The Monster's True Identity
Cheers erupted from the soldiers on the northern front.
Leina did not react to the cheers showering her from behind; she simply turned around.
Her gaze was fixed on a single person: her master, Kyle Hartvalt.
As soon as she reached him, she dropped to one knee.
"My lord."
Her voice was infused with aura. She did this to ensure her words carried all the way to the top of the fortress walls.
"I, Leina Garyen, dedicate the glory of this victory to my lord."
At those words, the soldiers' cheers swelled once more.
Leina Garyen. The female knight who had once been known only as the greatest beauty of the North.
She had now proven her strength. And she had proven exactly whom that strength served.
Before the eyes of countless Northerners, Leina had made it undeniably clear whose sword she was.
Kyle looked down at Leina, who knelt before him.
"You have done well, Dame Leina."
This was a public setting. Countless soldiers and knights were watching. Thus, Kyle treated her with the formal respect due to his knight.
He, too, infused his voice with aura, letting it echo up to the fortress walls.
"It was a magnificent victory."
"Thank you, my lord."
The gaze of the northern soldiers shifted as they watched the exchange.
Kyle had defeated the Orc Great Warrior. That alone made him a hero of the North.
And his subordinate, Leina Garyen, was a knight who had vanquished an Orc close to a high-tier warrior.
Successor of the Hartvalt Grand Duchy. The future of the North.
Such titles were beginning to drape themselves over Kyle's name.
"That sight..." a middle-aged soldier atop the wall muttered.
"It's like looking at the former Grand Duke..."
"I see it too."
"Hah..."
Several middle-aged soldiers nodded in agreement.
Valgrim Hartvalt. The legend who had carved out the North with blood.
Strong subordinates had always stood by his side.
Those who remembered those days saw an old shadow overlapping with Kyle's current figure.
Volkrik remained standing beside the Orc Great Warrior.
He had watched everything, up to the moment Leina dedicated her victory and stepped back.
The Orc Great Warrior, now standing alone, had also watched his final warrior accept defeat.
"It is over," Volkrik said.
"As you can see, the result of the duel is your defeat."
The Orc Great Warrior nodded. "Grr. I acknowledge it. It is our defeat."
"Good." Volkrik's eyes grew cold and sharp.
"Then speak."
He had no intention of wasting time.
The unidentified monster the Orcs kept mentioning could appear at any moment.
They needed to find out what it was as quickly as possible.
"The monster that drove you out of the north. What is its identity?"
The Orc Great Warrior fell silent for a moment.
His body, which had seemed so robust and warrior-like, trembled.
What welled up in the depths of his eyes was pure terror.
"You will find it hard to believe."
Volkrik didn't even blink. "Whether to believe it or not is for me to decide. Just answer the question."
"Fine." The Orc Great Warrior gnashed his teeth, as if trying to conquer his fear.
"The monster is a goblin."
A brief silence descended.
Volkrik's brow furrowed.
"What?"
"I said it is a goblin."
The Orc Great Warrior's voice sank even lower, sounding almost dismal.
"A single goblin."
A goblin—one of the monster races, but always considered a weak, insignificant force.
Yet, that very name had just come out of the Orc Great Warrior's mouth.
Karon Hartvalt returned to the fortress in silence.
The knights following behind him could not bring themselves to speak either.
The current situation was something they could not have imagined even a moment ago.
They had believed that the standing Karon had built up over the past six months on the northern front would not be easily shaken.
But it had happened.
Kyle had defeated the Orc Great Warrior, and he had even elevated his own subordinate on the final stage.
They could feel how the gaze of the northern soldiers had shifted.
Even in this situation, Karon's face remained calm. At least, on the outside.
Damn it.
But inside, he was burning up.
He had been chosen as one of the five duelists. Just standing there had been an opportunity.
If he had slain an Orc warrior and demonstrated his martial prowess to the soldiers of the North, the situation would have been different.
But he hadn't even swung his sword once.
It was because Kyle had swept the entire board.
Karon had expected Kyle to die at the hands of the Orc Great Warrior, but instead, Kyle had defeated four of them, including the Great Warrior himself.
He had handed the last one to Leina.
