The Genius Knight of a Fallen Race - Chapter 52

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

◈ The Genius Knight of a Fallen Race ◈

Chapter 52: Save Me

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In truth, even the count did not know exactly what was happening in the capital.

He had no informants planted there. All he had were bits and pieces he had heard from peddlers, pilgrims, and mercenaries traveling between Sedil City and Hasra.

“Writing my son a letter is an option, but even at the fastest, it would take at least twenty days to send a letter and receive a reply. With the city gates closed, there’s little chance any news would get through.”

Even aside from that, the count had no particular desire to contact his son.

If his son learned the danger had passed and then came slinking back, his fist might move before he could stop it.

Shan said he would think about it a little longer, then left the reception room and immediately told Roden.

“The capital’s been sealed off?”

“Could the princes have done it?”

“Probably. It’s hard to think of any other reason.”

Serin had also warned them that the atmosphere between the two princes was too hostile, and that something might happen while so many nobles were away with the subjugation force.

Unless they had really done something, there was no other reason for the capital to suddenly close itself off.

“Ha...”

Kalion, Roden’s father, had remained in the capital. Roden’s expression turned grave.

Of course, there was not much chance that anything would happen to the head of the Merchants’ Guild, but...

“Should we go back? As quickly as possible.”

“You just woke up. Are you sure? Maybe you should rest a little longer-”

“I told you, I’m fine.”

Roden looked at Shan, who shrugged, with concern before letting out a quiet sigh.

“All right. Let’s leave at once. It won’t take long to pack.”

Just as he had promised, Roden finished preparing for their return in no time.

Among the spoils they had acquired, he sold off the overly bulky, low-value items at a slight loss and converted them into cash. He used part of it to buy provisions for the journey.

After everything was ready, Shan first told Lugh that he would be returning to the capital.

“If you wish, I can leave a few people here. It may be inconvenient to travel with only your squire...”

“What? No, not at all! It’s fine! The two of us always travel together anyway!”

Lugh frantically waved his hands, insisting there was no need.

Shan did not mention the troubling situation in the capital.

If Lugh learned that something might have happened to his lord, Prince Elvin, that stiff-necked giant of a knight might insist on coming along despite not having recovered.

After speaking with Lugh, Shan went to inform the count that he intended to return to the capital immediately.

The old bear clicked his tongue and asked.

“Are you truly sure about this?”

“Yes. I appreciate your concern, but I must return.”

“If that is your decision, I cannot stop you. Be careful. Even a hero who is invincible before spear and blade cannot stand against cowardly poison and hidden attacks.”

A deep shadow lay across the count’s face as he warned Shan not to be swallowed by the darkness of the capital.

Shan suddenly wondered if the count had experienced something similar in his youth.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

As Shan left after saying his farewells, he realized that everyone along the road was watching him.

One of the onlookers finally gathered the courage to shout.

“Thank you so much!”

“You saved us!”

“Shan of Green Eyes! Slayer of the ogre and cockatrice!”

“The Heart-Ripper!”

Shan had already become something close to a legend in Sedil City.

He was a self-made explorer who had begun as an unknown Alto boy and achieved the incredible feat of hunting a cockatrice in the Demon Realm.

Now, alongside his achievement as the first Alto knight, came another: the knight who had slain the powerful ogre threatening the city.

Sedil City was not his hometown, yet its people felt proud that the footsteps of a boy destined to become a legend had been left in their city.

The Altos living there dreamed of becoming like him someday.

As Shan felt the people’s admiring gazes upon him, something swelled deep within his chest.

* * *

After leaving Sedil City, Shan’s group first headed southeast of the city.

A small cave lay between the ravines there.

While the mercenaries kept watch around the area, Roden used his exceptional strength to remove a boulder blocking the entrance. A wooden crate emerged from within.

Inside were the various magic devices they had acquired while exploring the Alto ruins in the past.

“Are they all right?”

