Chapter : 06
If You’re Salty, Then Come Fight Me?
“Just now, what, what did you say…?”
Count Cornwell, who had been raging only moments ago, widened his eyes.
“A duel has been declared—what are the knights doing?”
Ignoring his voice, I spoke to the knights standing around the assembly hall.
“T-That is….”
“What? What are we supposed to do?”
Faced with a sudden situation they had never experienced before, the knights panicked and milled about.
Though they bore the name Leinrant, more than half of them were men cultivated from collateral branches.
They probably could not tell whether they should follow the words of the collateral count who had raised them, or mine.
“What are you all doing—!”
The knights’ shoulders flinched.
It was a sharp bark from Dunkel, clad in full armor.
“A descendant of Leinrant has declared a duel. Does this look like a joke to you?!”
At the voice of their superior, the knights snapped back to their senses and drew their swords all at once.
Kaaang—!
The sound of dozens of blades striking the ground simultaneously.
Only then did the nobles gathered there seem to sense that things were taking a strange turn.
“W-Wait, Young Lord Klein! A duel trial, you say! That is…!”
I could easily guess what he was about to say next.
It was a clause already rendered obsolete.
A forgotten old custom.
That was what he wanted to say.
‘You thought I’d let you slip out?’
I scoffed at him briefly and added a single line.
“Are you, who claim to be the lord of the North, rejecting the North’s long-standing tradition?”
“Th-That is…!”
Upon hearing my words, Cornwell hurriedly looked around.
Those seated where his gaze landed were old veteran soldiers wearing fur garments.
They were not collateral branches of Leinrant already allied with the Empire, but local powers who proclaimed neutrality.
‘There’s a reason I pushed things this far.’
Seeing Count Cornwell hesitate, unable to immediately rebut, made me smile.
‘Go ahead and try to refuse. Let’s see what those old men think of the collateral branches.’
The local powers of the North were people who had taken root in this land even before the Ducal House of Leinrant came into being.
They were fundamentalists who would stake their lives on old customs and traditions.
“Hah, to think there was someone who still remembered that ancient custom.”
“I don’t even remember how many years it’s been since I last heard the sound of swords like that.”
Just as expected, they were looking at me with interest, as if this situation were unexpected.
“Krr….”
After gauging their expressions, Count Cornwell let out a low groan.
In a situation where many local powers already looked unfavorably upon the collateral branches that had aligned with the Empire—
If he were to reject this duel trial as well, the collateral branches would be placed in an extremely awkward political position.
‘From the moment this assembly was convened, you all entered the palm of my hand.’
As I thought that, my father, Duke Heinkel, who had been watching the exchange between Cornwell and me, rose from his seat.
“We cannot ignore the tradition handed down since the founding.”
After saying that, Heinkel looked back and forth between Cornwell and me, then declared it himself.
“Given that the declaration of the legitimate line of Leinrant has been established, the 7th Duke of Leinrant guarantees this duel trial.”
“Y-Your Grace…!”
With the duke’s own approval given, the confusion among the collateral faction only grew.
“In accordance with the law, all evidence and charges presented thus far lose their effect, and only the result of the trial will determine guilt or innocence.”
At Heinkel’s words, Cornwell, who had been clutching his head, suddenly looked up.
“Then, the suspicions the main house raised until just now as well…?”
“Without exception, all are dismissed.”
At those words, the corners of Cornwell’s mouth lifted.
‘He’s probably thinking this turned out better for him.’
The traces of hiring mercenaries. And the circumstances under which I, the second son, disappeared alone with them.
Strictly speaking, in this incident, it was the collateral faction—not me—that was at a disadvantage.
‘Originally, they must have planned to delay the verdict for three or four years, then use the Empire to quietly bury the case.’
Tedious, and troublesome work.
For me to lose my temper and demand a duel in such a situation— from their perspective, it would seem like a stroke of luck.
“H-Hahaha! Very well! Yes, excellent!”
Laughing heartily, Count Cornwell strode toward me.
Whatever the inner details, he too was a father who had lost a child.
There was no way he had any intention of sending me back unharmed.
“The trial will be one week from now. On our side, we intend to send Sir Randel as the champion—would that be acceptable?”
At Cornwell’s words, I nodded.
My swordsmanship and necromancy were not yet complete, either.
And if I were to kill the count himself, one pillar of the collateral faction, the other collateral branches would only grow cautious.
