How To Live As A Third Son Of A Failure [EN]: Chapter 105

Still a bluish hue painted the dawn sky.

I and Rihas, having woken up early, departed from the village chief’s house fully dressed and armed.

The village chief was nowhere to be seen, likely still asleep.

‘Is he just going to keep hiding his identity and remain the village chief of this rural village?’ I mused.

It’s not like I’m losing anything. There’s no information to gain in such a remote village anyway, and there’s no way news of Coles Nide’s death would spread from here.

I’ll just chalk it up to meeting a slightly strange village chief and go my way.

“I asked a villager to keep the carriage last night. I compensated them well,” Rihas said.

“Okay? Good job.”

Afterward, we retrieved the horses from the barn and headed towards the village entrance, when…

“Are you coming out now?”

The village chief was waiting.

His taciturn demeanor was the same as yesterday. But his attire was different. The village chief, wearing leather armor, a thick cloak, and a crude but well-forged sword at his waist, stood on horseback.

“What brings you here so early in the morning?” I asked.

“You’ll need a guide to the Sky Fortress. I’ll lead the way.”

“We can manage on our own.”

“Most of the people who said that became a monster’s meal. You’ll need a skilled guide.”

“It seems like a slip of the tongue to say that a knight would become a monster’s prey. Besides, even if we needed a guide, I have no intention of putting a farmer-turned-guide ahead.”

“…….”

The village chief’s eyebrows twitched when I brought up the story from last night.

“Especially not someone who’s mentally unstable and confused about whether they’re a farmer or not.”

The village chief’s face was a sight to behold when I returned his own words. There was even a hint of satisfaction in his lip-biting.

“……I think I misjudged you.”

After a long silence, the village chief opened his mouth, let out a hollow laugh, and raised both hands.

“Alright. Then let’s change it to a request. May I accompany you to the Sky Fortress? It would be even better if you could let me stay there as your guide.”

The Sky Fortress strictly prohibits outsiders from entering. That’s why he wants to gain my guide qualification.

I nodded slightly at the village chief’s concession.

“Alright. So, what business do you have at the Sky Fortress?”

“To commemorate the death of my knight order comrade and long-time friend, Coles Nide.”

It was the moment the village chief declared his defeat.

* * *

After riding for a long time, the entrance to the Blue Mountains was a challenge from the start.

The path was gentle enough to ride a horse for a while, but soon it turned into terrain where we had to dismount and walk together.

Even though it was a path well-maintained by those stationed at the Sky Fortress, it was like this. It was easy to see why the Blue Mountains are also called the Blue Hell.

After dismounting and walking for a while, I, Rihas, and the village chief decided to take a break and sat down.

The village chief took out dry tinder and a flint from his luggage and skillfully started a fire. Then, he took out a small kettle and began to melt the surrounding snow for water.

During the long-awaited break, I started asking the questions I had been pondering on the way here.

“What’s your real name?”

“Loben Wonders.”

“Yes, Sir Loben. I have a few questions.”

“Ask away. There’s no point in hiding it now.”

“You said you were Coles’ comrade, didn’t you? I’d like to hear the details.”

“There’s not much to tell. We joined the Wind Knights together, and then I left in less than half a year.”

Rihas’ eyes widened at the mention of his history with the Wind Knights. Well, I was quite surprised too, so his expression would be similar.

“You were a senior then.”

“Senior? It was only half a year.”

“Still, you were clearly a member of the Wind Knights. But how did you end up leaving after only half a year?”

“It’s a simple story. The Wind Knights and the North were too small to contain my ambition. At the time, I didn’t know that Count Lindaier would become the master [referring to the head of the Lindaier family]. In fact, the current power of the Lindaier family was completed by the Count becoming the master.”

“But leaving wouldn’t have been that easy.”

Half a year is almost like joining and leaving before even settling in.

Ilia also left, but she was clearly a trainee knight.

But Coles Nide was appointed as a formal knight. If Loben was a comrade of Sir Coles, then Loben would have been a formal knight as well.

“It wasn’t easy. But the lord at the time, after hearing where I wanted to go, readily allowed it.”

“Where was it?”

“Capital.”

“Do you mean the Royal Guard Knights?”

“At first. But when I arrived in the Capital, I realized how terrible my talent was. After lowering my expectations, I gave up on the Royal Guard Knights and spent my youth in the Capital Knights.”

You must have a natural talent to feel and manipulate mana to become a knight. Among those knights, only those with overwhelming talent can enter the Royal Guard Knights.

Loben made a bitter expression, perhaps recalling the past when he was blocked by that wall.

“So, are you retired now?”

“Yes. It’s been quite a while. Almost 20 years.”

“Has it been that long? You still look so energetic, is there a reason why you retired so early?”

“I lost my wife to illness. I had no children, and I became alone overnight. After sending my wife away, it suddenly occurred to me. The years I spent in the Capital were endlessly futile.”

“Futile?”

“I headed to the Capital because I dreamed of ambition, and that’s why I dedicated everything to the Knights. I thought that was the only way to achieve my ambition. But after losing my wife, I came to my senses and realized that I had become a henchman doing errands for the nobles. I laughed. I didn’t even have memories to call memories with my wife, but my head was full of dirty things I had to do right away.”

Loben chuckled.

“Was this how it would turn out? The Capital, where I devoted my youth, but in the end, I achieved nothing, and my poor wife spent her whole life just looking at my back, that’s what I thought.”

Loben continued to speak calmly, as if he couldn’t believe he was telling his own story.

“After that, I resigned from the knighthood without any hesitation and retired. To atone to my wife for the rest of my life.”

“…….”

“After leaving the Capital, I wondered where to go, and then I suddenly became curious.”

“Curious about what?”

