Chapter 55: The Worst Reunion (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 55: The Worst Reunion (1)
The situation was unfolding rapidly.
The four of us—me, Rune, Lady Narupa, and the Old Man—had been pushing the horses hard in Ms. Arasen’s carriage toward the northern border of Lukart. However, a day before our arrival, news reached us that an envoy from the Duchy had been killed by Yobeste.
“An envoy? You mean a noble!”
“That is correct. The Duchy has formally expressed its protest and regret, and the Kingdom has joined them in commissioning a quest to the Adventurer Guild headquarters. Furthermore, an official notice will be dispatched to summon all war veterans currently residing in both the Kingdom and the Duchy.”
The border soldiers had retreated quite a bit to avoid Yobeste’s rampage, and we happened to run into them on our way.
Yobeste of the Bierma tribe.
Out of the six veterans who survived the war—myself on the right wing, two in central command, and three on the left—he was one of them, famous for his incredible javelin-throwing skills.
While the Kingdom’s Bertrand Unit, which included me, was on the right wing, the Duchy’s Andantoni Brigade held the left.
It was that very Andantoni Brigade that had taken down Villen of Dependence, one of the Four Heavenly Kings.
“We need to handle this quickly, but how long will it take to gather adventurer parties and wait for the veterans? Besides, I heard two of them are living as total wrecks.”
“One of those two was Yobeste.”
A man stepped through the ranks of soldiers and stood before the Old Man.
Wearing a turban, he was clearly from the Duchy.
“I am Baron Giamant Rouge, of the Duchy’s delegation.”
“I am deeply sorry for the death of the other envoy. I, Count Dakuus, a veteran of the war, shall personally subdue that bastard Yobeste to show the Kingdom’s sincere condolences.”
“If you can, that is. I heard Yobeste was among the strongest even among the veterans. But you, Count, were a commander. How do you expect to catch him with such a small number of people?”
He was young but bold.
His sturdy yet youthful face told me he was younger than I was.
“A commander is exactly what’s needed to deploy troops properly.”
“Then would you be so kind as to show me this ‘deployment’?”
“First, I need to grasp the situation.”
The Old Man brought over a crate, sat on it, and offered a seat to Giamant.
The Baron looked around and sat down, trying his best to appear composed, though he seemed unaware that he was instinctively wiping his sweaty palms on his trousers.
“Now then.”
The Old Man pulled out his pipe.
“Tell me exactly what happened.”
* * *
The reason the Duchy’s delegation had headed for the Kingdom was simple.
It was to discuss this year’s Victory Commemoration Ceremony for the Final War.
When the Kingdom made the ridiculous suggestion of summoning all war veterans just to flaunt its prestige and asked for cooperation, the Duchy sent envoys just in case.
Since they were official allies, they sent two men, but this had the side effect of bringing along countless women to serve them.
“Ah~ this is getting me worked up. I wonder what kind of girls I’ll hook once we get to Lukart~.”
Unlike the serious Giamant, his companion, Baron Kavito, was incredibly frivolous.
And he was as ill-reputed as he was shallow.
“Just thinking about it gets me hard. Selena, come here.”
“…Yes.”
The reason for his bad reputation wasn’t just his excessive lust.
The dark rumors surrounding Kavito, who collected enough women to fill an entire annex, were about where he procured those women from.
“Oh, damn. Her skills are amazing. Phew. Giamant, you want a turn? I snatched this bitch away specifically for this.”
In the Duchy, where the class system was rigid, Kavito used his noble status to find pleasure and achievement in stealing other men’s women.
The woman called Selena was a trophy he had forcibly taken after going to a rural village under the guise of a civilian inspection and holding a sword to the village chief’s throat.
“Forget it. More importantly, don’t lay a finger on my women. That’s a warning.”
“Of course! Nobles shouldn’t do that to each other. But if the woman says she likes me, there’s nothing I can do.”
“Kavito, don’t cross the line.”
“Heh! I don’t cross lines. I make them cross over to me.”
Giamant signaled to the women accompanying him to watch themselves.
Watching Giamant, Kavito chuckled and tried to placate him.
“There will be plenty of new ones once we get to Lukart anyway. I’m curious to see how tight those Kingdom girls are.”
“We are envoys. We must not cause trouble.”
