Back at the mansion, Shan and Roden told Kalion, who had returned home after finishing work, about Princess Sherin’s offer.

Naturally, since punching her in the face and giving her a bloody nose had officially never happened, they left that part out. Instead, they explained vaguely that they had been a little rude without knowing who she was, which had led to a fight with her guards.

After hearing their account, Kalion clicked his tongue.

“I knew she was ambitious, but it seems she means to become queen. Surely she doesn’t intend to endure all that abuse just to acquire a powerful Altoan knight and keep him at her side to show off.”

“Is that possible?”

“Who knows? There have been queens before, but usually only when there were no men in the direct line. Even then, their consorts always handled various duties on their behalf.”

Having answered Shan’s question, Kalion thought for a moment before adding,

“Still, I can’t say she has no chance at all. Most lords already support one of the two princes, but the princess has a powerful patron in Count Pales. She could also win the support of the administrators and the mages, including the Magic Society...”

Count Pales was a powerful northern lord. Surrounded on every side by rugged mountains and rivers, his domain was one of the few safe regions in Pendia where monsters were rarely seen.

Its fertile black soil also yielded abundant harvests, producing forty percent of Pendia’s grain.

“Then does she intend to use Shan to open up the Demonlands and unearth magical devices to secure the succession?”

“That seems likely, but she might find some other way. She is renowned as a magical genius, after all. That isn’t the important part, though. What matters is that she’s proposing a full fifteen-year term of vassalage.”

“It certainly is much longer than usual.”

In truth, a long term of vassalage was not necessarily disadvantageous to either side.

A knight could not seek out a powerful, wealthy liege after building greater fame and increasing his worth. On the other hand, the liege had to honor the contract’s duration even if the knight died or suffered a serious disability that left him unable to fight.

Unless there were grounds for disqualification, a noble who refused to provide for a knight who had died or been crippled fighting for them, and for that knight’s dependents, was considered as dishonorable as a kinslayer or heretic.

Naturally, that made nobles all the more selective about the knights they took into their service.

In other words, if fierce fighting lay ahead, a shorter term of vassalage was actually more advantageous to the liege.

“Then if she still chose such a long term, is it because she thinks so highly of Shan’s potential?”

“If he weren’t Altoan, every king and noble would covet his talents. In a sense, we should take it as a sign of how highly she values him.”

Embarrassed to hear himself described as a man of talent, Shan looked away.

“But that is one thing, and fifteen years is quite another. If an ordinary member of royalty made this offer, we’d have every reason to celebrate. But if the princess loses the succession struggle and is shut away in some tower, you’ll be stuck there with her. You’ll lose the entire prime of your life.”

Just as a noble had to provide for a knight who died or became incapacitated, a knight had to remain loyal for the duration of the contract even if his liege fell from power.

That held true even if the liege could no longer pay his wages properly.

Withholding pay despite having the money was grounds for breaking the contract. But a knight who simply turned his back and left because his liege had lost everything and fallen into poverty was despised as disloyal.

In short, there were two main choices.

The first was to accept Princess Sherin’s proposal.

If she became queen, Shan might even rise to become a landed noble. But the chances of success were slim, and the price of failure would be immense.

The second was to continue operating independently as he was now, searching for a liege willing to knight him.

As the princess had said, finding someone willing to do so was practically impossible. Still, if he kept hunting monsters and built an extraordinary reputation, a way might present itself.

The former offered greater heights but ruin upon failure. The latter held no particular risk of failure, but little realistic prospect of accomplishing anything either.

Shan listened to their explanations and thought for a long while before speaking.

“Can’t we ask her to shorten it?”

“Shorten it?”

“Putting together what you and Mr. Kalion have said, working for her for a few years would be fine, but fifteen is too long, right?”

“That’s a bit... Bargaining with royalty is...”

Just as Roden was about to say no, a thought flashed through his mind.

It was obvious when he thought about it, yet the other party’s exalted royal status had kept the possibility from ever occurring to him.

“No, that might actually be a good idea.”

“What do you mean?”

Roden answered Kalion with conviction.

“Let’s make the princess choose instead of us. Right now, she’s leading us around by the nose.”

Whatever means she had used, the princess had gathered all the information about them before approaching them with a carefully laid plan.

Rather than let her dictate their actions, Roden thought it better to change the entire game.

Always know the facts and take control of the situation.

Seeing his son put his own oft-repeated advice into practice, Kalion briefly smiled with pride.

“What, specifically?”

“First, we’ll act as though we aren’t particularly interested in her offer. If she came in person, she must be quite eager. And Shan demonstrated his skill by subduing two knights without a single weapon. Thinking about it, isn’t the princess the one who should be more desperate, with her whole life at stake?”

