Chapter 257 – Side Story 6 – The Young Lady’s Night Walk (1)

When the lord drew his sword again, Vlad, Selena, and the young knight returned to the young lady’s reception room.

Upon entering the reception room, the young lady said to Vlad with a bright face:

“So from now on, you’re my attendant.”

Though both the young lady and the young knight beside her wore pleasant expressions, Vlad, who had returned with them, couldn’t share their mood.

Instead, he asked the young lady:

“Though it probably won’t make any difference… do my opinions have no bearing on this decision?”

“Well, that’s…”

At Vlad’s words, Selena’s bright expression was replaced with a troubled one.

Unable to properly answer his question, the young knight spoke up instead:

“That’s not possible. The lord has already become suspicious of you. Being under Lady Selena is the safest option for you.”

The young knight’s words were the truth.

Even if he ignored the young lady’s words now and tried to leave the castle, they wouldn’t simply let him go.

He would only end up imprisoned in the dungeon, becoming an experimental subject for mages.

When Vlad frowned at the young knight’s words, the young lady bit her lip, grasped her skirt, and bowed her head.

“I-I’m sorry. I never thought things would turn out like this. But you’ll be fine with me! I’ll protect you as much as I can. And I’ll pay you well too!”

Receiving an apology from the lord’s daughter was quite extraordinary, but Vlad could only inwardly click his tongue.

Though he had seen her wandering outside unlike a typical noble’s daughter, in the end, the girl before him was still a sheltered noble’s daughter who knew nothing of the world.

If the lord wished it, all the promises she had just made would be meaningless.

Perhaps he should be grateful for the higher pay at least.

But even that wasn’t welcome to Vlad.

He hadn’t come to this domain to earn money, but as they suspected, for reconnaissance.

And it was forced, unwilling reconnaissance at that.

‘I guess I’ll have to properly examine the inside of the castle now.’

Though he sighed inwardly, there was no other option left.

Perhaps because the lord had decided it, Vlad’s move to the castle proceeded quickly.

His belongings from the inn were brought to the castle by others, and he was given new clothes to wear.

Plus, he was given a bath and a haircut.

The boy who had been as unkempt as other commoners was transformed into a different person in just half a day.

Having changed to look like others living in the castle, he was assigned to stay on the second floor of a building next to the main castle, where knights and soldiers resided.

After dinner, when he went to the double room assigned to him, someone was already staying there.

That person was the young knight of the same age, Choi Seowoo.

“Let’s get along well.”

There was no need to ask why he had been assigned to share a room with this young knight.

“Since you’ll be accompanying the young lady, and also me, it’s best if you stay with me.”

Though that might be one reason, the most important reason was surely surveillance.

Knowing that Vlad wasn’t ordinary, it was natural for someone more capable to watch over him.

However, Vlad was somewhat puzzled.

It was understandable for those in authority to make such arrangements, but why did the boy before him comply with everything?

With knight-level skills at that age, even as a commoner, he shouldn’t need to be tied to the lord’s daughter like this. Moreover, there was no need for him to stay with a suspicious commoner like this.

‘Could they perhaps be betrothed?’

Though such thoughts crossed his mind, it was difficult to ask the young knight about such matters.

Instead, Vlad said something else:

“Please speak to me informally. It’s not right for an apprentice knight to use formal speech with a commoner.”

“Is that so… Come to think of it, I think I’m a year older. Then I’ll speak informally.”

What did age have to do with the relationship between an apprentice knight and a commoner?

Tilting his head at the incomprehensible words, Vlad silently bowed his head.

Having resolved the issue of how to address each other, the young knight was about to tell Vlad to rest.

“Well then, since many things have happened today, for now, you should rest…”

But before he could finish, a message magic echoed in Seowoo’s mind.

[Don’t forget about going out at midnight! You must bring Vlad too!]

The young knight sighed.

Then he said to Vlad:

“Sorry, but I need to change what I was saying. We’ll have to go out tonight, so get ready. There’s still time, so you could sleep a bit… but that’s up to you.”

Having eavesdropped on the message magic, Vlad understood why the young knight had changed his words. But he couldn’t understand why the young lady already wanted to take him out.

And it seemed the young knight felt the same way.

Unable to fall asleep during the evening, the two of them eventually went out to the garden in front of the main castle where the young lady had called them.

Along the way, a soldier on guard duty saw the two of them moving at night, but the soldiers didn’t pay attention to their movements.

In a corner of the garden they reached, the young lady was waiting for them.

Even in the dark garden, under the dim moonlight, the young lady’s beauty was immediately apparent.

As the young knight and Vlad approached, the young lady urgently gestured with her hand.

“Let’s go quickly. We’re already too late today.”

The young knight shook his head at the young lady’s words.

“You seem to be moving too hastily. I don’t mind, but Vlad just entered the castle today. Since we have enough time as agreed, couldn’t he rest for at least a day?”

“It can’t be helped. My mothers are returning soon. If I leave work undone, they might prevent me from doing anything, using homework as an excuse. In the worst case, they might even take Vlad away!”