“How my comrade Coles Nide, who had vowed to give his life for the North, was living.”

“So, you came to find him?”

“That’s right. Fortunately, Coles remembered me, and we reminisced in the village where I was the chief.”

I see.

Now the question is solved.

“You felt something in your conversation with Sir Coles.”

“That’s right. Unlike me, Coles was still full of energy and his passion was fiery. I wondered what kind of belief he had that made him show such a 모습 [Korean word for ‘appearance’ or ‘figure’]. And I wondered if he could keep that belief until he died. Maybe I wanted to feel indirectly through Coles what I couldn’t achieve.”

“So, you settled in the village?”

“It wasn’t difficult. After defeating a few monsters, they made me the chief and treated me well.”

My guess was correct. The strange reactions of the residents were all because of Loben.

Well, if we have Loben, who came from the Capital Knights, as the chief, it’s understandable that they would take it for granted even if we revealed that we are knights.

“So, what was it that Sir Coles was pursuing?”

Loben shook his head at my question.

“Well, he was always vague in his explanations, so I don’t know the details either. He said he would tell me everything when he finally achieved his goal.”

“Please tell me even the vague details.”

“It’s vague in a good way, but the reality is that I suspect he’s gone senile.”

Senile? Lord Coles Nide?

Loben, who stimulated curiosity with shocking words, began to explain calmly.

“That friend of mine was always saddened that the vast land of the Northeast was abandoned.”

“Are you talking about the wastelands of the Northeast?”

“That’s right. It’s land that has never been touched by human hands, but it can be changed as much as possible if it is reclaimed.”

“You were saddened by that land? Then Lord Coles is perhaps…….”

“That’s right. What Coles dreamed of was to bring the Blue Mountains under complete control and reclaim the wasteland.”

“Control? Like the Volum Mountains?”

“I guess so.”

“That’s absolutely impossible.”

I asserted without even thinking deeply.

“……Why is it impossible?”

Rihas, who had been listening quietly next to me, asked carefully, and I sighed softly.

“Rihas, how does the current kingdom control the Volum Mountains?”

“Rangers belonging to the kingdom and scouts from the Lindaier family are doing it. The Lindaier family also periodically mobilizes troops to wipe out monsters.”

Of course, Kerwyn’s magic spread over the Volum Mountains played a big role in making it possible, but still, the royal family and the Lindaier family contributed, so let’s move on.

“That’s right. Then what should we do to control the Blue Mountains?”

“That’s like the Volum Mountains…….”

Rihas, who was continuing to speak, looked at the countless bizarre rock formations spread around and the snow covering them, and nodded.

“I understand what you mean.”

How can we station rangers in this environment, patrol with scouts, and mobilize troops to suppress them?

Since the mountain range belonged to the Lindaier County, at least the Sky Fortress was built in the center to provide minimal defense and reconnaissance.

Of course, the maintenance cost is easily more than two or three times that of an average fortress.

“The Blue Mountains are something that even the monsters swarming in the abandoned land at the northernmost tip of the continent cannot cross. How can you control such a mountain range with just one fortress? At best, it’s just preventing the Northeast from completely falling into the hands of monsters.”

“Oh, wait a minute. Didn’t you say that monsters can’t cross the Blue Mountains anyway? Then isn’t it safer than the Northwest?”

“What about the monsters that have made the Blue Mountains their home? Besides, I heard that the guys here are always hungry, so they tend to come down the mountain range at the drop of a hat.”

“I was short-sighted.”

Like Rihas, some people ask. If it’s a mountain range that monsters can’t cross, isn’t it safer than the Northwest?

But that was only possible when the monsters living in the Blue Mountains were excluded.

“The Third Son is right. Monsters occasionally appeared in the village where I was the chief. Even though it’s quite far from the Blue Mountains.”

Rihas nodded at Loben’s words after agreeing with my story.

“Is that so? What kind of monsters mainly appear?”

“Ice trolls or yetis are typical. They are always hungry, so their ferocity is beyond words. But the real danger is not the monsters.”

“If it’s not the monsters…….”

“The dire wolves that have adapted to this climate are the biggest problem. Trolls and yetis are just ferocious monsters, not hunters. At least in the village where I was, if someone died, it was always the work of dire wolves, not monsters.”

The sense of intimidation given by the word hunter was great. Rihas scratched his chin with a sullen expression, perhaps imagining a pack of dire wolves that systematically hunt people.

“If they appear even in villages so far from the mountain range, then the Northeast wasteland is like their front yard. But if we try to wipe out the dire wolves, the monsters that have settled in the mountain range are a burden.”

“You got it right.”

“In this situation, how on earth did Lord Coles try to control the Blue Mountains?”

At Rihas’ question, I and Loben just kept our mouths shut. Coles Nide, who would give the answer to that question, had already left the world.

‘Is he just a delusional person who dreamed a futile dream?’

I’ll know when I go. Let’s not jump to conclusions until I see it with my own eyes.

As the story stopped for a while and only silence flowed, Loben opened his mouth.

“My story is roughly over, so let me ask you too. Third Son, what exactly are you going to the Sky Fortress for?”

It was Loben’s words asking with a condescending attitude, but I didn’t care. His years of life and his experience were not at a level that could be ignored.

“I heard that the internal command system of the Sky Fortress has been very chaotic since Lord Coles Nide passed away. So, I’m going to sort it out.”

“And you dare to call it knight training.”

“It’s true that it’s knight training.”

“Really?”

“Yes. To sum it up, I’m going to the Sky Fortress for knight training and sorting out the situation there at the same time.”

“It’s an explanation that I don’t understand.”

Loben let out a hollow laugh, soon checked that the water was boiling, poured it into a cup and handed it to us, and as I accepted it, I shrugged.

“Actually, I don’t either.”