“I’m telling you again, I’m not the one causing it!”
Just as Giamant, unable to feel at ease, scowled and was about to snap at him—
“Halt! Halt!”
A thunderous roar brought the delegation to a stop.
“Huh? Who’s there!”
“This land has been claimed as the territory of Yobeste of the Bierma Yakob tribe! You are near the boundary of Yobeste’s territory! Therefore, I, Yobeste, feeling threatened, advise you to either bypass my territory or return the way you came!”
“Yobeste?!”
Even the frivolous Kavito’s eyes widened at the name.
No matter how arrogant he was, there was no way he didn’t know the name of a war veteran.
“Is it really Yobeste?”
“I don’t know. But it’s possible. Yobeste has been missing from the Duchy for three years.”
“Shit! You’re saying it could be real?”
The expression on Kavito’s face as he cursed was like a child with a new toy.
Before the apprehensive Giamant could stop him, Kavito spurred his horse forward alone.
“Baron Kavito!”
“Stop being such a pussy! Hey, Yobeste! I am Baron Chaud Kavito of the Duchy!”
“Baron Kavito! You are stepping on the boundary of my, Yobeste’s, territory! Therefore, I, Yobeste, for the last time…”
“I heard you lost your woman while you were away at war, you fucker.”
“……”
“And to your friend, no less!”
Giamant and all the women in the delegation were so shocked they couldn’t even speak.
It was an open secret in the Duchy, and Kavito was boldly shouting it at the man who might actually be the person in question.
“If you’re the real Yobeste, I’ll give you a bitch to replace the one you lost. How many do you want? One? Two? Just say the word!”
“What are you doing, Baron Kavito!”
“Giamant, you boring man. Are you going to act fragile like a Kingdom man? This is a golden opportunity. If it really is the veteran Yobeste, it’s only natural to win him over and bring him back to the Duchy! If you’re going to be this uncooperative, I’ll take all the credit for myself.”
“You’re not winning him over, you’re provoking him!”
“How is this not winning him over? I’m offering a woman to a guy who had his stolen. Hey, Yobeste! Did you ever get revenge on the guy who took your woman?”
It was an absurd sight.
A man who stole women was talking about revenge to a man whose woman had been stolen.
“Revenge?”
“Yeah, revenge! If you really are Yobeste, and if you want, I’ll find the guy who betrayed you and bring him to you!”
“Baron, stop talking nonsense and get off your horse!”
“Don’t butt in, Giamant!”
“No, it’s not that—Yobeste already took his revenge in his hometown…”
But Giamant couldn’t finish his sentence, nor did his words reach Kavito.
Swoooooosh—!
A javelin, flying in a high arc like an arrow, pierced through Kavito.
Thwack!
“Guh…!”
“KYAAAAAAAH!!!!”
“Kavito! You women, calm down! I said calm down!”
Giamant shouted at the screaming female attendants, but it was no use.
Because even the female soldiers were in a state of panic, Giamant, who was busy yelling, missed the sight of the killer rushing toward them.
“Ii—riririririririri!!”
Yobeste appeared, his upper body bare and covered in blue and red patterns, and lifted Kavito up by the spear he was impaled on.
As blood trickled down the spear shaft, Kavito let out a scream of agony.
“AAAAAAARGH!!!”
“Yobeste! Forgive our rudeness! Please, let the Baron go. I am Baron Giamant Rouge. If you release Baron Kavito, I will personally petition the Archduke to grant you a reward greater than anything you desire!”
“Can the Archduke… give me back the heart of the woman who left home and betrayed me?”
It was an impossible demand.
After all, Yobeste’s wife was…
“Did I get my revenge? Of course.”
Creeeeeak.
“Gwaaaaaah!”
As Yobeste stood the spear upright, the shaft bent significantly under Kavito’s weight.
“But even after getting revenge, the heart of the woman who left did not return.”
Cr-crack.
“Lord Yobeste! We were wrong! We were wrong!”
“So, I intend to go back.”
Snap!
Squelch!
Finally, the spear shaft couldn’t withstand the weight and snapped. Unfortunately, the break happened right at Kavito’s abdomen, and his torn intestines burst out instantly.
“H-huuuuuh—!!”
Kavito took one last, futile breath, rolled his eyes back, and died.
