Beep. 

-Name: Monmider.

-Age: 42.

-Sex: Male.

-Species: Human.

-Title: Militia Leader of the Heins Territory; substitute for administrative work.

-Status Effect: Severe exhaustion.

-Notes: Experienced sword warrior; has the talent of a knight.

-Current emotion: Confusion; surprise; distrust toward the castor; worried about the kidnapped residents; concerned about the drying land.

‘So much worry and concern.’

Monmider’s low level of education most likely meant that all he learned was how to read and write, but he was the one who sustained the land until now with long years of experience.

‘He is talented enough to be hired.’ After having that thought, Davey asked, “There were some marks on the way here. They’re from the goblins invading the palace, correct?”

“Th… That is correct.”

“Why was your line of defense broken?” Davey asked calmly. There were a lot of goblins, but the militia had a palace—even though it was a run-down one. Yet, their defense was broken. Davey was not criticizing Monmider but just asking; however, it felt like he was having difficulty even talking to the latter. He explained himself, “I’m not criticizing you. I just want to know so that I can keep in mind your experiences and memories and use them to solve the problems of this estate one by one.”

Monmider looked at Davey in surprise. His reaction was natural, because those who became newly-appointed seigneurs gave key positions to the people loyal to them. There were some cases like Monmider’s, but most just killed the dog after hunting and said it was risky.

“Th… That is… Because the members of the militia group were all severely exhausted from the continuous invasions…”

“The damage?”

“Dozens of houses burned down, and many residents were kidnapped…”

As Monmider muttered in fury, Davey stroked his chin. He then asked, “How is the state of affairs of the estate?”

This was the important part; if there weren’t any goblin attacks, they would’ve focused more on the estate rather than reinforcing their militia group. Whatever it was, Davey had to approach finding out about the estate’s state with caution.

“That is… There is enough food to last us until this winter… However, since this year was a year of poor harvest…”

-Even with the capital they received from the kingdom, excluding the amount for the repair of the palace wall, the seigneur’s palace or any facilities can barely last two years.

Perserque, who had already stated what Davey was going to ask, smiled at him.

‘Wow, you sweep me off my feet. Just be my personal assistant, will you?’

-I’m good, thanks.

Chuckling, Perserque laid down on Davey’s lap as he was seated.

-If I became your assistant, my sleep would… Yawn…

Davey scoffed at the way Perserque was acting.

“It’s probably best that I go and see for myself.” Muttering in thought, Davey glanced at Monmider. Fitting for his name, Monmider had a look of distrust.[1]

Davey pulled out a small pouch from his chest area. As Davey handed it to him, Monmider quickly received the double-fist-sized pouch and was surprised at the pouch’s heaviness. Then, he was shocked once again at what was inside. “Platinum coins!”

Platinum coins were the highest currency, and each was worth about fifty gold. There weren’t many of them, but they were worth a lot more than gold coins.

“Get Sir Palice and Sir Holten to escort him. If you want, you can take members of the militia with you. Go to the shop, and buy food and necessary supplies with my name. That should be enough to buy food and supplies to last for the time being.”

This plan was only possible because there were only about 200 residents.

“You… Your Highness… Where did you get such a large amount…”

Not only was Monmider shocked, but so was everyone else who was here to escort Davey. The Davey they knew wasn’t someone to have this much money.

“Don’t ask where I got it from, because it was collected fairly.” Davey did get the money justly, since he robbed the intelligence guilds as a righteous thief.

-There is no justice in stealing in the first place… Yawn…

‘Shut up.’

Perserque was sleeping, but she still talked back so well. The guilds would probably flip out if they knew that they were robbed of all their information as well as their money.

‘It’d be too late, anyways.’ 

Everyone looked uneasy, but soon shook off their suspicion and bowed their heads.

“Then I will go with them, Your Highness.” Bernile, the royal attendant of the first prince’s palace, said. Apparently, he was from the same family as Bespard, the royal attendant of the palace and King Krianes’ right-hand man. No wonder they had similar demeanors.

“Sure. It’ll be better if Royal Attendant Bernile goes along.”

“We will come back in four days with the items, Your Highness.”

After Bernile replied, Davey stood up. “Then, let’s get started with the clean-up. Time is of the essence for lifesaving. Gather all the knights and the militia members except for the few that will protect the estate. Amy, please command the maids and clean the seigneur’s castle.”

‘And I will go clean the estate.’

For a while, they all blankly stared at Davey, who stood up as if he didn’t want to hear any objections. After they realized the situation, they all hopped up and followed.

* * *

As expected, the estate’s militia all had a look of distrust. There were about 20 of them gathered, excluding the minimum number needed to defend the estate. There were only about 30 militia members in an estate where most of the younger generation had left, so it was quite surprising to see this turn out.

