Episode 4. The Duke's Test
Episode 4. The Duke's Test
In his past life, Mir had consumed a total of five types of herbs.
As they were herbs meant for the protagonists of a Romance Fantasy, each one possessed incredible effects.
However, they were also herbs that carried severe side effects unless a powerful antidote was used.
In this life, Mir had already secured all five of those herbs.
"I don't necessarily need to eat the herbs in this life, and I can't just let those bastards take them either."
In his past life, Mir had started learning the sword at the age of 24, which was very late for a swordsman, making the herbs essential. But this life was different.
"Let's just keep them for now, just in case."
Mir hid the herbs under the floorboards of the hut, a place known to no one but himself.
While Mir was practicing his swordsmanship after hiding the herbs, an unexpected guest arrived.
"Found you, my knight-nim!"
The guest was none other than the eight-year-old Lady of the Duchy.
"What brings you here?"
"Hello, knight-nim! I am Elena, the youngest Lady of the Elin Duchy! I came to find the knight-nim who will save me from the bad nightmares!"
"...Lady-yang?"
It was Mir's first time seeing the Lady before her eyes had turned red. Upon hearing her self-introduction, he realized that the guest was indeed Elena.
"Hehe, I knew it! You do know me, don't you, knight-nim? Please come with me to the Duchy and become my knight-nim!"
"I am not yet an official knight, and aren't you a bit too young to have your own knight, Lady-yang?"
Mir asked.
"No! You are a knight-nim! You're the knight-nim who believed in me until the very end when no one else would!"
Mir was flustered by the Lady calling him a knight, but since his goal was to become a knight of the Duchy anyway, he decided to accept her proposal.
"Come with me, knight-nim!"
On the alleyway leading to the Duchy, two men spotted Elena and spoke.
"Don't you think we could sell a girl like that for a high price to the slave traders?"
"...Looking at her clothes and fair skin, she seems like the daughter of a noble family. Won't we be in big trouble if we mess with her?"
"It's fine. Seeing as she's walking around with just one brat and not a single knight, she probably isn't the daughter of a very high-ranking noble. Let's wait a bit and start the job as soon as they enter the alley."
Unaware of the two men's terrifying plan, Elena and Mir were busy sightseeing in the village.
"Whoa! That bread looks delicious, Mir!"
"It's the most famous bakery in our village."
"! It's delicious, Mir! This bread melts in my mouth!"
They visited the most famous bakery in the village,
"Isn't that teddy bear cute, Mir?!"
"I like that rabbit doll better."
The rabbit doll Mir pointed out looked exactly like the Elena from his past life.
"Mir, you're a dummy! Obviously, the teddy bear is waaaaay cuter!"
They also went to a doll shop run by an elderly man in the village,
"Mir! I want that dessert!"
The two of them even visited a dessert shop, where Elena usually couldn't eat much because the Duchy worried about her health.
"Today was really fun, Mir!"
"I'm glad you enjoyed it, Lady-yang. Now, it's about time we head to the Duchy."
"Hmph, I want to play more!"
"The night has already deepened, Lady-yang."
"Okay, Mir... You'll come play with me again next time, right?"
"...If that is what you wish, Lady-yang."
"Hehe."
"Please wait here for a moment, Lady-yang. I need to stop by the hut briefly."
"Okay, Mir!"
While the Lady waited for Mir, he stepped into a dark alleyway.
"...How did you know?"
A lean man among the two asked.
"You were being so obvious, there's no way I wouldn't know."
Mir said.
As soon as he finished speaking, the two men drew their swords and attacked Mir. The moment the fat man rushed toward him—
[Tuk]
The fat man's hand fell off.
"Kuaaaaakh! My... my hand!"
Upon hearing the man's scream, the lean man felt terror toward Mir, who possessed such outstanding skill despite his young age, and immediately began to flee.
"He... he's a monster!"
However, Mir's sword was faster than the man's feet, and thus, the two men met a gruesome end at Mir's hands.
"Just when is Mir coming back!"
"I apologize, Lady-yang. I was a bit late because I had many things to carry."
"Mir! I was worried you weren't coming!"
