The Hero Becomes the Duke’s Eldest Son

Translator: Marctempest
Editor: Rynfinity

Chapter 62

The lord’s castle had roofs adorned with the distinctive pointed spires of northern architecture.

When Aden and Lowe tried to enter, the knights guarding the front of the castle blocked them.

“Stop right there. What business do you have at the castle?”

Then, upon seeing Aden and Lowe’s appearance, they clicked their tongues softly.

“Southerners.”

In the continent, the people from the north and the south did not have a good perception of each other.

Southerners considered the unique roughness of northerners as barbaric, and northerners looked down on southerners as people who prided themselves on their elegance under the warm sun.

Feeling the disdain, Lowe shouted with a slightly angry voice.

“This person is Aden Remes, the eldest son of the Remes Dukedom! He has business at the castle, so step aside!”

Aden took out the crest of the Remes family from his chest, proving his nobility.

At the mention of the duke’s family, their eyes widened momentarily, and their gaze changed again at the name Aden Remes.

They quickly concealed their expressions, but Aden read the emotions that arose in their eyes.

‘Resentment, and contempt.’

Aden was puzzled.

Why did these guys, whom he was seeing for the first time, harbor such feelings toward him?

– Dragon Slayer, didn’t you beat up the son of their lord? And you also took the family heirloom, the 72 Swords, as a bet. While the parties involved might have accepted it, the subordinates might not. Also, the methods you used to win weren’t exactly orthodox.

‘Ah.’

Thanks to Curse’s insight, Aden understood their attitude immediately.

Aden had defeated the border count, Tiried Sedus, using an artifact as a trump card in a bet.

Similarly, at the imperial banquet, he had defeated Taion in a duel by striking with a sheathed sword, applying dual blades.

The father and son who lost both acknowledged and accepted Aden’s victory.

But the subordinates wouldn’t see it that way.

From the perspective of Tiried’s subordinates, Aden had won by deceitful means, taken the heirloom, and defeated their lord’s son with similar tricks, making him nothing but a ruthless scoundrel.

Still, as nobles, the knights addressed Aden respectfully.

Although their tone lacked sincerity.

“The lord is currently away. Come back later.”

“Then, is Lord Taion here?”

“Prince Remes, did you make an appointment with the young master beforehand?”

When Aden answered no, their eyes turned sharp.

“The young master is busy. Unless you have a pre-arranged appointment, please leave. If you don’t comply, we’ll remove you by force.”

In essence, it was no different from saying, ‘If you came without an appointment, shut up and get lost.’

Aden’s eyes changed at this.

Ha, look at these guys.

They weren’t exactly wrong.

But it was no way to treat the eldest son of a duke’s family.

“How dare you speak to the young master like that!”

Lowe was furious, but Aden held him back, signaling him to stay calm.

Aden raised one corner of his mouth and asked the knight.

“Then, can I enter if I get permission?”

“Entry is not allowed……”

“So, is it allowed or not?”

Aden interrupted the knight’s words and asked. The knight frowned slightly and answered.

“……If you have permission from the lord or his children, it’s possible.”

“Is that so?”

Aden smiled meaningfully.

Taking a deep breath, he shouted loudly with mana.

– Did you get a bump on the back of your head from my sheathed sword, Taion!

Taion, Taion, Taion……

The mana-imbued shout resonated loudly inside the castle.

In response, a shout imbued with mana came back, just like Aden’s.

– Aden Remes, you bastard……!

It was a cry filled with deep frustration.

* * *

Curse spoke to Aden sincerely.

– Dragon Slayer, I’m not sure if you even have a concept of common sense in your head.

‘Nonsense. Where would you find a more sensible person than me?’

– ……Are you serious?

Curse wondered if the concept of common sense among humans had changed.

But in Aden’s mind, his shout about the bump was effective enough.

Thanks to it, he had entered the castle in one go, and now he was facing the ‘Mini Border Count.’

Well, the effectiveness was inversely proportional to the foul look on the guy’s face.

The Mini Border Count, Taion, ground his teeth as he crossed his arms and glared at Aden.

“Aden Remes! Why on earth have you come to our territory! And at the castle gates, you dared to…… ugh! Anyway, I’m disappointed in you! Bastard!”

“Well, I apologize for what I did earlier. I thought I wouldn’t be able to step into here today without doing something like that.”

Even though there was a way to meet quickly, wasting time didn’t suit Aden’s temperament.

“Damn bastard……”

Taion looked at Aden with disdain but didn’t argue further.

“Is Lord Tiried Sedus busy right now? I thought he might show his face at least once.”

Given his personality, he should have shown up laughing loudly just to annoy Aden for causing a scene.

“Father is currently outside the territory. His aides and knights are managing in his absence.”

“Outside? Where did he go?”

“To the Slaughter Cult.”

Having witnessed the appearance of the undead grey army in Remes territory, Tiried Sedus realised the seriousness of the situation.

To ensure the safety of Sedus territory, he had left for the Slaughter Cult to investigate the anomalies in the Wasteland of Death a short while ago.

Hearing this, Aden thought.

‘By now, the signs of change should be becoming more apparent.’

He was referring to the disaster-level monster wave.

Originally, the four major remote areas of the east, west, south, and north were managed and suppressed by the three kingdoms and the Slaughter Cult.

However, in the near future, that balance broke.

Monsters that had been dormant deep within the four remote areas began to awaken one by one.

