The Hero Becomes the Duke’s Eldest Son

Translator: Marctempest
Editor: Rynfinity

Chapter 13

—

Thus, the sudden incident involving Carl Remes and the rescue of the territory soldiers came to an end.

The second search party that fought against the goblins ended with only two people sustaining minor injuries, and no major injuries or deaths.

However, Duke Fried Remes, who had received a full report of the incident from Sir Spele, could not hide his dismay.

“…Many have been harmed.”

Among the twelve territory soldiers who went to investigate the Monster Mountain with Carl, eight had died.

They all had families, which made it an incredibly sorrowful event.

And that wasn’t the only problem.

After the battle, the knights of the second search party entered several caves in the cliff.

They had to kill all the female goblins and their young inside by slashing, crushing, and trampling them to prevent further breeding.

During this process, Aden encountered other ‘survivors’ whom one of the territory soldiers had mentioned.

Four women were confined in the cave to be used as breeding vessels for hobgoblins.

Two of them were the ones whose disappearance led Carl to investigate this place, and the other two had gone missing much earlier.

These women were physically and mentally devastated from prolonged abuse, and one of them was already pregnant.

According to their testimony, there were originally many men and other women with them.

The men were eaten by trolls and goblins, and the women, unable to endure the harsh conditions, died prematurely and were also consumed by trolls.

“…Sir Spele, provide maximum compensation to the victims and their families within the limits.”

The Duke also added to offer additional support for the women to recuperate.

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Of course, this could never erase their suffering.

But as a lord who had broken his promise to protect the territory from monsters, he had to take responsibility.

Duke Fried Remes touched his forehead with a troubled expression.

“As the lord of this territory, I am deeply ashamed.”

“…We feel the same, Your Grace.”

They had believed that conducting regular subjugations and constantly monitoring to prevent monsters from descending was sufficient.

The Duke and the knights had always thought this way.

But the monsters had found and exploited gaps in their surveillance, secretly committing these atrocities.

With a determined expression, Duke Fried clenched his fist tightly.

“From now on, we will increase the frequency of regular subjugations and reorganize the surveillance network on Monster Mountain. Stay strong, everyone.”

“As you command.”

Sir Spele saluted and accepted the Duke’s orders.

At the same time, Sir Spele felt a deep respect for the Duke.

There were many lords in the empire, but very few truly cared for and devoted themselves to their people.

Many were rather eager to bleed their subjects dry.

In contrast, his lord cherished the people and governed the territory wisely.

The only fault he had was an excessive love and generosity towards his son.

“Still… It’s unbelievable.”

The Duke suddenly lamented as a certain fact crossed his mind.

His face was a mix of various emotions—astonishment, joy, admiration, and disbelief.

“Did my son, Aden, really do that?”

“It is hard to believe, but it is true. I, along with my knights, witnessed it all.”

“Haha…”

At the deputy’s assertion, Duke Fried chuckled and shook his head.

Then, he looked out of his office window at a menacing object.

There lay a corpse.

Despite being decapitated, the sheer presence it exuded could be felt even in the second-floor office.

It was the corpse of a troll.

A giant, three-meter troll with its head severed.

The knights had combined their strength to drag it down from Monster Mountain.

The troll’s byproducts were valuable resources and couldn’t be left behind.

The Duke felt dizzy at the realization that such a monster had been in his territory and had been ruling over the goblins.

‘Did my son really defeat that monster?’

The Duke could only stand speechless, staring blankly at the troll’s corpse.

—

A week passed quickly after the Monster Mountain incident.

Among the people of Remes Duchy, the incident became a hot topic.

The shocking truth about the missing persons.

The troll on Monster Mountain that bred and commanded the goblins.

Each story was a topic of conversation.

The most sensational story was this:

The notorious prince, Aden Remes, defeated the troll single-handedly!

The weak and reckless young lord who was once beaten by a dog awakened the sword aura!

It wasn’t just a fish leaping to the sky, but a dragon ascending to the heavens—a truly incredible event.

At first, people dismissed it as a rumor, but as it spread from the mouths of the territory soldiers and knights working for the ducal family, they praised Aden’s achievement, albeit with mixed feelings.

No one called Aden the reckless prince anymore. Instead, he earned various flamboyant titles such as the Troll-Slaying Prince, the Troll Slayer, and the Troll Prince.

—

Meanwhile, Aden, who learned of this belatedly, wore a bewildered expression.

“It’s one thing to be called the Troll Slayer, but what’s with the Troll-Slaying Prince and the Troll Prince?”

Troll Prince?

Didn’t that make him sound hideously like a troll?

Cassie smiled lazily at the exasperated Aden.

“You said you didn’t care about your reputation, handsome Troll Prince.”

“…Don’t call me that. Just get back to what you were doing with Lowe.”

Aden was currently in Cassie’s workshop within the ducal estate with Cassie and Lowe.

The reason for their gathering was simple.

Today was the day Lowe’s right arm would be treated.

Lowe seemed somewhat tense at the thought of healing his arm.

Sitting on the bed with his shirt off, Lowe’s well-developed, muscular body was fully revealed.

“Hm?”

Cassie’s eyes gleamed with a peculiar light as she looked at Lowe’s body…

Ssss-.

She suddenly ran her soft hand over Lowe’s firm chest.

“Ugh!”

