* * *

Van took a horse he had prepared in advance—the money Ron had lent him at a later date—and was waiting on the trail behind the mansion.

“It’s time for him to come out…….”

Cadel said that the whole conversation would be over in 15 minutes at most. Twenty minutes had passed, so he had to show up soon unless something happened.

As he glanced at the back door of the mansion with an uneasy expression, a familiar silhouette entered his field of vision. Van, realizing that it was Cadel, immediately smiled broadly. That smile quickly faded when he spotted a group of soldiers chasing Cadel.

“Van! We have to run!”

Hearing Cadel’s cry from afar, he skillfully mounted the horse. Van moved the horse little by little, and when Cardel got closer, he grabbed his outstretched arm and pulled him up, and put him in the back seat.

“Catch him! Don’t let him go!”

The horse began to gallop as Van seized the reins and struck hard. Cadel looked behind, hugging Van’s waist reflexively. The soldiers who followed him from the mansion stopped chasing and flocked. When the man who appeared to be their captain instructed something, some quick-footed people hurried back.

“Looks like he’s trying to get a horse and chase us.”

“It doesn’t matter. We’d already be out of town when they started the chase.”

What Van said was true. They ran along the road without resting for a moment, and soon they were able to get out of the village. It was possible because they had prepared for the escape in advance.

Even after leaving the village, Van slowed down only after running for a long time. Cadel, who had been resting his head on the sword hanging from Van’s back, slowly raised his head. His head, which had been crushed the whole time, was tingling.

“Commander, let me know if you feel uncomfortable with the sword. I can fix it behind the saddle. Or we can switch seats.”

“No, it’s okay. Don’t mind me.”

Cadel hurriedly replied. He didn’t know how to ride a horse. It wouldn’t be much of a case where he just changed seats and rolled down, breaking a few bones. He had run away at best, but he couldn’t return to the Viscount’s mansion on his own. If he went back, instead of being healed, he might be tortured for the crime of disgrace.

“If I had received the commission fee first, Commander would have been able to drive a horse comfortably.”

“Yeah.”

“If we keep running, we should be able to reach the village by evening. Until then, please be patient.”

It seemed to him that he should learn to ride a horse as soon as possible. It would be faster that way than earning money to ride a carriage.

Except for a short break for the horse, they really ran non-stop. Thanks to this, by the time the sunset started to set, they were able to arrive at the new village. Van found an inn on behalf of the completely exhausted Cadel, paid the price, and asked the staff to prepare bath water for him. With Van’s sensible consideration, Cadel was able to bathe in warm water straight away.

“I think I’m going to die…….”

Usually, when you ride a horse for the first time, you get bruises on your hips and thighs, but he didn’t know it would hurt this much. He felt as if he was not riding a horse, but his whole body was being hammered by the horseshoe. Cadel rubbed his sore buttocks and wept.

“Why is it a medieval background? How good is the modern one? No, at least if there was something like a magic gate, wouldn’t it just go smoothly?”

The exhaustion of the hard body led to resentment against the background of the era in the game. He cursed about the complacent game setting until his temper was lifted, and then sagged in the bath exhausted.

“……So tired.”

Since the incident broke out without a break after transmigrated into the game, there was no time for him to calmly organize his thoughts. The problem was that he was still so tired that he couldn’t think of anything. Cadel’s eyelids, submerged in warm water, were blurred.

With this fatigue, he should have fallen asleep right away. It was natural to fall asleep without dreaming and wake up sluggishly.

However, Cadel realized that he had come into a certain space with his consciousness fading. The space was a space of nothing, similar to when the starting member was first selected, but the difference was that the color of the space was black instead of white.

“What’s this?”

You can’t even let me sleep.

As he grumbled around the empty area, a system window came to mind shortly after.

「You have entered an unconscious state.」

「There are stories you can watch.」

‣ Van Herdos’ Memories – Starting member limited story

‣ Van Herdos’ Memories – Past story (more than 70 favorability)

“Story……? Are you talking about individual stories?”

In 「Hero of Knights」, it is possible to capture the knight you want by raising his favorability.

Depending on the value of the capture target’s favorability, individual stories are sometimes opened, and players who have a deep affection for a specific character used to go through the story and become a kind of ‘die-hard fan’.

“If it’s a starting member limited story, it’s probably the recruitment process. Because it’s something I don’t know.”

Cadel pondered for a moment. There was no obligation to see individual stories, but Van was his actual subordinate. If he watched the story, he would get to know him better, and it would be comfortable to take the right attitude toward him.

Besides, he was curious. How on earth did he recruit Van that he was so loyal to the point of protecting him without hesitation?

But even before he could choose the story, another system window blocked the way.

「Acquired stories can be viewed whenever you enter an unconscious state.」

「When watching the story, fatigue recovery is reduced by 50%.」

“Fatigue recovery reduced by 50%?”

It wasn’t going to work. He was already tired, but he couldn’t believe he was only recovering 50% after a day’s sleep.

If you can read something every time you enter an unconscious state, it means that you have a chance to read it every time you go to sleep.

Cadel decided to put significance on knowing that such a system existed.

“I’m sorry, Van, but I don’t think it’s bad to get to know each other slowly.”

