What was that supposed to mean? A cannibal knight?
Apparently I wasn’t the only one caught off guard, because Aileen’s eyes went wide as she cried out.
“C-Cannibal Knight? Sir Chad would never do something like that!”
Of course. There was no way she’d believe it so easily.
To her, Sir Chad was the one person who had trained in swordsmanship with her since childhood—quite literally her only comrade, and something like a friend.
I’d even heard that he was the one who had helped her escape the castle.
“Tsk, tsk. You only believe what you want to believe. Fine, then don’t believe it.”
Malay didn’t seem to care in the slightest whether Aileen believed her or not.
She had always been the type not to care what others thought, so other people’s opinions probably hadn’t mattered to her from the start.
When she turned her back without offering any explanation, bewilderment was plain on Aileen’s face.
She must have instinctively sensed that Malay wasn’t the kind of person to dismiss as simply lying.
“You should at least explain!”
At that, Malay snorted and tapped the floor with her staff.
“You lot, every last one of you—what am I, some punching bag? Anyone and everyone barges in demanding information. Do you have any idea how many times a day I hear people asking me to explain things?”
She grumbled as though it were a nuisance, but she didn’t walk past Aileen.
From the look of it, she didn’t intend to simply ignore her and move on.
Or perhaps she was only opening her mouth because she was bored.
Malay let out a sigh, then spoke with a look of annoyance.
“Haa, listen carefully. That bastard ate a lot on a regular basis, didn’t he?”
“Pardon? Uh… mm…”
Aileen trailed off for a moment.
Then, after hesitating slightly, she nodded.
“He did eat often, but… what does that have to do with anything?”
The corner of Malay’s mouth curled upward.
“Then there’s no doubt. That bastard was an Inheritor.”
“An Inheritor?”
It was a familiar word.
A vague memory of hearing it before came to mind.
That was what they called people who used relics.
Don’t tell me Sir Chad was one too?
“Yeah, an Inheritor. That’s how relics are. In exchange for granting special power, they always demand a price equal to it. In that bastard’s case, that freakish appetite was the price.”
Malay’s voice was low and firm. It didn’t sound like simple nonsense or boasting.
If anything, there was a strange sense of reality in her tone, making the listener unwilling to miss a single word.
“Chad used to serve as a knight for a viscount’s family up north. Well, even if they were viscounts, the north has barren land and harsh weather. It’s a place where snow, ice, and hunger are part of daily life. Why do you think he went to a place like that? He did receive a knighthood, but the nobles couldn’t handle the enormous food expenses caused by the relic, and in the end they drove him out.”
Malay continued, tapping the ground with her staff.
“Then, after some tension with a neighboring territory, a battle broke out. At first they thought they’d just growl at each other a bit and call it a day, but one month, two months… supplies were cut off, both sides sank into a quagmire, and in the end it turned into all-out war. In the middle of winter.”
She took an herb from her breast and crushed it as she went on.
“And in that battle… only one soldier survived. Chad. When that bastard returned to the castle, he was covered in blood. His armor was torn to shreds, his sword was worn down like teeth, and blood was smeared around his mouth. Anyone could tell he wasn’t in his right mind.”
Aileen, hearing that, froze and couldn’t say a word.
“That was when the rumors started. ‘Did that bastard come back after eating his comrades because he was hungry?’ And no wonder. In that situation, the only thing there was to eat was snow-covered mud.”
Malay sighed as she spoke.
“Not only the soldiers, but even the nobles avoided him. In the end, he was driven out of the castle too. I suppose he was lucky enough to keep his life because he hadn’t eaten any of the nobles.”
The tip of her staff tapped the ground once more.
“That’s how he got that nickname. Chad, the Cannibal Knight.”
“That’s…”
Aileen pressed her lips shut, as if she couldn’t believe it.
She looked inwardly shaken.
Honestly, I was a little surprised too.
I had no direct connection to a person named Chad, so it didn’t affect me that deeply, but what surprised me was the relic.
The fact that relics I had only heard about in rumors could be that dangerous.
“…”
Aileen was silent for a while.
She only lowered her gaze, her face lost in thought.
Seeing her so shaken even though it was merely a rumor told by someone else, it seemed she must have felt something was strange about him even in ordinary times.
But thinking about it, Malay’s words had no decisive proof.
Whether Chad had truly eaten people, and whether he had possessed a relic—all of it was circumstantial.
Maybe he was just someone with a ridiculously high basal metabolic rate, right?
Perhaps Aileen thought of that as well, because before long she calmed herself and raised her head.
“The Sir Chad I know… was at least not that kind of person. Even if that is true, he is still my benefactor.”
“…Hmph.”
Malay shrugged and let out a short snort.
As if Aileen’s reaction didn’t please her at all, she seemed to lose interest.
…As expected, she really was rather mean.
So she provoked her, and now that the reaction was mild, it wasn’t fun?
“By the way, why do you know so much about him? Do you know him?”
When I asked casually, Malay rubbed the tip of her nose and turned her gaze away.
“Hm? I spent quite a long time up north in the past. I heard the story then. I know it well. Wherever I went, everyone was making a fuss about that tale.”
“Ah, then it was just a rumor…”
“Tsk. Do you know where rumors come from? They circulate because there’s truth to them. Of course, plenty of things are added along the way.”
Malay carefully cut away the roots of the herb she had picked back up and muttered.
“That man looked strange to begin with. Just one look and you could tell he went around declaring, ‘I am not normal.’”
Malay’s tone was still indifferent, and the mocking edge in her voice carried thorns.
But unexpectedly, Aileen gave a slight nod.
“…Mm. He was an unusual person. He never once took off his helmet, and he was always wearing armor. Even when eating.”
