I Will Be the Greatest Knight
Chapter 76: An Easier Path

Chapter 76: An Easier Path

Beyond the introduction to the Knights of Hydrogia’s Commander, Callum Lothian, the rest of the night was uneventful and all of the apprentices slept mostly soundly next to a fire. Sir Gunnar kept watch, insisting that their path ahead was a lot faster than the one the others would take. That meant that he would be able to sleep much sooner.

When the apprentices were awake, they were met with the sight of the Commander, his knights, and Sir Gunnar already getting things together which lit a fire under the apprentices since their ultimate goal was to always impress the knights they worked underneath.

Since Duchess Arlin had a maid with her to help her get dressed and ready to face more traveling, all she needed from anyone else was her trunks taken off the wagon so the maid could go through them and get things ready for her. Meanwhile, the Duchess remained in the wagon and hidden from everyone unless she needed water, food, or to use the bathroom—which she undoubtedly made a huge fuss over.

When Her Grace was finally ready and waiting in the carriage, Irene was with the luggage, helping the others load it back on. She stood next to a chest, waiting for Felix or Leif to grab the other end but the apprentice, Alix, came to her aid instead.

She dropped her gaze almost immediately when he approached.

"I’m not a fan of women like that either," the older apprentice muttered before gesturing to the chest and helping her lift the other end.

"I don’t know what you mean by that," Irene quickly argued, not willing to be caught staring.

This caused the handsome apprentice to smirk at her a bit more accusatory than she would like.

"Then you ought to get better at hiding your eyes," Alix responded but he continued helping the younger apprentice until the trunks were all put away and secure so they wouldn’t get ruined during the journey.

Instead of denying it any longer, Irene had to laugh at the ridiculousness of it.

"Sorry," she muttered. "You’re right. I’m Iro, by the way."

"I’m Alix," he responded. "It’s a pleasure to meet you."

The way he placed a hand over his chest and bowed slightly made Irene even more certain he was probably a noble. This was behavior she was familiar with when her parents were choosing her a suitable marriage candidate in her past life. The thought made her feel her face heat up. That was the life she didn’t want. Definitely not.

"The pleasure is mine," she responded. "I will see you around. Good luck taking the Duchess around Hydrogia."

"Perhaps," Alix agreed with a nod. "We will need all the luck we can get."

The girl had to hide a laugh and quickly escaped back to the other apprentices.

As soon as Gunnar and his apprentices got back onto the trail, traveling was so much faster without the Duchess slowing them down. Not only that, but it felt more freeing. In Irene’s opinion, Chemois was the most beautiful during spring. It wasn’t too hot yet and most of the flowers were just blooming. It was such a welcoming sight compared to the winters they had to endure.

Despite the struggle of winter, she didn’t think she could ever move someplace else. The south was said to be warmer and have beaches, but she preferred a place where she wouldn’t get sunburnt all the time.

There was a point when the traveling party had to stop for a meal and to feed their horses.

As they all stood around, Irene couldn’t help her curiosity.

"Sir Gunnar, do all people in the south look like Commander Lothian?" she wondered. "Or do they look like Alix?"

The knight raised his eyebrows at the apprentice’s question, thinking it was a rather strange thing to ask but the world she was secluded to was a bunch of pale northerners. The most diverse they got in that area were silver-haired mages and redheaded Sünstoian people.

The knight cleared his throat.

"People from the south look like anyone from the Commander to that apprentice," Sir Gunnar explained after a moment of contemplation about how he wanted to word what he was about to say. "In the south, they divide people into classes from the Royal Family, to nobles, to commoners, and to peasants. Alix looks like someone from the nobility while Commander Lothian looks like a peasant orphan who lived in a village just outside the capital’s wall and overlooking the ocean. Mages have only just barely started being treated equally to commoners and are now allowed to enter the walled city to help with people’s injuries and even work in the palace for His Majesty."

As he spoke, he didn’t only gain attention from Irene but Leif and Felix turned towards him in interest as well.

"Why isn’t it like that here?" Irene continued.

Sir Gunnar felt stressed to be burdened with that history lesson, but he was the only one who taught the apprentices, so he supposed it was up to him regardless.

"Before Chemois was conquered by Hydrogia, the former Royal Family here abolished serfdom and they never had rules against mages," he explained as simply as he possibly could. "We live differently in the north and the Royal Family will never change that."

Irene nodded thoughtfully.

"Thank you, sir," she responded. "I was unaware that there was a place like that. Are all peasants like the Commander?"

She pictured an entire race of people who were massive like the knight with dark skin and frightening expressions, but Sir Gunnar dashed her hopes at once.

"Only Commander Lothian has risen above the bounds of his social class, I’m afraid," the knight responded. "The peasants lack protection from the Royal Knights and other knighthoods in the past. It is very difficult for them to do much more than work to survive."

Irene seemed disappointed at this and Sir Gunnar couldn’t help ruffling the child’s hair before he got back onto his horse, signifying it was time to go.

In his opinion, she asked too many questions but it wasn’t such a bad thing to be curious.

"Let’s carry on," the knight ordered.

The rest of the journey wasn’t eventful and they arrived before their final meal of the day. They were tasked with putting their horses back and cleaning all armor and weapons taken with them to ensure that they didn’t rust.

However, as Irene went to the armory, she was stopped by Agnes who held a letter for her.

"A letter with your family seal was sent to a mage," the maid explained. "Sir Gunnar has permitted you to read it before you attend to your duties for the evening."

Irene thanked the maid and, instead of walking down the stairs to the lower level of the Duke’s Tower as planned, she sat down in a sitting room and pulled away the wax seal before unscrolling the paper.

She was surprised to see a letter considering her father said he would return with her grandmother shortly.