Chapter 200: Champion Balak
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 200: Champion Balak
A soft touch against my skin made my eyes flash open. The sensation was reminiscent of my bed in the Imperial Palace.
But what greeted my eyes was an old wooden ceiling, an impossible sight for a room in the Imperial Palace. A faint, musty smell of rotting wood hung in the air.
This was Hugo's house. The silk blanket that had tricked my senses was a courtesy from him.
‘As expected of the Southern Continent.’
I gave a bitter smile, feeling the soft texture with my fingertips.
I knew the master of a craftsman's guild was someone of influence, but Monju, the city he belonged to, was just a small city, wasn't it?
To think he'd readily offer a silk blanket, something reserved for nobles in the Western Continent. It was a clear sign of the Southern Continent's prosperity.
‘That must be why Vivian chose the Southern Continent.’
The one silver lining was that this prosperity also meant Vivian's rivals were formidable.
As a result, she had yet to dominate the Southern Continent, which gave me an opening. Still, I couldn't afford to be complacent.
With the Witch of Dreams, who could show visions easily mistaken for revelations, and the Witch of the Sky, a brilliant strategist, working together, conquering the Southern Continent was only a matter of time.
This meant I also needed to hurry. Fortunately, the duel was scheduled for a week later.
As I left the room, Hugo, who was sitting at the living room table, shot to his feet. His haggard expression told me he hadn't slept well.
“I need to get my equipment looked at.”
“Is—is there anything else I can help you with?”
“Find out about my opponent for the duel.”
I was about to shake my head but gave him the task anyway. If I didn't give him something to do, he looked like he would follow me around like a duckling trailing its mother.
After easily getting him off my back, I headed for the forge where I had met him before.
Orin was sitting with his chin propped on a shelf, watching the people passing by on the main road in front of the shop.
People quickened their steps only when passing his shop. Some even struck up meaningless conversations, deliberately averting their gazes.
“He must be quite the powerful man. To be ostracized just for giving me a single sword.”
“Heh. Those with nothing are always the first to walk on eggshells.”
Orin, who had greeted me with a nod, turned his gaze back to the main road. I leaned my back against the wall next to the shop and looked at the same spot.
“You're saying you knew this would happen. Why did you give me the sword?”
“I thought one sword wouldn't be a problem.”
“You misjudged.”
Orin shook his head.
“No. The mayor's office hasn't actually applied any pressure. It's just the townspeople, frightened in advance, who are voluntarily being cautious.”
“Since it's come to this, could I ask you to sharpen the blade?”
Orin glanced down at the sword held out before him. When he looked up again, his brow was furrowed.
Just as I had suspected, it was the sword Orin had prepared for Hugo. The blade was, of course, already keenly sharpened.
“Hmph, it's a defective piece I just had shoved in a corner, so it hasn't been maintained.”
Saying so, he put on his gloves and brought out an oiled cloth and a whetstone, looking as if he was about to seriously sharpen the blade.
However, his movements were endlessly slow. To an unknowing observer, it would look as if he were being forced to do something he didn't want to do.
“What is it you want?”
Orin, showing only the crown of his head, whispered so that only I could hear.
“They say if you know the enemy and know yourself, you won't lose in a hundred battles.”
“Ha, this is like saving a drowning man only for him to demand your belongings.”
“The one you saved was Hugo. I was offered up as a sacrifice instead.”
Orin bore the responsibility for luring an outsider, ignorant of the ways of the world, into a deadly situation using the sword as bait.
As the only one who had tried to help Hugo, he was not the type of person to evade such responsibility.
“Ugh. I knew I shouldn't have gotten involved…”
I pressured the groaning Orin with my silence. After sighing repeatedly, he finally began to tell me what I wanted to know.
“Casino is no pushover. He learned the sword from a young age, and around the time he came of age, he led the militia and distinguished himself in the war for independence.”
Monju was originally a city belonging to Baron Allanton, who ruled this region, and it had only gained its autonomy a few years ago.
‘Baron Allanton, huh.’
This was something I already knew from my prior investigation. However, I hadn't known that Casino played a crucial role in the city gaining its autonomy.
“Personally?”
“You seem to think the mayor just put his son's name on the roster to build him up, but that's not it. Many people saw him leading the charge and fighting valiantly.”
“That's a little different from what I was thinking…”
Orin snorted.
“He may be the heir of a powerful man and have a pretty face, but what woman would like him if he didn't have the strength to protect himself?”
“So you're saying he's a man who lacks nothing.”
The term ‘golden boy’ flashed through my mind.
“It takes skill to have affairs with all sorts of women, from virgins to widows. The interesting thing is that even after they find out he's a womanizer, not a single one of them resents him.”
Orin clicked his tongue and continued.
“On the contrary, they cherish the time they spent with him as a precious memory. And they keep hovering around him, hoping to make such a memory once again.”
“Even after being raped?”
“This is the first time he's been accused of rape. The bastard treats women as delicately as eggs. Hugo's wife probably bruised his pride by putting up a wall, unlike the other women.”
I let the last part go in one ear and out the other. It was the same as Hugo's claim, and just speculation, after all.
“Did the other women's husbands just stand by?”
He may not have committed rape before, but this wasn't the first time Casino had touched a married woman. It was the perfect way to make enemies.
Even I, who had been a worse scoundrel than him, had never done such a thing. Why? Because in this era of poor public security, making enemies of random people meant you wouldn't be surprised to get assassinated on the street.
