Chapter 369

We went back down to the basement and got Ja-han out of the prison.

When Nigel saw Ja-han, he was so startled that he almost drew his sword, but…

“Ka`har…?! Princess Ha-shal-leur, who is this…?”

“My former subordinate. His name is Ja-han. Like me, he betrayed Aishan and fled into exile. Since we can’t send him back to the Great Plains, I’ve decided to take him as my personal soldier.”

“Wha…?!”

Nigel shrugged his shoulders in confusion upon hearing that I had taken a Ka`har paladin as my subordinate. He looked utterly baffled, as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

Still, his reaction was better than I expected. At least he didn’t vehemently oppose or show hostility.

Perhaps because he’s young, he hasn’t had much chance to build up resentment against the Ka`har.

“Ja-han, this is Nigel, a master from Landenburg. Among the border count’s knights, he’s the closest to me. He even served as my personal guard for a while. So, don’t be rude to him. Understood?”

“I will obey your command, my Khan.”

Ja-han bowed his head respectfully. Seeing this, Nigel sighed, looking like he had a lot to say but decided against it.

Seeing the famously brutal and unforgiving Ka`har warrior being so polite to me, Nigel must have been convinced that Ja-han wasn’t a threat.

Good job, Ja-han.

You’re faithfully keeping your promise to treat me like Ha-shal-leur in front of others.

—

Surprisingly, Rana didn’t show much confusion upon seeing Ja-han. If anything, it was Ja-han who looked bewildered.

As Rana clung to me, calling me “big sister,” Ja-han stared at her like he was watching a puppy trying to act cute in front of a tiger.

“Princess Ha-shal-leur, who is this girl?”

He must have been wondering why this girl was clinging to me like this.

“She’s Rana, a priestess of the Shaulite Church Order. In our terms, you could call her a shrine maiden who serves the Sun Goddess. She’s like a little sister to me.”

“A little sister… you say?”

Ja-han’s expression grew even more bizarre.

What’s with that sour face…?

Oh, now that I think about it, Hersela did mention having a half-sister. Is that why?

‘Just out of curiosity, what was your relationship with your sister like…?’

[My sister…? Ah, you mean Imara? She used to follow me around a lot. But ever since I tore her handmaiden in half right in front of her, she’s been looking at me like I’m some kind of monster.]

Hersela casually recounted the gruesome tale.

‘You did something worth hating, huh. Why’d you do that?’

[She insulted my mother in front of me, calling her a lowly slave and telling me not to associate with her. She probably didn’t think I’d hear it. So, I grabbed her by the legs and split her in half.]

…Well, that’s a reason to die, I guess.

If you say something like that near Hersela and expect to live, you must have no conscience.

[After that, she kept bothering me. She kept sending assassins, so the Golden Palace always reeked of blood. I even kindly crushed the assassins’ heads and left them neatly at her door, but instead of calming down, she just got even more furious. Must’ve been some kind of rebellious phase.]

…That’s not kindness, that’s provocation.

If I opened my door and saw a row of my subordinates’ heads, I’d probably go berserk trying to hunt down the person who did it too.

—

After introducing Ja-han to Rana and explaining that he was my subordinate, Rana started calling him “Uncle Ja-han.”

I guess he didn’t look like someone you’d call “oppa.”

—

The rest of the day was pretty busy.

I wrote letters to Lacey and Leonor to inform them of my schedule and future plans. To Minea, I asked her to wait for a month and even gave her an extra ten gold.

She insisted she couldn’t take so much money for doing so little and returned five gold.

How honest. Other adventurers would’ve snatched it up, calling it a windfall.

Or maybe she’s trying to score points with me by showing her sincerity.

If that’s the case, her plan worked.

I liked her honest attitude so much that I even considered training her if she wanted.

“Ever thought about becoming a knight?”

“A-a-a knight?! How could I possibly…!”

