Chereads / Lich: Glory Knight / Chapter 5 - The start of the legacy (2)

Chapter 5 - The start of the legacy (2)

"You're waiting for your cat to wake up?"

"Yes."

"A cat?"

"Yes, a cat."

"You're waiting for it to wake up?"

"Yes."

After asking several questions, Eileen finally pieced together Gray's seemingly nonsensical words and understood his meaning. She quietly glanced around but didn't see any creatures resembling a cat nearby. And what did it mean for a knight to wait for a cat to wake up?

"Is he speaking in code?" Eileen maintained a polite smile, slightly tilting her head back and asking her adjutant, Aberorbs.

After thinking for a moment, Abe Robert said, "In the north, 'cat' can be used as a metaphor for unscrupulous things, meaning 'adultery'. But I don't understand what he means by waiting for 'adultery' here."

"Is he suggesting that we came to Salt Fish Port to do something immoral?"

"Possible, but it's a bit far-fetched."

Horsche spurred his warhorse forward, but Eileen stopped him with a hand gesture.

Slightly tilting her head up, Eileen put on a courteous smile and said, "Sir Knight, we have urgent business. Would you mind moving aside to let us through? You can wait by the side of the road for your cat to wake up."

"Move aside?" Gray glanced to either side.

The road was seven or eight meters wide, and although Gray was standing in the middle, the sun was setting and even the vendors had closed their stalls, leaving no one on either side of the road.

"Do you disagree?"

"It's not that I disagree." Gray hesitated. "The road is so wide. Can't you pass through? Why do I have to move aside?"

"What did you say?" Horsche, who had a quick temper, had already gripped his sword hilt, but Eileen stopped him again.

"Okay, then we'll go past you." Eileen slowly rode forward, and the soldiers made way for a passage.

As they passed by Gray, Eileen sneaked a glance at him from the corner of her eye and saw that he was still staring blankly, as if they didn't exist.

Soon, the knights, attendants, and servants behind them also went around Gray and followed them.

After everyone had passed, Eileen looked back and said, "It seems he's just a strange person, not targeting us." Abe Robert breathed a sigh of relief.

"Let's go."

Eileen continued forward towards the castle with her followers, while Gray remained standing still in his place.

Time passed slowly.

The sun had completely set, and the sky was filled with stars.

There were almost no people on the streets of the entire city, and a fat cat lay lazily on a balcony, yawning. The black cat was snoring in Gray's armor.

Several stray dogs fought over some scraps of food at a nearby alleyway.

Gray remained standing in the middle of the street, motionless.

================================

"Hey, it's dark already?"

Hearing the black cat's voice, Gray's tense body suddenly relaxed with a "clang" sound.

"You're finally awake, so what should we do next?"

"Do...what?" The black cat was still drowsy and confused about the direction.

"Didn't I tell you? We need to pledge our loyalty to the lord and go to the church."

"Where are you going to find the lord in the middle of the night?"

"Why can't we find him at night?"

"Doesn't the lord sleep?"

"The lord sleeps?"

"Maybe only the undead don't sleep in this world..."

"Okay...then what would a knight, I mean, an undead knight do if he doesn't sleep at night?"

"Do you have to find something to do?"

"You said no one would recognize me as a newcomer here, right? I...on my first day as a knight, I'm a little excited and can't wait to start my knight's life."

"Okay then, let's go to the tavern. The knights always drink themselves to death there."

"Great! Let's go to the tavern!"

Gray rode his horse happily on the street, looking for the tavern.

"Speaking of which, why do humans have to sleep so much?"

"Don't ask me, how would I know?"

"I mean, actually I could turn them all into undead. Then they wouldn't waste time sleeping and would have infinite life. Do you think they would appreciate me?"

"They would probably kill you."

"Why?"

The black cat didn't want to talk anymore. It felt more tired than taking care of a child.

...

On a starry night, the castle was brightly lit.

Rows of guards patrolled back and forth, holding long spears.

The torches in the braziers crackled and burned, casting light on the rough, black stone walls. The marks between the stones were clearly visible.

Bronze candlesticks, red carpets, and gauzy curtains decorated the finely appointed rooms.

On the long table, there were a few simple dishes and a large loaf of white bread.

It was a far cry from the inn they stayed at last night.

Eileen, who was already dressed in formal attire, sat alone. A servant brought her a bowl of soup and placed it in front of her respectfully.

