An immense roar burst in the air, unbelievable for the sound of clashing swords.
And on the floor lay a sword,
It wasn’t the Third Prince’s iron sword.
Thud, thud…
The noble Roaring Sword that the Marquis had held.
That sword lay on the floor, trembling faintly as if weeping.
“What, what is it?!”
“What happened?”
The watching knights gasped in unison.
“Hmm? Why did the Commander throw his sword? Did it turn into a bare-handed duel?”
Some, unable to accept the situation, babbled nonsense.
However, the person involved understood it slowly but clearly.
It was a single collision.
Yet, the sword slipped from his hand.
This was due to an incomprehensibly powerful and cunning impact.
‘What was that move the Prince’s sword just showed?’
Could it have been that swordsmanship?
Eastern swordsmanship against Trafalgar?
‘How did this ruffian learn that?’
Elon Reith stared blankly at the Third Prince.
“Well, I won, didn’t I?”
Prince Gilloshian wore a frivolous smile, like a child from an ordinary household.
But the Marquis glimpsed traces of tenacity within that smile.
This was definitely not a coincidence.
‘It was thoroughly calculated.’
He didn’t know what had happened, but it was clear that something tremendous had been experienced.
And his conjecture was accurate.
However, the Third Prince smiled nonchalantly.
I pointed the tip of my sword at the Marquis.
“Now, withdraw your knights and move aside.”
Marquis Reith wore a profoundly bewildered expression.
He even impudently stared at me and asked,
“Your Highness, is this truly the Third Prince I knew? Or perhaps your body has been taken by necromancers from the Far Eastern Sea? Or has Ellahorten come out to play after a thousand years?”
“Hmm.”
“…Marquis, the duel isn’t over yet, can I behead him?”
Elon Reith thought for a moment, then nodded.
I was flustered.
“Huh? Behead me?”
“Hahahaha, certainly not.”
The Marquis picked up the Roaring Sword, sheathed it with a splendid motion, and then turned towards me.
And slowly, he knelt on one knee.
In the shocking silence that settled upon the ground, he spoke.
“Elon, head of the Reith family, admits his defeat. It was an unparalleled honor to compete with and receive instruction from Your Highness, the Third Prince, a great pillar of the Empire. Thank you.”
Before the refined voice of the old knight, I bit my lip.
A pillar, my foot.
What honor is there in a Sword Master losing to a ruffian Third Prince?
…Still, it feels good.
[Sudden Event ‘Noble Duel’ ends.]
[You have defeated adversary ‘Elon Reith’.]
“Oh, my goodness!”
“The Commander!”
I heard the gasps of the knights who had watched the duel.
It was probably the first time they had seen a seasoned veteran, who had roamed countless battlefields, drop his sword.
But this was the result of the duel.
I won, and he lost.
“W-we must do it again!”
“Commander! Something is wrong with this!”
Shouts erupted from among the Special Knights.
They couldn’t accept that their respected Commander had been defeated.
But when the Marquis, who had picked up the Roaring Sword, opened his mouth, everyone fell silent.
“It was a fair duel. Aren’t you who witnessed it a witness? I dropped my sword, and His Highness held his.”
Dropping the sword meant immediate defeat.
That was one of the rules of this duel I had proposed.
“Therefore, His Highness won, and the duel is over. No further explanation is needed.”
The Marquis turned to me and smiled.
“The loser is supposed to be silent, but I’ve spoken too much.”
Wow, that was a cheesy line.
But coming from the middle-aged version of Karls, it somehow had a certain charm, didn’t it?
“Hmm.”
I could feel Tirvaen, who was naturally weak to handsome men, trembling beside me.
It would be troublesome if both father and son fell for me.
Anyway, I was a little impressed.
‘To think the Marquis would accept victory and defeat so cleanly.’
In terms of sheer power, the difference was still overwhelming.
Although he lost the duel by dropping his sword, Elon Reith was a superhuman strong enough to break my sword with his bare hands.
And he was also a foolish father who deeply cared for his son, who was walking a thorny path.
From that perspective, it would not have been easy to accept this defeat.
