How To Live As A Third Son Of A Failure [EN]: Chapter 7

Living as the Third Son of a Failed Novel – Episode 7

* * *

It was dawn, before the sun had even properly risen.

Ruth, Leo, and I had finished our preparations and mounted our horses.

Leo, burdened with a large bag, kept squirming as if his shoulders were aching.

In contrast, I felt a strange sense of guilt, having nothing to carry and feeling light as a feather.

But what could I do? He stubbornly refused to share the load.

Just as we were about to depart, Ruth suddenly scrutinized me and nodded.

“Unexpectedly, your posture is quite stable, Young Master.”

“Huh?”

“Rumor had it that you couldn’t ride a horse… I suppose it was just hearsay.”

Apparently, Cain originally couldn’t ride. Of course, I had learned horsemanship during my time as a cadet at the Military Academy, which made it possible for me.

“Well, there was always a carriage, so there was no need to show off.”

“Is that so? In any case, if you’re ready, let’s depart.”

“Alright.”

I adjusted the sword sheath at my waist, feeling uncomfortable, and started the horse, with Leo and Ruth following behind.

It was then.

As we were leaving the inner castle, blowing on our hands to warm them in the cold weather, a figure suddenly appeared through the fog.

“Are you departing?”

It was Count Lindaier.

His chief butler and the Knight Commander, Gilian, flanked him.

I had given him a rough idea of the departure date, even if not the detailed plan, so it seemed the Count had come to see us off in person.

“M-My Lord!”

“Greetings, Lord.”

Ruth elegantly dismounted and knelt. Leo, on the other hand, looked awkward because of the bag on his back.

Me?

I didn’t get off my horse.

Somehow, I felt the Count was meeting me now not as a lord, but as a father.

Frankly, I also lacked the confidence to dismount as gracefully as Ruth.

“Couldn’t you have had breakfast before leaving? Why insist on facing the dawn like this?”

“I apologize.”

As expected, the Count didn’t seem to mind much.

“For someone who apologizes, you hold your head high with such confidence. Honestly, I wonder who you take after.”

“I take after you, Father.”

“Me? Nonsense. You take after your mother. Especially that attitude of trying to stand up to someone stronger than yourself.”

“Is that so?”

“Indeed. If I had possessed your attitude, I would have either drunk poison or been stabbed in my bed long before achieving this much power.”

The Count had fought countless wars, survived in the political arena, and achieved the great feat of becoming the lord of the North.

To him, my current self was no different from a puppy unaafraid of a tiger.

“Well, since you’ve made a promise, I won’t ask anything else. But you must keep to the deadline.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

“Ruth Meyer.”

“Yes, Lord.”

At the Count’s call, Ruth, still kneeling, answered without moving an inch.

“Ensure that Cain Lindaier does not miss the deadline.”

“I will stake my life on it.”

“Of course. If you fail, I will personally take your life and your family’s. Be sure to bring the Young Master back within the deadline.”

Ruth’s body flinched.

“If the Young Master harbors any disloyal thoughts, you may cut off his legs. I will not hold you accountable in any way.”

“Understood.”

What a ruthless man. He unhesitatingly placed a shackle on Ruth’s ankle.

I take back what I said about him meeting me as a father. Still, to tell someone to cut off his son’s legs?

I glared at the Count, who chuckled and shrugged.

“One doesn’t need legs to sow seeds, does one?”

“I will return.”

“That is to be expected.”

“I will return with both hands full.”

“I hope so.”

With those words, the Count turned his horse towards the castle, followed by the chief butler.

Gilian hesitated for a moment, then approached Ruth and quietly spoke.

“Ruth, the Lord is a man of his word. Please, do not act rashly.”

Ruth bit her lip and nodded, understanding the warning not to harbor any disloyal thoughts.

“I hope the Young Master also returns safely. Farewell. Giddy up!”

Gilian lightly bowed and kicked the horse’s flank, following after the Count.

“……”

Before we knew it, the three figures had disappeared, leaving only Ruth, Leo, who was half a statue, and me in the hazy fog.

“Let’s depart.”

“Yes.”

At my words, Leo and Ruth listlessly rose and mounted their horses.

Truly.

I am certain there could be no more unpleasant and wretched send-off than this.

* * *

After riding towards the Volum Mountains for the better part of the day, I stopped in a secluded basin late at night, sprawled out and gasping for breath.

“Fuck.”

My short curse lingered in the air.

Was riding a horse always this difficult?

When I learned horsemanship during my cadet days, trotting along a set course could hardly be called riding.

Riding roughly on unpaved roads had left my buttocks half-numb, and I had bitten my tongue four or five times, filling my mouth with the taste of blood.

Not to mention the muscle aches that were blooming all over my body.

“Young Master, are you alright?”

“Do I look alright to you?”

“…You should loosen your muscles in advance if you plan to ride tomorrow as well.”

“How?”

“If you allow me, I will help you.”

“Of course, I allow it.”

Leo approached with a worried expression and began to massage my sprawled-out body.

“Ugh, uhh, hng.”

