143 Chapter
At first, Ray didn’t have high expectations when he heard there would be a festival.
Given the limitations of holding an event in this remote county, he anticipated nothing more than a modest village gathering where people ate and chatted.
However, Count Philip provided Jimmy and Matthew with quite a lot of supplies for what he called a long-awaited festival.
Jimmy and Matthew, drawing on their experience traveling as mercenaries, planned several small-scale events suitable for the festival.
They prepared prizes and event rewards using the budget given by the count and recruited necessary manpower from Jimmy’s family.
As a result, the festival took on a fairly impressive appearance.
With an excited atmosphere, the festival began, and soon cheers and laughter could be heard everywhere.
Ray stood quietly under the shade of a tree, listening to the voices of the people.
The crowd was laughing, chatting, and occasionally praising Count Philip and Mohamed.
It was a pleasant scene, but it didn’t particularly spark much interest in Ray.
For Ray, who carried memories from his past life, such events failed to evoke strong emotions.
While observing the expressions of the county folk in the cool breeze, someone toddled over to him.
It was Lea.
“Brother!”
Lea was holding something like a chicken skewer.
During the festival, Jimmy’s family had set up booths all around to sell food, providing meals at very low prices thanks to the budget support.
Apparently, Lea had managed to get one, and she happily nibbled on the meat skewered on the stick, her cheeks gleaming with oil.
“Is it tasty?”
“Mmm-hmm!”
Though lacking jaw strength, Lea nodded happily while practically sucking on the meat.
Ray chuckled, reminiscing about the chicken skewers he bought at an apartment bazaar during his childhood in his previous life.
Misinterpreting his smile, Lea seemed startled and took a step back.
“It’s my skewer. I won’t give it to you, Brother!”
“Are you sure you can stop me?”
“Huh?”
Realizing through her limited life experiences that Ray was truly the type of older brother who could snatch her skewer, Lea instinctively stepped back.
Of course, it was inevitable that she tripped and fell after not going far.
Seeing the skewer roll in the dirt, Lea started crying pitifully.
“Waaaaahhhhh!!!”
“Stop crying. Everyone is looking.”
“I hate you, Brother!”
“If you use bad words, I won’t buy you a new skewer.”
“…Do you like me, Brother?”
“I already decided not to buy it because you used bad words.”
Are you teasing me, Lea?
As Ray clicked his tongue, Lea burst into tears again.
“Waaaaaaahhhh!!!”
“Oh dear, so noisy.”
Ray pretended to cover his ears and glanced around.
Sure enough, Bella was watching Ray and Lea from not too far away.
Knowing he’d definitely hear from her if he just let her cry and ran away, Ray compromised with reality.
“Stop crying. I’ll buy you a new skewer.”
Having been tricked twice, Lea hesitated but stopped crying, wondering if this time might be different.
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Really-really?”
“Really-really.”
“I love you, Brother!”
Lea ran joyfully toward Ray and clung to him.
Holding Lea in his arms, Ray sent an appropriate signal to Bella, who had been watching them. Understanding Ray’s message—indicating he’d play with her for about an hour—Bella smiled contentedly and turned away.
Once Bella was out of sight, Ray tapped Lea’s forehead lightly.
“Quit clinging.”
“Waaaaahhh!!”
Lea pounded on Ray’s chest with her tiny fists, clearly upset.
Still, she didn’t try to leave his embrace, so Ray held her more comfortably and started walking.
“Where’s the skewer stall?”
“Over…there?”
“Alright, let’s find it.”
Walking along, Ray glanced at Lea’s scalp.
Silver-white roots were showing.
Even though it hadn’t been long since she last dyed her hair black, some white-like strands were already visible.
Lea’s dye tended to fade easily.
It was hard to tell whether it was due to poor dyeing techniques or the nature of Lea’s hair.
Regardless, it seemed either the dyeing schedule needed to be accelerated, or magical measures might be required.
“Lea.”
“Yes?”
“Shall we shave your head clean?”
“What’s shaving?”
“It means your hair will look like Dad’s.”
Of course, Jimmy wasn’t bald yet—though “yet” was the operative word.
Recalling Jimmy’s hairstyle, Lea shook her head frantically in fear.