‘I thought if the Marquis caused trouble, I would use Karls to put him in his place.’
It was a needless worry.
After a brief moment of confusion, the Sword Master’s expression became surprisingly calm.
At the same time, he was gazing at me with very serene eyes.
“Your Highness, I will clear the path as you wish. I will also withdraw the knights.”
Although the knights had been greatly agitated when the Marquis lost, this time they were calm.
They seemed to have regained their composure now.
“Your Highness, please go and bring the individuals from the rebel side. I guarantee their safety on my honor. And, well, hmm, I don’t know how to put this…”
What is it?
Why the delay?
“For Your Highness’s dignity, I will prepare a place for you to simply tidy yourself up. Is that acceptable?”
This means he’ll let me wash, so I should wash.
Just how dirty am I?
Indeed, looking at Karls and Tirvaen, I could tell.
The two of them looked absolutely like beggars, and I was probably no less, if not more, disheveled than them.
“Thank you.”
“Not at all.”
In this case, Marquis Reith would, as a result, have disobeyed the Emperor’s order.
Because he directly went against the basic command to capture the enemy.
However, he would not be reprimanded.
That’s how the ‘Noble Duel Law’ stipulated in the Imperial Law worked.
All events following the result of a duel occur solely by the will of the victor.
‘Rather, it would be my responsibility for stubbornly insisting on going to Aurax with the enemies.’
So I could leave with a light heart.
I also wanted to avoid Marquis Reith, who could later return as Karls’ father and become the most powerful ally, getting into trouble.
“However, Your Highness.”
“?”
“While they prepare the teleport, may I, as your humble subject, ask two questions?”
He wants to ask questions?
‘This feels ominous.’
If he asked how I knew the information I did, it would be truly awkward to answer.
But I couldn’t just snap at this gentle old man either.
“Speak your mind. I shall answer with the victor’s generosity.”
I subtly tried to provoke his pride, but Marquis Reith merely smiled.
His demeanor was as calm as an unshakeable wall, no matter how many stones were thrown at it.
…Now he truly seems like a Sword Master.
“First, please wash. I will also provide a meal.”
Tirvaen disappeared, saying she would take care of it herself using magic, but Karls and I decided to rely on the knights.
We planned to wash away the accumulated grime using the facilities of the supply wagon that had followed the knights.
Wow, look at this dark, dirty water.
It’s like washing a rag, not a person.
Just then, Karls, who was silently pouring warm water over his body, matted with tangled dust, suddenly spoke.
“…Your Highness, if I may be so bold, may I say something?”
“If it’s bold, just don’t say it, you idiot.”
“It’s about the conversation Your Highness had with Marquis Reith just before the duel began.”
It was none other than about Karls himself.
The moment I provoked the Marquis by bringing up his son’s worries.
The bucket in my hand began to tremble.
‘Wow, what’s with this kid?’
“You’re this quick-witted?
You were never this type of character!
I was momentarily quite flustered, but quickly managed to regain my composure.
“What? Why?”
Don’t panic!
As calmly as possible!
“What did I say?”
“Y-you know…”
“When I heard you say that… I had a rather perplexing thought, but back then—”
Karls hesitated for a long time, then finally asked me,
“Is it perhaps a secret of your birth?”
“I-I… huh?”
Oh no, I’m screwed.
“Did ‘father’ you mentioned refer to the Marquis, and perhaps there was an unknown secret surrounding your birth? Something like that.”
“Hey! Hey! Get out of here!”
In my fluster, I ended up splashing the water bucket I was holding all over Karls’ face.
“Gasp! Ugh! Why are you suddenly pouring water on me?!”
Karls protested, completely drenched.
Wow, what do I do about this?
Of course, it has to be revealed someday, but it’s a secret that shouldn’t be revealed so casually like this now.
Extremely flustered, I fumbled and haphazardly made excuses.
“Because you’re thinking strange things! It’s not like that at all! What weird thoughts are you having?”
“It’s not? What’s not?”
“None of it! Absolutely none of it! You just don’t think about anything! Who told you to think, you idiot!”
I vehemently denied it.
Then, unexpectedly, Karls’ expression softened considerably.
