Dante, a strong man who appeared to be in his early thirties.
He was the person with the highest health I had seen so far, and also a local knight of Talamian.
A so-called knight was, like my own title of baron, a status and profession, not a classification that directly defined skill trees or anything like in a game.
Of course, I had heard from the scholar at home before that knights and wizards had fundamental differences in abilities, but that was due to different methods of learning.
Essentially, status alone couldn't directly categorize their abilities...
Meaning, if this knight Dante in front of me was willing to learn, he could also acquire the ability to use spells.
Ever since I arrived in this world, Sean had constantly heard about professions like wizards, knights, witches, rangers, mechanics, beast tamers, and warriors.
But until now, aside from this knight of mine, I hadn't seen any of the others.
Watching him walk slowly over, perhaps because he spotted me, Dante nodded and smiled at me as I stood on the second-floor walkway. The strange 【Curse!】 effect still hung above his head, and in addition, he also displayed a status like 【Feeling Unwell!】.
"Are you alright, Sir Dante?" Sean asked as he approached.
He looked up, still beaming with a smile.
"Good afternoon, my lord! I'm fine... why would I be anything else? It's just a bit cold." He suddenly raised the plucked and cleaned fat chicken he was carrying.
"Look what I bought today! This isn't easy to come by." He even put on a smug expression.
Sean stared at the health bar above his head...
【1990/2000, Respect】
Almost all of my core subordinates had a friendliness level of Respect, except for the temporary hires who were at Friendly.
And the key point was that he was losing health right now!
Though the rate was slow, it was still dropping, trickling away bit by bit...
"Are you really okay?" Sean asked again.
Dante finally hesitated. Clearly, he should be able to feel the gradual health loss. Even a small cut on a finger would cause pain, let alone this kind of continuous damage.
"I... I'm fine, my lord. Why do you ask?" There was a hint of surprise in his eyes.
"Wait a moment, come inside!"
Sean gestured for him to enter the room while he himself ran toward the hall.
A curse.
That should fall under the category of magic. Since arriving in this world, the scholar by my side often told stories about wizards and witches, but there were no such figures in Talamian.
Dante, as the strongest among my subordinates, had twice the health of a normal person. For someone like him to be cursed without even knowing it meant the person who cast the curse could be a threat to me.
He ran from the corridor to the first-floor hall...
This was usually the place for work, and the person handling my duties was a scholar, akin to a secretary, named Luke.
He was a scholar who had returned after studying in a big city, full of ambition, so when Sean was still unfamiliar with the rules of this world, he entrusted many trivial matters to him.
…………………………
"I still remember when I was in Koga City—that was the most prosperous city I've ever seen. You wouldn't believe it... at night, the whole city was lit up with colorful lights, and the airships in the sky would shine down brilliance. It was beautiful." A man around thirty years old, sitting in the center of the hall, said to the few people around him.
In a small place, there wasn't much to do usually, so they often chatted idly in the hall.
"You're probably missing someone from Koga City."
"Yeah, yeah... some girl who has our scholar completely smitten."
It was winter, so everyone would have a little wine to warm themselves up.
After a few drinks, the conversation turned to women... When they heard footsteps coming downstairs, the chatter suddenly quieted down.
"My lord!"
There were five people in the room, including my scholar, a few elderly guards from the household, and the warehouse keeper, among others.
Hmm~
"Where's Dante?" I responded casually but still asked about his whereabouts, even though I had called him over.
"Sir Dante is cleaning the chicken, my lord. We're in for a treat tonight." A guard with a flushed face said.
Sean frowned, looking at how lazy these people were.
I had only been in this world for two weeks and wasn't familiar with everything yet, so my management was mostly loose. It seemed these old-timers who had followed the previous Baron Weigel were starting to rest on their laurels.
Compared to Luke and Knight Dante, their friendliness levels were mostly at 【Friendly】, similar to those temporary workers outside.
Just then, the dark room lit by candles suddenly brightened as a gust of cold wind blew in.
The door opened!
Dante walked in alone.
"My lord, did you need me?"
"I noticed you don't look well today. Are you sick?"
I saw that the 【Curse】 effect above his head was still there, and the health number had changed.
【1900/2000】
In just a few minutes, he had lost 90 points. That would be serious later on.
But when Sean looked more closely, he noticed that the 【Curse】 effect above his head had dimmed by half.
It was like those skill cooldowns in games—when half the time had passed, the icon would show half bright and half dim.
"I feel a bit dizzy. I don't know what's wrong, but I have no strength at all."
The health loss finally made this proud knight tell the truth. It was clear he was starting to feel genuinely unwell.
"Maybe you should get some medicine from the pharmacist Nate later," someone nearby suggested.
Of course, more than the medicine, Sean was concerned about why he had been cursed.
"Dante, did you encounter anything today?" Sean suddenly asked.
"I didn't encounter anything," he replied seriously, despite feeling unwell under his lord's questioning.
"Or maybe you met someone, got into a conflict, something like that."
As soon as he said this, Sean clearly saw Dante's eyes flicker and widen slightly. Though it was just a moment, he caught it.
It was an expression of surprise.
In his status, the word 【Surprise!】 also appeared.
Every time, I could hit the mark...
Though Sean tried to avoid this kind of communication, this situation was different.
If a wizard capable of using magic really appeared on my territory, then others might suffer the same harm.
More seriously, I had no way to counter them, so at least I needed to know who they were.
"Something did happen on my way back." Dante looked at Sean's gaze, which seemed to pierce through his thoughts.
When ordinary people see someone sick, they usually advise them to rest or get treatment, but my lord baron brought up something else entirely, and even hit the mark.
"Go on, what happened?" Sean asked calmly.
"I ran into some outsiders on my way back from shopping. They got into an argument with the blacksmith's apprentice, and I stepped in to say a few words."
"Just a few words?" Sean asked doubtfully.
Even if it was a real argument, it would be a normal dispute in a transaction, not enough to warrant a curse.
"I... I ended up fighting one of them afterward," Dante continued.
"So you were injured? Where? Which outsider was bold enough to cause trouble in Talamian?"
Before Dante could finish, some of the listeners jumped in to speak.
"Hold on, let Dante finish," Sean said, looking at these people who would speak up after a few drinks. If they actually went to fight, they'd probably be wiped out.
None of them could beat Dante, yet they dared to bluster!
"Go on..."
"I was just defending the town's blacksmith shop. Nothing major happened afterward. Their companions talked us out of it, and I came back."