Outlaws from the Southeastward
Outlaws from the Southeastward
Kelbast was by no means a small city, yet the news that its lord had hastily led his guard toward the barrier spread to every corner of the city in an instant.
Normally, word of the lord's movements was accompanied by tales of orcs, so from the citizens' perspective, it was only natural. And thanks to that, this latest incident spread just as quickly and drew every eye.
The tale that an unidentified adventurer had not only appeared bearing Sir Dubbert's double-bladed axe but had also cleaved a knight in two, and that despite this the lord had courteously escorted him away—that story spread far faster than the news that the lord had gone to the barrier, and information began to be updated constantly through the servants working at the lord's castle.
In the flood of information that came together, there was exactly one story that the city could cheer about.
They said that cursed orc brat was finally dead.
Aside from that, everything else was either dubious, didn't add up, or was something the citizens of Kelbast found a little hard to stomach.
One person called him a mannerless adventurer scum, while another said he was polite enough to put nobles to shame. One claimed he was a greenhorn who barely even felt like he had aura and had just been lucky enough to grab the axe and run, while another shot back asking how a man who split armor in half could be unskilled.
So many varied stories erupted that it was hard to believe such rumors could spread in a single night, and because of it, the adventurer became a celebrity in Kelbast overnight. For better or worse. His name hadn't even been revealed, and yet he'd become so famous that some dismissed the stories about him as nothing but idle gossip.
And those rumors, entirely unrelated to the man's own intentions, made some of the knights staying in the lord's castle very uncomfortable.
"We must recover the axe, by whatever means necessary!"
While the Margrave of Kelbast was busy verifying the truth of the adventurer's claims, a group of knights gathered in small clusters to debate the gravity of the situation, and one of them slammed his fist on the table and spoke with fervor.
Had it been some hot-blooded young common knight who shouted, they could have forced a laugh and brushed it off, but the one who shouted was a mid-ranking knight who had guarded Kelbast for quite a long time, and in this assembly, those who could stop his predictable yet utterly toothless protest-like lament were few and far between.
"The personal effects of Sir Dubbert, who sacrificed his whole life for Kelbast—how could we...!"
Regrettably, the highest-ranked among those few were in conference with the lord, and those of similar rank to him shared his opinion.
Because of that, the knights who had followed the lord as his escort all the way to the west gate were dying inside.
'Against a bastard as strong as an orc who splits people and armor in half with pure brute strength—how?'
They had been apprentice knights in Sir Dubbert's active days, so their feelings were perfectly understandable, but that and reality were two different things. The veteran knight launched into a tirade that they must challenge the honorless adventurer scum to a sacred duel and reclaim the axe, but the escort knights knew all too well that there was no way in hell they could beat that man.
On the surface, he didn't even feel like he had proper aura. Setting aside differences in rank, it was just faint. But the blood-grease left on the axe, not yet fully wiped clean, hinted that the adventurer had killed a knight with that axe, and that meant he had accomplished that carnage with nothing but muscle.
If they hadn't lived their whole lives having Sir Dubbert's great deeds and just what kind of object that axe was drilled into their ears until they were calloused, they would have assumed it was a magic axe. If they had, they'd probably be swept up in this fanatical mood and egging him on by now.
"Well spoken! How can a knight of Kelbast, guardian of the frontier of humanity and civilization, sit around sucking his fingers while some honorless adventurer plunders a historic weapon from him!"
"The man is a barbarian who bisected a knight in front of the gate! What difference is there between him and an orc!"
No. The lord did say he was suspiciously well-versed in the law...
The gazes of the three uneasy men crossed in the air, and by tacit agreement, they decided to shut their mouths for now. If they objected here for no reason, they had no idea what kind of nagging and hazing they'd get from these knights who were so far above them in seniority.
"My blood is boiling, I can't stand it! I will go at once and show that lawless scoundrel what justice and honor mean!"
With more voices agreeing with his opinion, the mid-ranking knight seemed to grow certain, and finally, he sprang to his feet. No one actually stopped him, and in the end, ten knights went swarming off toward the room where the adventurer was staying.
The three escort knights, who had diligently kept their mouths shut but couldn't slip away from the tide, tilted their heads and exchanged glances. Tch, this many should be able to handle it somehow, right?
There was a brief delay as they worried about etiquette, but the knights ultimately concluded that since he was an adventurer anyway, they could just go easy on the formalities, and then they knocked on the adventurer's door without further ado.
The moment a polite voice telling them to enter came back, the mid-ranking knight opened the door and stood at the very front, gave the adventurer a short bow of his head, and spoke.
"Visitor from faraway Itisel, forgive me for coming without an appointment! But while we know not when you may resume your travels, this matter is far too urgent for us, and so we have acted and committed this discourtesy—I beg your understanding!"
A faint frown creased the brows of the escort knights. Even so, isn't throwing etiquette out the window like that a bit much, senior knight?
