HTSAADK 07

How to Live as a Catastrophe-Level Knight Episode 007

7. Territory Scribe Simon

Upon arriving in the city, our first order of business was to secure an inn. Barmertan, being a place frequented by monsters, saw a constant flow of mercenaries, which in turn led to a high concentration of inns for a small city.

The place we settled into was a mid-to-high-class inn in Barmertan. The cost, of course, was covered by Enshelm. Even though I wasn’t officially hired yet, he insisted on covering the expenses as thanks for saving his life.

As soon as he paid for the rooms, Enselm went out with Hokarn and his attendant Malcolm to handle the goods. Left at the inn were me, Walter and Maroon drinking on the first floor, and the newly accepted talking lizard companion.

Thanks to Enselm consideration, I was assigned a room to myself. Sitting in the room with a view of the outside, I quietly looked down at the city scope.

“The rumors that the lord is a bastard seem to be true.”

Outside the window, I could see the territory’s residents going about their day. The faces of the villagers, which should have been full of vitality, were stained with annoyance and discontent. Even I, who had just arrived in Barmertan today, could tell who the residents’ negative feelings were directed at.

The cause, without a doubt, was the former merchant-turned-Baronet, the pot-bellied Lord Milleo. In his quest to shed his non-hereditary Baronet title and become a true Baron, Milleo had doubled the territory’s taxes. ‘Doubled’ is putting it mildly; the taxes the residents of Barmertan now had to bear were near the limit, making life precarious.

“U-um! Master, is something worrying you?”
The talking lizard perched on my shoulder asked in a concerned voice, having read something in my expression. The title ‘Master’ already seemed familiar to it, and it didn’t feel strange to me either.

I took a sip of the draft beer I’d requested from the innkeeper, quietly observed the villagers, and nodded.
“It doesn’t feel very good. If the lord is a bastard, those working under him are likely similar. I don’t know what the territory scribe is like, but the probability he’s a good person isn’t high. If the rumors about Milleo are true.”

“I’ve heard about Lord Milleo too. Living by the lake, you hear many merchants’ stories. I heard his tyranny towards the residents has gotten so extreme lately that even mercenaries are clicking their tongues.”

“That probably isn’t limited to just the residents. If that Milleo is desperate to squeeze out money, he’d try to exploit anything that could turn a profit, without discrimination.”

In short, it meant even an outsider like me could become Milleo target. For some reason, I had a foreboding feeling that the identity verification process wouldn’t end easily. Finding fault and demanding under-the-table money was practically a tradition for city officials.

I had money from selling the grey bear and the large crow’s corpse to Enselm, but I still had no desire to hand it over to that greedy lord. Money could always be earned, but I just didn’t want to.

“I understand your worry, Master. But wouldn’t it work if you reveal you’re a knight? Even the greedy Milleo wouldn’t dare act recklessly then.”
The lizard, lying flat on my shoulder and staring at a street-side chicken skewer stall as if mesmerized, spoke in a quiet voice. This made sense.

Based on the information I’d gathered about knights, such monstrous beings were not ones a mere baronet could carelessly mess with. It’s not that knights were like mythical giants or dragons—impossible to oppose. Knights are fast, tough, and tireless. That’s it. Of course, those seemingly simple traits were slightly beyond human levels.

Just think about it. What if a human who could run as fast as a beast had skin that could deflect arrows, and the stamina to run all day without tiring? That’s already a monster from that point onward.

The saying that a high-level knight beyond the intermediate rank could face an army of ten thousand alone wasn’t an exaggerated rumor but a clear fact.

In entities like kingdoms or empires, they possessed one or two such high-level knights with superhuman power. Beings who could change the tide of a battlefield. That was a knight.

Of course, one shouldn’t misunderstand; not all knights were such insane monsters. That was only true for high-level knights. But that didn’t mean Milleo was in a position to look down on a low-level knight either. A knight, simply by existing, received treatment equal to a baronet.

“Claiming to be a knight could be one method. But I’m not a knight.”
“…Huh?”
Turning my head, I saw the gecko lizard making a foolish expression. I learned today that lizards have more varied expressions than one might think.

“B-but! Master Cedric, you are a knight, right? If you suddenly say you’re not, what am I, your servant, supposed to say…”
“It’s not a joke. I’m really not.”

I knew why the talking lizard, Enselm, Hokarn, and the others misunderstood me as a knight. Even if only for a short distance, I was fast enough to outrun a horse. Furthermore, I had picked up a stone, thrown it, and utterly shattered one wing of the large crow without a trace. My physical abilities were undeniably no different from a knight’s. Perhaps I was at an intermediate knight level? I had deflected all the arrows from the bandits who attacked the village with my skin, so defensively I was similar too.

The only difference with me was that, unlike ordinary knights, I couldn’t sense mana. Considering that ‘knight’ was a title for mana users, I was not a knight.

I gently stroked the dazed lizard’s small head with my finger and spoke.
“Well, there’s probably nothing major to worry about. Enselm is a clever merchant; he’ll manage to get the identity verification process done smoothly even if I’m not a knight.”

Although Enselm suffered from anger management issues specifically with Walter, he was a fairly capable merchant aside from that. This information was even more reliable as I heard it from Walter, who wasn’t particularly fond of him.

So, I waited quietly. We had agreed that once Enselm returned to the inn after handling the goods, we would go together to meet the territory scribe to get the identity guarantee. But that day, Enselm, who had left the inn, did not return even late into the night. The same went for Hokarn and his attendant Malcolm.