And yet, this bastard Casino was still living as he pleased.
“Of course not. They filed complaints with the Council and tried to apply religious pressure through priests. But none of it worked. After all, he's the eldest son of the mayor who managed to win the city's independence and autonomy.”
He was saying that the mayor's power was at its peak. And that Casino was safe because such a powerful mayor was protecting him.
My thoughts differed from Orin's. Does a sword not pierce a king? And when a grudge seeps into your very bones, do you really think about the consequences?
Besides, a mayor isn't a lord with absolute power. Though they might be weaker, there were plenty of factions in the city to keep him in check.
No matter how much he was the mayor's son, if he had messed with one of those factions, he wouldn't have gotten away unscathed.
‘It seems he only caused trouble he could handle…’
You can't even be a proper scoundrel if you're stupid. And I wasn't just saying that as a former scoundrel myself.
“Has he hired a champion?”
The more a person has, the more sensitive they are about their own safety. As the mayor's only son, it would be normal for him to hire a champion to fight in his stead.
Unexpectedly, Orin shook his head.
“Look over there. That man is Casino.”
On the main road lined with various shops, a rather handsome young man was surrounded by women. Their voices were loud enough to be heard from across the road.
“Lord Casino! Please hire a champion! If your handsome face gets even a tiny scratch, my tears will form a lake…”
“My family knows a rather famous fighter… Shall I connect you?”
“Lord Casino! You must think of your safety!”
Casino spread his arms wide and pulled the women clinging to him to his sides. His hands, draped over their shoulders, brushed against their chests every time they moved.
“Hahaha. Ladies. Do not worry. Do you think I, Casino, would lose to a mere tanner?”
“But there's a one-in-a-million chance…”
“Hmph, there's no way the Lord would protect that liar.”
“So it was a lie after all!”
The women clung to Casino as if competing with one another. Casino went a step further, wrapping his arms around their waists. His hands subtly brushed against their buttocks.
“Of course! You ladies know better than anyone that I don't treat women poorly, don't you?”
“Lord Casino… I'll be looking forward to your splendid performance…”
Orin clicked his tongue and said.
“As if that greedy bastard would give up a stage to spread his fame to someone else. On the contrary, he'll try to step forward and win himself, just like in the past seven trials by combat.”
“He's got some nerve.”
He was cunning, but still a frog in a well. Just as I was thinking that.
As Casino was turning away, our eyes met. The bastard's eyes widened slightly, and then he strode over and stood before me. He looked me up and down.
“Are you Hugo's champion?”
I had only accepted Hugo's offer yesterday. Yet Casino knew about it in less than a day.
Even considering this was a small city with no secrets, his intelligence network was surprising. As I thought, he wasn't just a thoughtless scoundrel.
“Balak.”
Just in case, I gave another alias to confuse Vivian.
“Tsk tsk, I don't know what kind of begging fool you are, but you'll regret meddling in other people's business without knowing the full story.”
“Then you can tell me that story. Is Hugo's claim true?”
“I am not a ruffian who treats women poorly like Hugo. On the contrary, I comforted women who were tormented by such ruffians. The sinner is Hugo. Isn't that right, ladies?”
Casino snickered and asked the women who had followed him. But not a single one answered.
Casino frowned and turned his head, only then realizing the women were staring blankly at me.
“Is that true, lady?”
“Well…”
The woman at the very front fidgeted at my question. Her face was flushed red.
“Ahem.”
Casino cleared his throat, but the sweet atmosphere didn't change.
Instead, she subtly distanced herself from Casino, as if she had nothing to do with him. It was an instinctive movement.
Casino's face crumpled in anger. It must have been a humiliation he had never experienced before.
“Hmph. The truth will be revealed in a week.”
Casino spun around but stopped not long after. It was because the women who had been like his honor guard hadn't followed him.
“Grrr…”
Gritting his teeth and glaring this way, Casino stomped away. Orin, who had been watching silently, spoke.
“Standing next to you, even that handsome Casino looks like a squid.”
“Pfft.”
The women who let out a laugh looked back in surprise, but Casino was already too far away to hear them.
After forcibly shaking off the women who were clinging to me, trying to get a word in, I stopped in front of the shop where Casino and the women had been talking.
“Is Boatman also acquainted with Baron Allanton?”
“Of course.”
The shop clerk whispered, pushing a displayed item toward me like any other merchant. He was the informant Boatman had introduced me to.
I continued speaking, pretending to examine the item.
“Then, could you invite him to the duel in a week?”
“If you subtly hint to him that the mayor and his son, who caused him so much trouble, might be humiliated in the duel, he'll come without an invitation.”
“Good.”
The informant believed I was a knight dispatched to strengthen the intelligence network. That's why his thinking was limited.
What I wanted was more than that.
“Is there anything else you need?”
“Hmm… There's one more person to invite.”
I hadn't heard the testimony of the most important person: the victim. Hugo and Orin strongly insisted it was rape, but that was merely speculation.
Moreover, Casino was cunning enough to know exactly where the line was and walk it like a tightrope. There's no way he wouldn't know that rape would be a problem. The fact that it was so different from his usual behavior also fueled my suspicion.
Of course, as Orin said, it was entirely possible that his bruised pride had made him cross the line. Not that it would make much of a difference either way.
The important thing was for the victim to take the stage.
If the stage was set as I envisioned, it would create an interesting picture. And I might even get much closer to my original goal.