"As you said, Lady-yang, am I not a knight? A knight never leaves their master behind."
"That's not it, Mir! I'm saying I was worried about you! Even if you are a knight!"
"...I am sorry."
After being scolded by Elena like that, Mir set off for the Duchy with her once again.
After arriving at the Duchy.
"I'm sorry..."
The Lady was receiving her punishment with her hands raised, though her expression didn't look sorry at all.
Leaving the Lady who was being scolded aside, Duke Elik asked Mir.
"Elena says she wants to make you her knight."
"Yes, that is correct."
"You seem quite young; do you truly believe you can become a knight of the Duchy?"
"I am confident in my skills."
"Then I suppose you can defeat at least an apprentice knight of our Duchy?"
"Of course Mir will win!"
Elena said as if it were obvious.
"Elena, can't you keep your hands straight?"
She was immediately scolded by her mother, the Duchess.
"Then I shall see you at the Duchy's dueling grounds in exactly one week."
Even though Mir had learned the swordsmanship of the Kingdom in his past life, it was difficult to defeat even an apprentice knight when there was nearly a six-year age gap, especially since he hadn't even hit his growth spurt yet.
Mir thought.
"To become Elena's proxy in the duel, I must become a knight of the Duchy this time no matter what."
Thus, to become a knight of the Duchy, Mir decided to borrow the power of a herb he had originally intended not to touch.
The name of that herb was [Didimcho]. This herb, which looked like chives, significantly boosts the consumer's growth ability.
However, the consumer suffers from terrible nightmares every night.
"This is the only way to save Elena."
So, Mir consumed the [Didimcho], and it brought him explosive growth.
One day, two days... a week passed, and inside the Duchy's dueling grounds.
"Mir! Did you grow a bit?"
The Lady asked.
"I suppose it's because I'm in my growth period, Lady-yang."
Mir replied.
"Stop the idle chatter and let the spar begin."
The Duke said.
As soon as the Duke finished speaking, the spar between the Duchy's apprentice knight and Mir began.
"Duke-nim, even if I am an apprentice, a mere 11-year-old brat?!"
Rosalia, an apprentice knight of the Duchy with red hair and beautiful features, said.
"If you underestimate me like that, you'll find yourself in quite a bit of trouble."
At those words, Mir's sword clashed with Rosalia's.
"...!"
A sword so heavy it was hard to believe it belonged to an 11-year-old.
After clashing with that sword, Rosalia couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"Puhahat...! You're a comrade just like me, aren't you...?"
In truth, Rosalia wasn't just any apprentice knight; she was a promising prospect of the Duchy.
The Duke didn't trust Mir, an outsider, and had intended to use Rosalia to somehow disqualify him.
However—
Mir, who had consumed the [Didimcho], had achieved explosive growth over the week and was not pushed back in the duel against Rosalia at all.
In fact, seeing him pressuring Rosalia, she said.
"Hahahat! This is fun, truly fun!"
Meeting an opponent she could finally clash with, someone with skills equal to her own, Rosalia couldn't hide her excitement even if that opponent was only 11 years old.
"...How can an 11-year-old possess such skill? And a commoner at that..."
Watching Mir's swordsmanship, the Duke fell into deep thought.
Mir and Rosalia's swords continued to clash, and no matter how talented Rosalia was, she couldn't overcome Mir, who had undergone explosive growth.
As they exchanged one blow after another, Rosalia's sword was gradually pushed back.
Eventually—
[Jjaeng-geurang]
Rosalia's sword shattered.
"..! My sword?"
"The duel is Mir's victory."
The Duke declared.
"Good work."
As Mir said that, Rosalia hugged him and jumped up and down.
"You! Join the Duchy quickly! I haven't had an opponent with skills equal to mine! That Eric guy, who calls himself the second-best, is no match for me at all!"
At that moment, the Lady appeared from somewhere, pushing the two apart.
"Mo... Move! Mir is my knight-nim!"
"Puhahat... Are you jealous right now, Lady-yang? And knight-nim? Mir isn't a knight yet, you know?"
Realizing she was being jealous, the Lady's face turned bright red.
