“I’ll defeat Duke Reith directly and pass through. There’s no other way.”
Then, the two people’s reactions were as follows:
“Your Highness, are you feeling ill? You were still human, weren’t you?”
“I thought you’d come to your senses, but no. You’re crazier! Can’t you just send me home?”
…Those people.
Why are their tempers so short?
“Hey, first you have to hear what I plan to do to fight the Duke! Then you can do whatever, whether it’s insubordination or sending me home! It’s too much.”
“Who’s being too much?! Your Highness, what can you possibly do to the Commander? What difference will it make if you do something?”
“That’s why it would have been good if I had taken an interest in magic earlier.”
I ended up sighing.
What future could there be in a society so full of distrust?
But on the other hand, it was perfectly understandable.
‘Well, if I were in their shoes, I would have laughed heartily too.’
To argue in my defense,
So, just because you were high-level didn’t mean you could necessarily go on a rampage.
If you maximized elemental advantages, traps, and psychological effects, a 6-star could overturn a 9-star.
This game was a game of such fluctuating possibilities.
But the biggest problem was elsewhere.
Me.
‘The current me can’t even be a 6-star.’
This Gilloshian is at an absurd 0-star level!
It was understandable that the two of them completely ignored me.
“Tell me. What method do you plan to use? Is there really a way?”
Still, the little witch seemed to harbor a little hope.
Thanks, kid.
I explained in a little more detail.
“I’ll challenge the Duke to a ‘Noble Duel’ and knock his sword away. Simple, right?”
“Huh? That’s impossible!”
“So we have to make it possible.”
[Conditional Duel] A time-honored 1:1 duel method based on the laws and aristocratic traditions of the Wald Empire.
All rules, including victory and defeat, are agreed upon by the parties involved, and are established by the consent of an observer.
This was one of several PVP styles in
‘The fact that the parties involved can set all the rules.’
This point was the essence of the noble duel, and the most crucial point in my plan.
I had been aiming for this from the beginning.
“Karls, you’re the observer first. Got it?”
Then his face became very serious.
“Your Highness, what rules are you going to impose? If the conditions are strange, the Commander won’t accept them, and neither will I.”
Of course, I know that.
The observer of a duel is not a judge, but rather plays the role of guaranteeing the content and outcome of the duel by staking their honor.
I had no intention of being unreasonable.
Rather, I planned to set a trap.
“Alright, listen carefully. I’ll propose three rules to the Duke.”
First, pure swordsmanship only.
Second, immediate defeat if you drop your sword.
Third, remove all armor.
…I’ll propose it like this.”
Then Karls’s expression became even more serious.
“Your Highness, those rules…?”
“Do you perhaps understand my intention?”
But he shook his head.
“No, I don’t understand at all. I was going to say that those rules don’t help Your Highness at all!”
In fact, that was true.
Karls’s point was very accurate.
He began to attack my conditions by counting on his fingers.
“First, the ‘pure swordsmanship condition’ seems advantageous to Your Highness, who has no magic, but that’s not actually the case! Commander Reith is already the strongest swordsman!”
Whether he uses mana or not, Duke Reith was a superhuman who could overpower someone like me as easily as twisting a child’s arm.
“Second, you said ‘immediate defeat if you drop your sword’, right?”
“Yes.”
The loyal retainer frowned deeply.
“This is unconditionally disadvantageous to Your Highness! It’s common sense that the weaker side is more likely to drop their sword, isn’t it? What exactly is your intention with this?”
Well, who would think a Sword Master would drop his sword?
If anyone dropped it, it would be the Pig Prince who dropped it.
“And ‘remove all armor’? As a knight escort, I cannot accept this! This is a condition that could threaten Your Highness’s life! Absolutely not!”
Removing armor in a situation where you can’t wear mana.
This was an extremely dangerous condition for an untrained person like me.
That’s why Karls was shouting more seriously than ever.
He was worried that I would not only be defeated by the Duke, but also be killed.
But I grinned.
“I have something to rely on.”
Shall we talk about ‘removing armor’ first?