“Whew, if that’s the case, then that’s a relief.”
“…A relief?”
“Of course! It’s a relief!”
What?
He was greatly relieved by the news that the Marquis was not his father.
“What did you think?”
Then, a bizarre sound suddenly escaped Karls’ lips.
“I thought perhaps Your Highness had another biological father, and that it might be the Marquis! Hahahaha!”
“…Huh?
“What? You thought my father was the Marquis? Why?”
“Of course, as Your Highness’s guard knight, I knew this was a truly crazy thought, but it kept nagging at me. Because Your Highness knew the Commander too well.”
“Ah.”
I finally regained my composure.
Karls had formed a fairly plausible misunderstanding based on the fact that I knew Elon Reith too well and our earlier intense conversation.
Even though he himself was Marquis Reith’s son.
What an ironic situation.
But for now, there was nothing else I could do.
“Stop your strange imaginings and just wash.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
When I poured warm water on his back, Karls smiled faintly.
It would have been good if he had just washed quietly, but…
“Um, Your Highness, but listen?”
He quietly opened his mouth again.
Argh! What now?
Does he really want to know that badly?
“Then how did Your Highness know the Commander so well? Even though you’re not his son?”
Karls asked me nonchalantly.
“…Hmm.”
I clamped my mouth shut.
‘That little brat talked nonsense earlier, but now he’s hit the nail on the head?’
And quite hard, too.
Actually, I had been pondering this all along. It wasn’t an easy problem.
‘The more I use the information I know about this game, the stranger I’ll appear.’
It was an inevitable problem that arose from using knowledge that the Third Prince, a ruffian, could never possibly possess.
Although I had roughly bluffed my way through with Karls and Tirvaen until now, I couldn’t keep doing that forever.
Both I and they needed trust in each other.
So, a countermeasure was necessary.
‘A way to use everything I know without consequence!’
“I-I… Your Highness?”
Karls’ eyes, looking at me deep in thought, seemed like those of Marquis Reith.
Yes, there was just the right thing.
‘The Prophet Syndrome. Let’s use that as an excuse.’
The priests were working to restart the teleport gate.
They said it would take about an hour to infuse magic and check the coordinates to move a considerable number of people.
In the meantime, Varmillo and Irgal approached me.
“Third Prince, did you truly succeed?”
“Are you saying you really defeated Elon Reith of the Ninth Star?”
I chuckled, looking at them.
“Heh, have these people only ever been deceived? If I had lost, how would you be breathing and alive here? Don’t you see the knights over there? Open your eyes wide, old man! Hey, you, take off that hood! Are you a child of darkness?!”
“Hahaha, hahaha…”
The High Priest laughed with a bewildered expression, and Irgal remained silent.
This scene, where the Special Knights of the Imperial Army and the Vengeful Priests of the Revolutionary Army were in the same space without fighting, was my proof.
“Gah, even I think I was amazing. How did I pull that off?”
“I… I should have seen it with my own eyes.”
While I was patting myself on the back and Irgal was sighing for reasons unknown.
“Your Highness! It is truly good to see you looking so magnificent.”
Marquis Reith, accompanied by his knights, approached me, complimenting my newly cleaned appearance.
Gulp.
I felt Varmillo and Irgal tense up beside me.
It was only natural.
Elon Reith was one of the most threatening figures to the rebel army that had defied the Empire.
But Marquis Reith nonchalantly came and stood beside me.
“Hmm.”
And after subtly glancing at the old man’s stern expression, he let out a refreshingly youthful smile for a middle-aged man.
“If it’s alright, why don’t we introduce each other, Your Highness?”
“…What?”
“I-introductions? Between this side and that side?”
“Yes.”
Why, specifically?
It’s not a 2-on-2 blind date, is it?
“If you think about it, from a subject’s perspective, I believe it’s absolutely necessary.”
Perhaps my expression gave it away, as the Marquis simply stated his reason.
“I’m sending off the future of the Empire, who is like my ‘son,’ aren’t I? So, it’s only natural that I should know who the opposing leader is, wouldn’t you agree?”
Wow, this guy?
His words have thorns?
Like a hair worm?