Chapter 161: This Can’t Be Helped (2)
Chapter 161: This Can’t Be Helped (2)
This might seem a bit sudden, but…
Marquis Lobski had been hit by a carriage when he was a child.
He hadn't been hit head-on, but rather clipped at an angle, so he wasn't seriously injured. However, the memory of that moment remained vivid even after he became an adult.
A physical impact that was impossible to withstand.
The sensation of his body being sent flying through the air afterward.
It was an experience that was not easily forgotten.
‘Why am I remembering that now…?’
That was Marquis Lobski’s final thought.
Thud! Roll, roll.
A human being was sent flying over twenty meters.
As if that wasn't enough, the Marquis’s body tumbled several more meters after hitting the ground.
Seeing him lie there without so much as a finger twitching, the spectators gasped.
“Is… is he dead?”
“No way…”
“Won’t this become a serious international incident?”
“It was a formal duel, so why would it be an international incident…?”
“Still…”
Amidst the spectators' worries, the knights of House Lobski rushed toward their lord.
After checking the Marquis’s condition…
“Thank God. He’s breathing.”
“Ooh…”
The knights sighed in relief.
They thought he might have died, but the Marquis was breathing normally.
He didn't even seem to have any external injuries as serious as they had expected.
“Call a priest! Hurry!”
“Yes, sir!”
Seeing them support Marquis Lobski, the spectators felt relieved.
“It seems he’s alive.”
“That’s a relief. Things didn't escalate.”
“You can say that again.”
The blow had been so shocking that even the audience felt this way.
Fortunately, Marquis Lobski was alive.
And Patrick…
“What a fuss… Did they think I wouldn't control my strength?”
Actually, the thing Patrick was best at, second only to beating people up, was beating people up while controlling his strength.
Even in the Martial World, he had never caused a single death despite engaging in over a hundred duels. That was the only way to avoid unnecessary trouble…
‘You have to hit them gently so you can keep hitting them for a long time.’
I forgot just how rotten this bastard’s personality is.
At any rate, the duel was over.
Patrick approached the bustling knights and spoke.
“Hey, you guys.”
The knights flinched and looked at Patrick.
To those filled with fear and wariness, Patrick gave a smirk and said a word.
“Tell the Marquis when he wakes up.”
“Tell him what…?”
“I’ve eaten well and had a great time. I’m off now.”
“……”
“Well then, see ya.”
Then, with a bright smile, Patrick turned his back.
Behind him, the dazed knights could only stare at his retreating figure with blank expressions.
“W-what should we do?”
“What do you mean, what should we do?”
“Do we just let him go?”
“That’s… hmm…”
The knights were conflicted about whether they should stop Patrick as he left.
Is it okay to let him go like this? Should we catch him?
If we were to catch him, how would we do it?
Mobilizing the knight order and soldiers to block Patrick would be the worst possible move.
If they committed such an act while all the spectators were watching, the honor of House Lobski would be…
No, it would be buried deep underground.
‘It can’t be helped.’
A knight let out a deep sigh.
He realized there was nothing they could do.
In the end, the knights of the Lobski family could only watch Patrick’s back with regret.
And Patrick leisurely walked away, taking Matthew and Isabella with him.
The Double Dragon had triumphed over Marquis Lobski, the Spear of Decatur.
It was now only a matter of time before this fact spread across the entire continent.
* * *
Patrick and his party left the Lobski territory completely on horseback.
Once there were no more listeners around, Matthew spoke up.
“Did you plan this from the start?”
“Huh? Plan what?”
“That petty act of taking the money and then absolutely crushing him in the duel.”
“Whoa, did you expect me to lose just because I took the money?”
“……”
“A person shouldn't live so pettily. Tsk, tsk, tsk, look at your character…”
“You shouldn't have taken the money in the first place, you bastard!”
As Matthew shouted with a boiling expression, Patrick shrugged and said,
“It can’t be helped. Refusing money that’s being given to me goes against my convictions.”
“What kind of conviction is that?”
It was the most absurd conviction Matthew had ever heard in his life.
“Tsk, tsk, this is why rich young masters are… They don’t know the value of money because they’ve never earned a penny with their own hands.”
“You son of a b—”
Before Matthew could shout again, Patrick quickly asked Isabella a question.
“Senior, you’re on my side, right?”
She was his fiancée in name, after all.
Surely she would take his side here…
“Scammer.”
At his fiancée’s single word, Patrick turned his head and grumbled.
“Life is so bitter. I have no one on my side. No one.”
“How can a guy who took a bribe act like the victim?”
“Scammer. Scammer. Scammer.”
“Ah! Whatever. It’s over, so stop grumbling about it!”
