Ainz Ooal Gown: Noble Knight.

Chapter 101 Territory

The morning we left the capital was still dark.

The streets of the capital were as quiet as a painting in the thin mist, with only the occasional sound of horses' hooves and vendors preparing their goods in the distance reminding people that the city was about to awaken.

Sebastian followed Rune through the city gate.

The guards at the city gate recognized Rune, gave his luggage a token inspection, and then waved him through.

Sebastian noticed that as Rune left, he nodded to one of the younger guards, who immediately straightened up as if he had been set on fire by something.

Once outside the capital, the roads became difficult to traverse.

The roads near the capital are relatively smooth, but the further out you go, the worse the road conditions become.

As they passed through the first noble territory, the horses' hooves sank into the mud, each step making a dull thud.

Most of the fields along the roadside were overgrown with weeds, with only a few hunched figures working among them. Upon seeing their horse team, they immediately shrank their necks and retreated to the side of the road.

Crossing the territory of the second nobleman, the situation was much the same as the first, or even worse.

Sebastian looked at the scene before him and thought of the capital.

The city where he stayed for several weeks had magnificent city walls, bustling streets, and brightly lit aristocratic mansions.

But beneath those grand buildings, the common people still looked pale and huddled in the dark alleys, like shadows that shouldn't exist in this city.

Wealth was reserved for the nobility.

Sebastian paused slightly the moment his horse's hooves touched the stone pavement again.

That crisp "thud" was completely different from the previous muddy sound, as if some kind of dividing line had been quietly drawn.

He glanced down at the ground.

The stone slabs were neatly pieced together, with fine moss growing in the gaps.

On both sides of the field, the wheat waves rippled in the morning breeze.

The people working in the fields looked up and saw the young man riding a horse at the front.

Then, a child shouted it out.

"The lord is back!"

The next second, more children poured out of the village entrance, as if drawn by an invisible magnet, and converged on the stone-paved road.

"My lord!"

"Lord Rune is back!"

"And guests came back with us!"

Rune slowed his horse down, looked down at the group of little ones gathered by the roadside, raised his hand, and waved to them.

Sebastian looked at the children's faces.

He had a feeling he couldn't quite describe.

In the territories of other nobles, children would hide behind adults when they saw people on horseback, peeking at them with wary and fearful eyes.

In the capital, commoner children would keep their distance, bow their heads, and give way to the nobles.

But only here is he the child who should be, as taught by Lord Touchi.

Their eyes were bright, their cheeks had a healthy glow, and their clothes, though simple, were clean and tidy.

They stood by the roadside, looking up at Rune, and not one of them showed any fear.

Sebastian's gaze fell on Rune's retreating figure.

If Mr. Rune were to join Nazarick, Lord Taki would surely approve.

The thought naturally came to mind.

Just then, Sebastian caught a glimpse of a small figure out of the corner of his eye, clumsily chasing after a horse on the side of the cobblestone path.

Her two ponytails swung back and forth behind her as she ran with great difficulty, her little face turning bright red.

But she still couldn't catch up.

Sebastian was about to speak when Rune pulled on the reins.

The horse stopped.

Sebastian also stopped.

Seeing this, the little girl stopped, took a few breaths, and then clumsily performed a ritual of worshiping the lord, just as her teacher had taught her.

She bent too low, raised her arms too high, and stepped on her own skirt with her left foot, almost falling forward.

But she did it very seriously.

Rune dismounted, remembering the little girl named Tina.

Instead of sitting high on horseback to receive the greeting, he squatted down to about the same height as the little girl and returned the greeting as friends would.

The little girl looked up.

Sebastian then got a clear look at her face.

He was about five or six years old, with a little dirt on his face, probably from playing on the edge of the field.

A pair of chestnut-colored eyes were shining as they looked at Rune, filled with tension, but even more so with anticipation.

"My lord," she said softly, sounding somewhat unsure, "my mother said that the most beautiful flowers should be reserved for you."

She reached into her pocket and carefully took her hand out.

This is one of the most common wildflowers in the Aindora region; it can be seen everywhere, yet it remains beautiful.

Or rather, it used to be like that.

The flower stem is soft, bent into an arc, and most of the petals have fallen off, leaving only a few scattered petals drooping on the stem, trembling gently in the wind.

It's probably because it's been in my pocket for too long.

Tina pursed her lips, then began to tremble, her eyes gradually reddening, tears welling up in her chestnut eyes.

"The flower—the flower is dead—" Her voice trembled with tears, and her hand began to pull back. "Tina didn't mean it, Tina kept it in her pocket the whole time—"

Rune didn't let the little girl pull her hand back; instead, he reached out and took the flower from her small, muddy hand.

Sebastian watched as he held up the flower, which had only a few petals left, examined it in the sunlight, and then tucked it into his hair.

A withered flower hung crookedly among the golden strands of hair.

Rune turned around.

His head was tilted slightly, his eyebrows were raised, and the corners of his mouth were turned down, deliberately making an extremely funny expression.

"Sebastian".

Am I handsome?

His eyes were full of laughter when he asked that question.

The flower trembled in his hair, and a petal slipped off the edge and clung to his shoulder armor.

A faint smile appeared on Sebastian's wrinkled face.

"Yes, you are very handsome."

The language used is honorific.

Rune's lips curved upwards even more.

Is it because there are children watching that everyone is using honorifics? Sebastian is really giving me face.

On the surface, he simply nodded to Sebastian and then turned to the little girl.

Tina has stopped crying.

She opened her tear-filled eyes wide and looked at the crooked, almost falling flower on Rune's hair.

She smiled brightly, like a piece of candy suddenly melting in her mouth.

Two rows of small white teeth gleamed in the sunlight, and her eyes curved into two crescent moons.

"Lord, you're so handsome!" she exclaimed, then turned around and skipped away.

After running a few steps, he turned back and waved to Rune.

Then she kept running towards her friends who were waiting for her by the edge of the field.

Rune watched her run away, then raised his hand and took the flower from her hair.

Only three petals remained. One of them fell down again while he was picking the flower, swirling in the air a few times before landing in a crack in the stone pavement.

He carefully put the flowers into his pocket.

Rune looked up and gave Sebastian a slightly embarrassed smile.

"I'm sorry, Sebastian. I'm sorry to have shown you this side of me."

Sebastian shook his head.

"I'm serious."

The old butler's voice reached Rune's ears clearly.

"You are truly radiant right now."

I could sense the seriousness in the handsome old man's expression.

Rune suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. No, please don't say such cheesy things to me.

He can't do things like going up to a man and having another man on top of him.