Radiant Dragon’s Otherworldly Reincarnation

Chapter 237. You Would Have Been Different (1)

Prince Dawson and his entourage were unceremoniously kicked out of the fief’s mansion.

However, they had not completely left the fiefdom.

He had rented out an inn in the fiefdom and was fuming.

“How dare they treat me like this! Me, the next king of the Harbor Kingdom, treated this way by a mere country lord!”

Prince Dawson felt a severe sense of humiliation from the treatment he had received for the first time in his life.

If this had happened in his own country, he would have immediately mobilized an army and wiped out the Schneider fiefdom.

But this was a distant foreign country, and the forces with him now were only a few low-level attendant knights and about 100 porters-cum-soldiers.

Originally, he had intended to bring more.

But with the war against the Dwarves, it was difficult to divert many troops, so he had only brought this many.

Now, he regretted it deeply.

“If only I had brought 10,000 troops, I could have cleaned up a fiefdom like this.”

If he had come to a foreign country as an envoy with 10,000 troops, it would have been considered a declaration of war.

Prince Dawson, who lacked the sense to think of such things, chewed his fingernails and thought.

What to do now?

Go back like this?

He couldn’t do that.

Prince Dawson, who had lived his life doing whatever he wanted, did not know the meaning of giving up.

At that moment, one of Dawson’s aides spoke.

“Your Highness, since it has come to this, why not show Count Schneider a thing or two?”

“I should. Do you have any good ideas?”

“Hehe, who am I? Am I not Your Highness’ right-hand man? I have already conducted a thorough investigation of the fief’s situation upon arrival. As a result….”

“Just explain.”

“Yes. Actually….”

A smile appeared on Prince Dawson’s face as he listened to his aide’s explanation.

“Hoooo…. Is that so? So that’s how it is.”

“Yes. It is certain.”

“Kekeke…. Good. This is very good.”

Prince Dawson’s lips curled into a vile curve, reaching his ears.

***

This is a bit random, but….

The Schneider fiefdom had a temple.

It was not a temple officially run by a priest sent from the Holy Theocracy, but a small shrine built with money collected little by little by the subjects, where they voluntarily gathered to offer prayers.

In fact, as Patrick’s fame grew, the Holy Theocracy had tried to dispatch an official priest to the Schneider fiefdom.

But Count Schneider had refused.

As good-natured as he was, he knew what it meant to accept a priest dispatched directly from the Holy Theocracy.

A populace united by religion could often prioritize the words of a priest over those of their lord, and it could potentially bring serious chaos to the fiefdom.

So he had politely refused.

But the weak hearts of people tend to find solace in religion.

He did not stop people from building a small shrine and praying there.

On the contrary, he even provided financial support for the shrine’s construction.

The temple of Yupinel, built in this way.

There was a beautiful woman who visited it every day.

“O Yupinel. Please watch over my son.”

The one earnestly praying to the god was the lady of this fiefdom, Ava.

How could one possibly describe the earnestness of a parent with a sick child?

It is the heart of a parent to do anything if they could.

She came to the temple every day from dawn, praying for her son to wake up soon.

Without skipping a single day.

The subjects of the fiefdom knew Ava’s heart and, in order not to disturb her, they would visit the temple at other times.

And today, after finishing her prayers, Ava offered a flower at the temple and came out.

“You’re out, my lady?”

“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting.”

“It’s alright.”

The knights of the fiefdom greeted Ava politely as she came out.

The Schneider fiefdom was a place with good public order, so the need for an escort was not great.

Still, as the lord’s wife, a minimal escort was necessary, so only two had accompanied her.

So far, there had been no problems even when she went around like this.

Until now, that is.

“Don’t move.”

“If you don’t want to get hurt, be quiet!”

Black masks and black clothes.

Dozens of assailants suddenly appeared, holding shining knives in their hands.

For a moment, the knights were bewildered.

Robbers?

As the population had grown, petty crimes in the Schneider fiefdom had increased, but they had never seen such a blatant robbery.

However….

“My lady, this way please.”

“Stay behind us and do not come out.”

The knights faithfully did their duty.

Ava, too, though somewhat surprised, calmly followed the knights’ instructions.

“Hoooo…. I heard she was the lord’s wife, but I didn’t expect such a beauty.”

A man in a mask said in admiration, stroking his chin with his hand.

His gaze was extremely unpleasant, as it swept over Ava’s entire body as if to explore it.

“How dare you….”

“I’ll gouge your eyes out.”

Naturally, the knights were furious.

But they did not act rashly and charge forward.

The enemy numbered in the dozens, while they were only two.

With the safety of their charge, Ava, as the top priority, they could not launch a preemptive strike carelessly.

Then….

“Strike! Capture the woman without injuring her!”

“Yes!”

The masked men charged first.

The escort knights exchanged glances and immediately drew their swords to fight back.

A brilliant aura was imbued in the swords of the two.

“Get lost, all of you!”

“I’ll kill you all!”

As they swung their swords with determination, those who were charging at the forefront of the masked robbers were cut in half at the waist and died.

And they shouted in a loud voice.

“If any of you want to die, come one by one!”

The robbers, overwhelmed by the thunderous shout, hesitated for a moment.

But….

“What are you doing? Attack!”

As a nagging voice came from behind, they gritted their teeth and charged again.

And among them, the swords of a few masked men were imbued with aura.

“These bastards?”

