Translator: Nox

Chapter 25

Elric immediately left the mansion and headed toward the village with Tiria.

The sight of the village upon their arrival was enough to make one frown.

“Hmm… this is serious.”

Several collapsed houses were visible.

The gouged earth and the distant, broken wooden palisades spoke of something that had forced its way in, turning the village upside down.

It was likely the monster in question.

“I will go speak with the village chief for a moment.”

“Go ahead. I shall wait here.”

He could have gone with her, but Elric chose not to.

His reasoning was that it would be faster for him to investigate personally.

Ten years ago might have been a different story, but Elric had encountered monsters countless times during his years spent as a mercenary. This was because monster habitats were often used strategically in war.

By now, he had reached a point where he could identify the species of a monster just by its tracks, so it was only right to use the most reliable method available.

First, Elric headed to the outskirts of the village to examine the fragments of the palisade.

‘Was it sliced through?’

It certainly looked that way.

If it had been rammed, at the very least, the wood wouldn’t have snapped in such clean, straight lines.

Since it was said to be a wolf-type monster, the ones that came to mind were the Blade Wolf or the Caliso Wolf.

Both were monsters characterized by long claws or horns, respectively.

And there was one more clue to consider…

‘The casualties are fewer than expected.’

For a monster intrusion, there were no signs of the dead or anyone holding a funeral.

There were a few injured at most, and this fact made the monster’s identity even clearer.

‘It’s a Blade Wolf.’

It was a high-tier species among monsters.

They were creatures that used mana to coat their claws in aura, and they were a species that enjoyed hunting for sport as much as for survival.

The fact that it had left after merely instilling terror was a precursor to its next hunt.

Had they been even a little later, a great calamity would have surely struck the village.

‘They’ve been targeted by a nasty one.’

What should be done about this?

It was at the moment Elric was pondering this.

“Head of the family.”

Tiria had returned.

“I have heard most of the story. Let us return to the mansion for now.”

“Ah, let’s do that.”

Had she finished her investigation already?

No, given her personality, it was obvious she would have skipped the pleasantries and formalities to get straight to the point, so in a way, it was only natural.

Elric followed her into the carriage, and it was only then that he heard the details she had gathered.

The more he listened, the more his conviction grew.

It was definitely a Blade Wolf.

Now the problem was whether she knew this fact.

“We must set out for the hunt. Since we don’t know when it might come down to the village again, I intend to prepare as quickly as possible.”

“Have you identified the exact species of the monster?”

“According to the villagers, they couldn’t make out its exact form. However, some remember seeing something like a giant blade, so we are assuming it is a Caliso Wolf.”

Elric’s expression stiffened.

‘That won’t do.’

There was an immeasurable gap between a Caliso Wolf and a Blade Wolf.

How could a monster that used mana as a weapon be the same as one that relied solely on its physical body?

If they set out assuming it was a Caliso Wolf, the men sent on the hunt would surely return as corpses.

‘To hunt a Blade Wolf, what we need is a knight.’

And even then, it had to be a knight capable of manipulating mana.

Unless someone could coat their sword in mana to increase its cutting power and use it to slice through the wolf’s claws head-on, sacrifices during the hunt were inevitable.

Struggling with how to explain this, Elric suddenly remembered a fact he had forgotten.

“……Ah, then a knight will be mobilized!”

As a rule, territory knights were mana users.

If there was even a single person who knew how to use mana, they could put him at the forefront.

He asked with that thought in mind,

“Hmm?”

But the answer was in a form Elric had never expected.

“I am not sure what you mean; we have no knights in our territory.”

Elric’s mouth fell open.

He wanted to snap that it made no sense, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so.

It was because of the explanation Tiria immediately added.

“The last knight of the territory was Sir Sieg of the Wibin family. He retired eight years ago due to old age.”

“And you haven’t appointed any other knights since then?”

“Yes. Part of the reason was a lack of suitable talent… but above all, knights aren’t very cost-effective, are they?”

It was the changing of the times.

The name that now dominated the battlefields of the continent was ‘gunpowder.’

“……I suppose that’s true.”

Knights were money-hungry hippos that required astronomical amounts of gold for recruitment, training, upkeep, and management.

On the other hand, look at the matchlock gun. A gun was a simple and vicious weapon that could turn even a farmer into an armed soldier with just one piece. Furthermore, its level of power was enough to harm a well-trained knight.

