Despite being a noble, Harrison was a man who personally cultivated his own land.
Even though his skin tanned under the sun and his hair thinned from the harsh sunlight, he persisted in his way of life.
Why?
Because he loved the land, he enjoyed the work, and his life’s goal was clear.
So, he didn’t care if people mocked him for being bald or called him a miser.
Was he not indulging in luxuries?
No, he enjoyed greater luxuries than the King.
Would it be the King or himself who got to taste the finest wheat, grains, and fruits harvested from his land first?
It was himself.
There was no greater luxury than that. He was both a noble and a farmer.
"Is the safe route all you need?"
Encrid asked again.
Harrison found the reaction unfamiliar. This was the first time he had met someone like this.
Had anyone ever offered to do so much for him without asking for something in return?
There was no demand for compensation, nor was he asked to join under him.
It wasn’t unusual for a noble to serve under another noble.
Wasn’t the Duke of Octo also leading a group of nobles under him?
But Encrid didn’t seem to want anything.
He simply offered to help.
"Why are you being so kind?"
Harrison asked.
He had opposed Encrid, even though he knew of his fame and power.
Even if Encrid had threatened to cut off his limbs out of spite, he wouldn’t have had the right to complain.
Not that he would obediently offer his arms or legs if it came to that.
"Just because."
Encrid didn’t bother explaining his reasons. That’s simply the kind of person he was.
Of course, for Harrison, encountering someone like this for the first time was bewildering.
At that moment, the Noble Slayer with the gray hair stepped forward and spoke.
He held a wine glass in one hand, and strangely, it suited him well.
"That’s just the kind of guy he is. He probably has a reason, but don’t bother trying to understand. It’ll just give you a headache. Instead, do you know about that stray cat, whose heart has turned pitch black from being abandoned by women?"
Rem had been spreading Jaxon’s nickname since earlier.
Harrison let Rem’s words go in one ear and out the other as he looked at Encrid.
Without saying anything, Encrid spoke.
"Go cultivate your land, if that is your dream."
"See? I told you, there’s no reason."
Rem said.
Up until then, Harrison had simply been looking at a man who was as handsome as a sculpture.
It felt like he had been struck by lightning, leaving him speechless.
A dream? Did he know what he was saying?
Harrison had tried to form a local militia and secure a safe route, but it was no easy feat. The effort and cost involved were not a joke.
Hiring mercenaries to solve the problem? That was no different from inviting bandits into his fief.
Even if things went smoothly, what if the mercenaries turned against the fief? What if they caused trouble? What if, worst-case scenario, they accidentally killed a fief resident and brushed it off as a mistake? Did he have the strength to punish them?
In the end, he had to form a militia of people he could trust, but talent with the sword wasn’t exactly common.
Building walls and defending them was one thing, but raising a force capable of guarding all his farmlands was extremely difficult.
Above all, Harrison was good at raising farmers but not skilled at raising warriors.
Thanks to a few wandering swordsmen who had settled and lent him their strength, he had managed to hold out so far.
Even so, Harrison wanted to protect his entire farmland and revive the barren lands scattered throughout his territory.
He was confident that his knowledge made it possible. It wasn’t an easy task, of course. He was well aware of that.
‘But I still have to do it.’
For the future generations, for his land to thrive, and for a better life than now, he had to do it.
But whenever he tried to make a move, those around him would try to dissuade him.
"You’re doing well enough with the land you have. Why expand?"
"People dying to monsters is only natural. But there’s no need to deliberately die, is there?"
No, it wasn’t natural.
He didn’t intend to expand his lands just to have people die to monsters.
He wanted to cultivate the land safely, protect those who wished to work on it, and give them a better life. Wasn’t that the duty of a lord responsible for his fief?
That’s what he believed, even as others mocked him.
A miser who makes a living off the land.
That’s what those who knew him called him.
And now.
Encrid, the owner of the Knight order with the unparalleled name, the Mad Knights.
The Hero of the Border Guard, the Demon Slayer, the Knight of the Iron Wall.
