“Get lost! You’re no son of mine!” CRASH!
Ash and his companions arrived at Baron Maynor’s territory.
A long line to enter the castle was visible, but they didn’t need to join the end of it.
Among their group was Tylian, the eldest son of the Maynor family.
A superior ran urgently to the Baron Maynor of the inner castle…
Baron Maynor, who had rushed to the castle gate, shouted.
And the castle gate slammed shut.
“Wha- what?!”
“What are we supposed to do if you close the gate like this?! The deadline is today!”
“What happened?!”
Confusion erupted among the people waiting in line.
Before they could grasp the situation and hang the culprit, Ash pulled his companions aside into a corner.
He then whispered, “Has news of our escape already spread?”
[It’s possible if Owen Mills used a magic carrier pigeon.]
“If they’re sending news, it would start with the territories near the ducal castle. They wouldn’t deliver it to Baron Maynor’s territory first.”
The Master and Tylian answered in turn.
The two looked at each other.
More accurately, a bird and a human…
Anyway, these two disagreed on everything. Ash slapped his knee to signal them to focus.
“If the rumor hasn’t spread, then why are they acting like this?”
[Indeed. Did you break off relations with the Baron, Tylian?]
There was no answer. Ash had a bad feeling.
“Did you fight with Baron Maynor?”
“No,” Tylian said curtly. Ash found him suspicious.
But why didn’t he answer the Master’s question?
Even if that wasn’t it…
While it might not be called a ‘fight,’ their relationship wasn’t exactly good, was it?
His answer was strangely defiant.
“When was the last time you saw the Baron?”
“It seems to have been over a year ago.”
“What happened then?”
“Nothing special. However…”
Tylian recalled something.
“However?”
“I simply told him that since he calls himself a knight, he should act accordingly.”
Ash couldn’t believe his ears.
“You told your father to live a proper life?”
“I didn’t say it quite like that.”
“It’s the same thing! Weren’t you only rude to me?!”
Ash was seriously worried about Tylian’s social life.
When he told the nagging Tylian to ‘mind his own father,’ he obviously didn’t mean it literally!
He just wanted him to nag him less!
However, the immediate problem wasn’t Tylian’s life.
It was Ash’s life.
“Hey! Why did you tell us to come here?! What do we do? It looks like we won’t even be able to enter!”
[I don’t think that’ll be the case.]
The Master, who was observing the top of the castle wall, spoke.
At that very moment, as if by a lie, the castle gate opened again.
The people waiting in line stopped their murmuring.
It wasn’t because their complaints had subsided. Dozens of soldiers burst out from inside the castle gate.
Helmets and spears glinted in the sunlight.
With the sound of their boots thudding, thump, thump, thump, they ran out, shouting.
From behind the soldiers, a knight in a red helmet pointed an accusing finger into the air.
“Seize the disloyal wretch who betrayed His Grace the Duke! You, Tylian! Can you not step forward boldly? Where have you hidden like a rat?!”
The knight’s identity was Baron Maynor.
He was a long-time vassal of the Duke, and Ash knew his personality well.
He was quite an amusing person, considering he was Tylian’s father.
His personality and way of life were the complete opposite of Tylian’s.
Perhaps the only similarity was their loyalty.
Ash had assumed he couldn’t persuade him, and other people likely expected the same, because he was an immensely loyal subject who would unconditionally uphold the Duke’s wishes.
So, it wasn’t because he was an enemy of Tylian… was it?
“Baron, over there!”
“You wretch, Tylian!”
A sharp-eyed soldier spotted Ash’s group.
Tylian possessed a rare physique, making it difficult to hide in a crowd.
The Baron’s face became enraged as he confirmed his son’s presence.
Ash swallowed hard.
“Let’s run.”
He made an immediate decision.
There was no way he could persuade someone so angry.
However, Ash’s handsomeness was not the kind that could be obscured by travel fatigue.
He was accustomed to attracting attention everywhere, so Ash didn’t pay it much mind, but from the moment their group appeared, the people in line had been eyeing them.
