The setting sun had set the clouds on the horizon ablaze. On that spring evening, an ornate carriage rolled slowly along a road in Cote Province, in the Empire's south. Built from the finest materials, the exquisite four-wheeled coach had a stately black body adorned with elegant carvings and gilded patterns, every detail proclaiming its owner's noble status.

Most of all, there was the family crest on the carriage.

Irises wound around the blades of two crossed swords. A crown rested above their hilts, wreathed in blazing flames...

Only a noble well versed in heraldry would know how remarkable that crest was. Among all the Empire's families, few could place two crossed swords on their arms. They represented at least one Marshal in the family's history. The crown above them meant that the family also shared blood with the royal house.

Ten guard knights in light armor rode before the carriage and ten behind it. They sat fine horses, carried knightly swords, and wore brightly polished armor and weapons. Yet despite their splendid appearance, every one of them looked dejected.

Ma De sat beside the driver, idly chewing on a blade of grass. He looked at the sky, sighed deeply, then leaned down and knocked on the carriage window. “Young Master Du Wei, should we find somewhere to stop? It is getting dark.”

Du Wei, interrupted in his reading, looked up from inside the carriage. He opened the window, glanced at the setting sun, and said, “All right.”

Ma De answered at once. At that moment, a horse galloped up from ahead. A young family guard knight in light armor rode to the carriage, slightly out of breath. “Steward, there is a town ahead. It looks like the only place we can stop tonight.”

Former stable hand Ma De was still unaccustomed to being called Steward, but he took off his hat and nodded to the loyal-looking young knight. “The master has spoken. We stop ahead tonight.”

Looking at the young rider's earnest, resolute face, Ma De sighed inwardly. Such an innocent young man.

Only these twenty family guard knights accompanied Young Master Du Wei back to the Rowling Family's old home.

The eldest son of Count Raymond—the second-ranking figure in Imperial Headquarters—had been sent on this journey with only twenty guards, a steward, and a driver.

It was a painfully shabby retinue.

Among the great houses of the Imperial Capital, noble families would take crowds of servants and guards even on a simple outing to the countryside.

And these twenty family guards had been very “carefully selected.”

Everyone knew that Young Master Du Wei had completely fallen from favor. The family's future rested on his younger brother. Though no one had said it aloud, everyone understood that Du Wei had been stripped of his position as heir.

Following a master exiled to his ancestral home offered no bright future. Everyone had ambitions, and everyone wanted to remain in the prosperous Imperial Capital. No one wished to follow a useless master into the backcountry and waste a lifetime overseeing farmers.

The knights in particular wanted to remain in the capital, near the Count. Perhaps their martial skill would one day catch his eye and bring them success. So when the assignment to accompany Du Wei home was announced, everyone avoided it. No knight wanted to waste his best years with such an unfortunate master.

The twenty finally chosen were therefore a collection of unlucky men. Some had poor martial skill and could not be trusted with important duties. Some were solitary and disliked by their comrades, or pushed aside by them. Others were young, naive, and easily deceived.

Looking at the young knight who had returned from scouting, Ma De had already judged him: he was probably one of the naive youngsters, too simple to realize that this entire party had been exiled.

Since leaving the Imperial Capital, morale had been low. The only person who remained calm and unhurried was Young Master Du Wei.

Though exiled, he had never complained once. Every day he sat in the carriage reading books brought from home. He spoke little and treated others gently enough.

Putting aside his thoughts, Ma De called out for everyone to increase their pace. The former stable hand and present steward was in decent spirits. He knew how to comfort himself: exile or not, he had once been a mere stable hand. Everything he had now came through the young master. Even if he was only the steward of an exiled household, his monthly pay had gained several gold coins. That was a fact.

He touched the hard coin purse beneath his clothes and smiled.

Cote Province was in the south. He had heard that southern girls had soft skin and petite figures. Perhaps old Ma De could even find himself a wife there.

Giantwood Town was the only settlement within roughly thirty-five miles. The town had a few hundred households and only one tavern: the plainly named Giantwood Tavern.

Being the sole tavern, its business was never too bad. Cheap liquor, cheap roast meat, cheap prostitutes... Even people at the bottom of society needed a little pleasure in life, did they not?

