Episode 365
Episode 365
That brat hadn't come to negotiate with him—he'd come to manipulate him.
Duke Icaldoren felt cold sweat trickling down his spine.
"......"
"Are you alright, Your Grace?"
The guards cried out in alarm as their master's condition abruptly changed.
It was an extremely rare sight to see the Duke—protected by countless expensive spells—in such a state.
What in the world had happened?
"It's nothing. My body... just feels slightly unwell."
"We shall summon a priest immediately."
"Unnecessary. I'll recover after some rest. My apologies—I shall take my leave first."
Duke Icaldoren rose from his seat.
He needed time to sort through this bewildering situation.
It was truly unbelievable.
That he, of all people, would be so frightened that he'd retreat with his tail between his legs.
Not even the great patriarch of the Wardanaz family had ever made him react like this...
'What kind of monster have you raised, Wardanaz?!'
As the Duke stood and exited the banquet hall, Lee Han frowned.
"What's wrong with him?"
"Strange. A man of the Duke's stature wouldn't suddenly fall ill for no reason."
At his level, a mere flick of a finger could unleash potions and magic scrolls upon himself.
Duke Icaldoren, who adorned himself with artifacts worth more than an entire fortress, wouldn't hesitate to use magic either.
"Y-You're absolutely right."
Rowena was impressed by Lee Han's insight.
She had simply assumed the Duke was unwell, but this boy from the Wardanaz family had noticed something deeper.
"There's only one explanation."
"And what would that be?!"
"He's faking illness because he doesn't want to give out souvenirs."
"...Excuse me?"
Rowena, who had been listening eagerly, was taken aback.
"What other reason could there be?"
"...I-I'm not sure...?"
Even Rowena, who respected Lee Han's judgment, found this theory a little hard to swallow.
Unaware that Lee Han was making a very rude misunderstanding downstairs, the Duke retreated to rest.
The magic circles installed in his study refreshed his mind and invigorated his spirit, but as long as the root cause remained, his unease wouldn't dissipate.
'Should I withdraw my hand from Einrogard?'
At this point, he wondered if he should have never meddled with Einrogard in the first place.
Though he had tested the waters with confidence in his own power, the deeper he reached in, the more it felt like sinking into a bottomless swamp.
If only he could at least retrieve the subordinates he had sent...
"Your Grace."
A cautious voice called from outside.
Those who had served the Duke for years could tell his temper had soured.
Everyone was treading carefully, afraid of provoking his wrath with unnecessary words.
"The knight order has arrived."
"...What do you mean?"
The Duke's voice dropped lower, carrying a chilling frost.
"Was a knight order scheduled to visit this estate today?"
"W-Well... It seems the knights mistook the date and arrived prematurely..."
"......"
The sound of cracking wood came from the armrest of the Duke's chair.
"Eek!"
"Are all those knight bastards brainless imbeciles? Can they not even count?!"
Normally, this wouldn't have been worth losing his temper over.
Mistaking the date of a visit wasn't that grave of an error.
What mattered was the importance of the guest—as long as they were significant, the Duke wouldn't care whether they arrived a few days early or late.
But today's events had completely drained his patience.
In the morning, those beastly students from the knight families had caused chaos, and now in the afternoon, the knights themselves couldn't even count and showed up on the wrong day.
"Shall... shall we send them away?"
"...No need. Scolding those idiots won't fix anything. Prepare to receive them. I'll rest a little longer before joining them."
Still, the Duke calculated coldly.
Rather than humiliating the knights and sending them off, only to invite complaints, it was better to feed them well, send them away satisfied, and let them sing his praises.
Properly entertaining invited guests was also part of a grand noble's duty.
A short while later.
A servant approached the Duke again as he rested with his eyes closed.
The servant trembled all over, clearly reluctant to deliver his message.
"The knights say they wish to express their gratitude to Your Grace in person..."
"...Tell them to sit quietly and eat before I kill them all."
"......"
The servant hesitated, unable to bring himself to leave. The Duke sighed shallowly and spoke.
"Make it absolutely clear that I'll come out after resting longer. If anyone dares disturb me again, I swear I'll bury them alive. Understood?"
"...Yes!"
The White Poplar Knights were an order that traveled across the empire, aiding the weak, charging into danger, and pursuing knightly honor—but in truth, the White Poplar Knights were quite unusual among knightly orders.
Who would enjoy traveling the empire without any reward? No matter how knightly one was, such work was arduous and grueling.
Most imperial knightly orders were far more comfortable and profit-oriented gatherings, formed either by local knightly families to protect their regions or simply for camaraderie.
The Beech Knights belonged to the latter category.
The knights of the Beech Knights, who operated in areas slightly removed from Granden City, were brimming with excitement over the Duke's invitation.
"An invitation from His Grace, Duke Icaldoren, a grand noble of the empire—that's not something just anyone receives. Only the glory of the Beech name could make this possible."
"Bunch of idle brats..."
"Talking about glory. Probably just gathered to play Wizard Cards."
"Shh. Keep your voice down."
The young squires of the White Poplar Knights traveling with them grumbled under their breath.
The full knight leading them gave them a warning glance.