“Mm... Good. Thankfully, there are no signs anyone opened it. Let’s load it onto the horse as it is.”

They had no idea when they would return to Sedil City, so they needed to take it now.

After loading the securely locked crate onto a packhorse, Shan addressed the Alto mercenaries.

“I have something urgent to attend to, so I’ll be leaving first. Follow Roden’s commands and make sure you return safely.”

“Yes!”

“Understood!”

Since they were carrying so many expensive items, Shan should have accompanied them as their leader if safety had been the only concern.

If a rebellion broke out, Roden, who had a phobia of bladed weapons, might not even be able to resist before being killed.

Yet since they did not know what was happening in the capital, Shan needed to ride Awin and move as quickly as possible.

Still, Shan had displayed overwhelming ability and standing while also treating the mercenaries generously, so Roden judged that a rebellion was unlikely under normal circumstances.

More importantly, if the situation truly turned bad, Roden could reveal his identity and make use of the Brotherhood members among the mercenaries.

Leaving Roden in command and separating from the group, Shan rode Awin at a speed that practically had them flying.

Since they took only the fastest route instead of passing through villages, they had to camp outdoors almost every night.

Fortunately, they were not attacked by dangerous enemies during the night.

The powerful monsters nearby had joined the pack lord and been subjugated, while Awin stomped any insignificant ones to death the moment she woke from a nap.

Whenever Awin grew tired after running at full speed and slowed to a relaxed walk, Shan took out the spear mounted on his saddle and cleaned it to calm his anxious heart.

“Whew...”

Heartbreaker, which had been driven into the ogre’s arm when it smashed down with its fist, had been a complete wreck.

The shaft had broken into several sections, and the spearhead had been so crushed that it was hard to recognize its original shape.

Still, thanks to the restoration magic Princess Serin had placed on it through the troll’s magic stone, it was recovering well.

The joints in the shaft remained a little weak, but it had mostly rejoined. The spearhead had also regained its former sharpness.

‘I hope I won’t need to use it.’

Yet judging by the news that reached him, it seemed likely he would.

The closer he came to the capital, the more information he gathered from travelers he encountered, and it only strengthened his certainty.

“A rebellion...”

“I don’t know much, but I heard the first prince and the second prince are calling each other traitors.”

The person explaining this introduced himself as a refugee who had fled Hasra some time ago.

According to him, the capital had become a complete lawless zone.

The guards had vanished, so people could not even walk the streets carrying anything valuable.

Whenever Shan heard such stories, his anxiety grew stronger, and he found himself urging Awin onward.

Thanks to that, on the third day since beginning their forced march, Shan reached the middle of a plain where Hasra could be seen in the distance.

‘Going in like this... would be dangerous.’

He wanted to gather more information nearby first, but perhaps because things were so chaotic, nobody was traveling around near the capital.

It also felt uncomfortable to grab just anyone and question them.

As Shan considered what to do, he noticed a group approaching from afar and narrowed his eyes.

He gripped his gradually recovering spear tightly, then recognized the crest on their banner.

After thinking for a moment about where he had seen it, Shan realized it belonged to one of the knights who had fought alongside him in the subjugation force.

Perhaps he had bid for one of the ogre’s testicles after earning considerable merit on the right wing.

“Oh, Sir Shan! I heard you had lost consciousness, but you’ve already returned. Good to see you! But where have you left your squire and mercenaries? Why are you alone?”

A middle-aged knight removed his helmet’s visor and asked with a welcoming expression.

His armor was stained crimson with blood, as if he had fought a battle only moments ago.

“You were Sir Urakel, correct? Have you been fighting?”

“Until just recently, we were fighting the army of that traitor Conrad. If you intend to enter the capital, give up on it. Hasra City is occupied by him now.”

The words traitor Conrad were an openly hostile choice of words. It meant the two princes had cast aside even their last pretenses and decided to treat each other as enemies.

“Prince Conrad has seized the capital?”

