"Who are you!?"
Gaiden was startled and drew his sword at the sudden shadow that appeared. He thought it was an attack by some ruffian. However, as soon as their eyes met, both sides stared blankly at each other.
"Is that you, Gaiden?"
" Roderick?"
Both of them were vassal knights from the Count of Corleone's family. They had joined the family around the same time, so they knew each other's faces well. They had even left the family together when searching for the heir.
The first to regain composure was Roderick, who assessed the surrounding situation.
"Gaiden! What on earth are you doing? Why would you harm the young master?"
"Th-that is…"
Gaiden, surprised by the unexpected situation, quickly processed his thoughts. He wondered why the heir knew his identity; could it be because Roderick had arrived first?
'Damn it, this situation keeps getting more complicated.'
With his eyes tightly closed, Gaiden decided to stick to his lie. If he wanted to brush off the misunderstanding, he had no choice but to act like he was mistaken. If Roderick was right and the young master was indeed present, he could simply apologize for the offense caused by his misunderstanding.
"Ahem, it seems that you are mistaken, Roderick."
"Mistaken? What do you mean?"
"Where is the proof that boy is the young master? To me, he looks just like a brat pretending to be a noble…"
"Gaiden Borel! How dare you insult the young master!"
Before Gaiden could finish his sentence, Roderick's fury erupted. His shout was so intense that all the mercenaries recoiled in shock. Gaiden stared at Roderick with a bewildered expression.
'What is wrong with this guy?'
Originally, the plan was for Roderick to refute Gaiden's words and present evidence. After that, Gaiden would lightly apologize, acknowledging his mistake, and that would be the end of it. But now, Roderick seemed to be furious as if his lord had been insulted.
"C-calm down, Sir. I had no such intention."
"No intention? Does that mean the insult came out naturally? Explain yourself properly!"
Even as Gaiden took a submissive stance, Roderick's anger did not subside. Rather, he seemed ready to draw his sword at any moment.
"Please calm down, Sir Roderick."
It was Sylas who saved Gaiden from his distress.
"Looking at the situation, it seems this gentleman is mistaken. He must have thought that I was impersonating my father's son."
"Indeed! It's truly an embarrassing mistake!"
Gratefully seizing the lifeline thrown his way, Gaiden nodded vigorously. He then dismounted and bowed his head, as if he wouldn't let this opportunity slip away.
"I apologize for the rudeness caused by my misunderstanding, young master. I am Gaiden, a knight of the Corleone family."
His dramatic change of attitude was embarrassing for anyone watching from the side. However, with the risk of getting into a brawl with Roderick, there was no time to worry about that. If another problem arose here, it would exceed the level where he could brush it off.
"See? Sir Gaiden is saying so as well. Please calm your anger."
"If the young master says so…"
With Sylas's words, Roderick stepped back. Gaiden's mind was in a swirl.
'How can he act like that? It's as if he's treating his own subordinate like a puppet on a string!'
Roderick, Gaiden knew he was a staunch believer in chivalry. In other words, he was someone with a particularly strong sense of pride and authority typical of knights. But what was the attitude Roderick was showing now? Was he not treating Sylas like more than just a noble, but rather as a lord he served?
"Come in, and let's talk. It's too cold to discuss this outside."
At Sylas's words, Roderick entered without any objections. Gaiden, still in a daze, followed behind. He felt he needed to understand what was happening first.
***
"Are the villagers attacking?"
Gaiden's eyes widened in surprise. Rather than anger, the first thought that crossed his mind was, Are they out of their minds?
How dare they touch a noble? The moment it becomes known, the entire village would be reduced to ashes.
"Because of that, they took my weapons and armor, and I even lost my prized horse. I'm so ashamed I can't even show my face."
Roderick trembled as he held his cup of tea. If they weren't at Sylas's house, he might have smashed the cup in his hands right then.
"But thankfully, you hid me, and after we spoke, everything matched up perfectly. It was truly a fateful encounter."
"Oh, is that so?"
Now Gaiden began to understand Roderick's extreme politeness a bit more. If he thought of him as his lord's son and his savior, it made sense. Plus, the coincidence of their meeting made it even more believable.
"However, why were you trying to act without properly identifying me? Just looking at those violet eyes should have made it obvious!"
"Uh, well, they don't stand out that much…"
"Roderick."
As Roderick seemed ready to explode again, Sylas intervened.
"Enough. You didn't do it on purpose, did you?"
"But if it had been a moment later, something terrible could have happened!"
"If Gaiden had known, how could he have possibly committed such an outrageous act? It all stemmed from a misunderstanding."
On the surface, his words seemed comforting. However, a chill ran down Gaiden's spine.
'How dare? Outrageous? Is he saying this for my benefit?'
His face was calm, but the choice of words was unusual. Even though he hadn't taken a sip of his tea, he swallowed hard.
Once Roderick had calmed down, he looked at Gaiden as if he had just remembered something and asked,
"By the way, why did you bring the mercenaries? A ranger would have been more useful for searching."
"I thought since they're well-informed and numerous, they could be of help…"
While he said that, the real reason was to put pressure on the heir. If there were a bunch of intimidating-looking men around, wouldn't that scare him?