Surviving as a Knight in a Trash Game

Chapter 138

“Heok… heok…!”

A young child and several people were running through a deep mountain.

Even though it was so dark all around that they couldn't see ahead, they moved their feet without rest, their faces pale with some unknown fear.

“I can’t go on… I’m tired….”

A young boy, who looked to be around 8 or 9 years old, collapsed on the spot, apparently unable to keep up with the adults’ pace.

“Seba! Get up! If we stay here, we’ll all die!”

“My legs… won’t move….”

The group of about six people had been moving for quite a long time, and the child’s feet and physical condition were in a terrible state.

“…”

The man who appeared to be Seba’s father clenched his teeth as he looked at his son collapsed on the ground.

“Get on my back, hurry!”

The man, carrying the child, continued to push through the darkness-shrouded mountain despite his trembling legs.

“We just need to go a little further. Once we get out of this mountain, we’ll reach the northern region….”

“Will the pursuit stop just because we go there?”

“It’ll be less than now, at least.”

“Will it be okay if we go to Arthur Domain…? Rumors are just rumors, aren’t they?”

“There are many stories that Sir Karl Meyer is different, so there might be a little hope, don’t you think?”

For those belonging to a rather powerless class, no matter how great a hero in rumors was, it didn't mean much.

Because a person who changed the world didn't necessarily change their lives.

The person leading the six seemed quite accustomed to fleeing.

While moving, he calmly led the group, erasing important tracks.

“The distance to the trackers is closing in.”

“…?”

The leader of the group astutely perceived information that the fleeing individuals couldn't possibly know.

“We need to split the group here. Someone has to lure them away.”

“…”

The group fell silent.

There was one young child, three adult men, and two women.

“…I will lure them. Sir Marco, you must save the others.”

“…Honey.”

The man who had put down Seba, whom he was carrying, nodded with a grim expression.

“I will join you. Sir Marco… please take care of the children and my wife… I beg you.”

“…”

The leader of the group, called Marco, nodded in silence, and their tentative agreement was concluded.

And immediately, the group split into two and began to move.

The two adult men moved, leaving as many tracks as possible, while Marco erased tracks as much as possible.

After moving separately for a long time, Marco heard the tearing screams of the men.

Heulgit.

He saw the women and children following behind him.

Marco clenched his teeth and turned his head.

He did not inform them of the result of the screams that only he had heard.

He merely silently erased tracks and guided them to the Arthur Domain.

***

The Arthur Domain, which had achieved dazzling development, was changing every day with the endlessly anergy of its people.

According to the five-year domain development plan, everything in Arthur Domain, from roads to the construction of private houses, was being carried out according to a set plan, so unlike other domains created through indiscriminate reckless development, it was even cultivating external beauty.

Hureup.

Karl, standing atop the tallest lord’s castle in the very center of the city and looking down, held a cup of warm black tea in his hand, as he did on any other day.

“It seems you’ve been spending more time looking at the domain lately.”

Hans, who had served Karl since long ago, refilled the emptying teacup with black tea.

“Strange.”

Karl, who mostly disliked speaking at length, had, as usual, uttered only a single word, yet Hans vaguely understood the emotion Karl was feeling and trying to convey.

His master had always been a lonely person, detached from the world.

But now, he was slowly setting foot in this world.

Hans believed that this point of contact lay within the people Karl was currently observing.

“All those people came here looking only to you, my lord.”

“It’s burdensome. They should just live their own lives.”

“If it weren’t for you, my lord, they wouldn’t be smiling like they are now.”

Karl didn’t respond to Hans’ words.

However, he felt that what Hans was saying didn’t sound bad.

The increased responsibility was certainly burdensome, but he didn’t dislike the feeling.

“Are you going out again?”

Hans, watching Karl leave with only a light nod, showed a warm smile as he looked at his ever-consistent lord.

The place Karl headed after leaving the castle was, just like before, a tavern.

“You show up every day.”

“There’s no place as good as this.”

“Well, that’s because there’s no owner as serious about alcohol as I am.”

Philip from Luton Town had opened a tavern in Arthur Domain as well, just as before.

Unlike other owners who tried to gather people somehow, Philip simply filled his shop with good alcohol and dealt only with the customers who came, even if no one else showed up.

“It’s amazing that business is good even when operating like this.”

“This is all possible thanks to the wealth passed down through generations of my ancestors.”

Philip had been rich from the beginning.

That’s why he could gift a rare space-expanding bracelet, one of only a few in the entire continent.

“And aren’t there prime customers like you? Customers who only drink expensive alcohol, I mean.”

“Anyway, since Philip buys the other bottle, there’s nothing left for you, is there?”

“Well, that’s something I can handle myself. Hahahaha.”

Philip had certainly changed a lot from before.

A comfortable laugh and leisure.

A warm impression that reassured those who saw him stood out.

“Oh, by the way, have you heard of Postasia?”

“I think I’ve heard rumors about it a few times.”

“It seems a few people who escaped from there have recently come to Arthur Domain. What I heard from them is quite unsettling.”

Philip continued to talk about the human sacrifices that had taken place there recently and about a man named Marco who had escaped.

“That friend named Marco didn’t seem like an ordinary person either. I happened to see him at the Mercenary Guild once. You know, that somewhat unsettling feeling? I got a feeling like he wasn’t human.”

The reason Karl visited Philip’s tavern was, of course, for the alcohol, but also sometimes to hear such stories.

His senses had a strangely sharp aspect, so sometimes he could hear stories that even the intelligence organizations hadn’t thought of.

‘Marco, huh.’

Anyway, most of the people who had settled in Arthur Domain were outsiders, so it was impossible to monitor all of them.

However, if there were individuals who showed several suspicious circumstances that anyone could see, it was necessary to pay special attention to them.

