Journey of Vampire Lord
Copyright© 2025 by Vamp
Chapter 21
“That’s a shame,” Grail spoke while licking his lips vainly.
Priscilla responded with a smile, “Still, we aren’t making a loss since the terms of the contract are quite good. Besides, that sir knight apparently played a huge part in the dungeon opening at the Tywin estate.”
“How good could he be? Even if he is indeed quite capable, he’s probably less than Sir Galfredik.”
“You know the materials that were brought in today? I heard he took care of more than half of the monsters.”
“Huh? Come on, don’t joke around like that...”
“Vice executive! Vice executive!” The door burst open and a clerk ran in while shouting excitedly.
“What’s going on?”
“The subjugation squad has returned from the east forest! That sir knight named Eugene, he saved Sir Madrica and killed two orc warriors by himself!”
“Eh?!”
The area in front of the mercenary guild’s headquarters was bustling. The bodies of fallen mercenaries were placed neatly to one side, and the corpses of goblins and orc warriors were placed on the other.
“In honor of those who willingly raised their swords, spears, and shields for the free city of Maren, which is protected by faith...”
The guild leader and recruiter, Trevik, solemnly recited a tribute, and all the gathered residents of Maren took off their hats and bowed their heads with respect. Although mercenaries sold their services for money, they deserved respect for fighting in response to Maren’s recruitment notice.
The short joint funeral ended shortly after, and priests from the church transported the bodies of the dead with the help of other mercenaries. There were about 20 casualties. The bodies of those who were killed while fighting monsters could be tainted with evil energy, so a prayer was a necessity as well as a show of respect.
“Anyways, where did Sir Eugene disappear off to?” Trevik asked while looking around. Eugene, the protagonist of today’s battle, was nowhere to be found.
“He should be resting in his home right now.”
“Ah! Well, he did kill two orc warriors and dozens of goblins by himself. He must be exhausted. Anyways, I heard that Sir Eugene’s skill with the javelin is incredible, is that true?”
“Phew! There’s no need to even mention it. I saw him lean back slightly after taking his hands off the reins, then he threw his javelin like lightning! It crossed 50 meters in the blink of an eye, pierced through the chest of the orc, then flew another 10 meters!”
It was actually 30 meters instead of 50. The javelin also did not pierce through the orc, but was instead stuck in its body. Unfortunately, these mercenaries had been too occupied during the battle that they could only speculate based on the corpses of the monsters Eugene had killed. Furthermore, the rumors about Eugene were starting to get out of hand thanks to a particular person’s testimony.
“I, Ron Madrica, can say with certainty that it was the first time I saw a knight, so brave, honorable, and chivalrous, since my master, Sir Capran. Sir Eugene is truly one of the greatest knights I’ve ever met.” Madrica spoke in a rather cheesy voice.
“ ... Sir Eugene’s spear attacks were like lightning bolts! When he wielded two battle axes in his hands, it was as if a legendary dwarven warrior had descended. As a man who lives by the sword and walks the path of a knight, I respect and admire Sir Eugene.”
Madrica was well known for his arrogance and bad temper. When he spoke endless praise about Eugene, the people surrounding him burst into admiration. In addition, there was another person who told stories that ignited the curiosity of the crowd, though he was not as influential as Madrica.
“Ah, I’m telling you! He pulled out the head of a troll with his bare hands! Even though it was a dark, dim dungeon, I swear I saw a halo behind his head. And that’s not all. After he killed the immature troll and its mother, he fought against a giant cave spider. He did all of that in a few hours!”
“By himself? He fought against intermediate-rank monsters in succession by himself?”
A mercenary asked while gulping loudly, and Lavan responded with a sigh.
“Ha! Of course, I was there as well when we ran into the giant cave spider. Back then, I was about to help Sir Eugene when...”
The stories of his past feats and today’s performance, combined with an appropriate dose of exaggeration, spread throughout the city in no time at all. As such, Eugene became a celebrity on his first day in Maren.
“Is that so? How many were killed?”
“Seventeen in total. St Valiant’s church will cremate and store the remains in the charnel house. By the way, about the knight I mentioned before.”
“Sir Jan Eugene, right? What about him?”
Maren’s mayor showed curiosity at Tervik’s words. The stories regarding Eugene had already reached the mayor as well.
“The mercenaries may have exaggerated a little, but we would have missed the orcs and the roamers from the Brandish Mountains without the knight.”
“Hooh.”
“That’s why I was thinking. Although there were only three orcs, it’s the first time we’ve achieved victory in two years, right? I don’t think it’s a bad idea to promote it, what do you think?”
“Hmm. Didn’t the knight say he was going back to the Tywin estate soon? He’s going back anyway, so is it really necessary?”
“It’s not for Sir Eugene. It’s because our city needs it. The royalists have been snooping around since last year, correct? At such a time, a knight from outside responded to our city’s recruitment notice and wiped out the orcs from the Brandish Mountains.”
“Hooh! So you’re saying we should send a message to some of the nearby royalist lords.”
“That’s exactly right. We should not limit ourselves to only the City of Maren, but also keep the security and stability of the surrounding areas. But what did our distinguished king and the royalists do? They’re so greedy for money and mana stones that they’re only focused on plundering it!”
“Yes, yes!”
“Right? Doing that alone will have a significant effect. Why don’t you put his feats into the city report and spread it to the nearby lords and nobles?”
Even the king could not easily mess with a large commercial city like Maren, but that did not mean that Maren could rise against the monarchy and become independent like the cities of the Carls Baggins Peninsula. As such, the city sent quarterly reports to the royal castle, though it was mostly formality. The reports outlined mundane activities of the city, but for some reason, the reports always included military activities.
It was an underlying message and warning against the royal castle and the surrounding nobles, an open display of power and the level of combat ability that the city could mobilize at any time.
“It’s a brilliant idea. But will the guild leaders approve of this?”
The mayor was just a representative of the city. The general intentions of the city stemmed from the guild leaders. If the majority of the leaders disapproved of their decision, their discussion here would be in vain.
“I agree. The merchant guild will definitely agree as well.”
“Really?”
“Yes. The Palin Association is taking care of Sir Eugene right now. They have an established contract regarding the dungeon of the Tywin estate. It seems to be a rather large deal.”
The current guild master of the merchant’s guild was the previous master of the Palin Association. Although he wasn’t the kind of person to use his status for his own people, since the issue regarding Eugene would be helpful to the merchant guild and the City of Maren, he would surely agree.
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