“Yes. Prince Elvin fought desperately against the traitor, but he was at a disadvantage not long ago and fled south with His Majesty the King.”

Sir Urakel said he too had returned to the capital without knowing what had happened, only to be chased off by Conrad’s army. Now, he was warning knights like Shan who were returning to the capital unaware of the situation.

“Conrad is indiscriminately arresting the heroes returning from the ogre hunt if they belong to Prince Elvin’s faction, then hanging them. I nearly suffered the same fate, but barely survived...”

Conrad had always been infamous for being ruthless and unforgiving.

That was why, despite being the first prince, he lacked popular support and had ended up competing with Elvin.

Still, the middle-aged knight clicked his tongue, saying he had never imagined Conrad would behave so viciously.

“Sir Shan, you are an Alto as well. That traitor Conrad will surely find some excuse to send you straight to the gallows the moment you enter.”

“Do you know what happened to Princess Serin?”

“That wi... No, I do not know about the princess either. I only heard about the situation inside the capital secondhand. Still, I didn’t expect that to be the first thing you would ask about.”

Shan did not answer the knight’s look, which seemed to ask whether the rumors about him and Princess Serin were true.

The puzzled knight scratched his head, then called out.

“Anyway, come with me to Prince Elvin! With your valor, even that devil Marquis Abel will be no match for you! I’ll make certain my prince knows what an exceptional warrior you are!”

That seemed to be why Sir Urakel had stopped Shan and rambled on.

He wanted to draw a knight powerful enough to earn great merit in the ogre hunt into their faction.

Had he been lingering here instead of joining the prince because he wanted to catch Shan when he returned?

After considering it for a moment, Shan shook his head and disappointed the knight’s expectations.

“I appreciate the offer, but I need to enter the capital first. I have to make sure my squire’s family is safe.”

When Shan explained that this was why he had returned alone so quickly, wrinkles formed across Sir Urakel’s bearded face.

“It will be dangerous.”

Sir Urakel persistently tried to persuade him to come along, but eventually realized Shan could not be convinced and let out a sigh.

“Be careful. Losing a knight like you would be a loss for the kingdom.”

Shan silently watched Sir Urakel’s army as it turned away.

Their carts carried supplies that clearly appeared to belong to civilians.

The blood on their armor had obviously not come from Conrad’s army. It must have come from robbing merchants they encountered along the way.

After Sir Urakel’s army left, Shan considered how to enter the city.

If he simply went in as he was, Conrad’s army would catch him and take his head at once.

Even if Conrad had lost forces fighting Elvin, if he controlled Hasra, he must have at least ten-odd knights and hundreds of soldiers under his command.

Shan had no chance of winning against that many troops.

That meant he had to infiltrate the city secretly, but he could not take Awin with him.

That Horais warhorse, whose body gave off a metallic sheen, would draw everyone’s attention simply by existing.

His metal armor would also likely hinder him while trying to move covertly.

After considering it, Shan decided to cast everything aside and move as lightly as possible.

The sun was already beginning to set, so he would not have to wait long for nightfall.

After removing his weapons and armor and storing them in his saddlebags, Shan stroked Awin and repeated himself several times.

“Awin, I’ll be back soon, so rest around here by yourself. Come find me when I call you. All right?”

Leaving an ordinary horse alone in the middle of Pendia’s wilderness would be no different from offering the monsters a tasty meal.

But Awin was a fierce and powerful Horais warhorse with monster blood, even among her kind.

Shan also had a special bond with her, so he believed she would respond without fail when he returned.

Awin neighed and rubbed her metal-covered head against Shan’s chest in reply.

“Good. Just wait a little longer.”

After reminding Awin once more, Shan headed toward Hasra City on foot, his body now lighter.

With all the turmoil, every house outside the city walls was tightly locked.

Shan stared at the firmly closed city gate after curfew, loosened his fingers, then immediately began climbing the wall.

