Chapter 50: Bandit Knight that was washed up on a stream
Translator: Tseirp
As I was walking, I somewhat heard somebody groaning.
I suspiciously walked toward the source of that sound.
“Uu … cold.”
I saw a huge man shivering while seated next to a bonfire.
The man was in only his underwear and his clothes were drying on a nearby tree branch.
“I almost drowned and I had to take off my armor in the middle of the river, the full plate was expensive though.”
The man muttered with teary eyes as he snapped a branch in two and tossed it into the bonfire.
All right, I’ll a.s.sume I didn’t see anything.
Just as I turned to the right to leave that place …
“Wait! That person there, wait!”
Geh, he saw me.
The man noisily approached me.
It seemed like a sign of trouble so I wanted to escape but I guess it won’t be good if I ran away without saying anything.
“Ah, is there anything?”
I subtly hinted with an aura that I honestly found it annoying as I answered with a friendly smile.
“Umu, I am the Drake Rider Otto. The raid leader of the glorious Knights of Fafnir.”
“Drake Rider?”
『Drake Rider』 was a Superior Divine Protection in the Calvary system and just as the name implied, they bond with Drakes and was a Divine Protection that specialized in fighting while riding on Drakes.
If compared against the similar but more common Divine Protection 『Wyvern Rider』that rode on Wyverns, the 『Drake Rider』 was fundamentally stronger.
There were various reasons but the number one reason was that the 『Drake Rider』 had the ‘Human-Drake Unity’ skill which allowed them to bestow the skills they possess to the Drake they were riding on.
Naturally, Drakes have their own Divine Protection as well so by gaining two Divine Protections, they would be able to overwhelm opponents of the same Divine Protection level as them.
However, that did not mean that the 『Drake Rider』 was a ‘strong’ Divine Protection.
Drake Riders had one fatal shortcoming.
A Drake Rider can only bond with a single Drake in his lifetime.
Even if they have numerous powerful skills, once they lose that single Drake, they would never get another chance. Once that happens, the remaining skills brought about by their Divine Protection would become that of the lower-grade 『Cavalry』 Divine Protection and, because of the allocation of skills toward bonding with Drakes, they would be inferior to Cavalry of the same level.
Because of that …
” … And that was how the monstrous giant Glendale lost his compatible trusted partner.”
That was often used in the past for heroic tales of those from the strong Divine Protection systems.
That was to say, even without losing the skills from Drake Rider, they could not be used once their partner was lost.
“Ah, what? Knights of Fafnir?”
The Blacksmith Mogurim once mentioned that name.
I had not heard of it before but was it trending at the moment?
“Yes, the Knights of Fafnir! People living in the remote border of Zoltan might not be familiar but apart from the honorable Knights of Bahamut and the ruthless Knights of Tiamat, the third Knight Order that everyone in the Imperial Capital knows about is the Knights of Fafnir! I was active as a Drake Rider there.”
“I don’t know about it.”
“It can’t be helped that you are ignorant of the common knowledge in Central when living in the countryside like Zoltan. It’s nothing to be ashamed about.”
He comforted me by patting my shoulder.
I stared at the man called Otto with reproachful eyes.
I was once the Vice Captain of that Knights of Bahamut after all.
“So, what does Knight-sama want? I am in a hurry after all.”
“Right! I have a request.”
“Request?”
“I, in order to subjugate the Hill Giant Dandak, obtain his castle and become a n.o.ble who possess territory, came to Zoltan.”
I heard that before.
Three years ago, five Hill Giants attacked and took over the castle of the lord situation northwest to Zoltan.
Zoltan sent a subjugation party once but they were routed and since the n.o.bles who owned that land were all killed by the giants, it has been neglected all this time.
Occasionally, reckless adventurers who dream of owning a castle challenge them and they never return but it doesn’t cause any particular problems.
“Hmm~, I see. Good luck, bye.”
“Wait wait wait, listen to the end.”
Otto hurriedly stopped me as I was about to leave.
“In order to look for martial artists who could fight against giants, I challenged the people crossing the bridge.”
“Ah, so you are that troublesome Knight.”
“And then, today, I finally encountered a female warrior who possesses equal strength as I do. That was fate and I shall find that female warrior, defeat the evil Hill Giants together and obtain the castle!”
Otto became embarra.s.sed after saying so much.
“And I shall propose to that female warrior and live in that castle together.”
“Ah, I see, good luck.”
“Wait wait wait, just a little more, next is the main topic.”
Otto hurriedly stopped me once again as I was about to leave.
I’d like it if he hurried up and gave up.
“So what exactly do you want me to do.”
“No, it isn’t anything major.”
He was acting bashfully.
A giant man over two meters tall acting like that was nothing less than disgusting though.
“When I was tossed into the river, my weapon, armor, luggage, and money was washed away … so I would like to borrow money. I will return it to you after I obtain the castle.”
“No.”
I naturally answered immediately.
“Even if I lower my head?”
“Yup.”
“Then there’s no other way! I will have you leave your money even if I have to use force!”
Otto exclaimed as he opened both his arms and attacked. In only his underwear.
“If you don’t want to feel pain, obediently buheraaaaaa!?”
Before he knew it, my right straight with the force of my entire body behind it slammed into Otto’s face.
Hah, that’s bad, I reflexively retaliated. I didn’t want to fight because I didn’t want to stand out but in actual fact, I guess I was instinctively irritated.
Otto flew backward and caused a large splash of water as he once again fell into the river.
Otto’s body floated up onto the surface of the water and was taken down the river by the current.
That guy was a bandit so it doesn’t matter, I guess I’ll hurry on forward.