How to survive as a beggar count

Chapter 7

Gulpp!

I unconsciously swallowed. The fact that he could cut down a tree of that size with one strike was no ordinary feat.

What kind of person was he? What kind of person with such swordsmanship skills would be wandering around in this backwater village?

As if reading my mind, he spoke.

“I hate annoying things. Don’t bother me and just leave.”

He spoke briefly, then turned his attention away from me.

He hated annoying things, huh?

It was probably the same reason he gave that bread to Blank last time.

Rather than causing unnecessary commotion, he probably thought it was easier to just give away some leftover bread. That’s what it seemed like.

To him, I was probably just another “annoying thing” like Blank.

It was an unpleasant remark, but what could I do? I was still a weak, reckless fool.

“…”

But I had to admit, it was a relief that he left me alone. If he were a bandit, he would have killed me and taken whatever I had.

Maybe he wasn’t such a bad guy after all…

“…Ah!”

Just for a moment, I almost thought well of him. But when I saw the fire pit in front of him, I changed my mind.

“My meat!”

He was roasting the wild boar I had just hunted as if it was his own.

The wild boar I had barely managed to hunt after nearly dying! And he was eating it without lifting a finger!

“…Krah!”

In a fit of anger, I was about to yell at him, but it was futile. As soon as I moved, the pain from my injuries flared up.

“Ugh…”

“Heh. You’re eating dirt, and now you’re groaning all by yourself.”

“Y-you bastard… that’s mine!”

Despite my pain, I struggled to protest, but he didn’t even flinch.

“What’s that? This is the prey I’ve been eyeing. You’re the one who interfered.”

“Ugh…”

My anger rose, but I couldn’t speak because of the pain.

“…Here.”

He threw a small box at me from his arms. With that, the tattered cloth he was wearing fluttered slightly, revealing the shining silver full plate mail and a sword for a brief moment.

That sword…

I caught the box, and inside was a white ointment. It had a minty scent that tickled my nose.

“…What is this?”

“Apply it to your wounds. It will ease the pain.”

“….”

It didn’t seem like he was lying. There was no reason for him to lie to me like that.

I decided to take a chance and applied the ointment to the wound on my left arm.

“Mmm…”

It burned a little, but the excruciating pain started to lessen.

I quickly applied the ointment all over my body, then threw the empty box back to him.

“That’s payment for the meat.”

“…Hmph.”

“Someone’s child doesn’t seem to know their place. The world isn’t so easy. So, just leave quietly.”

He continued roasting his meat, still not wary of me at all.

To him, I was nothing more than a passing bird.

As long as I didn’t bother him, I was the kind of person he’d ignore.

The fact that he gave me the ointment was probably just to stop me from bothering him any further. He probably didn’t want to deal with any more nonsense. If I crossed the line, he wouldn’t hesitate to deal with me.

I studied him quietly.

At first glance, he was definitely not an ordinary wandering knight.

Moreover, when I briefly saw the sword he had just handed me, I realized it was no ordinary sword.

At this point, I had an idea.

‘This bastard…’

I began salivating for a different reason.

‘A wandering knight.’

What I needed right now was simple.

I had to win the duel trial that was coming up in a month. And it was against a monster with a swordsmanship rank of 5.

If I couldn’t do it myself, I would have to hire someone equally monstrous.

For now, I was focused on leveling up, but hiring a duel representative was another option.

The one I saw the most potential in was the wandering knight.

A proper knight, like those from the Impera family, wouldn’t side with a crumbling house. And an average aspiring knight wouldn’t stand a chance against a rank 5 opponent.

The only ones left were those with talent but who had somehow fallen from grace and couldn’t become proper knights.

Wandering knights.

At this point, they were the only ones I could rely on.

But that also came with risks.

I couldn’t know why they had fallen from grace.

Some of them had fled after committing serious crimes.

However, when I glimpsed his sword earlier, I noticed something.

There was a decoration near the hilt of the sword, and it could only mean one thing.

He wasn’t a petty little scoundrel; he was a monster with unbelievable skill.

If that was the case, I couldn’t let him slip away.

I had to make him help me, no matter what.

“Hey.”

“…What is it?”

I spoke in a serious tone, and perhaps sensing my change in demeanor, his gaze grew sharp.

He was a wandering knight.

For whatever reason, he was a person who wandered without a master. Someone who would draw his sword without hesitation if he felt threatened.

How could I get close to someone like that? It wouldn’t be easy.

So instead of trying to get close, I decided to go straight to the point.

“You’re from the Eternal Knights, aren’t you?”

Before the words had even fully left my mouth, his sword was already flying toward my neck.

The sharp blade grazed my skin lightly.

The trajectory was clean and precise, without any excess. It was a level of skill only achievable after swinging a sword thousands, even tens of thousands of times over the years.

The clean swordplay was visible to my eyes, but dodging it was an entirely different matter.

It was so fast that all I could do was watch it with my eyes.

Huff!

The sword left a shallow cut on my skin before halting. Red blood began to trickle down the blade.

“Hmm.”

The wandering knight gave a strange expression before sheathing his sword.

“You didn’t even react to the sword.”

It was a strange feeling.

I could clearly see the path of the sword, yet my body couldn’t react.