Karl, having lightly organized his thoughts, poured the whiskey Philip had brought out into a glass and downed it.

After the subtle aroma of whiskey, a taste as hot as lava followed, and Karl silently nodded.

***

Karl’s footsteps, pleasantly intoxicated after drinking a certain amount of alcohol, led him, amusingly enough, to the Order’s branch.

“You’re probably the only one who comes to pray at the holy temple after drinking, my lord.”

“Isn’t the fact that I came important?”

“Uhm.”

It was quite late.

Meder welcomed Karl, even though he was a visitor who had arrived in the middle of the night, though not yet dawn.

“I’m saying this now, but when I first met you, my lord, I just disliked you. I couldn’t understand why Abbot Frederic took care of you so much and gave you the Order’s insignia.”

“Is that so.”

Even though Meder was saying he disliked him, Karl, who answered so matter-of-factly, still seemed a bit arrogant to Meder even now.

“When I, who didn’t view you favorably at all, heard your speech at the Order, I felt as if a wall that had been blocking me for so long had crumbled down. You may not know, my lord, but that day’s speech still hasn’t left my mind. You, my lord, are more than sufficient as God’s representative.”

Meder thought that perhaps he was jealous of Karl because he knew that the path Karl was walking was one he himself could not take.

A path of thorns.

He, a saint of the present age, was walking that path of penance that countless ancient sages and saints had walked.

“I see you as excellent.”

“!”

Meder realized a moment later that Karl’s blunt remark was a compliment directed at him.

Because a single word from such an unexpected place had momentarily stopped his brain.

“Sir Karl?”

And right after that, Karl was already sitting in the frontmost seat of the chapel, his eyes closed.

Pfft.

Having spent quite a long time together in Arthur Domain, Meder knew that Karl was embarrassed.

“Thank you, Sir.”

Meder, one of the few who still occasionally called Karl ‘Sir’ even though he had now become a Count, made the sign of the cross and prayed that Karl would continue to be a light for the people.

“Who are you to try to enter the chapel at this hour!”

“I was told I couldn’t see Bishop Meder unless it was at this hour.”

“This is not a place where just anyone can enter, so go back!”

“I didn’t know that status or nobility applied even in a chapel.”

Just as Karl quietly closed his eyes and Meder was blessing him, a commotion was heard from outside the quiet chapel.

“I’ve come to report the results of the request received from the Order, so please relay the facts to Bishop Meder. He’ll know if you say it’s related to Postasia.”

“Who on earth are you?”

“Marco. For now, I’ll say I’m a mercenary.”

The noise from outside wasn’t very loud, but because the Order’s branch or the chapel was such a quiet space, his voice was clearly audible even inside.

Jeobeokjeobeok.

“Sir Karl?”

The moment the conversation outside seemed to briefly end, Karl shot up from his seat and walked towards the entrance.

“May I see him?”

“Why you, Sir?”

“I’ve heard that man’s name.”

Karl, who had opened the chapel door, was now standing in front of the man named Marco.

“Are you Marco?”

“That’s right….”

Since reaching the Master stage, Karl had been exuding a unique aura and presence.

It was a natural phenomenon for those who had reached the supreme state of Master.

However, after training with Cain, Karl, who had advanced another step, no longer possessed the unique presence of a Master.

His appearance, like that of an ordinary person, approached the opponent with pressure in a different sense.

“Are you Count Karl Reitz Arthur Meyer?”

Marco attached the full name and bowed his head as low as possible to show his respect.

Throughout his life, he had met countless individuals called heroes.

And the one conclusion he had reached was that they were never like the stories.

“…Do you know me?”

Marco was trying his best to remain calm while looking at Karl.

Even though he had nothing to lose, he felt himself shrinking in front of Karl for no reason.

A strange sense of incongruity he had never felt in his life.

It was an unfamiliar emotion Marco felt, meeting a truly strong person for the first time.

“I heard about it by chance. You brought a few people from Postasia.”

“…”

It hadn't been long since Marco had entered this place.

Nevertheless, Karl knew his identity and the details accurately.

It meant that information about what happened here reached the lord that quickly.

“That’s correct. That is also the reason I visited this Order’s branch today to find Bishop Meder.”

“Speak.”

Marco, gazing at Karl who had an indifferent look and a monotone voice, slowly opened his mouth.

“They are performing human sacrifices. The number of people sacrificed daily might exceed 30. Cardinal Thomas of the Order requested me to investigate what is happening there. Originally, I was supposed to go south, but as you’ve heard, I have people with me now.”

At his words, Bishop Meder’s face hardened rapidly.

“They are walking to their deaths, claiming they will become sacrifices to a strange god called Decarabia.”

A rough picture formed in Karl’s mind.

Various incidents perpetrated by those deluded by a pseudo-religion.

This was a medieval-based society, and considering their level of knowledge and everything else, brainwashing them wouldn't have been difficult.

“We will need help.”

Bishop Meder wrote a dispatch to be sent to the Vatican headquarters.

After the completed dispatch left the branch, only Karl and Meder remained in the chapel.

“Will you help?”

In the quiet chapel, Meder threw a question at Karl.

Even knowing there was no reason or justification for him to help, he strangely felt he had to ask Karl this question.

Even after Bishop Meder’s question ended, silence flowed in the chapel for a while.

Karl calmly received his gaze and briefly organized his thoughts.

Even though it was an incident that might trigger a quest, no system window appeared.

Only Meder’s gaze was fixed on Karl.

“Let’s find a way.”

An answer chosen by Karl’s own will, not by a quest, flowed from his lips.

And the moment Meder’s expression brightened, a system window popped up before Karl’s eyes.

[Quest: Obstructer of Postasia]

A very subtle, yet different pattern from before.

Others might not feel it, but Karl sensed that subtle difference.