Watching his friend shamelessly play the victim, Matthew let out a sigh.
‘This guy is really something…’
Actually, this wasn't the worst-case scenario Matthew had imagined.
He had genuinely considered cutting ties with his friend if Patrick had actually taken the money and thrown the duel.
Of course, Patrick was violent, had strong scammer tendencies, was filthy obsessed with money, usually behaved like a dog, and became an even crazier dog when drunk…
‘Why am I even friends with this guy?’
Regardless, there was a line that Patrick never crossed.
He didn't bully the weak, he didn't break promises he made with his own mouth, and there was a line he maintained even while grumbling.
It wasn't a clearly visible line.
Rather, it was a mysterious, vague line that was loose and shifted back and forth.
However, what was certain was that Patrick had never crossed that line himself.
Having watched him as a friend for several years, Matthew trusted the line Patrick maintained more than anyone.
But what if he had taken a bribe and fixed the match this time?
That would have been crossing the line.
If that had happened, Matthew would have been truly disappointed, cut ties with Patrick, and returned to the Academy on his own.
‘Fortunately, we avoided that worst-case scenario. It’s a relief, but…’
It was still a fact that he had taken the money.
That part remained in a corner of his mind, bothering him.
‘He really makes a person feel uneasy. That damn bastard…’
In the end, Patrick had scammed Marquis Lobski.
That was a fact no one could deny.
The more Matthew thought about it, the more he felt regretful about that part.
‘I heard the Schneider family is making some decent money now, too.’
The Schneider silk sold through the Elvador Merchant Group was being sold out without a single item left in stock, despite its considerably high price.
He didn't know how much the net profit was, but the Schneider family was certainly no longer a poor rural noble family desperate for money.
So was there really a reason to take such unsettling money?
Just as Matthew was sighing at those thoughts…
“Young Master. I have returned after completing all the tasks you assigned.”
The person who would stand by Patrick’s side even if the heavens collapsed arrived.
It was April.
She had been away from the group for a while and had just rejoined them.
She had prepared in advance, coming out with her own horse and all the party’s luggage perfectly packed.
“Oh, good work.”
As Patrick spoke nonchalantly, April steered her horse to join the side of the group.
Then Isabella spoke.
“What kind of work were you doing?”
“Hey, why ask something like that? Even she has a right to privacy.”
Patrick cut her off appropriately at Isabella’s question. But Isabella didn't just let it go.
“Acting recklessly in a foreign country could lead to diplomatic issues.”
“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
“I should at least know what you did.”
“Just let it go.”
Patrick tried to brush it off vaguely, but…
“By the Young Master’s orders, I have distributed the money to the poor in the slums and to the orphanages.”
April spoke up.
At that, Matthew and Isabella’s eyes widened as they looked at Patrick.
Patrick avoided their gazes and looked at a distant mountain.
And April continued…
“I distributed all the funds received from Marquis Lobski without leaving a single coin. I did it secretly, so no one will know who gave it.”
Then Patrick shouted.
“Ah, fine! Stop talking. It’s done if you did it. Why are you reporting every little detail?”
“Yes, Young Master.”
April fell silent.
And Patrick, with a sour expression, looked at Matthew and said,
“No. It’s not. I’m telling you clearly, it’s not.”
“Yeah. I know. I know.”
“If you know, then fix your damn eyes. Don’t look at me like that.”
“Huh? What’s wrong with my eyes?”
“Don’t look at me with that ‘This guy is actually a good person but is trying so hard to act bad. You sweet pushover bastard’ look.”
“Oh, you can read minds now, too?”
“I’ll boil you alive, you stew-brained bastard!”
At the outburst from the red-faced Patrick, Matthew said with a laugh,
“How could a sweet pushover bastard do that?”
“I’m not, you bastard! I just did it so I could sleep a bit more comfortably at night.”
“Sure, sure. I got it, you pushover.”
“I’m serious. Because of that old man who would complain every night in my dreams, saying ‘Cheon, Cheon,’ I had no choice but to… Hey! Are you listening?”
“What? I never learned how to speak ‘Pushover,’ so I can’t understand you.”
“Diiieeeee!”
The bickering party thus headed toward their next destination.
* * *
As the saying goes…
Life is a series of changes, and more often than not, things in the world don’t go according to plan.
Just like right now.
“So…”
Patrick spoke with a grumpy expression to the man in front of him.
“You’re a messenger from the Decatur royal family?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
Someone had blocked Patrick and his party as they were about to cross into the Mayvers territory, their destination.
When asked for his identity, the man revealed himself to be a messenger from the Decatur royal family.
And he said…
“I have a personal letter from His Majesty the King here. Please check it.”
