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Consisting of about forty households, this hamlet was spread out across a vast area of agricultural fields and prairies.

Most of the villagers made their living through farming, with the village\'s main crops being Duranzian barley and wheat which were used for making beer and bread.

In addition, they grew various vegetables.

A group of Hunting Knights was stationed in the area, tasked with raiding the Black Demon Rift to secure valuable resources like rare metals and treasure.

Since the rift was dense with mana and home to numerous monsters, it sometimes expanded and released creatures into the eastern borders of Grimbarrow. To manage this threat, Feudal Lord Galford built a watchtower near Deepstone Village to monitor the rift and any potential monster activity.

Every month, a group of young men, led by the hunting knights, would venture into the dark forest, which bordered the Black Demon Rift, to exterminate monsters and prevent their numbers from growing.

The more experienced knights would enter the rift itself to battle stronger monsters and gather even more resources for Grimbarrow\'s benefit.

One such event was happening now.

Arcellion and his trusted partner, Euford Willma, were making their way back from the dark forest of the Black Demon Rift after clearing it.

"Looks like we scored a lot of resources this time!"

Euford had a wide smile on his face.

Euford was a well-built man with a bald head and thick brown beard, giving him a rugged yet knightly appearance. He wore the silver and red armor of the Grimbarrow Knight Order from head to toe.

"Hmm, I\'d say so."

Arcellion spoke very calmly.

It was almost hard to believe he was casually dragging the massive corpse of a red dragon with one hand as he spoke.

Euford glanced at the dragon and raised his eyebrows.

『Damn…』

He was clearly impressed.

"I still can\'t believe you actually killed a red dragon. They say a red dragon\'s strong enough to face the 10th-ranked Battle God of Kartikeya. So technically, you\'re at their level if we scale you, right?"

"Not really…" Arcellion shook his head.

Euford furrowed his brow and hummed in confusion, rubbing his chin.

"But why not? You took this thing down single-handedly. I didn\'t even contribute. I mean, come on, this is a friggin\' red dragon! If it were a blue dragon, I\'d stand a chance, but this? It\'s clear I\'m not on your level."

"This one was injured, so killing it was relatively easy."

Arcellion\'s responses were quite dull.

This was mostly because he was worn out from the monthly raid and just wanted to rest.

Euford undoubtedly felt the same, but he was trying to keep the conversation going. He didn\'t want them both to fall into bad moods, especially since the villagers might feel guilty seeing how much the knights were doing for them.

In what way? Not just keeping them safe.

The hunting knights weren\'t required to help in areas of the settlement\'s economy, but they had managed to strike a deal of [Equitable Resource Accord] with the feudal lord of Grimbarrow.

This meant that the lord of Deepstone Village earned a good profit from every bit of wheat and barley grown on the farms. They also made money from all the resources sold from the Black Demon Rift.

Thanks to this arrangement, the people of Deepstone Village didn\'t have to deal with the same level of poverty that plagued many other settlements under the four vassal states of Duranzia.

… Tch!

Arcellion clicked his tongue in frustration.

"I\'m tired of this!"

He stopped suddenly and gripped the halberd in his right hand tightly.

Euford glanced at him and chose to stay quiet.

He never believed in trying to respond to someone who was angry. He thought that if you didn\'t feed into their anger, they wouldn\'t have a reason to stay angry.

Arcellion was his best friend, and even though he wanted to say something, he found himself remaining silent.

『Just let it out…』

Euford prepared himself for Arcellion\'s outburst.

As he expected, it happened.

The young hunting knight slammed his halberd into the ground in anger, causing cracks to spread across the earth.

"I\'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS!"

He struck the ground again with his halberd, making the cracks even bigger.

"Do we really have to go through this every single time? I\'m so damn tired of catering to these nobles and their bullshit! They say being a knight is all about pride and selflessness, but honestly? I\'m over it! I\'m sick of being the one who goes out there to risk my life just for a half-hearted \'thank you\' and a pat on the back from some fat noble who\'s too scared to lift a finger himself.

If I were to voice this frustration, you know what people would say?"

Euford didn\'t say a word.

He just kept looking into Arcellion\'s furious blue eyes, which were beginning to fill with tears.