Lowe flinched and groaned in surprise at Cassie’s unexpected touch.

Cassie’s lazy face showed a playful expression.

“Oh my, was that cute sound from you, Sir Knight?”

“N-no.”

“Hm, then what was it?”

Lowe remained silent, his ears red with embarrassment.

Seeing this, Aden chided her with an exasperated expression.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“He seemed too tense, so I was trying to relax him a bit.”

Aden clicked his tongue at her cheeky retort.

“Don’t toy with the kid.”

“Aden, I’m older than you…”

“You stay quiet.”

Aden frowned at Lowe, whose ears were still red.

‘Was he always this naive? I can’t get used to this.’

The free knight he knew in his previous life was a stone-cold rock who treated women like stones.

Knights should not indulge in carnal desires or something.

Seeing him so easily teased felt disconcerting.

“Now, let’s really get started.”

In one hand, she held a red potion.

“Your arm ended up like this because the cold attribute mana blocked the mana pathways in your right arm.”

The flow of mana, which should have been entering and exiting, was blocked midway, causing mana to accumulate infinitely in the arm.

As a result, the mana constantly reinforced the arm to the extreme, causing it to harden.

“So, neutralizing the cold mana with this fire attribute potion is the best solution.”

However, there was a problem.

If the fire attribute of the potion was too weak, it would lose its power during the process of entering the body.

On the other hand, if the attribute was too strong?

The body might have a rejection reaction to the fire attribute and could burn to death.

Therefore, a method to introduce weak fire attribute mana into the body was needed.

“I didn’t know the solution before, but now I do.”

She took out a peculiar object from a storage box she had prepared in advance.

It was a cylindrical bottle with a piston like a spray pump and a very fine hollow needle at the end.

“Instead of ingesting or applying it, it should be directly injected into the body.”

This device was called a syringe.

A new medical tool crafted by artisans in the small city of Marillen, following the blueprints Aden had shown.

After filling the syringe with the potion, she said.

“Could you extend your arm?”

“…”

Lowe silently extended his arm.

“It might sting a bit.”

She said this and then…

Poke.

She inserted the needle into the boundary between his stiffened right arm and his healthy shoulder.

Directly injecting fire attribute mana into Lowe’s mana pathways.

After injecting all the potion, she removed the needle.

“Ugh.”

Lowe grimaced in pain, sweat forming on his body due to the heat from the fire attribute mana.

“Bear with it a little longer, the conflicting mana energies are neutralizing inside your body.”

“Ugh, got it.”

Lowe gritted his teeth and endured.

Five minutes, ten minutes, twenty minutes passed.

As time went on, Lowe grew exhausted, feeling his body burn with pain.

But the change was evident.

The whiteness of Lowe’s arm, which resembled marble, began to fade.

His lifeless, inanimate arm gradually gained a peachy hue.

Thirty minutes after the potion was injected, the pain subsided.

“Hah.”

Lowe, drenched in sweat, looked dazedly at his arm.

The color of his arm had completely returned to its normal skin tone.

Previously, Lowe had to forcibly use mana to bend his arm.

Now, he carefully tried to move his arm…

“…It moves.”

His arm bent easily.

“It’s back to normal.”

The mana atrophy was cured!

Realizing this, Lowe’s hands trembled with joy.

He felt like crying with happiness.

“The first clinical trial was a success. The theory was perfect, after all.”

Cassie smiled contentedly with a lazy expression.

“Congratulations, Lowe.”

Aden briefly congratulated Lowe.

The free knight and the one-armed swift knight.

These two monikers would no longer exist.

Lowe wouldn’t become one-armed or be expelled from the ducal family but would continue to serve as a knight for a noble family.

“Aden, my lord.”

Lowe called out to Aden.

Aden sensed that Lowe’s gaze was not ordinary.

It was the look of someone who had made a decision.

“My lord, you have given me so much.”

“Hm?”

Why was he suddenly saying such things?

Aden felt an ominous premonition.

“I want to declare my intentions here and now.”

The atmosphere was very solemn.

Lowe took the sword he had placed beside the bed, held it horizontally with both hands, and presented it to Aden.

Then, kneeling on one knee, he bowed.

It was the respectful posture that knights showed only to their liege.

“I, Lowe, an apprentice knight of the Remes Knights, pledge to dedicate my humble self to you and wield my sword for you forever.”

A knight’s honorable vow, one that could be made only once in a lifetime.

A vow of loyalty.

Lowe was offering it to Aden.

“Oh my, things are getting interesting.”

Cassie watched with amusement.

Aden was dumbfounded by the sudden situation.

‘Lowe wants to become my knight?’

Aden’s first thought was this.

‘This is creepy.’

In his past life, Lowe and Aden had been at each other’s throats, despising each other.

The thought of such a person becoming his knight filled Aden with intense aversion and made his skin crawl.

But he couldn’t refuse.

A knight’s vow, if rejected, would be the greatest disgrace and dishonor.

And the only paths left for the knight would be to abandon their sword and retire or to commit suicide.

Both were problematic.

Thus, Aden had only one choice.

‘Damn it…’

Aden’s expression soured.

“…I gladly accept your vow in the name of Aden Remes, eldest son of the Remes Duchy.”

Aden responded with the traditional acceptance of a knight’s vow.

And so, Aden unwillingly gained his own knight.