He held out a letter to Patrick. Patrick took the letter for now and said,
“Is it okay to deliver a King’s personal letter so casually?”
“This is an unofficial contact.”
“Unofficial, huh…”
“Please return the letter after reading it, as it must be destroyed.”
It meant they intended to strictly control the information.
Patrick made a grumpy face but checked the contents of the letter. Then…
“Is this the will of the Decatur Kingdom?”
The messenger spoke calmly.
“As long as you are setting foot in our kingdom, please respect the will of His Majesty the King.”
“……”
Patrick closed his eyes and thought.
‘This isn't something I ever experienced in the Martial World. Tsk, I guess it can’t be helped?’
Patrick returned the letter to the messenger and said,
“Tell your King that I will comply with his request.”
“Thank you. Then, where do you plan to go after this?”
“Why? Worried I’ll break my promise?”
“……”
To the messenger who didn't deny it, Patrick said,
“I’ll cross into the Caesar Kingdom through the western border.”
“May we provide an escort from our side?”
It was called an escort, but it was practically surveillance.
“I don’t want to get pissed off, so could you please not do that?”
“Understood. Well then…”
The messenger bowed and withdrew.
He might be withdrawing quietly, but it was obvious they would mobilize a large number of people to watch Patrick’s movements from a distance.
“It can’t be helped. It just can’t be helped.”
As Patrick grumbled, Isabella and Matthew approached and asked,
“What’s going on?”
“It’s nothing. Just…”
“Just?”
“They told me not to fight Riona Mayvers and to get out of the kingdom quickly.”
“…Huh?”
“Really?”
At their surprised reactions, Patrick said bluntly,
“Would I lie about that?”
Patrick scratched his head and thought.
Thinking about it coldly…
‘It’s not that I don’t understand.’
There are three 7-Star knights in the Decatur Kingdom.
And two of them had lost to Patrick.
What would happen if the last remaining one, Riona Mayvers, also lost?
Then all the 7-Star knights of the Decatur Kingdom would have been defeated by Patrick.
For the Decatur Kingdom, it was a result they had to avoid at all costs.
That was why the King had secretly sent a messenger.
Along with the message that he could not permit a duel with Riona Mayvers, he requested that Patrick leave the kingdom quickly.
Patrick said regretfully,
“Man, I was saving the best for last.”
Riona Mayvers.
There were two titles used to describe her.
The Sword Queen, who achieved the Supreme Realm in a woman’s body.
And the second was the strongest knight of the Decatur Kingdom.
Although they hadn't actually competed, she was evaluated more highly than Marquis Raines or Marquis Lobski.
That was why Patrick had left her for the very end, and he hadn't expected the table to be turned like this.
“Tsk, if she had refused herself, I would have dragged her out somehow.”
Yeah, you probably would have.
“But the royal family is directly refusing? This can’t be helped.”
In terms of his past life in the Martial World, wasn't this like a case where he challenged someone to a duel, but the royalty stepped in and ordered, “Don’t do it”?
Of course, such a thing had never happened in the Martial World, but it was entirely possible in this world.
Moreover, Riona Mayvers was the current King’s aunt and a member of the royal family.
“Nothing we can do. Let’s give up and move on.”
This time, Patrick decided to back down.
“That’s a shame. I really wanted to meet her.”
Isabella was genuinely disappointed.
A fellow woman and a fellow woman of royalty.
The two had much in common.
Isabella personally respected Riona Mayvers and wanted to see her at least once.
But this couldn't be helped.
Patrick cleanly let go of his lingering regret and said,
“Let’s move on to the next country.”
“Alright.”
“Let’s do that.”
The party thus turned their horses and left the Decatur Kingdom.
* * *
As a side note…
“Has the Double Dragon not arrived yet?”
“Do not worry, Mother. It is about time he arrived.”
“Hohoho. I am looking forward to it.”
Riona Mayvers was waiting for Patrick so anxiously that her late husband might have been jealous from his grave.
She was seventy years old.
However, except for her white hair, she maintained a youthful body.
Even if one’s realm is high, they often cannot delay aging, but she was an exception.
Fierce training every day and an intense longing for a higher realm kept her physical age at its peak.
In fact, her son standing before her looked older than she did.
With such a great longing for a higher realm, she was eagerly waiting for the duel with Patrick.
“You must not treat him rudely, no matter what.”
“Do not worry, Mother. I have ordered all the soldiers and knights to treat him with the utmost courtesy.”
“Yes. You should.”
The world-renowned Sword Queen spoke with an excited smile, like a girl who had fallen in love.
“Hohoho, I hope he comes quickly.”
I say it again.
More often than not, things in the world don’t go according to plan.