Chapter 168

On the fourth day since leaving the Winslet estate, I finally returned to Maronford, a city that felt both familiar and different.

“There sure are a lot more people now.”

“There are.”

Maronford had always been a busy city due to its position as a vital hub for waterway distribution connecting the provinces and the capital. But this… this was excessive.

And these people weren’t dockworkers, either. They were tourists, dressed in fancy clothes. All of them were here to spend money.

“Thanks to that, the local merchants can’t stop smiling. The city council is thrilled about the increase in tax revenue too.”

That’s what the man walking beside me said.

He was an aide personally assigned to me by the mayor of Maronford. He’d appeared during the checkpoint inspection at the city entrance, instructed to provide full support and ensure I didn’t encounter any trouble on my way back to the capital.

At first, I didn’t understand why that kind of help was necessary until he said this:

“To be honest, they’re not really tourists of our city… They’re here to catch a glimpse of you, Baron.”

“They came to see me?”

What was I, some kind of zoo animal? People gathering just to look at me?

The aide explained.

“The lords of Lofield threw grand banquets at their estates to commemorate your visit, remember? Apparently, the noble ladies who attended those events went back to their own territories and, well… bragged a bit too much.”

“Hah. The banquet halls were cramped, the decor was tacky, and the musicians were terrible. The only halfway decent thing was the southern wine. What exactly did they have to brag about?”

“Seeing your face, Baron.”

“……”

Come to think of it, Winter Winslet was known as one of the most handsome men of the century.

To country nobles, that face might have been overwhelming.

“I hear the young lady of House Duville has been bedridden with lovesickness ever since. Is that true?”

How would I know?

I’d only stopped by the noble houses of Lofield briefly to rest and resupply on my way to the family estate. I just spent a day eating and left.

I hadn’t even spoken a word to the daughter of the Duville family. So how in the world would she have fallen in love?

“Anyway, word got out that you, Baron, arrived in Maronford by ship from the capital, so now they’re all staying here just to see you off when you leave by ship again. Thanks to that, luxury goods that were gathering dust as dead stock are suddenly flying off the shelves. Even the high-end inns that used to be cobweb-ridden are thriving.”

Maronford was, quite literally, enjoying a “Winter Winslet boom”.

I must’ve underestimated just how bored and trend-starved the provincial nobility really were.

“Then the people we’re seeing on the streets right now…”

“They’re nobles from around Maronford…and their attendants.”

No wonder I’d been seeing so many young women around.

Especially since I kept kicking handkerchiefs wherever I went, I’d assumed this city was just careless about litter. But now I realized…it was women subtly dropping their handkerchiefs, thinking they’d caught my eye.

A woman deliberately dropping her handkerchief was a non-verbal cue, an old-fashioned way of expressing romantic interest.

But really, handkerchiefs? What century were we in?

And this wasn’t even a ballroom or social event.

Out of curiosity, I glanced back at the path I’d walked. Sure enough, a woman in a white summer dress was picking up the handkerchief she’d dropped earlier.

When our eyes met, she shamelessly dropped it again and flashed me a coy smile.

I didn’t know how they’d figured out what I looked like, but people were starting to gather around me fast.

“S-Sir, those people are giving you really scary looks.”

“We should get out of here before we’re completely surrounded.”

“I agree. Let’s head to city hall…we’ve prepared a comfortable space for you there.”

Thankfully, no crazy stalkers followed me all the way inside.

Once there, I asked the mayor’s aide to arrange a ship bound for Lambart.

.

“You want to leave the city as soon as you’ve arrived? You could stay a few more days, you know.”

“You say that after seeing what just happened out there?”

“Haha, still… they gathered out of admiration for you, Baron. Are you not interested in romance? I hear you’re not married yet.”

“I have a fiancée in Lambart.”

“Then I must have spoken out of turn. Understood. I’ll try to find a ship as you requested. I know someone in the Shipowners’ Guild, so we should be able to have everything ready to depart by tonight.”

“Even if you have to charter one, find the fastest ship available. Oh, and make sure it’s a large one.”

The reason I asked for a large ship was for Dahlia, who suffered from severe seasickness.

To be fair, the Morning Swan which had brought us here from Lambart wasn’t exactly small. But maybe she was just particularly sensitive to motion sickness.

“We’ll cover the cost. But may I ask for one favor?”

“Speak.”

“We’d like the ship to depart from the military dock at night, out of sight from others.”

“And why is that?”

“If word gets out that you’ve returned to the capital, the nobles who’ve gathered in the city will head back to their own lands. But if we can keep it quiet, we can keep squeezing money out of them for a few more days.”