It was a death-defying feat, putting his weight onto tiny protrusions too small to fit even a finger joint.

Of course, that only applied to ordinary people. To Shan, a wall this high was no more than a bit of exercise after a meal.

He quickly climbed the wall, checked the guards stationed throughout it, then closed his eyes and slipped between them.

In the pitch-black night, the guards’ eyes had grown accustomed to the torchlight. They failed to notice Shan moving through the darkness.

After entering the city by way of the stairs in the wall without being discovered, Shan let out a small sigh at the sight of the capital before him.

‘This is...’

Many of the buildings around him had been scorched by fire or had their doors badly smashed.

The ground was covered in uncollected trash, while barricades made by piling up miscellaneous junk stood everywhere to defend against attacks.

The traces made it clear that this place had resembled a battlefield until recently.

Taking in his surroundings, Shan avoided the night watchmen as he moved.

His past experience abducting Brotherhood executives was a great help here.

After moving for around ten minutes, Shan finally saw a familiar front gate and stopped.

‘This...’

The front gate of Weavers Estate was half destroyed, just like the other buildings Shan had passed.

There were scorch marks around it and signs that it had been smashed with clubs. Through the gate, the garden looked as though several people had trampled it with muddy feet.

At the sight, Shan rushed inside without even thinking that he needed to move carefully.

Someone hiding just inside the gate sensed his presence, jumped out, and swung a club.

“You filthy thieving bastards-Urgh!”

The man swung the club as though he meant to smash Shan’s head apart, then screamed in shock when Shan caught it barehanded.

Then he realized Shan’s eyes were glowing green, dropped the club in a hurry, and shouted.

“Young Master!?”

The man turned out to be the stablehand of the Weavers household.

Shan handed back the club he had seized and asked,

“What happened here?”

“F-forgive me.”

“It’s fine. You didn’t know. More importantly, how is he?”

The stablehand’s face darkened at Shan’s question.

His expression alone made it clear that something bad had happened.

“The master is inside. Um, has the eldest young master...?”

“He’s on his way back. I came first because I heard something had happened in the capital.”

Seeing the estate in this state, Shan muttered as though lamenting that he should have returned sooner.

When Shan found Kalion shortly afterward, Kalion did not greet him with his usual hearty laugh.

As Shan looked down at Kalion lying in bed, pale-faced and with a bandage around his head, the stablehand muttered in shame.

“He was attacked by thieves who broke into the estate not long ago. Mr. Dasset and Old Man Gol lost their lives then.”

Dasset and Gol had been the cook and gardener, respectively.

Shan’s face turned cold when he heard that people he knew had died.

“Who were they?”

“We do not know. The situation was so chaotic.”

Exactly three days after Shan and Roden had left for the ogre hunt, Princes Conrad and Elvin had led their troops into battle against each other for reasons no one knew.

Afterward, the capital fell into complete anarchy.

Even the guards had divided into factions according to their commanders and fought one another, while thugs from the slums took advantage of the gap in security to raid wealthy estates.

Weavers Estate had been swept up in that chaos and reduced to this state.

Many of the servants had died or fled, and the household’s valuables had been stolen.

Loyal servants had risked their lives to preserve even this much. Some nearby merchant families, the stablehand said, had been wiped out entirely, with every last possession taken from their homes.

“Ha...”

Shan could now truly understand why Roden had wanted to succeed as a knight.

No matter how much money a merchant had, the moment the protection of the nation and its laws loosened even a little, this was what happened.

Only those who held real power could weather every storm.

The thieves had not even dared consider raiding noble estates.

Those places were protected by well-armed household troops and knights.

“Did you call for a priest?”

“So many people were injured that it was difficult to call one. I heard the prince is controlling the priests...”

Kalion had still managed to receive treatment a few times through personal connections.

Kalion was simply too old to recover quickly.

To treat him properly, Shan would likely need to get him out of the capital somehow and show him to a more skilled priest.

He would have to think of a way later, but...