Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: An Implicit Promise (1)
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Iden is a genius.
The ambitious Gretta Giftrang, seeing only his talent, personally granted him a surname and made him a member of the family—that was the first proof. The second was that he had caught the eye of the stars at the tender age of thirteen.
At least, not a single citizen gathered in this plaza was unaware of that fact.
But in contrast, they knew nothing about the boy who had stepped up as Iden's opponent.
Yan.
All the citizens knew about the boy was the name he had revealed himself before the suddenly arranged duel.
And if one were to add another detail, it was only that the boy named Yan was too young to be Iden's opponent.
Compared to Iden, whose body was developed enough to be near an adult's, he was far too thin and small.
Seeing him let the tip of his sword rest on the ground, as if he could barely hold it steady, some citizens even stomped their feet in pity.
To anyone watching, it was a fight between an adult and a child, a one-sided match.
"Hah!"
Everyone thought so, right up until the moment two shadows magically trailed Iden's sword as he thrust it forward with a short cry.
Indeed, just as the citizens had predicted, the match was over in an instant.
The only difference from their prediction was that the winner was not Iden.
Iden, who had been sweeping toward the boy's lower body with a brilliant sword shadow, suddenly began to flounder and then froze.
*Thwack.*
The flat of a longsword was resting on his head.
*Gurgle.*
Iden's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed.
*Clang.*
Only the loud sound of steel armor hitting the hard plaza floor echoed.
*Blink, blink.*
The people, half-dazed, stared back and forth between the fallen Iden and the boy.
With no one uttering a word, the boy muttered to himself.
"What an idiot. He offered up his head just to put a hole in my foot."
A voice he must have intended as a quiet mumble, but one loud enough to resonate throughout the silent plaza.
"Th-The winner is Esquire Yan!"
Though no one had told him to, the soldier Pelon declared the winner as if he were the referee.
And at that moment.
"Waaah!"
A roar erupted from the plaza.
*Grind.*
Klail Giftrang ground his teeth as he looked at his squire.
"You fool...!"
Iden had aimed for his opponent's lower body; the boy had aimed for the head.
It would have been a loss even if they had traded blows, yet he had been so startled by his opponent's attack that he'd even withdrawn his own sword.
It was a truly foolish and complacent response.
"Iden's swordsmanship wasn't bad."
"But in the end, Iden was the one who lost."
"The difference in guts and resolve decided the match."
The voices of the Yuhyeolmogi knights, praising the boy as if they were watching a fire across the river, were so infuriating.
"Whose side are you on, anyway!"
Klail Giftrang couldn't contain his anger and snapped.
"They crossed swords, and one lost because his skill was lacking. That's all there is to it."
"An arrogant prodigy learned a lesson that's hard to come by. What's there to be angry about?"
"In a real battle, he would have paid for that lesson with his life. As a Master, shouldn't you be grateful he learned it so cheaply?"
But the Yuhyeolmogi knights, far from shrinking back, retorted.
"More importantly, what will you do now?"
"Your plan to crush their morale through a duel between squires has failed spectacularly."
"You've only ended up boosting their spirits."
Their nonchalant questions were vexing, as if they were deliberately trying to provoke him.
Perhaps they were even laughing behind their helms.
After all, he had suddenly been appointed by the family head to fill the vacant position of Daegongja, and he had yet to earn the knights' recognition.
"Hoo."
Klail Giftrang suppressed his anger.
This, too, was an extension of the test given by the family head.
One who could not even command the respect of a mere knight could not lead a family.
Even if his pride was wounded, he had to endure it.
"It was a clean downward strike, with no wasted motion."
"His skill in changing direction at the last moment to strike with the flat of the blade was also superb."
"One can surmise the master by looking at the squire. I'm curious about that master's sword. He doesn't seem like someone to be dismissed as a mere free knight."
But when they praised a free knight of unknown origin while subtly disparaging him, he almost lost his temper.
*Endure it. Just endure it.*
Klail Giftrang closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
As his anger subsided, his head cleared somewhat.