『Free your mind, my brother…』

Euford could have stayed there all day, letting Arcellion vent his anger. It didn\'t matter to him if he was tired or even if he felt dead inside─he was there to listen to Arcellion\'s frustrations, no matter what.

Expectedly, Arcellion screamed more.

"They\'d call me selfish and forget every single good thing we\'ve done for them. It\'s like they can\'t remember our names unless we pull off something heroic. Is that how life is supposed to work? Paul died last month, and all they remember is that a hunting knight died. They don\'t know what killed him or that he was one of our own, a close brother. Is that really fair?

It\'s a goddamn joke!"

He dropped to his knees and began to cry hard.

Euford noticed this and knelt beside him. He gently placed one hand on Arcellion\'s shoulder and started patting his back with the other hand.

"It\'s fine, it\'s fine…"

━ ━ ━ ━

Arcellion and Euford returned to their home in Deepstone Village, where Benita had been waiting for them. She had prepared food for them a while ago, but by now, it had gone cold.

The young woman wore a deep frown as she stared at the two men who were covered in sweat and grime.

"Are you seriously telling me you couldn\'t wrap up your nonsense sooner so you could come home and eat something decent? You men, honestly!"

She crossed her arms underneath her perky breasts and kept glaring at them with a look of frustration.

She clearly wasn\'t happy. They had left nearly a week ago without telling her when they\'d be back, and she had no idea when to expect them. She\'d been cooking meals for them, only for each one to go cold. In the end, she\'d had to give the food away to the villagers, and today was no different.

"If you keep this up, I swear I\'m going to stop taking care of you two ruffians! You should know I\'m the best servant that Feudal Lord Galford assigned to you stubborn hunting knights, so at least show me some respect and stop taking me for granted dammit!"

Benita was a fiery woman, and that was part of what made her so attractive to the men in the hunting knight squad stationed in Deepstone Village.

A beautiful, strong-willed woman who could cook.

That was the dream for most of them.

They didn\'t care much for noblewomen who were well-educated in arithmetic and commerce. Most of those types were arrogant and never respected their husbands.

Naturally, Benita was the favorite among the men.

"Sir Arcellion? Are you alright?"

But despite all that, she only had eyes for Arcellion.

She walked over to him and gently rested her arm around his shoulders, looking into his tired eyes and pale face.

Her concern for him was clear.

"Please… you need to rest."

"I… I suppose so…" he mumbled.

Arcellion slowly pulled away from her sweet, comforting arms and walked down the hall until he disappeared into one of the small rooms provided for them.

Benita glanced at Euford. "Will he be alright?"

"Mm, yeah, I hope so…" Euford sighed deeply.

The beautiful, raven-haired woman suddenly remembered something. She quickly hurried to the small table, grabbed the letter, and rushed back to Euford.

"Uh, what\'s that?" Euford asked.

"Oh, it\'s a letter from Feudal Lord Galford. He says you and Sir Arcellion have an assignment in the Royal Capital of Velvana to hunt down a certain monster that escaped from an unstable dungeon there. The hunting knights in the capital were injured by the monster, but the imperial knights managed to contain it in a small forest. They\'re waiting for further orders."

Euford nodded and took the letter from her. He pulled out his small pocket knife, quickly tore it open, and unfolded the paper to read.

"Hmm, looks like Feudal Lord Galford specifically requested Arcellion and me for the job. I guess that\'s fine. We\'ll head there tomorrow. The king also wants to speak with Arcellion."

"Just Arcellion?" Benita asked, a bit surprised.

"Mhm, it seems so."

Benita grew worried, placing a hand on her chest before declaring loudly.

"W-, Well, I\'m coming with you both!"

"Okay, whatever…"

Euford shrugged.

He folded the letter back into its envelope and, as he walked down the hallway, started taking off his armor piece by piece.

"Son of a bitch…"

Benita muttered through gritted teeth as she saw him leaving his dirty, bloodstained plate armor scattered around.

"DON\'T LEAVE YOUR SHIT LYING AROUND!"

She grabbed a broom and dashed after him.

… SMACK! SMACK!

