“What are you doing? We have to go in!”
“Wait a bit. I have to prepare myself.”
“What’s the fuss? You are acting as if you are going to fight a dragon.”
“That would actually make me feel more comfortable.”
Lyla pushed Zich from behind. Zich resisted slightly, but in the end, he walked begrudgingly toward the city.
“Hans.”
“Yes!”
“You take the lead since we’ve come back to your hometown.”
“Isn’t this place also your hometown too, Sir Zich?”
“Yes, it’s also my hometown which I have absolutely no good memories of. Stop saying useless things and take the lead.”
Like that, the party passed through the castle’s gates. The guards didn’t appear to recognize Zich or Hans. Even if he had been outcasted, Zich was once the traditional heir of the Count and Hans was also been a servant who resided mostly in the mansion. They weren’t existences that a guard at the end of the social ladder would recognize.
After everyone entered the city, the party made three different responses: Hans appeared reminiscent, the others looked curious since they heard that this place was Zich and Hans’ hometown, and finally, there was Zich who looked like he had eaten shit. Finally, the party first got a lodging place to stay in. They each went into their individual rooms, and Zich lay on his bed and lifted Windur.
“Point to the right direction,” Zich growled while baring his teeth. If Hans or Snoc had seen this expression, their bodies would’ve immediately frozen in response, but this blackmail did not faze the one Zich was addressing.
Ssssssst. Windur’s blade pointed in one direction. Zich sighed.
‘Why is it there of all places?’ Of course, Zich knew where Windur was pointing. It was the place he had lived in until he came out to the world: Steelwall Mansion—the place where Count Steelwall and his family lived. Zich scratched his head and calmed his mind.
‘Fine. I should just go while I am at it.’ It wasn’t like he was scared. He just didn’t want to go because of all the annoying things he remembered. ‘Should I flip that place upside down again since I am going there any?’ Zich thought of things that would have probably made everyone at Steelwall foam at the mouth.
Eventually, Zich got up from his bed after hardening his resolve to return to the Steelwalls’ mansion. He thought he should assess the city’s atmosphere first and left the lodging and headed to the streets. Although he had spent his childhood in this city, it was all very unfamiliar to him. It was because he had never gone out to explore the city since all he did was train to get acknowledged by his parents.
‘The city is actually put together pretty well.’
Violsa was a place that could be called a central city for not only the Steelwall Estate, but the estates in the surroundings. There were some rough, sturdy look spots as expected of a border city, but there were also places that looked elegant. Zich wandered aimlessly and headed toward a nightlife district. True to its name, even though the sun had set, the district was still lively and bright, and fire lamps that stores had placed in front of their doors lit up the streets.
Zich was looking around his surroundings when he heard a loud clang. Something sharp broke in a shop a bit of a distance away.
‘Is it a fight?’ There was no way Zich would miss an entertaining sight like that. Like a dog finding a fallen piece of meat, he hurried to the place where he heard the noise. He soon arrived in front of a considerably luxurious and large store that clearly looked like a place that high-class people visited.
‘Oh, are rich guys going at it?’ Due to concerns like saving face or their opponent’s strengths, rich people hardly engaged in physical fights. Of course, it still happened occasionally like the scene in front of him.
‘Fights between rich guys have their own charm too.’ Zich chuckled to himself and approached the store.
Clack! Some people suddenly opened the door and came outside.
‘Huh? Those guys are…?’ Two people with light clothing and swords on their waist stood in front of the store’s entrance like they were guarding it. It seemed they were the subordinates of the guy making a commotion inside the store. ‘They are knights.’ The emblems on their chest clearly showed that they were members of the elite Steel Spear Order of Knights. There weren’t many people that the knights from the Steel Spear Order would personally guard. As a man’s shouting flowed out of the store, Zich smirked. He realized who was in there. More onlookers began to gather from the commotion and stared at the store curiously. Fights tended to be bad for businesses, but for completely unrelated bystanders, they were simply interesting events. Yet, no one could hastily approach the store because of the two knights guarding the door. No one in this city had a higher status than Count Steelwall, so everyone could only murmur as they surrounded the store.
“Again?”
“What is going to be the Steelwalls’ future…?”
Although they couldn’t see what exactly was going on, the onlookers seemed to easily guess what was going on, as if this sort of commotion was a common occurrence. With an excited and gleeful heart, Zich pushed past the onlookers and approached the store.
“Back off!”
“It’s off limits here!” The two knights snapped at Zich menacingly. The two clearly looked like they were in a bad mood, and it seemed like they would give hell to anyone who didn’t abide by their orders. Yet, Zich simply ignored their warnings, and the knights’ responses grew more aggressive.
“Didn’t you hear us telling you to back off!”
Zich continued to walk, and in the end, the knights took out their swords.
Sling! Sling!
Onlookers flinched at their sharp actions.
“This is your last warning! If you ignore our order anymore, we will arrest…!”
“Who are you guys?” Zich cut them off and stared intently at the knights’ faces. Even if these knights were members of the Steelwalls’ most elite group of knights, there was no way Zich would remember the faces of every knight. Yet, it was different for the Steel Sword Knights. They all had to memorize the faces of the Count’s family members, even the face of the powerless eldest son who was pushed off from the heir seat.