‘I need to draw attention just enough, then have them lose interest and buy time to build my power.’
Thinking that, I nodded.
“Randel, you mean Randel of Grimdel?”
In the meantime, upon hearing the champion’s name, Dunkel frowned and asked.
“So you know of him, Sir Dunkel. He’s a very capable fellow.”
“Are you sending an Imperial knight into a Northern duel?”
“An Imperial knight? He is now, without question, a knight of the Cornwell family.”
Dunkel spoke with a hardened expression, but Cornwell merely replied with feigned nonchalance.
“Is it a name you know?”
“He’s a knight who distinguished himself in the Battle of the Grimdel Plains.”
“He’s famous enough for his name to reach the North—so why would he come all the way here instead of staying with the Empire?”
When I whispered that question to Dunkel, he replied with an uncomfortable expression.
“He was excommunicated. On his way back, he raided a civilian village and the widow there….”
“Hah, birds of a feather.”
As we whispered, Cornwell twitched the corner of his mouth and asked me.
“But then, Young Lord, will you not name a champion?”
At those words, I narrowed my eyes.
“A champion?”
“Sir Dunkel is a direct subordinate of His Grace, so he would not be appropriate… but is there not one person?”
The conditions for appointing a champion were that they be a blood relative of the duelist, or a knight who had sworn loyalty to him.
‘Delain. He’s thinking of using me to draw out the heir of Leinrant.’
To think he was still concocting schemes like this—he really was a sly old snake.
“You’re correct, Count Cornwell.”
At the voice coming from behind me, I turned around.
‘Ah, seriously, please.’
There stood Delain, his fists clenched tight.
“It’s hard to believe that Klein killed Dalton, but even so, I don’t think my brother’s testimony is false.”
“If that is the case?”
Seeing Delain flushed with heat, Cornwell immediately fanned the flames.
‘If only half of his physical ability and sword talent were matched by political sense….’
Delain couldn’t even properly control his expression with his enemy right in front of him.
I appreciated him looking out for me as a brother, but at this rate he was only being played.
“I will go out as the champion and prove my brother’s innocence—!”
“I will not appoint a champion.”
Before Delain could say anything more, I hurriedly cut him off.
“Klein, this is reckless!”
“This is my matter. It has nothing to do with you, brother.”
“It’s your matter, so how could that—!”
Even as Delain continued trying to stop me, I spoke firmly toward Cornwell, putting strength into every word.
“The duel, I, will, fight it, personally.”
In a duel trial, the will of the party involved was absolute.
Not even the duke who notarized the duel could intervene.
“Hah, well then…. Such a brave decision.”
At my resolute answer, Cornwell smacked his lips, then left the assembly hall without wiping the smile from his face.
“Even if you tell us your champion on the day itself, we won’t mind at all, so feel free to say so anytime. Young Lord! Hahaha!”
Watching Cornwell disappear like that, I let out a quiet sigh of relief.
“Klein! You…!”
After everyone gathered in the hall had left.
Delain approached me and grabbed both my shoulders.
“What on earth is this all of a sudden! A duel! You—!”
“I appreciate your concern, but this wasn’t something I did without thinking. I have a chance of winning.”
I said that and knocked Delaniel’s hand away.
In the meantime, my gaze was directed past Delain’s shoulder toward my father, Duke Heinkel, who was looking at me.
“…….”
I lowered my head and expressed my gratitude.
If it hadn’t been for Duke Heinkel’s guarantee, this trial wouldn’t even have come to pass.
Seeing me like that, Heinkel nodded once, then walked out of the assembly hall.
The direction he headed was where the training grounds were.
The meaning of that was simple enough.
‘He’s telling me to prove it. Whether I can win the duel.’
Thinking that, I looked at Delain, who was still trying to persuade me.
‘Yeah. If I’m going to tear down and rebuild the family anyway, sooner or later I’ll have to show my hand.’
A bastard born of an other-race woman.
On top of that, a cursed child who, as a boy, called himself Akimond.
I couldn’t very well turn my back on the humans who had kept someone like me alive until now.
“Listen to me, Klein! Even now, just appoint a champion…!”
“Brother.”
At the form of address he had never heard before, Delain stopped mid-sentence.
“H-Hey, you just called me brother…?”
‘Since there’s something I need to squeeze out of this guy anyway, trading a few blows should be fine.’
Thinking that, I spoke to him.