“The Duke won’t kill me. He absolutely can’t.”
As I boasted, a question mark appeared in Karls’s eyes.
“Why are you so sure?”
Reason?
Superficially, it’s simple.
“I’m the Imperial Prince. He’s a Duke.”
Meaning, the Duke, as a subject, cannot kill me, a member of the imperial family.
Karls sighed.
“Your Highness, no one is held accountable for what happens during a noble duel. His Majesty the Emperor would be the same.”
By imperial law, killing during a duel is exempt from responsibility.
If it was a legitimate duel, no one else could be guilty even if they killed me.
So, Duke Reith killing me was literally a ‘legal act’.
But I shook my head.
“Karls, this isn’t a matter of legality or illegality. It’s a matter of perception and honor.”
Then Karls blinked.
“What do you mean by that?”
Shall I explain it like this?
“Try to put yourself in his shoes. Okay, you’re Duke Reith. A Sword Master Knight Commander who has trained in swordsmanship for 50 years, right?”
“Oh…”
He’s quick to empathize.
“But then one day, someone suddenly picked a fight with you. Some impertinent little brat…challenged you to a duel. How would you feel?”
“Hmm, it would be funny. Contemptible.”
Yes, that’s right, isn’t it?
No, just a greenhorn.
“So, would you try to tear that greenhorn into a thousand pieces? Would you cut off a limb or two and tell them not to mess around?”
“Uh, that…”
Karls thought for a moment, then frowned.
“For the sake of my honor, I don’t think I would do that. A Knight Commander isn’t a murderer.”
Exactly.
The profligate Third Prince and the Sword Master Duke.
There’s an overwhelming gap between us, as vast as heaven and earth.
But would the Duke give his all against me?
Would he use a fatal killing blow to pierce my heart?
‘Especially when he can win just by striking my sword and knocking it away?’
The answer is no.
In this situation, taking off my armor would actually achieve the opposite effect.
I would be at ease, and conversely, the Duke would become cautious.
‘He’d worry that if I get seriously injured, it would tarnish his reputation.’
That effect will definitely occur.
“So no matter how much the Duke wants to kill me! Armor is unnecessary. Understand?”
“Hmm, now that you mention it, that makes sense.”
Karls nodded, and I smiled faintly.
Though I didn’t say it, there was a bigger reason for this.
‘Because the one watching is you, Karls.’
His son is clearly watching.
And wouldn’t it be impossible to cut down his son’s master?
Unless he wanted a relationship with Karls that could never be repaired, he absolutely couldn’t do that.
“So, I won’t be killed by the Duke. Even though he might want to tear me to shreds.”
“Uh, but, Your Highness.”
Karls suddenly looked at me.
He asked a rather sharp question.
“Why does the Commander want to tear Your Highness to shreds? What do you mean by that?”
…Ah.
This was something I couldn’t reveal yet.
I couldn’t tell Karls, ‘Your own father wants to kill me for your future!’
Since it was something I couldn’t explain right now, I decided to gloss over it.
“Ahem, well, there’s just something like that! Like some lingering resentment between the Duke and me?”
“Pardon?”
No matter how splendidly curious your expression gets, there’s nothing I can do, kid.
“Next, what I can rely on.”
I was passing through the forest with Karls and Tirvaen.
There was something important I had to do.
It was hard to breathe explaining it amidst all that, but both were absolutely necessary.
“It’s that I know the Duke’s weakness.”
Karls’s face brightened.
“Ah, I know the Commander’s weakness too! It’s that the alignment of his magic and swordsmanship is relatively a bit lacking!”
Tirvaen next to me also nodded.
“I’ve also heard about that. I hear his mana output efficiency is low?”
Well, that’s not wrong.
“…But that’s a weakness when compared to other Sword Masters.”
Compared to me now, who has barely any mana, that was a tremendously great point, not a weakness.
The Duke’s weakness that I knew was a bit more underhanded and sneaky.
“The Duke’s right shoulder isn’t in good condition right now. It’s in a pretty severe state of paralysis.”
