Reincarnated as a Villainous Duke (37) Who Gets Condemned by His Daughter ～I Stopped Acting Like a Villain, Yet My Daughter Keeps Becoming the 'Ice Lady'～ - Chapter 03: Checking My Abilities

Chapter 03: Checking My Abilities

It was the second day since my memories returned.

When I entered the office in the morning, there was already a sizable stack of paperwork on my desk.

As I mentioned before, this world is your typical medieval European-style fantasy setting. However, civilization here is relatively advanced. Hygiene standards are pretty decent, so even when walking through the city, there’s no bad smell. There’s a solid currency system, and they even have paper money in circulation. In terms of development, it’s pretty close to the modern era.

Paper is a bit expensive, but it’s widely used. As a duke, most of my work involves dealing with documents. My job is to approve the various matters that come in, but if I just sign off on things carelessly, I’ll be held responsible, so I can’t afford to be sloppy.

But right now, I have zero motivation to handle those papers. Yesterday made it clear that my current situation is way more dangerous than I initially thought.

To lift my mood, I decided to see how much my game knowledge could actually benefit me in a positive way.

With that in mind, I grabbed the weapons and armor hanging on the wall of my office.

I put on light armor that protected my chest, shoulders, and stomach, and strapped a longsword to my waist. I usually carry a sword, but the one on the wall is a heavy-duty version meant for fighting monsters. Both the armor and the sword are made of mythril, a rare metal. In game terms, these would be mid-level equipment.

I informed Mildart, the steward, with a simple, “I’m heading to the forest,” and made my way toward the training grounds.

The training grounds were about 300 meters from the duke’s mansion. There was a training field the size of a soccer field, surrounded by barracks.

At the moment, around 500 soldiers were training there.

As I entered the training grounds, I called out to a large man overseeing the troops.

“Dalton, I’m going to the forest. Lend me four guards.”

“Oh, Your Grace. Will four be enough?”

“I don’t actually need any, but…”

“Can’t let you do that, sir.”

Dalton was the general of the duchy’s army. He was still fairly young for a general, in his early forties, with a buzz-cut of blond hair and a short beard—a man who looked every bit the warrior.

Generals usually have a lot of paperwork, like me, but according to my memories, Dalton spent most of his time at the training grounds. He was the type who preferred being in the field. Luckily, we didn’t have any bad blood between us, so talking to him was easy.

“Roland! Bring three others! You’re guarding the Duke!”

“Yes, sir!”

A young soldier named Roland quickly returned with three others. They all wore light armor, carried short spears, and had short swords strapped to their waists—gear meant for fighting monsters rather than enemy soldiers.

“I’m borrowing them.”

“Make sure to teach them well, sir.”

Both Mildart and Dalton knew that I often went “hunting” to blow off steam, so they didn’t question me further.

Though this time, what I had in mind was a bit different from what they were probably expecting.

I led the four soldiers toward the stables.

We mounted our horses, passed through the castle gates, and headed into the city.

The duchy’s capital, McMillana, had the ducal mansion standing tall in the northern central district. As expected, it was a fortified city.

The city was surrounded by an octagonal wall, measuring about 1.5 kilometers from east to west and north to south, making it the second-largest city after the royal capital.

The soldiers and I passed through the central district, rode down the main street in the southern district, and headed toward the southern gate. Since this was an official outing by the ruling duke, everyone on the street made way for us, bowing their heads as we passed.

By the way, this world wasn’t just home to regular humans. It also had other classic fantasy races, like elves with pointed ears, dwarves with their stout, bearded bodies, and beastkin with animal ears and tails. One of the soldiers with me was a beastkin.

Naturally, there were tensions between these races, which is why we didn’t see a single elf in the streets. But that’s a problem for another time.

We rode through the southern gate and out of the city.

After about 30 minutes of riding, we arrived in front of a dense forest.

“One of you stay here and watch the horses. If we don’t return in three hours, report to Dalton.”

“Understood!”

“The rest of you, come with me. We’re going hunting.”

“““Yes, sir!”””

After giving my orders, I looked up at the forest ahead. The trees towered over 30 meters high, their branches reaching for the sky, creating a dimly lit space below. Surprisingly, there wasn’t much undergrowth—likely because this area was often used for training.

I stepped into the forest, following a path where the undergrowth was sparse, or rather, where there was clearly a trail.

The “Forest of No Return”—that’s where the four of us were now headed. In the game, this forest was a significant area because deep within its unexplored sections lay an elven village.

Of course, in this world, forests were dangerous places filled with monsters. Whenever I came here, it was usually to hunt those monsters and blow off some steam.

“Three monsters incoming. Don’t interfere.”

I activated the “Presence Detection” skill—a game ability that showed enemy icons on the map.

I drew my mythril sword and gathered magic in my left hand.

Through the trees, I saw them approaching. They looked like dogs at first glance, but their muscles were freakishly developed, and they were as big as tigers. Their dagger-like fangs jutted forward, blood-red at the tips, making them look murderously dangerous.

The “Saber Killer Dogs” were low-level monsters that appeared in the mid-game.

I raised my left hand, releasing the magic I had stored, and visualized my mana transforming into a spell.

In front of me, three spears of ice materialized instantly and shot toward the monsters.

All three spears struck one of the Saber Killer Dogs, instantly killing the ferocious beast.

The remaining two didn’t hesitate, charging straight at me.

I activated the high-speed movement skill “Shukuchi”, slicing through the one on the right as I passed by. The last one froze for a second, and I cut it clean in half from behind.

“Impressive as always, Your Grace!”

The soldiers’ praise wasn’t just empty flattery.

Mark Stewart Blaumont was one of the top three magic swordsmen in the entire kingdom. There was a reason he was destined to be a mid-level boss.

“Even with my memories back, I can still fight just fine, huh?”

I had expected as much, but it was good to confirm. That was one goal achieved. Now, onto the next.

“We’re going deeper into the forest. Follow me.”

With that, I turned and began walking further into the Forest of No Return.