Looking at the soup in front of her, Eileen asked expressionlessly, "Isn't Uncle Casper joining me for dinner?"

"The Count has urgent matters to attend to and cannot meet with Miss Eileen at the moment," answered the middle-aged steward in black robes and with a sharp nose and monkey cheeks.

"Oh? When will he be available? Tomorrow morning?"

"I'm not sure, my lady."

Eileen fell silent for a moment and said, "Very well, you may leave."

"As you wish." The steward bowed respectfully and left the room.

"You may leave as well." Eileen gestured to the maid who had served her the soup.

The fierce-looking Horsche made a "please" gesture.

The maid bowed carefully and handed the soup spoon to a knight standing nearby before leaving the room, holding her skirt. The steward who was still standing outside the door gave Eileen a meaningful look before turning and leaving with the maid.

The open door was closed by Horsche.

In the room, only Eileen, Horsche, Abe Robert, and four other knights under Eileen's command remained.

Abe Robert said softly, "It seems that Count Casper is not as eager to see us as his letter said."

"Could it be a trap?" Horsche asked.

"It's possible," Abe Robert replied casually.

After a brief silence, Eileen pursed her lips and said, "If he doesn't stand with us, the situation will be very unfavorable. In any case, we should try our best. The key is we don't have much time left. Once the celebration is over, the king will take action."

"If he doesn't summon us tomorrow, should we take action?" Horsche asked.

"No, we'll take action tonight," Eilin replied.

"Yes!" With a clang, all five knights including Horsche pounded their chest armor.

Just as Eileen was at a loss in the castle, Gray, our lich knight, had just arrived at the tavern located just across a moat and two streets from the castle.

The tavern was filled with the lively sound of the organ, flute, and snare drum, accompanied by dim red light.

The bartender bustled about with a polite smile, muscular men with their shirts off raised their glasses and drank heartily, prostitutes threw seductive glances in the arms of their clients, and street vendors closing up shop gambled in the corner. In a corner, a troubadour sang lowbrow songs and occasionally teased the audience with dirty jokes, making them laugh out loud.

The not-so-large tavern was crowded with all sorts of people, making it extremely noisy.

Gray was dumbfounded. At the age of 150, he had never seen anything like it before.

"Wow, why do they all look so happy?"

"Because they're drunk."

"Drunk? Is it the water they're drinking? I guess it's some kind of potion."

"That's alcohol, a very common thing in the human world. You really have no common sense."

"Isn't it normal not to have common sense? I see. They're drinking alcohol, and they came here to drink it, right?" Gray picked up a glass from someone else's table and examined it carefully before putting it back. It immediately attracted a few glances.

This lich clearly had no sense of discretion.

"Probably... maybe, possibly."

"What should I do now?"

"Find a place to sit."

Following the example of others, Gray found an empty table and sat down.

The bartender across from him looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Then what?"

"Order a drink and a fish."

"Why a fish?"

"Because I want to eat it!"

"Well, how do I order?"

"This is ridiculous... Do I have to teach you how to order a drink? Alright, do you see that bartender over there? The one in black clothes. Raise your hand and tell him you want a drink and a fish. Hurry up, I'm starving... I haven't eaten anything all day."

"Okay."

Gray did as he was told, raised his hand, and said to the bartender, "A drink and a fish."

The bartender silently nodded and turned around to prepare the fish.

Gray continued to sit silently, happily watching the surroundings. He didn't know why, but seeing a group of people laughing made him feel good too. Although he didn't drink alcohol, it wouldn't have any effect on him anyways. (He have a skeleton body..)

Gradually, he noticed that the people around him were also looking at him intentionally or unintentionally. The drinks and fish were brought out.

"Throw the fish in, throw it into the armor! Hurry!"

"Oh." Taking advantage of everyone's inattention, Gray lifted his head, half-covered his face with his hand, and threw the whole fish into the armor. The black cat happily enjoyed it. Then, the lich and cat chatted away, sometimes with words, sometimes without.

"This sound is really nice, I've never heard it before."

"That's called music, you fool. Don't you even know music?"

"We don't have it in the underworld. What is the person in the red dress doing?"

"She's dancing. Don't they have dance in the underworld?"

"No, we don't."

"Well then. Speaking of which, is it really interesting to be a lich? Although you have eternal life, you don't listen to music, you don't eat, you can't enjoy good food and wine, and you don't need women... what's the meaning of your existence? Don't you find it boring?"

"Um...I think it's okay."