Karls and Tirvaen’s eyes widened simultaneously.
This was a fact completely unknown even to the Imperial Palace.
In the original story, Duke Reith appears with his right shoulder paralyzed for some reason.
Even if the player gained his favor and got close to him, he wouldn’t properly display his swordsmanship right away for that very reason.
“Really? This is the first I’m hearing of it.”
“Yes, it’s true.”
“Where did you hear it?”
“…Ah, that.”
Let’s just make something up.
“I overheard a conversation between His Majesty the Emperor and the Imperial Knight Commander the other day.”
“Hmm, really?”
Fortunately, Tirvaen seemed to roughly accept it.
“If Your Highness’s words are true!”
Karls, who had been thinking hard, clapped his knee.
“Then the Commander won’t be able to use his main technique, ‘Vanguard Swordsmanship,’ will he? Because that’s a two-handed swordsmanship that absolutely requires both hands!”
“Exactly. That’s it.”
Kid, for once, you’ve hit the nail on the head.
[Skill][S-rank] The secret swordsmanship of the Reith family, one of the famous swordsmanship houses of the Vald Empire. It seeks the principles of offensive swordsmanship using a two-handed sword, based on the subtlety of comprehensive stillness and motion.
Special: 20% increased effect when equipped with a famous sword of the Reith family.
Vanguard is a tier 1 offensive swordsmanship.’
It was this Vanguard Swordsmanship that elevated Elon Reith to the rank of 9-star.
It was also a skill that boasted perfect synergy with his ‘Roaring Sword’.
But…there was no need to fear this swordsmanship.
‘The Duke cannot use Vanguard Swordsmanship right now.’
At this point, Duke Reith’s right shoulder was paralyzed to the extent that he couldn’t move it properly for some reason.
So, Vanguard Swordsmanship was sealed.
Since two-handed swordsmanship requires the use of both shoulders, it was natural.
“He can’t use his technique! So there might be a way… Oh, there might be?”
Tirvaen’s face brightened.
But contrary to him, Karls quickly regained his composure.
“Still, a Sword Master is a Sword Master.”
As a knight who handles swords, he was thinking rationally.
Even if he couldn’t use his right shoulder, the Duke had his left shoulder.
“The Commander can still use one-handed swordsmanship at a 7-star level. No matter if he only has one hand, he’s incomparable to Your Highness!”
“…This brat?”
You don’t have to say it so forcefully, I already know!
Whose loyal retainer is this guy?
Isn’t he just a loyal-retainer-obsessed person?
But anyway, it wasn’t wrong.
“Yes. You’re right, honestly, you’re right.”
Well, I admit what needs to be admitted.
No matter what, the Duke was far stronger than me.
Even if not Vanguard Swordsmanship, there were plenty of other one-handed swordsmanship styles.
Riarpeto Swordsmanship, Fishtic Swordsmanship, Penam Swordsmanship…
He was a master of the sword, possessing swordsmanship powerful enough to beat up most 6-stars.
But despite that, I could still talk about hope.
“I even know what swordsmanship the Duke will choose.”
What swordsmanship the Duke would use instead after Vanguard Swordsmanship was sealed.
How and from where he would try to mess me up.
It was all in my head.
“You really know that too?”
At last, Karls’s expression changed.
If I knew what swordsmanship would replace Vanguard Swordsmanship, the story would be completely different.
There are strong elemental advantages between the swordsmanship styles in this world.
Some swordsmanship styles, though seemingly insignificant, can exert tens of times more immense power against their natural enemies.
I only need one time.
‘Immediate defeat if you drop your sword.’
So, I intended to definitely put that condition forward.
Because one time is truly all I need.
If I slam the Duke’s sword to the ground, the duel ends in my victory.
“In that case, I might even be able to take a very small gamble on hope. If there’s no chance of you getting hurt! I’ll allow it!”
…Do I need permission from my escort knight just to fight?
Well, anyway.
‘Though I can’t tell Karls and Tirvaen.’
Another plan was forming in my head.
That was the ‘final puzzle piece’ that would complete my plan.