Greeting the Lord
After several days of travel, I finally arrived in the Abbott region.
I had known it was far, but… I hadn’t expected it to be this far.
"Still… there’s really nothing here."
Having been born and raised in the royal capital of Landval, this was my first time coming to the Abbott region. I had never visited even during expeditions, and no one in my Knights Order had ever brought up this place in conversation.
It was utterly devoid of presence.
I felt bad for the local residents, but that was the impression I had of the Abbott region. And now that I had actually set foot here, I realized I wasn’t wrong.
"For now, I should go greet the lord."
The Tryon family, who governed this land, should have already received word that I would be taking up my post in Curtis Village.
I had heard that knights with the credentials to receive a Holy Sword in the capital—essentially the central government—were too much for regional lords to handle. On top of that, even though I was falsely accused, I was still a man who had committed a crime.
That meant I could expect their reception to be quite cold.
Even so, I couldn’t simply ignore my obligation to greet the lord. Relying on my map, I made my way to the mansion and was about to inform the gatekeeper of my visit when—
"Huh? There's no one here?"
I had reached what appeared to be the lord’s mansion, but there was no one outside.
It felt quite careless, but since there was no one to stop me, I stepped into the grounds.
Just then, I ran into a maid who had been tending to the garden.
"Oh! You must be the knight from the capital!"
"Uh, y-yeah."
"Lord Doyle is expecting you. Please follow me."
"O-okay. Thank you."
Surprised by how warmly the maid received me, I followed her into the mansion.
The first thing that caught my eye was the lack of people.
Normally, in a noble’s mansion, you would see servants working everywhere. However, in the Tryon household, there was hardly any sign of them.
Could it be… they don’t have the money to hire more?
That seemed unlikely, but before I could think more on it, we arrived at the office.
The maid knocked on the door, waited for a response, and then slowly opened it, gesturing for me to enter.
"Ah, welcome. I've been expecting you."
The head of the Tryon family greeted me in a casual tone.
Seeing him, I couldn’t help but freeze.
He was young.
Eighteen, maybe nineteen?
He was tall despite his slender frame, but his face still held traces of youthful innocence.
"You’re surprised, aren’t you? I know—I’m too young to be a lord."
He let out a small chuckle at my reaction.
"N-no, I didn’t mean to—"
Worried that I had offended him, I quickly bowed deeply.
However, Lord Doyle maintained his calm demeanor and continued speaking.
"It’s fine. Raise your head. More importantly, let’s go over your duties here."
"Y-yes. Please."
I had expected a stiff, haughty noble, but instead, I found myself facing a rather easygoing man.
Well, at least he wasn’t one of those greedy, self-serving nobles. I had heard that many of them were like that.
According to Lord Doyle’s explanation, my job here was… practically nonexistent.
The Curtis Village, where I would be stationed, had no history of attacks from ferocious monsters or bandits. In fact, there hadn’t been a single serious crime in the past thirty years.
It was the perfect example of a "peaceful countryside town."
Maintaining public order in such a quiet village… no, wouldn’t it maintain itself just fine without me?
To be honest, my very presence here felt pointless.
I supposed the Knights Order was eager to get rid of me after I tarnished the name of the Holy Knights. But if that was the case, there must have been significant opposition to simply expelling me outright.
So instead, they assigned me to a place where my existence as a knight would be completely unnecessary, hoping I would give up and resign on my own.
"That’s all from me. Do you have any questions?"
"… No, none."
"In that case, you should stay here tonight."
"Eh? In this mansion?"
His unexpected offer made me blink.
"It’s getting dark. This may be a safe place, but it’s still not ideal to travel at night. If you head to the village now, you’ll arrive past midnight."
"I-I understand. Thank you for your generosity."
"Haha, no need to be so formal. Just relax."
"Uh… sure."
He really was different.
I had expected nobles to be more arrogant and overbearing, but he wasn’t like that at all.
Was it because he was a lord of the frontier?
As I left the office, the maid who had guided me earlier was waiting in the hallway.
"You’ll be staying here tonight, correct?"
"…! H-how did you—"
"That’s just the kind of person Lord Doyle is. Your room is already prepared. Please, come this way."
Apparently, she had anticipated that I would be staying and had already gotten the room ready.
Seriously… what was with this place? It was throwing me off.
—But, well… it wasn’t a bad feeling.
Once inside my assigned room, I placed my belongings on the floor and sat on the bed.
"Curtis Village, huh…"
I spread out the map I had brought and checked the location.
It was southwest of the mansion. Judging by the distance, it would take about two hours by carriage.
Although I was born and raised in the Landval Kingdom, I had never been to this place before.
I hadn’t even heard of it.
"What kind of place is it…?"
If it was governed by that kindhearted lord, I hoped the villagers were similarly peaceful.
"—Wait, no. I’m not planning on staying here long!"
I had only gotten slightly curious because the lord was so different from what I expected.
My goal was still to reclaim my former elite standing!
With that inner conflict in mind, I decided to call it a night.
After quickly changing, I threw myself onto the bed.
What do you think about this chapter?
