Yielding and Accepting
The Empire's diplomatic mission was heading to Lasquer with a very important task.
Even the Emperor had personally ordered this mission, and the goal was to show utmost friendliness towards Lasquer. However, this friendliness would not come from the Empire bowing its head. Instead, it was to make Lasquer itself bow.
The basic outline had already been drawn. Several individuals in Lasquer had schemed to cause trouble within the Empire.
Fortunately, the 5th Princess of Lasquer had informed them of this fact in advance, and with the Friedrich County family personally intervening, they managed to seize the initiative and gain the upper hand in Lasquer.
From the perspective of the newly ascended king of Lasquer, this was an incredibly burdensome matter.
It wasn't just that they had plotted political maneuvers from a foreign country, but that the foreign country was none other than the Empire. Moreover, those who valued 'honor' above all had committed such acts.
Therefore, the subsequent events proceeded smoothly. After all, there was no need for their country to overstep.
The overstepping had been done by the other side, and the grudge was theirs. On this side, they could just sit back and smile, and the other side would become desperate and make various proposals.
Above all, what the Empire wanted was not territory or resources or anything else. Simply accepting the Empire's superiority. That would be sufficient to create a unified opinion within Lasquer.
Thus, they presented a goodwill message to the newly ascended king, offering the value of gunpowder as a gift. Additionally, despite the incident that had occurred within their country, they had not treated it as non-existent, but as a friendly competition.
In this way, two opinions would clash within Lasquer.
Either they would take appropriate measures to show their gratitude for the Empire's goodwill and adopt a more humble stance themselves, or they would judge this as mere political intent, acknowledge the Empire's superiority, but remain on guard until the end.
The conclusion of our Empire is always the same.
War is always the last option. There are other methods, but we will not choose them.
It is a hell where countless lives are lost. Since each person is precious, we must avoid pushing them into that hell.
Therefore, we avoid war as much as possible. And the method is to divide the opinions of places that could become enemy countries, so that they cannot unite their strength.
So far, everything has been going well...
They delivered a message of congratulations to the king of Lasquer. They also presented a letter proposing that the Kingdom and the Empire should move forward together for the sake of continental harmony. The head of the Empire's diplomatic mission thought that they had now completed all their tasks.
"Lord Captain. That, the knights from Lasquer and Captain Karl Adelheit are again engaging in friendly competition..."
"What?"
It was unthinkable. Really, Karl was dueling with the knights again. Moreover, not in some other place, but in Lasquer, he hadn't even dreamed of it!
"No! Don't stop them! What are they doing?!"
We had shown only good sides to the Lasquer side. This is a problem! It can't be!
Is it that Karl can't lose? No way! Rather, it's the opposite! It would have been better within the Empire. But if they break all the knights within Lasquer, the picture would be too messy, wouldn't it?
If that happens, all the others would gather together again and resist the Empire, ruining everything? Could it be that Karl didn't know that and caused it?
No, no. There's no way. Before departure, I had a private audience with His Highness the Crown Prince!
The probability that the Empire received a hint of the posture the Empire would take is very high. Moreover, Karl is the brother-in-law of the Crown Prince's wife. The brother-in-law of the Crown Prince! If such a person is part of the diplomatic mission, they would have heard anything!
But it's a friendly competition? In the Empire, it was just a warning level because the Lasquer side had done something, but is there any reason for them to do such a thing in their own country?!
The captain of the diplomatic mission, shocked, moved to the place where the friendly competition was being held.
Then, he encountered the Lasquer king, Imir II, who was smiling as he watched the scene.
"Your Majesty."
"Ah. So, people from the Empire. You seem to have heard the news as well?"
"I'm sorry. That, quickly go to Captain Karl and persuade him—"
"No, no. Just leave it as is. It will be fine."
Fine? Which part? Could it be that Queen Imir II plans to maintain resentment towards the Empire through this friendly competition?
This shouldn't be the case. The Empire could have intervened before the king's ascension, but didn't. Instead, they sent a congratulatory mission and even gave gifts!
...I want to say that, but I can't.
The captain bit his lip slightly. I need to figure it out. Find out. What is this woman's intention? Whether the Empire should determine Lasquer as an enemy.
Meanwhile, the friendly competition had just started. It started with a knight of similar age to Karl.
Unfortunately, the Empire's diplomatic mission head is a person who stands out in diplomacy. Therefore, he does not properly understand in which direction the duel between them is proceeding.
Nevertheless, there is one thing that can be explained. That is, Karl is overwhelmingly faster than the knights.
