Chapter 210
Chapter: 210
-----------------------------------------------------------------
>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 210
>Chapter Title: Lykaenslope Lord (4)
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
>Vincent Sigismund.
Former Count of Sigismund and one of the few Decaron Knights on the continent.
He was the one who had completed the three massive ice walls, stabilizing the boundary of the Demon Realm. After handing over his countship to his grown son, he had made a name for himself as a renowned general on the southern front.
His personal martial prowess was exceptional, but he was also famous for saving allied forces multiple times through his animalistic instincts. Even without any divine power to speak of, he had once detected Demonkin with his keen senses, or so the stories went.
Of course, in Seongjin's eyes, the man he saw firsthand was nothing more than a stubborn old geezer.
"The Third Prince Morres, you say? You think I wouldn't recognize his face? Hah! I'm not falling for that!"
Masaïn urged the old man repeatedly to show proper respect, but the geezer merely turned his head away with rigid defiance.
"If he's the prince, he's just a kid who hasn't even hit twenty yet! But that aura coming from over there—it's no ordinary human's! In this peaceful era, how could someone like that exist unless they've been steeped in killing? That one over there has clearly spent their life rolling through the Ortona civil war and the southern front!"
At least he was calling it "that side" instead of "that bastard," which showed the old man had some sense. With holy knights—who couldn't possibly miss a demon—surrounding Seongjin, even he had to feel some doubt.
Of course, that level of perceptiveness didn't excuse the blasphemy.
"I won't warn you again, Sir Vincent. Apologize deeply to His Highness at once and show the proper respect you owe!"
"Sir Masaïn! That one over there is clearly deceiving you and the holy knights with some trick! Can't you see it?"
"You really intend to go this far...!"
Perfect. To smooth over all this blasphemy, even the count would have a headache.
Maybe he should force a new trade deal with the Sigismund territory this time around and squeeze some hefty relay fees out of them.
Entertaining such thoughts inwardly, Seongjin watched the old man Vincent with intrigued eyes.
'Come to think of it, Logan said something similar when we first met.'
He had said Seongjin's presence was completely different from Morres's.
There was no way Logan—a Sword Master—could miss what this non-Sword Master old man had noticed. Seongjin figured it was probably because the memories of his struggles on Earth were influencing his current presence.
'Which means, at least back when I was the young Morres, I had none of those Earth memories.'
How could he possibly be Morres?
Considering the Holy Emperor's warning not to doubt it, he had vaguely assumed he was reincarnated into Delcros like Logan.
But when he was Morres, he clearly had no memories of Seongjin, and Seongjin had no memories of Morres's childhood either?
'Above all, would Logan just buy this so easily? Father confirmed it, but that's just circumstantial at best. There's no concrete proof...'
As Seongjin sank into such worries, Orden—who had barely managed to steady himself by clutching his side—started berating the old man fiercely.
"Grandfather, please stop tarnishing the family name any further!"
"What? Tarnishing? Are you saying you're ashamed of this old man? You insolent brat! Do you know who I am? I, Vincent Sigismund, stand equal to Baltazar, the continent's greatest knight!"
But Orden's expression remained ice-cold.
"Frankly speaking, objectively, you're not quite on the level to compare yourself to my master. He is a Sword Master, after all, while you are not."
"What? You little punk! You disrespectful thunderbolt-headed fool who doesn't know his place!"
"You just committed a grave blasphemy against His Highness, and now you're the one talking about not knowing one's place?"
Come to think of it, Orden was also famous as the direct disciple of Baltazar, the continent's greatest knight.
No wonder he had taken another master despite having a Decaron Knight for a grandfather. The two simply didn't get along personality-wise.
"I won't tolerate any further rudeness toward the one who has graciously come to aid our territory!"
"You brat! Who are you to talk about tolerating anything?"
"As the heir to the Sigismund territory, I am warning an subversive element defying the Empire!"
At that, the shocked old Vincent trembled with rage.
"You... you just branded your own grandfather a subversive element?!"
"Isn't that the truth?"
"You... what do you take your blood kin for?! Even if it were true, you should stand by your own flesh and blood to the end!"
Orden's eyes flashed with blue sparks.
"Well said. For someone who holds blood kin so dear, did you not commit those acts against Princess Amel in her childhood?"
"Wha... what?"
At those words, the old man's face suddenly paled in obvious panic.
"Why... why bring that up here and now? That's all in the past."
"Grandmother hounded her so relentlessly—did you ever once stand up for Princess Amel?"
"That's not the point! Enough, you fool!"
Hold on. That was not something he could just let slide.
Come to think of it, he vaguely recalled hearing that the Sigismund count family was his older sister's maternal relatives.
Sensing something in that instant, Bruno flinched and turned to Seongjin, trembling.
"...Your Highness?"
Ignoring his shocked gaze, Seongjin called out to Masaïn, who was watching the two men's squabble with an awkward expression.
"Sir Masaïn."
"Yes, Your Highness...!"
Masaïn turned his head reflexively, and color drained from his face for a moment.
"My memories from back then are fuzzy. The princess the young lord mentioned—is she perchance my sister Amelia?"
"Your Highness, that matter..."
"What did this senile old coot do to my sister?"
"......"
There were rumors that the count family had mistreated Princess Amelia until His Majesty came looking for her. However, neither His Majesty nor the princess had ever mentioned it, so most dismissed it as mere gossip...
Reluctantly offering that explanation, Masaïn eyed Seongjin's complexion anxiously, as if worried he might grab a mace and charge at the old man on the spot.
Hey, what does he take me for? I'm not that reckless.
At least officially, I won't draw my sword first. For real.