"What do you do every day?"

"Research magic, conduct experiments. Brutu said that the meaning of a lich's life is to pursue the true meaning of magic."

"Hahaha, can you eat the true meaning of magic?"

"Uh...probably not."

From afar, a young man with red hair and leather armor stood up, holding a wooden cup, and stumbled towards Gray.

The group of muscular men wearing leather armor and carrying swords with him looked on from a distance.

"Hi, my name is Pas, from the Red Scorpion Mercenary Group. Can I sit down?" Pas asked.

"Uh...I guess you can," Gray replied hesitantly.

"I guess?" Pas smiled, put the cup on the table, and sat down with his legs crossed on the table, leaning back in a relaxed manner. "You're not from around here, are you? What are you doing here?"

"I'm a knight," Gray emphasized.

"I can see that, you're wearing knight armor. But where's your badge? You haven't taken off your helmet, but you're not wearing a badge?" Pas smiled and looked at Gray.

The black cat quietly sneaked into Gray's helmet, glanced out from the slit of the mask, and whispered, "Don't say too much, or you'll be exposed." After speaking, it crawled back into Gray's abdomen to continue enjoying its food.

Gray silently looked at Pas without saying a word.

"What, is there something on my face, knight?"

"Can you tell me your name, or your title?"

"You haven't had a sip of wine since you arrived. You ate a fish, and... you even ate the fish bones?"

"Can't handle our wine?"

"Actually, I noticed that you weren't wearing a badge and I thought you might be a wandering knight. Our mercenary group happens to need a vanguard, and maybe you can consider it. Of course, how much money you can make depends on your abilities."

Pas talked for a long time, his mouth was dry, and Gray didn't answer a word, just sitting there like a statue, doing nothing. Pas was a little embarrassed.

In the end, there was no other way. Pas put down a silver coin and said, "I'll treat you to this drink. If you're interested, come find me at 48 Ram Street."

After speaking, he got up and walked away, muttering to himself, "Is this guy crazy?"

After Pas left, the black cat quietly crawled into Gray's helmet and said, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Didn't you tell me not to say too much?"

"I told you not to say too much, but not to say anything at all. Goodness... is what I said so hard to understand?"

"Should I go talk to him now?"

"No need, it will only make you more suspicious. But you really need to consider his suggestion. Before you find a lord willing to have you as their vassal, you must have income. Actually, I think you might never find a lord willing to have you as their vassal, so income is more important than anything else."

"Income?"

"That's money. Just now I was thinking about how you would pay for the meal. If I remember correctly, you didn't have a single coin in your pants. Luckily, he left behind a silver coin, enough to pay for the meal."

Gray reached out and picked up the silver coin on the table, examining it in the light.

It was a small coin, the size of a fingernail, silver-white in color, slightly blackened, and with a blurry head in the center.

"The money and the coin you mentioned, is it this?" Gray asked.

"Yes. The people on the ground use this kind of thing for trading. You can buy anything you want, and everyone needs it. You don't have to eat, but it's not polite to let a cat do things for you and let it go hungry, right? Being a mercenary is a good job, at least for you. You don't have to explain your background, although some missions may be risky, but since you're already dead, you probably don't care, right? Hahaha."

"As long as I can get 'income', that's fine, right?"

"Yes, if you have a better way..."

Before the black cat could finish speaking, Gray stood up and strode towards the corner of the tavern.

"What are you going to do?" the black cat asked quickly.

"I have a way to earn 'income' faster than being a mercenary."

Pushing through the crowd, Gray slapped the silver coin on the gambling table.

All of a sudden, the gamblers turned to look at him.

...

At this moment, in the small town where Grey was originally supposed to appear, two milky white lights quietly appeared on the hill that Grey had planned to use to build his own castle.

As the white light gradually dissipated, a pure white set of wings, silver-white long hair, pale skin with a faint shimmer, armor so gorgeous that it seemed out of place in this world, and a delicate face appeared before their eyes... Unlike other living creatures, each of their eyes had two pupils.

And of course, there was a golden halo.

These were two angels, one male and one female.

After taking a brief glance at the castle on the ground that Grey had abandoned and never built, the male angel whispered, "A young lich has gone south."

"Do we need to report it upward?" the female angel asked.

"He's just a young Lich. Let's handle it ourselves."

With that, the male angel turned into a white light and dissipated into the air.

After scanning the surroundings, the female angel also turned into a white light and disappeared without a trace.