I Became the Martial God's Youngest Disciple

”What do you mean by that?” Ramon protested incredulously before Lanfero could say anything.

The guard’s flustered gaze turned to Ramon as he responded, ”I also don’t know. I’m just following the instructions I have been given.”

”Instructions? Who gave such instructions?”

”It was I,” an old man said in a gentle voice. He was small in stature and had white hair, but his eyes were bright.

”Chief Snero,” Lanfero said. ”Can I ask you a question first? Did my kids cause any trouble in the village?”

”No. True to the initial promise, your clan has done no harm to our village.”

”Really? Then there is no reason for Corrupted being kicked out.”

The village chief said nothing.

”I can’t help feeling regretful. I thought our relationship was much deeper than this.”

”I’m sorry. Ever since I became the chief of Snowville, my purpose has always been only one thing. It is to protect the peace and well-being of this village.”

”I know that. And yet, I thought you had accepted our presence, and that things were different from other villages.” Lanfero lowered his voice before continuing, ”Chief, can you answer me? Why did our relationship suddenly break?”

The chief remained silent.

Lanfero’s body, as well as the surrounding landscape, became slightly darker. It was the middle of the night, but the area around the village was initially quite bright. Now it seemed like the artificial lights were being sucked into Lanfero.

The chief’s face turned a bit pale. He pursed his lips before finally saying, ”I’m sorry.”

He repeated those words over and over again. Due to the strange atmosphere, I felt like I was going to die of the cold standing here.

What was going on? To summarize, the village was right in front of us but we couldn’t go in.

Lanfero glanced in our direction and asked again, ”What about the ones who were at the village?”

”There is a hunter’s hut to the north of the village. You know it, right? That oversized mansion built by a fool who wasted money. It seems they are staying there for now.”

”You kicked them all out?”

”That’s right.”

”They wouldn’t have left easily.”

The village chief slightly averted his gaze as he said, ”We were lucky. There was only a relatively reasonable clan member left behind.”

”Was it Araxad or Daedalus? Well, okay.” Lanfero turned around and said, ”Let’s go.”

”Huh? But...” Ramon began.

”Let’s go.”

”I understand.”

Ramon followed Lanfero with a completely unconvinced face. We had no choice but to follow.

***

We walked straight toward the north of the village. From then on, Ramon was the one who drove the carriage. However, the people here knew his face and didn’t start any unnecessary conflicts.

The roads around the village were paved to some extent and the weather had eased a lot. Traveling this short distance wasn’t too tiring. However, I was already very tired physically and mentally.

After around twenty minutes, our destination came into view.

”Is that the building?”

”That’s right.”

It had been called a hunter’s hut, but it was too big to be called a hut. However, it didn’t feel luxurious at all. Rather, it felt like a haunted house. The roof was full of holes, and the door was half-rotting and falling apart. Half the windows were broken, but the real highlight was the right side of the building. That part had completely collapsed.

It looked so miserable that it couldn’t function as a building. Still, smoke was coming from the collapsed chimney, which was proof that someone was inside.

Verita tilted her head. ”Isn’t this too big to be used as just a hunter’s shelter?”

”That wasn’t its original purpose. Was it around fifty years ago? A rich person from the capital came all the way here to look for a rainbow marten in the north.”

”A rainbow marten, huh.”

The rainbow marten was one of the famous northern specialties that even I had heard about. It was so rare that it was extremely expensive. It could change the color of its fur at will and had the intelligence of a human. Across the entire north, fewer than ten were found in a year.

”He had a lot of money and motivation, so he built a mansion here. He stayed for half a year, but couldn’t find a rainbow marten. Eventually, he stormed back to the capital. This building was a byproduct of that time.”

Mir was surprised. ”He built a building like this and just left?”

”It wasn’t a proper building in the first place. It was built in just a few weeks, so how solid could it be? It wasn’t even designed with the northern environment in mind. The practical aspects weren’t considered, to the point that a person had to wear layered clothing even inside the building.”

”Ah.”

”Of course, it didn’t take long for the roof tiles to collapse and the doors to fall off. It ended up being used as a shelter for hunters.”

Ramon opened the falling-apart door and we went inside, only to encounter a lizardman.

I was a bit startled, but that was all. It was nothing compared to when I first saw Ramon. After all, the lizardmen had a history of being a part of the allied forces in the past. Even now, they were the race that was the most accepted out of the lesser races.

”Araxad,” Lanfero called out.

”Boss, you’re here.”

”Yes.”

However, this one was different from ordinary lizardmen. He had white scales and eyes that were as red as a rabbit’s. The scales initially gave off the impression of weakness, but looking closely, he had plenty of scars and his muscles were quite trained. That made him look a lot more like a warrior.

It seemed he wasn’t lacking in skills, just as Lanfero said.

Lanfero asked, ”How are you? I don’t know if anything happened. What about the others? Did they all leave?”

”Noren and Sharmud are here. The rest are off on missions, looking for food, or just messing around in unknown places.”

The lizardman Araxad’s gaze turned to us and he asked, ”By the way, who are the people behind you?”

I thought I should introduce myself first, but Ramon spoke for me. ”They are newcomers.”

”Newcomers? Who?”

”All three of them.”

Araxad’s expression changed very subtly. His facial structure was different from that of a human’s, so it took me a moment to realize that he was smiling.

Ramon smiled and said, ”It’s true.”