Naturally, the Baron also spotted Ash.
His contorted expression shifted to one of pitiful concern.
“Lord Ash, flee from that wretch! That beast! That one who covets his master! How dare he lure Lord Ash into escaping. To bring scandal upon one who is soon to be married! What insolent things did that wretch whisper to you, Lord Ash? He must have enticed a pure soul with sweet words. I will save you. I will escort you back to the safe ducal castle, so have no worries!”
Ash was so dumbfounded that he couldn’t help but retort.
“No, who’s seducing whom? If he had the personality to do that, he wouldn’t have been a virgin until now, would he?”
Wasn’t he the one who did the seducing?
Ash considered himself a person with a conscience.
Though, of course, a blushing Tylian was extremely tempting…
“How do you know that wretch was a virgin, Lord Ash? No, he was a virgin? Why the past tense…? You wretch! What have you done to Lord Ash!?”
The Baron charged forward with terrifying momentum.
Ash realized.
‘Ah! This is not someone I can reason with!’
“That man is always the epitome of irrationality,” Tylian spat out with contempt.
‘What about you…? Aren’t you the one who suggested we persuade Baron Maynor?’
Ash’s concern was about a situation like, ‘What? Are you telling me to defy His Grace the Duke’s will and uphold Lord Ash? Impossible. Instead, I’ll triple-wrap Lord Ash and present him to Lord Owen. It will prove my loyalty to the new Duke.’
It wasn’t about the mutual hatred between the Maynor father and son!
“Crazy, he hates you more! It wasn’t a matter of whether I could persuade him or not, was it?!”
Tylian placed his hand on his sword hilt.
“It can’t be helped. I will take responsibility.”
“What responsibility?!”
“Since I led Lord Ash down the wrong path, I will take responsibility and hold them back here. Please escape quickly.”
“Don’t talk nonsense!”
Ash yanked Tylian.
“Master!”
[You need help, don’t you?]
The bird flew off Ash’s shoulder.
The winged shadow instantly grew larger, expanding both up and down, then transformed into a human form.
The drowsy-looking Archmage scratched his flamboyant hair and asked, and Ash urgently cried out, “Help me, Master. Help me escape from here!”
“What’s the price?”
“Anything, absolutely anything!”
“Lord Ash, such an answer…!”
“Alright.”
The magician smiled faintly.
A sudden gust of wind blew from somewhere and quickly escalated into a small hurricane.
A strong wind enveloped the three of them and swept them high into the air.
Ash looked down at the receding Maynor territory.
The figures of people rapidly shrank. Countless soldiers frantically rushing out of the castle, and knights on horseback…
Baron Maynor, in his red helmet, was yelling at his subordinates, bellowing at the sky.
‘Whew.’
He would have been completely doomed if they’d been caught. Ash felt relieved.
Wiping away cold sweat and blinking, he found they were already so high in the sky that the ground was barely visible.
Now, the chill outweighed the relief of being alive.
Frankly, being caught in a hurricane and flung through the air wasn’t a pleasant feeling.
“Master? Where are we going?”
“Ah, right. It’s understandable that you’d be curious. I don’t really know either.”
Wait, is that even allowed?
“Lord Ash, how could you agree to a condition like ‘anything’ in a contract with a magician? Even I, who haven’t learned magic, know that’s something you shouldn’t do!”
In the midst of all this, Tylian got angry.
Ash felt wronged!
“I saved you, didn’t I?”
“I didn’t need saving!”
Was this really something to get so angry about?
Ash was speechless.
Swallowing the surge of indignation, he tried to speak calmly.
“You, you… Aren’t you being too much?! Do I have to do good deeds only to be insulted?”
“What good deed did you do? Do you think I would have been caught by them? I can escape alone anytime. As long as you escape safely, Lord Ash!”
Tylian yelled.
It seemed like sparks were flying from his eyes.
Ash’s courage shrank, and he forgot what he was going to say.
