Abandoned Bastard of the Royal Family Volume 1 Chapter 1 (Patreon)

Chapter 1 – The Wonder Child’s Arrival

That day, the royal capital welcomed an unusual young man.

But then, receiving an unusual guest is not that strange for a place like the royal capital.

As it is the most prosperous city in the country, people of various oddities are constantly coming in and going out of this place.

But amongst all this, there was a visitor who has exceedingly surpassed this everyday strangeness, enough to catch the attention of the city guards who had already built quite the tolerance from their jobs.

This ‘guest’ seemed to be a traveling warrior. He had a sword strapped to his waist, and his well-used armor was poking out from the edge of his cloak to keep out the dust.

But what was so odd about this warrior was the huge monster he was pulling.

The tail part was being carried on his shoulders, and the body, limbs, and head that followed from the tail were being dragged carelessly on the ground, making an eerie sound as he walked.

But what surprised these guards was the enormous size of the thing, as it was just too big for a single human to carry.

That’s also why the visitor was only carrying it on its tail while dragging the rest on the ground.

Speaking of the creature’s features, the monster looked like a giant crocodile or something.

It did not have a single hair but its entire body was covered with scales, indicating it was some kind of reptile, but it was huge. Really huge for its size.

It was so huge that even travelers passing by were startled by its presence and couldn’t help but back away.

Of course, it was probably dead.

After all, there was no other reason why it didn’t twitch while being roughly handled to the extent that its tail was being pulled and dragged.

As definitive proof, red blood was being etched in thick lines on the road where the giant crocodile was being towed.

The soldiers guarding the gates of the castle trembled in fear as they ‘welcomed’ the warrior with such a strange form.

“Who are you? Tell us your name!”

“And what do you want in the capital?”

They shouted as the carcass of the giant crocodile stuck a nerve with the soldiers.

In fact, their spear points were already trembling and shaking, despite their brave act.

The only person who remained calm was only the warrior himself, who was dragging the deformity in his shoulders.

“……Schild.”

“What!?”

“You’re the one who asked me to say my name. I’m a traveling warrior. On the way here, I found a monster that looked like it’s worth a lot of money, so I brought it here for a prize.”

Schild, the warrior, spoke as he gestures at the carcass of the giant crocodile from his behind.

He was the same Schild who had grown strong over the past seven years since leaving his home village.

“A m-monster? I-is it dead?”

“Of course, it is dead. The basic rule of monster cash exchange is to exchange dead bodies. Or is it different in the Royal Capital?”

The soldiers gradually came to understand the situation and regained their composure with relief.

However, a warrior who can defeat such a giant monster alone is rare even in the royal capital.

So even though their fear is gone, their feelings of awe still remained inside.

“……b-but did you hunt it alone? This enormity?”

“I’ve always traveled alone. I guess it’s because of that that I’m not very good at socializing. Either way, even if I have my companions, I don’t think they’re brave enough to help me handle this guy.”

His tone was half-joking, but the natural lack of pride in his achievement made the soldiers shrink even more.

“O-okay, okay, ……! I’ll show you the way to the guild branch because the monster exchange is done by the Subjugators Guild. If the monster is this huge, there must be a substantial bounty on it…..”

“……Captain, the passbook, the passbook!”

But then, a younger soldier suddenly interrupted beside them and spoke to the captain in private. Upon realizing what the younger meant, the soldier who seemed to be the captain hurriedly corrected himself.

“B-but wait! Before that, in order to enter the royal capital, you need an invitation from a lord of a territory or a pass from the village chief! If you can’t show that to us, we won’t allow you to take even a single step into the capital!”

This was the reason why there are gates and guards guarding the city. After all, if all people can come and go as they want, why would they need a gate for? In other words, it was a protective measure to prevent people with questionable identities from entering the capital.

It’s just that the guard had almost forgotten about it when they lost their shit witnessing the corpse of a giant monster.

“……I don’t have a pass.”

“What!? That’s bad then. We can’t let you through!”

“But I have a letter of introduction from a lord.”

“huuh!?”

Schild pulled an envelope out of his cloak. Despite a bit covered with the dust from his travels, it was much more refined and more ornate than the passes issued in the small villages.

“L-let me check that……! ………-!? F-from Count Mariastel!?”

After confirming that the letter, the signing, and everything else were not fake, the older man who seemed to be the captain returned the document with a trembling hand.

“I-it was the real thing. N-no, not that. We have certainly confirmed the invitation is guaranteed by Count Mariastel, Lord of the West Adele Territory. We consider you eligible to enter the royal capital!”

“So much formalities……well, thanks for that. Also, can I bother you more for something? I was wondering if you could show me the way to the guild. If we don’t hurry, this crocodile’s going to rot.”

“U-understood. P-please wait as we assign someone to you. Someone-! Give this man a guide!”

◆◆◆

Just like that, Schild has finally stepped on the soil of the royal capital.

It has been a long journey.

It took him seven years to reach this point.

The thirteen-year-old boy who had left his home village as an outcast is now twenty years old, his body and features had now grown strong.

He could no longer remember the face of his mother, but her final words were still clear in his mind.

“Your father is in the capital.”

Schild reminisced his past.

Relying on those words alone, Schild set out his journey for the royal capital, but as life usually went, things did not go smoothly.

The royal capital, being the center of the country, is protected by various rules to prevent unidentified people from entering.

One of the rules is a system of passes, whereby only people with a certain status, such as village chiefs or territory lords, and only those who were permitted by them are allowed to enter the capital.

This meant that vagrants and criminals could not easily enter, at least, legally. But even though Schild isn’t one, being a pariah in the village since birth, he would never get a pass from their village chief.

After leaving the village, he took a job as a mercenary to earn enough money to eat, thereby spending most of his time killing monsters that attacked many other villages.

If he could defeat a strong monster, he would get credit for it. And if he caught the eye of a powerful person, he would gain their trust. Knowing this method, he now saw hope that someday, some higher-ups would write a special pass for him.

In fact, Schild has spent the last seven years of his life pinning his hopes on that possibility, but some people thought he has spent too much time.

Perhaps it was his bad childhood in his hometown that it gave him a compatible foundation in his new job, or maybe it was just his natural aptitude, but as soon as he got the job as a mercenary, Schild showed remarkable performance in killing several vicious monsters in a row.

His superiors were instantly impressed with him and, after a couple of missions, trusted him enough to write him a pass to the capital if he wanted, but Schild that time became reluctant to take the plunge.

This was because he found out that the monster-slaying work was extremely enjoyable. Because of this, he prioritized the pleasure of this moment first over searching his father, whom he had never met, for taking revenge.

Yes. Despite this becoming the purpose of his departure, the existence of his father, whom he had never met since he was born, it did not seem to carry much weight on Schild anymore.

But still, he thought that it still needs to be carried out, or else it will keep him bothered for a lifetime.

Schild only remembered his goal when he finally met the lord of the territory he was working on.

As he continued his monster-slaying business, his name became more and more famous, and eventually, Schild’s fame reached the point of he was now able to meet his lord, Count Mariastel.

Grabbing hold of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Schild asked his lord, whom he was staying with at that time, to write a letter of introduction for him.

And so, just like that, he was able to set off for the capital……to where he is now.

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