Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Duke's Residence (2)
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After taking down the squires, Demian headed straight for the mansion.
To get to the mansion, he had to cross the garden in between.
‘Mother’s one and only hobby was tending to the garden.’
If the Viscount Haksen family’s garden was the size of a mere vegetable patch, the duke’s garden was vast and expansive, reminiscent of a forest.
He figured his mother would love hearing stories about the Goldpixie Duke family’s garden.
But Demian couldn’t leisurely stroll through and admire the garden.
“Found him!”
“There you are!”
Knights sprang out from various spots in the garden.
The aura they exuded was on a whole different level from the squires he’d just fought.
Low-class.
The duke’s formal knights had come out to block Demian.
“I don’t know where you’re from, but attacking the duke’s residence?!”
“I’ll slice every tendon in your limbs and toss you in a dungeon!”
The knights drew their swords in unison. Thick Aura coated their blades.
Even as he faced this many low-class knights bearing down on him, Demian’s expression barely changed.
‘Killing them wouldn’t be hard…… It’s the aftermath that’s the problem.’
During his approach to the duke’s residence, Demian had gathered a fair amount of mana through the Tyrant’s Power Accumulation Technique.
To him now, squires and low-class knights weren’t much different.
But if he drew blood here, it would mean making an enemy of the duke.
‘Wonder if there’s something handy around.’
Demian glanced around.
Conveniently, there were gardening tools nearby.
He picked up a shovel from among them and struck the blade with the side of his hand.
The shovel’s blade snapped off cleanly, leaving a decent-length club.
Demian swung the club a few times. Felt good.
“Perfect. Now come at me.”
Demian beckoned with his fingers. Veins bulged on the knights’ foreheads.
“You think we’re a joke right now?”
“What kind of lame provocation is that?!”
“I’ll kill you right now!”
The knights charged, roaring in fury.
The lead knight swung his sword. The blade traced a semicircle.
Demian moved to block it with his club.
“Fool!”
The knight shouted. Aura clung to his sword. Meanwhile, Demian’s club…… was just a club.
Things would obviously end with the Aura-infused sword cleaving through the club and Demian in one go.
But contrary to the knight’s expectations, the sword didn’t cut the club.
Instead, its trajectory twisted.
“……Huh?”
The sword, which had been swinging horizontally, suddenly shot upward.
Demian didn’t miss the opening and smashed the knight’s head with his club.
The knight crumpled powerlessly.
“Die!”
Another knight followed up, bringing his sword down.
Demian swung his club to block again.
The blade, falling in a straight line, veered sharply to the left.
“No……? Gahk!”
Demian immediately struck the knight’s crown. The knight let out a scream and passed out.
In the blink of an eye, two were down.
The other knights couldn’t help but hesitate at the unbelievable sight.
Demian tapped his shoulder with the club and said.
“What’re you waiting for? I told you to come at me.”
The knights exchanged glances. Then, starting with one, they rushed in one after another.
The sound of beatings rang out endlessly.
* * *
“……Just one intruder?”
The duke asked with an incredulous look. The attendant nodded vigorously.
“What about the knights? What are the knights doing?”
“Ten squires already tried to stop the intruder and failed!”
“Squires……?”
Even squires were fine troops. Ten of them stepping up and failing?
“Not only that—the low-class knights went out too, but they couldn’t stop him either!”
The duke felt his head spinning.
Was what he was hearing real?
Wasn’t everyone just trying to deceive him?
“D-don’t worry! The mid-class knight has moved out! He’ll subdue the intruder soon!”
At the mention of mid-class, the duke regained his composure.
Thinking about it, there was no reason to panic.
This place had not just low-class knights, but mid-class and even high-class ones.
The duke glanced at the old knight standing beside him. The old knight’s eyes gleamed as he said.
“Your Grace, worry not. Am I not at your side?”
Gaol Heinrich.
One of only three high-class knights in the Apple Kingdom.
The pinnacle of the Goldpixie Duke family’s military might.
“How many casualties?”
“None reported.”
Doubt resurfaced on the duke’s face.
“……What does that mean? No casualties? Then what about injuries?”
“Only minor injuries, they say.”
“What…….”
Invading the duke’s residence in broad daylight, fighting the knights, yet not killing a single one.
“Wait a moment.”
A possibility flashed in the duke’s mind.
“I need to meet this intruder myself.”
* * *
After knocking out all the low-class knights, Demian entered the mansion.
The Goldpixie Duke family was famed as the Apple Kingdom’s greatest wealthy house.
Proving the reputation true, the mansion’s interior was adorned with priceless artworks everywhere.
“Stop him! Block that guy!”
As soon as he entered, knights came rushing. All low-class knights.
Demian wildly swung his club at the oncoming knights.
They fell like leaves in the autumn wind. Demian trampled over the knights and pressed forward into the mansion’s depths.
He passed a corridor and reached a wide hall. There, Demian halted.
Because of the knight standing in the center of the hall.