“You bastard, are you going to keep…” One of the knights was about to capture Zich when the other knight grasped his arm.
“W-wait!” the other knight cried.
“Why?”
Zich was amazed. “Wow, there’s still a guy who remembers my face? How impressive.” There was one person he wanted to compliment.
* * *
The inside of the store was a mess. A table was flipped over, and expensive drinks and dishes were scattered wastefully all over the floor. All the shattered glasses and bowls were all extremely expensive products. It was enough to make any store owner instantly get a headache, and this usually would have never happened in this store.
No matter how high one’s status was, this store was a place where only those with high status could enter. Even if they wanted to cause a commotion, they needed to be cautious of the other customers. Moreover, the Steelwall Estate had a very high level of security.
However, the person causing a scene right now was an exception to this rule. “Can you not hear me! I told you to bring me more alcohol!” His voice rang loudly inside the store; it was an extremely unpleasant voice that naturally brought anger to all those who listened to him. Considering that he slurred all his words, it was clear that he was completely drunk.
Naturally, as the staff were extremely annoyed; they wanted to immediately slap the back of the man’s hand and kick him to their heart’s content. However, he was someone they couldn’t do anything against whether it was status, wealth, or physical strength.
One of the staff members desperately suppressed their annoyance and said, “I sincerely apologize, Young Master, but we received an order that we can’t give you any more alcohol, so…” The staff didn’t finish their sentence and looked at the knight standing next to the young man. The knight standing there as a bodyguard was the one who told them to not bring out any more alcohol; he also seemed frustrated by this situation as he repeatedly pressed his head with his hands.
“What? Who the hell made such an order! I’m the heir to this estate!”
“Young Master, I’m the one who said that.”
The young master glared at the knight as if he wanted to kill him. However, the knight calmly said, “The Count has given me an order to stop you from drinking after a certain number of bottles.”
The Count was his father. The young master wouldn’t dare to cause a scene when the Count’s name was mentioned and became silent for a short while. However, this was for just a moment.
“That’s why I said I’ll drink just one more bottle! Did I say I’d keep going?”
“Sir, you’ve been saying that, and you’ve already finished four bottles.” Of course, all evidence of the young master’s drinking was now scattered all over the floor. “Sir, you have to really stand up now. If you return home any later, you’ll get a long scolding from the Count and Countess.”
“Damn it!” The young master was like a kid. He began thoroughly stepping on the food on the ground. The staff members’ expressions grew worse. It was already difficult to clean up food, and it became even harder since the young master had stepped on it and rubbed it all over the floor. The knight looked at the staff’ expressions and sighed internally.
The young master was someone who would inherit the Steelwall Estate. However, if he caused such problems like this, the citizens of Steelwall would distrust him and have negative emotions about him. The knight’s eyes moved away from the staff and looked at the other customers in the store. The staff blocked onlookers from coming into the store, but they couldn’t chase away the customers already drinking here. All of them were watching the young master make a fool out of himself, and he was supposed to be someone who would stand above them in the future.
‘When did it get so bad?’ No—he knew the answer to this question. It was ever since that duel; the duel that everyone was confident that the young master would easily win. That one duel had changed everything. Before that duel, the young master had been an extremely competent heir. His skills and morals were high above everyone else’s. However, after that duel, the young master completely changed. He stopped all of his studies and only went outside to drink. The Count and Countess tried scolding him and even tried to gently coax him, but nothing worked.
‘Did he really have to make his own brother like this?’ Resentment sprung up in his heart, but the knight soon shook his head. ‘No, it was understandable that he acted that way.’ Considering the discrimination he received in the estate, it was natural that the first young master would make such a scene before he left. However, the knight couldn’t help but feel a small amount of resentment as the future of the Steelwall Estate remained bleak.
‘We should have pushed the first young master as the heir.’ This was probably what everyone was thinking right now.
The young master said, “Hey.”
“Yes, sir?”
“You just thought of that bastard, right?” The young master’s eyes sharpened in anger. “You just compared me with that bastard right now!”
“Sir, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” The knight was taken aback, but he strongly denied the young master’s claims. It was all too obvious what would happen if he agreed. Unfortunately, the young master didn’t seem to believe his words.
“Fuck! You think I don’t know! There are a bunch of shitheads gossiping behind my back. They say that it would have been better if that bastard inherited the estate! And you’re the same as them!”
“Not at all, sir!”
The young master stood up. He was so drunk that his body shook. His blurry and dilated eyes sharpened, and he clutched the knight’s collar. “This bastard and every other bastard all go Zich! Zich! Zich! If you like Zich so much, why don’t you bring that bastard here! I’ll give this blasted status as an heir to him anytime!”
“Young master! Your words are too harsh…!”
Kick! The young master was in front of the knight before he suddenly flew to the opposite side. He made a loud noise as he landed and rolled on top of the mess he made.
“Ack!” The sharp fragments of glass pierced his body, and smelly food was smeared onto his clothes. “Which bastard…!” The young master let out his anger at the crazy person who dared to kick him. However, after seeing who the person was, the young master immediately froze. “Uh, uh…”
“It’s been a while, Greig. Have you been well?”