”Three newcomers suddenly arrived. There is someone from a well-off family, a small girl, and even a nun.”

”I’m not small,” Mir muttered quietly in protest, but Araxad didn’t seem to hear her.

”This is how things turned out. I owe them a lot in many ways, so please take care of them.”

”I thought you received a mission to guard some kind of nobleman.” Araxad glanced at us while still dumbfounded. ”Um, I am Araxad. As you can see, I am a lizardman. I don’t know how much of the boss’ words I should believe, but it is good to meet you.”

”It is a pleasure.”

We were exchanging short introductions when Lanfero interrupted. ”Let’s leave the heartwarming introductions for later. Araxad, what exactly happened? What happened that made them kick us out of the village? I heard that there weren’t any incidents.”

”Honestly, I don’t know. It has only been three days since we were kicked out, and they didn’t tell us why. At first, I thought someone had made a mistake. For instance, someone like Lukuluku or Seria. However, it wasn’t like that.”

”You mean you were kicked out without receiving a reason?”

”It couldn’t be helped. The children were crying.”

Lanfero clicked his tongue and asked, ”Have you moved all the items from the branch’s base?”

”Most of them were moved, but I’m not sure about the details.”

”What about the seal in the drawer of my office?”

”Ah, I don’t know. I think I probably forgot it.”

Lanfero clicked his tongue and looked at us, saying, ”It is a seal only given to the clan leader. Without it, the final approval of the documents is impossible. If I lose it, I have to go back to headquarters and pay fifty silver to get a new one.”

”Those Hero Society bastards...”

Ramon quietly vented his indignation while Lanfero continued, ”Without a seal, you can’t complete the registration procedures. It seems we have to go back to Snowville one more time. We should first find out why we were suddenly kicked out. However, judging from the village chief’s attitude, I don’t think he will easily let us in.”

”Hmm.” I thought for a moment before raising my hand. ”Boss, I have a plan.”

”A plan? What is it?”

”It is what Araxad just said.”

Araxad tilted his head. ”What did I say?”

”He thought you had the mission of escorting a noble.”

”Huh? Ah.”

I smiled and declared, ”Let’s go with that.”

***

”I didn’t expect you to come back after only an hour.” Snero came out with a puzzled expression and looked at Lanfero.

”You didn’t explain the situation properly, so I can’t be convinced, right? Besides, there is a reason why I can’t just back down.”

”A reason?”

”There are guests from far away.”

”Guests?”

I stood a bit away from Lanfero with Verita and Mir. I had a very upset expression on my face.

The moment Lanfero glanced at me, I screamed, ”Hey, tall person over there! What are you talking about? Speak up so we can all hear!”

”Haha. Please wait a moment, Young Master.” Lanfero smiled with embarrassment. Then he looked back at the chief. ”He is the young master of a famous noble family in the capital. Apparently, he was impressed by the missionary work of the Seventy-Two Churches and is making a pilgrimage all over the empire with a nun. We were entrusted with the escort mission.”

”Um.”

”The hunter’s hut isn’t suitable for shelter. Can you let us stay for a few days? For the sake of our long relationship.”

The village chief had said that Corrupted was denied entry. In other words, anyone who wasn’t part of Corrupted could enter.

”That...” The chief seemed to hesitate.

Lanfero lowered his voice and pressed him. ”Chief, as I said, he is a noble from a prestigious family. What do you think will happen if he goes back to his family and tells them about this? How will they react when they find out that he slept in an old, cold, and squalid mansion without even setting foot in the village?”

The chief stayed silent.

”Even if this is the untouched north, it is still imperial territory. Please be wise.”

I could see that the chief was conflicted. I thought this was my chance, so I glared at him and exclaimed, ”What? What is with the long conversation? Are you saying that I can’t even enter the village? Dammit, this isn’t what I signed up for!”

At this moment, I was the Luan Badniker from my most pathetic time—the one who yelled at servants and hit them, lost money gambling, and sold the family’s treasure sword.

My voice cracked, my head tilted crookedly and I raised an eyebrow. I was expressing my displeasure with my entire body.

”No! I paid a lot of money! I was promised a tour of the north! I made it all the way here through the blizzard. What do you mean now? I can’t even enter the village? What the hell are you trying to doooooooo?” I opened my eyes wide as I glared around me.

It was a bit fun, because I felt like I had gone back to the old days.

I shouted even louder, ”Say something! Are you going to waste my time like this? The Heroes organization or whatever is just a famous name with no substance. Or what? Are you all ignoring me? Don’t you know who my father is?”

I wasn’t the only one who flinched after those last words. Everyone around me did as well.

I went too far... I hurriedly changed the subject. ”Hey, you guys! Should I take this rudeness as the will of the Hero Society?”

Lanfero approached the chief as if to block my shouting and said in a low voice, ”As you can see, he is like this, Chief Snero.”

Snero looked at me with a heavy gaze before sighing. ”I can’t take in all of you. That nobleman and Lanfero. Let’s do it with the two of you.”

Lanfero was slightly surprised. ”I can enter too?”

”That’s right. The young master will need at least one guard.”

He called Lanfero a guard, but in fact, he meant someone to handle the spoiled young master.

Of course, thinking about it, entering with two people made the most sense.

”Let’s go to my house first. I will give you a cup of tea.”

”A cup of tea?”

A faint smile appeared on Lanfero’s face.

”Okay.”