Knight Tournament (4)
A growl rumbled from somewhere nearby, and Rublin scowled fiercely.
“Who dares...!”
Yurin realized who the voice belonged to and rushed over, throwing herself into his arms.
“Oppa!”
Calix slowly patted the back of the girl who had buried her face in his chest and started sobbing.
Gordon approached and bowed at the waist.
“You’ve arrived, my lord. I am ashamed.”
“We’ll settle today’s merits and demerits later. For now, seal off the annex so those bastards can’t escape.”
“Yes, my lord!”
At Gordon’s glance, Calix’s guard knights began encircling Rublin.
“Hmph! Rookies who just picked up a sword dare to surround a Sword Owner!”
Hamilton bellowed in fury, gripping his sword.
A chilling killing intent spread through the room, freezing Calix’s group like prey before a beast.
But it lasted only a moment.
Krout stepped forward, nullifying Hamilton’s pressure.
As the Blue Lion Knights’ expressions relaxed, Hamilton frowned.
He turned to see who had ruined his momentum.
“Who dares... hmm?”
He tilted his head, his rage fizzling out.
“No way... Krout?”
He already knew Krout.
But as his crooked smirk and twisted tone revealed, it wasn’t the friendly attitude of old acquaintances.
It was more like facing a hated rival.
Calix glanced back, and sure enough, Krout was glaring at him with a rigid face.
“Who’s that guy?”
“Hamilton. We trained together as knight candidates.”
“Why’s he so pissy?”
“I beat him in the Knight Tournament. After that, he started avoiding me. I heard he applied to the Blue Lion Knights and got rejected.”
“Pfft! You got in?”
“As you can see...”
Hamilton bristled at their conversation.
“You bastard! Where’d you hear that nonsense!”
Despite Hamilton’s vehement denial, Rublin eyed him suspiciously.
“Sir Hamilton, is what they say true?”
“No way. I only applied to the Lander Knights from the start.”
“Really?”
“Check the records if you want.”
“And you forfeited to him in the Knight Tournament?”
“I wasn’t in top condition and forfeited to avoid injury.”
“Hmmm...”
As Rublin wore a strange expression, Hamilton hurriedly added,
“But now he’s just a gatekeeper for a fallen house.”
“Fallen house?”
“Ever heard of House Szczecin?”
“Szczecin? Sounds familiar... ah!”
A sneer curled Rublin’s lips.
“Come to think of it, I heard they got cocky in this Knight Tournament and ended up grouped with five commoners.”
“Ahem! That was just bad luck. More importantly, it’s that place where they lost their lord in a joint monster subjugation.”
“Oh? That one? Father and son both useless as hell. Heh.”
“Exactly. Why would I apply there? I’ll handle these country bumpkins. Just wait a moment.”
Hamilton turned to Calix’s group and declared,
“This is Rublin Lander, son of Commander Lander. Get out of the way!”
Calix glanced at Krout.
As expected, he’d touched a sore spot—Krout was gripping his sword hilt so hard it might shatter.
Damn, this is bad. If I sit idle, he’ll explode. Tsk!
Calix crossed his legs, jiggled his foot, spat on the floor with a ptui, and called out to Hamilton.
“Hey, kidnapper.”
“Wh-what! I’m no kidnapper!”
“You think anyone’ll buy that with a healthy girl slung over your shoulder? Put Marie down and apologize properly, and I’ll just hit you twice before letting you go.”
“You... crazy bastard!”
As Hamilton’s hand reached for his sword, Krout stepped in front of Calix.
“Planning to finish our Knight Tournament duel here? I welcome it.”
As the two faced off tensely, Calix secretly pocketed the dagger he’d pulled from his inventory.
The gray aura on the dagger vanished in an instant.
Tch, thought I’d get a level-up for once...
Calix smacked his lips and yelled at Gordon, who stood dumbfounded behind him.
“What’re you doing? Grab him.”
“Y-yes!”
Gordon led two knights toward Rublin.
Rublin still hadn’t grasped the situation.
“What? You don’t know what happens if you touch me? I’m Rublin Lander! Know House Lander? You idiots! Count Lander’s my father! Huh? Still? You wanna go up against our territory with its three regular knight orders? Huh?”
“My lord!”