There were eight more knights who were much stronger than average here, so they had quite a lot of power to deal with goblins, but considering how much of a mess the militia members were in, the mission was almost a suicidal one. There were 150 goblins directly attacking, so this situation was dangerous.

-Mm… The world isn’t as easy as you think. Numbers can always change. In these circumstances, it wouldn’t be weird if there were over 200…

‘No, there will be 150 of them, because I’m going to take care of the additional goblins.’

Perhaps Perserque, who had a sleepy face, understood what Davey meant. She closed her mouth after hearing him.

-Sometimes, I like that you are bold.

“Thank you all for gathering. It’s the first time we’re meeting, right? My name is Davey O’Rowane, the newly appointed seigneur.” Davey got up on the podium and spoke calmly, while briefly scanning everyone. As his [Check Information] quickly got up and running, all their information popped up, but no one seemed to have any hidden talent like Monmider.

“As you all know, residents were kidnapped by goblins during the attack from the night before.” The army started stirring as Davey continued, “There are probably some who want to go and immediately find them. There are probably some who just want to hide in fear as well.”

The silence continued, and Davey kept speaking, “However, whatever it may be, it doesn’t change the fact that those green midgets will keep attacking the estate if we leave them be.”

Everyone silently listened to Davey’s calm voice. They all seemed skeptical of him, but no one opened their mouths to interrupt, since he was applying a lot of pressure on them in the first place.

“Although I just arrived here, I don’t think it changes that I am the seigneur of this place.”

“…”

“I don’t know about you guys, but I have no intentions to allow invaders into my estate. And I’m not nice enough to let guys, who think that they can just barge in with swords and leave completely unharmed.”

They seemed to be in a predicament as they listened to Davey. Although they wanted to go find their family members and get their revenge immediately, they knew that they would be the ones in danger if they did that. It was difficult to find the goblins in the forest, which was also the goblin’s home ground. Everyone had an advantage on their home ground.

“B… But slaying all of them with only this many people…”

“It’s suicide!”

As if the militia members all thought the same thing, they shouted at Davey with distrust. Among them, there were young boys and an old man who looked like he would have difficulty even holding a sword. The fact that their ages weren’t consistent most likely meant that the militia was short of people.

“So, you want to let them keep invading?”

They went silent as Davey spoke, then glanced at each other.

“We… We understand what you are saying, Sir… However, we are the only members of the militia left… If we die, who is going to protect the estate?”

“That’s right! Goblins are very hostile toward their nemesis! If our attack fails, they will attack the estate again for revenge!”

“I will be going with you. Don’t worry.”

At Davey’s statement, they all sighed. Some even shook their heads at him, thinking he was pathetic. Of course, they thought that the inexperienced and reckless prince was just acting out of a youthful feistiness. They didn’t even have to say it, since Davey could clearly see ‘distrust’ written on the status window floating on top of their heads. They were really talking amongst themselves, saying that they were dead meat.

The knights were about to stop the militia’s disrespectful actions, but Davey stopped them. “I understand why you are concerned, but let me get one thing straight.” The panicking militia members all stared at Davey, who added, “I am not a prince, but the seigneur of the Heins Territory. And you are the residents, whether I like it or not. We are now like family, and do you think I will let my family die?”

The crowd went silent.

“I swear on my stigmata. Have faith, and follow me. I will help you extinguish them without anyone dying.” Davey wanted to wipe the goblins out alone, but he couldn’t; what he wanted to see was the militia’s determination and skills. He continued, “Is it difficult to trust me? Then, believe the stigmata, the mark of God, given by God. If you can’t even trust that, you can think of me as a tyrannous seigneur and follow along.”

Everyone fell silent. Even those who lived under a rock would have realized by now that Davey was the prince who had a stigmata.

“My life is the most important to me, and you, who are going to protect me, are equally important. You better not think about dying without my permission!” At that moment, an intense life aura burst from Davey and instantly contracted the surroundings. Since people tended to mistake pressure as charisma, the crowd was surprised by Davey’s resolute shout.

* * *

The nearby forest used to be a quiet place where only wild animals lived. It was where residents would go and hunt. Some orcs were previously found in the forest, but they weren’t very interested in humans. That was also a long time ago. However, something happened, and goblins started appearing one by one, resulting in this situation. It had become a forest too dangerous to hunt in.

In place of Leader Monmider, Koris, who was the eldest member of the militia group, lowered his head and spoke to Davey. “We have already located the goblin’s village. There is a group of goblins after that hill.”

As Davey and the army moved without making a sound, they began to see the small village not too far away.

1. It is a play on words, as the pronunciation of Monmider is similar to Korean for ‘can’t trust them.’ ☜