The Nymph Wants to be Plundered - Chapter 227

“Tch!”

Honestly, all the people he had were incompetent and utterly pathetic. If he simply gave an order, they should figure it out, but instead, they’d often refuse, saying it couldn’t be done this way or that way. Asar glared in that direction with narrowed eyes.

After all, the only path they can take is this one, heading toward Dendra Village, isn’t it? They’re not going to the rough terrain leading to the Jupiter Border, so they’ll have no choice but to come to me… Hmph, there’s no way they’d ignore the Prince of this nation and just leave, is there?

Asar thought he should turn his head, as looking too intently would betray his overflowing interest. Once he did, he subtly grew curious about what kind of woman the knight had with him—the one the attendant had seen but he hadn’t.

She was young and well-presented; he didn’t know what kind of person the knight was since he hadn’t yet dealt with him, but if she was a woman a knight would specifically travel with, she was at least a lover, and at most a noble lady. If he was an uncontracted knight, she certainly wouldn’t be a princess from any country.

Hmm. Could she be a young lady who childishly ventured out from some domain? Within our country, I can safely say there’s almost no face I don’t know…

He wished he could sneak glances even from where he stood far away, but he didn’t want to be caught by that unfamiliar knight. If he were, his strategy of asserting his princely superiority would be ruined, wouldn’t it? Asar, whose heart was racing, merely made throat-clearing sounds, waiting, when the attendant rushed back.

“Hah, hah. Your Highness, let’s go to the village chief’s house. They say they need to leave as soon as possible and can’t stay long, but a brief moment is fine. We aren’t going to stand here and watch anyway, are we?”

“Alright.”

Asar, believing he had finally achieved his goal, slowly began to move. Where would those insignificant beings go? If they knew who I was, they’d be shocked and try to cling to this amazing stroke of luck somehow… Such thoughts filled his mind. The attendant might have already tipped them off, too.

The village chief’s house, though called such, was utterly shabby. It was even more paltry and dull than the homes of the well-off residents he had seen in Dendra Village, but he patiently endured. Anyway, this pathetic and offensive village held nothing more for him once his business was done, so he intended to leave as soon as he saw the knight’s face.

“Hmm!”

A pitiful house with no proper reception room and not even a single servant. And they call this a village chief? Hmph, the poor always try to grab more, he thought, almost wanting to scoff. But once Asar sat on the sofa in the living room, such thoughts completely vanished.

The unfamiliar young knight before his eyes looked quite decent. He was well-built, and though he seemed to have no metal equipment apart from his sword, the instinctive feeling of a prince, accustomed to seeing valuable things, told him so.

The knight’s journey had been interrupted, so he should have been annoyed, but his face only exuded an aloof coolness, completely devoid of hostility. Well, perhaps it was because his attendant had informed him of Asar’s identity.

This fellow, at least, didn’t seem to be a boastful liar. Still, he had to do what was necessary, so Asar puffed out his chest.

“I am Asar Devran, grandson of His Majesty the King who rules the Kingdom of Devran.”

The man replied in a flat tone, showing no sign of surprise.

“I am the wandering knight, Cayan.”

What mattered wasn’t the knight’s name. Asar desperately wanted to know his family origin, who knighted him, and what his career history was. Only then could he quickly decide whether or not to take this fellow with him.

If his skills were exceptionally good, it might be a different story, but if he were a low-ranking knight forced into service, it would only lead to headaches. While breaking a contract was always an option, the money spent in the meantime was significant, and he absolutely did not want the first knight he brought in to disgrace his name.

By the way, where did he send the woman he was with?

It wasn’t his house, so he couldn’t openly look around. His attendant had clearly exclaimed that he’d put a woman on the horse, but now she was nowhere to be seen. Just as his mood was about to sour, the knight escorting Asar scanned Cayan from head to toe and abruptly asked,

“Cayan? That’s a name I haven’t heard within Devran.”

“I was knighted by the Heliotrope Knights and my first contract was with Marquis Eynt, the margrave of the Empire’s northeast. Recently, with the Eynt marquisate regaining peace, the imperial family requested a reduction in forces, so I’ve left after receiving a breach of contract fee.”

“What…!”

Asar’s knight’s mouth fell open in surprise at the unexpected resume.

The Helia Empire had renamed all its knight orders and military academies to mask its aggressive nature. Consequently, the Heliotrope Knights, renamed after a pitifully small flower, were renowned as the most formidable knight order on the entire continent. Hadn’t it been said that their training process was even tougher than that of regular military academies that trained knights?