How To Live As A Third Son Of A Failure [EN]: Chapter 102

Living as the Third Son of a Failed Novel – Chapter 102

Chapter 30. Rihas

“I am Rihas Rody.”

I don’t usually believe in physiognomy [the assessment of a person’s character or personality from their outer appearance], but seeing the young man before me made me think it might actually exist.

From his stubborn-looking brown curly hair and his bright smile, I could immediately guess his personality, and my guess was spot on.

“I am Cain Lindayer.”

“It’s an honor to meet you, Third Young Master!”

“What honor all of a sudden? How do you know me?”

At my question, Rihas’s eyes sparkled as he placed one hand on his chest and raised the other high, changing his voice to a theatrical tone.

“How could I not know? You subjugated the orc tribe, which was a nuisance in the north, bravely rescued the young lady of Bashrun from a terrible crisis, and became the new champion of the tournament! Moreover, these achievements were accomplished amidst false accusations against you, so how could this not be an honor!”

I already felt a headache coming on.

“So, you respect me so much that you demanded the same test method I went through?”

“Yes! Seeing your truly courageous spirit, I couldn’t just stand by.”

If he was trying to be funny, he missed the mark, and if he was serious, he was definitely missing a screw.

Rihas, who had followed my lead in taking the test starting from the commander of the Knights, was beaten to a pulp, his face swollen all over.

As the Third Young Master, I had shown some restraint, but Rihas wouldn’t have.

“I am also a candidate, so why can’t I do it?”

Those were Rihas’s words, shouted confidently in front of everyone when his request was denied.

In the end, the Count, unable to find a reason to refuse, gave his approval, and I heard that Rihas was beaten to a pulp by Baranka and fainted.

“I was prepared, but experiencing it myself made me realize even more how amazing you are, Young Master! How did you withstand the Vice Commander’s sword like that!”

I could feel Rihas’s enthusiasm radiating from between his swollen eyes, and I wondered if he could even see properly.

“…Let’s skip the introduction.”

“Yes!”

“So, you were also ordered to perform knightly duties as a consequence of your actions that ignored procedures and rules.”

“Yes! I heard you are too, Young Master. I see it as a celebration that we can do it together.”

“Do you know where I’m going for my knightly duties?”

“Isn’t it the Sky Fortress, where the spirit of chivalry lives and breathes, and which monitors the entire northeast? It is clearly an opportunity to learn a lot.”

He’s definitely crazy.

You can’t be like this unless you’re crazy.

I rubbed my temples at the situation where I suddenly had a burden to carry.

“Hey, are you hurt somewhere?”

“Yes? Are you talking about the injuries I sustained? It throbs, but it feels like the pain is going away because you’re worried about me, Young Master!”

“Never mind.”

After letting out a sigh, I drank cold water to soothe my churning stomach.

“So, where are you from?”

“I’m from the Capital [the kingdom’s main city].”

“From the Capital? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of the Rody family.”

“We’re not a noble family. My father is a clerk in the Capital, and my mother is a full-time housewife taking care of my younger siblings at home! Oh, I have two younger sisters, and they’re both girls. They’re twelve and eight years old, respectively, and they’re so cute…”

“Stop.”

Raising my hand, I forced a smile.

“Let’s just talk about the important things for now. Right now, I need more information about the person I have to go with.”

“Ah, is that so?”

“Yes. Just answer what I ask.”

“I understand!”

“You’re from the Capital, so why did you apply for the Wind Knights test? If you dream of becoming a knight, there are many other places. There’s also the Royal Knights of the kingdom.”

“I was originally going to apply to the Capital Knights. But after repeatedly failing, I changed my mind after seeing you, Young Master.”

“After seeing me?”

“I watched you in the tournament from beginning to end without missing a single moment! I was in the audience then. Didn’t you see me by any chance?”

How could I see you among so many people, you brat.

Seeing my expression that I didn’t remember, Rihas’s face became a little gloomy.

“You even gave me advice then. I asked you, ‘How can you be so confident without being swayed by the negative perceptions of the world?'”

What is he talking about now?

Is he asking how I changed the perception that I was a crazy bastard?

“To my question, you said that if I joined the Wind Knights, I could become as confident as you.”

That’s a misunderstanding.

I just said that I learned it from the Wind Knights because everyone who swarmed me asked me for the secret to my success.

“…Don’t you remember?”

“After the tournament, at least hundreds of people asked me questions. How can I remember all of them one by one?”

“I guess that’s true.”

Seeing him nod in agreement, I quickly scanned the paper with his personal information, fearing that other words might come out.

“Your skill is only at the intermediate level of mana user.”

“Yes, that’s right!”

“You’re also quite young at 24 years old. When did you start training with the sword?”

“From thirteen.”

“You started early.”

“My father told me I didn’t seem to have a head for studying, so he had me learn the sword.”

“He seems to have had good insight.”

“I think so too!”

If he’s an intermediate mana user at 24, he’s definitely overflowing with talent.

‘Ruth, who learned the sword late, reached the advanced level of mana user in his late twenties.’

Considering that, he may not be as good as Ruth, but he probably has some potential.

