I Became a Mythical Knight King

Chapter 10: Lothian (1)

[Evil Slaying: Virtue has increased slightly.]

[Rescuing Refugees: Virtue has increased slightly.]

The battle ended as quickly as it began.

By the time Yoo-seong and Kate reached the group of refugees, there were no kobolds left.

A dozen kobolds lay on the ground, each with an arrow in one of three places: neck, head, or chest, and in an instant, seeing more than a dozen of their own dead, the remaining ones fled in the direction they’d come from.

“……That’s pretty cool.”

Kate said in a small voice of admiration as she looked at the fallen kobolds.

But it was a different kind of admiration than Rene and Robin’s pure admiration, more like, “I have to admit, this is pretty cool.”

By their own admission, their memories were fuzzy, but it was either because they’d always been on bad terms or because of Vanadain’s rather cocky behavior towards Yoo-seong yesterday.

‘Either way, I don’t think I need to worry too much.’

It was Kate, not anyone else.

Moreover, when I saw Vanadain yesterday, he only grumbled on the outside and didn’t seem like the type of person who would really put up a wall and act arrogant.

“Let’s get these people under control.”

“Yes, Heir.”

Yoo-seong and Kate dismounted from their steeds and approached the refugees, who were gasping for air.

“Oh, knights. Thank you for saving our lives. Thank you.”

One of the half-awake refugees, a man who still had his wits about him, said as he bent down to Yoo-seong and Kate.

The other evacuees around him bowed their heads in gratitude.

After watching them for a moment, Yoo-sung looked back at the older man who had been the first to speak.

“I know you’re all exhausted, but can you move on? You only need to get to the hill over there.”

Yoo-seong pointed to the hill where Vanadain and the archers were standing, and the old man and the refugees all scrambled to their feet.

They wanted to get to where the soldiers were, not where the kobolds’ bodies were rolling around.

“We’re from the village of Flamme.”

The man, who identified himself as a merchant from the upper echelons, said that the village was much the same as the one Yoo-seong saved yesterday.

The man explained that he and the refugees were all part of the same merchant caravan. While on their way to Flamme Village, they saw fire and smoke rising and fled in a hurry, which was the only reason they managed to escape this far.

When he finished, the man waved goodbye and returned to the group of refugees, Rene bit his lip and said.

“The village of Flamme is also a neighbor of the Lotho Forest.”

The map Rene had drawn on the floor showed that the village was located near the Lotho Forest, with Mount Lotho in the vicinity.

‘The kobolds are coming from the west.’

Both Lotho Forest and Mount Lotho were defensively to the west.

“If the other villages to the west are being attacked as well……it could be that they’re coming from all over the place, joining forces to attack Lothian.”

Robin stared hard at the map Rene had drawn, and Yoo-seong nodded slowly as she spoke.

It was certainly a possibility.

Villages invaded at the same time.

The presence of the kobold prince the kobold had spoken of before his death.

‘A kobold prince leads a band of kobolds from the west to invade the kingdom.’

According to Rene’s map, there were several more small villages above the village of Flamme.

If all of them were attacked at the same time, the kobolds could easily number in the hundreds and even thousands.

“Let’s get back on the road.”

At Yoo-seong’s words, everyone in the group nodded stiffly.

It was still a day’s journey to Lothian.

Yoo-seong looked back at Rene, Robin, and Edgar, then turned to the others.

“Can you tell me about Lothian? How is the castle defended, and who rules the city?”

The three of them looked at each other, and after a brief exchange of glances, Robin spoke.

“Lothian is the city of Baron Latus, who rules this area. He and Count Baltois go back a long way.”

“He’s like an uncle.”

Yoo-seong nodded at Rene’s addition.

If the owner of the city knew Rene well, it would be easier for them to work together when they joined forces.

Robin continued.

“Lothian was the capital of a minor kingdom in the days before the kingdom was unified, so the walls are high and thick for a city on the fringes.”

This was good news.

I hadn’t expected much from a city on the periphery, but if the story was true, I could expect a decent castle.

“They don’t have many soldiers, do they?”

Robin nodded bitterly at Yoo-seong’s question.

“Yeah, I guess. It’s fairly large for a city on the fringes, but there are only a few dozen resident soldiers. However, if Baron Latus’ knights join us from the rear with a handful of troops……and if we conscript from within the city, we should be able to get 300 to 400 troops right away.”

It would have been even stranger if hundreds of troops had been stationed in a remote city that posed no particular threat.

‘Still, it’s not bad.’

It was no different from saying that most of them were serfs, but they still had walls.

At this, Edgar, who had been silent until now, cautiously chimed in.

“Baron Latus was an outstanding knight in his youth, whose reputation spread far and wide. As a man who emphasizes mercantile spirit, I understand that he still has a small but well-trained army of elite soldiers under his command.”

A knightly lord whose fame spread far and wide in his youth, and a small number of elite soldiers that he had taken care to raise.

This was good news, but somehow Yoo-seong felt an ominous sense of foreboding.

“Thank you for the stories. Let’s hurry.”

“Yes, Heir.”

Rene replied on their behalf, and the group fell silent again and hurried on their way.

The next morning, as they neared the neighborhood of Lothian, the refugees’ pace quickened.

They were comforted by the knowledge that they would soon reach the safety of the castle walls.

Rene smiled a small smile as she looked back at the refugees, and then Yoo-seong spoke up.

“Rene, are you familiar with Baron Latus?”

“What? Uh……yes. He’s always been very fond of me.”

Rene scratched her cheek and laughed awkwardly, as if remembering something embarrassing from the past.