Even if Shan never became a knight, he had more than enough ways to make a living, whether as a monster hunter or a mercenary.

He was only aiming higher because of his own desire to get ahead and the hopes of Roden and his other acquaintances.

Of course, the same applied to Princess Sherin.

As long as she did not stir up trouble by entering the contest for the throne, she could marry into a reasonably respectable family and live well.

It was a test of nerve, so to speak.

A contest of shrewd judgment and negotiation in which the more desperate party had to bow first: the realm of merchants.

The idea itself was nothing unusual. But in a society governed by rank, the very notion of a mere Altoan and merchants daring to try such a thing against royalty was an extraordinary departure from convention.

“If she never contacts us, that just means she never wanted us that badly in the first place. In that case, Shan wouldn’t have been treated well even if he became her vassal.”

Then, when the princess contacted them, they would make a counteroffer far more favorable to them than her initial proposal.

Kalion laughed incredulously at Roden’s suggestion.

“Ha... I would never have dared dream of something so disrespectful.”

Kalion had spent his entire life bowing and scraping not merely to royalty and nobles, but even to the attendants who served them. For a merchant like him, such an idea was almost inconceivable.

He felt guilty enough simply refusing the princess’s request. Yet they meant to hold firm and wait for her to yield?

It was a choice only the boldness of youth could make possible.

“Very well. Handle the rest of the discussions yourselves, too. I don’t think this is an area where I can help you.”

“What? But, Father...”

Whatever Shan chose, Kalion would inevitably become involved as well.

It would take only a little investigation to discover who had been supporting Shan until now.

“I’m old now. Growing older isn’t always a good thing. Along with wisdom, it teaches you fear and servility. Put me before the princess and I’ll bow and scrape out of habit. I doubt that would help your negotiations.”

Kalion took a small sip of the tea before him, then sighed.

“You’re twenty now, too. At your age, I had already founded my own trading company. You still have much to learn about the business, but you seem to have your head on straight. I trust you can handle this much yourself.”

* * *

For more than ten days after that, Shan truly did nothing, just as Roden had instructed.

That did not mean he neglected his usual routine of keeping his body limber and strong, of course.

He simply spent his time without leaving the house.

His one outing came when the blacksmith Kalion had introduced to him sent word that his order was ready.

The work must have been exhausting. The blacksmith’s face was more gaunt than when Shan had first met him.

“Here you are.”

“Oh.”

Shan let out a small exclamation at the helmet and shield the blacksmith held out.

The shield was a little larger than a fully spread hand, shaped more for actively deflecting blows than passively guarding against them.

As requested, the helmet left his face entirely open, offering an unobstructed view.

The originally whitish metal had turned a dingy black. Even if its former owner came back from the dead, he would probably never recognize it.

“See how unusual the internal structure is? I added a little material to the original alloy while working it...”

Stripped of its complexities, the blacksmith’s explanation came down to something surprisingly simple.

When a blow struck the center of this small shield, its impact was dramatically reduced.

The edges, however, were somewhat fragile, making it quite difficult to use.

It required extraordinary reflexes to position the shield precisely against an incoming blow. In short, it was perfect for Shan.

“It’s amazing that this is possible without magic...”

“That’s what I’ve spent my life learning my craft for. Shall I put it on Mr. Kalion’s account?”

“Yes!”

Grinning from ear to ear, Shan returned to the mansion, immediately called Roden out, and headed for the garden.

Naturally, he intended to test his new shield.

“You want me to hit you as hard as I like?”

“Yes. It won’t be practice if we both know what’s coming.”

“Well, I suppose it’s not as if I could put you in danger by using my full strength.”

Roden gave a hearty laugh. Then his expression hardened, and he leveled his large war flail.

With a shout, he sent the metal-bound rod hurtling toward Shan as though to crush his body.

‘Just as I thought...’

As Sir Darkal had once said, Roden’s innate talents as a warrior were not bad at all.

More precisely, his aptitude for technique was relatively ordinary, but his physical gifts were quite exceptional.

His imposing build and the tremendous strength it afforded him were a match for those of any knight Shan had seen.

The only problems were his spirit, whose refinement had stalled when he abandoned his training, and the way he froze when confronted with a blade.

As these thoughts passed through his mind, Shan positioned the shield strapped to his forearm precisely in the path of Roden’s war flail.

CLANG!

A tremendous din rang through the middle of the garden.

“Oops, I hit harder than I meant to... Are you all right?”

“Yes. This is really good! I can hardly believe it isn’t enchanted. My arm doesn’t hurt at all. You can hit harder.”

Marveling at the shield on his forearm, Shan smiled without realizing it.

A blow like that should have sent a shock through his body even if he blocked it perfectly. Instead, the shield vibrated with a hum, dispersing the impact he should have suffered.