The young knight couldn’t refute the young lady’s words.

They weren’t wrong.

But Vlad had to ask:

“Could I know what you’re talking about?”

Since he was going along with them, he couldn’t understand what the two were saying.

“Ah, Vlad doesn’t know? Wait a bit. I’ll explain after we move.”

With those final words, the young lady extended her hand toward the ground, and a magic circle appeared on the floor.

Vlad couldn’t tell what kind of magic circle it was, but the one the young lady had created was a short-distance movement, a portal magic circle.

A high-level spatial magic that was said to be nearly impossible for an individual to cast in real-time.

Yet the young lady drew the magic circle without any difficulty.

“Hurry and step on. We’ll move right away.”

At the young lady’s words, the young knight immediately stepped onto the magic circle.

But Vlad couldn’t step onto the magic circle as easily as the young knight.

If what the young lady said was true, it was definitely a spatial movement magic circle.

How could he trust a mage and step onto a magic circle?

All the mages he had heard of were those who turned people into monsters.

Though he knew there were other kinds of mages, it was difficult to step onto the magic circle with ease.

“Hurry up and step on. If we’re too late, the morning sun will rise before we return. Then we might have to walk back!”

Once again, there were words mixed in that he couldn’t understand.

But within those words was the young lady’s sincere urgency to hurry.

Mana detection and other senses made that fact clear to Vlad, and he finally stepped onto the magic circle.

“Then let’s go!”

With the young lady’s words, the magic circle emitted light.

Simultaneously, the vision of the three people distorted.

And the next moment, the three people standing on the magic circle disappeared.

The magic circle left alone on the ground gradually faded.

Just before the magic circle disappeared.

Tap.

A staff tapped the disappearing magic circle.

As the staff touched it, the magic circle brightened again.

Looking at the brightening magic circle, the mage who had placed the staff on the magic circle clicked her tongue.

“She’s gotten faster. I almost missed it.”

The mage who had placed the staff was the domain mage, Irene.

She reactivated the fading portal magic circle and stepped onto it.

“Her creation speed has increased, and the magic circle itself is cleaner. I wonder if there’s nothing left for me to teach her.”

Irene moved her staff, corrected a few spots on the magic circle, and then made a regretful expression.

“She’s now at the level of a grand mage at night.”

She briefly looked up at the window of the main castle, bowed her head toward the window.

The next moment, the domain mage disappeared along with the magic circle.

She had followed her disciple using her disciple’s spatial magic circle.

When the distorted world returned to normal, Vlad realized he was standing in a different place.

A small plain surrounded by high mountains.

The place where he, the young lady, and the young knight were standing was a large ravine.

“Where is this?”

At Vlad’s question, the young knight looked at the young lady.

“Hmm. Come to think of it, have I acted on my own again this time?”

At the young lady’s apologetic words, the young knight nodded.

“Yes. Like a true Ea noble, you’re dragging people around without explanation.”

At the young knight’s words, the young lady pouted and glared at him.

“Seowoo!”

“Are you angry because I spoke the truth?”

“Yes! That’s why I’m angry.”

“As long as you know.”

“Ugh…”

The young lady, who had been trembling with anger at the young knight’s words, eventually sighed and apologized to Vlad.

“I’m sorry. I was in a hurry.”

“It’s fine. I would just like some explanation.”

Vlad bowed his head to accept the young lady’s apology.

What else could a commoner do when a noble apologized? He could only accept it while bowing deeply.

Still, it was remarkable for a noble to apologize at all.

In response to Vlad’s question, the young lady thought for a moment and then began her story.

“As you heard when you were with my father, the lord, my constitution has been different from ordinary people since birth. Because of that, my parents have been traveling everywhere to find a cure for me since I was young.”

The same constitution as himself?

Even now, Vlad couldn’t believe those words.

The lord’s daughter couldn’t possibly be like him!

“But I wanted to cure my body with my own strength. So I studied magic, and I became quite confident in my abilities.”

She certainly had reason to be confident.

Even to Vlad, who knew nothing about magic, the lord’s daughter was clearly superior to ordinary mages.

“After learning magic to some extent, I wanted to travel to other worlds, or rather, continents, but my parents wouldn’t allow it. They said my skills were insufficient.”

Words that were both understandable and difficult to comprehend.

Though she might have skills, it would be difficult for a noble to let his daughter wander outside.

But the young lady’s words had a slightly strange nuance.

It felt like it wasn’t because she was a noble’s daughter, but because her skills were truly lacking.

“So I made a promise. I would show my skills by clearing the undead around the domain before my mothers returned.”

From her words, Vlad understood how he had come to meet the young lady outside.

However, this place wasn’t near the domain as he knew it.

“That’s why we came here. To the Demon King’s Ravine, the ravine where the Demon King’s dungeon is located.”

The young lady pointed to the western land in the distance.

In the center of the ravine, ruins buried in darkness were visible.

Growl.

In the darkness, undead rose to their feet.