a bit that the resentment was misplaced.
He soon found out about his nemesis’s movements. The other party was traveling together with a noble who was returning to his country.
The mysterious collaborator gave the man even more power to use.
With it, he aimed to take revenge on his nemesis.
The name of that man’s nemesis was Jin.
＊ ＊ ＊
The carriages continued on the sloped path after passing through the border fortifications.
“Once we pass through that valley over there, the road leads from this peninsula deeper into the continent.”
Elsa explained.
The road ran between tall cragged rocks, and the part where the road is its most narrow was coming up.
During the Great Magic War, spots like these were likely used to defend against the Devil race’s invasion.
That’s the last rough spot on the way, and the rest of the way the road is even and can be traveled with leisure, Elsa explained.
“What kind of city is Blue Land? I never went inside the walls, so please teach me.”,
Jin asked and Elsa replied,
“Blue Land is a Fort City. It’s the economic center of Egelia Kingdom.”
The lesson started.
Roads from Blue Land stretched to all directions, and the trade with the surrounding cities, towns, and villages was prosperous.
It was also the contact point of trade with Elias Kingdom, and the feudal lord Duke Blue was King Egelia’s cousin.
The surrounding land was divided into farmlands and ranches, governed by an Earl, and mines governed by another Earl.
The explanation ended with,
“I’m poor at exposition. But if there’s anything you’d like to know, just ask.”
Jin asked what was on his mind,
“Do you… know who these Earls are?”
Elsa immediately replied,
“The one governing the farmlands is Earl Kuzuma. Governing the mines is… If I remember right, it was Earl Guarana.”
It was as Jin had guessed. Well, he thought, as long as he didn’t show his face to Earl Guarana, things should work out.
At that moment, the carriage suddenly came to a stop. Jin was about to fall off his seat while he was lost in thought, but Reiko immediately caught Jin before he fell.
“What’s wrong?”
Elsa asked the coachman.
“Milady, looks like a it is a landslide. Seems it has blocked the road.”
“Eh?”
Elsa peeked out of the window, and indeed, there was a large boulder on the way.
Jin saw it too, and got off the carriage with Reiko.
From the next carriage, Reinhardt also got out and examined the boulder.
It was three meters tall and three meters wide. The road was also just about that wide, and the surrounding rock walls were approximately 20 meters tall.
Even if you wanted to move it, it didn’t look like there was a place to put it.
“That’s unfortunate.”
Reinhardt complained. Jin thought that he didn’t have a way to get rid of the stone either, and asked if Reiko had any ideas.
“Jin, I’ll show you what my golems can do!”
Reinhardt said and went to the back carriage where luggage was held.
“Activate!”
He spoke the Keyword.
The hood of the luggage carriage came off, and a human-shaped body woke up.
It was a jet black, two meter tall golem.
“Stand up, Schwarz Ritter!”
The golem slowly got off the carriage and stood up.
“Jin, this is my Schwarz Ritter. It’s an Artifact, but it still may not be a match for Miss Reiko…”
In the middle of Reinhardt’s speech, sounds of earth tremors could be heard from behind.
“What’s that!?”
Turning around, behind them in the middle of a cloud of dust they saw two golems. It appeared as if they had jumped off the cliffs from above.
A height of 20 meters is nothing to laugh at, so that meant they were rather advanced golems.
Suddenly the golems attacked the food carriage in the rear. With one blow the carriage was destroyed, and bits of food scattered around like droplets of water.
“What are you doing!”
Reinhardt turned back to Schwarz Ritter who was just standing around.
“Schwarz Ritter! Stop them!”
“Yes.”
After a brief reply, Schwarz Ritter went to face the two golems.
The enemy golems were about as tall as Schwarz Ritter, and their color was a dull silver. But Jin was very familiar with that appearance.
“Aren’t those…”
They were the same kind of golems that attacked during tax collection back in Kaina Village. But compared to those, the power and movements of these golems was on a different level.
But Reinhardt’s Schwarz Ritter wasn’t just an ordinary golem either.
With the flexibility granted by his capability for autonomous movements, he was able to take on the two golems one at a time.
First he circled behind one of them and gave it a strong kick. That golem was blown off into the distance away from the carriages.
Schwarz Ritter approached the remaining golem, who reached out with both hands to grab him.
Schwarz Ritter sidestepped the grab and circled around to grab the golem from behind, and just like that lifted it above his head.
“Right on, now hurl it away!”
Schwarz Ritter didn’t need to wait for Reinhardt’s instructions, and was already taking aim at the rapidly approaching remaining golem. He flung the one he had grabbed at the other.
Jin saw the fighting, and as his first priority was to ensure his and Elsa’s safety, he ordered Reiko to focus on defense unless she herself was in danger.