Low people! How could a commoner who didn't even have manners for the royal family be accepted by the knights of the palace?
However, that shouldn't bother Prince Algis right now. The urgent message sent by his maid Adriana was not something the girl he loved was used to.
"This time I will forgive you!" Algis looked away and then mounted the horse Borneo had been holding. "Leave him!" He shouted to the other knights.
Immediately, people looked away from the man who was muttering angrily about heading south.
The other knights mounted their horses. First, it was Algis who led the procession. On his left was Borneo, and on his right was the captain, whose name was not asked.
"What is your name, Captain of the Seventh Squad, the Palace Knight Squad II?"
The captain aligned his horse with Algis before answering. The palms of his hands were placed on his left chest as a sign of respect before he spoke. "I am very pleased with the attention that has begun. My name is noble Fearless Red. I am the third son of Baron Roten."
Algis had memorized all the nobles living in the capital. However, it wasn't possible to memorize everyone's faces by meeting them once a month at a party.
"You deserve it!" Algis replied. "Tell me, when did this commoner knight join the seventh knight?"
"It began almost two months ago. He caught the attention of the evaluators with his swordsmanship!"
"So his skills are really that good, huh?" muttered Algis.
Borneo and the captain of the seven knights stared at Algis, waiting to hear what he would say. But Algis didn't say anything until they left the capital's dividing gate.
"From now on, we Seven Knights will take over, Your Majesty!" Fearfully, the captain of the seventh knight said as he led Algis. "Safety at the start is paramount!"
The other knights said the same.
Getting permission to leave the capital alone was like a miracle to Algis. Therefore, he did not protest with his security methods. The four knights behind him immediately followed their captain. Since the formation of the front guard had been announced earlier, the guards immediately took up their positions.
"Looks like I have to give them credit for that," Algis muttered as he turned to his servant.
"They've been waiting to show His Majesty something like this. So your appreciation will make them even more excited!" Borneo confirmed in a quiet voice. "Your Majesty, the knight who annoyed you earlier is in the third row."
Algis tugged at the reins a little as if the horse was uncomfortable so that she could see the knight with the black hair and piercing gaze from earlier. The man seemed to notice their attention and smiled.
If he didn't hurry now, Algis would punish this common knight.
"Ignore him, Borneo! We must save Adriana first! His disobedience will be punished later," Algis said.
He snapped the reins to make the horse run faster. Algis didn't want to get too close to the annoying knight behind him.
***
Just like a child!
Cyril didn't want to go. He didn't even mind being kicked out of Troop Seven. Being kicked out and running away were two different things. Running away would only make Cyril a fugitive. But after he saw no more of his army's horses, he felt as if they had been betrayed. Cyril's body in this novel fought with all its might to become a knight. He fought, and that's what first touched him when he read Cyril's story.
"This is not true! Not true!" Cyril muttered under his breath.
Once again he was surprised by the ability of the body he was in now. He had never ridden a horse before. The horse the knight's stableman had given him was big and tall. It would hurt to fall off the horse's back.
"You're very good at riling people up."
Cyril raised his chin. He recognized the voice greeting him from the right. "That is indeed a special talent! Just like you, who are so talented at making people sick!" Cyril replied.
The man appeared to Syril's left, trying to get ahead of him. "You common people! You have not only insulted me but also the Crown Prince!"
Cyril blinked, his words completely devoid of contempt. "Is Your Highness the Crown Prince that sensitive?"
The noble seemed offended. He nodded and raised his chin. "Talking to ordinary people is so disgusting! Irritating!" he said and smacked the horse's belly with his leg. The ridden horse galloped forward, leaving Cyril behind.
"Even though I didn't do anything! Base! Wherever it is, discrimination is a disease!"
Cyril didn't want to think about the crown prince, the unnamed captain, the aristocrat who kept whimpering and cocking his chin as if the two men were about to part in some horrible way.
Cyril tried to find out about the other knights, who didn't like him but didn't openly mock him. It was as if the Knights didn't know the details of the mission they were on.
Damn it! If I don't know these things, I'll just end up dying like in a novel!
Cyril gripped the reins so tightly that his palms burned. His fingernails were cutting into his palms.
He turned to the right, to the expanse of fields belonging to the locals who had finished farming. Several men and women in the middle of the field looked happy. They raised their heads to see who was walking down the main road and then went back to work.
Cyril's parents in the world before he moved here were also farmers. They are not rich. But there were times when Cyril remembered that they both used to smile like that. Cyril wished them well and didn't think too much about it.
Cyril tugged on the reins of his horse to make the beast run faster. He was almost at the end of the line from daydreaming. Only when he reached his original spot did he notice a black aura looming in front of them?
What's that? Cyril wondered, narrowing his eyes. He thought he might have an anemia problem, which made his vision suddenly blurry. Then there was the uncomfortable feeling he had when riding a horse.
Cyril wondered if they were going to be on horseback for five days.
"Stay alert! We are entering the Black Forest!" the captain shouted ahead.
Cyril remembered the forest the noble captain had mentioned. It was a forest where beasts had been affected by an unknown force to the point of going berserk. The beast's strength was also unpredictable and many times stronger than normal.
The black shadow that Cyril had seen earlier was now to his left and right. Then the discomfort of riding a horse increased. Cyril was sure that this was not the only reason for the pressure.