"If you act disrespectfully toward knights of another order, I won't forgive you."
"But those bastards are too arrogant..."
"I told you to stop!"
As the knight's anger flared, the squires clamped their mouths shut.
The knight understood their feelings well enough.
Like most wealthy knightly orders, the Beech Knights behaved more like nobles than knights.
When traveling with White Poplar squires, they should have shown mutual respect—yet they kept looking down on them because of their attire and weapons, making the squires' anger inevitable.
"Wait. Why are we being led this way?"
One of the Beech Knights noticed something odd and spoke up.
The Duke's city mansion was vast, with multiple halls suitable for banquets.
Yet the main banquet hall was unmistakably the central one—so why were the servants guiding them to the left-side hall instead?
"Other guests have arrived first."
"Other guests?"
The knights murmured among themselves.
It was surprising enough that guests had arrived before them, but even more so that those guests had taken the better hall.
They weren't pleased.
"Who are they?"
"Students from Einrogard."
"......"
Discontent rose on the knights' faces.
Had it been the heads of other noble houses, they might have understood—but to lose their place to mere students from the Magic School?
Objectively, they could guess the average status of these students, but the knights weren't in the mood for calculations—only complaints.
"Was this hall assigned by His Grace?"
"That can't be possible."
The servants couldn't possibly blame the Duke for this arrangement—they'd lose their heads if they tried.
"Then what's the meaning of this?"
"We're not entirely sure..."
"It seems the students entered first."
The servants' cautious reply was misinterpreted by the knights.
"They're young—they must have misunderstood."
"Can't we just use the left hall?"
A knight from the White Poplar Knights cautiously spoke up.
Considering the status and position of the Einrogard students, he didn't want to cause a commotion over a single banquet hall.
At this, the Beech Knights flared up and retorted.
"Why should we yield the banquet hall that rightfully belongs to us?"
"Just because they're students doesn't mean we should let them off! Wrong is wrong—it must be said. The White Poplar Knights' squires might be content with such treatment, but we are not!"
"......"
The blatant disregard for squirms made the knight's brows twitch.
As the stern-faced knight exuded an intimidating aura, the Beech Knights seemed to realize their blunder and quickly shifted the topic.
"Go and relay the message. Say there appears to have been a misunderstanding."
"That Wardanaz bastard ruined our fun party."
"Right. It was such carefree, boundless joy..."
"If you lot keep muttering, I'll shove you headfirst into a wine barrel. Shut up and eat."
As the awakened White Tiger Tower students grumbled while eating, Lee Han warned them.
Just thinking about what they'd pulled earlier made him reluctant to even give them food.
"Um, Lord Wardanaz..."
"??"
When a servant rushed over, pale-faced, and whispered, Lee Han was puzzled.
What now?
'They're not seriously saying I have to pay them silver, are they?'
It was absurd, but Lee Han's opinion of the duke had already sunk that low.
"The knights..."
"...?"
After hearing the explanation, Lee Han tilted his head in confusion.
Realizing something was wrong, his friends also gathered, murmuring among themselves.
"Why are the knights here? And today of all days?"
"That's strange..."
Coming from noble families, they knew better than to invite multiple groups on the same day.
"Maybe they got the date wrong?"
"Unlikely. They can't be that insane."
"Look at the White Tiger Tower guys. They're dumb, but not that dumb."
"Tutanta. You wanna die?"
"Shut up. You're the ones who got drunk and passed out at someone else's banquet."
"We didn't pass out—we got knocked out by that Wardanaz bastard!"
"Hey... keep it down, it's embarrassing..."
While his friends bickered, Lee Han asked the servant,
"So they want us to give up the banquet hall now?"
"Absolutely not! Wardanaz!"
"That's insane!"
The White Tiger Tower students reacted most vehemently.
Having attended many gatherings among knightly families, they were naturally sensitive to such matters.
Unlike noble family gatherings, knightly family meetings often descended into violent power struggles.
Attempting to take over a banquet hall already in use was one such tactic—something no knight family descendant could ever yield to.
"Wouldn't it be fine to yield? We're done eating anyway."
"I said no, Wardanaz!"
"Snap out of it! Since when are you the type to back down? Weren't you the guy who'd crush bones if someone picked a fight?!"
"...I see how you all view me now."
Not just the White Tiger Tower students but the others also showed resistance.
Seeing this, Lee Han didn't argue further and readily agreed.
"Alright. If you don't want to leave, fine. Tell them we refuse."
The poor servant, caught in the middle, bowed his head pitifully before rushing off.
He returned shortly to deliver another message.
"Um, Lord Wardanaz... The knights suggest... perhaps settling this with a friendly duel..."
'Is there honey smeared all over this banquet hall or something?'
Lee Han couldn't understand why the knights were so obsessed with the place.
Was there some vein of mana flowing here?
Why go this far?
"Keh... Kehahahaha! They're digging their own graves, those fools!"
"Beech Knights bastards. You still don't know how vast the Empire is! You're dead today!"
"????"
The messenger servant was baffled by the White Tiger Tower students' reaction.
He'd expected them to refuse such an outrageous, disrespectful proposal.
'What in the world...?'