Normally, a moment like this would have prompted a remark like, “You didn’t dodge!” or “You didn’t have the will to live!” but this was different.

The intent to kill was clear.

Without any hesitation, he had tried to kill me, but stopped short.

“Ah.”

I felt uncomfortable, but I held it in. I wiped the blood from my neck.

“So, what’s the reason you brought that up?”

He asked why I had provoked him.

At least I had succeeded in making the first move.

I had captured his interest, so it was time to move to the next step.

“Let me clear something up first. I’m not just some ‘rich kid.'”

“…What does that mean?”

“I’m someone who’s going to be the master of this land. Because of that, I’ve learned a lot.”

“Master? Heh. You mean the owner of some failing countship?”

“…”

He spoke disrespectfully, especially considering I was the son of a count.

An average knight might lose their head for such words, but I was confident that no one here would be able to do that.

No, I was sure of it.

This man had once been part of the “Eternal Knights.”

“You’ve heard some useless rumor, haven’t you? Where did you hear it?”

His voice had a murderous edge to it. It wasn’t a casual question.

If I were someone who opposed their faction, he would trace it back and erase me.

At times like this, I needed to bring up a subject that would catch him off guard.

“I’ve also heard rumors about the knights’ relics.”

“…”

The moment I said that, his demeanor changed completely.

The murderous intent that had been lurking before exploded, far more intense than before.

Hmm…

It felt like I had touched a sensitive spot, as if I had poked at a hidden vulnerability.

Seeing this, my knees almost gave way.

“Say that again. What did you just say?”

“What, you heard right.”

Tsut!

A blue aura erupted from the sword in his hand like a wild storm.

If he swung that at me, I’d probably be torn in two, not even leaving a trace behind—like a fly being zapped by an electric fly swatter.

“Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you in the next five seconds.”

Gulp!

He exhaled a sharp, killing intent and slowly moved closer to me.

But I didn’t back down. I responded calmly.

“Because I know where it is.”

“…You’re pushing it too far. I won’t tolerate it.”

He was ready to strike, but I knew he wouldn’t do it.

He couldn’t tell whether I was just spouting nonsense or if I truly knew something.

“Fine. Go ahead, kill me. But you’ll never know where the relic is. Just like you don’t know now.”

“…”

The intense silence stretched on until, at last, he lowered his sword.

Phew!

I had almost made it.

How to bring him to my side…

“…How do you know such information? The noble of the great Impera Countship, no less.”

“I have personal reasons.”

“Heh! That sounds like quite a story.”

He sat down on a nearby tree stump and asked.

He acted calm on the outside, but I could tell his curiosity was beginning to grow. No, in fact, he was probably dying to know.

If it was about the knights’ relics, then the Eternal Knights would be desperate to find it.

The Eternal Knights.

To explain them, I need to go back further in time.

They first appeared in the 200th episode of “World Conquest through Rank Power!” during a flashback scene.

The Kazan Empire, now destroyed and vanished without a trace.

In the novel, the fall of the Kazan Empire was detailed over hundreds of chapters.

“At the time, people were complaining about how an unnecessary flashback scene dragged on for 200 episodes.”

The Kazan Empire in those hundreds of chapters was… how should I put it? Mad?

It was a country that declared war on all the kingdoms of the continent and nearly succeeded in conquering them.

Considering that, should I say they were bold?

Well, thanks to that, they were wiped out, down to their distant relatives, and vanished into the pages of history.

The Eternal Knights were a core knight order from this very Kazan Empire.

If they had survived, the empire might have won.

But, of course, they were brought down by a mad sorcerer named Oberon.

The wandering knight in front of me was once part of this deranged empire’s knight order.

I had noticed when he drew his sword earlier.

The sword he was carrying.

And the strange serpent-shaped ornament near the hilt.

It was a piece of the ouroboros, the serpent eating its own tail.

A legendary symbol of eternal cycles.

It’s almost a taboo ornament now.

If someone carried a sword with such an engraving…

There was only one conclusion.

He was a former member of the Eternal Knights.

The Kazan Empire, which had once been strong enough to unite the entire continent, had fallen. The Eternal Knights were made up of the strongest of the strong.

Anyone who had been part of that order was bound to be powerful.

By rank, his swordsmanship alone would likely be at least Rank 5 or higher.

But the problem was that such a person was also incredibly dangerous.

It had been more than a decade since the empire’s fall.

Yet, the United Kingdom was still desperately hunting down anyone associated with the empire.

If a former member of the Eternal Knights was found, there would be a bounty on their head, and that would be a huge sum.

Perhaps even surpassing the total annual income of this poor Countship.

Getting involved with someone like that?

That would be the most dangerous thing I could do.

But…

High risk, high return.

If I made an alliance with him and he was caught, I’d be killed by the United Kingdom’s pursuit squads on the spot.

But that was only if I got caught. If I didn’t, it wouldn’t matter.

On the other hand, if I just let him go?

Our family’s downfall would be certain. That was a guarantee.

It was a question of probability versus certainty.

“…”

The knight perked up, clearly curious about the “knights’ relic.”

Even if you searched the entire continent, there would only be one person who knew where it was.

That person was me.

The one who read every chapter of this novel except for the last one.

Only I knew where the knights’ relics were.

“So, the relics are located…”

“…”

“…I’m not going to tell you.”