Eugene, who technically didn't need to sleep at all, still closed his eyes for a couple of hours just in case. Then, at dawn, he got up and packed his belongings.
As a vampire, Eugene fundamentally had no need to eat or sleep like a human.
So he bundled together only a few changes of clothes, the weapons and gear taken from dead mercenaries, the hides of beasts he had hunted, and a simple tent. After strapping everything tightly, he slung it over his back and left the cabin.
Even so, the load was considerable so much so that from a distance he looked like nothing more than a wandering peddler.
Will I ever come back here?
A trace of fleeting emotion crossed Eugene's eyes as he looked at the cabin he had once thought he would live in forever.
He had struggled for nearly half a year to build it, but now that he was about to leave, he felt strangely unsettled.
"Sure, this place isn't bad but you're a vampire. You ought to live in a proper castle. With a few priests under your command and slaves doing your bidding. And hey, once you get your true name back, you'll even be able to command familiars. You can use them to beat up anyone who comes after you! Vampire Lord Eugene! Count of Blood Eugene! Once you make it big, that's what they'll call you!"
Eugene shot a cold glance at Mirian, who had instantly shattered the gloomy mood.
"You said you lived only in the marshlands. How do you know so much about that sort of thing?"
"Ugh, I told you. Before spirits claim their own territory, they all live in the Spirit Realm. It's basically just a place where we gather and laugh together. Anyway, from time to time, seniors who'd made a name for themselves in the mortal world would visit. They gave us lots of great advice that really sinks into your bones, flesh, and mana."
"And you forgot most of it?"
"I only remember the stories that interest me."
"Not because you're stupid?"
"No!"
Mirian scowled and vanished back into the leather pouch.
"Talking like you know everything. Tch! Tch, tch, tch, tch! Kaah—ptui!"
After closing the pouch, which now made sounds that could've been from either spite or water being created, Eugene cast one last glance at the cabin and set off.
"My name is Pellid. It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir Eugene."
A boy who looked about sixteen bowed deeply to Eugene.
"I'm Yan Eugene. Likewise."
Pellid, who had tied his unkempt brown hair tightly behind his head, was indeed as good-looking as he had been described.
Though still young, he had all the makings of a handsome man, but Eugene merely regarded his features as well-balanced.
And by Eugene's standards, balanced was what counted as "fine-looking."
He looks a bit like that knight, Bertel Tywin.
Overall, Pellid looked softer, but the stubborn line of his mouth strongly resembled the young knight of the Tywin family.
It must be a trait of the Tywin bloodline.
"Here it is."
The village chief bowed deeply as he handed over the letter addressed to Sir Tywin.
"Then, have a safe journey, Sir Eugene."
To the village chief, who was clearly convinced Eugene would never return, Eugene gave a small nod.
"You take care as well."
"Yes. Please look after Pellid no, Young Master."
"I'll be sure to send word when we arrive, Chief."
"Oh, goodness! Please, speak casually. And please, uh… give my regards to the lord."
"Yes. This place is practically my hometown. I'll be sure to tell him."
"Yes. Thank you kindly."
Thinking how fortunate it was that he hadn't driven away Pellid and his mother eight years ago when they drifted into the village, the chief kept bowing repeatedly.
"Brother Pellid! Safe travels!"
"Don't forget your promise to make me your squire when you become a knight!"
Leaving behind the shouts of the village children, Eugene departed the village of Broadwin together with Pellid.
Unlike in his previous life, he was not being chased by anyone.
It was the moment he took his first step into the world of his own free will.
After walking for nearly half a day, Eugene finally came upon something that could properly be called a town.
The settlement visible beyond the mountain ridge was far larger than Broadwin, not even comparable in scale.
"It seems we're almost there."
"Yes, sir."
Perhaps thanks to being hardened by farm labor, Pellid followed diligently behind him without a single complaint.
More accurately, unless Eugene spoke to him first, he followed in complete silence.
"Wow, you're strange too, but that kid's personality is really weird as well."
Since Pellid was right behind him, Eugene ignored Mirian's comment and simply kept walking.
"How can someone be that quiet? You said he lived his whole life in that village, right? And it's his first time going out in years? Isn't he excited at all?"
"Shut up and make me some water. Before I throw you into some random pond and leave you there."
"Yes, sir."
"Did you say something just now, Sir Eugene?"
It seemed he had heard him despite Eugene's attempt to keep his voice low.
Slowing his pace slightly, Eugene answered,
"No, just talking to myself. By the way, that town over there is Brams, right?"
"Yes. I saw a sign earlier—that should be Brams."
"What? You can read?"
"Yes. My late mother taught me."
That was surprising.
Even most knights couldn't read yet this countryside boy, who had drifted into Broadwin as a child and lived there ever since, was literate?
"Was your mother a noble?"
"No. It's just… I heard that someone she loved in her youth taught her. So she taught me too…"
From the way Pellid spoke awkwardly, Eugene could tell at once that the "man she loved" was Sir Tywin.