While I couldn’t help but groan, Ruth skillfully started a fire, took out dried provisions, and began to make stew.

“Ruth.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

“At this speed, how long will it take to reach the Volum Mountains?”

“About five days.”

“Five days? And climbing the mountains?”

“We need to know the destination first.”

“The highest point of the Seven Peaks of the Volum Mountains.”

Ruth’s expression turned quite serious.

“The highest peak is Manelov, and the weather is the biggest obstacle.”

“If it’s good?”

“It will take at least a week for the round trip, including the climb.”

“If it’s bad?”

“It will take fifteen days.”

The deadline set by the Count was 26 days.

Assuming the weather is bad, a simple calculation puts it at 25 days.

“That’s tight.”

“There are more problems.”

“What is it?”

“If it rains or snows, we won’t be able to climb at all.”

“That can’t happen. Assume that we will climb no matter what, Ruth.”

“You could lose your life.”

For a brief moment, I considered giving up and just getting married.

No. Absolutely not. I’d rather bite my tongue and die than be caught by that psychopath, Pleta.

It’s absolutely impossible to gain strength after getting married. She’d probably lock me up in the mansion all day and treat me like a doll.

“Anyway, considering the weather, it’s advantageous to buy as much time as possible, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then let’s reduce the travel time. How much can we cut it down?”

“Frankly, it’s not a distance that should take five days. We can reduce it as much as we want, but…”

“But?”

“It’s because of you, Young Master…”

Ah, I’m the problem.

Indeed, the overall speed had slowed down because I kept falling behind whenever we rode from morning till night.

Is there any good solution?

“Wait, how about this?”

“What…”

“Leo and I will ride together. If I’m being pulled along, I just need to hold on. Meanwhile, the horse following behind will conserve its strength, and we can switch horses the next day.”

What?

As soon as I finished speaking, Ruth and Leo began to look at me strangely.

“Are you serious?”

“What? Is it an impossible method?”

“It’s not that… It would be better if you rode with me.”

“If I add my weight to someone as big as you, the horse’s back will break.”

“Still, how could the Young Master…”

“Y-Yeah, I don’t think that’s a good idea either.”

Even Leo, with his burdened gaze, chimed in, and I belatedly realized.

The problem was that I, a noble, was riding a horse with a commoner.

The more I thought about it, the more irritating this world became.

I couldn’t help but frown at this damn class society where I couldn’t do what was natural.

“Shut up. If I say I’ll do it, I’ll do it.”

“Still, how could…”

“From now on, if you object or add anything more, I’ll take it as a challenge to me.”

In the end, a hollow laugh escaped me as I saw the two men reluctantly shut their mouths.

“So, Ruth, how do you plan to climb the mountain?”

“The climb itself is not a problem. We regularly go on monster subjugation expeditions in the mountains, so we can use the well-maintained paths and temporary shelters that we used then. It’s a systematically organized route, so there’s nothing more to add.”

“Good. Then let’s go to bed early. We need to ride early tomorrow as well.”

“Understood. Leo and I will take turns standing guard.”

“Standing guard?”

“We are still near the territory, so there may be monsters.”

That’s right. This is a fantasy world where monsters live and roam.

I had experienced a lot of field life in the military, but monsters were another unexpected variable.

“Damn it. Then let’s split up and stand guard.”

“You can just sleep first…”

“I told you not to object.”

Ruth, who had shut her mouth, scratched the back of her neck.

“Instead, I’ll take the last watch, so divide the rest among yourselves.”

Even if I’m tired to death, I can’t do the first or middle watch.

“Understood.”

In the meantime, Leo brought over the finished stew.

I had no appetite, but I had to force it down for the sake of my strength.

As I chewed on the tough pieces of meat, I suddenly noticed Ruth engrossed in something without eating.

“What are you doing? Not eating?”

The answer came from Leo, not Ruth.

“Young Master, it seems the Knight is currently practicing mana cultivation…”

“Ah, that?”

Mana cultivation.

There’s no way I wouldn’t know. It’s the act of refining raw mana scattered in the atmosphere to suit one’s nature and filling the mana heart with it.

Seeing what I had only read in novels with my own eyes, I even forgot to eat the stew in amazement.

‘Ruth Meyer was said to be an advanced mana user.’

If he’s an advanced mana user, he’s skilled enough to cut most monsters into pieces with a single strike.

As I once again felt Ruth’s strength, I was about to put the stew in my mouth.

‘Huh?’

Something was going in and out of Ruth’s nose and mouth.

It was hazy, so I couldn’t see it clearly, but I definitely saw something.

A very subtle, shimmering aura with a bluish tint.

‘Could it be.’

Ruth is performing mana cultivation.

Then what is going in and out of his nose and mouth right now?

‘The setting, the setting in the novel is definitely…’

“Leo.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

“Can you see that?”

“What are you referring to?”

“The thing going in and out of Sir Meyer’s mouth. Can’t you see that?”

“Pardon?”

Leo tilts his head.

He doesn’t seem to be lying.

Yes, that should be the normal reaction.

It certainly should be.

Why is it that I can see it more and more clearly?