Episode 40
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“Wilhelm of Geor! I come to see Your Excellency the Duke with thirty knights, one hundred hoplites, and four hundred infantry!”
“Joseph of Videl! I lead thirty knights, fifty hoplites, fifty light cavalry, and three hundred infantry to meet His Majesty the Black Duke!”
“Kenneth of Bilderberg! One Auror Knight! Thirty Knights and one hundred Heavy Infantry… … .”
In the great hall of the Duchy of Saxony, the lords of each region of the north were reporting on the knights and armies they led.
Their great lord sitting on the throne… … swearing allegiance before the Black Duke.
The northern nobles who united for the Duke of Saxony, the first grand prince of the north and one of the three great dukes.
“Also, our eldest son of the Geol family, Bess, will fight for His Majesty the Duke in this battle… …!”
“As my father said, we, the Geol family, are ready to give our lives for Your Excellency the Duke!”
The nobleman who appeared to be the father opened his mouth, and a young man armed with armor knelt down and thrust his sword down. It was a kind of appeal that could be seen in any society: ‘Please take good care of my son.’
“Our Kennet family’s second son, Yoness, also came with a special mercenary force of one hundred men that he had personally formed… … .”
And it would not be just Count Geol who would seek such benefits. That is why the Duke of Saxony opened his mouth calmly.
“I am always grateful for your loyalty.”
Battles don’t start overnight. Before the upcoming battle, the lords gather in the castle, the soldiers stay in the barracks, and organize their troops… … As a great lord, the process of gathering subordinates and gaining the reputation of the faction is also an indispensable task.
The socializing and friendship that takes place between the nobles is also an indispensable ritual. Which faction should you align yourself with, which noble should you show off to? In that regard, it goes without saying that the northern nobles and their sons are the ones who should line up.
“I humbly greet the Black Prince!”
“Prince Dale! I have heard of the tale of the Black and White Rotation!”
“I, Beth, the eldest son of the Gael family! I want to perform the dance together with you in battle!”
‘That’s politics, you know.’
People began to talk about Dale’s fame, and Dale smiled appropriately.
“You all are so trustworthy.”
A smile fit for an eleven-year-old child.
“Oh my, Prince Dale!”
“You are so much more handsome and manly than people say!”
“I never imagined that he would be such a handsome and wonderful man!”
“Even at such a young age, you are so manly and dashing!”
There are even young ladies from noble families who do not spare themselves and desperately show off. They are probably around fourteen or fifteen years old at most.
“Are you here in person, Lady, when a battle is about to break out?”
Dale asked, and the young ladies answered one after another.
“It is the duty of the young ladies to support the men so that their father and brother can focus on fighting.”
A wise and sensible answer. The daughters of noble families must also be desperately trying to fulfill their duties.
“okay.”
Dale nodded blandly. And as he watched the endless stream of people flocking towards him, he smiled bitterly inside. There really is nothing more tiring.
“Prince Dale.”
It was just then.
Among those who were constantly spitting out empty words, a voice with weight was heard for the first time.
“I heard that at a young age, he possessed skills that were not inferior to those of grown knights.”
Dale raised his head at the voice.
A man wearing slightly rusted black armor and a sword at his waist. He must be barely in his twenties. He still has a faint trace of youthfulness, so you can tell at a glance that he is the son of a noble family.
“Hey, Yones! Hey you!”
At the same time, a man came running out of breath, unable to hide his embarrassment. He was a nobleman who appeared to be the man’s father.
“Oh, what an incredibly rude way to speak to Confucius!”
But Dale waved his hand without paying any attention. The man’s father quickly shut his mouth at Dale’s gesture.
“You said you were Lord Johnes, the second son of Baron Kennet.”
“Yes.”
At Dale’s question, Sir Jonas kneels and assumes the courtesy of a knight. The commotion in the hall dies down, and everyone around him turns their attention to him.
“Do you have anything you would like to say to me?”
“The greatest genius in the empire… … .”
Sir Yones opened his mouth.
“I have heard that the young prince of the House of Saxony possesses an overwhelming talent in swordsmanship and magic that no one can compare to.”
Sword and magic.
“At that age, he led the Black and White Revolution to great victory, and created a sea of blood with the blood of the Knights of St. Magdalene.”
“This is the result of the work of the Saxon swordsmen.”
“I heard that even if a flock of crows pecked at this place for a week, the number of enemy corpses would not decrease.”
“Is there anything else you would like to say to me?”
Sir Jonas nodded at Dale’s question.
“Please, Confucius, with that sword, can you teach me a few lessons?”
Groan, groan.
At those words, an uproar began to rise from all sides. In fact, it was no different from asking for a duel with the eldest son of the Saxon family. In a sense, it was like trying to expose the truth behind the tales of bravery that were being told about Dale.
This is not an action that a child of a small lord would dare to take against a child of a great lord.
“Hey you!”
“How dare you be so rude to Confucius!”
“Your Majesty, that young lad is babbling nonsense without knowing the subject!”
“Let’s get him out of the castle right now!”
From all sides, swear words were being directed at Lord Yoness, but even in the midst of all this, there was not a single flicker of expression on Lord Yoness’ face.
‘Hoo.’
Dale opened his mouth, as if he was pretending to be interested. The commotion stopped.
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“The second son of House Kennet, Sir Yoness. I heard he leads a mercenary force of one hundred men.”
“I am a mercenary unit that I have personally formed from start to finish, and have embarked on a journey as a knight-errant.”
‘A mercenary force.’