“See? I wasn’t wrong, was I?”
Malay twisted the corner of her mouth and nodded as if satisfied.
He really… must have been an unusual person.
Enough that even Aileen, who had defended him as her benefactor, would say that much.
Malay seemed to lose interest and focused again on processing the herbs.
“Well, I don’t care what you believe. Just know this: you won’t last long with what that bastard taught you.”
Aileen pressed her lips tightly together and only gave a slight nod.
Her expression looked less like simple obedience and more like deep contemplation.
“So, are you finished checking?”
To begin with, we hadn’t gathered here to hear this kind of backstory.
The purpose was to test Aileen and decide whether she could be left here.
I still didn’t know what the standard was, but it seemed like this should have been enough to finish the assessment.
“Tsk, good enough.”
Malay shook off her staff and rose from her seat.
It felt less like a confirmation process and more like she had shaken Aileen up out of boredom, but in any case, she seemed to have accepted her.
“She’ll be useful as an assistant. Better than you.”
“…Thank you?”
Aileen lowered her head with a subtle expression.
Whether it was praise or not was ambiguous, but what mattered was that she had been accepted.
I felt relieved inwardly and said,
“Then I’ll leave tomorrow as planned. I’ll be counting on you.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll handle that wench as I see fit. All she needs to do is stay alive, right?”
“…I suppose that’s true.”
Aileen looked as if she wanted to say something, then held it in, and I could only hope she wouldn’t end up being scolded for no reason.
“Then I’ll come again tomorrow.”
“…Send her alone tomorrow.”
“Pardon? Why—ah, understood. Then we’ll be going.”
“…Get lost.”
Just as I was about to turn away, leaving behind a farewell I had grown all too used to, it happened.
“Wait. Take this with you.”
Malay casually tossed a bottle at me.
It was an opaque porcelain bottle, so I couldn’t see what was inside.
But I could tell just from its appearance.
It was the same kind of bottle as the recovery potion I had drunk before.
I caught the bottle reflexively.
“Is this a recovery medicine?”
“You’ll know once you drink it.”
“…Seriously?”
Malay shrugged expressionlessly.
“At least when I give things to you, I don’t check.”
“Haha, you’re joking, right?”
“…”
…I really couldn’t tell whether she was serious or joking.
Still, she hadn’t exactly tried to harm me so far, so I had no choice but to trust her.
“Thank you. Then, I really will see you tomorrow.”
Malay gave no reply, only a slight tilt of her head.
I quietly led the group out of the yard.
***
“Sailun! Why did you leave your luggage here?”
“Ah, please take care of that for me!”
“Liv, did you get the box?”
“Ah, right!”
The next morning.
With our departure ahead of us, we had to spend a busy stretch of time doing final checks.
I had said there was no need to help, but thanks to Aileen stepping in as well, we managed to finish our preparations after quite a bit of wrestling with everything.
After attending the mercenaries’ funeral the previous day, I had drunk myself thoroughly drunk, so my head was a mess from the morning onward.
I swore to myself several times that I would never drink like that again.
Even if the alcohol in this world was generally low in proof, it was a different story once it built up.
My head throbbed, my stomach churned—in any case, it was the worst.
After loading all the baggage into the carriage, Sailun confirmed that everyone had taken their places and asked while arranging the reins.
“Then we only need to go as far as the entrance to the forest for now, right?”
“Yeah. We have to drop Aileen off first.”
We stopped the carriage at the edge of the forest, and only Aileen and I got down.
We needed someone to watch the carriage, and Sailun couldn’t enter the boundary in the first place.
“Thank you for everything.”
“Yeah, take care of yourself here too.”
“Yes, mister.”
“I told you, I’m not a mister!”
Aileen gave Baldik her final farewell with a mischievous smile.
Baldik looked displeased, but in the end, the corner of his mouth had risen slightly.
With Sailun, she merely exchanged a brief wave, and they didn’t say a single word to each other until the very end.
…These guys really kept this up to the very end.
We moved deeper into the forest and arrived at the place where the familiar cabin stood.
As we approached the boundary, I felt Aileen’s bracelet vibrate faintly.
Before she went in, I decided to say my farewell here as well.
“Just stay healthy. And if some strange person tells you to follow them, never go with them.”
“Yes. Liv, please don’t get hurt, and make sure you come back safely.”
I nodded and looked at her silently for a moment.
Standing at the beginning of a long journey, I wondered whether parting like this was really the right thing to do, but for now, this was the best choice.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon.”
“…I’ll be waiting.”
It was a short answer, but Aileen’s eyes held a light as if she had made a firm resolution.
I raised my hand and gently mussed her hair.
Her eyes widened in surprise, but soon she burst into laughter.
“Go on in now.”
“Yes.”
As Aileen carefully crossed the boundary, faint mana spread from the bracelet as though enveloping her.
At that moment, the scenery inside the forest slowly revealed itself, accepting her steps.
I watched her back for a long while, then slowly turned away.
Now it was my turn to set off on a distant journey once again.
When I returned to the carriage along the forest path, I saw Sailun and Baldik leaning beneath a tree.
Whatever amusing story they had been chatting about, their faces were full of laughter.
I had thought they did nothing but bicker all day long, but the more I watched them, the more they seemed to make a surprisingly good pair.
Baldik let Sailun’s grumbling flow past him like a joke, and Sailun subtly relied on Baldik in turn.
They talked a lot, but it was clear they knew each other well.
“You’re back? Then let’s get going.”
“We’re heading straight out, right?”
I looked at the two of them for a moment, then slowly moved my feet.
“Yeah, let’s go.”
Now the journey was truly beginning.
The difficult road toward the Yellow Magic Tower.