22. The Count's Castle (2)
22. The Count's Castle (2)
Even after the eldest son Kaisen's words ended, a long silence lingered.
"Move forward."
A single word escaped from Yuma's lips.
Kaisen took another step forward.
Kwak! Kuung!
He could distinctly feel the soldiers' bewilderment. They were being pushed back. Their steps were pushed back without them realizing it. Because they felt a deep resolve in the eyes of the eldest son, who had not yet shed his boyish look.
Before they knew it, the lead was taken by the eldest son, Kaisen.
The knights also began to step back, staring at their commander, Knight Captain Haiman.
In the end, all but five of the fifty troops cleared out to the sides.
"Knight Captain Haiman."
Kaisen stood before Knight Captain Haiman. Before the knight captain who scattered a blue aura from the sword in his right hand.
"Young master."
Haiman's heated gaze glared at Kaisen as if piercing through him.
"My knight, Agel, was dead."
Kaisen had learned swordsmanship from Haiman. So, he sometimes used formal speech with him, especially when they were alone. At the name Agel, Haiman's brow furrowed deeply.
"Do you not know? That Agel was not someone who would steal a senior knight's wife."
Haiman could not deny that.
Because Agel, who had once been part of the Count's 1st Knight Order, did not have such a disposition even in his eyes. Because he could not easily understand the reason for his execution.
"First, I just want to face my father, talk with him, and resolve my questions."
Haiman had no choice but to admit it.
That he had been overwhelmed by his student, if only for a moment. And that he had been persuaded.
Haiman twisted his foot to the right. The eldest son Kaisen strode toward the castle gate, his blonde hair flying.
It was a bloodless entry.
In front of the count's castle gate.
The knights blocking the gate stared at Knight Captain Haiman with perplexed faces.
"S-Sir Haiman?"
Haiman opened his mouth with a stiff face.
"Open the gate."
And he stared behind him.
There stood Kaisen.
Realizing the eldest son of the family, who had disappeared, had returned, the knights of the gate politely yielded their places. And the huge gate opened.
Yuma spoke to Hestia and Cloné beside him.
"If the atmosphere turns unusual, prepare to escape on your own."
Hestia and Cloné nodded their heads vigorously.
***
"The Count orders you to enter."
The knight bowed his head to Kaisen.
Kaisen stared at Yuma behind him.
"We go in together, Kaisen."
Yuma said, looking at Haiman.
"Something suspicious has occurred in the Count's household. From this moment on, as the Princess's agent, I will consider this matter official business."
"...The only one whom the Count has permitted to see him is Sir Kaisen."
Haiman's hand went toward his waist. Precisely, toward the sword at his waist.
Again, a chilly aura pervaded the space.
Cheol─keok
When the sword's edge briefly saw the world, a heavy voice came from inside.
-It doesn't matter. Let anyone in.
Considering Count Rubelt's current situation, it was a remark so generous it felt bizarre.
Haiman's sword, which had been drawn ever so slightly, went back into its sheath.
Multiple footsteps moved.
Hestia looked at Cloné with her green eyes.
"Official business...! That's so cool! So Yuma-nim is like the Empire's fixer, taking orders from the First Princess!?"
At Hestia's words, Cloné slowly shook her head.
"I don't really know either. I just have to trust what Yuma-nim does."
Yuma listened to their conversation with a blank face.
Official business.
Actually, there was no such thing.
He was just throwing out whatever lines came to mind, leaning on the authority of the First Princess Brigitte.
Grgrgrgrind...
The door opened.
Count Rubelt was seated in a chair that looked like a throne, just as when they had seen him before.
Rubelt's lips parted again.
"Come, my son."
It was a solemn voice. Despite hearing his father's welcome, Kaisen's face was rigid with tension.
He could not help but feel again that sense of otherness, that sense of disconnect, he had felt when he faced his father just before being imprisoned in Yuto Forest.
'No matter how I look at it.'
That was not the father he had seen for 19 years.
The eldest son Kaisen suppressed the headache blooming in his head and slowly opened his mouth.
"Who are you."
Kaisen's words continued.
"My father is not someone who would stand by and watch a man-eating entity exist on this land."
"And he is even less the kind of person to frame a knight who told him about it with false crimes and have him executed."
Seureung─!
Kaisen drew the sword at his waist.
Pareureu...
He had been locked in prison for three full months. His arms, weakened by the weight of the heavy blade, trembled slightly.
"He is even less a father who would throw an innocent son in prison."
Rubelt suddenly began to laugh.
"...Keuk-keuk-keuk."
Very loudly.
"Keuhahahahaha!!"
