Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Warning (4)
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The severed arm soared high into the sky before falling to the ground.
Soon after, blood spurted from the cross-section of his shoulder.
Struck by the belated agony, Geric curled up his body and let out a groan.
“Ku, kugh…….”
A swordsman had lost his right arm, more precious than his life.
It was safe to say his life as a knight was now over.
But what filled Geric's mind now was not the torment of loss, but doubt.
“How, how…….”
Demian had dismantled Geric's vision in a single move.
No, it was more than just dismantling.
When Demian thrust his longsword, the flow of mana shattered. At the same time, the greatsword was destroyed.
“T-tell me! W-what technique was that! What the hell is it……!”
Azure Flame Brigandin.
One of the Church's Five Saints, a man without peer in fist techniques.
The realm Brigandin had reached as a master was called 'Annihilation Strike'.
Upon reaching Annihilation Strike, it became possible to collapse the structure of objects using external impacts.
With this, Brigandin had smashed enemies' techniques and weapons—even magic—rampaging freely.
Once, he had even erased the Destruction Array that Dorgo had labored over for years to manifest.
“Is now the time to ask that?”
Demian raised his longsword, aiming it at Geric's neck.
Geric's face turned deathly pale.
“S-spare me.”
“You should have begged sooner if you were going to. It's too late now.”
The tip of the blade slightly pierced his skin.
Geric's face grew even paler.
“I-I beg you like this. P-please…….”
Geric dropped to his knees on the ground.
He propped himself up with his one remaining arm.
His earlier arrogant demeanor was nowhere to be seen.
“Spare me?”
Demian aimed his longsword at Geric's neck.
Geric's eyes trembled wildly.
“You rampaged against my family and left my servant in that state, and now you beg for your life?”
“I-I was wrong! I'll a-apologize for that…….”
“You're mistaking who deserves the apology.”
With those words, Demian turned to look at his family.
His family gazed at Demian with expressions blending shock and relief.
They had already known Demian was quite skilled.
But they hadn't realized he was strong enough to overwhelm low-rank knights, hence their reaction.
“Ku, kugh!”
Geric summoned mana to seal the wound on his shoulder.
True to his low-rank status, he used mana to block off all the blood vessels.
Forcing his trembling body to rise, he staggered toward Viscount Haksen.
“V-Viscount Haksen! I-I was wrong! I a-apologize for all the rudeness I committed against you……!”
Geric spoke while on his knees.
Viscount Haksen was bewildered at first but soon shouted with a face full of fury.
“You think one word covers trying to oppress my son?”
Viscount Haksen's anger did not subside easily.
“If my son didn't have this kind of power, our territory would have been smashed, and my son dragged off to the marquis household to suffer!”
Geric's apology had not come from the heart in the first place.
It was mere thrashing to stay alive.
There was no reason Viscount Haksen's rage would fade.
“I b-beg you like this!”
Geric smashed his head against the ground.
Deeming once insufficient, he did it several times.
“P-please show mercy!”
His father glared at Geric for a long while.
At last, he looked to Demian and shook his head.
It meant not to kill him.
Demian obediently sheathed his longsword.
‘Anyway, I had no intention of killing him.’
Considering that he had mentioned the family, Demian wouldn't have been satisfied even cutting him into dozens of pieces right there.
But if he killed Geric here, relations with the Ryanbloom Marquis Family would plummet to the worst.
‘I can fight the marquis family alone as much as I want.’
He could hide and gnaw at their weaknesses.
If things went south, he could throw in with the marquis family's enemies.
But considering his family, he couldn't do that.
Even for Demian, at his current level, he couldn't protect his family while battling the Ryanblooms.
‘Above all, it's too arduous a path.’
When he regressed, he had vowed.
No more letting his family suffer hardships.
‘But I can't just send him away obediently like this.’
The Second Son, and even a formal knight, had been defeated.
The Ryanbloom Marquis Family wouldn't simply overlook this humiliation.
Retaliation was sure to come soon.
‘Fortunately.’
In truth, Demian had prepared countermeasures in advance.
Ever since hearing that knights from the Ryanbloom Marquis Family had arrived.
‘Good thing I built ties with the Church.’
That was when Demian thought this.
“What is the meaning of this!”
A familiar voice rang out.
Agnes and the investigation team were approaching.
