I Will Be the Greatest Knight-Chapter 240: What’s Left

The strong, northern autumn wind whipped back Irene’s hair as she rode towards the Duke’s Tower. Her eyes squinted so they wouldn’t dry out. She was determined to keep a keen eye out for any clue about the black poison that occasionally rose from the Duke’s Tower. It was particularly bad whenever the goblins were out fighting, so they thought it best for her to go to the tower then.

The goblins that originated from the tower had gone deeper into the fields and towards the encampment, but, with a glance over her shoulder, she saw that the joined knighthoods were holding strong. It made her feel slightly less worried that the same thing that happened to Sir Eitan would happen to Sir Gunnar.

She took a deep, calming breath and put more focus on the task ahead.

There wasn’t time to look back, only look forward and see if anything could be gleaned.

She rounded the northwestern wing and wasn’t surprised to see that the windows that lined that hallway were shattered in many places. Filth covered the ground. The putrid scent of goblins was strong in the area even through the cloth she had covering the lower half of her face.

Disgusting, she thought.

Yet so very typical.

It was almost offensive that such disgusting creatures could take out a whole knighthood and leave them for dead. They were meant to be stupid rather than what they were witnessing.

All that Stanley had been able to glean from all of his research was that the poison certainly affected the monsters. From first glance, they merely seemed energetic, but it was so much more than that. They were practically evolving differently at that point

The stables came into view, and an involuntary gasp escaped Irene’s parted lips. She wasn’t expecting the stables to be in such ruin.

While they were old in the first place, they shouldn’t have half-collapsed the way that they had. It was just one of the many things they were going to have to fix once they finally regained control of what was theirs.

Rather than focusing on something she couldn’t fix at that moment, she squeezed her knees harder and dared to go into the heart of all the buildings where they used to practice dutifully every morning.

Long weeds and grasses covered the ground, which was no longer overused dirt as it was before. Scraps from the goblin’s meals littered the ground there as well.

However, there were also piles of destroyed items dragged into the yard from the wide open back doors and the broken open basement. Things they once cherished, all left to ruin.

Whoever was chosen as the Duke of Tenetium would undoubtedly have a lot to deal with to restore it to even a fraction of what it was before.

Rather than going to the tower first, Irene continued north and went towards the sheds that once housed practice swords and dummies. All of them were destroyed.

Irritation grew. Her head felt hot but, again, she couldn’t do anything for them.

Her path led her towards the barracks where her heart really broke as she observed what was once a safe-haven for her to be entirely torn apart.

Their furniture had been pulled into the hallways and out the doors. There was more filth everywhere of goblin scraps and destroyed furniture. freewebnoveℓ.com

Going towards the opening, Irene coughed when the scent of black poison reached her nose, and she had to immediately redirect Sorrel.

The place was still littered with black poison. It didn’t make sense to her.

Unfortunately, she would have to move on.

Her final effort was going towards the Duke’s Tower and trying to peer through the back windows. On horseback, she should be nearly the perfect height to see inside.

She couldn’t help unsheathing her sword as she went forth. Even though she promised not to face monsters alone, it was her only protection for the worst case scenario.

As she looked into the first set of windows that would be the former study, she saw broken and overturned bookshelves. The place was unrecognizable, not even the desk remained.

From what she could tell, the poison was quite light in this area. It didn’t smell, nor did the air look less opaque as smoke filled the area.

She went further. There was a long hallway with a less formal sitting room. At least that was what it was. Not a bit of the scraps left in the hallway was recognizable as furniture. Every beautiful tapestry or bronze wall sconce remained.

There were piles that looked like a nesting area. She felt disgusted at how comfortable the goblins lived there.

The smell of poison got worse.

She kept going, directing Sorrel up the stairs and to the smashed open doors.

What she could see of the inside was utter chaos. She gasped when there was a popping noise and black poison rose into the air from the store room. Goblins shrieked, and she urgently directed Sorrel away.

The number of monsters she heard was certainly too much for her.

How everyone had survived for so long in the Duke’s Tower was beyond her. The place was a complete and total nightmare.

Keep going, she reminded herself.

She then went towards the kitchen, where the windows didn’t reveal much. When they were first kicked from the Duke’s Tower, the maids were in the winterization process. About half of the windows had been lined with oiled paper. It was amazing that it still stuck.

She felt terribly sad at that. It brought her back to Agnes.

Moving on.

The dining hall windows were broken, and there was a lot of activity inside. Goblins stirred. Trash piles in the shape of nests littered the entire area. There were more broken windows here.

She had to press on as she made it to the last part of the tower, which was the more formal sitting room.

Irene frowned when she saw that the couches were overturned.

The smoke was strong here. She held a hand over her mouth because it felt like she was going to start coughing.

She had to direct herself a bit further from the building, or she would fall down the stairs to the basement.

Holding still for a moment, she heard the clanking that Sir Phillip once complained about before.

Clank. A burst of smoke rose from the basement. Clank. Same thing as before.

She was distracted for a moment.

The shattering of a window was heard, and something connected to a chain was thrown at her, but didn’t make it far.

She practically threw up her heart, but rather than wait to see more, she got the hell out of there as fast and fiercely as she could.

When she was no longer by the windows, she sheathed her sword and directed Sorrel to sprint.

Irene rounded the Duke’s Tower once more.

She felt great relief to see that the battlefield had been mostly cleared. Monsters were down while people stood.

Victory made her feel lighter than air.

Her world came crashing down when Sir Gunnar ran to her from deep in the field.

"Where is Leif?!" he shouted, panicked.

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