How To Live As A Third Son Of A Failure [EN]: Chapter 104

Living as the Third Son of a Failed Novel – Chapter 104

Chapter 31. The Blue Mountain Range

As we approached the village nearest to the Blue Mountain Range, a head popped up over the roughly-made wooden fence.

“Who’s there?”

It was late, and the darkness obscured the face, so I drew on Ebony’s power.

As if wearing lenses, I could see clearly even in the dark. But there was no discomfort. It felt as natural as if it were my own eyes.

‘This is really useful.’

I thought about calling it Night Vision, but that seemed too much, so I named it Dark Eye.

It actually pierced through the darkness, and when I shone a mirror in the carriage, my pupils had turned black.

The man standing on the wooden fence, observed with Dark Eye, was a middle-aged man too old to be a warrior.

He held a bow, but his posture seemed ill-fitting. He seemed to be no more than a local watchman rather than a trained warrior.

“We are travelers. We saw the village on our way to the Blue Mountain Range and decided to stop by,” I said.

While I quietly examined the fence, Rihas stepped forward and identified himself.

Even though he had become a formal knight, the reason he identified himself as a traveler was probably because Rihas wasn’t the type to assert his authority. Well, if he had that kind of personality, he wouldn’t have beheaded the noble he served in the first place.

“Travelers heading to the Blue Mountain Range? Is your destination hell, by any chance?”

Rihas shook his head at the sharp sarcasm.

“We’re actually on our way to the Sky Fortress.”

“Ah, the Sky Fortress? Are you a knight, sir?”

“Ahem, I belong to the Wind Knights.”

“I see. Understood. Please wait a moment.”

Rihas was taken aback by the middle-aged man’s response. Even though he revealed his status as a knight, there was no sign of him lowering himself or being intimidated.

Well, I could roughly guess the reason. It was obvious. Either he didn’t know what a knight was, or he had met so many knights that he had become desensitized.

But this was the last village before reaching the Sky Fortress, so it was likely the latter.

“He says he’s from the Wind Knights. Open the gate.”

But even so, what was with this middle-aged man’s attitude of mentioning the Wind Knights like he was calling a friend from down the street?

Creak….

A crude gate in the crude wooden fence opened crudely, and the appearance of the two gatekeepers who then appeared was also crude.

‘It’s a crude village.’

I summed up my impressions in simple words and drove the carriage into the village with Rihas.

I made eye contact with the gatekeepers as we passed.

The gatekeepers, holding poor-quality spears, looked much younger than the middle-aged man who had spoken to us first. Were they in their mid-twenties?

“I have a question. Is there an inn in this village?”

I sighed at Rihas’s naive question.

“Would there be an inn in an area where there are so few travelers?”

“Ah, that’s right.”

As Rihas scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed look, the young gatekeeper stepped forward and pointed to a building in the distance.

“That house is where the village chief lives. Strangers usually stay there.”

“Is that so? I’m not sure if it would be rude to visit.”

“No, it’s fine. The village chief said he would take care of all the strangers rather than have them rummaging through other houses.”

“Thank you for letting me know.”

Even though the other person was a commoner, Rihas expressed his gratitude in a polite tone. But the young man’s face didn’t seem to care about Rihas’s gratitude.

I really felt like Alice in a strange land.

“By the way, have any other knights come here before us?”

“Who are you talking about when you say other knights?”

“They would have come in a carriage with a gray hawk painted on it. It hasn’t been long. At most, it would have been a week.”

“I haven’t seen them.”

It seemed Dane had headed straight there without passing through this village. Well, there was no need to stop by and rest in such a small village.

After driving the carriage to the front of the village chief’s house, Rihas got off the horse and knocked on the door.

“Is the village chief there?”

Creak.

The person who opened the door was an old man with white hair.

However, he wasn’t a frail old man on the verge of death. Although it was hidden by his clothes, I could tell that his body had firm muscles.

Moreover, his posture was straight, and his center of gravity was well-balanced. In particular, the way his hand naturally went to his waist even without a weapon suggested that he had experience wielding a sword in the past.

It was like a typical image of a seasoned veteran who had been worn down on the battlefield. It was clear that he was no ordinary person.

“I am the village chief of this village.”

“We were looking for a place to stay,” Rihas said.

“Are both of you knights?”

He was a village chief who fit the strange village.

Rihas nodded with an awkward expression at the way he treated us like passing travelers.

“Yes. We belong to the Wind Knights, and we came here to rest before heading to the Sky Fortress.”

“Well, you won’t find many people venturing beyond this point.”

Afterward, the village chief looked at the horse we were riding and pointed to a small warehouse next to the house.

“There is no stable. That’s a shed, so tie it up there. There’s hay in the shed, so just fetch some water from the well in the center of the village to feed it.”

Rihas, who had now completely adapted to the village chief’s blunt words, looked at me.

“I’ll take care of it. Go inside first.”

“Thanks for your hard work.”

Rihas smiled at my words and led the horse to the shed. I followed the village chief into the small two-story house.

I had been suffering from the biting cold due to the cold winter and the proximity to the Blue Mountain Range, so I felt my body melting as I entered the warm interior.

As I shook off the snow and took off the cloak that was covering my body, the village chief shrugged his shoulders as he looked at me.

“Well, a gray hawk [referring to the Third Son’s hair color, a symbol of his family] has come to a quiet village.”

He recognized me as the Third Son by looking at my hair. The more I thought about it, the more suspicious this village chief seemed.

“Yes, thank you for your hospitality.”

The village chief nodded at my expression of gratitude.