* * *
Agnes arrived in front of Demian and scanned her surroundings with a shocked face.
Shattered objects, the ground pitifully smashed, bloodstains scattered everywhere.
“This is…….”
Agnes's gaze halted on Geric.
“Isn't that crest on the armor…… the Ryanbloom Marquis Family's?”
“Yes, this guy and the two lying over there. All knights from the Ryanbloom Marquis Family.”
At that answer, Agnes's eyes widened slightly.
“Knights from the marquis family…… attacked the territory?”
“Yes, that's what happened.”
Agnes looked at Geric again. More precisely, her gaze went to his shoulder.
Compared to Demian standing unscathed, Geric knelt with his arm severed.
It was a composition that clearly revealed who was victor and who was vanquished.
“……Knights from the Ryanbloom Marquis Family are famous for their excellence. You faced three of them at once?”
“Even if it was three, two were just squires with nothing to them. Only this one was a formal knight.”
At those words, Agnes's eyes widened further.
She had anticipated he possessed skill beyond a formal knight, given how he had massacred Agito alone.
But she hadn't expected such an overwhelming margin of victory.
“Glad you weren't humiliated.”
“Glad…… I'm safe for now, but I don't know about the future.”
At Demian's words, Agnes wore a puzzled expression.
“I worry what the Ryanbloom Marquis will do once he hears his men lost to me.”
With that, Demian subtly observed Agnes.
After pondering briefly, Agnes opened her mouth.
“If that's your concern, I can help.”
“Got a clever solution?”
Agnes nodded at Demian's question.
“Thanks to the Haksen Viscount family, the Church succeeded in killing a Yulan executive for the first time. This merit allows us to designate the Haksen Viscount family as a cooperative household.”
A cooperative household meant a family in close ties with the Church.
Even great nobles couldn't touch such families easily. The Church would step in.
“How will you proceed?”
“Impertinent as it is, I ask that you do.”
This was exactly what Demian had aimed for.
Borrow the Church's prestige to restrain the Ryanbloom Marquis Family's actions.
“You, what is your name?”
Agnes asked Geric. Geric reluctantly replied.
“……Geric Howard.”
“Geric Howard. Go tell the Ryanbloom Marquis this: the Haksen Viscount family is under the Church's protection. If you resort to force again, you will face the Church's wrath.”
At Agnes's warning, Geric nodded heavily.
“Take those trashes lying there and get out quick.”
At Demian's threat, Geric scurried into action.
He loaded the two onto the horses they had ridden and departed the territory.
“Thank you for your help.”
Demian said to Agnes. She replied that it was nothing.
“Demian.”
As soon as Geric left, Viscount Haksen approached and spoke.
“……We need to figure out what to do from here. We'll hold a meeting.”
Demian nodded without objection at his father's command.
* * *
Thus, an impromptu family meeting was held.
Attendees were Demian, Viscount Haksen, Mother, his older sister, younger brother, the butler, and Agnes.
“Then we'll begin the meeting. The topic…… as you all know, finding a way to resolve the grudge with the Ryanbloom Marquis Family.”
At Viscount Haksen's words, his youngest brother Abel raised his hand and spoke.
“Didn't we secure the Church's protection? Then why do we need to resolve the grudge?”
“Abel, it's because we can't expect the Church to mediate fully.”
“Yes?”
Abel looked puzzled. Viscount Haksen nodded and explained.
“Luise is right. The Church doesn't intervene that deeply in noble affairs.”
The Church already poked around everywhere under the pretext of heresy inquisition.
Intervening in disputes between nobles would cross the line.
“But…… in any case, the marquis family can't touch us now. Isn't that fine?”
“The marquis family's power isn't just in force. If they set their minds to it, there are plenty of ways to crush a small noble house like our Haksen Viscount family.”
They could block the wheat exports that were their main source of income or prevent food purchases.
Or apply direct pressure through the royal palace.
“That's why we must resolve the grudge. It's the only way the Haksen Viscount family survives unscathed.”
Only after hearing his father's explanation did Abel grasp the precarious position of the Haksen Viscount family.
“The ideas that come to mind right now are compensating the marquis family or placing ourselves under another great noble.”
But compensation was unrealistic in practice.
The marquis family was sure to demand an enormous sum.
“All that's left is placing ourselves under a great noble…….”
