Chapter 80
Chapter 80
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: 38. Comrades in Arms (1)
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The knight threw a punch. Pides swiftly dodged it.
A faint aura rose from the knight's body. Pides responded in kind.
It wasn't a high level, but as a soldier of Brioll, he had learned the Mana Circulation Method too.
"You were with the Allied Forces, huh."
The knight kept swinging punches.
True to his training since childhood, they weren't mere slaps. But from Pides's perspective, who had fought orcs, it looked easy.
"Yeah, you bastard."
Pides charged in and grabbed the knight's waist. The knight drove an elbow down, but Pides endured it.
Compared to orcs, this knight was just a bit bulkier—still human, after all.
"Raaah!"
Pides tackled the knight to the ground.
As the two rolled around brawling on the floor, the baron paced anxiously.
"Quiet, keep it quiet..."
Anyone could see it was an even match. If anything, Pides had mounted on top and was landing punches.
"You call yourself a knight? In the Allied Forces, you'd be worse than a foot soldier, you bastard!"
His fists struck the knight several times. Then the other two knights waiting by the baron rushed at Pides and kicked him.
"Gah!"
Pides sprawled out mid-punch, and the knights stomped on him.
"Can't win one-on-one, so you gang up? You call yourselves knights? Hahaha..."
How different were these three idiots from the knights he'd staked his life with in the Allied Forces.
Pides laughed even as the three beat him down.
"You worthless scum."
"Daring to touch a knight?"
As it turned into a one-sided beating, the noise actually died down.
Only then did the baron relax and sit back down.
"Beat him quietly."
The baron watched the scene with a grin when suddenly there was a knock.
Knock, knock, knock.
The baron stopped the knights.
"Hold on, hold on. Stop."
The three knights clamped a hand over Pides's mouth to keep him quiet and punched his stomach. Pides curled up in agony.
The baron called out to the door.
"What is it?"
A staff member replied from outside.
"Is Sir Pides here?"
"Pides?"
The baron scowled.
"What does that guy want?"
"We have something to inform him about..."
"What is it?"
"It's hard to explain."
"What?"
The baron frowned.
It felt like an insult, but this was the royal palace. He couldn't just rough up a staff member.
"He's not here."
"Pardon?"
"He left."
"Really?"
The baron nodded, and the three knights dragged Pides to a corner and hid him.
The baron cracked the door open. The staff member stood there looking troubled.
"Do you know how uncomfortable it was sharing this cramped room with some nobody I don't even know? Are rooms that scarce?"
"I'm sorry. We have a lot of guests..."
"Just make guys like that wait outside."
"Yes, but Sir Pides..."
"I said he left."
"Where to?"
"How should I know? Come to think of it, a guy like that wouldn't even get to see the prince, right? He must've realized his place and gone home."
"No, that can't be."
"What's can't be?"
The baron glared sharply.
"So when can we see the prince?"
"Well..."
"Don't bother me with some lowly commoner and call me when it's my turn. Jeez."
He slammed the door shut. Behind him, Pides twitched on the floor.
The baron sneered vilely at him.
"What, pissed off? Heh heh heh..."
That was when it happened.
The door burst open again with a loud bang.
The baron spun around in shock.
"W-what the hell?"
A black-haired boy sauntered in.
"What do you think you're doing, barging in!"
The baron's shout died in his throat as a chill sank into his chest. In Brioll, black hair meant only one thing.
"No way..."
The boy scanned the room and furrowed his brow. When those black eyes turned to him, the baron felt his heart stop.
It was like being stared at by an inanimate object.
His gaze flicked past the stains on the wall as if noticing them for the first time.
"Oh man, Pides. What happened? You get beat up?"
He chuckled and walked to the corner.
One knight tried to block him but was yanked back by his colleague grabbing his nape.
"Black hair..."
The knight finally grasped the situation and froze.
The prince they had come to meet—Yuri Brioll—had appeared in person.
"Your Highness..."
Pides looked up at Yuri and grinned through the blood, spitting some out.
"One-on-one, I'd have won. But they ganged up on me."
"You sure you won?"
"I was getting thrashed at first."
"For real?"
Yuri eyed the three knights standing rigidly.
"For real?"
"Uh, well..."
Two of the knights immediately glanced at the third. The singled-out one bowed his head and spoke.
"Yes. No, that's not it. What I mean is..."
"Did you really lose one-on-one?"
"N-no, not exactly. If we'd had more time..."
"So you were losing."
"No. If those two hadn't interfered..."
"Those two?"
Yuri looked at the remaining pair standing behind. They bowed their heads.
"Is he telling the truth?"
"Yes."
"No."
They gave conflicting answers.
Yuri knit his brows. The two knights exchanged glances, and one stepped up to explain.
"The fight was getting too heated, so we tried to pull him off..."
"So he had you pinned so bad you couldn't handle him alone."
"Not exactly..."
"Kowtow."
"Pardon?"
"With your heads."
Silence fell briefly.
The quickest one slammed his forehead to the floor immediately, followed by the others. Their knightly discipline showed in the crisp motion.
Yuri kicked the last one flat on the ground.
Mana infused the strike. The other two got caught up, and all three slammed into the wall.
"Guh..."
The baron backed away.
