Chapter 6
Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW
Chapter 6: The Bard And The “Girl”
The two awoke to find it was already late at night. Here, they could finally relax and get some proper rest.
However, as a knight, Solota remained vigilant at first, though he gradually began to let his guard down.
Elan got up from the bed and walked over to the mirror.
Normally, he would have tidied himself up, but remembering something, he decided to leave his appearance as it was.
“Elan, where are you going?” Solota stretched lazily, got out of bed, and saw that Elan was putting on his coat to head out.
He couldn’t help but ask.
“Just going for a walk, gathering some information,” Elan replied truthfully.
Solota was his knight now, so there was no need to hide things from him, and Elan wasn’t one to lie.
“I’ll come with you. Nothing to do after waking up anyway,” Solota said as he swiftly jumped out of bed, joining Elan’s side and patting him on the shoulder.
Elan raised an eyebrow, surprised at Solota’s casual intimate gesture.
“It seems he really sees me as a friend, not a Viscount…”
Elan thought to himself, feeling a surge of warmth.
Since people learned of his true identity, few treated him with such normalcy. He couldn’t help but feel grateful that his first knight was truly someone he could trust.
“Let’s go,” Elan said as he pushed open the door. A cold wind immediately caught his coat, brushing across their faces.
The chill in the air was biting, but after enduring storms and harsh rains, both Elan and Solota found the wind almost comforting.
Elan descended the stairs. Most of the caravan members had already gone to sleep, but Levis was still lingering in the inn’s courtyard for some reason.
Upon seeing them step outside, Levis raised a hand in greeting.
Elan waved back and made his way toward Levis, his ill-fitting boots clunking against the stone floor.
“So late, why are you still out here?”
Elan stood beside Levis, his eyes following Levis’s gaze toward a high lamp, its light illuminating the courtyard gate.
Levischuckled and took another drag of his cigarette.
“You don’t understand mercenaries, Elan. As the leader, it’s my job to make sure my men sleep well. They’ll be more motivated tomorrow if they’re well-rested. Keeping them asleep also keeps them from getting emotional.”
“At night, people tend to feel more lonely and sentimental. When they think about the vastness of the stars, the wide world, the uncertainty of the future, things get blurry.”
He turned his head and blew a puff of smoke into Elan’s face.
Elan, unaccustomed to such sudden rudeness, felt uncomfortable. Though he didn’t smoke, he tolerated the smell, but having it blown in his face was another matter entirely. Just as he was about to speak, Levis interrupted him.
“You’re too clean, kid. You’re missing that rough, wild vibe. If you go into a tavern like this, you’ll get slaughtered, never mind finding any useful information.”
Elan blinked, realizing the truth in Levis’s words.
Without further comment, Elan moved away, pulling Solota with him. There was no point standing there inhaling secondhand smoke. Levis was just on watch duty anyway.
To get real information, one had to go and find it themselves. If it passed through too many hands, the intel might become unreliable.
Elan stepped onto the street, glancing at the closed shops. It was clear they wouldn’t be of much use. With few options, he headed straight toward a tavern that still had its lights on, aptly named “The Alleys and Poetry.”
The moment they entered, Elan was greeted by the sound of a gentle lute and a bard’s exaggerated tale. He casually found a seat in the corner and ordered a simple barley tea, while Solota requested a clear vodka.
Elan looked at him in surprise. Solota just shrugged.
“We knights have to know how to drink. The more we can handle, the stronger we are. Don’t worry, we’ve got inner energy to protect us. We won’t die from drinking, and there’s no hangover.”
As a knight-in-training himself, Elan knew of this unspoken rule among knights, but it still left him speechless.
However, in terms of strength, Elan was still too young, just a knight apprentice. Even Solota was almost twenty-four, while Eran was only sixteen.
Furthermore, with his recent awakening of magical talent, his knight training had been set aside for now. Earlier that day, he had asked Levis to help him purchase some mage books.
Elan’s thoughts were interrupted by a sudden exclamation from the bard on stage. He sipped his barley tea, his gaze shifting to the stage, though it was partially obscured by the crowd.
A young man in a green coat strummed his lute, narrating the tale of Viscount Aikwen.
“The cold wind tore through the Viscount’s coat, and the freezing rain left him battered and bruised. In the end, despite his immense talent and strength, the young Viscount fell under the combined assault of his foes.”
“The long night arrived, with no light in sight.”
“One day later, the Viscount’s family arrived and slaughtered all the rebels!”
“Yet after the rebels were slain, the Viscount’s family began to turn on each other!”
“Their brutal conflict spanned a century, and the entire viscounty was left in turmoil. Finally, a hundred years later, a mysterious knight arrived. With justice in his heart and sword in hand, he vanquished the evil family members and their descendants.”
“And who was this knight? He removed his mask—it was none other than the first knight of the young Viscount, returning with blood and steel to reclaim the Viscount’s honor!”
The story continued with the knight helping to restore the viscounty by bringing back the viscount’s hidden descendants.
Elan listened quietly. His own story had some parallels with that of Viscount Aikwen—perhaps it was even a reflection of it. But it was a bard’s tale, after all, and hardly reliable. The Viscount himself was likely fictional.
Shaking his head, Elan stood up.
“Looks like we won’t get any useful intel tonight,” he thought.
He accidentally bumped into a girl who was walking toward him. She fell to the ground, and Elan immediately apologized, offering his hand to help her up.
But the girl refused, standing up on her own and dusting herself off before walking around him.
Her face was hidden under a black cloak, her expression unreadable. Elan’s curiosity piqued, and he reached out to take her hand.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to bump into you.”
“No problem,” the girl replied curtly, trying to pull her hand free. She was surprisingly strong, and Elan nearly lost his grip.
“Let go!” she snapped, now visibly irritated.
Her outburst drew the attention of everyone in the tavern. After one final tug, her hood slipped off, revealing her face to the entire room.
“It’s you?!”
A voice roared from the back of the tavern, filled with anger and disbelief.
A burly man stepped forward, his scarred face illuminated by the tavern’s lights.
The music stopped abruptly, and the girl finally wrenched her hand free from Elan’s grasp, turning to face the man.