"I told you!! I told you we shouldn't have accepted the woman's offer!"
"Shut up Jules, all the lady did was do us a favour, how can we be sure that she's a part of this. Though I agree that had it been that we all didn't decide to go and sleep at once leaving only Sir Gustav, someone would have at least discovered them." The yellow wavy-haired Knight said, he looked at Knight Gustav, who buried his face into his palm in frustration at the situation they found themselves in. "What exactly happened? Why were you not able to notice..." He asked Knight Gustav who in turn removed his face from his hand and looked around the room.
"He asked me not to enter without his permission. Even when I suspected that it was too silent, I couldn't enter because of his warning."
"...What do you propose is the way forward? you are the next person in charge after Knight Denethor." He said again.
Knight Gustav looked at him, "Zephyrus, should we just report this to the Duke? by now the dukedom would have found out that the young Lord is yet to reach the capital, which means they'll already the suspecting that something is wrong. These people are asking for a hundred and fifty platinum coins, where in the world are we supposed to get that. Don't you think it will be better for us to just report it snd request backup? I'm asking you as a friend, not a senior Knight."
Knight Zephyrus sighed, "The moment we left the dukedom our priority became the young Lord and all of our loyalty also goes to him, we were careless and also weak. It's natural that we suffer the consequences of our lack. But I can't help but think the young master allowed himself to get kidnapped."
"What do you mean?" Knight Gustav asked, paying attention to what Knight Zephyrus was saying.
"I didn't fight him, but according to you guys, you said he singlehandedly beat you all with no weapon, one hit knockout each, at first I didn't believe it, but seeing him and the way he acts began to make me believe it. When I suggested that we should go back to the duchy, it is something a kid would have considered, which is why I suggested it but instead he wanted to continue the journey under the pretext of saving our lives. That young master is not like every other kid, I also felt something when he said he would get Knight Denethor back, how can I explain? I felt relief as though I knew he could do it."
Other Knights nodded in agreement with that last part.
"You all must have felt it too." He said to them.
"Yes, at first I thought it was just my trust and decision to follow him, so I didn't pay attention to it." Another Knight named Bastien answered.
"Plus throughout our journey, the young master did not show any kind of childly attitude, his response to dangerous situations, our conversations, it all felt like I was talking to someone older than me. I agree with Knight Zephyrus, I think the young master knows what he is doing, plus he is a prima who has the S grade vassal weapon Siegfried, I think this was deliberate." Another Knight named Aestas said.
"Fine, if it's like that what do we do?" Knight Gustav said, looking at all of them.
"Let's wait for two days, if after two days we see nothing, let's report, however, let's try to secretly find this hideout and watch it. We also have to be careful, the dukedom might send knights to investigate since the due date that young master is supposed to arrive at the capital is today." Knight Zephyrus replied to all of them. They nodded.
"We'll divide ourselves into a group of two, myself and Knight Zephyrus will pretend as though we are complying with their terms and find a way to stall time, while the rest of you discreetly investigate, first let's all change out of armours. Let's use the little money we have left to get the cheapest clothes we can get." Knight Gustav said. The rest of the Knight responded and dispersed from my room.
***
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"Think about it. He's a mage! We can ask for an even higher amount.!" He said, with eyes full of luxurious expectations.
"Yes but first don't we have to take care of him. He's a mage and he just used his magic." The guy named Hallap stated.
"Have you forgotten, my grand skill?" He responded.
"Ah, anti-magic..." He said and looked back at me. "Little kid that knows how to run his mouth about, you seem to have that thought that you can handle the situation because you are a mage. I'm so sorry to announce to -"
I grabbed his collar and held his hand, with the power and sturdiness I had, it wasn't hard to flip him over. His body smashed the chair as I slammed him to the floor.
I stretched my hand to the other one who was appalled by what just happened.
"What the hell was that movement?! How can you be a mage and be a martial art practitioner?!" He shouted pointing his fingers at me.
"Well, it doesn't matter..." He brought out a rusty knife.
"Huh? a vassal weapon, judging by the look it's almost dead though" Anastasia said as she saw it.
I swept into his space before he could swing the dagger or say anything and caught his hand. I wasn't sure if this anti-magic like I just heard was going to work on me, but I wasn't ready to gamble any shit. I squeezed an uppercut into his jaw and snatched the dagger off his hand as my punch sent him backwards, smacking his back against the wooden wall.
As I held the knife it suddenly began to change from its rusty state to a brand new knife, sharp and clean.
"You just supplied this little bastard ether," Ana said.
"Huh? Who are you?"
'A salary earner died and came here as a low-grade vassal weapon ego, a big figure from history comes as a high grade.... is this world's vassal weapons practically made of people from earth, whether, folklore, history, mythology or even daily life. Then if I had not met Ana, would I have become a low-grade vassal weapon too?'
"Don't think too much, something is wrong, this particular act is an act of imbalance, something is wrong and I can't seem to figure it out, but one thing I know is, my sisters are involved in this." She said, folding her hands.
"Ahh, shit... I can't believe I passed out for a moment." The guy I slammed first said as he stood. I turned to him and clicked my tongue.
"You're a stupid one, if you woke you should have played dead, what if I decide to kill you this time?"
He suddenly took two steps back and paused, the atmosphere was silent briefly.
"Ah, shit... those words coming from a kid like you, I almost lost my cool. Looks like you too are made of some stuff but you are dealing with primas here, you think a mage can last with a prima. It's impossible, while a mage can only cast a spell and have only one source of energy storage, primas have two, first is our core, second is the vassal weapon." He said and brought out his vassal weapon. He slipped the rusty ring with a gem on it into his hands. I almost for a moment thought that was Anastasia's sister, but her sisters are gold.