“But something’s strange. You’re skilled enough to enter the Capital Knights, so why did you keep failing?”

At my question, Rihas’s expression darkened slightly for a moment.

“Well, I don’t really know…”

“Then what have you been doing until now? You haven’t reached the intermediate level of mana user by training alone without belonging to any organization.”

“Yes. I originally served a noble in the provinces.”

“Is that so?”

As expected, there’s no way he could have wandered around without belonging to any organization while handling mana.

But that also raised some doubts.

“You must have sworn allegiance, so how did you end up breaking up? They wouldn’t have let you go easily.”

“Yes. But he lost his life, so my oath was naturally broken.”

“Is that so? Who was it?”

“It was Baron Roden.”

I put down the paper I was looking at and stared intently at Rihas.

“Baron Roden?”

“Yes.”

“How did he die? Was there an accident? And even if the noble you served died, couldn’t the oath have been passed on to his descendants?”

“Baron Roden and all his descendants lost their lives.”

The family was completely ruined?

“Was there a deadly epidemic or something?”

“No. Baron Roden lost his life to his own knights.”

“…What?”

“Baron Roden lost his life to his own knights.”

I asked again, thinking I had misheard, and Rihas answered in the same tone.

On the other hand, I couldn’t speak for a moment due to the shock that felt like a blow to the head.

He lost his life to his own knights?

You said earlier that you had sworn allegiance and served him?

“You said that the person you served as a knight was Baron Roden.”

“Yes.”

“Does that mean you were one of the subordinates who killed the Baron?”

At my question, Rihas smiled weakly and nodded.

“Yes. I beheaded my lord, Baron Roden, to whom I had sworn allegiance.”

* * *

After leaving Rihas, I went to the butler’s office. The butler, still with a kind face, brought me tea at my visit.

Sitting across from him, I asked the butler directly about Rihas.

“Yes, I heard. The fact that the knight wanted to join our Wind Knights caused a stir in the Knights for a while.”

“What on earth happened?”

Usually, nobles rarely get punished for any crime they commit, unless it’s an act of treason.

In fact, a lord who governs his own territory, not a direct territory, is like a king, and there’s no way a king would punish himself.

And if Rihas had harmed Baron Roden for no reason, he wouldn’t be here either. Killing a noble is a serious crime.

“It’s simple. Baron Roden lost the territorial war he waged due to discord with a neighboring lord, and he lost his life in the process.”

“I heard that Rihas personally beheaded him.”

“Yes. That’s also correct.”

“Am I the only one who doesn’t understand? Why would he be killed by his subordinate knight after losing the battle with the neighboring lord?”

“Baron Roden was a violent man. He had the idea of destroying everything rather than losing everything he had due to the defeat in the war.”

“…Destroy everything?”

“Yes. He tried to burn his property and land and kill all the people in the territory. Even if he surrendered, everything would be used to enrich the enemy lord.”

“He’s crazy.”

It’s a terrible story.

Even if it’s his property, he tried to kill the people in the territory? He’s completely out of his mind.

“So?”

“Baron Roden’s knights, including Sir Rihas, must have been worried. Whether to follow that order for the sake of the oath, massacre innocent people in the territory, and burn the land, or…”

Whether to stand in the way of the lord they serve.

“Rihas must have made a decision.”

“Yes. It must have been a difficult decision. After much discussion among the knights, Rihas stepped up as the representative and beheaded Baron Roden. Fortunately, people praised the action as the courage of a knight who could not tolerate injustice.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Killing a noble is strictly a serious crime, but the enemy lord, who later swallowed everything of Baron Roden, forgave Rihas, and the royal family also took into account that the meaning contained in the purpose was pure justice and took no special action. But ideals and reality are different.”

The butler is right. How nice would it be if everyone had a happy ending just because it ended like that, but the eyes toward Rihas afterward would definitely not have been good.

No matter how crazy the lord was, Rihas was clearly a knight who had sworn allegiance to him.

Such a knight cut off his lord?

Even if I don’t know, no noble in the world would want to keep such a Rihas under his command.

‘So, he was trying to enter the Capital Knights.’

At least there was a perception that the Capital Knights, who protect the Capital, were less discriminatory.

But that’s just what it means, and the royal family wouldn’t have liked Rihas either. So he would have failed repeatedly, and in the meantime, he saw me, who didn’t care about the perceptions of the world, and flowed into the Wind Knights.”

“Did the Count have anything special to say?”

“Yes. After hearing the inside story of Sir Rihas, he simply said one thing.”

“What did he say?”

“The Count said, ‘It’s none of my business unless Rihas becomes a Master.'”

He’s quite a hot-tempered man. Does that mean he’s a Master, so he won’t be stabbed to death?

Well, who in the Wind Knights would draw a sword against the Count?

“Anyway, so you accepted Sir Rihas like that?”

“Yes. As you know, the Wind Knights don’t discriminate against anyone as long as there are no disqualifications.”

“It’s a headache. I ended up going to the Sky Fortress with such a person.”

At my grumbling, the butler smiled kindly and picked up his teacup.

“Sir Rihas has only done a righteous act. Please don’t hate him too much.”

“That’s why.”