When Du Wei's convoy arrived outside, he raised his head, closed his book, and extinguished the carriage lamp.

Stepping down, he looked up at the rusty metal tavern sign swinging in the wind. Noisy voices came through the door, and warm, lively light shone from the windows.

Their entrance immediately drew attention. A group of knights in light armor flooding into such a small tavern was impossible to miss.

Du Wei entered last. By then, the knights had efficiently done their work: they had cleared a space, found a clean table, and formed a safe circle around him.

Everyone in the tavern examined Du Wei, the young-looking adolescent.

He was fairly tall, as might be expected of someone born to the martial Rowling Family, but his build was somewhat slight. His handsome formal clothes, trimmed with lace at collar and cuffs, marked him as a noble. Apart from the striking red hair typical of Rowling blood, he seemed more scholarly than martial.

Pale-faced, slender, fair, silent, with a book still in his hands.

The guards began carrying in luggage. Ma De tossed out several gold coins, and the tavern owner immediately cleared some clean rooms and arranged for the horses to be fed.

Du Wei, meanwhile, endured the curious looks from all around him.

“Oh! Looks like a noble lord.”

“A noble lord? What is one doing in a place like this?”

“Boss, you ought to keep the chair that fellow sat in. It might sell for a good price!”

After a brief silence, the tavern grew noisy again. Everyone discussed Du Wei's party. In such a remote place, a finely dressed noble appearing in a cheap tavern was a rare sight.

Several heavily made-up women in revealing clothes, shoulders and cleavage exposed, tried to crowd over and strike up a conversation with Du Wei. Ma De carried out his duty well and chased the prostitutes away.

As they were shoved aside, two women pointed at Ma De and cursed him in rural slang. He did not care. A drunk immediately came up, put an arm around one of them, and said, “Ha! My little darling, what is so good about that little brat? Let your uncle love you.” He gave her backside a hard squeeze. The woman beamed and at once settled into his arms.

Du Wei remained calm. He quietly drank a cup of wine. Even while people pointed and whispered, he only frowned slightly.

The guard knights looked dispirited as well. In that place, reeking of cheap alcohol and powder, they could not help lamenting their future.

How wonderful it would be to remain amid the glitter and bustle of the Imperial Capital!

Then the tavern door slammed open. A group entered: three men and one woman. Their dusty faces and clearly expensive clothing showed that they were travelers rather than locals, like Du Wei's party.

The tavern fell silent at once. Every man's gaze settled almost immediately on the young woman among them.

She looked eighteen or nineteen, with long brown hair and a gorgeous face that possessed an aggressive allure for men. She wore fitted leather armor of obvious quality, made from some magical beast's hide. It was deep blue and engraved with strange patterns. Her lower half was even more eye-catching: she wore short trousers that left her fair, full thighs completely bare. A belt around one thigh held a dagger. A curved blade hung at her waist, and a delicate little bow rested across her back, its quiver filled with silver arrows.

Du Wei recognized the arrows at once. They were pure silver. Making arrows from silver was truly extravagant.

The girl's rounded thighs became the focus of every man in the tavern. When she bent casually, the unusual neckline of her leather armor exposed a soft white cleft of breast. Two nearby drunks stared so hard that their cups dropped from their hands.

Her male companions included a huge man built like a bull. He wore heavy armor, carried a thick shield on his back, and had the hard air, astonishing muscles, and visible scars of a strength-focused warrior. Another was tall and thin, alert-looking, with a longbow slung across his shoulder. His black bowstring, long powerful fingers, and black iron thumb ring marked him as an archer.

But the final man was the one who caught Du Wei's attention most.

He wore a gray robe and had an ordinary face, save for the cold glint that never left his eyes. His clothing was so simple that everyone around him seemed to overlook him.

Du Wei did not.

The man was wrapped in his robe, but on his chest was a silver leaf-shaped badge.

People in this little place did not recognize it, but Du Wei did. So did some of the worldly Rowling guards beside him.

The gray-robed man was a mage. Though he wore only one silver-leaf badge, the lowest rank of first-level mage...

That silver leaf nevertheless proved beyond doubt that he was a genuine mage certified by the Magic Guild.

After staring at the badge for a while, an idea immediately formed in Du Wei's mind...