Not a barbarian warrior.

Eugene, who was quietly observing the situation behind Dietrich, scratched his head.

‘And here I thought… he was getting some heir training after parachuting in from somewhere…’

Eugene was simply bewildered as things unfolded in a completely different way from what he had thought.

Running away with the property of Lauren, the owner of the Red Fox merchant group? If the herald’s words were true, hadn’t he been escorting a thief all this time?

Eugene furrowed his brow and approached Dietrich to speak. He needed to question him about what was going on right away.

“What on earth is this about? Don’t tell me I’ve been escorting a thief running away with stolen goods?”

Dietrich, with his pale face, didn’t have time to collect his shocked emotions. He had to answer Eugene’s question immediately.

He shook his head urgently and began to explain:

“The goods loaded in these carriages are not stolen! They are property my father legally bequeathed to me before he passed away…!”

Dietrich, with an aggrieved face, took out a rolled-up document from his bosom and showed it to Eugene. After calmly reading the document stamped with a very delicate red seal in the shape of a fox, Eugene handed it back to Dietrich.

This document could also be forged, but that possibility seemed low. Assuming his words were true for now, Eugene asked the next question:

“I understand that the Red Fox merchant group belonged to your father. Then who is this Lauren fellow?”

“…He’s my eldest brother. We have the same father, but different mothers.”

“Half-brothers?”

“That’s right. All three of us brothers have different mothers. And my second brother recently passed away. At the hands of my eldest brother…”

Hearing Dietrich’s words, Eugene thought he understood how things were going. A life-and-death struggle over the father’s property… The second son was already dead, and Dietrich, the third son, was now on the verge of having his inherited property taken away.

“Sigh… So you’re saying I’m now caught up in an inheritance war? Why didn’t you say this earlier?”

“I’m sorry… After arriving in Carlisle, I judged that I had escaped my eldest brother’s pursuit. Moreover, I thought once we reached Eslan, we’d be out of the merchant group’s sphere of influence, so he couldn’t do anything more… I was planning to explain everything along with sufficient compensation after it was all over…”

“And you’re saying this now…”

Dietrich made excuses that he didn’t know things would get so complicated, but the fact remained that he had put Eugene in a difficult position.

Eugene felt a headache coming on. He and Lorena had long since been in the same boat as Dietrich. And now they had encountered the hurricane named Berunte, and they couldn’t just jump ship immediately.

“Putting that aside, what do you plan to do now? It seems you had some kind of promise with that knight, but apparently, he has broken it.”

Dietrich still had a pale complexion. He was trembling with his fists tightly clenched. However, he tried to continue speaking as calmly as possible.

“I need to speak directly with Sir Berunte. He’s not someone without honor who would so lightly break his promise to me.”

At Dietrich’s words, Eugene said as if exasperated:

“…What honor could a robber knight have…?”

“Sir Berunte is completely different from such dishonorable people…! Sir is a guardian who has been fighting off monsters and bandits in this area for decades.”

“…Then why is such a person committing robbery?”

“That’s… Because the surrounding territory is so barren, he can’t collect much tax from the people… And he didn’t take much protection money from those crossing the bridge either…”

Dietrich spoke as if he knew Berunte well. According to him, the knight beyond that bridge, though he had been robbing, was someone who still valued honor to some extent.

If so, it might be worth trying to talk. As someone who had personally practiced chivalry for decades, he probably wouldn’t cut their throats in the middle of a conversation, at least.

After some consideration, Eugene nodded and said:

“…Alright. Then let’s go try to have a conversation with Sir Berunte.”

“You’re coming with me?”

“I’ll accompany you in case we need to make a quick escape.”

“Surely you’re not thinking of fighting?”

“Then are you going to hand over all your possessions just like that?”

“That’s…”

“For now, it’s better to think about how to persuade Sir Berunte rather than worrying about what comes after.”

Saying that, he approached Lorena who was sitting on the driver’s seat at the back. She opened her mouth with a worried voice:

“Wh-What did you decide to do…? Should I prepare magic right away…?”

Lorena had already taken out her staff and was holding it. Eugene shook his head and answered her, who had a resolute face:

“We decided to try persuading through conversation first. If it doesn’t seem to work, I’ll bring out my secret weapon.”

“…Secret weapon…?”

At her question, Eugene showed the leather strap he was wearing around his neck. The signet ring given by Inquisitor Lucia was hanging on the leather strap.

“…Eh?”

“What if the goods loaded here aren’t just a merchant’s property, but donations on their way to a monastery?”

“Eu-Eugene… Are you crazy? If we get caught doing that later…”

“After we pass through here, we can actually go to a monastery and make a donation. Of course, not everything.”