With this, he felt he might even manage to block that cockatrice’s attacks if he reinforced his defense with spirit.

Of course, an ordinary person would never dare attempt it, considering that a single failure to catch the blow exactly in the center would leave them crushed.

Shan continued blocking Roden’s wildly swinging war flail again and again without moving a single step.

The repeated clash of metal startled the servants into peeking into the garden several times.

At last, an exhausted Roden surrendered.

“Hah, huff... Damn it. I can’t do another swing.”

“Thanks for the hard work.”

Despite taking well over a hundred blows in the space of a few minutes, the shield bore only a few light scratches.

After briefly delighting in his new companion’s performance, Shan donned the helmet and clasped his hands behind his back for the final test.

“... Are we really doing this?”

“Yes.”

“It seems dangerous no matter how I look at it.”

“It’s fine. It’s not going to kill me, is it?”

“Be careful.”

After repeatedly trying to dissuade Shan and warning him, Roden took a steadying breath and swung his war flail.

DING!

Shan’s head rang, and light flashed before his eyes.

“Urk.”

“You all right?”

“More or less... Wow, it really feels like my head’s rattling.”

Shan sank to the ground, removed his helmet, and rubbed the smarting back of his head in admiration.

Roden had not truly swung hard enough to crush his skull, but it had still been more than powerful enough to knock him unconscious. Yet the helmet had absorbed the impact better than expected.

As the pair played about with weapons, working up a sweat as young men their age were wont to do, a maid approached and called to Roden.

“Um, young master. Pardon me, but you have visitors.”

“Who is it?”

“She said you would know her as the mage Rin...”

Realizing who their visitor was, Shan and Roden looked at one another simultaneously.

Between this and her previous name, Sherry, the princess clearly had little talent for inventing aliases.

Then again, she had probably chosen it so they would recognize her.

“How many are there?”

“Three.”

“Tell them we’ll wash up and come see them right away.”

After the maid left, Shan gave Roden a wondering look.

Even so, he had never imagined she would come this soon.

“She came awfully quickly, didn’t she?”

“Actually, I did play a few tricks.”

“Tricks?”

“I started buying potions and tools for monster hunting a little while ago.”

He had purchased several items suited to Demonlands explorers from the Magic Society. Naturally, word would have reached Princess Sherin through her connections among the mages.

Moreover, the warriors gathered by the two princes had begun leaving for the east a few days earlier. She might well suspect that Shan and Roden intended to join them.

Had she failed to come even after that, Roden had been prepared to actually head east.

They would not have gone to Shedil, where the two princes were surely busy expanding their influence, but they could have hunted monsters here and there throughout the eastern regions.

* * *

After taking their time washing in the baths and changing their clothes, Shan and Roden headed to the drawing room. As expected, Princess Sherin awaited them.

She wore the same amethyst spectacles as last time, with a hood pulled low to complete her disguise.

“Greetings, Your Highness.”

Shan raised his head after his courteous greeting and looked at the two guards standing behind Sherin.

They must have received ample treatment over the past ten days; their broken bones appeared to have healed completely.

Their expressions were hostile, but Shan could read anxiety and fear in their eyes.

Sherin looked between Shan and Roden. Rather than begin speaking, she abruptly held out a woven wooden basket.

“Take this.”

“... Pardon?”

Somewhat bewildered by this unexpected development, Shan accepted the basket.

Lifting the cloth that covered it, he found apple pies baked to a lovely brown.

“I brought these to apologize for my rudeness last time. I’m embarrassed to sound as though I’m boasting, but I made the dough and baked them myself.”

Apple pies made by a princess herself—few even among the highest nobility could enjoy such a luxury.

It would have been better, however, if the giver had not been Princess Sherin, the so-called witch.

Seeing the sinister look in the girl’s eyes as she watched them, Roden instinctively knew she had done something to those apple pies.

Who could know what wicked potion a mage as accomplished as the princess might have mixed into them?

Especially when she was certain to bear a grudge over the thrashing she had received last time...

“Thank you, Your Highness. They look delicious. If you don’t mind, may I try a bite?”

“Please do. As the one who made them, I would be delighted to see you enjoying them.”

Oblivious to Roden’s worries, Shan thanked her and even took a bite.

Then he turned to Roden behind him in admiration and offered him one.

“These are really good! Have a bite, Roden.”

“Uh, sure...”

In this atmosphere, he could hardly say he refused to eat because he had no idea what that woman might have put inside.

As Roden forced himself to eat an apple pie as well, Sherin smiled.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying them. They are also my tribute as the loser to the victors.”

“What?”

Did she mean she had lost because she had been punched and given a bloody nose last time?

At their bewilderment, Sherin shook her head.

