Chapter 283: A Night Around the Flames

Whether you call it a morale-boosting ritual before the deployment or just a rowdy, raucous affair among the guys, opinions might differ on this matter.

The campfire blazed high into the sky, casting its fiery glow. Amidst the off-key singing, clumsy dancing, and crude jokes exchanged over overly strong liquor, laughter echoed.

“My image of knights is crumbling away with each passing moment…”

Seated on a log bench a little away from the campfire, Claudia squinted her eyes and remarked. Lutz, who was lying back with his head on her thigh, nodded faintly. The rowdy bunch causing a ruckus in the distance seemed more fitting to be called pirates on land than knights.

“Hey there, you two! Are you drinking!?”

Approaching with a tankard in hand was the rough leader of the bunch, Victor, commander of the Fourth Knight Order. It’s easy to forget given his easygoing nature, but he’s the commander of a knight order serving the capital, not just some provincial noble’s knights. In other words, he’s extremely important.

Lutz tried to get up in a hurry, but a sharp headache pierced through him, and he collapsed back onto the soft cushion of flesh. The liquor he’d been offered was too strong, and just a sip had left him feeling drunk.

“Ah, stay right there, that’s fine.”

Victor chuckled as he settled down on a nearby stump.

There was an unbridgeable gap in status between Victor and Lutz. But Victor regarded Lutz as an equal man. The one who initially defended the village was Leonard, and this time it was Victor who led the knights here. But wasn’t it this man who connected one person to another?

“Sorry about that. Should’ve watered it down a bit before giving it to you. You’re not very tolerant to alcohol, are you?”

“I love both alcohol and women, but I’m weak against them.”

“Haha, as long as you can crack a joke like that, it’s all good.”

Victor tilted his tankard and poured down the strong liquor, almost burning his throat.

Watching the festivities and Victor’s flushed face alternately, Claudia asked hesitantly.

“Um, it seems like most of the provisions we brought have been consumed. Is that okay?”

“We’ll wrap things up in a day and be back the day after. No problem.”

“But isn’t that rather haphazard…”

Claudia looked puzzled, but Victor replied confidently.

“We know the enemy’s base, we know their identity. If so, it’s best to let the knights eat and drink their fill, build up their spirits, and then engage in a short-term decisive battle with full concentration.”

“I see, you’ve thought it through to that extent…”

To be honest, Claudia didn’t understand the merits or demerits of the strategy. But she didn’t get the impression that Victor was a man lacking in judgment or decisiveness.

While Victor nodded confidently, he hesitated for a moment, then averted his gaze.

“…Well, that’s just an idealistic view. We don’t know what might happen on the battlefield. If the fight drags on, we might need to procure more supplies.”

“As long as we have the means to provide.”

“Yeah, that’s right…”

There’s a limit to the amount the Fourth Knight Order alone can spend. If they don’t resolve this incident quickly and pull in some money from the royal family, they’ll end up going bankrupt.

“Um, Victor-sama…”

Lutz, looking pale, pointed towards where a commotion seemed to be erupting near the campfire.

“It seems like there’s a brawl going on over there.”

Victor turned his face towards the commotion and wore an expression that said, “Oh, damn.”

“I should’ve placed a bet…”

“Oh, no, I’m worried that someone might get injured before the battle with the enemy…”

“Don’t worry. Even if someone gets injured, we’ll drag them onto the battlefield. As long as we don’t bring out the shiny stuff, any fights are their own responsibility.”

The word “worry” didn’t seem to fit at all. Just as Victor was about to say he’d join in too and start running, he stopped abruptly and turned around.

“Sorry, sis, I’ll borrow your husband tomorrow. It’d be nice if I could tell the Fourth Knight Order to handle it on their own, but they’re a creepy bunch. We don’t know what might happen. The guy who’s been at the center of the incident the whole time can’t be let go.”

With a stern expression befitting a knight commander, Victor said this, then turned straight to Claudia, who was stroking Lutz’s hair, and replied.

“Once it’s over, I’ll return him, he’s yours after all.”

For a moment, Claudia looked puzzled, then Victor shook his shoulders and burst into laughter.

“No need to waste something so precious. I’d gladly take both of you into the Fourth Knight Order.”

With just that, Victor dashed off again.

With Victor gone, the surroundings suddenly seemed oddly quiet. Claudia smiled gently down at Lutz’s face.

“Well, we can’t really stop him now, can we?”

“I’m always sorry for causing you worry. But I promise I’ll always come back to you.”

“Let’s believe that. Lutz-kun has never once broken a promise to me or let me down.”

Today, too much had happened. Claudia gently stroked Lutz’s cheek as he breathed softly, then looked up at the starry sky.

“What a troublesome man… really…”

The first time might not be the last, but she had no choice but to believe and wait. Lutz was a man who wielded his sword here. She knew that better than anyone else.

When Victor rushed back, the commotion had already settled down. Among the five men lying on the ground, an elderly man with white hair stood at the center.

Rather than getting angry about his subordinates being defeated or being suspicious of who this old man was, Victor’s first feeling was the joy of meeting a strong opponent.

“Hey old man, who are you?”

“Me? Just an old man passing by, accompanying Master Lutz.”

“I see, just passing by… Do you really think that satisfies me?”

“If it doesn’t satisfy you, what are you going to do, kid?”

Gerhardt’s eyes gleamed ominously against the backdrop of the blazing flames. It seemed like he was enjoying the fight after a long time, and his tension was rising.

Victor and Gerhardt naturally assumed fighting stances simultaneously. The surroundings fell silent, with only the crackling of burning wood heard.

Gerhardt lightly lowered his guard. Victor, knowing it was a trap, stepped forward sharply. As the commander of the knight order, Victor couldn’t ignore the provocation from the old man.

A right straight, Victor’s powerful arm roared. Gerhardt didn’t resist the flow but deflected the fist and thrust a left hook into Victor’s side.

Ordinary people would have been groaning in pain and dirtying their shoes with vomit at this point. But the impact felt strange, as if he had punched a giant tree.

Rather than falling, Victor immediately counterattacked. With a left downward strike, Gerhardt intercepted it by crossing his arms. Normally, both arms would have been broken and blown away. But Gerhardt remained standing. Whatever technique he used seemed to have dispersed the impact.

They both jumped back simultaneously, keeping their guard up and scanning their surroundings vigilantly.

“Old man, still wanna go?”

“Any further and it’ll turn into a fight to the death. Such things should be enjoyed to the fullest tomorrow.”

“You got that wrong.”

They smirked at each other and simultaneously turned their backs, leaving the scene.

Knights rushed to Victor’s side, while Josel ran to Gerhardt’s side. The surrounding people were worried, but the two of them wore satisfied smiles, as if saying, “Tomorrow will be fun.”

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