“Ugh, don’t look at me like that!”
“Hah!”
Jasmine blushed and looked down. Her face was as red as an apple. Joonbum grinned teasingly.
“Who is this? Is this really the Jasmine I know? You look so different!”
Jasmine, realizing Joonbum was teasing her, shouted back, “Shut up!”
She was immediately back to her normal self. Joonbum smiled brightly.
“Don’t smile like that.”
‘Hm? Now, that’s unusual.’
Joonbum thought it was weird to see Jasmine acting unlike herself. It had not been long since they met each other, but there was something different about Jasmine.
“Haha! Why? Can’t I smile?”
“N-No! Hey! S-stop! Don’t come any closer! STOP!”
Jasmine began shouting as Joonbum approached her. He closed in more to tease her.
“Why? What’s up?”
“N-no! People- people will get the wrong impression!”
Joonbum stopped right in front of Jasmine. Sure enough, there were a lot of people looking at them with huge interest.
“Isn’t that Jasmine?”
“Right! She is Jasmine! I knew I saw her somewhere!”
“OH? So she is Marquis Dunahan’s daughter? Isn’t she pretty? It’s not like the rumor…”
“She always walks around in armor so I guess she looks really different in a dress!”
The women around were more or less teasing and making condescending remarks about Jasmine. They were obviously jealous of Jasmine who was already acquainted with Joonbum.
“How dare she talk to Sir Joonbum like that?!”
“Look at her trying to act cute in front of him!”
“NO! My Joonbum!”
The women murmured in anger and jealousy as they watched Joonbum and Jasmine talking to each other.
“That’s amazing.”
Hectos, who had been watching the fiasco, mumbled as he shoved in large amounts of food into his mouth. Jackson glanced Hectos for a moment and smiled.
“Well, he is a hero. The hero of this world. He brought people out of starvation with corn. He also defeated the empire without any casualties. He even took in the prisoners as his own. He is now considered the best candidate for marriage because of all that. That’s why there are so many beautiful young girls this time. Everyone all brought anyone they could possibly find in their families.”
The hall was indeed filled with women. They were fascinated by the different items from the foreign country around the hall and ended up going toward Sunsook and Joonbum.
“I see.”
“Yes. I think the nobles believe that they can get what they want, and maybe more if they succeed in having their daughters marry the count’s son.”
Hectos cackled as Jackson explained. He was looking at something, so Jackson turned to look.
“Huh?”
“Look at that! It’s so amusing.”
Jackson smiled bitterly. Hectos was watching the young knights and sons of the nobles. If it was a regular noble party, they would have already been surrounded by various women from different families. But today, there were only those who were already attached that stayed with the men.
“Haha, it’s so satisfying to see them fall like that!”
Hectos laughed loudly as he drank an ice cold drink. Jackson turned toward Joonbum.
‘It’s going well.’
Jackson smiled.
“It-it is nice to meet you! I’m Joyna Haley from the Haley family! Our people were saved by your corn the other day. I thank you on behalf of my people.”
“Hello. I’m Jerona from the Rommel family. I heard you are the one who saved our land. Thank you!”
Various women in different age groups flocked to Joonbum as Jasmine walked away. The women who gathered around again did not seem to back away. They were busy watching Joonbum, trying to figure out who Joonbum seemed to be most interested in.
“Dammit, this is his stage.”
The young nobles flinched and glanced back at the owner of the voice. Then they turned back, as one of them said, “He looks okay, though.”
“But not any different from us. It’s not him who made the corn and it was the red carriage that brought him victory, not his skills! We probably can do the same if we have that carriage. Don’t you think so?”
“Yeah, I agree.”
“Dammit. Isn’t that Delrey from the Laine family? Look at her smiling at him!”
“She was so cold to me before!”
The group of young men was full of envy as they watched from the other side of the room. At the same time, there was another group in the distance, looking on in amusement at the young nobles.
“Look at those boys! They’re heading into the maws of hell!”
“Haha.”
“I know, right? HAHAHA!”
“Huh? What? Why are you laughing at me?”
Hallis shouted back as his friends laughed hard at his words.
“Hallis, doesn’t it remind you of something?”
“You should think about your past sometime.”
“I know you talk from experience.”
“HUH? NO WAY! I’m not like them!”
“Of course, you were worse. HAHA!!”
Hallis and his friends laughed and talked loudly. Just then, some nobles gathered around them.
“Hallis, there you are. I heard you achieved quite an accomplishment in the war! Good work!”
“Oh! Uncle! Welcome!”
Hallis ran to the well-built, stout old man walking toward him. Todrak smiled as he watched his energetic nephew.
“So, you did quite some work here?”
“Oh, yeah. I told you before that you can count on me, didn’t I?”
Todrak grinned.
Hallis was stubborn and competitive from young. He could not sleep at night if he lost any competition. Yet he was physically weak and lacked the power and stamina to support his competitive nature. That made him rude and unruly. It was Todrak who raised and taught him as a knight in place of his parents who had given up on him.
‘To think this boy has grown into such a reliable knight!’
Todrak seemed overjoyed at the sight of his nephew. It wasn’t just his physique that had changed. Hallis also did not seem to have an unruly nature anymore.
“So, what happened here?”
“Huh? Oh, I guess you’re surprised that I’ve become such a cooler person here!”
Hallis began listing his accomplishments. Todrak listened, smiling in satisfaction.
‘Joonbum Christos.’
It was the most frequent name that Hallis mentioned as he continued on. It was obvious that Hallis had huge respect and admiration towards the man. Hallis had pretty much been thrown out to die on behalf of the family name when he had been chosen. He did not realize it, but Todrak was always sad about his family’s choice.
‘The gods have not abandoned you! And you’ve found a good master… I’m so proud!’
Todrak turned toward the man on the other side of the room. He was a very tall man, taller than most in the hall. He was also well-built, with broad shoulders and a chest like that of a bear. His two arms were thick as logs.
‘He’s really well-trained. He doesn’t have any useless muscles on his body. I wonder who he trained under,’ Todrak thought to himself.
*
“Madam, you’re so beautiful!”
“Thank you, Marquis.”
“Your beauty blinds me.”
“Please, don’t flatter me. There are others here who are more beautiful. Look at those young women, aren’t they beautiful?”
Sunsook was busy entertaining the older nobles while Brant was busy dealing with various nobles from the merchant groups.
“We need one thousand satchels of corn!”
“We need at least five thousand!”
The merchants shouted the number they needed and the count silently nodded, letting Hernan Oto deal with each of them.
“Approved. Bring the money by tomorrow afternoon. We will release it on the spot.”
“Thank you!”
Trades were being made instantly but not all were approved.