“Could you spar with me just once?”
One corner of the training grounds.
Heinkel was watching Delain and Klein, Delain holding a practice Blunt longsword.
“Do you regret it?”
At the voice asking him that, the duke looked to the side.
“Dunkel.”
A knight with black hair slicked back had approached him.
“I’m a pathetic father. Instead of stopping my child when he’s walking toward death, I shoved him from behind.”
“…The young lord will not die.”
Though Dunkel said that, the duke shook his head.
“Klein doesn’t know how to wield a sword. It’s no different from suicide.”
“Then why did you permit it?”
At Dunkel’s question, Heinkel replied.
“How could I, of all people, stop a child who stepped forward for the honor of his dead mother?”
The duel trial that would take place between Cornwell and Klein.
However, its main point of contention was not Klein’s charge of assassination, but the honor of Klein’s mother, Duchess Claire.
“Normally, I would have gone out as the champion myself.”
“Your Grace.”
“I know. If I were to step forward out of personal feelings, the prestige of the ducal house would only fall further.”
As he said that, Heinkel’s sigh deepened.
“When I brought Klein from the church into the ducal house, there was tremendous backlash.”
Recalling those old days, Heinkel clenched his fist.
A young lord scorned as the child of a cursed foreign race, the reincarnation of Akimond.
If he not only saved Klein, but tried to shield him once again now, the remaining support base of the main house would be shaken.
That would be nothing more than dancing to the tune the collateral branches wanted.
“If he wins the duel, they’ll change their minds.”
Dunkel’s words also had merit.
A duel for the restoration of Duchess Claire’s honor.
If Klein were to win. Cornwell’s faction would have no choice but to treat Duchess Claire not as a foreign woman, but as a noble lady of the ducal house.
Klein’s own standing, having broken the momentum of the collateral branches, would rise as well.
Even so, Heinkel shook his head with a troubled expression.
“The opponent is a regular knight. Isn’t it a fight he cannot win?”
The difference between a knight who wielded mana and an ordinary person who could not was clear.
Even a newly commissioned knight could face dozens of elite soldiers, yet the opponent was a regular knight who had crossed countless battlefields.
For Klein, who had never even held a sword, it was an impossible fight.
“In the end, I must stand by and watch Klein die.”
Being forced to preserve the family at the cost of his child’s life—the helplessness twisted Heinkel’s expression.
“I swore I would protect the family, yet in the end I can protect nothing.”
Deep remorse was etched into Heinkel’s face as he spoke.
“Haah—!”
Kakang!
In the meantime, Delain charged at Klein and unleashed a storm of sword strikes.
He meant to subdue Klein in one go, who was stubbornly insisting on going out himself.
Kaang—!
He smashed the blade head-on to break Klein’s stance, then thrust at the midsection.
Immediately after, he twisted the sword path and slashed diagonally across Klein’s body.
Kang—!
With a clear metallic ring, Klein’s body was sent flying back.
“Did he just block all of Delain’s sword paths?”
Watching Klein’s fight, Heinkel’s eyes widened.
Delain’s sword was brimming with vigorous mana.
“Even for a regular knight, taking that three times would make it hard to even lift a sword. How…?”
‘Ah, my back hurts….’ Klein muttered as he dusted himself off and stood up.
At that sight, not only Heinkel, but Delain’s expression also turned strange.
“You need not worry, Your Grace.”
As Dunkel’s voice rang out, Klein adjusted his stance and immediately charged forward.
Kiriririk?!
Along with a bizarre sound, Klein’s sword moved.
A perfect sword path—frontal strike, mid-level thrust, then flowing into a diagonal slash.
Just moments ago, it was exactly the same swordsmanship Delain had displayed, without the slightest deviation.
“Kgh?!”
As a flustered Delain hurriedly blocked the strikes, Klein took another step deeper inside his range.
“Wait, don’t tell me that technique is…?”
With Delain drawn into his distance, Klein took his stance.
Sword path, direction, point of force application.
Piiing—!
The sword Klein swung tore through the air with a piercing sound.
It was such tremendous speed that even Heinkel might have missed it if he hadn’t been focused.
“That’s impossible…!”
Seeing Klein’s movements, the duke doubted his own eyes.
The secret art of the Meteor Sword that he himself had devised and trained in was unfolding in Klein’s hands.
“Young Master Klein is… someone who doesn’t fight battles he’s destined to lose in the first place.”