“No! I don’t want to shave! I don’t like Dad!”
“Hmm… Little sister, if you don’t shave your head like ‘Dad,’ you might end up like ‘Dad’ later. You’ll have to run away to the mountains.”
“No way I’m shaving my head!”
Although Lea didn’t fully understand Ray’s words, she definitely didn’t want to cut her precious hair.
When Lea resisted firmly, Ray chuckled mischievously and gave her a piggyback ride.
Shaving her head was really just a joke. Still, they needed to find another solution.
Sitting atop Ray’s shoulders, Lea squealed with delight.
After searching around, Ray finally found the skewer-selling booth.
Since the skewers were being sold at such affordable prices, each person was allowed to buy only one.
Ray bought a skewer and handed it to Lea.
With oil smearing around her mouth, Lea happily gnawed on the skewer.
“Mmm-hmm!”
“Eat slowly. Don’t make Mom suffer later with a stomachache.”
As Ray stroked Lea’s head, the skewer seller, a member of Jimmy’s family, asked,
“Would you like another one?”
“No, thank you. But, today, you’ve worked hard. If any issues arise, talk to Jimmy.”
“Got it. You take care too.”
Muttering that taking care of children wasn’t easy, the skewer seller resumed grilling skewers.
Ray waited at the booth until Lea had chewed on her skewer sufficiently.
Just then, a familiar face approached.
“Oh, Ray.”
Ripa, who had been wandering around participating in the festival, grinned and greeted Ray.
“I see you here.”
“Ah, Ripa. Were you enjoying the festival?”
“Yes, I just finished a dart-throwing game. Unfortunately, I didn’t win a prize. But…”
Looking down at Lea, Ripa was surprised and asked,
“Could this child be Lea?”
“Yeah.”
“She’s grown so much!”
Ripa had seen Lea once when she couldn’t even talk yet.
As Ripa exclaimed in surprise, Lea bowed her head slightly.
“Hello.”
“Hello? She was cute before, but now she’s even cuter!”
Complimented by Ripa, Lea felt pleased and shouted,
“Sister is pretty. Pretty sister!”
“You’ve made my effort worthwhile today.”
Taking out a handkerchief, Ripa wiped Lea’s mouth and smiled happily.
Lea chattered animatedly with Ripa, who was practically a stranger.
Watching the harmonious conversation between Ripa and Lea alternately, Ray muttered to himself,
‘It seems those in similar situations resonate with each other.’
Looking up at the sky, Ray smiled warmly.
Knife, are you watching over things well there?
Carinus, you bastard, did you arrive in hell properly?
After waving his hand to send greetings, Ray returned to reality.
Just then, Ripa was enthusiastically praising Ray to Lea.
“How amazing and kind your brother is?”
“…Kind?”
“Your brother has saved many people.”
“Brother is mean.”
“You shouldn’t say that.”
After reminding Lea several times that she could take pride in her brother, Ripa let her go.
Ray asked Ripa if there were any problems that needed solving in Dinor recently, then half-jokingly inquired if it wasn’t time for her to start a family.
Ripa, somewhat embarrassed, laughed it off appropriately and parted ways with Ray.
Watching Ray walk away with Lea on his back, Ripa looked wistful.
Ray was an attractive and capable man, and Ripa had feelings for him.
However, Ray’s abilities were simply too outstanding for Ripa to hold onto.
Despite expressing her feelings a few times, Ray had maintained an impenetrable wall.
Thinking it was time to let go of her feelings for her first love, Ripa twisted her gray hair and turned away.
Today, for some reason, her father’s face, which had become blurry and hard to recall, felt especially missed.
*
Ray met Bella after carrying Lea on his neck and having his hair pulled for quite a while.
After handing Lea back to Bella, Ray soon encountered Jenkins.
Ray briefly sat down with Jenkins under the base of a tree.
“Master, did you notice anyone suspicious at the festival?”
“There are plenty of suspicious types.”
Since announcing the festival, some spectators and merchants came from afar.
Among them, there were bound to be visitors with ill intentions.
There must also be scouts sent by powerful figures like Mineher.
“Still, it’s quiet for now.”