“You’re no ordinary robbers, are you? Reveal your identities!”

To the escort knights’ shouts, the masked robbers charged fiercely as if they didn’t care.

And an untimely battle broke out in the early morning.

The masked robber.

No, the Harbor Prince’s aide frowned.

“Tsk, a knight is a knight, I see?”

When he learned there were only two escort knights, he thought the job would be easy.

But once the battle started, the resistance was formidable.

Even though their side had far more numbers, it was useless.

Although there were only two, the skills of the escort knights were not to be trifled with.

‘To handle aura so proficiently. They must be at least at the 4-star level….’

In normal terms, they were a powerful force that would not be out of place in the Royal Knightly Order.

He couldn’t understand why they were cooped up in a rural place like this.

They drew two swords each and fought well, cutting down enemies swarming from all directions and deflecting incoming arrows.

They fought with Ava’s protection as their top priority, but even so, they steadily reduced the number of enemies.

‘Good. We can do this.’

‘These guys are not as tough as they seem.’

If things continued like this, they would be able to defeat the enemy without any trouble.

But at that moment….

“Everyone, fall back!”

The masked man who had been watching from behind shouted loudly.

Then he took out something strange from his bosom.

It was a tool like a blunt weapon, slightly curved, with a small handle.

The opponent took it out and aimed it at the knights as if aiming a crossbow.

Until that moment, the escort knights could not grasp the situation.

‘What is that?’

‘A magic tool? No, I don’t feel any mana….’

Taaang!

It was then.

A hollow sound that spread wide.

A pungent smell of gunpowder that spread belatedly.

And….

“Keoheok….”

“Brandi!”

“Sir Person!”

One of the knights fell, bleeding.

His comrade and Ava hurriedly checked the fallen knight’s condition.

He was not dead, but something inside his body was injured, and he kept vomiting blood.

“Hehehe. You’ve never seen something like this before, have you, country bumpkins.”

The man in the black mask sneered triumphantly.

At that sight, the escort knight wanted to rush over and chop off the man’s head immediately, but….

“The… the lady….”

“Damn it, I know.”

At the concern for his fallen comrade, he bit his lip hard.

What was most important now was the safety of their charge, Ava.

The knight gritted his teeth and held his ground.

Even as he did so, the opponent was….

“Block him. Don’t let him get close to me while I’m reloading.”

he said, doing something.

He put black powder into the tool he had just used, then put a small ball in it, and then poked a small rod into the hole in the front.

‘Reloading? Does a black ball come out of that hole?’

He hadn’t noticed before because it had happened so quickly.

But he too was a 4-star knight.

He could see it with his own two eyes.

Something very small had flown quickly and lodged itself in his comrade’s body.

‘Should I consider it a very small and fast arrow?’

He could dodge it if he wanted to.

But….

“Sir Cotton, I am fine, so please escape and call for reinforcements. Hurry.”

Pudeudeuk.

He must not dodge.

Behind him was the person he had to protect.

He gritted his teeth and stood right in front of Ava, crossing his swords in a defensive stance.

“Hahaha. Die!”

The moment the enemy used the unidentified weapon again….

“Keuk….”

Peo-eok.

The escort knight tried to block it with his sword without dodging.

But the enemy’s attack was much faster than he thought, and it ended up lodging in his abdomen.

‘Damn it….’

Just a bean-sized ball had hit him, but his whole body went limp.

He had never experienced an attack like this before.

The strength drained from his knees, and just as his body was about to fall forward….

“Sir Cotton!”

Ava’s tearing scream brought his senses back.

Kwaak!

He drove his sword into the ground and forcibly stopped his falling body.

And he glared at them with an intense gaze.

“That… that stubborn bastard.”

“Damn it, shoot him one more time.”

“Shoot him in the head. In the head. He doesn’t have a helmet, so it will go right through.”

They were enemies who only shouted with words, not daring to approach.

It was then.

“Stop!”

Ava shouted in a strong voice.

And she passed the knight protecting her and approached the masked assailants.

“I will follow you quietly, so please do not harm them any further.”

“My lady! Kuluck….”

“N… no, you can’t!”

The knights, even as they were dying, tried to stop her.

But Ava was firm.

“Resisting any further here is meaningless.”

Ava’s words were true.

The two knights were already incapacitated.

It was a state where it was impossible to protect Ava against them.

But…

“N… no, my lady.”

“Keo-eok…. Run… away, please. Hurry….”

Still, the knights tried to block them, even at the cost of their lives, for Ava’s sake.

They tried to force themselves up to fight, even while vomiting blood.

Why?

Because it was the right thing to do as a knight?

That could be.

But more importantly, it was because they truly revered and respected Ava.

Not all knights were this dedicated to their lord and his family.

But they were sincere.

Conversely, the desperate appearance of those knights rather solidified Ava’s resolve.

“I will go with you. But if you harm my knights any further, I would rather bite my tongue here.”

At her resolute appearance, the masked men momentarily flinched.

Her spirit was too formidable to be considered a mere bluff.

In the end, they left the knights and spoke to Ava.

“Follow us quietly.”

Ava nodded.

And the assailants exchanged glances among themselves, then took Ava and quickly disappeared.

“To the… the lord…. I have to report….”

“Keuuuuk…. Damn it… someone, please….”

The fallen knights were left there for a long time.

They were only discovered an hour later by a subject who had come to pray.