Barging in and one-sidedly apologizing while demanding understanding. The Margrave might have a disposition for neglecting etiquette and pursuing practicality, but the lord always said it was unseemly for knights who serve a lord to do the same.
The escort knights' gazes slid toward the adventurer, but all they saw was a reaction that was utterly inscrutable.
Only when the adventurer's gaze and silence—he had been lying sprawled comfortably on the bed without moving a muscle, just turning his eyes blankly to stare at the knights—began to feel oppressive did he finally open his mouth.
"What business do you have?"
"...Ahem, as you will already have heard..."
Assuming the adventurer had understood and let it pass, the mid-ranking knight launched into a lengthy explanation, but the frowns of the escort knights only deepened. This was the same man who, the moment he saw the lord, had bluntly asked if the lord knew the law well—was this reaction right?
Why did 'I will understand and overlook it,' sound instead like 'Let's hear what the hell was so important that you'd commit this kind of rudeness'?
"...Therefore, we, the knights of Kelbast present here, seek to gain an opportunity to reclaim the great Sir Dubbert's double-bladed axe from you through sacred duel!"
The mid-ranking knight finished speaking and waited for a reaction, but once again, the adventurer was silent. With an utterly composed demeanor.
In fact, he still hadn't even gotten up and was still lying down, but since their side had already barged in and committed the rudeness, no one pointed it out. They just sent him disapproving looks. Then the adventurer, who had briefly turned his eyes to the ceiling as if pondering something, slowly rose from his seat. He picked up the sword he had laid out beside him, looked at the mid-ranking knight with an indifferent expression, and said,
"There will be a training ground. Lead the way."
It was an attitude so natural and calm, but the other knights, led by the mid-ranking knight, were simply delighted they had created a pretext to reclaim the axe and eagerly took the lead. They moved as if escorting the adventurer from front to back. Or as if encircling him so he couldn't flee. Some of the knights, in very small voices, sneered at the adventurer.
"It seems he thinks he only has to fight one opponent."
"Haha, surely he couldn’t be that ignorant. Sir Haksen clearly said ‘the knights of Kelbast.’ Even a commoner would know the difference between one knight and the knights of Kelbast."
"If he'd known, wouldn't he have respectfully refused the duel?"
"Hmm, you have a point."
It was a remark that made even the three knights who had risen from common birth to escort knight through sheer effort grow sullen, but those people were not the sort to care about such things, so the escort knights just followed in silence. Thus, while attention focused on them from all around, they arrived at the training ground. As the knights formed a ring around the perimeter, the mid-ranking knight Haksen stood in the center, facing the adventurer who was still looking around with a nonchalant air. Haksen drew his sword, assumed his stance, and declared,
"I, Haksen Straud, knight of the fortress city of Kelbast, do swear before the gods that I shall now engage in sacred duel, staking ownership of Sir Dubbert's double-bladed axe!"
At the same time, he began to emit the aura he had carefully stored within his body. The aura he released as an intimidating force was certainly extraordinary, befitting a man whose skill was top-tier even among the aura users in the castle who had reached the Expert rank. Yet the adventurer who observed it showed no change whatsoever, as if he felt nothing at all.
He simply stepped back half a pace, bowed his waist in courtesy, and drew his sword in a clean, flawless motion without a single wasted movement.
"Huh?"
Reflexive doubt leaked out from the spectating knights at the sight of those perfectly efficient motions. The escort knights exchanged glances as if on cue, none of them first or last.
"I am Eldmia Ega. Son of Radan Ega and Evisher Ruina, apprentice who walks the path of the knight learning the sword of Ogatorf, and a single sword who has sworn to walk the path of the wanderer for the future peace of the kingdom and tranquility of its people."
Somehow, they'd had a feeling it would go like this.
"The knights of the fortress city of Kelbast lay claim to the double-bladed axe known as Sir Dubbert's legacy, my rightful trophy won on the battlefield. Before all the gods, I swear that I will continue accepting their challenges until they have paid a price befitting both the disrespect they showed me and the object they seek."
Confusion rippled through the knights who understood that the situation was spiraling into something serious in an instant, but the adventurer who had identified himself as Eldmia merely assumed the upper stance and concluded his words.
"Having lost honor in this place, here I shall reclaim honor and receive recompense. Until then, I will neither sheath my sword nor open my mouth."
Among the stunned knights, only the escort knights shut their eyes tight.
Doesn't know honor? Lawless man? Barbarian? If that man was a barbarian, then every last person here was a barbarian.
'As expected, the lord's words weren't wrong at all.'
That day, the moment he finished a conference lasting a full three hours and stepped outside, the Margrave of Kelbast had to clutch the back of his neck upon hearing the story that seven of his knights had all been thrashed by the adventurer from Itisel and forced to pay ransom.