“What did you say?”

“Uh… the Tywin family and Sir Eugene have signed a contract with me. Here is the mana stone and monster materials disposal agreement as well as the letter to prove the identity of Lord Tywin’s agent.”

Bilmoa held out a document and Priscilla’s hand trembled as she received it. She had been planning to personally sign a contract with the knight named Eugene after meeting him, but apparently, Bilmoa and Eugene had already signed a contract amidst their short meeting.. In addition, the terms of the contract were not half bad, or rather, quite good for the Palin Association.

“We have decided to lend them 5,000 silver coins with three dungeon expedition rights as collateral. It is on a two-year repayment basis. During the repayment period, we have all the rights to purify and sell mana stones from the Tywin dungeon. The materials from monsters are also..."

“I get it. Ha!”

Priscilla let out a long sigh, and Bilmoa tilted his head in confusion. This was a very good contract for the Palin Association, so why was the vice executive sighing?

“Vice executive, are you not fond of the terms of the contract?”

“I like them. Phew, it’s nothing. You can get back to your business. Oh, and please call Mister Grail in.”

“Yes, of course.”

Bilmoa stood up from his seat after answering, then walked towards the door. As his hand reached for the door, he turned his head after he suddenly remembered something.

“Ah, right. I saw Grail heading to the mercenary guild earlier.”

“The mercenary guild? Why?”

“He said he was going to see Sir Eugene.”

“What? Why is Sir Eugene in the mercenary guild?”

“Ah! So, you don’t know about it yet? A group of roamers have been spotted in the woods around the eastern outskirts of the city. The city recruiter is gathering a subjugation squad. It appears Sir Eugene is going to participate.”

“I see. All right… W-was Mister Grail by himself by chance?”

“He was with Tevin. Oh, and I’m not sure where he found it, but he was pulling along an incredibly handsome horse with him. It even had armor, and wow, it was just…”

Papapat!

Priscilla jumped up from her seat and bolted out the door before Bilmoa finished his words.

“What the heck? Did she need to use the toilet? Anyways, no one will be able to say anything about my performance now. Hehe!”

Bilmoa expressed puzzlement when Priscilla darted out the door, but soon, a bright smile hung around his lips.

***

Eugene armed himself after stopping by an inn, then left Maren’s gate alongside the mercenaries.

Clop. Clop.

The horse gifted to him by the Palin Association was very much to Eugene’s liking. Although he was quite ignorant when it came to horses, he assumed his steed was quite outstanding since the man from the Palin Association had boasted proudly of the horse’s pedigree. Moreover, his horse apparently cost 300 silver coins, excluding its armor.

He once heard that no one would dare to form cavalries or knight orders, except for a few select nobles. Today, he finally understood why. Equipping a proper knight was genuinely akin to throwing money into an endless pit..

“Your horse taming abilities are amazing, Sir Eugene.”

“Well, I guess it’s not too shabby.”

Partec showed his admiration, and Eugene responded dryly.

“It’s a good thing you did as I told you, right? Huhuhuhuhuhu!”

Mirian laughed proudly while lying on the head of the horse. The horse was given the name “Silion” after one of the spirit monarchs, and although he did not answer, Eugene accepted Mirian’s words. Just a moment ago, he heeded her advice and threatened Silion.

Well, he utilized a vampire’s Fear to cause the horse to submit, rather than threatening it, but he managed to successfully establish a perfect master and servant relationship with the horse. Adding in a vampire’s excellent athletic abilities, he quickly learned to ride the horse on a similar level as a regular knight.

“Hey, hey Silion. Consider yourself the luckiest of horses. As for our Sir Eugene – he’s an amazing con man, hmm!? He pulls out the heads of trolls with his bare hands, yeah!? Hey, he’s  the master of everything and anything! You’ve netted yourself a master who’s bound to lead you to greatness. Sir Eugene, the Earl of Blood! Eugene, the Count of Darkness!”

Neigh!

Silion nodded his head as if he could understand Mirian’s nonsense. It was surprising, but it seemed Silion could understand Mirian’s words on top of being able to see her. According to Mirian, special animals and monsters were able to see spirits. It appeared Silion fell into that same category as well.

‘Is it because of his extraordinary pedigree?’

As Eugene thought to himself, a group of mercenaries came running towards him while shouting. They had volunteered themselves to scout ahead.

“Sir Eugene! There is trouble!”