Clang! Clang!—
The knight has a sword. Karl has a greatsword. (Here, greatsword refers to military greatsword) The difference in length is stark.
Normally, the side with the shorter weapon would be much more disadvantaged. Not just the distance or reach, but ultimately, the destructive power from a single swing gives the sword a clear advantage.
However, Karl, with just one greatsword, had completely sealed off the opponent's movements.
The position of the arm to swing the sword with full force. The leg that must be stepped forward to put power into the arm. The breathing that must be refined to do all that smoothly. With an almost supernatural greatsword technique, he had completely blocked all of it.
"Huff!"
The knight, who had been struggling even with the sword, eventually allowed a strike and collapsed to the ground.
Next, according to Karl's words, another knight stepped forward. Again, drawing his sword, and when the bell rang, he collided head-on like before.
"Our Lasquer has been called the land of knights for a very long time. We have loved those who respect honor and protect it. Do you know why?"
The sudden question made the captain look at Queen Imir II for a moment before answering.
"I don't know, Your Majesty."
"In the past, this place was a place of fierce fighting. If there was nothing to make this heart, this heart burn hotly. This place would have become a bandit country that survives by plunder, not a land of knights."
"..."
"That was stopped by the founding king as a position of knight, as honor and pride. As a result, although we are not as prosperous as your Empire, we were able to protect this place more solidly than anyone else."
"Kheuk!"—
Meanwhile, another knight fell backward. Unlike the first knight, he had held up well, but ultimately could only maintain the status quo. Defending alone made victory impossible from the start.
The third knight stepped forward. This time, the opponent seemed a bit older than Karl. From the captain's perspective, who didn't know much about swords, it looked like a person with quite a bit of experience.
Did he think the opponent was different from before? Karl also took a completely different posture from before. Reversing the greatsword. Even holding it in his left hand instead of right, and slightly tilting his body forward.
"Therefore, the knight, honor, is the most important thing in Lasquer, above all else. In fact, it could be said to be its foundation itself. If it weren't for that, we would have been absorbed by the Empire long ago."
This posture was different from when fighting the two knights who had faced him earlier. Moreover, the hand that held the greatsword had changed. The knight who noticed this did not move rashly.
He thought he had obtained some information by watching the previous two duels. But if this is the case, wouldn't the fighting style change completely? Everything would be back to square one.
Karl didn't miss that moment. Again, he took the appearance of wanting to end it quickly with speed. The knight, in his best possible defense and counterattack posture, tried to do both at the same time.
The problem was that the right hand, which was behind the left hand holding the greatsword, struck first. Although the destructive power was low, that one strike was enough to pry open a gap and strike the knight's jaw.
Clang!—
The knight who allowed the strike fell. From the captain's free time as Karl quickly kicked the sword aside in the last moment, others let out sighs.
...However, it is said that what was so precious to us was the very pride itself. Now, it has become the archenemy that eats away at our own flesh in reverse. Still, the knight, still that honor, believes it is the most important. That is, after all, just our foundation, not a leap towards the future.
The next knight who came out was clearly an excellent swordsman. His sword was fast, his footwork precise, and above all, the momentum emanating from his body was noticeably different from the previous opponents.
Against such an opponent, Karl did not foolishly face him head-on. Slowly, from the outside, creating very fine gaps and squeezing in gradually.
And at the last moment, he broke through that gap in one go and struck the opponent's neck strongly with the handle of the greatsword.
The next entrant. The one after that. All were great knights. However, in the end, they all lost to Karl. Extremely restrained, pursuing only extreme practicality. So, in front of Karl, who only harbors extreme 'killing intent', the knights who were concentrating on 'beautiful swordsmanship' at some point were blown away like the wind and dust.
"While we are still focused on knights and honor, the Empire has leaped far away. They discovered gunpowder, created new weapons with it, and now, even a single soldier of the Empire can easily defeat a knight."
Finally, the last opponent. The middle-aged knight who had first guided Karl to Queen Imir II.
He was different from the others. More refined, faster. Above all, he was not suppressed by Karl's killing intent. He too had experienced countless battlefields.
"Therefore, this friendly competition is a bitter medicine I am prescribing to ourselves. Not to sink into the glory of the past and deny reality, nor to judge the future positively."
Having heard up to this point, the captain let out a sigh inwardly. And quietly, he thought he would have to revise the report to the king of Lasquer.
There was no great resentment towards the Empire, but there was definitely a person who needed to be cautious. A king who would inject new driving force into the crumbling Lasquer.
Clang! Clang!—
Meanwhile, the final duel ultimately ended with both retreating at the same time. It ended in a draw.