Inside the castle, the candlelight was dim.
The flickering glow fell across Kalin's face, leaving the young man's features shifting between light and shadow.
And in that atmosphere, Kalin suddenly thought of his teacher.
It had been just such a dark night, when he had been nothing more than the son of an ordinary cowherd.
By a stroke of chance, he had saved a gravely wounded demon hunter.
That was what his teacher had called himself, but whenever he mentioned demon hunters, there had always been a trace of bitterness on his face. Kalin had never understood what he meant.
Even now, he still did not understand.
Back then, he had used the bloody scent of a cow that had just calved to muddle the hounds' sense of smell, saving the man.
But... "saving" was not quite accurate, because after Kalin had cared for him for several days, the man died of wounds too severe to survive.
Before dying, however, he used the mysterious power of a 'sign' to transmit a piece of information into Kalin's mind.
It was a method of constantly tempering himself with various potions!
And a matching swordsmanship!
It was by relying on these that Kalin had grown step by step into the strongest person in Lancaster Barony!
Yes, in his view, even Gangshan, who was known as the barony's greatest knight, was far from being his match.
Of course, if the man wore a full suit of armor, taking him down would be somewhat troublesome.
Even such strength was not enough to kill that couple and then support Miss Catherine's ascent to the position of baron.
He looked toward Miss Catherine's room, his gaze filled with tenderness.
She seemed to have forgotten that when she was very young, following the old baron to the village,