“Trouble?”

“Sir Madrica has been surrounded by roamers! It seems most of the mercenaries are either dead or have fled, and Sir Madrica is struggling alone…”

“Let’s go quickly.”

“Yes!”

The mercenaries who were familiar with Eugene strode forward confidently, while those who saw him for the first time began running with both doubt and expectations.

***

“What a mess. A huge mess.”

Eugene found himself agreeing with Mirian quite a few times today as he looked towards the entrance of the forest. He could not see about half of the mercenaries who left earlier with Madrica. Most likely, they were dead or had already fled, but the remaining survivors did not look to be in good shape either.

Firstly, there were just too many goblins. In addition, they weren’t equipped with crude weapons such as wooden clubs. Instead, they held iron weapons such as sickles and daggers in their hands. Even so, each mercenary would have been capable of handling one or two goblins at a time. But there were so many goblins that each mercenary had to fight against three or four goblins at the same time.

The only salvation was that Madrica was playing a big role with his excellent horseback swordsmanship.

“Orc!”

The orc warriors had been firing crossbows from the back line until now. But they suddenly charged towards Madrica, perhaps they noticed the arrival of Eugene and the other mercenaries. The orc warriors were holding battle axes in both hands and had long, braided hair. Their appearances were truly terrifying.

“Sir Eugene! Looks like the orcs are trying to subdue Sir Madrica to take him into the woods as they escape!”

“Take him and run?”

“They can get a ransom for a knight. Even if they can't, taking his horse and equipment will be extremely beneficial to them.. Sir Eugene, we are running out of time!”

In the meantime, the orc warriors ran forward and arrived in front of Madrica’s horse. The frightened horse stopped and reared on its hind legs, and two orc warriors rushed to the horse’s sides.

Madrica had already used up all the javelins, so he attempted to retaliate with his longsword, but he struggled against three opponents.

“Partec, take these men and save the mercenaries. I will help Sir Madrica.”

“Yes!”

Around thirty mercenaries charged while shouting valiantly. Originally, there were less than 10 applicants, but the situation changed when it became known that Eugene played a massive role in the dungeon opening of the Tywin territory. Some mercenaries who fought alongside him began to join the subjugation without hesitation, which caused other observers to join in as well.

“Sir Eugene will take care of the orcs!”

“We only need to kill the goblins!”

“Uwahhhh!”

Leaving behind the brave shouts of the mercenaries, Silion dashed through the meadow like the wind.

‘Fast!’

To think that a war horse with pedigree was this amazing!

Eugene was greatly shocked and pleased with Silion’s speed as he grabbed a javelin from the side of the saddle. The horse was easily faster than himself, a vampire, even if he sprinted at maximum speed.

“Let’s go! Let’s go! Kiyaaaahhhhoooo!”

Mirian shouted excitedly while hanging off Silion’s mane, and Eugene leaned back after placing the javelin on his spear thrower. Perhaps hearing the sound of Silion’s hooves, one of the orc warriors surrounding Madrica turned towards Eugene.

“Kuwuuugh!”

The orc’s roar resonated in the air, filled with the power of its fear. Eugene’s eyes turned a shade redder as he invoked his vampiric powers to resist the fear.

‘This is!?’

In that moment, Eugene sensed an intangible power emitting from his body and shooting towards the orc warriors.

‘Fear.’

He worried that he might scare Silion, but the horse continued without pause, as if to prove that he wasn’t an ordinary war horse.

“Haap!”

Eugene released his breath and threw the spear as hard as he could.

Fwoooosh!

The 1.5-meter javelin shot forward like an arrow. It flew 30 meters in a blink of the eye, then pierced the chest of an orc warrior.

“Kuwwwuugh!”

The orc warrior flew back and collapsed while screaming bitterly. Even the chainmail it wore on the inside was pierced through. As soon as the monster screamed in pain, the other two turned their heads. Madrica was a competent knight as well, and he did not miss the moment of opportunity.

“Kueeugh!”

Madrica’s longsword drew an arc through the air and struck an orc warrior on the shoulder. Subsequently, Eugene narrowed the distance in a single breath on Silion, then swung down with his battle axe.

“…..!?”

The orc warrior stiffened in front of Eugene’s Fear, which was much stronger than its own.

Thuck!

The remaining orc warrior’s head was decapitated in a single blow, and the orc warrior fell forward without a scream.

