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Chapter 8
In another world, this would be called a high-five, but here, when making a promise, people press their palms together.
Sometimes they even interlock their fingers, and occasionally they flip their clasped hands and kiss the back of each other’s hands—but Nina had never gone that far in making a vow.
Adrian looked at Nina’s face and only then let go of her hand.
Seeing Adrian’s now-shortened sleeves, Nina thought that when she made a lot of money later, she should have clothes tailored for him.
‘Honestly, Adrian probably knows more about clothes than I do.’
Even in a place like this, in a situation like this, Adrian always looked neat.
Even if his clothes were worn out and didn’t fit properly, he knew how to wear them so they never looked dirty or shabby.
He smiled lightly and said,
“Good night, Nina.”
“Good night, Adrian.”
Nina walked him to the door. After closing it, she threw herself onto the bed.
‘So incident number 3 has passed like this…’
Now Nina began to worry about incident number 4.
The annihilation of the Black Knights. They had only just started to look like a proper knight order—wasn’t this too much?
It felt unfair, but sleep came first. Nina soon fell into a deep sleep.
Morning always followed the same routine: training, breakfast, and patrol.
Her partner, Jin, looked down at Nina.
A former mercenary, his personality was as fiery as his red hair, but he was warm-hearted. His large, bear-like build made him stand out anywhere.
“Sleep well?”
“Of course.”
Nina answered lightly, then asked,
“Jin, what would have to happen for us to be wiped out?”
“That’s a scary thing to say.”
“It’s just a hypothesis.”
“Did you have a weird dream or something?”
Nina’s expression turned a little strange.
“You could say that…”
Could memories from another world be considered a dream?
Jin replied,
“You’re probably run down. That’s why you’re having weird dreams. Eat meat. Meat.”
After another ordinary day ended, Nina helped organize documents. Since only Nina and Jin in the knight order were literate, they often assisted Louis and Adrian.
Louis, the vice-captain, said,
“We’re excluded from the exchange meeting again this year.”
“The Royal Guard is handling it?”
“Yes.”
Adrian let out a small chuckle.
“It’s interesting that you think that’s an insult. I’m actually grateful we weren’t invited.”
“It’s an honor given to the knight order representing the territory.”
“An honor.”
Adrian muttered the word and tapped the desk with his fingertips.
“Hearing that makes me think we should select an elite group.”
It sounded like something said on impulse, but everyone except Nina knew it wasn’t.
“An elite group?”
Nina tilted her head as Adrian nodded.
“We gather the most skilled and rank them. Without competition, people fall behind.”
“In this situation, it’s hard to fall behind anyway.”
To survive against Bellac, they had to push themselves to the limit. At Nina’s words, Adrian shook his head.
“It can’t end with just surviving.”
They had to look beyond that—to what came next. Adrian knew that setting such goals was the role of a leader.
A few days later, a notice for elite selection was posted in the Black Knights’ quarters.
It announced the formation of a special group to deal with high-grade Bellac, and that long coats would be issued to resist the poison.
The Black Knights’ uniform was entirely black from head to toe because it was dyed and processed with a special plant that resisted Bellac’s poison.
Thanks to that, they were somewhat free from contamination.
This special plant was a specialty of the Violet Forest, so only the Black Knights of the Rubienne Ducal House received uniforms dyed with it.
Now, taking it a step further, an elite unit was created, equipped with long coats that could block even stronger poison.
After several days of testing, the elite members were announced at the founding ceremony.
Fewer than ten were selected.
Both Jin and Nina were among them.
A week later, when Nina received her long coat, she burst out laughing.
“It’s way too big!”
“You’ll grow into it.”
Jin grinned as he said that. Nina folded up the dragging hem and tied it with a belt. She decided to ignore the sleeves.
Giving her a coat that covered even her fingertips—wasn’t that too much?
But knowing the tight budget of the knight order, she simply nodded.
“I should grow faster.”
Normal weapons didn’t work well against Bellac. What they needed was a special steel from the Kingdom of Rengsi.
Since the Black Knights were always short on funds, their weapons contained only about 10% of this Rengsi steel. The elite got slightly better—around 15%.
That was because higher-grade Bellac had tougher exteriors and stronger regeneration.
‘Ah, I’m sure there’s a mine somewhere in the Violet Forest…’
She knew there was a mine that produced “Myungcheol,” a metal even better than Rengsi steel—but she didn’t know where it was. She only knew Fiona had discovered it by chance.
‘It’s not like I can just search the whole forest.’
If she ran into a high-grade Bellac alone, she’d die. Literally.
‘I’ll just look wherever my feet take me.’
Even if she found the mine, she had no way to process it.
‘Still, it’s better to find it in advance so I can act quickly later if I get a method or route.’
It would be nice if it were nearby.
‘If 15% is already this good, how amazing would Myungcheol be?’
At that moment, Kiril beckoned to Nina.
“Kiril, what is it?”
No matter how rough the Black Knights were, they were respectful in front of Kiril.
He was the only healer in the order, after all—the one holding their lives in his hands. In contrast, Kiril himself was always rough.
Still, he wore a proper white coat, and perhaps because he received supplies from outside, there were no leaves falling from his pipe.
“You’re going into the Violet Forest today, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then try to find a plant like this.”
Kiril handed her a piece of paper. It was a finely detailed illustration.
“A plant like this? What do you need it for?”
“For herbal research. I’ve dissected humans enough, so I figured I’d try something else.”
“I’ve cut enough already,” Kiril added, shaking his head.
Nina felt a chill but nodded.
“Of course.”
Looking at the illustration, something came to mind.
The heroine, Fiona, had turned the Rubienne territory into a prosperous land by using plants found within it. If they found them early and cultivated them early, that would be even better.
‘Though I don’t know when the young master will become the duke…’
That thought made her gloomy. Would Adrian really end up killing his family? With his own hands?
‘I don’t want that.’
She would rather do it herself than have Adrian bear the label of a patricide.
Thinking about what the duchess had done made her blood boil, but still…
If Adrian killed his half-brother and his own father with his own hands…
‘I don’t want that—for Adrian’s sake too.’
But if not, would he never become the duke? Since the third son was still alive?
‘Maybe I should stop full-scale cultivation…’
She decided she would just prepare things in advance and use them later when Adrian became duke.
‘Or a rebellion? A coup?’
But there was no justification. Nina sighed heavily. Kiril frowned.
“What’s with the sighing from someone so young?”
“Ah, there are things you wouldn’t understand, Kiril.”
Kiril looked at Nina’s oversized outfit and chuckled. The long coat made her look even younger.
“Right, how would I understand what’s on a fifteen-year-old’s mind?”
Nina pouted, but Kiril continued without caring.
“Lately, the rumors about the duchy aren’t good.”
Kiril exhaled smoke. Nina subtly avoided it.
“What kind of rumors?”
“That it’s drowning in debt. That creditors keep coming and going. That they keep losing at exchange meetings—and that they don’t even participate in the imperial tournament anymore.”
Nina stared at him.
She had thought this before—Kiril was quite strange.
Why was someone this capable working in the Black Knights? He seemed to have outside connections, and his skills didn’t look inferior anywhere.
“Why are you here, Kiril?”
After blurting it out, Nina wondered if it was rude—but Kiril answered calmly.
“Because I can dissect humans as much as I want.”
“….”
Left speechless, Nina simply said, “Hmm,” and looked back at the illustration.
“I’ll bring it if I can.”
“Do that.”
As she tucked the paper into her clothes, Nina thought,
‘Why is there not a single normal person here?’
What a tragedy.