“Have you had dinner?”

“We’ve had a rough meal.”

“You’re just in time. There’s some stew left. I’ll light the fire, so just sit down.”

“Okay.”

I tilted my head at the village chief’s gesture to the living room table, even after knowing that I was the Third Son.

It was clear that the atmosphere of this strange village was created by this village chief. So, I wondered.

‘Who are you, really?’

* * *

Two plates of steaming stew and a rough but thick loaf of wheat bread were placed in the middle of the table.

“There’s not much to offer.”

“This is enough. Thank you.”

“Thank you.”

Rihas and I expressed our gratitude and put the stew in our mouths.

One spoonful became two, and soon Rihas and I ate the stew and bread cleanly, leaning back in our chairs and taking a breath.

It wasn’t a gourmet experience, but it was a meal that had the power to warm us up.

“Is it not enough?”

“No, this is enough.”

Rihas also nodded at my words.

“So, what brings you to the Sky Fortress?”

I drank water and answered the village chief’s question.

“I’m looking for knight training.”

“Knight training? What did you do wrong to go to the Sky Fortress for training, especially as a noble?”

“Well, there are circumstances.”

“Then I won’t ask any further.”

At the village chief’s words, I carefully asked what I had been curious about.

“More than that, may I ask what you used to do, old man?”

“What do you mean, ‘old man’ to a simple village chief?”

“Well, everyone has a different aura depending on the path they’ve taken.”

“You overestimate my importance. I’m just a village chief in the countryside.”

That’s a lie.

As a result of observing all of the village chief’s actions from time to time, I could tell that he was no ordinary person. He even held the ladle he used to stir the stew like a weapon, so there’s no way he could be a simple village chief.

Besides, the attitude of the people in this village was also strange.

Even if I conceded that the village chief was like that, the villagers treated the knights with a casual indifference.

‘If the village chief was a knight, everything would be explained. A knight of quite a high rank, too.’

If they had such a person as their village chief, this insensitive response would be understandable.

“If you don’t mind, may I ask where you were active in the past?”

“I don’t think it matters where I was or what I did.”

“I’m just wondering if you’re someone we should be showing respect to, but we’re making a mistake.”

The village chief’s face, which had been the same all along, had a slight smile.

“Someone to show respect to? No. Even if that were the case, what’s the point of bringing up the past to make myself look better now?”

“Is that so?”

“But if I hide it completely, I’m also bothered by your curious eyes.”

The village chief, who had been silent for a while, stretched out his index finger.

“How about one for one?”

“One for one… you mean?”

“You’ll know when you hear it. Then I’ll start first.”

The village chief erased the taciturn impression he had shown so far and stared at me with sharp eyes.

“Has something happened to the lord of the Sky Fortress?”

“……”

The fact that Coles Nide had died was a closely guarded secret even within the territory.

It was something that only someone like a key member of the Wind Knights would know, not even Rihas, who had just joined.

I managed to keep my expression calm at the village chief’s words, which accurately pierced through the truth, but Rihas couldn’t.

“Isn’t the lord of the Sky Fortress Sir Coles Nide? Has something happened to him?”

“Rihas.”

Rihas, startled by my call, quickly shut his mouth.

“Nothing has happened to the lord of the Sky Fortress.”

“Huh, then my question is over. Now it’s your turn.”

What is he trying to do? To find out what he’s up to, do I have to play this strange game?

“I’ll ask. Were you a noble or from a knight order in the past?”

“No way. I’ve been a farmer from birth until now.”

That’s a lie.

At the same time, I realized what this game was trying to do. The village chief was trying to play a truth game with me.

However, the problem was that the truth of the truth game could not be determined. It was a slightly incomprehensible method where if the other person lied, you would also lie.

“Is it my turn again? Well, is the lord sick in bed?”

Really, it’s a ridiculous game.

But I took a slight step into that funny game.

“No. The lord of the Sky Fortress has been and will never return.”

The village chief’s eyes lit up at my answer.

“It’s my turn. Have you really been a farmer all your life?”

“Ah, did I say that a little while ago? My memory is getting blurry these days… I wasn’t a farmer from the beginning.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the village chief’s faint smile.

If you want to know the other person’s information, you have to give out your own information little by little. But each person has to judge the truth for themselves.

That was the essence of this game.

If you keep weighing it, you’ll eventually get the facts you want.

At the same time, I decided to step out of this dizzying and bizarre game.

“Then I’ll ask again. Does the lord want to return, but can’t because of other factors?”

“No.”

I had no intention of weighing things with an old man who seemed to have a dozen snakes in his stomach.

If you try to play a game, you’ll fall into the game yourself.

“Sir Coles Nide, the lord of the Sky Fortress and a member of the Wind Knights, has passed away, and I am on my way to the Sky Fortress for the aftermath.”

I clearly saw the village chief’s eyes waver for a moment.

At the same time, I got up from my seat without even giving the village chief a chance to speak.

“I’m more tired than I thought because it’s late. Rihas, let’s go to bed early tomorrow.”

“Yes? Yes, I understand.”

“Where should we stay, village chief?”

“I said earlier that there’s a spare room on the second floor.”

“Really? Then let’s go up.”

I turned my head and looked at the village chief, opening my mouth in an indifferent tone.

“I’ll go in first. Thank you for the warm meal. Have a good night.”

When I got up, Rihas had no choice but to follow me without saying a word, and the village chief stared at us with his mouth shut.

However, I didn’t look back and went up to the second floor, raising the corners of my mouth.

‘I don’t care how worn down you are from so many hardships.’