“…Wh-What if he demands a toll even after seeing the ring?”

“Then we’ll have to fight. We can’t hand over everything we have. He’ll probably demand not just the merchant group’s goods, but also what’s loaded in our carriage, right?”

“Ab-Absolutely not…!”

“Right. We can’t give it up easily.”

After finishing his conversation with Lorena like that, Eugene approached the herald along with Dietrich. The guy was still standing with his head stiffly raised.

“We need to speak directly with Sir Berunte.”

When Dietrich said that, the herald narrowed his brows and answered:

“Sir is not someone who would converse with a trivial merchant like you!”

Eugene snorted. What right did a thief coming to steal others’ property have to judge who was noble or trivial?

“Shut up and get out of the way.”

Eugene roughly pushed aside the herald’s shoulder blocking their path.

The guy then indignantly tried to draw the sword at his waist. No, he tried to, but couldn’t.

Because Eugene immediately pushed down on the sword hilt he was gripping and sent an uppercut to his chin.

As the herald collapsed unconscious, Eugene muttered as if troubled:

“Oh dear… I didn’t mean to knock him out.”

“…”

Eugene dragged the limp herald along as he crossed the stone bridge with Dietrich. Soon, the two arrived on the opposite side.

Berunte’s subordinates occupying the bridge entrance were all holding weapons. With angry faces, they looked ready to cut down the two at any moment.

In the middle, Berunte, covered from head to toe in plate armor, stood silently without even drawing a weapon.

Tension hung in the air amid the quiet atmosphere.

The one who spoke first in that silence was Dietrich.

“…Sir Berunte. You must remember the promise you made with me five years ago. Are you truly going to break that promise?”

“…”

“Didn’t you clearly promise me on your honor? Did my eldest brother do something?”

“…”

Berunte didn’t say anything in response to Dietrich’s questions. He just stood silently listening to his words.

Just as Eugene, standing beside him, was about to express doubt, one of Berunte’s subordinates spoke up:

“…Sir has injured his throat and cannot speak properly. That’s why he sent a herald instead, but you’ve done this to him… How dare you…!”

Despite the subordinate’s growling, Dietrich didn’t show the slightest fear. The pale, ashen look from earlier was nowhere to be seen.

“You say he injured his throat? Then could you please answer my questions by nodding or shaking your head?”

Only then did the knight nod at Dietrich’s suggestion. It was a small movement, but his armor made a clattering sound as it moved.

“Do you remember the promise you made with me five years ago?”

Clatter. Berunte nodded.

“That you promised me on your honor?”

Clatter. He nodded again.

“You said you would gladly help me when a situation like this arose. I said I would pay a hundred gold coins in return. Do you remember?”

“…”

Berunte hesitated for a moment, then nodded again with a clatter.

While Dietrich was speaking earnestly, Eugene was carefully observing Berunte.

At first, it was to gauge what level his skills were at.

For someone skilled in Aura, there would naturally be a different aura emanating from them.

However, for some reason, the knight named Berunte didn’t give off any such feeling at all.

It wasn’t like he had well-controlled the energy instinctively emitted from his body like Sir Bernard.

This was more like… a feeling of being completely empty inside, as if to say he wasn’t someone who had awakened Aura? As if he didn’t have Aura to begin with…

As Eugene’s thoughts reached that point, things he hadn’t noticed before began to come into view.

‘The armor is all too loose… Isn’t it custom-made? That can’t be… They said he’s been active as a knight for decades. There’s no way he couldn’t have had his own armor fitted…?’

Even with thick padding worn inside, the space between the armor and body was visible enough to be seen. That’s why it was making such clattering noises.

‘Could it be…?’

It was hard to believe, but a certain thought flashed through Eugene’s mind that it might be possible.

Meanwhile, Dietrich’s questions continued.

“…Thinking about it again, it wasn’t a hundred gold coins. It was a hundred and fifty gold coins. Isn’t that right?”

Berunte nodded again with a clatter at his question.

“Sir Berunte… Would you lift your visor for a moment and show me your face?”

At those words, Berunte shook his head for the first time.

“…”

At that moment, the air grew chilly. While everyone kept their mouths shut, Dietrich, who had been silently staring at Berunte, opened his mouth:

“Sir Berunte… On that day five years ago, I never promised you any gold coins in the first place.”

“…”

“What gold coins could a fifteen-year-old kid crouching on the ground crying have promised? But you promised to help without any compensation.”

“…”

“So… What I’m trying to say is this…”

Dietrich glared at the person wearing plate armor and said in a low voice:

“You’re not Sir Berunte.”

At that moment.

The knight impersonator, who had only been moving his head until now, drew the sword at his waist.

Simultaneously, the subordinates around rushed at Dietrich.