A dim underground prison. Inside the iron bars of Barmertan musty, mold-smelling underground prison sat Enselm with a haggard complexion. And before him, a middle-aged man with a distinctive hooked nose and graying hair, puffing himself up, held a cigar in his mouth.

“…Enselm, you know this isn’t something stubbornness will solve. I can’t understand why you, who were clearly wise, are acting like this today.”
“No, how can you say that now…”
The thin-framed middle-aged man being reprimanded in the chair widened his eyes and ground his teeth. He glared at the man smoking the cigar with a sharp gaze and opened his mouth.

“Scribe Simon. However you look at it, this isn’t right, is it? I merely requested the identity verification process for one of our party members.”
“Yes, that’s the problem.”
“No. The problem is because I didn’t comply with Scribe Simon’s demand, isn’t it?”

A fiery heat, like flames, poured from Enselm eyes as he spoke. The incident began like this.

After handling all the goods from the carriage, Enselm met Simon in advance to get confirmation on proceeding with Cedric’s identity verification smoothly. Initially, Simon’s reaction was friendly. He said identity verification wasn’t difficult administrative work and that he would handle it cleanly. Naturally, Enselm knew Simon wouldn’t do it for free, so he had prepared money to show sincerity—about 60 silver coins. This was not a small sum; it was enough for a typical family of four to live comfortably for two months.

But Simon flatly refused the bribe and instead chattered on about bringing spices on the next trade run and selling them to him at a cheap price. If not, he demanded payment of about 3 gold coins. It was insane. Even if identity verification were tricky administrative work, it wasn’t. There were many from slash-and-burn villages, and anyone could get an ID as long as they weren’t a spy. Of course, it took considerable time without a guarantor. But to demand such an outrageous amount for merely creating an identity…

Enselm knew the lord of Barmertan was money-hungry, but he hadn’t expected even the territory scribe to demand such an exorbitant bribe. So, he suggested dropping the matter. Identity verification could be done in another city. But at that moment, Simon’s expression changed, and he had them detained.

Enselm ground his teeth and raised his voice at the composed Simon.
“Scribe Simon, release us even now. If Lord Marquis Marquis learns of this, he will never let this matter slide.”

“Hmm, I think you’re being too arrogant there, Enselm. He is a true noble that even Lord Milleo cannot mention carelessly. Do you think someone like him would pay attention to a small city like this?”

Simon sneered and stubbed out the half-smoked cigar on the table.
“Enselm, stop bluffing and settle here. I know the money you made from selling the meat isn’t small. Let’s resolve it with that. The longer this goes, the more troublesome it gets for you.”
“You know how absurd this coercion is, Scribe Simon. You don’t even have grounds to detain us, do you?”
“Hehehe, Enselm. Are you going to be naive like this? Reasons can be made. For instance, you stopped by Barmertan to create a fake identity for a spy from another kingdom… Couldn’t that be a reason? Ah, in that case, your family would have a hard time staying safe too, wouldn’t they? What a pity.”
“Th-that’s utter nonsense…!”

A flustered Enselm eyes widened. Enselm trembled with rage, to the point where killing intent seemed to emanate from his expression. Of course, Simon wasn’t one to shrink back from a skinny merchant’s killing intent. He rather seemed to enjoy Enselm anger, continuing with a twisted attitude.

“I have a dinner engagement, so I can’t wait for your answer forever. I’ll give you a chance even now, so decide. Pay the proper money. Or be branded as spies along with that commoner from the slash-and-burn village you mentioned and offer your lives. It doesn’t seem like a matter requiring great deliberation. What do you think?”

Simon asked with a sneering smile. In fact, even as he spoke, he was confident Enselm wouldn’t be able to refuse his offer. The disadvantaged one was Enselm all along. The man of unknown origin he brought had instead become Enselm shackle. In fact, if Enselm hadn’t brought up the identity guarantee, even Simon wouldn’t have thought of framing them like this. No matter how corrupt a territory was, basic pretext was necessary.

Simon looked at Enselm trembling with rage and showed a relaxed smile. But then, it happened. Enselm expression, which had been revealing a killing intent as if to tear Simon apart, gradually stiffened and then turned pale as if he’d seen a ghost. He looked utterly terrified.

Thinking the victory was his, Simon smiled and opened his mouth.
“Hehehe. Have you finally realized your position? It’s late, but I’d still like to call it wise. By now, the soldiers I sent should have…”

But at that moment.
Squeak
The sound of something hard bending mercilessly came from behind, followed by…
Clang— Thud— Twang—
The sound of a lump of metal rolling on the floor echoed in Simon’s ears.

A sudden, eerie feeling made Simon jump up from his seat and turn around. His gaze fell upon two soldiers collapsed on the floor, and a giant of a man who had bent the iron bars with his bare hands, ripped them out, and thrown them to the ground.

Simon flinched and swallowed dryly. The unreal scene made his thoughts seem to freeze for a moment.
‘Th-the iron bars? With bare hands? W-what the hell kind of nonsense…!’

Simon realized belatedly. Enselm’s face had turned pale not because of his threats, but because he had seen the man right before his eyes.

Simon’s face twisted in fear, and he staggered back a step. The giant monster who had bent the underground prison’s iron bars like taffy was looking at him with an interested gaze. With a small lizard perched on his shoulder—an incomprehensible sight.