“There is one more option.”
Agnes, who had been silent throughout, finally spoke.
Viscount Haksen asked brightly.
“What is it?”
“Demian Haksen becomes a Holy Knight.”
Agnes said.
“Then this becomes a Church matter, giving us grounds to mediate.”
The family all turned to look at Demian.
But Demian shook his head.
“No.”
Viscount Haksen turned back to Agnes.
“Demian says no, so that option is out.”
“……Understood.”
Agnes nodded with a sullen face.
“Then let's consider other methods…….”
“Father! Why do you accept that so easily?”
At that moment, Abel shot to his feet and shouted.
“If brother becomes a Holy Knight, it's over! Tell him! Tell him to become a Holy Knight obediently!”
Abel pointed at Demian as he spoke. Viscount Haksen quietly admonished him.
“Sit down.”
“Father! Who is all this because of! It's brother! It's all brother's responsibility!”
“Abel.”
Viscount Haksen let his voice rumble low.
Under that strange pressure, Abel had no choice but to stop.
“Didn't I tell you to sit.”
Abel bit his lip and sat back down.
Viscount Haksen continued in his low voice.
“You're right that Demian sparked the conflict with the marquis family. But we can't simply pin it all on Demian as his fault.”
Abel lifted his head as if to say what nonsense.
But when Viscount Haksen glared, he bowed his head again.
“The marquis family's Second Son had designs on Luise. You know he's infamous as a lecher. Do you think a man like that would give up Luise just because Demian didn't fall for his coaxing?”
Demian nodded, agreeing with his father.
Considering the Second Son's personality, he would have caused trouble one way or another.
“In truth, Demian protected Luise from the Second Son's schemes. In place of this powerless father.”
Viscount Haksen gave Luise an apologetic look. Luise simply smiled without a word.
“The knights today were the same. No matter if Demian provoked them, it was the Second Son who first challenged to a duel and drew his sword. The marquis family ignores that and blindly blames our house.”
Viscount Haksen clenched his fist, indignant.
“Demian.”
“Yes, Father.”
“You did very well today.”
At the praise, Demian's eyes widened slightly.
“You didn't tolerate the insult to our house and repaid it properly.”
Why was this?
An emotion welled up fiercely in his chest.
It was so intense that Demian had to hold back to keep from bursting into tears.
“It was…… what I had to do.”
Suddenly, memories of his previous life surfaced.
Endless wastrel behavior that harmed the family. Ruining his older sister's life.
Ultimately killing his entire family with his own hands.
In those horrific days, the only thing Demian had wished for was one: atonement.
The moment he heard his father's praise, Demian felt, just a little—just the tiniest bit—that he had atoned.
“But I can't deny that this happened because of me.”
Demian suppressed his tears. It was still too early to cry.
He had not yet fully atoned to his family.
“Please wait just a little. I'll wrap this up.”
“No.”
Viscount Haksen cut in firmly.
“This father will handle it.”
“Yes? But…….”
“You underestimate your father too much. I'll connect with a great noble through an acquaintance noble. We'll borrow a great noble's power to mediate with the marquis family.”
Viscount Haksen thumped his chest with his fist.
“Let your father show some fatherly resolve for once.”
“Father……!”
Tears welled in Demian's eyes. Viscount Haksen smiled warmly.
“Father!”
Demian spread his arms and ran to his father. His father embraced him tightly.
It was while the father and son shared this touching moment.
“My lord, may I enter?”
The butler knocked on the meeting room door and spoke.
“Yes, come in.”
Viscount Haksen gently released Demian from his embrace and said.
The butler opened the door and entered, reporting to the viscount.
“A guest has arrived outside.”
“A guest? Don't tell me from the marquis family?”
“No. Someone from the Goldpixie Ducal Family.”
At the mention of Goldpixie, Viscount Haksen and the rest of the family all wore baffled expressions.
“Why would someone from the Goldpixie Ducal Family come?”
“Well, that's…….”
Finding it hard to answer, the butler trailed off.
“Young Master Demian borrowed money using the viscountcy's wheat fields as collateral…… and the deadline has already passed.”
Demian turned to his father.
His father's face, mild just moments ago, slowly filled with rage.
“Demian! You damned brat!”
Hearing his father's bellow, Demian sighed inwardly.
‘……Ah, did they already sell it off?’
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