Under the Oak Tree

Chapter 73 – Familiar Fears (1)

Max, whose head was buried in her piece of parchment paper, writing down the list of materials from Rudis, popped her head up and looked at the door. There stood Rodrigo, looking very worried and urgent.

“W-whats w-wrong?”

“A man claiming to be Rob Midahas, lord of southern Libadon, has marched to the village entrance with thirty other knights. But he doesn’t have anything to prove his identity, which has caused a problem.”

“R-Rob… Midahas?” Max frowned at the unfamiliar name. Libadon was part of the allied countries of the west and happened to be the country that Anatol exchanged most frequently out of others. However, that didn’t mean she knew all the names to the lords in Libadon. Furthermore, there was no way Maximillian, who had been isolated from the noble since a young age, was able to identify a person only from a name.

“W-what is the l-lord of Li-Libadon do-doing in A-anatol?”

“He says he has made the long journey for a friendly meet up.”

“B-but w-we can’t just l-let them i-in…”

“We cannot allow an armed group of men to enter our territory without a clear identity,” Rodrigo agreed with her sentiments in a determined tone, which was rare for his gentle personality.

“While it’s frequent for outside merchants and soldiers to request an entrance since many malignant spirits reside near Anatol, some sort of identification to prove their status needs to be presented, no matter what. This is to prevent any thieves or forces from plundering the village during Lord Calypse’s absence.”

All the blood drained from Max’s face. She could feel the maids behind her hold their breath amidst the nervous silence. Her head went blank at the situation that was entirely new to her, but Max soon regained her composure and spoke.

“W-who would d-dare to l-loot a land g-guarded by t-the R-remdragon Knights?”

“We can’t be sure.”

Max turned her head at the sound at the new voice. It was Ruth, who ran inside the room all from the other end of the corridor after hearing the news.

“Everyone knows the Remdragon Knights are attending the King’s banquet. I’m suspicious about how they claim to have come to socialize while the lord is absent.”

Max turned pale.  “R-Ruth, d-do you also t-think they have c-come to i-invade Anatol?”

“There is a possibility. Lord Calyspe is the main knight to have successfully suppressed the sect. In recognition of his contribution, he was handed the majority of the treasures of Dragon Lear. It’s not entirely odd for someone to covet this treasure and decide to attack the Remdragons.”

“T-then d-do we f-f-fight?”

“If they act tough, it is appropriate for us to forcefully eradicate them. But as Rodrigo said, there are thirty knights…” he said and frowned with annoyance.

“If this man, Rob, really has thirty knights behind his back, it’s going to be a difficult battle. A low-class knight can easily take over ten guards. And if there is a high-class knight, then it’s needless to say.”

Hearing Ruth assumes a full-on battle, Max swallowed hard, anxious.

“And if this man really is what he says he is, then it’s a bigger problem. They might hold the fact that we forcefully turned them away against us and politically retaliate. Although we are part of the seven allied countries of the west, conflict between lords have always been present.

“T-then what d-do we d-do?”

“What do you think we should do, ma’am?” Ruth asked back.

Max flinched and hunched her back. Now with no Riftan around to guide her, Max, the Lady of the territory, had the responsibility to keep her village safe.

“I, I…” Max stuttered and clattered her teeth. She frantically bit her lip and tried to keep herself calm. “I-I’ll g-go to the g-g-gate and t-talk. I-I need to k-know w-what k-kind of p-people they a-are.”

“Fair point. You have to look at them to know who they are,” Ruth willingly agreed with Max.

“Allow me to prepare you, ma’am. You should be guarded in the case of sudden physical conflict. Rodrigo, let Sir Ovaron and Sir Sebrick know, immediately.”

“Y-yes, sir!” said Rodrigo as he ran out of the room.

“And ma’am, follow me if you will,” Ruth said as he quickly spun his body around.

Max handed the paper she was holding to a maid and walked after him. When they arrived at the garden, old man Kunel was leading two horses across the field. Ruth instantly took them by the reins.

“Do you know how to ride a horse?”

“Y-yes…”

To be honest, it was her first time riding a large horse like this, but she nodded, nonetheless. Max stepped in front of the slim mare and Kunel let out his hand to help her on the horse. When she got on the saddle, she tightly gripped the reins and squeezed her thighs to find her balance. After examining Max and seeing she did actually know how to ride a horse, Ruth hopped on to his.

“The soldiers will be lined up in the gymnasium. Follow me.”

And with that, he raced across the garden in a breeze. When Max followed him through a gate, she saw about thirty soldiers standing in an array. An old knight with white hair, who seemed to be the leader of the group, raised his voice at the sight of Ruth.

“So, there’s a guy in the front gate demanding to be granted entrance, huh?” he said while riding a horse and lightly tapping on his sword at the promise of bloodthirst. “Well, the poor guy should be ready to taste some blood.”