Of course, the price of a matchlock gun was also astronomical, but it wasn’t more than the money required to train a knight.

Unless it was a place where large-scale forces were deployed like the battlefields of the West, there was no longer a need to go through the trouble of raising knights in a humble rural territory like this.

It was enough to simply hand a gun to a reasonably trained soldier.

A sudden bitterness and regret washed over Elric.

Elric still admired knights and was one who respected their great strength.

And why wouldn’t he? He himself had reached the summit of what could be achieved with a sword while living as a war mercenary, so he couldn’t help but be favorable toward the employment of knights.

‘The fall of the knight….’

Words he had heard on the battlefield once before felt newly poignant.

“……Have I perhaps offended you?”

Tiria asked cautiously.

Elric quickly composed his expression and shook his head.

“No. Hmm, I’m just a bit saddened. You may not know, but my childhood dream was to be a knight. To hear that knights are disappearing makes my heart ache a little.”

Answering with a small smile, Elric added a word that was close to advice.

“……Still, don’t knights possess a power that guns cannot match? I would like you to reconsider the matter of recruiting a knight.”

How could mere lead bullets completely break the sword of a knight?

Guns and swords had different ceilings.

Elric himself was confident that if given a single sword, he could wipe out a matchlock unit of several hundred alone, and he had actually done such things before.

For the future of the territory, it was better to have at least one knight.

It was right after he uttered those words of conviction.

“I shall think about that again. ……No, if you think so, then it is right to do so. This territory is, after all, the territory you must manage.”

Elric was startled.

It was because a part of him he had been trying to ignore had been brought to light.

“Head of the family?”

“……It’s nothing. Just that the wind is cold.”

There was no need to dwell on complicated thoughts right now.

Elric answered as if making an excuse and turned his gaze to the passing scenery.

At that moment.

Ssh—

Her fur cloak spread out and wrapped around Elric’s shoulders.

Elric’s body stiffened.

His eyes darted toward her.

“This is……”

“Since you said it was cold. The cloak is large, so it shouldn’t be a problem for two people to cover themselves.”

Her gaze was fixed straight ahead.

Her body moved a little closer.

Their arms touched, and their fingertips brushed, exchanging the chill.

The tip of her nose was slightly red.

Elric stammered out his words.

“……You look cold yourself; you didn’t have to do this.”

“It’s not unbearable. Your health is more important than mine.”

“That is……”

“I am fine.”

For some reason, her words were firm.

Elric couldn’t continue his refusal further.

His gaze turned forward.

Clatter, clatter.

As the carriage swayed, their fingertips continued to bump, and at some point, their two hands—specifically their pinkies—became intertwined.

Neither of them knew who had moved first.

It was the following morning.

Ultimately, after multiple discussions, Tiria decided to mobilize a knight for this hunt and requested one from the neighboring territory of Gideon.

Elric had expected the process to be quite arduous, but Gideon provided a knight more easily than expected.

The two were now standing in front of the mansion’s main gate to welcome the knight.

“The Wibin family and the Gideon family have been interacting for over five generations, so there was nothing difficult about it. Moreover……”

“Moreover?”

“……No. You will see for yourself soon enough.”

Tiria shook her head.

Elric tilted his head in doubt, but she didn’t seem inclined to say more.

In the end, he would have to see for himself.

It was the moment he thought that.

“There, they are coming.”

Elric’s head snapped up toward the front.

There, someone was approaching the mansion on a sturdy brown horse.

It was a man whose silhouette alone was visible as his full plate armor reflected the brilliant winter sunlight.

He was large, and his movements while riding the horse were gallant.

‘He’s quite well-disciplined.’

Was his level about that of someone who had just become a mana user?

Elric, who had been watching him closely and making judgments, was soon able to see the knight’s face.

At that moment.

“……!”

Elric’s eyes widened.

“Whoa, whoa~.”

An exaggerated voice rang out.

As the distance closed, the horse slowed down.

The face of the man mounted on the horse was rugged.

However, there was also a mischievous air about him somewhere.

Elric knew him.

Though it had been ten years since they last met, someone so familiar that Elric could recognize him immediately was before his eyes.

Elric’s face brightened.

“Lytton!”

It was his close friend with whom he used to cause trouble in their childhood, the eldest son of the butcher shop, Lytton.

Lytton laughed brightly and shouted.

“Boss! It’s been a long time!”

It was a truly unexpected reunion.

The Wife Waited in the Wheat Field (Serialization)