“How embarrassing, to make me say it twice. I mean that I concede defeat. After all, I came to you first. Name your terms.”

Caught off guard, Shan could not keep the surprise from his face.

She was acting as though she knew all along that they had deliberately made her anxious so they could present a counteroffer.

Anyone watching might have thought she had overheard their conversation that day.

Beside him, Roden looked similarly surprised. He cleared his throat before speaking.

“With all due respect, fifteen years is too long.”

“I need a safeguard. You will fight more faithfully if you are at least prepared to share my downfall should I lose.”

“But the moment Shan receives his knighthood from you, there will be no prospect of his entering another person’s service anyway, will there?”

“Shan could build an immense reputation as a knight-errant. Since a knighthood cannot be revoked once granted, I need some assurance that you will remain with me.”

Forcing courage into his heart, Roden held his ground against the princess without shrinking back.

He ignored the glares of the two knights behind her, whose eyes all but shouted, “You insolent wretch.”

Neither of them could stand up to so much as a punch from Shan anyway...

“Very well, then. How much would you like to shorten it?”

“Five years.”

“Too short. Seven—”

“Your Highness.”

Shan, who had been sitting quietly, interrupted the conversation by addressing Sherin.

Everyone turned to him.

“Speak.”

“I would like to know exactly what I would be required to do if I entered your service, and what your plans are.”

At this unplanned question, Roden nearly let his dismay show.

Asking her to explain what they would be doing in advance? Princess Sherin would never agree if she were in her right mind.

Whatever her plan was, if they heard it and spread it elsewhere, there was no telling what opposition she might face.

Sure enough, the princess looked distinctly displeased behind her spectacles.

“You would learn my grand design in full before deciding whether to pledge your loyalty? That is hardly knightly.”

“I’m not a particularly good person myself, but even so, I don’t want to follow a bad one.”

“Can you not overlook a little injustice for the sake of your dream?”

“I’m asking because I would like to know whether it is little.”

Such eloquence was unlike the usual Shan.

That was because, beyond making his speech more polite, he was simply laying bare his honest thoughts without embellishing a single thing.

“Is that one of your conditions?”

“If our aims prove incompatible, Your Highness would suffer a one-sided loss, so it can hardly be considered a condition.”

As Sherin tried to quietly turn the disclosure into a bargaining concession, Roden stepped in to cut her off.

She clicked her tongue softly, then spoke with a sigh.

“Very well. Since I’m the one in need, I suppose I have no choice... I intend to become queen.”

“Your Highness.”

The female knight behind her tried to stop her mistress, looking startled.

Many people already suspected as much, but hearing her state it openly carried an entirely different weight.

“Enough. They wish to hear, so I shall tell them. The reason I want to become queen is that Conrad and Elvin, the two future candidates for this country’s throne, are both utter fucking morons. If either of them becomes king, Pendia is doomed. Not that this den of beggars has much further to fall. But I don’t want that. I want to change this country for the better, and I know I’m the only one who can.”

The knights standing behind her squeezed their eyes shut at this vulgar, arrogant tirade, scarcely imaginable from a princess’s lips.

Looking at her, Shan asked,

“Why are you the only one who can change the country for the better?”

“Because I recognize its problems and have the ability to change them. Did you know that Pendia’s population has stagnated for the past several decades?”

“No.”

“Pendia still has vast stretches of habitable land. There is fertile soil everywhere that would yield abundant wheat if you simply plowed it once and scattered seed. Yet apart from a few among the upper classes, everyone has to starve and tremble, trapped inside walls.”

Having traveled through various parts of Pendia himself, Shan could understand what she meant.

Most of Pendia’s commoners lived within wooden or stone walls, venturing out to their fields or into the forests for firewood in constant fear of monster attacks.

And when someone was carried off in a monster’s jaws, they could only resign themselves to it, saying there was nothing to be done.

“Can you solve that, Your Highness?”

“Yes. Once my current research is complete, I am confident I can use it to drive the monsters’ range entirely back into the Demonlands.”

“That research—”

“I cannot tell you what it is yet. It is confidential.”

Faced with her firm refusal to disclose this one thing, Shan backed down as well.

Watching from behind him, Roden realized the atmosphere had somehow taken a strange turn.

‘This is...’

Originally, this meeting was meant to discuss the terms under which the princess would knight Shan.

Yet at some point, it had become Shan questioning her as though putting her to the test, while the princess argued her qualifications to become queen.

“The moment I announce that research, I will begin pursuing the throne in earnest. Naturally, those two will try every despicable means to harm me. The problem is that I lack the physical strength to stop them.”

That was why she needed a powerful knight like him, Sherin said. Removing her spectacles, she fixed Shan with her piercing reddish-brown eyes.