Circumstances of a Fallen Lord

Part 7: I feel as if someone is watching me in the dark 

The night they defeated the centipede: Luisen and Carlton sat in the dark room, seated across each other, and discussed the day’s events.

Considering the circumstances, they were convinced that the giant centipede that had kidnapped the women was acting on someone’s orders–someone who had the power to control monsters. From that fact alone, it was clear that this mystery person was in cohorts with Ruger. He and his gang’s final goal wasn’t Luisen’s abduction–they had other plans and Luisen’s abduction was simply one of them.

They had too little information; their tactics were so unprecedented so they had few guesses as to their identity or motives.

The only certainty was that the group must be conducting evil somewhere else as well–a huge conspiracy scheming underneath the eyes of those that believed peace had arrived after the chaos of the civil war.

‘In anycase, we must leave here quickly.’

Since Carlton’s men were captured in Confosse and taken to the duchy, Ruger must have a great interest in Confosse. If they linger, they may be caught by the combined forces of his colleague, who controlled the centipede, and Ruger.

Due to those thoughts, they escaped the village before sunrise. They were ignorant to the fact that they had left such a lasting impression on the villagers and the guard captain.

The sudden separation created room for lingering regrets; the people did not forget this benevolence for a long time and spread tales of the pious pilgrim and his mercenary, who were clearly sent by God. Both Luisen and Carlton did not expect that.

Since then, the two moved constantly. It was an easy journey in many ways thanks to the supplies they bought at Confosse and Zephys. In the distance, they started to see the vague outlines of the city.

The port city: Mittil.

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In this kingdom, a large river, originating from the western mountains, divides the country’s land mass. One had to cross this river to go from the South to the other parts of the kingdom, and port cities, large and small, developed along the river basin.

Mittil was the most prosperous port city among them. It had the adantage of being an easy access point to move eastward through the river.

Luisen was also familiar with this city because, in the past, Luisen had crossed through this area on his way to the capital. As an aristocrat, he enjoyed all sorts of luxuries in this port; however, the city left the strongest impression after the young lord made his moonlit escape in the previous timeline.

​​As he ran away in the night from the duchy and blindly went northwards, Luisen came to Mittil in order to cross the river. There were no gate inspections, so he could easily enter the city. The problem, though, was the ship. At that time, he had not known that one had to buy a ticket to board a boat, so he was caught and immediately kicked out of the boat.

‘Now that I am reminded of that, I’m embarrassed.’ Luisen’s face heated up at that old memory and he fanned his hands wildly.

“Are you tired? The sunlight is a bit strong.” Carlton raised his hands over the young lord’s head and blocked the sun rays. The resulting shadow was big perhaps because of the mercenary’s large hands.

Anyway, that’s when someone approached that foolish past-Luisen. The man said he’d buy the ship ticket for him, so the young lord handed him the money. That man took the money and bounced; Luisen was swindled. At the time, he felt the world was so unfair, but that anecdote showed exactly how naive the young lord was back then.

 ‘Still, I had good luck.’

While he was crying on the side of the road in frustration, a merchant caravan approached him and asked about his situation. The merchant felt sorry for the swindled Luisen and bought a ticket for him. The ticket’s seat was for a third-class commoner’s ship, but at least the young lord was able to cross the river.

On second thought, there were so many good people in this world. Like the saint and those back in the duchy.

‘Are the people back at the castle in the duchy doing well…?’

Luisen looked back. There was no way he could see the castle, but for some reason his heart strings were still tugged. These days he’s been worried about the people back home. Ruger might be tormenting the denizens of his duchy with his evil power.

‘I’ll quickly go to the capital and reveal the truth.’

He’ll save his people from Ruger’s grasp. After gaining a solid foothold in the capital, he’ll return safely to his castle and serve as a proper lord. He just hoped that the people in the duke’s castle will hold firm until then. Luisen steeled his heart.

***

Luisen and Carlton were able to enter Mittil with heads high because thanks to the Pilgrim’s pass and Carlton’s mercenary tag.

As they were posing as people on a pilgrimage, the two went to the church and prayed for the sake of formality and quickly escaped without encountering the priest. Then, they headed to the mercenary’s guild. There were always mercenaries in Mittil’s guild that were seeking safe and well-paying commissions.

When Luisen entered the mercenary guild, all the mercenaries’ eyes were on the young lord. Though he was covered head to toe with clothes, the way he opened the door was so aristocratic. The pilgrim’s pass at his waist shone brilliantly.

‘He’s a pilgrim from a noble family, huh? Then, is he going to request an escort?’

‘There’s nothing easier than escorting a pilgrim. I should obtain his commission.’

The mercenaries all stood up to talk to the young lord. At that moment Carlton followed Luisen inside. He naturally placed his hand on the young lord’s soldiers and glared at all the focused gazes in the room. ‘What are you guys looking at?’ the mercenary’s eyes seemed to say.

Although the folk in the room were tough and rugged mercenaries that have been through many hardships, Carlton’s sturdy physique and vicious eyes discouraged them.

‘Man, that guy’s already spoken for,’ The mercenaries calmly lowered their eyes and sat their butts back down in their seats–there was no point in continuing to stand. Carlton grinned contemptuously at their reactions.

Meanwhile, Luisen headed for the guild’s reception window. “I heard in Yeokcham village that we’d receive money if we defeat monsters? Is that true?”

“Yes, yes. That’s correct.”

The indifferent employee at the terminal responded, “You’ve brought evidence, right? If you don’t have proof that you’ve defeated the monster, we can’t pay. Give me your proof.”

“Here? There’s just…a lot of it.”

