53.
There was a time when Yu Jin was once kidnapped. Keith, who was by Yu Jin’s side at the time, was also taken. Yu Jin’s mother cried, and Haruna’s mother comforted her. Thanks to the family head’s active involvement afterwards, Yu Jin and Keith returned safely, but the twin brothers who never had secrets from Haruna changed.
Keith held a secret that Haruna didn’t know.
‘Was this it?’
As she thought this far, Haruna shook her head. Perhaps all of this was just her delusion. It seemed she needed to find out more details.
After sending a message to Sena, the mercenary captain, Blando received a reply.
“Come alone?”
Gee, who heard the answer, gasped.
“That’s too one-sided!”
Though complaints burst out, Blando calmed Gee down.
“I was expecting this much.”
Blando was rather relieved that the other side came out like this. It meant they at least had the sense to think that the meeting between the two sides shouldn’t be discovered. Although it might be somewhat dangerous for Blando, they wouldn’t be doing this to kill him.
Hans was violent, and Green was greedy and gloomy. From a noble’s perspective, Blando was the most useful among the back alley gangs. However, Gee protested vehemently, saying he shouldn’t go.
“Who knows what might happen to you!”
“Nothing will happen. If they wanted to kill me, they would have done it already.”
“Still, I can’t let you go alone.”
“Gee.”
Blando rubbed his forehead as he looked at Gee, who stood firmly. It seemed it would take more time to persuade him. After a few days passed like this, Blando was standing in a dark back alley. Although Gee had been stubborn, he eventually followed Blando’s wishes.
“Just come back without getting hurt.”
“Of course.”
Although he came out boasting, as he waited at the meeting place, Blando gradually became anxious. After some time passed, two people stood in front of Blando. Wearing long black robes that came down to their calves and hiding their appearance with hoods, they guided Blando outside the back alley.
Following them, there was an old carriage placed in an inconspicuous spot. The man sitting in the driver’s seat had an ordinary appearance, but Blando couldn’t confirm his face. Before that, the two people pushed Blando into the carriage.
“Put this on.”
One of the robed people handed over a black blindfold. When he put it on as instructed, everything in front of him became dark and all the sounds he had been hearing disappeared. It looked like an ordinary blindfold, but it must have been a magic item.
Although it blocked sight and hearing, it couldn’t block other senses, but even with that, it was difficult for Blando to figure out where the carriage was heading.
‘It seems we’re taking a bit of a detour.’
He couldn’t figure out anything more than that. Then the carriage came to a stop.
“Don’t take off the blindfold yet.”
With the help of the two people, Blando got off the carriage and headed somewhere. The scent of wet grass tickled his nose. It was a little while later that he was allowed to remove the blindfold.
The place where Blando was standing was a small mansion that looked unused, but the interior was cleaner than he expected. After briefly looking around, Blando turned his gaze forward. And he barely swallowed the exclamation that was about to burst out.
Sitting in an luxurious chair that didn’t match the place was one person. The man with long blonde hair loosely braided down and blinking blue eyes was one of the capital’s famous figures. Yu Jin, the rogue of Lucid. The person said to be drunk half the day and sleeping around with various people without principles had an atmosphere different from what he had imagined.
‘A person like this is called a rogue?’
If everyone thought that way, they must have all been deceived. What rogue could have such an atmosphere and commit such acts?
Blando steeled his heart. He bowed as low as he could, greeting. If they hadn’t tied Blando’s hands and feet to the chair, he would have prostrated himself on the floor. A greeting to a noble couldn’t be too excessive. That was what he had learned throughout his life.
“Greetings. My name is Blando. It’s an honor to meet such a noble person.”
As he uttered these pleasing words, Yu Jin, sitting in the chair opposite, nodded lightly.
“Nice to meet you.”
Even in this situation, his soft voice sounded enchanting. But Blando didn’t fall for it. One wrong move and this could become his grave. He turned his gaze to the man standing next to Yu Jin. He had been emanating a subtle killing intent since the moment Blando saw Yu Jin.