But then, did that mean Ash was just luggage?
Of course, Ash was a burden.
While a few soldiers might have been manageable, he had no way to win against a knight.
‘Huh? I have nothing to say?’
No, that’s not right.
Ash found a logical point he almost missed.
“But why are you angry? Whether I escape alone or with you, I’m still escaping, aren’t I? Is there… a problem?”
Ash asked cautiously. Tylian gritted his teeth, as if he was going crazy.
“Didn’t you promise that magician an insane price?!”
The wind howled around them, carrying Tylian’s furious words upwards into the vast, empty sky.
Ash could feel the sting of the cold air against his cheeks, but Tylian’s anger was a sharper, more immediate sensation.
He was right, of course.
Promising anything to the Master was a gamble of epic proportions, especially given the Master’s penchant for eccentric, often inconvenient, demands.
Ash shuddered, wondering what outlandish task might be laid upon him.
Would he have to collect dragon tears?
Brew a potion from moonlight?
Or worse, endure another of the Master’s “teaching sessions” on advanced magical theory?
The possibilities were endless and terrifying.
Tylian, still gritting his teeth, managed to lean closer, his voice strained against the rushing wind.
“Do you have any idea what he might ask for? He could demand your entire fortune! Your title! Even… even your hand in marriage to some obscure, ancient magical creature!”
Ash’s eyes widened.
“My hand in marriage?! To what, a grumpy old griffin?”
The idea was so absurd, so utterly preposterous, that a nervous giggle escaped him.
But the giggle quickly died as he considered the Master’s whimsical nature.
It wasn’t entirely outside the realm of possibility.
The Master had always been fascinated by rare and unusual beings.
He imagined himself spending eternity trying to coax a surly elemental into polite conversation. The horror.
“It’s not funny, Lord Ash!”
Tylian’s face was a mask of exasperation.
“He’s a powerful Archmage. His whims are not to be trifled with. You should have consulted me!”
“When was I supposed to consult you?”
Ash retorted, feeling a fresh wave of indignation.
“We were about to be caught! You were literally preparing to sacrifice yourself! What was I supposed to do, politely ask for a moment to discuss contractual obligations with a furious Baron bearing down on us?”
“A skilled negotiator would have found a way!”
Tylian countered, though his argument sounded a little hollow, even to himself.
The truth was, in the heat of the moment, with Baron Maynor’s enraged shouts ringing in their ears, Ash’s impulsive promise had been their only escape route.
The Master, who had been listening to their bickering with what sounded suspiciously like quiet chuckles, finally interjected.
[Oh, dear, dear. Such melodrama. You worry yourselves needlessly. My demands are never unreasonable… from a certain point of view.]
“From whose point of view, Master?”
Ash asked, his voice laced with suspicion.
“Certainly not mine, usually.”
[That remains to be seen, little disciple,] the Master replied, his voice echoing in the wind, a hint of mischievous delight in his tone.
[For now, simply enjoy the ride. It’s not every day one gets to soar through the sky like a majestic bird, now is it?]
Ash looked down again.
The land below was a patchwork of green forests and distant, shimmering lakes.
The Baron’s castle was a tiny speck, almost invisible now.
Despite the terrifying height and the uncertain future, a strange sense of liberation washed over him.
He was free.
Free from Owen, free from the Duke’s castle, and for now, free from the pressing need to make sense of the world.
He still had to face the consequences of his rash promise to the Master, and the daunting task of finding Lord Valerius, but for this brief moment, he was simply flying.
Tylian, still frowning, gripped the hilt of his sword, ever vigilant.
He might be annoyed, but his loyalty was unwavering.
Ash felt a familiar warmth spread through his chest.
At least he wasn’t alone.
Whatever outlandish quest the Master had in store for them, they would face it together.
And maybe, just maybe, they’d find a way to make Owen Mills regret ever underestimating Ash, the Duke’s true successor, and his very peculiar, but undeniably effective, companions.
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