Chapter 123: The Hereditary Knight

Lin Qi and Enzo opened the door and stepped out onto the main street. Enzo’s family shack was not facing the street but nestled beside a small grove behind the town’s two main thoroughfares. The low-rise building, no taller than two stories, appeared shabby and diminutive. To the left and right stood a livestock pen and a pile of firewood, respectively. A sturdy fence made from raw wooden stakes encircled the house, enclosing a modest courtyard roughly a hundred meters square.

Because of the harsh winter, few townsfolk were awake; only a few boys in the distance cursed as they slung ropes and machetes over their shoulders, heading toward the distant hills. It was clear their firewood was running low, so they were off to chop more in the mountains. After all, winters in the northern continent were long and bitterly cold; aside from the noble elite, no one could possibly store enough fuel to last an entire season.

The wind had ceased, and the snow had stopped falling. Though the sky was a dull gray, the light was still bright. The entire town lay gently nestled between hills and grasslands, dotted with scattered small houses. Occasionally, tendrils of smoke rose into the air, creating a scene reminiscent of a bonsai in a crystal ball—exquisitely clear and pleasing to the eye.

Drawing in a deep breath of fresh air, Lin Qi began loosening his body—twisting his waist, swinging his shoulders—and then stood still, circulating his fighting energy through three cycles. That completed his entire morning workout. Watching Lin Qi’s lazy routine, Enzo could only issue a mocking snort before methodically beginning his own physical training, as required by the military academy.

Enzo launched into a full set of army combat techniques taught at the academy, throwing every punch and strike with all his might. After completing the sequence, sweat drenched his entire body. Once warmed up, he hoisted a large stone and ran laps around his yard, holding his breath through more than a dozen sprints. He then dropped the stone aside and started exercising various muscle groups.

His workout targeted arms, shoulders, chest, abdomen, thighs, calves, and even the joints of his fingers. Enzo’s morning training lasted a full hour and a half.

Meanwhile, Lin Qi, who had spent a mere five minutes exercising, rolled his eyes and leaned against the doorway with his hands tucked inside the sleeves of his bearskin coat, idly rubbing the bloated layer of fat on his belly. He suddenly sighed softly, “Enzo, if I had trained like you since childhood, I’d probably be a Celestial Knight by now, wouldn’t I?”

Enzo placed his hands on the ground and slowly pushed himself up. Catching his breath, he asked deliberately, “Boss, I’ve always wondered—your fighting energy is stronger than mine, yet I’ve never seen you put effort into training. Where exactly does your fighting energy come from?”

Lin Qi plopped down on the doorstep, tilting his head as he replied slowly, “Well, you know, those with power beyond the peak can transfer a portion of their fighting energy to others. Of course, it’s a bit wasteful, but my family has several Celestial Knights who, as a New Year’s gift, always send me some fighting energy.”

Enzo nearly spat out his blood in surprise. No wonder, with Lin Qi’s lazy, pig-like nature and his obsession with chasing gold coins, he never spent a moment training his fighting energy at school yet still managed to outmatch him. So that was the source of his strength?

Thankfully, Lin Qi hadn’t returned to Dunelke in three years—otherwise, he might have broken through his current rank long ago.

Recalling the miraculous Eastern medicinal bath they had shared during their recovery, Lin Qi could only marvel at how some things in this world truly could be gained without effort. If Blackbeard had indulged him just a little more, Lin Qi might have become the very worst kind of playboy. At present, he was at most a troublemaker, but certainly not a decadent aristocrat—and that was thanks to Blackbeard.

Stung by Lin Qi’s sharp words, Enzo lost interest in continuing his workout. He rinsed his body with icy celery water, changed into clean underwear, and beckoned Lin Qi with a curl of his finger. “Boss, I’m going to see someone. Want to come along?”

Lin Qi’s eyes brightened suddenly. He leaped up and laughed loudly, “Ah-ha, is it that person? Then of course—I definitely want to see! Oh gods, what kind of beauty compelled you to swear an oath to become a noble? Tsk tsk, it’s a shame Viktor and Yulian aren’t here. Otherwise, they would have forced you to take them along yesterday.”

Enzo curled his lip and spat heavily.

He then pulled a mixture of betel nut and tobacco from his pocket and stuffed it into his mouth. Together, they strode toward the end of the town’s main avenue.

As with every place, Light Town was divided by wealth and status—landlords and the poor. Entering from the town’s entrance and walking two miles along the avenue, beneath a picturesque hill by a small lake, stood a dozen stately and elegant mansions scattered across a grassy plain. These were the homes of the town’s prominent figures—vineyard owners, the heads of the Light Town Chamber of Commerce, oil mill proprietors, and the largest landowners.

In this town of five or six thousand souls, all the surrounding forests, hills, grasslands, lakes, and rivers within a five-mile radius belonged to one man: Light Town’s first-ever noble, the knight Awulf, a veteran of the Hundred-Year Archipelago War.

Recruited as a teenager to fight in the war, Awulf earned a distinguished military honor during the brutal eight-year final battle. The emperor of the empire awarded him the hereditary title of Thorned Iron Shield Knight, equivalent in rank to a baron of the empire, along with a hereditary fiefdom encompassing all the land around Light Town.

All residents of Light Town paid their taxes solely to Awulf, and imperial tax officials never set foot in the town. To the townsfolk, Awulf embodied the empire’s supreme authority and was effectively their ruler.

Naturally, the Awulf family estate was the grandest and largest in Light Town—a small castle capable of housing two hundred people. Three-meter-high stone walls and a moat surrounding the property testified to its formidable defensive strength.

Lin Qi and Enzo strolled leisurely to the edge of the grassy plain and, following the boundary of a small grove, climbed a nearby hill.

Enzo, clearly familiar with the terrain, led Lin Qi in a few circles before arriving beneath a giant maple tree. The two climbed a sturdy branch, from which they had a clear view of the Awulf estate.

Around thirty bare-chested men were running laps in the courtyard—they were surely Awulf’s mercenaries. Several servants and laborers busied themselves with household chores; one servant chased a fleeing capon with a cleaver, while the chicken clucked and fluttered wildly throughout the yard.

Gazing upon the grand estate, Enzo took a deep breath.

“I will become a noble!” he vowed fiercely.