Glancing over his companions' worried looks, Seongjin slowly walked toward the two men.
"Grandfather has always been like this! Getting heated over trivial things while turning a blind eye to what truly matters!"
"No, when have I ever...!"
The old man, raising his voice, suddenly startled and turned to Seongjin.
"Wh-what's that? That glare. You look ready to settle this to the death...!"
"Why? Think I can't?"
Sure, on the surface, it looked like a low-rank knight challenging a Decaron Knight.
But you know what? It might take some effort, and I'd have to pay a hefty price, but I've got a rough picture in my head of how to handle you.
His calculations for opponents—human or monster—were always the same. In the end, the one left standing on solid ground would be him.
"With that level of aura, you think you can...?"
"Doubt it? Then close your eyes tight and come at me. You're already suspecting I'm a demon, aren't you? Drawing that sword will make everything crystal clear, old timer."
Which is exactly what I want.
As Seongjin curled one corner of his mouth into a smirk, the tense old man reflexively reached for his sword.
"Your Highness, what is this?"
Only now regaining some composure, Orden looked back and forth between Seongjin and the old man in bewilderment.
A sudden powder-keg situation on the verge of explosion.
"Your Highness!"
Sensing the ominous tension, Masaïn rushed forward to Seongjin's side. Knights, acting on Captain Bruno's signal, hurriedly blocked the space between Seongjin and the old man.
The old man, gauging the mood, quietly lowered his hand from his sword. The pressure radiating from the prince in that instant had been so overwhelming that even a Decaron Knight had nearly drawn his blade in submission.
"Tch."
Seongjin clicked his tongue softly.
"Even a senile old man like him still has enough sense left not to draw a weapon against imperial blood in front of others."
"Your Highness...!"
Realizing the prince had truly been ready to clash with a Decaron Knight, Masaïn looked on the verge of fainting.
But Seongjin patted Masaïn's shoulder casually and spoke lightly.
"Let it be, Sir Masaïn. The old count seems to have gone a bit senile from overworking for his territory. We can't very well charge a frail old man like that with treason, can we? These matters should be handled among the sane. I'll meet the count right now."
Treason.
The heavy charge that even Orden had avoided uttering despite calling him a subversive element.
The prince had just warned that he could slap the count with treason if he felt like it.
"That's..."
The old man belatedly opened his mouth to protest, but Seongjin turned away from him coldly. He wasn't even giving him a chance to apologize.
As the prince took the lead toward the second ice wall, Orden, the guard knights, and the holy knights silently followed.
Only after Seongjin's group had moved a good distance away did old Vincent finally turn his head and mutter softly.
"...Oh dear, this is trouble. He really is the prince. That savage grin is exactly like his father's."
* * *
Seongjin's group arrived at the base on the third ice wall after the sun had fully set.
Woooooo—
From here, the Lykaenslopes' howls echoed from a fairly close distance. Looking down at the snowfield from atop the ice wall, several pairs of glowing eyes stared back, flickering restlessly.
"Looks like they're not charging straight in."
"Yes, Your Highness. There are outposts and bases made of ice beyond the wall as well, but while they occasionally probe them, they haven't launched a full assault yet."
Sir Ilma, who had arrived ahead to prepare the base, explained as he greeted the group.
It was quite different from their usual pattern of hunting soldiers in packs. It felt like they were testing something—or perhaps herding soldiers toward the ice wall.
Probably due to the lord spotted among the pack. That individual was organizing the Lykaenslopes.
"Herding them, huh. Not knowing their goal, is it really okay to gather the soldiers like this?"
Using the Demon King's Demon Eye, Seongjin confirmed the shadows of the Lykaenslopes glowing in bright purple and asked.
"No matter their scheme, it changes little. They have never breached the third ice wall even once so far. The outpost soldiers have all retreated inside by today. Now we face their horde from here."
Casualties so far: one dead, a few injured.
Incredibly, the injuries had come from retreating soldiers failing to cross the wall in time.
It was unavoidable, as the only entrance to the snowfield was a narrow gap barely wide enough for one person. Even that was now blocked by a massive boulder levered into place.
"People come and go through here?"
"It's usually sealed too. In emergencies, we lower ladders from the wall."
They lowered rope ladders from above or hauled people up with ropes. Aura users could scale the wall easily enough, but anyone seriously injured would struggle to climb over.
That naturally led to a question.
"Why not build a proper gate?"
No matter how defensive the intent, an entrance that narrow was ridiculous. At least wide enough for horses.
"Well, we tried making doors, but it proved impossible."
The problem stemmed from being unable to install a proper door between the ice walls. No matter the design or material, by the next day, the entire door would freeze solid into the wall.
Hinged doors froze hinges and all; pulley-raised doors had their chains freeze to the pulleys.
The ice walls weren't properly stacked ramparts to begin with, so bearing the door's weight was an issue too. Occasionally, the excessive load on pulleys without proper supports even cracked the ice walls.
"Hmm, I see."
As Seongjin nodded, Sir Ilma looked over the group with a puzzled expression.
"But why is everyone so tense? Did something happen on the way here?"
Perhaps from traveling together for several days, he had picked up on the group's oddly stiff atmosphere.
Moreover, the prince, usually aloof with a sour face, looked particularly grim today.
"What would have happened? We're just a bit tired from the trip, that's all."
Seongjin shook his head dismissively and smiled at Sir Ilma.
"But Sir Ilma, it's late, so I'll take your explanation here. Could I meet Count Sigismund right now?"
The prince's rare gentle and soft smile.
Yet for some reason, Sir Ilma suddenly felt a chill crawl up his spine.