I lightly patted Minea’s shoulder to calm her down.

“If you’re a C-rank adventurer, you’re already at the level of a novice knight. Becoming a master might be a stretch, but with proper training, you could at least hold your own against a knight. In times like these, you need to have the basics down if you want to survive by the sword.”

As an adventurer, she’s probably gained some experience, so she’d be better than an academy freshman who gets beaten to death by kobolds.

Though she probably couldn’t take on a troll.

“Is that the baseline…?”

Minea let out a hollow laugh.

Well, with all the master-level fighters around me, it’s easy to forget that knight-level combatants aren’t exactly common.

Even at the academy, you’d only be recognized as a novice knight by your third year.

And here we have three people who reached master-level by their first year, but that’s just because they’re geniuses.

“If you’re interested, let me know. Even if you don’t want to become a knight, I can teach you Imperial swordsmanship. Just learning that will make you much stronger than you are now. There’s a big gap between those who know proper swordsmanship and those who don’t.”

“Th-thank you!”

Minea bowed deeply.

Judging by her reaction, she’ll probably come back tomorrow, asking for guidance.

What’s a small favor to me is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her.

After telling her to come by anytime she needed, I left her and returned to the marquis’ estate.

“Do you plan to take that woman as your subordinate?”

Ja-han whispered cautiously to me after putting some distance between us, Nigel, and Rana.

“Why, do you object? Don’t like her?”

“How could I dare to say something so presumptuous? I was just wondering about your intentions in taking in someone so fragile…”

I don’t really have any special intentions.

If she wants to be my knight, I’ll train her well and give her a seat in the Rose Cross Knight Order. If she’s not interested in knighthood, I’ll just have my subordinates teach her swordsmanship and leave it at that.

“Intentions? That’s a big word. I just think she’s reliable enough and we’ve gotten familiar, so I’m helping her out a bit so she doesn’t die somewhere. Just a small favor.”

If I teach her Imperial swordsmanship properly, she’ll do fine as long as she doesn’t do anything stupid.

“Ah, I see.”

Ja-han nodded, understanding my meaning.

—

After returning to the marquis’ estate, the castle maids showed me to the room where I’d be staying for the next month.

It wasn’t the same place I’d stayed before, but a new room. As the recognized heir of Landenburg, they must have prepared a suitable residence in advance.

True to Marquis Ludwig’s personality, the room wasn’t overly luxurious, but it was twice as large as the previous one and well-furnished, showing that a lot of thought had been put into it. The only issue was that there was only one bed, but it wasn’t hard to have the servants bring in an extra small bed.

Rana seemed to want to share a bed, but knowing my sleeping habits, she didn’t insist.

There’s no more terrifying end than being crushed to death in your big sister’s arms.

Ja-han, too, was given a proper guest room instead of the damp basement, since I had guaranteed his safety.

The people of the marquis’ estate were shocked to see a Ka`har walking calmly through the corridors, but after I explained that he was my subordinate, they reluctantly accepted his presence.

Though it might have been more due to Shane’s threat that they shouldn’t cause trouble for Marquis Ludwig, who had already given his permission.

Of course, even if they accepted it rationally, they still couldn’t hide their discomfort whenever Ja-han passed by.

I can’t really blame them for that. Some of them might have been harmed by the Ka`har.

Ja-han seemed to understand this too, as he showed no reaction to the hostile glances.

If anything, it was Hersela who wanted to get angry.

[I should gouge out all their eyes…!]

‘That sounds fun. If you and Ja-han become traitors to the Ka`har and enemies of the Empire, you’ll live happily ever after, won’t you?’

Gouging out the eyes of people who glare at your subordinate. And these are people who might one day be your subordinates.

There’s a limit to how crazy you can be. Do you think Ludwig would stand by and watch that?

—

After hanging my armor and clothes on the room’s rack, I washed up with Rana and lay down on the bed.

One month ahead… I hope nothing happens.