Disaster-level monster waves erupted from each of the four remote areas.

The berserk dragon Aden had killed was also one of those disaster-level monster waves.

‘The cause of the disaster-level monster wave was never revealed.’

There were countless opinions, but no decisive cause was found. It was such a sudden disaster.

Aden had plans to prepare his own countermeasures.

Knowing exactly when, where, and how the disaster-level monster waves would occur, it wasn’t impossible.

However, Aden decided to focus on the immediate tasks.

As long as the timeline hadn’t changed, there was still time.

Taion spoke to Aden.

“Anyway, if you have something to say to my father, you can tell me. Why did you come to Sedus? If you’re here to return the heirloom, forget it. I’ll defeat you and reclaim it with my own strength……”

“Rest assured, that’s never going to happen. To get straight to the point, I want to enter the Forest of Death.”

Aden interrupted Taion and went straight to the point.

At Aden’s words, Taion frowned subtly.

“The Forest of Death? Why do you want to go there?”

“I want to obtain rare poisonous herbs that only grow in the Forest of Death, fresh ones.”

In truth, it wasn’t for the poisonous herbs but to find the ents, but he couldn’t say that outright.

“Ha, so the rumors about you collecting poisonous herbs were true? And you came all the way north just to find those herbs?”

“It’s a hobby.”

It seemed that the rumor of the mad prince collecting poisonous herbs had reached even Sedus territory.

Thanks to that, Taion didn’t doubt Aden’s words but looked at him with eyes that saw a crazy person with a bizarre hobby.

Taion shook his head.

“Unfortunately, the timing is bad. Entry is not allowed. I can’t grant your request.”

“Why not?”

At Aden’s question, Taion clenched his fist as if just thinking about it made him angry.

“Though it’s shameful, bandits are causing trouble right now.”

According to Taion Sedus, this was the situation.

At some point, a group of bandits that had been active outside the territory started to settle in the Forest of Death.

These vile bandits were reportedly looting the slash-and-burn villages that had long been established in the forest.

“It’s not an easy task unless they are quite formidable.”

The residents of the slash-and-burn villages were tough.

The slash-and-burn villages in Sedus territory had a level of unity and preparedness no less than any mercenary group due to frequent battles with monsters.

Thanks to this, the slash-and-burn villages served as a buffer between the Forest of Death and the territory.

It was similar to the relationship between orcs and the territory in Remes.

This was why the existence of the slash-and-burn villages, which were neither taxed nor punished for crimes, was tolerated in Sedus territory.

It was more efficient than building a fortress and managing it, as surplus labor acted as a barrier instead.

However, the fact that such bandits were unilaterally plundering the residents of the slash-and-burn villages indicated that the bandits had both scale and strength.

Moreover, there had recently been an increase in mysterious disappearances.

This, too, coincided with the time when the bandits began to become rampant, suggesting a possible connection.

“Therefore, we are preparing to exterminate the bandits. We can’t let such pests roam free in our territory.”

They couldn’t just march in with the knight order.

Doing so would make the bandits hide deep in the forest, never to come out.

Or worse, the knight order might be ambushed in the forest terrain.

“So, I’m planning to infiltrate the forest disguised as a mercenary, along with elite knights. Either wait until the subjugation is over, or give up and return to your territory.”

This was Taion’s way of advising Aden with consideration.

However, Aden was thinking about something else.

‘If the bandits are that large, the ents might be suffering as well.’

To those guys, the fairy tribe would be nothing but a precious treasure. If they found out there was an ent tribe, they’d go crazy.

‘I can’t let that happen.’

They were precious elixirs, no, precious lives.

He couldn’t just stand by.

– Dragon Slayer, you’ve already been exposed. Didn’t you just think of them as elixirs?

Ignoring Curse’s words, Aden spoke to Taion.

“Well, there’s a better way.”

“A better way? What do you mean?”

Aden pointed to himself and said.

“I’ll join the bandit subjugation.”

Taion’s eyes widened.

* * *

Surprisingly, Prince Taion accepted Aden’s request to join the subjugation easily.

To infiltrate the forest disguised as mercenaries, it was best to move with the elite, and Aden, who had defeated Taion at the imperial banquet, fit the criteria.

However, there was no lack of friction.

The first to show discomfort at Aden joining the bandit subjugation were the knights of Sedus territory.

They believed that a southern prince, especially Aden Remes, might mess up the operation.

“It’s an insult for a southerner to meddle in Sedus’ affairs!”

“That too, Aden Remes? Absolutely unacceptable!”

In response, Prince Taion sided with Aden, becoming indignant.

“Foolish! While the territory’s people are suffering, is this the time to distinguish between southerners and northerners! I decide who joins the operation! How dare you speak so much just because my father isn’t here!”

However, the fundamental rejection of southerners and the animosity toward Aden for taking the heirloom did not easily subside.

But they couldn’t openly defy the will of their lord’s son.

Therefore, the knights demanded conditions.

“We will accept Prince Remes if he proves his skills are superior to ours.”

“Give him the chance to demonstrate that he is qualified to join us, Prince Taion.”

They were adamant that they couldn’t entrust their backs to him without seeing his skills firsthand.

Aden drew his sword before them.

Hwaaaaaaat!

Blue aura threads wrapped around the blade.

“Aura Threads!”

“Good heavens, so the rumors were true!”

Seeing it with their own eyes, their hostility and resistance turned into confusion and astonishment.