Future Knight [EN]: Chapter 86

“I volunteered.”

“Why? Someone of your caliber could breeze through any regular knight order.”

“I volunteered because I wanted to. To eliminate those bastards at the very front lines.”

“Is that so? That’s a shame.”

Edeline, who had witnessed Kang Chan’s anger firsthand, understood his feelings.

However, having someone of his skill as a conscript was a significant loss for the Continental Allied Forces.

Moreover, if the dragon behind him would just help, this war would be over in less than a month.

Afterward, she could ask her father to promote Kang Chan to a duke and marry her off to him…

‘Heh, what a great picture.’

It truly was killing two birds with one stone.

“Aren’t you leaving? You’re not expecting me to take you back again, are you, Zikyon?”

“It’s been a while since we met. Please include me in your vacation, Zikyon.”

“You’ve become quite brazen while I wasn’t looking? Besides, it hasn’t even been a month since we parted. What do you mean, it’s been a while? And all you do is play around every day. What vacation are you talking about?”

“You’re too much, Zikyon. I do so much.”

“Ugh, shut up! Go back. It’s more stressful to be with you.”

“Why?”

“Traveling around with the princess of this country will be so inconspicuous!”

“Then I’ll disguise myself.”

“Why go to all that trouble?”

“A tour of the people’s livelihood.”

“A tour of the people’s livelihood, my ass… More like a nuisance to the people.”

Kang Chan stepped in, unable to watch any longer.

“Hey! Just take it easy. It’s not like we’re meeting for the first time. Why are you being so harsh?”

“Ugh! I don’t care! If it gets annoying, I’ll just blow it all away, so keep that in mind.”

“I’ll be careful.”

“Go change your clothes! And can’t you do something about your 말투 [Korean word for ‘way of speaking’ or ‘tone’]?”

“Yes, I’ll switch to the way commoners speak.”

She went into a random house and practically stole clothes to change into.

It was a commoner’s outfit she would never wear normally.

Seeing her throw a few gold coins and silence them as if threatening them, it seemed her innate character hadn’t changed.

“Sir Kang Chan, do you have anything in mind?”

“Not really…”

“Then let’s look around Bellarein first. It’s a beautiful and historic city.”

She seemed to have great pride in it since it was her own country.

“Shall we?”

“But it’ll be difficult to walk around in those clothes, so let’s go to the market and buy some clothes first.”

“Alright.”

Since he didn’t have anything else in mind, Kang Chan followed Edeline’s suggestion.

Isn’t there a saying? When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

The market wasn’t crowded, probably because of the war.

Nevertheless, it was a whole new world for Kang Chan, Ellica, and Loki.

When would the three of them, who lived in a quiet forest, have ever come to such a bustling area?

The market had everything from food and clothing to weapons, magic, and shamanic supplies.

It was strange that no one bothered the five of them, despite their remarkable appearances.

Of course, there were some fools who couldn’t tell right from wrong, but they were being dragged away by strange men before they could even approach Kang Chan’s group, disappearing without a trace.

Edeline had sent a message to the Imperial Palace through the guards.

Saying that a dragon and a Sword Master she was acquainted with were visiting the capital with her.

Otherwise, the capital would have been turned upside down by now.

After all, the imperial family of a great empire had been kidnapped from the Imperial Palace.

Kang Chan had noticed the people escorting Edeline around them but didn’t pay much attention.

Rather, they were managing the traffic for them.

“Let’s go shopping at that clothing store.”

Edeline’s eyes sparkled.

Edeline had once dreamed of living the life of a commoner.

You could say it was a longing for something she could never be?

Like a dragon playing a game?

Her dream was to buy cheap clothes at the market with ordinary friends and eat street food, just like commoners.

That dream was now becoming a reality.

When else would she get to do this?

Edeline seemed to be enjoying the vacation more than Kang Chan’s group.

“This would look good on Kang Chan.”

The outfit Ellica picked out was a matching green top and bottom.

He trusted her female sense and left the coordination to her, but Ellica seemed to have a fanatical obsession with green, perhaps because she was an elf.

Thanks to that, Kang Chan looked like Peter Pan from an old Earth fairy tale.

“Eek! Wh, what is this?”

Edeline made a disgusted face at Kang Chan’s outrageous fashion combination.

Ellica retorted with a sulky expression.

“What’s wrong with it?”

“No, did you have to make you and Kang Chan a set like this?”

“…”

Edeline instinctively knew that Ellica secretly liked Kang Chan.

Of course, when it came to qualifications, she thought Ellica lacked nothing in terms of appearance, status, or ability.

However, a man as capable and unambitious as Kang Chan might be drawn to a woman who quietly stayed by his side.

Edeline was inwardly wary of Ellica.

‘I can’t lose…’

“I’ll pick something out for you.”

But Kang Chan flatly refused.

“No, it’s okay. I don’t care about clothes.”

“But…”

“Instead, pick out some clothes for Loki over there.”

Loki, who had lived his whole life in a single leather loincloth, was confused about what clothes to wear.

As a result, Loki was holding a skirt.

“Alright…”

Edeline picked out clothes for Loki in a slightly listless tone.

That’s how everyone bought clothes to their liking.

They had plenty of vacation money, so they didn’t have to worry about running out.

Dressed to the nines, they began to explore the market in earnest, buying what they needed.

Ellica bought a lot of fruit and jam that she hadn’t been able to eat in a while.

Loki said he didn’t particularly want to buy anything and urged them to go eat something delicious.

Zikyon kept yawning.