Even though he had every reason to dismiss him with harsher words, he was telling him to go cultivate his land and fulfill his dreams.
Harrison thought of his wife, waiting for him back at home.
"Wouldn’t the God of Prosperity deliver a message if he truly needed you?"
Why did that phrase come to mind now?
Was it because now was that time?
He didn’t know. But whether it was the God’s will or not, Harrison decided to believe that this was the moment.
Life was given by the Gods, but it was the will of living beings that shaped how they lived.
He resolved to act according to that will.
He reached into his chest and pulled out another glass bottle as he spoke.
"Give me what I gave you earlier. Let’s exchange it."
Encrid handed it over without asking what it was. The glass bottles changed hands.
Dozens of eyes were watching the exchange.
Among them were Marquis Visar and the Duke of Octo, who had silently taken their places. And they weren’t the only ones, Krang was there too.
When the King arrived at the banquet hall, it was customary to announce it loudly, but Krang had stopped them.
It seemed like an interesting event was unfolding, so he had taken the position of an observer.
Harrison was a well-known figure for various reasons. A noble who stubbornly cultivated the land and harvested fruits.
His fief was unique in that every resident was obligated to study and research ways to increase crop yields.
The lord himself did so, and the fief had even specialized personnel for such tasks.
Thanks to this, or perhaps due to divine whim, a true blessing of the Gods had touched his land about ten years ago.
It wasn’t a bountiful harvest but a genuine miracle that had occurred.
A small spring had emerged from the ground, leaving behind just enough water for a single sip before disappearing.
Harrison, who had been preparing his pitchfork at dawn to head out to the fields, had found the water and carefully cupped it in his hands, marveling as not a single drop spilled.
He had carefully taken it and sealed it in a glass bottle too precious to use regularly. It was the famed Holy Spring Water.
No one knew its effects or properties, but its divinity was known far and wide.
An elder priest had come and asked for it in the name of the Gods, but Harrison refused. Even the demands of a major merchant guild were met with denial.
"There’s no such thing! Do you think that makes any sense? What, water that doesn’t spill even when held? Nonsense!"
When rumors spread that Harrison always carried a glass bottle on him, he had bought a few potions to carry around instead.
Those potions alone cost more than their weight in gold.
"It’s the Holy Spring Water."
He took it out now. The item he had vehemently denied having with his tongue sticking out.
Encrid took the similarly corked and tightly sealed glass bottle and put it into his chest pocket.
Once again, he didn’t even glance at it or ask if it was real. It was as if he accepted it just because it was given to him.
Whether it was a potion or a gold ring, it didn’t matter.
Encrid had simply taken it because it was handed to him.
If fine wine cost as much as its weight in gold and a potion that healed wounds cost three times its weight in gold, this was something you couldn’t buy even for ten times that amount.
This wasn’t something to just hand over lightly.
"Gasp!"
One of the observing nobles let out a sharp breath.
He just gave it away?
Encrid glanced at the reactions around him and asked.
"It seems like a precious item. Why are you giving it to me?"
It was a half-joking remark, but Harrison smiled roughly,a smile he hadn’t shown since the Royal Court.
"Just because."
"I’ll use it well."
"Please do."
That was all.
Harrison didn’t ask Encrid to keep his promise, nor did he press him.
Except for Krang and a few others, no one would have known, but Encrid had no ill will from the beginning.
To those who didn’t know, it was more than curious—it was strange.
"Why give that away?"
"What’s going on between them?"
"Because he’s handsome?"
Some muttered nonsense, but it was just a simple interaction between the two.
Harrison gave away his precious item, and Encrid agreed to fulfill what the other wanted. That was all.
"Phew, I watched the whole thing without even breathing."
Krang commented from among the spectators, causing those who recognized the King to step back.
"Ah, Your Majesty."
"When did you get here?"
"Continue as you were. Don’t mind me."
Krang said before stepping forward and speaking to Encrid.
"I told you not to hate him. Did you bully him instead?"
Though they were friends, he was still the King in public.