The second son of the Baron family. It will be difficult for him to inherit the land according to the law of primogeniture. That is probably why he is trying to prove himself by taking such a gamble.
He is quite skilled, being able to form a mercenary force of 100 men as a wandering knight without even a backing.
‘It might be quite useful.’
What I liked most was his guts.
“great.”
Dale nodded, having made his decision.
“I accept your challenge to a duel.”
* * *
Under the presence of his father, the Duke of Saxony, a duel was arranged on the spot between Dale and Lord Johnes.
Right here, in the great hall of the Duchy of Saxony.
The Duke of Saxony sat on his throne with an emotionless expression, looking down at the two of them.
The lords and their children here are those who will fight in the battle ‘under the command of himself and his son’. Therefore, there was no reason for the Black Lord to refuse to show Dale’s skills in front of them. No, it would be a good opportunity to clearly establish the order of precedence.
It was possible because I, as a father, had confidence that Dale would win.
In any case, it is a well-known fact that Dale is too young. Therefore, it was necessary to clearly show his true identity in front of the Northern Lord.
The fact that the cruelty and notoriety of the ‘Black Prince’ are absolutely not a lie.
Sling.
Dale’s opponent, Sir Jonath, took out his knight sword. Dale opened his mouth at the sight.
“You probably know that my sword is different from a ‘normal sword’.”
In that place where not even a breeze blows, his black surcoat flutters.
“I have also heard about the ‘shadow sword’ that Confucius possesses.”
A blade of darkness that can freely control its form and move without touching it. Strictly speaking, it is a sword close to the path of the Apostles as a knight, but it is a Dale that originally aimed to become a magician.
“Use Aura.”
“… … !”
At Dale’s words, Lord Jonas’ expression suddenly became uneasy. He could not have been unaware of the gravity of using Aurors in a duel.
“This is an order.”
Dale replied coldly. Once a decision is made, there is no turning back. It was as if he was saying that.
“All right.”
Aura energy began to circulate through Lord Yoness’s body. He was not yet a knight of the level to use the Aura Blade.
‘Still, the finish is very clean.’
Dale opened his mouth, calmly assessing his condition.
“Do your best.”
At the same time, the shadow at his feet takes on a physical form and rises up, circling Dale in the shape of a blade.
‘That is the black prince’s sword… … .’
Blade of Shadow.
Looking at those strange and sinister swords, Lord Yoness took a deep breath. After swallowing, he adjusted his grip on the hilt.
John’s of Kennet.
At the age of sixteen, he traveled the continent as a wandering knight, shaking off his obscurity, and rose from the bottom to become the captain of a hundred-man mercenary force. By the time he was twenty, he was able to use the aura without having received any formal training in the art of the mind.
After making his resolution, Lord Yoness kicked the ground.
‘I can’t lose to a brat who has had everything since birth.’
Born as the second son of a lower-class noble family, he had nothing and came this far relying on only his sword.
Compared to that, he was born as the eldest son of the House of Saxony, the greatest prince in the North, and he dares to brag about his ‘talent’!
That fact was so outrageous that I couldn’t stand it.
I wanted to show that even the ‘have-nots’ can beat the ‘haves’. I didn’t want to kneel before the absurdity and unfairness of the world.
Kaang!
Lord Yoness’s sword swung. Blades clashed against blades. And every time he deflected the pitch-black blades that swung from all directions, an inexplicable sense of discomfort began to fill Lord Yoness’ chest.
The ‘Black Prince’ is looking this way without even a trace of emotion.
Freely manipulates the dark blades that emerge from the shadows beneath your feet.
The swords clashed, retreated, rushed in, clashed again, and avoided each other. The swords clashed endlessly, and only after clashing like that for dozens of times did I vaguely understand.
“Ah, ahh… … .”
From the beginning, the fact that there was no one like Lord Yones in sight of the ‘Black Prince’.
He was not aiming at himself, but at the Northern Lord and his children who were watching this duel. He was merely designating Lord Jonath as the scapegoat to prove his name in front of them all.
A sacrificial lamb for the hierarchy.
It is as if they are playing with a child, overwhelming him and showing off their power.
‘That can’t be… … ‘
In front of a knight using Aura, an 11-year-old brat is being carefree? It was a humiliation no different from a public execution.
‘I can’t leave it like that… …!’
In the midst of his impatience, Lord Yoness swung his sword even more desperately. A sword of murder to strike down his opponent with all his might.
Kaang!
The blades clashed again.
Kaang! Kaang!
It wasn’t the sound of blades clashing against blades.
It was a feeble sound, like swinging a sword at a ‘great wall that could never be overcome’. A wall so large and enormous that he could not even dare look up at it. The Wailing Wall towered before him.
Before we knew it, the fight had become nothing more than a one-sided tantrum by Yones.
Only then did I realize.
The greatest talent in the empire that the ‘Black Prince’ possessed did not come from simple reasons such as being born into a powerful family or receiving a good education.
It was the embodiment of absurdity.
An overwhelming talent that seems to symbolize the very ‘unfairness of the world’.
When I realized that fact, I could only laugh in vain. It was pointless to continue to fight with my sword. I realized it to the point where my bones were freezing. The gap was so overwhelming that it bordered on despair.
“undersong…….”
The strength left my hand holding the sword hilt.
“It’s a defeat.”
At the same time, the shadow blade that was orbiting around Dale stopped.
“It’s my victory.”
Dale opened his mouth.
“Is this all there is to it?”
Sir Jonas was speechless in the face of Dale’s question.
“… … .”
Silence fell. It was a very long and heavy silence.