“You finally made it here, you bastard.”
The knight muttered quietly. His voice dripped with killing intent.
“The crime of causing chaos in the duke’s residence runs deep. I’ll personally tear your body to shreds and feed it to the rats.”
The knight pulled out the spear he’d planted in the ground. A sharp presence filled the entire hall.
“Impressive.”
Demian said curtly in admiration. The knight’s aura was considerable.
“I’m Demian Haksen. What’s your name?”
It’d be a shame to fight without even exchanging names.
At Demian’s question, the knight scowled. He clearly didn’t want to answer, but did anyway.
“Ernst Hoewitz. Mid-class.”
A big fish had appeared.
* * *
To become a knight, one goes through trainee, squire, and formal knight stages.
These formal knights are further divided into four realms.
Low-class, mid-class, high-class, and finally master.
The gap between each realm grew wider the higher you went.
Rising from squire to low-class was hard enough, but low-class to mid-class was even tougher.
Even just reaching low-class was enough to be called one against a thousand.
So what about mid-class, which was far harder to attain?
They were treated as natural disasters achievable by the human body.
“This is a headache.”
Demian said, tapping his shoulder with the club.
“A headache?”
Ernst Hoewitz scowled, irked by the words.
“Scared so bad your tongue’s slipping, eh? You should just say you want to run.”
Ernst Hoewitz unleashed his presence.
Cracks began spreading across the floor centered on where he stood.
The fissures extended across the entire room. Cracks spiderwebbed not just the walls, but the ceiling too.
“If you wreck the building like this, you’ll have no face left before the duke.”
Honestly, Demian didn’t want to fight Ernst Hoewitz.
It’d been less than a month since his regression. His stamina and mana were still greatly lacking.
He could fight, but it’d clearly be an exhausting battle.
‘Above all, only low-class are allowed in the duel.’
To participate in the duel, he had to pretend to be low-class.
Fighting a mid-class like Ernst Hoewitz might make them suspect he was low-class.
“If you keep dawdling, I’ll start!”
Ernst Hoewitz lowered his stance slightly. Ready to lunge forward.
Demian clicked his tongue briefly.
No choice but to humor him a bit and then flee.
That was when it happened.
The door behind Ernst Hoewitz burst open.
“Both of you, stop!”
A middle-aged man walked in shouting. Ernst Hoewitz looked shocked.
“Your Grace?”
“Ernst, my boy, you’re supposed to catch the intruder. What if you smash up the whole building?”
The middle-aged man patted Ernst Hoewitz’s shoulder.
Ernst Hoewitz immediately bowed his head and said.
“My apologies. I lacked care.”
“It’s fine. We can just call mages to fix it anyway.”
With that, the duke approached Demian.
“Your Grace, it’s dangerous!”
“It’s fine.”
Ernst Hoewitz tried to stop him, but the duke didn’t halt.
“Young fellow. What’s your name?”
Just a few steps.
At a distance where Demian could draw and kill him if he wanted, the duke asked.
A man with guts befitting his title.
Demian set down the club in his hand and said.
“I’m Demian Haksen, Your Grace.”
“Demian Haksen? Don’t tell me—the wastrel of the Viscount Haksen family?”
“Thank you for recognizing me.”
The duke’s expression turned peculiar.
“I thought the rumors were fake or exaggerated…… Didn’t expect them to be true.”
“That’s a bit unfair. Because of that misunderstanding, everyone I meet looks down on me.”
The duke burst into laughter at Demian’s words.
“You came all this way without killing a single knight from our house. Not even a single one with a fatal wound.”
“Had to go easy on them, so it was tough.”
“What? Go easy? Now this is a fun fellow.”
A smile crept onto the duke’s lips.
“So, what do you want from me? You wouldn’t cause this ruckus without wanting something.”
The moment Demian had been waiting for finally arrived.
“I owe you a debt, Your Grace.”
“A debt?”
The duke looked baffled. He couldn’t guess at all.
“I borrowed money from the loan company you run. Principal plus interest comes to 30 gold I need to repay.”
“Ah, so that’s it. You came here for that?”
“I don’t have the money right now, so I want to repay the debt another way.”
The duke nodded at Demian’s answer.
“Another way?”
“Instead of repaying the debt, I’ll defeat Michael Ryanbloom and dedicate the victory to you.”
The duke’s eyes widened at the response.
Michael Ryanbloom.
Someone had appeared offering to resolve that headache.
“……Interesting. Truly interesting.”
The duke stroked his chin, appraising Demian.
He was probably comparing Demian and Michael Ryanbloom in his head.
“Michael Ryanbloom is a monster said to become a master someday. You confident?”
“If I lose, you can take my head.”
Demian answered without a moment’s hesitation.
The duke burst into laughter. Forgetting decorum, he threw his head back and guffawed.
“Hahaha! Have I ever seen such a spirited lad?”
The duke extended his hand and said.
“I’ll trust you once.”
Demian clasped that hand and said.
“You won’t regret it.”