"I see. Well, that works out nicely. If you become Sir Tywin's illegitimate son, you'd have had to learn to read anyway—and you already know how. Ah."
As something occurred to him, Eugene turned to Pellid.
"Could you teach me how to read?"
"Pardon? Me? Teach you, Sir Eugene?"
"Yes. My family fell when I was much younger than you are now, so I had a hard time escaping. I never had the chance to learn to read. I did learn how to fight, though."
By now, lies flowed naturally from his mouth.
But the simple-hearted Pellid believed him at once and looked genuinely sympathetic.
"Oh… I see. But I heard that even if knights can't read, they can still rise in rank."
"So is that your way of refusing, or agreeing?"
"I'll teach you. If you don't mind learning from someone like me."
"Good. Teach me when we make camp later."
"Yes, sir."
Feeling that he had grown a little closer to the taciturn knight, Pellid nodded vigorously.
This feels strange…
Watching Eugene's back—dressed in pitch-black clothes and wearing a mask on such a warm day—Pellid tilted his head in puzzlement.
The "red-eyed monster" who lived in the mountainside cabin was a famous figure among the children of Broadwin.
The adults' repeated warnings never to go near that cabin, and the fact that, once every couple of months, a beast would be brought back and distributed to the villagers
All of it made the red-eyed monster a mysterious yet terrifying unknown being. Or rather, the knight Yan Eugene.
And now, that very person was traveling with him to Sir Tywin's castle.
Pellid found it just as hard to believe that he was traveling with Eugene as the fact that he might be the lord's son.
Should I try talking to him? No… they said all knights have terrible temperaments, and that I should never let my guard down.
Recalling the repeated warnings the village chief had given him before Eugene arrived that morning, Pellid shook his head inwardly.
It wasn't just the chief who had said so his mother, who passed away last year, and even the merchant who visited the village a few times each year had all said similar things:
You should think of knights as ferocious beasts, nine times out of ten. Never oppose them, and if possible, don't even meet their eyes.
But if I really become Sir Tywin's son, wouldn't he go easy on me? And somehow, Sir Eugene seems very different from the knights I've heard about…
Even while carrying a backpack layered with several thick hides, Pellid swallowed nervously as he stared at the back of the tall knight striding forward with perfectly straight posture.
There's no way a knight like that is an ordinary person. For now, I'll avoid saying anything unnecessary and slowly try to get closer to him.
"Hey, hey, he's looking at you with a weird expression."
"..."
"You know that look I've seen it before! Oh yeah! The guys who stripped naked by the pond and sucked on the water had that same look! I don't know about the others, but those ones definitely got eaten by baby crocodile"
Stop.
"I'm soory!"
When Eugene suddenly stopped walking, Mirian hurriedly dove back into the leather pouch.
But when there was no immediate reaction, she cautiously peeked her head back out to read the mood.
Inside the mask, Eugene's eyes glowed with a cold light, fixed not on Mirian but straight ahead.
"What is it? What is it?"
"Pellid, stay back."
"Yes, Sir Eugene."
Placing his hand on the sword hilt at his waist beneath the robe, Eugene stepped forward.
The short sword he had taken from one of the dead mercenaries was in the best condition among all the weapons.
"Do you want something?"
At Eugene's words, the figures crouched near a large rock rose slowly to their feet.
"Of course we do. If you're sitting around in a place like this, there's only one reason for it, right?"
"Hand over everything you've got, and we'll let you live."
Five roadside bandits snickered as they swung their bloodstained clubs and maces.
"Ah, come on, what are you doing? Let's make this quick so we don't"
Shk!
Eugene moved swiftly.
Far faster than the bandits had expected
In an instant, he closed the distance of over ten paces and slashed with the short sword.
Slash.
A severed head and a spray of blood burst into the air as the lead bandit with the wooden club staggered.
"Yah!"
Swaash!
Before the next two men could even finish shouting, their heads and necks were nearly bisected, blood gushing out.
In the literal blink of an eye, three people collapsed dead.
The silence that followed was brief.
"Aaagh!"
"Spare me!"
The two half-baked bandits panicked and fled in a mad dash.
But the vampire's physical abilities unhindered by sunlight and clad in black scale armor and thick black clothing far surpassed theirs.
"Ghk!"
With two clean strikes, holes were carved into the bandits' heads and chests, and they fell.
After lightly shaking the blood from the short sword, Eugene looked over the corpses, then inspected the blade.
This was the best one, and even this won't do. As expected, it's useless.
He sheathed the short sword, thinking that while a longsword like the one Jung Diricht used might be asking too much, he would at least need to find a weapon truly worth using.
"What's wrong?"
Eugene tilted his head at Pellid, who was trembling violently with a deathly pale face.
But Pellid couldn't answer.
No questions. No words.
After asking only a single question Do you want something? and then killing five men in broad daylight without hesitation, the knight before him filled Pellid's eyes with both terror and relief at once.
Terror, because Sir Eugene was something far beyond a mere ferocious beast.
Relief, because that terrifying knight was, for the moment, his protector.
(To be continued in the next chapter)