In truth, while their mocking tone had been unpleasant, their point that he needed a new plan now that the old one had failed was valid.
If things continued like this, he would once again be relegated to a side role, just like at the inn.
"Tsk."
Clicking his tongue, he urged his horse forward with a reluctant expression.
It was beneath his station and made no sense, but he intended to drag out the master and force him to his knees.
Anything less would not be enough to turn the current atmosphere around.
[That's enough.]
But the moment he heard the low voice in his head, he froze.
It was the voice of the family head, Gretta Giftrang.
*Swish, swish.*
Startled, Klail Giftrang searched for the family head.
Far in the distance, atop a spire overlooking the plaza, he saw the fluttering hem of a green garment.
[When all this is over, bring that child to me.]
At the family head's words, his lips moved to ask.
*Surely you don't intend to take that child in?*
Gretta Giftrang did not answer.
But it was as good as hearing it.
Klail Giftrang was well aware that the family head, who thought of nothing but escaping the shadow of the main family, had an obsession with talent that bordered on the unbelievable.
Still, he hadn't thought it was to the extent of sidelining this important departure ceremony.
Moreover, the child's origins were completely unknown.
What on earth about that unimpressive brat had so moved her?
In his bewilderment, he looked toward the family head, but the fluttering green garment on the spire was already gone.
* * *
"Huh?"
The kid who had fainted and woken up was completely dazed.
I was just as dumbfounded.
They'd praised him so much, calling him a genius and all, I thought he was something special, but he turned out to be a greenhorn who didn't even know the basics.
An attack aimed at the top of the foot, of all things.
Isn't that the perfect attack to get your head smashed in by an enemy who's charging in to trade flesh for bone?
Worse, Iden, who had withdrawn his sword midway as if he had no intention of seeing it through, wasn't a genius but the very definition of a pampered brat raised in a greenhouse.
"Usually, people don't go that far in a duel, do they?"
"No, even on a battlefield. It's easy to say you'll give flesh to take bone. Who's just going to take a blow when their ankle is about to be severed or their arm is about to fly off?"
"Unless your opponent is your mortal enemy, that kind of thing rarely happens."
The mercenaries looked at me as if I were the absurd one.
From my perspective, I couldn't understand their reaction.
A lowered stance to strike the foot, the crown of the head wide open.
He was practically begging me to smash his head, and I was supposed to just watch?
"Well, you won, and that's what matters."
"Yep. The winner is always right."
The mercenaries shook their heads and muttered.
While we were talking, the kid was dragged away. Until the very end, he stared at me with a dazed expression, unable to comprehend what had just happened to him.
I'd held back as much as I could, but I was worried I might have hit him wrong somewhere.
*Clop, clop.*
Just then, one of the Giftrang family's mounted knights approached us.
Unlike the other Giftrang forces, whose sigil was a two-headed serpent with its mouth wide open, the serpent on this knight's chest held a flower in each of its mouths.
"The Yuhyeolmogi Knights. They're known as the external sword of the Giftrang family."
With that, Bok fell silent.
The mercenaries also formed ranks, preparing to face the Giftrang knight.
Tension crept onto their faces, which had been somewhat elated by my small victory.
I glanced at Gunther.
Gunther, who had only emerged from his meditation that morning, had been silent the whole time.
He was no different now.
With his cloak pulled down low, he showed no intention of stepping forward.
Besides, their leader hadn't come, so it would be a loss of face for our leader to step forward.
I took a step forward to meet the knight.
*Clack.*
The Giftrang knight stopped her horse exactly five paces away and flipped open her helm's visor.
A sharp-eyed woman who looked to be in her late twenties.
I expected her to have a stiff expression from the humiliation, but that wasn't the case at all.
Her slightly narrowed eyes seemed to be smiling.
"My respects for your small victory."
In fact, her first words were surprisingly amicable.
Her tone suggested the recent defeat was of no concern to her.
Even though her master, the Daegongja, was still glaring at us as if he wanted to eat us alive.
"The Daegongja has a strong desire for victory."
What an elegant way to say her master is petty.