It was literally a hearty burst of laughter.
"The little brat is dead scared. Yet he trembles as he still says everything he has to say. Huh?"
A red gleam burned vividly in the light of Rubelt's wrinkled eyes.
From the beautiful voice of a middle-aged man, Count Rubelt's words suddenly twisted into a hoarse, bizarre tone.
"I thought it wouldn't be bad to act like royalty around here, using this body of Count Rubelt. Since the location isn't so conspicuous, I figured it would be fun to enjoy a moderate amount of power and live a decent life. It would have been a pretty amusing life of play."
The one most bewildered by this change was not Kaisen or Yuma.
"...Lord Count?"
It was Knight Captain Haiman, who had believed in the Count and stood by his side with a sword even when he had acted a little strange.
Rubelt stomped the ground hard with his right foot.
Then a red light covered the entire space. A magic circle.
That magic circle radiated light.
A red light that engulfed the space itself.
"I can no longer continue this play. It's a pity, but I am satisfied. My purpose has now been achieved."
A crimson aura erupted instantly from Count Rubelt's body.
"Go ahead and struggle."
Rubelt's body, seated in the chair, went limp.
Kugugugugugugu!!
Suddenly, with a ground tremor as if an earthquake had struck, countless footsteps echoed.
"Wh-What the?"
Hestia scanned the surroundings with wide eyes.
They were gathering. The troops within the Count's castle. And like zombies, very chaotically.
A sharp red light flickered in their eyes.
Yuma had no trouble interpreting the situation.
'They're caught in mental stagnation magic.'
It was a key trait of the Black Dragon. Using mind-type magic. If exposed to the Black Dragon's demonic energy for a very long time, one becomes a slave to that Black Dragon.
They moved according to the Black Dragon's will. And if they made a move according to that will, their brains gradually burned up and they died. Those exposed to the domination magic circle for a long time could not withstand it unless they possessed considerable might and mental strength.
Kung-kung-kung-kung!!
Haiman stared at his subordinates crowded like zombies at the door.
"...Unbelievable."
Among the troops who spent most of their time in this Count's castle, only the Knight Captain Haiman and the Vice-Captain Lowelke were maintaining their senses.
Cheolkeong
Cheolkeok!
The knights and soldiers of the County of Rubelt raised their weapons.
The metallic clang of cold weapons endlessly assaulted the ears.
The command engraved in their minds was incredibly simple and clear.
Kill everyone in this room right now.
That was all.
Yuma placed a hand on the right shoulder of Kaisen, who was trembling with fear in front of him.
"Are you ready to inherit the title? Next Count."
"...Yes? What do you mean, Yuma-nim."
"Don't worry. Even if the County of Rubelt turns into a total mess for a while, I will personally request help from the Princess."
Yuma could see it. He could see just how badly this County of Rubelt would go to shit, and this was laying the bait for the next Count.
That he was on his side. That it was a situation where the County of Rubelt could not help but become a mess right now.
Yuma held the [Black Dragon Bernak's Fang] in a reverse grip.
"I'm telling you not to be scared. Future Count Rubelt."
Kki-gi-gi-gi-geek...
Because the sound of the Count's archers stringing their bows came from all directions.
The archers, their red eyes burning brightly, wordlessly drew their bowstrings.
Chwareureuk─
Among those zombie archers, dozens of knight-class strongmen capable of infusing a blue Aura into their arrowheads were mixed in.
Over forty arrows poured down from the main gate like a downpour.
"Hiiiek!"
Hestia shrieked and raised her sword. Because if they stayed still, they'd be turned into pincushions!
Jeobeok
That was when Yuma took a step forward.
<Bullet Time>
Kkeu─────gi......gi─geek-...
Time began to flow slowly.
Limited solely to the gaze of the being known as Yuma.
The 40 arrows slowly pressing down through the air.
He grasped the arrival speed of each incoming arrow in a single glance.
He calculated in an instant the priority of what to deflect first.
Kang!
He deflected 30 arrows within the 30-second Bullet Time.
The moment Bullet Time ended, he parried all the remaining arrows that seemed to be flying simultaneously at first glance.
<Absolute Counter>
─All arrows reverse.
Swaeaeaeaaeaek!! Syusyusyusyusyusyuk!!
The arrows pierced the archers' necks.
Pububuk!!
They penetrated the exact center of their heads.
Puhwak!
They were driven into their hearts.
The bodies of the 40 knights surrounding Yuma's group, the ones who had held arrows, all toppled backward simultaneously.
Kuuung──!
"This battle is your title inheritance ceremony. Kaisen Pel Rubelt."