‘Good. It will be very effective if I can secretly utilize Fear like this in the future.’

Combined with the powerful charge of Silion, it would surely be a devastating weapon

“Kueegh! Kueuk!”

Thuck!

The surviving orc warrior was trying to escape with blood spouting from its shoulder, but Madrica’s longsword was quickly thrust into its back.

“I owe you a huge deal!”

Madrica turned his horse gracefully while shaking the blood off his sword.

“Sir Eugene, right? Your honorable deeds and outstanding performance. I, Ron Madrica, have trained under Sir Capran for many years, yet I truly… Huh? S-sir!?”

“There are still goblins remaining. Stop talking and join the subjugation.”

“Ah! Of course!”

Madrica was about to go off on a cheesy speech even in such a situation. But he quickly scurried after Eugene’s chiding.

***

As soon as Eugene and Madrica joined, the battle quickly ended. The process was rather dull. Cavalry could display their greatest power in a meadow, and mere goblins could not repel the attacks of knights amidst their charge on top of armed warhorses.

The goblins scattered and fled when the two knights swung their spears and swords on top of their horses. The mercenaries easily took care of the disorganized monsters. In the end, only about ten goblins managed to survive and escape into the forest. The mercenaries shouted rather vigorously after having confirmed their victory.

What followed was the exercising of the victors’ rights.

At Madrica’s command, the mercenaries looted the monsters’ weapons and the objects they looted from various villages. At the same time, Partec and a portion of the group tore open the stomachs of larger goblins.

Orcs did not possess mana stones because they were a race rather than monsters, but goblins, even roamers, sometimes possessed mana stones.

“Sir Eugene! We found six mana stones!”

“Good work.”

The number was incomparably less than what he gained from the expedition and the size was significantly smaller as well, but Eugene placed them inside a leather bag regardless.

“Hey, Sir Eugene.”

“Hmm? Do you have business with me?”

“Well… it’s just that.”

Madirca coughed awkwardly before continuing politely. Blood was painted all over his armor.

“I want to apologize for being disrespectful towards you earlier. Although I have not been sworn in yet, I can proudly say that I follow the creed of knights more faithfully than anyone else. I pursue honor and chivalry, and I find that you are a true example of chivalry. Anyone who lives by the sword might find you exemplary …”

“That’s enough. Just pass this on to the recruiter after you’re done organizing the battlefield. I am new to Maren, so I am unfamiliar with the process.”

Eugene threw the leather pouch towards him while speaking, and Madrica nodded as he received it.

“Oh! Leave it to me. Anyway, let us have a drink together next time. It’s on me. Actually, if you have time today…”

“Yes, next time. Please excuse me.”

Eugene had no intention of having a drinking party with such a talkative knight, so he quickly pulled on the reins and made his exit.

“Goodbye! You were truly amazing today, Sir Eugene! I will see you next time!”

Madrica shouted brightly while standing on the bloody battlefield, and Eugene returned to Maren with Partec’s group.

***

“No, but why did you purchase the horse so quickly?”

“Vice executive was the one who ordered me to process it quickly, right? Sir Eugene liked it very much. He asked me to let you know that he was very grateful.”

“Well, of course he would be grateful! I would be too, if someone gifted me something worth 300 silver coins for free!”

“So why are you acting this way? You were the one who asked me to get him a horse as a gift. Did something happen?”

Priscilla responded with a sigh.

“That sir knight, he already has a contract with Bilmoa. The conditions weren’t so bad for our association either.”

“What? S-so, before he even came to our association…”

“That’s right. Mister Bilmoa told me that the knight hinted at it even when they were at Lord Tywin’s castle.”

“What?! Why did Bilmoa not mention something so important until now!?”

Grail raised his voice, and Priscilla answered with a bitter smile.

“It was a dungeon opening. They had a shortage of troops and there was less than fifty percent chance of success. Mister Bilmoa was already underperforming, so he could not speak of something that was only speculative.”

“Ah…”

“Anyway, he seemed quite shocked that the knight actually came. He never even thought the Tywin family would sign a long-term contract to get loans.”

“Huh! My goodness. So there was no need for us to give him a horse?”

“Yes. There was absolutely no need to give him such an expensive horse.”

“…..”

They paid a huge price for their speculation. But the terms of the contract with Knight Eugene was so good that these two did not know whether to laugh or to cry.