*Pfft.*
When I chuckled, her eyes narrowed further.
Contrary to her sharp features, she seemed to smile a lot.
"The Daegongja has requested a separate meeting after the departure ceremony is concluded. What say you? Are you willing to attend?"
At the knight's words, I glanced back at Gunther.
*Nod.*
A slight nod of his head.
It was a sign to accept their offer.
"If you tell us the location, we will be there."
"Exit through the south gate and follow the main road for half a day. There's a camp set up by those who departed earlier. We will see you there."
The Giftrang knight gave a small nod in Gunther's direction and then, with a *clank*, lowered her visor.
"Then I shall see you then as well, little squire."
Not long after she returned to her ranks, the Giftrang family's forces left the plaza.
The sight of thirty heavily armed knights leaving in perfectly measured rows and columns was a spectacle in itself, but the knights themselves looked dejected, their shoulders slumped.
After watching about a third of the citizens follow the Giftrang forces, we too left the plaza.
"Relief Knights! Relief Knights!"
"May you achieve great deeds of valor!"
"Return safely!"
Leaving behind the citizens who had followed us all the way to the city gate to see us off, we began to walk along the main road.
"Phew. I can't do that a second time."
"Running around all night and then acting all dignified... I feel like I'm dying."
The mercenaries started groaning the moment the citizens were out of sight.
"But you did well to beat Giftrang's rising star. You took him down in one blow."
"Yeah. I was too flustered earlier to really process it, but thinking back, that was amazing."
I gave a noncommittal response to Garon and Bok's words.
*Rising star, my ass. He's all fluff.*
"At this point, that's not modesty, it's deception."
"Hey, you've got to consider the loser's honor, don't you?"
From my point of view, it wasn't modesty or deception, just the plain truth, but the mercenaries didn't take my words at face value.
It was clear they had never seen a true genius.
Someone like Roman, for example. Or Roman. People like Roman.
Then again, if monsters like Roman, who Ascended on their own power, were common, the Eight Families and other prestigious houses wouldn't be spending such vast sums of money trying to launch Ascendants.
I heard the expense of holding an Ascension Rite once is so enormous that even the great Eight Families have to lie low for a while to recover financially.
And even after all that, the chances of successfully Ascending and producing a Constellation are not high.
Roman, who Ascended purely on his own ability without any support, was truly a genius on another level.
Lost in such useless thoughts, I walked along the main road for some time.
In the distance, a camp came into view.
It was the Relief Knights' temporary encampment, prepared in advance by the guild.
"Uh, what happened?"
A man who had been pacing in front of the encampment saw us and rushed over to ask.
It was Anton, a clerk from the Free Knights' Guild.
"It was awesome."
"To think you missed such a spectacle. You should try growing a spine."
Heedless of the taunt, Anton was simply relieved that the guild's honor had been saved from being dragged through the mud.
But that was only for a moment.
"I've sent mercenaries in all directions to gather information on the bandits, and it's not looking good."
Anton, who had been staying at the encampment outside the city from early on to direct the scouting, had a grim expression.
"What's not looking good?"
"Well..."
Anton hesitated, his brow furrowed, before answering.
"First, the bandits' response is strange. They must know a punitive force has been formed, but instead of lying low, they're brazenly advancing into this area and causing a ruckus."
He said that four villages, just a day's journey from Komlat, had recently been attacked by the bandits.
"It's as if they're trying to provoke us."
I frowned at Anton's words.
I pondered and pondered what they could possibly gain by abandoning their base and coming this far out just to provoke us.
But it was a problem I needn't have pondered in the first place.
Because the answer came to me on its own two feet before I could find it myself.
"The Giftrang family's forces have engaged the bandits in battle!"
A mounted mercenary, likely hired by the guild for scouting, shouted with an urgent expression.
"What do you mean...?"
Anton asked the mercenary, his face aghast.
How long had it been since they left the city after the departure ceremony? When could they have possibly encountered the bandits and started a battle?
"Not them! The ones who started the battle were the free knights hired by the Giftrang family!"