━ ━ ━ ━

… The next day

Arcellion, Euford, and Benita set out for Velvana, the Royal Capital of Duranzia. Before they left, Arcellion was strongly opposed to Benita joining them on the mission. But after Euford explained that they would need her skills to tend to their wounds, make medicine, and prepare food, Arcellion reluctantly agreed.

Still, Euford felt bad about convincing Arcellion yet again to go along with something he didn\'t want. He could already see the strain on Arcellion, worn down by the lack of control the kingdom\'s soldiers had over their lives. Their health and personal well-being didn\'t matter—they were expected to serve without question.

Arcellion hated how, unless you were at the very top or part of the privileged ranks, every promotion just meant a new chance to die. Becoming an imperial knight didn\'t offer anything good; it was simply selling your life for money, as the dangers faced by imperial knights were horrifying.

Thinking through all this, Euford placed a hand on Arcellion\'s shoulder and smiled.

"Huh? What\'s the matter?"

Arcellion raised an eyebrow as he looked at his friend.

Euford smiled. "Oh nothing, just know I\'m here for you."

"Hmm, sure…"

Arcellion\'s expression remained unchanged.

━ ━ ━ ━

… A day later

Arcellion and his group arrived in Velvana on his four-winged blue dragon called Frost.

"Oh, we\'re finally here!"

Benita was filled with excitement as she gazed down at the beauty of Velvana from high up in the clouds.

"Wow, it looks so…"

The people below looked like tiny ants, but the buildings and streets were stunning. She had only ever been around the Grimbarrow region, so for a servant like her, Velvana seemed like pure paradise.

"Beautiful…"

Her pretty blue eyes shimmered.

Arcellion looked at her with a small smile on his face, and then pat Frost\'s head gently.

"Take us down, boy."

The blue dragon roared and flew down at high-speed.

Traveling from Grimbarrow City to Velvana was a long trip, given how vast Duranzia and its major vassal states were. By land, it would take around three months to reach the royal capital, but a blue dragon could make the journey in just over a day with its incredible speed.

That\'s why hunting knights and mercenary knights were always provided with blue or yellow dragons as their main way of getting between cities.

… Soon

The group arrived at the Armed Palace, which stood not only at the center but also at the highest point of the royal capital.

"Hmm, this is my first time seeing this place..."

Arcellion didn\'t have much more to say about the palace\'s grand appearance. It was stunning, built entirely from shiny minerals that made it look almost like a structure made of glass, but that was about the limit of his awe.

On the other hand, Benita clasped her hands against her fat, round chest and giggled with excitement.

"This place is wonderful!"

Her eyes were wide, sparkling with admiration.

For someone like her, becoming a royal servant was the ultimate dream. It was the highest honor.

Euford lowered his head with a sigh.

"Ugh, I just hope we don\'t have to deal with nobles. I don\'t have the patience to be polite to those fat, pompous bastards, you know?"

"Tell me about it..." Arcellion groaned.

━ ━ ━ ━

Up in the Armed Palace…

A chubby, blonde-haired princess was sprinting through the palace halls, completely naked. She had a sturdy build, resembling a pig, but with more feminine and human-like features.

This was Princess Luciana, just 6 years old.

With a wide grin on her face, she dashed along, gripping a piece of chicken in one hand. Her mouth was smeared with sauce, and her hair looked messy and a little dirty.

"I won\'t take a bath until I finish my chicken!"

Luciana shouted in a loud, childlike voice.

… THUD!

Esmeralda stumbled and hit the glass-tiled floor, wincing from the pain. But she quickly shook it off as her mind was more focused on catching the princess than on her own discomfort.

"Please, Your Highness! I\'II ask the kitchen maids to keep your chicken warm while you take a bath, just let me clean you up! Your father has guests!"

With a tired voice, she begged.

Esmeralda had been chasing the princess for nearly three hours, and with the palace being so big and the corners so tight, it felt impossible for her to squeeze through every space the princess, despite her size, managed to slip through.

For Esmeralda, it was either her butt that was too big or her breasts too large, making the chase exhausting.

"Please, Your Highness! I\'m tired of this!"

"I don\'t give a fuck!" Luciana shouted back defiantly.

"Stop swearing, young lady!"

Esmeralda scolded as she got back on her feet.

With one slipper off, she hurried after the mischievous princess once again.