Even without martial prowess, he could tell from that single kick that Yuri was no ordinary fighter.
"You..."
"Y-yes, Your Highness. My name is..."
As Yuri turned to him, the baron stammered an introduction.
"Don't care. Shut up."
"Yes, sir!"
"Here to see me?"
"Yes, exactly."
"You know me?"
"We have no personal acquaintance, but I admire the heroic exploits of the Third Prince who annihilated the orcs with such valor in the Allied Forces, and so I came bearing gifts..."
"Never heard of you."
"No. I mean, yes..."
"Some stranger who doesn't even know me messing with my..."
Yuri personally helped Pides up.
Pides leaned on him and grinned.
"...friend?"
"Pardon?"
The baron's face went pale.
"Friends...?"
"We fought together on the battlefield. As close as comrades get."
Yuri took a step toward the noble.
"It's heartbreaking to think that the honorable traditions built by our ancestors' blood are being sullied by scum like you."
The baron trembled, head bowed.
He'd assumed the Allied Forces vet was just a lowly soldier begging for scraps, forcing an unwanted meeting. He never dreamed they were actually close.
A prince and a common soldier as friends? It didn't make sense.
"What happened?"
"What's going on?"
"Huh? Your Highness?"
As Yuri scattered the three knights and chaos erupted, guests waiting in other rooms began emerging one by one.
Several high nobles among them.
"S-sorry..."
The baron mumbled weakly, and Yuri smirked.
"My friend Pides doesn't need me fighting his battles. You there. Come here."
Yuri pointed, startling the knight slumped against the wall, watching warily.
It was the first one who'd fought Pides.
"Pardon?"
"Over here."
"Uh..."
"Now."
He scrambled over.
Yuri lined up Pides and the knight side by side.
And declared from the middle.
"Fight properly this time. One-on-one."
"Seriously, even with a chance, you can't win?"
"I still won, didn't I?"
"Win with style. What was that?"
Under Yuri's mediation, Pides and the knight started brawling again.
It was a pathetic scrap that made it hard to believe one was a knight.
Pides and the knight swung wild punches, exchanged a few blows, then grabbed each other and went into wrestling.
They spun around, taking turns on top raining down fists.
A knight even rotten was still a knight—he gradually pressed Pides.
Pides, on the verge of passing out, mustered his last strength to flip the knight and choked him out for the tap.
But Pides's face was far more messed up.
"A win's a win."
Yuri called a priest to heal Pides, then invited him to the palace's finest reception room.
Tasting the royal treats, Pides's eyes widened in awe.
Yuri pushed his own share forward too.
"Eat up."
"How'd you eat this stuff and still chow down on field rations with us?"
"Feeling my hot camaraderie now?"
"I respect you, sir."
"So, what's the visit for?"
"Your Highness..."
Pides's face grew troubled.
"It's like this..."
If a mere soldier like Pides came in person, something big had happened. It wasn't just his problem.
"Remember the Allied Forces Comrades Association?"
"Of course. I started it."
"The condolence funds that came through it."
After the Allied Forces campaign, the kingdom paid hefty rewards to veterans.
Yuri had formed the 'Allied Forces Comrades Association' to provide extra funds to the disabled or families of the fallen.
"There's a problem."
"Problem?"
"They're taxing it."
"Huh?"
"Some mystery income popped up, so they say they need to tax it. And it's more than half the funds."
"Who the hell?"
Yuri let out a hollow laugh.
The association ostensibly collected donations. In truth, it was all from Yuri's personal wealth.
As Ireine Merchant Company's majority shareholder, he'd funneled his fortune under the association's name. Who dares tax a prince's largesse?
"Looks like the lords coordinated it. Sudden influx of cash circulating, so they agreed to seize it under tax pretexts."
"It's been how long since the Allied Forces ended..."
"Everyone's up in arms, so they sent me as rep."
Yuri sighed.
Brioll was mild on exploitation compared to others, but long peace had bred corrupt lords.
"Perfect timing."
"Pardon?"
"Gives me something to do before heading to the Empire."
To fight enemies outside, first clean house within.
Yuri resolved to restore order in Brioll through this incident.
"List the ones pulling this crap."
"Your Highness..."
Pides gazed at Yuri, moved.
He'd come on a slim hope, never expecting Yuri to step up. On the battlefield, they were allies by necessity, but not anymore.
Just a massive gulf between prince and commoner.
Yet Yuri was the same as in the war.
Pides realized it was all genuine back then too.
"Thank you..."
"Save it. It's what anyone would do. Without you, that Okua bastard would've wiped us all out."
"What'd I even do..."
"You bolted over and relayed my message like a champ. Think Hernando would've cast his spell without that?"
"Hahaha..."
"So, which bastards?"
Pides pulled out a paper from his bosom. It listed the lords seizing the funds.
Yuri skimmed it and spoke.
"Pides."
"Yes."
"What's the easiest way to win a battle?"
"No idea. Guys like me just follow orders."
"Fair. I'll tell you. Capture the leader."
"You mean..."
"Just thrash the highest-ranking one on this list."
Yuri pointed to one name and grinned.
"Guess I'll see Sir Raymond again. That gambler too."
At his fingertip was the boldly written name: Genad Jeteri.