There were many mercenaries who insisted that they had defeated dozens of monsters without any evidence. Perhaps the clerk assumed that’s what they’re like. The employee held out a small basket impetuously. While Luisen was hesitant and in a bind, the staff impatiently tapped his basket.

Carlton’s temper flared when the clerk acted arrogantly towards his client. “If he wants it so much, we’ll have to give it to him, yes?”

Carlton spilled the contents of the bag he was carrying.

Roll– Crash– Plop–

By-products, such as the monster’s horn, eyes, and noses, poured out and piled high like a mountain on the till. A monster’s unique stench and rotten blood scent spread throughout the building. The employee looked on with their mouth wide open. “T-This… All…”

“Please count the bills. There’s more.”

“T-There’s more?!”

Leaving the bewildered guild staff behind, Carlton brought two more sacks. Even the observing mercenaries stared with their mouths gaping. ‘That’s overboard, honestly.’

When Carlton found out that money would be given for defeated monsters, he hunted them like a madman. If one didn’t know the mercenary’s motive, he would have looked like a psychopath obsessed with blood. Actually, the man still looked like that despite Luisen’s knowledge about this situation. Later on, the young lord even felt sorry for those monsters.

However, Carlton simply stated, “What’s wrong.” From his point of view, monsters were just walking coins. Carlton couldn’t just pass by coins that were dropped onto the ground, after all. Of course, if he were alone, the mercenary wouldn’t have gone that far; however, Carlton had Luisen with him. If he could catch one more monster, he could buy Luisen another piece of jerky. Instead of hard, dark bread, he could feed the young lord soft, white bread. Of course he had to defeat more.

The monetary settlement process took a long time; Carlton could line his pockets as he wished.

Luisen grumbled as he left the mercenary’s guild. “It’s too much…”

“We must earn money while we can. I promised that I’d make sure you won’t lack.”

‘I can’t believe he still cared about what happened Confosse. Was his pride really that affected by how we had to sell my hair?’ Luisen inwardly clicked his tongue. Of course, Carlton wasn’t thinking that, but Luisen wouldn’t know that.

“Let’s go buy something.” Carlton pulled Luisen closer by the shoulder. The young lord followed along. Since there were so many people around, Carlton walked around naturally with his arms around the lord’s shoulders. Luisen, who had become accustomed to the mercenary’s embrace while on horseback, didn’t mind and felt comfortable.

Carlton spent the money excitedly. New clothes, new shoes, even underwear and socks–luxuries they couldn’t afford for a while. Luisen understood that they had buy necessities, but the mercenary was going overboard and was trying to buy things that weren’t necessary for this trip.

“How about that?” Carlton said.

“…Where would I use a hat fitted with a peacock feather?”

“What about this?”

“…Do we have need of silk shirts now?”

At Luisen’s snap, Carlton turned around regretfully. He thought both the peacock hat and the silk shirt would suit the young lord well. Luisen felt like death while being dragged around. If this were a food stall, that would be a different matter, but Luisen wasn’t as materialistic as he was a glutton. “What are you trying to buy? I don’t need anything more, so let’s buy your supplies. No–let’s not add to our baggage and go eat some food.”

At the young lord’s grumbles, Carlton bought some candy and handed it over. Candy was pretty expensive for a treat–Luisen didn’t refuse because he was greedy for the sweet, but he also had concerns. “Shouldn’t we save some money?”

“It’s fine. We can always earn more. I can do that much–you saw, right?” Carlton put on airs.

‘It must be nice to be *so* talented,’ Luisen shook his head. ‘The more I see him, there’s an element of childishness to that man.’

The young lord mumbled around the candy in his mouth. Suddenly, he remembered a question he had for a long time, “How old are you?”

‘How old is he to still have these sort of temper tantrums?’

Carlton pretended not to hear. However, the young lord did not miss how the mercenary’s grin turned rigid. ‘See that? Why is he ignoring me?’

“I’ve never heard how old you are. Zephys is now 7 years old? You took him and ran away, correct? Uh… Then…” Luisen counted by folding fingers. “…You’re an adult, right? You’re not still a minor, right?”

“Of course I’m an adult! Do I look like I could still be a child?”

“Well, with that face, body, and temperament… It’d be concerning if you weren’t at least 20.”

“Yes, yes. I’m the same as my duke.”

“That can’t be! If he ran away from home at 15, he should be 22 years old now?! Huh? You… Are you perhaps younger than me…?” Luisen shouted. ‘Am I older? Is that true?’

Carlton slipped away, pretending to look at the stalls on the other side of the street.

‘Huh? What’s with that reaction?!’

Luisen tugged at Carlton’s arm and urged him for an answer. Though the mercenary kept trying to avert his gaze, Luisen’s blue eyes were too sparkly and beautiful to ignore. Still, he didn’t really want to talk about his age, so he tried a different tactic. “I don’t know exactly when I was born, so I don’t know my proper age as well.”

“Does that even make sense?”

“I’ve told you how aloof my family is.”

Luisen narrowed his eyes. For some reason, he strongly felt that the other was simply giving him excuses to avoid answering the question. However, if that tragic story was true, it’d be tactless to ask further.

The young lord couldn’t believe his companion had countered his slight teasing with a sorrowful familial woe. What a quick-witted man. Luisen raised both hands in a surrendering gesture, “Fine. I won’t ask you any further. You really don’t want to talk about it, do you?”

“No harm done now that you understand. By the way…” Carlton, chuckling, whispered into Luisen’s ear, “I believe we’re being followed.”

TL: Omg Carlton, you guys aren’t even dating yet, this is so much.