Then Robin, who had been quietly following along, spoke up.

“Apologies for interrupting, but if I may, he was a bit upset that you passed by without even a greeting.”

“I suppose she couldn’t help it, being a runaway.”

If it’s as Robin said, then how could Rene go and greet Baron Latus when she left home alone to prove that she received a revelation.

At Yoo-seong’s slightly teasing tone, Robin nodded in agreement, and Rene pursed her lips and snapped her fingers.

“It wasn’t a runaway, it was a revelation, a sacred journey…….”

She actually met Yoo-seong, the Heir of Light.

But a runaway is still a runaway, so Yoo-seong and Robin who said that to Rene to tease her.

That’s when it happened.

Yoo-seong, Robin, and Edgar, who had been watching Rene’s face as she pouted her lips instead of pleading, looked up almost simultaneously.

The knight’s inhuman hearing had picked up a distant sound.

“Rene! Bird of Light! Robin, stop the refugees!”

Rene’s eyes narrowed at Yoo-seong’s sudden command, but she quickly cast her magic, and Robin flew toward the refugees.

As soon as the bird of light was high in the sky, Rene screamed.

“There’s a fight!”

“Baron Latus has come out of the castle and is fighting?”

“Oh, yes, how?”

Rene asked in surprise, but instead of explaining, Yoo-seong turned back to Robin and shouted.

“Robin, tell the evacuees to hide nearby. Rene, get up!”

“What? Oh, yeah!”

Rene leapt to her feet and onto his back, and Yoo-seong held her tightly as he ran off, shouting.

“Edgar, come with me and Robin!”

“Yep!”

The refugees were extremely panicked as the group suddenly ran off without them, but it wasn’t the time to look after them.

The lord had risen to prominence in his youth.

The presence of the few but well-trained elite soldiers he had raised.

The horde of kobolds before him.

A lord who remembered his youth and vowed to wipe them out.

I could almost picture the scene in my mind like a painting.

Of course, it was possible that Baron Latus could have performed a truly spectacular dance and swept the kobolds away.

But why else would Rene have let out a screaming cry in the first place!

“Aaaah!”

“Thump! Thump!”

“Protect the lord!”

The closer they got to the battlefield, the more ominous the sounds became.

And finally, Lothian’s castle came into view.

-Boom!

With a loud boom, a knight soared through the air.

The knight had been struck by a mace wielded by a kobold mounted on a giant wolf.

His face was covered in cotton armor, and it was impossible to see it.

But as if the red painted armor wasn’t enough, Rene, Robin, and Edgar shouted almost simultaneously.

“Uncle Hugo!”

“Baron Latus!”

“Baron!”

-Boom!

Knight-Baron Latus fell to the floor.

Rene screamed again at the merciless landing, and Yoo-seong opened his eyes wide to take in the entire battlefield.

Outside the castle, Baron Latus’ forces numbered around fifty.

There were six or seven cavalrymen, and the rest were all spearmen.

The kobolds number seventy to eighty, all infantry.

The only one on a wolf is the big one that blew Baron Latus away.

“Kate, rally!”

I shouted as I dropped Rene, and in a flash of gold, Kate appeared on her steed.

Yoo-seong climbed up on the steed and rode behind her, and Kate, instantly aware of the situation, scanned the battlefield.

“We’re going first!”

The clock was ticking as kobolds and soldiers were gathering around the fallen Baron Latus.

“Archers! Rally!”

I shouted as I ran, and with a flash of gold behind me, Vanadain and his archers appeared.

Once again, there was no time for explanations, and Yoo-seong gave the order.

“Shoot!”

The archers didn’t react immediately, but Vanadain drew his bow at lightning speed, and with a sharp crack, a single arrow whizzed past Yoo-seong and Kate.

“Crack!”

One of the kobolds, about to pounce on the fallen Baron Latus, took an arrow to the head.

At the same moment, the archer troops fired arrows as well.

Papapapap!

They weren’t like Vanadain’s.

They were not direct shots, but curved shots, and even then, they were fired sideways for fear of hitting Baron Latus’ soldiers, so almost none of the arrows hit the kobolds.

But it was a deterrent.

The kobolds, startled by the arrows coming from the side, turned their heads, and so did the kobold who had blown Baron Latus away.

And the distance closed.

Even as they turned and panicked, Kate kept running forward, and at one point she roared out.

“Glory to Camelot!”

-Pow!

A brilliant golden glow arose.

The serfs hadn’t come out yet, and the archers were far behind, but it didn’t matter.

The light once again frightened the kobolds into sleep, and Baron Latus’ soldiers gained strength and courage.

And most importantly, time.

In the golden light, the steed galloped.

They closed the distance, and at last they were upon them.

-Boom!

The steed struck the kobold.

Then it rode on, and Kate raised the flag.

Suddenly, the Yoo-seong in the saddle flung himself off.

-Clang!

His sword slashed through the air, cutting down one of the kobolds.

Upon landing, Yoo-seong swung his sword again, creating space, and let out the promised cry.

“Serf troops, rally!”

“Woooooooo!”

With a blur of light, a troop of twenty serfs appeared.

They shouted as they appeared, perhaps because of Kate’s presence, but when they saw the kobolds in front of them, instead of fleeing, they swung their weapons.

“Kiaak!”

“Kek!”

Suddenly, there were twenty of them in front of them, attacking.

The kobolds were confused and scrambling around.

At that moment, Yoo-seong spotted its target, a kobold riding a giant wolf.

He launched himself at the leader of the kobold horde.