13 Ritzy Finds a New Kind of Joy
Ritzy's conjured light arrow rammed into the head wold head and impaling him on the floor. The other's didn't have magic sense so they couldn't see behind the wolves but they could hear the cracking of bones and one second yell from the wolf.
The younger knights turned back and saw Ritzy standing on the horse with a crossbow on his forearm. In their minds, they were thinking where in the world did he get the crossbow.
The old knights who were already experienced yelled to the younger knights,
"Keep your guards up, there are still more wolves!".
The wolves seeing their leader killed went berserk and charged through the bush. The older knights were faring well on their own, they were holding the wolves back and having their partner kill the wolf when it showed an opening. The younger generation wasn't faring too well. If it wasn't for Ritzy helping them with his crossbow, they would've already suffered a casualty.
After 10 minutes of combat, the wolves stop going berserk and noticed they lost half their numbers. Seeing that they had no chance of winning or even survival, they all ran away fearing for their lives.
Seeing the wolves run away caused the knights to cheer for their victory.
Alter,
"Alright men, let's get to work! Junger, you take Luke with you to survey the area. There might be more monsters nearby. Servants, I want you to collect the carcasses and prepare them for tonight's dinner and for selling the hide when we arrive at the next town. Rest of you knights take a break, we'll resume our journey in an hour".
Alter walked up to Ritzy and said,
"Lord, we will be taking a break before we continue. As per the rules of hunting, you will receive all you killed, 20% of our kills meat and the valuable bones. Also ..."
Ritzy,
"Understood, but keep the meat for our meal later. I think we should do a little celebration by stuffing our faces till we're full of meat tonight. It's our first time working as a team together, a small feast should be appropriate for introducing ourselves and celebrating our first successful attack".
Alter,
"Thank you, milord, the men will be happy to hear this".
Ritzy,
"Also, talk to Jacky. I asked her to bring some hidden wine. I couldn't sneak in much so I made sure it gave a powerful kick per sip. This would be great for dropping any awkwardness that could appear when we start introducing our selves".
Suprise and excited Alter said,
"Of course Milord, I'll go right away".
Seeing Ritzy see the excited old knight go to Jacky, Ritzy couldn't help think.
'Didn't think alcohol would be his motivation. He jumped like a rabbit at the mention of wine. Looks like I found one of the weaknesses of the people in this world. Although many people in my old world also were weak to good alcohol as well. I should see if there is anything different that people in this world desire that wasn't common in my old world. I gotta test the water, I don't want to be over rewarding people".
...
After the wolves were properly packaged and ready for transportation, the group began traveling again.
Finally leaving the forest, they only traveled for a couple of miles more and set camp. The sun was already setting and everyone was preparing their tents for the night.
Jacky was currently setting up Ritzy's tent by herself. Ritzy approached Jacky and went to the other side of the tent and started helping her.
Jacky couldn't see who was helping her, she just thought it was one of the other servants.
"Thank you for helping me, this tent is pretty big so I can't do this myself".
No response came so Jacky just thought that the servant didn't hear her.
Jacky had no idea that Ritzy was currently helping her. Every time they came close together, he made sure to keep his face hidden. Jacky was none the wiser.
Finally finishing the tent she turned to her right to the aid. Turning to her right she noticed that it wasn't a fellow servant but her young master Ritzy.
Jacky,
"Young Master what are you doing. This is servant work, not a noble's job. Go back and sit down in the carriage when I'm finishing prepping the tent".
Ritzy,
"Calm down Jacky, I used to do this all the time when I went hunting with Savior. As his student, I had to make a tent for him. He said it's a necessary skill for someone to have. I just got curious and wanted to see how these big tents were made. We usually didn't sleep in noble tents".
Jacky,
"Still, a lord like you must not do this. It would only tarnish your reputation. Move along, go drink some wine in the carriage or something".
Sulking, Ritzy left the camp and went for a stroll around the camp.
'I wonder how exactly are nobles suppose to act. Elizabeth only showed me how to introduce my self in this world, and most of my etiquette comes from my past world experience. I haven't had actual noble training, so I hope I don't do something seen as idiotic for a noble".
During the night there was a small feast. They celebrated with wine and wolf meat, telling stories of their past encounter with monsters, and how they believed this war would go on.
...
As the days went on they faced many encounters in their journey. They faced bandits, wolves, barbarians, and a couple of other monsters. During the trip, they would always use the same battle formation.
The knights would be ahead and focus on the frontal attack while Ritzy would protect everyone with long-range attacks. Even though magic wasn't common for even knights to see. It wasn't uncommon to see them when sent to war. At least that is why they believed Ritzy was chosen to be sent to war. Like a good magician, Ritzy would be able to claim enough fame on the battlefield. That the family's noble rank could be upgraded.
They were finally only half a day travel from arriving at the stronghold. Unfortunately, it was night so they decided to sleep at a nearby town before finishing their journey.
The group was currently having dinner and drinks at a nearby tavern of the inn they stayed at. The group was seated on many tables put together to suit their group. They were eating and drinking to their heart's content.
On the far corner of the table away from Ritzy, some of the younger knights were drinking heavy amounts of ale while they talked.
Young Knight 1,
"Hic-up. YOu knOw that we arE THe BaCK Bone of thIS GrOUp! IF iT wasn'T FOr Us BEinG in the FronT LiNE, THE LoRd would'Ve aLready BEEn dEAD"
Young Knight 2,
"YeAh he iS useleSS WitHOut US!"
As a servant, Jacky tended to every need Ritzy had. At the tavern, she headed to the waitress to pay for their meals. It was customary to pay for food and drinks every hour so people wouldn't overspend their budget. It was very popular because this helped prevent losses for the tavern.
Young Knight 2,
"HEy, IsNT that One OF The SerVants in OUr JouRNey. YOu SHoulD GO Talk to heR".
Young Knight 1,
"NO, You ShoulD go TaLk to HEr!".
Young Knight 2,
"ScrEw IT! I'LL SHow you What THe MasTer cAn Do".
Ritzy always has his magic presence on, so he heard everything they said,
'Stupid drunks, they really believe they even have a chance? It's just laughable, but I'm still curious how she will react'.
The drunk knight was walking to Jacky. Unfortunately, he didn't look cool at all. The whole time he was walking all wobbly and unbalanced when he headed toward Jacky. It also didn't help that he had a perverted smile the whole walk.
Ritzy,
'Pfff, seeing a drunk is probably gonna be one of my new favorite past times. It's crazy what alcohol can do to some people'.
The knight finally arrived in front of the Jacky. Jacky noticing that the knight approached her she said,
"May I help you, young knight?".
Young Knight 2,
"YEs, hic-up, hOw WOUld yoU LIke to Go UP stAirS and BUmp UgliES".
Ritzy was laughing his ass off internally while hearing this. He was currently fighting his own battle of not laughing out loud. He didn't want to embarrass himself with seeming like he laughed for no reason. He also didn't want to explain to others that he could also hear conversations from far away. People would be very wary of him, and be afraid to have a private conversation around him.
Jacky was not enjoying having the knight hit on her,
"Please leave me alone, I have no desire to sleep with you'.
Knight 2,
"CoME oN, I'lL MAKe You Hic-up SQueL".
After saying that the knight grabbed onto her waist and pulled her in.
Seeing this caused Ritzy's joy to vanish and became serious. But before he could do anything, a random mercenary intervened and pushed him away.
The mercenary was an old man with a strong build.
"She said no young man. Don't make me force you to squeal!".