"It... It's not like that...! Anyway, Mir is my knight-nim! No one but me can touch Mir!"
The Lady insisted stubbornly.
"Ahem..."
Seeing that scene, the Duke stepped forward and began to speak.
"The duel is Mir's victory. Mir is now an official apprentice knight of the Duchy. Pack your things and come to the Duchy by tomorrow."
In truth, the Duke still couldn't trust Mir.
However, it was also true that after seeing Mir's swordsmanship, the Duke coveted his talent.
He had seen with his own eyes an 11-year-old defeat an apprentice knight—and a promising prospect at that—in just a few exchanges.
Ultimately, the Duke officially appointed Mir as an apprentice knight of the Duchy, thinking it would be easier to keep him nearby and monitor him.
"I understand."
Mir replied to the Duke's words.
============
After the duel ended, Mir returned to his hut.
That night, Mir had the most horrific nightmare of the week.
It was inside a courtroom.
A dream that felt strangely familiar.
"Mir...! No, Mir...! Please don't leave me... Mother is gone... Brother is gone too... Now I only have you."
It was a dream where the Lady was crying while holding him, and Mir was lying there with severe wounds all over his body, having lost sight in one eye.
"Now you will be able to make all the friends you wanted, Lady-yang, and if you wish, you can eat your favorite desserts all day long."
Mir said to Elena.
"But... but Mir isn't there...? When my eyes turned red, the people who knew me stayed away, but only Mir stayed by my side...! But now Mir is gone...!"
Elena said, sobbing.
"Elena-nim, please do not cry... Did I not tell you before? This is already my @$(*th life. So surely... next time too..."
With those words, the light in Mir's eyes gradually faded.
"No...! No, Mir, please don't leave my side..."
But contrary to Elena's wish, Mir died.
Time passed within the dream after Mir's death.
What appeared in the dream now was Elena in the Duchy.
"Lady-yang, you must eat something!"
The Lady's maid said.
"Get out...! I said get out!"
Elena hadn't eaten for nearly a week since Mir died.
"...Elena, it is your father. I have something to tell you."
Having heard the news, the Duke came to find Elena.
"When your eyes turned red at age nine, I thought the Duchy was more important and couldn't stay by your side... I am truly sorry. It is shameless of me, but can you not forgive your father even now...?"
"Ha... hahat! You... what right do you have to come to me? You raised me with love until I was eight, only to betray that love in an instant! What right do you have to find me?! When you all thought of me as a witch and neglected me, only Mir thought of me as family and treated me like a normal person! And now that Mir has died proving my innocence... you come to me? Get out right now!"
"...There was a letter from Mir."
"..?"
"It seems Mir knew you would fall apart like this after he died. The night before the duel, Mir came to me and gave me a letter. And then he beat me to a pulp."
"What are you talking about...?"
"Mir definitely knew he was going to die. And because he was worried about you being left alone, he told me to beg for your forgiveness. He told me to apologize and become your true family again."
"...What on earth are you talking about!"
"I am sorry."
"Leave that letter and get out...! Just leave the last letter Mir left and get out...!"
The Lady then read the letter Mir had left behind.
To the Lady,
Do you remember seeing the blue sky with me?
Lady-yang, there is no one who has never seen a blue sky.
But similarly, there is no one who has never seen dark clouds.
A long rainy season may come.
Perhaps you feel that now is that rainy season.
However, the dark clouds will surely disappear, and only the blue sky will come to you.
So please, live on while thinking of that blue sky.
[Tuk]
As she read Mir's letter, teardrops began to fall from the Lady's red eyes.
"How can there be a blue sky in a world without you, you dummy..."
With those final words, Elena pulled out a dagger she had prepared in advance.
"I'll follow you soon, Mir...
In a world without Mir, I don't need delicious desserts, and I don't need cute dolls."
[Puk]
The sharp dagger pierced Elena's heart. At that sound, the Duke rushed in, opening the door, and cried out.
"Elena! No! I cannot lose you too!"
But despite the Duke's cries, Elena died. Only then did the Duke realize that he had killed even the last of his remaining family with his own hands.