“You’re really chasing coin now.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

The aide left to secure the ship, and I turned to Dahlia.

“If the seasickness gets too bad, I’ll just put you to sleep with magic this time.”

“With magic?”

“Yes.”

Of course, the human body and mind naturally possess strong resistance to magic. But if the subject fully trusts the caster and lowers their guard, even a simple suggestion can work.

If I used dark magic, it would lower the difficulty even further.

Technically, I could also brew a sleeping potion with alchemy if I gathered the right ingredients in the Maronford marketplace, but that would take time.

And even after waking up, the lingering effects would remain until the drug wore off, so I didn’t recommend it.

Magic-induced sleep was far cleaner.

I was in the middle of explaining this difference to Dahlia when—

Bang!

The parlor door suddenly burst open, and a man in what looked like a soldier’s uniform came rushing in.

He glanced sharply around the room and called out,

“Aide! Is the aide here?”

“What’s going on?”

“Ah! So Baron Winslet is here. That’s actually perfect. You need to come with me right away. A knight showed up at the south gate checkpoint asking for you. He’s from the Winslet County.”

A knight from my household?

“Bring him here.”

“I’m sorry, but… that won’t be possible.”

I expected the soldier to start rattling off something about security protocols or regulations, but I was wrong.

“If we try to move him here, he’ll die. He’s lost too much blood. We started emergency treatment the moment we saw him!”

I shot up from my seat.

Everyone in the room turned to look at me.

There was only one thing I could say.

“Take me to him.”

***

The closer we got to the south checkpoint, the heavier the sense of dread became.

It wasn’t as if Joseph was the only knight serving the Count of Winslet.

And yet, for some reason, his face kept coming to mind.

Still, even if it wasn’t Sir Joseph, the fact that a knight of House Winslet had suffered critical injuries just to find me could only be a bad sign.

The area around the checkpoint was already packed with onlookers drawn by the commotion.

“My god. I’ve never seen wounds like that.”

“Did they send a corpse in on horseback?”

“No, he’s still alive. Look…he’s twitching a little.”

“Not for long. Just look at the horse…it’s soaked in blood, all the way down to its hide.”

“Make way!”

The soldier guiding me forced a path through the crowd.

I moved quickly through the gap and finally came face-to-face with the gruesome sight.

A man drenched in blood lay slumped over a horse.

His left eye was swollen shut with a bruise, and a deep gash ran down his cheek.

His armor was torn and bent so badly it was hard to recognize its original form, and from within it wafted the stench of rotting flesh from festering wounds.

People were trying to pull him down to treat him, but both his legs were tied to the horse, making it difficult.

At this point, it was more accurate to say he had been carried here by the horse, not that he’d ridden it.

Dalia quietly tugged at my sleeve.

“Sir… that man is…”

“Yes.”

I stepped closer to the knight and softly called his name.

“Sir Joseph.”

Barely clinging to life, the knight stirred at the sound of my voice, as if awakening.

“Young master… is that you? Ah, then I made it… I really made it. That’s a relief. I must be getting old…my riding’s not what it used to be… Kuhak!”

Blood burst from his mouth…so dark, it was almost black.

A clear sign that Sir Joseph was on the verge of death.

“Call a healer. Now.”

“We already did! Ah, there they are!”

The healer, seeing Sir Joseph’s condition, didn’t waste time asking questions. They immediately summoned divine power.

Even in broad daylight, the white glow of holy magic was clearly visible as it passed over his body.

But the bleeding didn’t stop.

The healer who was clearly rattled said,

“The divine energy isn’t working well… These wounds look like they were caused by magic…”

“Then move aside.”

Pushing the healer away, I pulled a small vial from inside my coat.

The golden liquid swirling within was an elixir, but now wasn’t the time to be stingy.

Without hesitation, I popped the lid and poured it over Sir Joseph’s wounds.

Ssshhhhh!

The elixir hissed and gave off a strange smoke the moment it touched the wound, as if it were burning.

“Ghhrrk!”

The old knight, hardened like steel, clenched his teeth and stifled a groan.

It hurt at first, but as time passed, his breathing began to steady.

The elixir’s mysterious power burned away the pus and sealed the wounds.

The healer watching nearby wore a stunned expression.

“That substance… what on earth is it…?”

“Shh.”

I silenced the room and bent down, meeting Sir Joseph at eye level.

He managed to lift his head and speak.

“Young master… the family is in danger.”

“What happened?”

“A hostile mage destroyed the castle and took the Count and Lady Anna hostage.”

“Who did this?”

The old knight weakly shook his head.

“Someone I didn’t recognize. But he called himself… the Hound of Venizelos.”