Only after Hamilton’s shout did Rublin realize his family name held no sway here, and he stumbled back awkwardly.
But he was already surrounded by the Blue Lion Knights.
As Hamilton lunged to break the encirclement—
“Where to?”
Krout blocked him and raised his sword.
Shing—swoosh!
Hamilton swung his sword in a smooth arc.
Krout dodged with a mere twist and thrust forward.
Hamilton eyed the blade aimed at his brow.
Without fully turning, he recovered his sword and jerked his head aside.
The blade grazed his ear, leaving a shallow cut.
In that gap, Hamilton’s recovered sword spiraled like a vine-wrapped snake toward Krout’s wrist.
Krout yanked his wrist back, spun once, and drove his elbow into Hamilton’s guard as he closed in.
Stay still, and his jaw would shatter.
Too close to swing properly.
Tch, down to this, huh.
Hamilton blocked the elbow with his palm, flowing with the force to leap back.
In that brief exchange, over a dozen clashes had passed.
Not once did steel meet steel.
It was like a choreographed sword dance.
Neither was holding back.
But the moment weapons clashed, the one summoning their Sword of Light—proof of class 6—would disarm the other.
Summoning it openly meant a deathmatch.
Neither had the slightest intent for that.
The evasion-focused bout dragged on tediously.
“Hah!”
As distance opened, Krout thrust like lightning once more.
Too fast to dodge—Hamilton twisted slightly, offering the girl on his shoulder as a shield.
“You despicable cur! Can you still claim to uphold chivalry?”
Krout barely recovered his sword and roared in rage.
“Hey, it wasn’t on purpose.”
“Spare me your lame excuses!”
Krout’s attacks grew faster, more relentless.
Hamilton realized he couldn’t fight an equal with the girl as baggage—not that he cared for her life.
Just that a harmed hostage escalated things dangerously, and he wanted to avoid the risk.
“Damn it!”
Hamilton dropped Marie and went all-out against Krout. Laila seized the moment, snatching her away.
“Marie! Marie!”
While Yurin held her and cried, the fight ended anticlimactically.
Calix had pinned Rublin to his knees, sword to his throat.
“Hey, drop your sword and kneel here. Dawdle, and I can’t guarantee your master’s life.”
Hamilton gaped at Calix’s cheap threat.
“You madman! Is that how a noble acts?”
“Toying with and kidnapping an innocent woman is noble behavior? Quit stalling and kneel. Unless you want Count Lander ordering your seppuku for failing your lord.”
“Dragging guilty commoners is one thing—kidnapping and threatening to kill a noble is another! Do you even know who he is?”
“House Lander, right? So what?”
“His Excellency won’t let you get away with this!”
“And if he doesn’t? You gonna do politics?”
“What?”
“Listen, Lander Commander’s Fifth Prince faction. I’m First Prince faction. I could lop your heads off here and get demoted at worst. Or go all-in on a territory war over the kingdom’s fate. Fine by me—I’ll hole up in my lands for ten years.”
“Crazy...!”
Hamilton was speechless.
He’d never met such a lunatic.
Yet he nailed the faction dynamics perfectly.
In this precarious balance, this incident meant either all-out civil war or it gets buried.
Both sides would compromise to avoid the former.
His punishment? Demotion, as he said—no poison or sneaky shit.
This was Calix’s lodging. They were the intruders.
Barring assassination or private territory skirmish—which an enraged Count Lander wouldn’t stoop to—revenge was impossible.
Whatever happens after I die, who cares? Damn it!
Oblivious to his turmoil, pale-faced Rublin screamed,
“H-Hamilton! Do something about this sword! Agh! Blood—blood on my neck!”
“My lord...”
Hamilton rubbed his temple.
Spoiled rotten, hopeless in crises.
No choice. I’ll repay this debt later.
Stepping back, he addressed Calix with veiled persuasion.
“Young master, let’s not escalate. We’re at an impasse—pushing too hard isn’t wise.”
“Cut the bullshit and apologize first.”
“Urk...!”
He ground his teeth, glaring at Calix.
But Calix just stared back with wide eyes: So what?
No choice.
He slowly bowed his head.
“I... sincerely regret this incident. Please—crunch!—graciously forgive us.”