Chapter 10: The Giant Serpent
Lothar spoke, "Hans, how much do you understand about my current situation?"
Hans's face showed a hint of apology. "Forgive me, my Lord, I don't know much. Is this world the Dark Ages from history?"
"Yes, but not entirely." Lothar nodded and then briefly summarized his recent circumstances and the background of the current era for Hans.
The Crusades were also a critical juncture for the Teutonic Order. As Hans hailed from the Teutonic Order, he would naturally have some understanding of this period in history.
Hans had a look of realization. "So that's how it is... Does this world also have a Teutonic Order?"
"Of course, they just don't have much influence yet."
"I am a knight of the Habsburg family; you should have heard this renowned name. But that's in later ages. The current Habsburg family hasn't risen to prominence yet. Of the only two heirs, the former is holed up in a poor mountain valley in Switzerland, and the latter is me, currently preparing to head to the Holy Land."
Hans said respectfully, "With you here, my Lord, I have no doubt the Habsburg family will rise just as recorded in our world."
"Heh, I'll take that as a good omen. Hans, from this day forward, you are my squire. I will promote you to a true knight after you have accumulated sufficient merit."
"At that time, you can use a white field with a black eagle, or a white field with a black cross, or whatever you want as your personal coat of arms."
Lothar rested the arming sword in his hand on Hans's shoulder. "Now, swear your fealty to me."
"Hans, are you willing to swear fealty to me, to be my loyal knight for your entire life, serving me with your courage, martial prowess, and wisdom?"
Hans immediately knelt on one knee and said reverently, "Heavenly Father be my witness, I swear to dedicate my loyalty to my master, Lothar, to uphold the virtues of knighthood, to be steadfastly loyal, and never to leave his side."
The system's notification sound chimed: [Your Affection with Retainer "Hans" has increased to Friendly.]
'"That was surprisingly simple."'
Lothar felt a bit helpless. Compared to Banu, increasing Hans's affection was far too easy. However, even a low-star retainer was a decent fighting force, certainly much stronger than the two "squires" he had brought from Habsburg. Still, they were within the realm of ordinary humans and couldn't compare to high-star retainers, who were practically superhuman.
'Hopefully, the next card draw will give me a high-star damage-dealer.'
Lothar introduced Hans to Ryan and Moder, then left. He had no intention of having Hans share a room with him as well.
Ryan looked at Hans's fine set of equipment in disbelief. "Hans, are you really the Lord's new squire, and not the illegitimate son of some high-ranking noble?"
Moder's face was full of envy. "This gear... even fully-fledged knights, not many could afford to wear something like this, right?"
"Are those Viking horns on your helmet? So cool!"
Hans looked a bit embarrassed and smiled. "They're just decorative. I came with my own equipment to pledge fealty to our Lord. I once underwent knightly training at a religious order, but I never received a formal knightly title."
***
The night deepened.
The flickering candlelight reflected in Banu's brown eyes. Her waterfall of long black hair cascaded over her snow-white arms. She was like a statue, rarely speaking in her leisure time, nor did she have any small, fidgety movements to amuse herself. Sometimes, she could seem quite dull.
But beautiful people are like works of art themselves; even doing nothing, they are pleasing to the eye.
Just then, a flicker of surprise suddenly crossed her cool eyes. She turned her head to look at Lothar and asked, "What did you do?"
Lothar tilted his head up and pointed to a pile of gold coins on the table. They had lost their brilliant golden luster and become dull and dim; the gold within them had been completely extracted.
"I was just messing around. Leveled you up ten times. I didn't expect it to be so expensive."
With his first victory, his own experience bar had also moved up, just a little shy of reaching Level 2. But the effect of his leveling up was limited.
The reason 6-star retainers were so powerful, aside from their strong skills, was that they gained six attribute points with each level. As a Lord, he only received three attribute points per level, like that of a 3-star retainer.
Fortunately, if the affection between Lord and retainer was high enough, he could use the retainer's skills. In the future, he might not be able to defeat a 6-star retainer on his own, but his combat power would certainly not be low.
"You have limited funds; it's better not to spend them on me. My current strength is temporarily sufficient. If we encounter a strong enemy, it won't be too late to enhance me then," Banu said with a frown.
Throughout history, if one wished to achieve great things, it was impossible without wealth. Recruiting soldiers, purchasing equipment... A fully armed knight in plate armor, if utilized properly on the battlefield, could easily crush several, even dozens, of times the number of Magyar light cavalry they had encountered earlier. But the cost of arming a single knight was no small sum, even for a king.
A smile spread across Lothar's face. If it weren't for the system notification chiming that "Affection" had increased, he might have actually believed her.
He readily agreed, "Alright, then this is it for now. Once we conquer a territory in Jerusalem and make a fortune, I'll definitely level you up to the maximum."
Banu nodded slightly. "Thank you."
Lothar said, "It's getting late, and we have to continue our journey tomorrow. Let's rest early."
"Good night."
***
In the dead of night, the streets suddenly became eerily silent. The chirping of insects and the croaking of frogs all vanished, as if they had witnessed some terrifying behemoth and were scared into utter silence.
Lothar, who had been sound asleep, suddenly felt an intense sense of crisis wash over him, the hairs on his body standing on end. He opened his eyes to find Banu standing by the window, gazing outside.
He gave her an inquisitive look.
Banu shook her head, pointed out the window, and gestured for Lothar to come closer and see.
Lothar approached the window, and what he saw instantly drenched him in a cold sweat.
In the alley outside the window, a colossal serpent, as massive as a train and covered in black scales, was slowly slithering along the muddy road in the center of the small town. It left a deep trench in the mud behind it.
Just then, it seemed to sense their gazes. Its head, which had been about to move away, rose high, extending towards them on the second floor of the inn.
'KRA-SHING—'
The black, demonic-faced shield was thrust before Banu. A terrifying aura of death billowed forth. Her black hair danced wildly, moving without wind, and her horrifying presence, like a storm, sent all the furnishings in the room flying.
It was the first time Lothar had witnessed Banu wielding such terrifying power. For a moment, he couldn't believe that such imposing might resided within her slender frame.
The giant serpent's emotionless eyes, like two large lanterns, stared back at Banu. Although it appeared to have no emotional fluctuations, it had, in fact, already recognized Banu as a formidable enemy capable of threatening it; its scales even began to ripple in a regular rhythm.
After a long while, the giant serpent lowered its head and slithered away into the distance.
Lothar let out a sigh of relief. "It's gone?"
Banu nodded. "Mm. It wasn't confident it could defeat me, or rather, even if it could, it feared being severely injured itself."
"Banu, you're actually that powerful!"
Banu shook her head. "Not really. This giant serpent is very strong, far beyond what I can currently contend with. It was scared away because it was intimidated by my aura."
Lothar nodded. "I understand."
According to the settings, a 6-star retainer only reached their true state at max level. Spending resources to upgrade them was merely unlocking the seals on the retainer. Even if their current strength wasn't up to par, their "innate rank" was still present.
"What on earth is that monster?"
"I don't know." Banu shook her head, her tone uncharacteristically grave. "It seems this world is truly not simple."