Chapter 213
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 213
Chapter Title: The Second Knight -2-
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A man plummeted from the sky like a meteor amid a deafening roar, gripping a spear rippling with golden light.
No one here didn't know who he was.
Duke Belk Amaranth, the Empire's Second Knight.
"Cedric—you haven't improved a bit despite your age."
He fiddled with his mustache and let out a deep sigh.
Without hiding his disdain, he scolded the Fourth Knight, who clutched his abdomen and spat out sticky blood.
The duke appeared to be in his forties.
Anyone could see that Cedric Floyd looked much older.
But appearances could be deceiving, and in the Empire, rank and raw power trumped age.
No matter how skilled the Fourth Knight was, he couldn't compare to the Second.
"Did you anticipate ending up like this? They even prepared a dress uniform for your audience with His Majesty. Aren't you ashamed?"
"Hah... haa..."
His eyes bloodshot, unable to even breathe properly, the Fourth Knight took light taps to the head from the spear.
The hierarchy was obvious, even to a child.
"Have you ever considered what the Saintess thinks of us knights? You fool."
Crack!
Struck across the face by the spear shaft, the viscount rolled several times before coming to a stop.
"..."
My eyes weren't on the beaten, retreating Fourth Knight, but fixed on the duke wielding the spear.
Can I win?
The thought hit me the moment I saw him.
He didn't earn the title of Second Knight for nothing.
"Adventurer friend, this beast has caused you trouble. Accept my apology on his behalf."
His demeanor was so affable it was hard to believe he was a duke as he approached me.
I returned the knightly salute as he dipped his body slightly in courtesy.
The Empire's Second Knight was speaking so gently.
Any normal person would have backed down at his appearance.
But.
Not me.
I'm too twisted to withdraw so gracefully.
Now that I have women to protect, I'm more sensitive to grudges than before.
If the situation had ended with a moderate exchange of blows, I might have let it go.
But the moment he revealed his aura at the end.
Someone impulsive, driven by emotion, is an unpredictable hazard.
I hate having more things to worry about when the guy's not even that bright.
"You're right. It was a huge nuisance."
"..."
The duke seemed caught off guard by my response, falling silent like he'd swallowed honey.
"Ahem! What an entertaining fellow. What should we do?"
"I'm sorry I can't accept your apology, Your Grace. But didn't this go beyond the scope of the request?"
The Fourth Knight charging in with his aura, intent on killing, was an unforeseen escalation even the palace hadn't anticipated.
- Though he has caused incidents like the example above due to anger, he regains his reason after venting through sufficient violence...
- In the case of Viscount Cedric Floyd, the Fourth Knight, whose pride is immense, the top priority when force is necessary is to respond without using mana.
- The reason is detailed separately below...
They said he wouldn't use mana if the opponent didn't, out of pride.
The request from the palace explicitly stated as much.
It might have been a clause to get me to accept the job, but the situation had changed.
They guaranteed it, yet this happened—I had every right to call the request fraudulent.
Letting it slide like an idiot wasn't the way of an adventurer who clawed his way up from the Empire's underbelly.
"I trust you understand my exercise of rightful authority."
The duke's expression turned subtly strange at my unilateral declaration.
I wasn't asking for permission anyway.
My actions wouldn't stop.
Shhrrk.
Hiding my palm downward, I drew Gleipnir from thin air, black chains coiling on the ground like a serpent.
Crackle—zzzt—crackle!
Gripping Gleipnir infused with aura, I swung it around, whipping up wind in pitch-black circles.
Without killing the momentum,
I pressed down, lifted up, slashed diagonally in complex motions.
A single chain spun rapidly around me, creating the illusion of dozens—a magnificent sight.
"Ho... impressive!"
Duke Amaranth tapped his shoulder with his gleaming spear, exclaiming in admiration.
He has no intention of stopping this.
Whatever.
I hurled the chain upward at the Fourth Knight, who lay cheek-down on the ground.
Rumble!!!
A line of chain surged with dark-red aura, savagely tearing the capital's stone pavement.
Like a massive serpent rising from the earth, it flew to bisect the Fourth Knight's body.
Just before an event to be etched in the Empire's history books.