But since this was a banquet, it wasn’t considered an official occasion.
"Who bullied whom?"
It was a joke, suggesting Encrid had taken something valuable through coercion.
Hearing that, Encrid quickly responded.
"Then it’s fine."
Krang was the initiator.
"I heard you’re still alone, but why?"
The Duke of Octo suddenly interjected.
"Is a reason needed?"
"Of course not. I heard Kin has taken a position with the Border Guard. Did you know?"
Marquis Visar joined in. It was as if they had been dying to speak until now.
"He wouldn’t know, Lord."
Kin Visar, who had recently returned to the Capital on business, was also present.
She greeted Encrid with a nod and spoke to Marquis Visar.
"You’ll remember my name by now, won’t you?"
If there were people who were dazzled by Encrid’s looks and presence, there were others who weren’t. Kin Visar was one of them.
She kept an appropriate distance.
He was certainly handsome, but Kin wasn’t foolish enough to waste her heart on a man who had no interest in her.
"It’s not a name one could easily forget."
Encrid responded skillfully.
After that, it was a typical banquet. People drank, ate, and enjoyed themselves.
No one got drunk and sprawled out. No one was foolish enough to make a spectacle of themselves in front of the King.
Besides, everyone was busy greeting Encrid and trying to leave a good impression.
There were some young nobles who envied him, but there were far more who respected or admired him.
Their envy and jealousy were purely because of his looks.
"What are we supposed to do when he’s even got a face like that?"
Such comments kept popping up.
Even those who envied him acknowledged Encrid’s abilities.
They also noticed the so-called Noble Slayer walking around, making casual conversation.
Contrary to the rumors of him being a madman, he was quite composed. Especially when it came to women.
"Your name is Rem, right?"
A widow who had lost her husband early asked, brushing her hand against Rem’s arm.
It was a signal of sorts. A sign of interest.
"I have a wife."
With a single sentence, Rem rejected her.
Such incidents happened several times, but Rem simply continued to engage in conversation without showing any displeasure.
There was no coercive violence or oppressive atmosphere.
They were simply talking. Drinking, eating, and conversing over food, bread, and desserts.
It was a common sight at banquets.
He didn’t care about status or gender. He even struck up conversations with the guards accompanying the guests, many of whom had reached their limits.
Rem gave advice to everyone alike.
"Hey, start training regularly. You’ve got a belly, and you’re blaming your lack of talent? Want me to split your head open with an axe?"
His words sometimes sounded harsh, but neither he nor those listening took it seriously.
That was good enough, wasn’t it?
And he often ended his conversations with similar lines.
"Do you know the rumor circulating the Border Guard? About a stray cat wandering around at night because he keeps getting rejected by women? You think it’s nonsense? What? You think I’m different from those rumors? Sure, I’m not. But that cat is real. His name is Jaxon, remember that."
He would say things like that.
He talked to anyone he could—servants, maids, guards, nobles, young and old alike.
In contrast, Audin, who had denied the misunderstanding of being called the Bear Beastkin, simply observed quietly.
People approached and spoke to him, and he responded in kind, but he wasn’t as lively as Rem.
Even so, Audin said what needed to be said.
"That sly stray cat? Yes, he’s real. And the bloodthirsty maniac—yes, he enjoys seeing blood but is currently bedridden. I suppose it’s because he neglected his training. The youngest—ah, this is just an internal nickname within the Knight order, so don’t worry about it. I misspoke. Forgive my careless tongue, Lord."
"So, that bloodthirsty maniac is the youngest?"
"It was just a slip of the tongue. Please forget it."
Rem spoke recklessly, but Audin used a more sophisticated approach.
When asked to spread a rumor, people tend to hush it up, but when asked to forget it, they spread it even wider.
Thus, the legend of the Bloodthirsty Youngest was born.
Of course, no one realized it at that moment.
Thanks for the Chapter Bro!!! :DD
Thanks for the Chapter.
Is it updated regularly? Also what is release schedule
Creo que he leído el manhwa, talvez lo esté confundiendo.. 🤔