“Back to when I lived with the pride of a patriarch protecting his family…!”
“Retreat! Retreat! Run as far as you can!”
Feeling Yobeste’s bloodshot eyes turn toward them, Giamant desperately spurred his horse and retreated.
It was called a retreat, but it was essentially a flight for their lives.
“There are many pests. I, Yobeste, shall expand my territory further for my safety!”
“Everyone, don’t look back! RETREAT—!!!!”
* * *
“So, what happened then?”
When the Old Man asked, Giamant lowered his head.
“Everyone died. Everyone except me.”
That meant Giamant was the first to flee, which is why he survived.
Or Yobeste had let him live.
“Right, it’s Yobeste. Even among the Bierma tribe, he was as bizarre and cruel as Lord Mirachi.”
“I know that now.”
His initial confident aura had vanished.
Recalling those horrific memories seemed to have broken his spirit.
“I do not mean to disrespect you, Count, as a fellow veteran. But the roles of a commander and a warrior are different. You alone are not enough.”
“Then do you have another card in mind?”
“I sent a messenger to our Duchy’s border. It was a stroke of luck.”
“Oh?”
“Our Duchy’s veteran, Levantello. He will arrive within a few days.”
Levantello.
The God of War on Horseback, Levantello.
A lot of nostalgic names were coming up today.
“Levantello is a fine warrior, but this area is a reed field. It’ll be hard for cavalry to be effective.”
“Levantello’s famous steed is not restricted by terrain.”
“It’s already too late. The territory Yobeste is occupying isn’t just a normal reed field. He’s likely fortified it by now. One of the terrors of the left wing was Yobeste’s booby-trapped fortresses. Yobeste defends, and Levantello charges to tear through the enemy lines—that was the basic combat style of the Andantoni Brigade.”
“In that case, we’ll need a ranger to find and disarm those traps before we can enter. We’ll only be able to pull this off if we can get the adventurer parties from Lukart, who are famous for their skills, to join us.”
Somewhere along the line, the Old Man had started speaking casually while Giamant used polite speech.
The Old Man really was slyly good at this kind of maneuvering.
“The matchup is bad. Levantello is a cavalryman who charges on a horse. Yobeste is a javelin thrower who snipes such cavalrymen.”
“And you are a commander, Count. Isn’t your role to use the cards you have to the fullest to overturn unfavorable matchups and tides of battle?”
“Ah, you haven’t experienced war, so you don’t quite understand a commander’s role, young man.”
The Old Man knocked on the door of Ms. Arasen’s carriage.
The eyes of the women inside the carriage turned toward me.
Yeah, I know.
“A commander must first prepare the best possible card.”
“The best card… Did you bring a highly skilled adventurer?”
“Not just ‘skilled.’”
Seriously, the Old Man loves this kind of theatrical stuff, like he’s some kind of stage director.
Still, since I was in front of Rune, I wanted to look cool too.
With that in mind, I deliberately grabbed my weapons and opened the carriage door.
Slowly.
Creeeeeak.
“Allow me to introduce him. You won’t find a greater honor than this.”
“Who on earth…?”
As the door opened fully and revealed my face—or rather, my weapons—Giamant’s mouth fell open.
Those damn Kingdom bastards might not have spread my description or face, but what I looked like on the front lines was already famous.
Specifically, the two massive daggers: Roar and Howling.
“The No. 1 National Merit Recipient who single-handedly defeated Vulcanus of Mad Laughter, Alto Bertrand.”
“The Bloodhound…!”
I raised my index finger and warned Giamant.
“Don’t call me by that name so carelessly. I’m not in the mood for another bloodbath.”
“Y-yes, sir! It is truly an honor to meet you!”
Ah, this was making me feel a bit smug.
The Old Man pushed my shoulder down and gave a devious laugh.
“Hut-hut-hut-hut! Besides Alto here, the ladies present are also of incredible status. I’ll introduce them in due time, but if the high-and-mighty of the Kingdom find out such figures have moved, they’ll lose their damn minds. So, help us keep this a secret, will you?”
“O-of course!”
As I watched Giamant nodding frantically, I heard a sharp intake of breath near my ear.
“B-Bertrand…?”
Ah, I forgot about Ms. Arasen!