Zzzzt—
The duke kicked off the ground and appeared before the Fourth Knight.
His spear, cloaked in golden aura, trailed rippling waves of gold.
Reeeing—!
Like shattering dozens of stacked glass panes.
A deafening ring echoed as Gleipnir bounced away, fragments of golden aura scattering into the air.
"Hahaha! I love that youthful vigor—it's absurd!"
Seeing the duke, who had let the Fourth Knight be, finally move irritated me, tension creasing my eyes.
"Are you going to interfere?"
"I hate meddling between men, but I have a mission to drag this fool back to the palace."
We understood each other, but our positions were irreconcilable.
I gripped Gleipnir tighter.
"...Even as a commoner without title, representing adventurers, I have my face to save."
"I know."
"If I let a Platinum adventurer like me slide after the Fourth Knight tried to kill me with aura, what will become of adventurers' standing from now on?"
Not that I cared, but it was useful bait.
The power struggle between knights and adventurers in the Empire was a critical leverage point.
"Certainly... you're not wrong."
Thud!
The golden spear plunged deep into the Fourth Knight's left shoulder, blood spraying.
"Guhhh!"
Foam-tinged blood poured from Cedric Floyd's lips as he endured the pain, soaking the ground.
The duke, rubbing his mustache with an impassive face, yanked the spear free and swung harder.
"Kuhk!"
Struck by the shaft, the Fourth Knight's body floated into the air.
Boom—!
His bear-like bulk crashed into the cracked wall, crumbling it and billowing dust.
Turning back to me after the toss, the duke flashed a friendly smile.
"How's that? For my sake, can we call it even?"
His obvious act drew a hollow laugh from me.
This beating was just a show to haul the Fourth Knight away by the neck.
With all my experience, I wasn't falling for it. I shook my head.
"Not enough. As long as his head's attached, how can I rule out retaliation against me or those around me?"
Realizing the play had failed, the duke smirked and nodded.
"For an adventurer, you're unusually cautious."
"I'm a bit of a coward."
"That's the weapon for surviving this world."
This back-and-forth could drag on forever.
Plus, Eclair's shift would end late if we kept stalling.
"...If you insist, there is a way."
"If there's a way to let this idiot go, name it. I'll mediate as best I can."
At the words I'd been waiting for, I pulled a top-grade mana contract from my inventory-linked pocket and handed it to him.
His smile faded to wide-eyed surprise at the rare item.
"Do adventurers carry these around nowadays...?"
...
...
"Even that brute Urus can't let his guard down. Hahaha!!"
Forcing the contract on the Fourth Knight—who'd only received the Saintess's emergency treatment—the duke patted my shoulder gleefully.
He prodded the viscount away with his spear.
"Adventurer friend, until next time. I'll make sure to report your exploits to His Majesty faithfully."
"No need. Just tell it straight—good or bad."
To my curt reply, he hugged his spear and nodded.
"Ho! A man who knows the virtue of humility. Ever thought of quitting adventuring for knighthood?"
I nearly flipped him off at the nonsense.
"...I'd rather be unemployed."
"Not a bad choice. Who knows what the future holds? Come find me if you change your mind~"
With a sly grin, he turned, prodding the Fourth Knight toward the palace with his spear.
What a joke...
People like him, loose in the head, were just uncomfortable.
The type that drains your energy the more you talk, reeking of hassle if entangled.
As I let out a weary chuckle at his retreating back, the Saintess and Mazella approached.
"B-Brother! I should have treated you first...!"
"I'm fine."
Bleeding had stopped thanks to my resistance.
Still, taking those monstrous punches head-on left no spot unaching.
Crack—crackle!
Twisting my neck and rolling my shoulders to shake off the stiffness produced ominous sounds.
But the real issue wasn't my body—it had been elsewhere since earlier.
My arm wrapped around Gleipnir tingled, like faint electric currents.
What is this?
It wasn't the lingering ache from blocking that strike.
An unfamiliar sensation crawling up my arm.
Looking at where it had clashed with the duke's aura, my eyes widened.
"...Oh!!"
Very faintly.
A scratch had appeared on Gleipnir.