‘The Slaughterer.’
Blando knew him. Although he had only seen from afar, he remembered the moment when he cut off Hans’ neck. It didn’t seem like swordsmanship properly taught by someone, yet he easily cut down people. He was most skilled with a sword, but his skill didn’t change much even when wielding other weapons. A man equipped with abilities most specialized in bringing death, others called him the Slaughterer.
He was the type of person Blando disliked the most. Although he had given up the path of knighthood due to problems, he wanted to live by maintaining certain principles even after belonging to the back alleys.
‘Did I make a mistake?’
He had tried to meet Yu Jin to avoid Rockwell, but seeing the man exuding killing intent beside him, he didn’t feel inclined at all. As Blando lowered his gaze and organized his thoughts, suddenly the sound of a chair being dragged reached his ears.
Then slow footsteps followed. At that sound, he raised his head, and right in front of him stood Yu Jin, a youth with an angelic appearance.
Afterwards, the killing intent emanating from the Slaughterer grew stronger. Realizing that if he touched Yu Jin now, he would absolutely not survive, Blando tried his best to show the most obedient attitude possible.
“Blando.”
Yu Jin called Blando’s name, meeting his eyes.
“I know your wish.”
A chill ran down his spine for a moment. Blando’s long-held wish was something even his closest friend Gee didn’t know.
“You’re looking for someone to pledge loyalty to, aren’t you? A lord who will take you to a higher place.”
Lies. Blando unconsciously let out a groan. Born as the illegitimate son of the former Count Lumine, Blando had nothing in his hands from a young age. The Count gave nothing to a child born from a one-night mistake. In that situation, his mother begged the Count to at least let Blando live a different life.
Thanks to that, Blando was able to learn swordsmanship beside Rockwell, who was receiving successor training. Although there was never a day without wounds on his body due to frequently being Rockwell’s sparring partner, Blando tried hard. And after coming of age, he left for another noble family.
It was to become a knight. Ever since seeing a storybook with heroes when he was young, Blando had always wanted to become a knight.
Protect the weak, serve your lord.
That phrase was firmly etched in his heart and wouldn’t disappear.
Knowing that the Count’s family wouldn’t accept him, he went to a viscount’s family and became a knight’s apprentice. After that, he really worked desperately hard. Thanks to that, he gained the knight’s favor and succeeded in becoming a knight in a small knightly order in the viscount’s family.
The problem came afterwards. The viscount’s second son, who was designated as the next captain of the knightly order, greatly disliked Blando.
“To think that such a lowly person could become a knight.”
He constantly harassed Blando for trivial reasons. At first, others who had been observing due to Blando being an illegitimate son of a count’s family joined in harassing him when they saw there was no problem.
‘They were more like back alley thugs than knights.’
Even in that situation, Blando tried to maintain chivalry. He once beat up the viscount’s second son who was harassing an innocent commoner woman in the name of chivalry. That bastard, who had no ability despite being a candidate for the captain of the knightly order, broke his arm from that incident.
“Kill that bastard!”
Blando didn’t regret what he had done. Even though he lost his position as a knight and was pushed to the back alleys due to retaliation.
‘I just did what I had to do.’
He thought he had done the right thing. The only regrettable thing was that he could no longer achieve the dream he had longed for all his life. So he decided to have another goal.
To succeed even in the back alleys and bring his mother, who was struggling in the count’s family, to live with him. And to buy a house in a peaceful village a bit away from the capital and let her live comfortably. That’s what he thought, but.
Right now, in front of him, the rogue of Lucid was talking about the dream Blando had tried to forget.
“I…”
Blando couldn’t deny Yu Jin’s words. His jaw clenched as he gritted his teeth.
“I want to become a knight.”
“Then just become a knight.”
“It’s not as easy as you say. Although I’m from a count’s family, I’m just an ignored illegitimate child…”
“Just?”
There was much he wanted to say, but he couldn’t spill it all out. Blando painfully opened his eyes and glared at the floor.