Near the end of the festival, Mohamed is scheduled to personally appear and unleash sword energy to cut down a target, proving to everyone that he has reached the Graduete level.
The scouts sent by other nobles will confirm this event and report that a Graduete has indeed appeared in Phillip’s County.
“They’ll probably leave on their own accord after that.”
If someone tried something foolish in a territory where a Graduete exists and got caught, it would bring shame upon themselves.
Hadn’t Duke Matthias already suffered embarrassment?
Jenkins agreed with Ray’s opinion, nodding his head and speaking:
“You’ve probably heard, but Sir Mohamed needs to visit the Imperial Capital.”
“Hmm…”
The capital of the Empire, Dranopolis.
It’s more commonly referred to as the Imperial Capital or Royal City.
“Does every Graduete need to visit?”
“In cases where the individual belongs to a powerful family, sometimes they just report to the royal court and move on.”
“We’re not in that category, right?”
“A knight from a humble family reaching the Sword Graduete level isn’t a common occurrence.”
A newly promoted knight visits the royal palace to demonstrate their achievement before the Emperor or the Emperor’s representative, reaffirming their loyalty to the Empire.
That’s the usual process.
It’s not a complicated matter, but during the trips to and from the Imperial Capital, recruitment wars often break out.
The royal family and powerful noble families approach the knight, urging them to change masters. Depending on the knight’s skills and potential, they offer goods, territories, or inheritable titles as rewards.
“Of course, the original master and family also receive substantial compensation.”
Thus, transfers happen with mutual agreement.
Therefore, changing masters doesn’t carry a stigma of dishonor.
“Well, it’s not really our concern, is it?”
“That’s true.”
Count Philip trusted and cared for Mohamed, and Mohamed remained loyal to the count, hiding his abilities for a long time.
Their relationship was far from superficial and wouldn’t be broken by mere scheming.
“But Ray, you want to bring the children along when visiting the Imperial Capital?”
“Yes, I’d like to show them a broader world.”
I want to broaden their horizons.
I want to instill ambition and a drive for improvement.
This way, they’ll struggle harder for progress.
Ray intended to bring most of the young and talented individuals under his care.
Of course, Jenkins had some concerns.
“Will they just chase empty dreams?”
“I need to guide them properly. Even if I have to knock some sense into them.”
“Haha.”
Jenkins revealed a strange sense of regret.
He worried that after training these exceptional youths, they might all leave Phillip’s County to pursue their talents elsewhere.
Reading Jenkins’ thoughts, Ray spoke calmly.
“They can’t be locked away forever, can they? And they’re grateful children.”
“Still, I wish they’d stay for Phillip’s County. Am I being too greedy?”
“No. Master, aren’t you a knight of the House of Phillip? Naturally, you should think that way. But don’t worry too much. I won’t leave this place.”
“What a terrible thing to say.”
Jenkins chuckled lightly and changed the subject.
“This time, the reward money from the Duke Matthias family allowed the Count to purchase three warhorses.”
“Ah…”
Recalling the two warhorses he had lost, Ray wore a grim expression.
Regardless, Jenkins continued the story.
“One will be gifted to Sir Mohamed and one to Jimmy.”
Jimmy deserved such treatment. Of course, other knights might find it a bit sour to swallow.
“The final one will be awarded to the winner of a duel among the knights.”
“Good luck, Master.”
Jenkins’ skills were remarkable, but the other knights of the House of Phillip were also highly skilled.
Even if Jenkins had an advantage, no opponent could be guaranteed a victory.
Thus, Jenkins would need some luck to win the warhorse.
“Ray.”
“Yes, Master.”
“It’s time to fulfill our agreement.”
“…?”
“Borrow me your sword.”
Startled for a moment, Ray asked seriously,
“Have you sold your dignity as a knight?”
Jenkins intended to bring cheat items to an event-based match during the festival, determined to go all out.
Ray clicked his tongue in disapproval.
“Shouldn’t you feel a bit ashamed?”
“Preparing good equipment is also part of a knight’s ability. And I need that warhorse.”
“You’re becoming more despicable as you age, Master.”
Nevertheless, since it was promised, Ray had to lend it.