Having only handled rare and precious items, the products in the market were all boring to her.

Kang Chan didn’t particularly need anything either, but he bought a lot of potions for his comrades in the unit.

The potions were quite expensive, and most of the vacation money was spent, but Kang Chan didn’t particularly care.

He didn’t have any materialistic desires to begin with.

Zikyon clicked her tongue at Kang Chan’s generosity.

“Why do you bother taking care of those guys?”

“Well, they’re my comrades, after all.”

“Take care of me like that too.”

“Here, please keep this in the Lair [Zikyon’s personal dimension/storage space].”

“Damn it! Am I your porter or something?”

“Please? It’s a bit much to keep carrying it around.”

“Damn you… you rotten bastard….”

“Ah! While you’re at it, let’s put Ellica’s fruit in there too.”

“…….”

She spoke in a resigned tone, as if half giving up.

“Ah, yes, yes… do as you please.”

Edeline was once again amazed to see Kang Chan treating an Ancient-class dragon like a pack mule.

Perhaps Kang Chan was the only person in the world capable of doing such a thing.

As their exploration of the market was coming to an end, Kang Chan suddenly spotted a wooden doll that resembled Jaina.

A wooden doll carved on the spot by an elderly man.

Kang Chan bought it and held it carefully.

Ellica recognized at a glance that the doll resembled Jaina.

‘He still can’t forget Jaina….’

Ellica’s eyes looked somewhat sad as she looked at Kang Chan.

After the market exploration, as lunchtime approached, Edeline suggested they all grab some beer together.

“How about we have some beer like before?”

Since drinking beer with Kang Chan, Edeline had occasionally asked her servants to get her some beer. But for some reason, it didn’t taste the same as it did back in the Mine Kingdom.

That was because she had never drunk so comfortably as she had then, without courtly expectations.

“Shall we? Does everyone want a beer?”

“I don’t mind.”

“I’d like to try it too.”

“What’s beer?”

Loki didn’t know what beer was.

“Just try it.”

“Alright.”

So they got together for the first time in a while and went to drink beer.

The tavern in Bellaren was quite different from the taverns in the Mine Kingdom.

Beer itself was a commoner’s drink, but now, because of the war, there weren’t many people coming to drink.

The quietness inside the tavern wasn’t bad.

A male employee, who hadn’t seen a group of customers like this since early evening, smiled brightly and approached in one stride.

“Welcome! What would you like to order?”

Edeline, who was used to ordering course meals, ordered all the dishes as if she was slightly annoyed.

“Bring me everything on the menu, from top to bottom.”

“Yes, yes? All of it?”

“That’s right.”

This was the first time in his 20 years as an employee that he had received such an absurd order.

“Ah… well, um….”

“Is there a problem?”

“Our store requires prepayment….”

“Prepaid? Dare… dare you not trust this lady….”

Edeline almost lost her temper.

But since she was dressed as a commoner now, she tried to calm herself and reached for her purse.

Then Kang Chan stopped her.

“I’ll pay.”

He roughly grabbed a handful of gold coins from his pocket and placed them on the table.

It looked like about 10 gold coins.

“How much will it be? Is this enough?”

“Gasp!”

The employee was speechless for a moment as he looked at the gold coins on the table.

That amount of gold would be a skilled mercenary’s annual income.

The employee bent his back at a right angle and said.

“I didn’t recognize such distinguished guests! I’m very sorry! I’ll cook and serve as quickly as possible!”

The employee hurriedly ran to the kitchen.

Zikyon clicked her tongue and said.

“Indeed, that’s why people, or dragons, need money. Don’t you think so, human child?”

When Zikyon asked, Edeline hurriedly replied.

“Of course, Zikyon-nim. Gold is the best, after all.”

Since they were both at the pinnacle of their respective races, they seemed to have something in common in this regard.

Soon after, food began to pour out.

From roasted turkey to roasted duck, roasted rabbit, lamb, chicken, and all sorts of meat were placed on the table.

“Wow! Meat!”

As expected, Loki, like a little ogre, devoured the meat with tremendous appetite.

However, he only tried the beer once and said, ‘Ew! Why do you drink this? It’s like pee,’ and didn’t even look at it.

As expected, Loki still had the palate of a child.

The group, except for Loki, raised their glasses high and cheered.

Kang Chan savored the taste of Bellaren’s beer, which was different from the dwarves’ beer.

“It’s a bit different from the dwarves’ beer, isn’t it?”

Zikyon, as if she had drunk it many times, replied.

“The taste of alcohol varies by region. I don’t think this taste is bad either. Dwarven beer is a bit too dry.”

“Does Ellica-ssi like it?”

“Yes, it’s just like a bland barley drink.”

“I think I prefer dwarven beer.”

As they continued to drink while giving beer reviews, darkness fell, and the number of people in the store increased.

The other people who came into the store looked at Kang Chan’s group with curious eyes.

They were drinking beer by the barrel.

Zikyon complained about the gazes of the people around them, who kept glancing at them.

“Shall I blow them away?”

“Endure it.”

“Tch! What does it matter how much someone drinks? Hic.”

“Doesn’t that woman over there look familiar?”

“Come to think of it, she looks like Princess Edeline.”

“Eh, as if Princess Edeline would be in a back alley tavern like this at this hour? It’s just someone who looks alike, right?”

“The more I look at her, the more she looks like her….”

The people continued to whisper like that.

Edeline took Kang Chan’s group, who had been drinking heartily and were drunk by the time the tavern closed, back to her detached palace.