There are plenty of opportunities. Let’s find the right time and read the story.

With that thought in mind, Cadel chose 100% fatigue recovery. However, he could not read the story even once for the rest of the two days heading to Hermel City.

The reason was simple. Because he never had enough stamina left.

* * *

Hermel City.

Located adjacent to the capital city of Drakium, this city was called the ‘City of Pleasure’ and was a tourist city with many things to enjoy and have fun. Having entered a city with such characteristics, it would be ideal to leisurely gather information about the temple while enjoying sightseeing to relieve fatigue.

“Commander, are you sure you’re okay?”

Cadel had been ill for two full days after arriving in Hermel City. He was suffering from simple muscle pain, but it was difficult to tell the truth, so he told Van it was a side effect of excessive mana abuse. He smiled awkwardly at Van, who was examining his condition with a worried face.

“I said I was all right. I’m okay because I’ve had enough rest.”

“What if you fall down again? Do you want me to give you a piggyback ride?”

“It’s fine.”

Concerns did not go away easily from Van’s face as he recalled the past when Cadel, who could not endure the painful journey, eventually sat down shaking like a newborn baby deer. Cadel spoke cheerfully, struggling to put his arms over his towering shoulders to reassure Van.

“Don’t worry, let’s just look around the city. I was curious because it was noisy outside during the break.”

“Was it too loud? ……I’ll need to make some arrangements.”

Cadel left the inn without hearing Van’s sullen murmur.

As soon as he opened the door, a lively street was revealed that was incomparable to the Bills Village. The stalls lined up on the outskirts of the street sold a variety of foods, spices, and various trinkets, and behind them, neat and clean buildings were neatly lined up, and the pleasant conversations of tourists and residents between them filled the surroundings.

Cadel looked around the market, admiring the fact that the streets smelled of fragrance instead of stench. When he found strange fruits that he remembered seeing as items in the game or gems of mysterious colors that he had never seen before, his eyes sparkled.

‘I want to buy one of each type, but…… There are priorities now.’

It was too bad, but there was nothing he could do. He realized the importance of nurturing knights while going through his first quest. If he bought useless junk at will, he might lose his precious knights this time. Barely removing the lingering gaze, Cadel dragged Van, who was looking around, with a grave face.

“Let’s start over there.”

The place Cadel headed was the blacksmith’s shop. A forge filled with heat so hot that it was hard to breathe and the dull sound of friction between iron and iron.

As Cadel and Van entered, the blacksmith, who was just wiping sweat from his forehead, stood up.

“I’d like to see some weapons.”

“What weapon are you looking for? Swords, axes, spears, everything. Just say it.”

“I’m looking for a greatsword.”

“A greatsword! I guess it’s a weapon for this customer, right?”

Cadel nodded lightly. However, Van stepped back embarrassed as if it were unexpected.

“I’m, I’m fine, Commander. It’s okay to use this now…….”

Of course, you will be fine. Because the durability is fine.

However, the weapon Van had now was D-grade. The lowest-ranked weapon is given to starting members by default. In order to maximize Van’s ability, he needed a good weapon that could handle his power.

Cadel ignored Van’s dissuasion and scrutinized the weapon, choosing the most expensive and stylish greatsword among them. It was a silver greatsword with a handsome wolf’s head carved on the tip of the handle. When he handed over the greatsword, Van hesitantly accepted it.

“Commander…….”

“People might think I put poison on your sword. Why do you look so grim?”

“I didn’t do anything for the Commander……. I’m ashamed to just receive it like this.”

Cadel looked dazed at his droopy appearance of a dog with its tail down.

I didn’t do anything for you.

Are you serious?

He sacrificed himself by inflicting fatal wounds on his body to save him, and he rode the horse for three days non-stop, carrying him, and after arriving in the city, he even fed him and took good care of him.

However, if he comforted him by telling the truth, the favorability would increase ridiculously again, so Cadel pretended not to hear and went to pick up the armor. The blacksmith stood next to Van, who looked about to cry at any moment, measured his figure, and ran to the display stand, saying that he had just the right armor left.

“We should buy a magic book or an artifact for Commander than for me―”

“If we buy something like that, we’ll be beggars right away. Don’t say anything. Take it. If you become stronger, our mercenary corps will become stronger.”

“……Thank you, Commander.”

The two of them made their way out of the blacksmith shop only after purchasing Van’s new armor. He took a light step and checked the grade of the equipment he bought for Van. Fortunately, the weapon was A-grade and the equipment was B-grade. That information didn’t appear before payment.

‘Equipment can only be checked after it is installed. In order not to be scammed, I must also develop an eye for grading.’

He couldn’t pay the price and asked for a refund as soon as he came out. Feeling overwhelmed by the increasing number of homework as the day went by, Cadel rubbed his flat stomach.

“Should we go eat now? What is Hermel City famous for?”

“Well, I’ve heard that desserts are famous. Since it’s a famous tourist city, wouldn’t there be many good restaurants on the main street?”

“All right, then let’s go to the main street.”

He couldn’t eat proper food because he was sick all the time, so his stomach almost stuck to his back. The very moment Cadel was about to go to the main street with a soaring appetite.