Karon knew exactly what that intention was.
Leina Garyen.
Karon's eyes sank coldly.
She was a woman he had regarded merely as a useful tool. A woman he thought he could give away as a reward to anyone if necessary.
Someone he had looked down upon.
Yet, that woman had now become Kyle's sword.
And right before his eyes, she had broken through the wall to the high-tier realm.
Now, not only Kyle, but even his subordinate Leina could no longer be taken lightly.
The position of successor had drifted further away.
Leina, that wench, bringing such humiliation upon me!
The position of successor, which had been right before his eyes, seemingly within arm's reach, had suddenly been pushed into the distant horizon.
It's not over yet.
Karon gritted his teeth.
The goblin. The monster the Orc Great Warrior had spoken of. An unbelievably powerful entity.
That monster is still out there!
Information was scarce. He knew almost nothing other than the fact that its identity was a goblin.
But one thing was clear.
That monster had defeated the Orc Great Warrior and instilled terror in him.
Perhaps that monster could kill Kyle.
If I play my cards right, I might even be able to use that monster. First, I need to win the Orcs' favor to extract whatever information I can, so I should prepare some gifts.
Even if that monster fought Kyle, it would surely leave him battered and broken.
Clinging desperately to this hope, Karon kept walking.
If he didn't hold onto this hope, he felt like he wouldn't be able to endure.
For now, he planned to return to his room and prepare gifts to win over the Orcs.
It was then.
"Karon, you look pale."
Karon's footsteps halted.
A man stood at the end of the hallway.
Kyle was standing there, though no one had noticed when he entered.
Behind him stood his three subordinates: Leina Garyen, Wulfran Gecht, and Lumia Aster.
The three of them followed him like shadows.
"Ugh!"
The knights behind Karon flinched.
Normally, they would have protested Kyle's insolence. But now, no one stepped forward.
The man who had defeated the Orc Great Warrior.
That single fact kept their mouths shut.
To them, Kyle was no longer a useless scoundrel.
He was a monster who could kill them if they crossed him.
Karon forced his expression to compose itself.
"Brother."
Karon forced a smile.
"Knowing that a monster capable of driving out even the Orc Great Warrior is targeting this fortress, I cannot help but worry."
It was a plausible answer. The second son of the Hartvalt Grand Duchy, worrying for the safety of the North.
But Kyle chuckled.
"Worry, is it?"
Kyle's reddish eyes swept over Karon.
"It's not worry, it's fear."
"..."
Karon's smile stiffened slightly.
"Since they say that goblin monster is stronger than the Orc Great Warrior, you must be terrified. I understand."
Kyle continued in a leisurely tone.
"There's no need to act calm. Being scared isn't a crime."
At those words, the faces of the young knights behind Karon contorted.
It was an insult. A blatant insult directed at Karon, whom they served.
Normally, they would have stepped forward immediately and raised their voices.
Yet, still, no one moved.
No one dared to open their mouth.
That silence was an even greater insult to Karon.
Damn cowards.
Karon gnashed his teeth inwardly.
If even one person had stepped forward here, it would have at least proven their loyalty.
Kyle glanced at the knights and sneered.
"Don't worry, Karon," he said slowly, as if mocking him.
"Even if that goblin monster appears, I will face it."
The corners of Kyle's mouth twisted into a colder smirk.
"Shouldn't an older brother protect his cowardly little brother?"
"...I appreciate your words, brother."
Karon forced himself to bow his head.
"Then, I shall take my leave."
He attempted to brush past Kyle.
It was then.
"By the way, Karon."
Kyle's voice stopped him in his tracks once more.
"Among the subordinates I plan to recruit later..."
Kyle spoke as if it were nothing.
"There is a woman named Elena."
In that instant, Karon's breath hitched.
Elena?
It could be a coincidence, a different person with the same name.
But the mere fact that the name had come out of Kyle's mouth made Karon's body react instantly.
Thump.
His heart hammered wildly. His fingertips turned ice-cold.
No way.
There was no way Kyle could know that name.
Elena Verdin. That name was Karon's deepest, most closely guarded sanctuary.
The girl he had met in the capital during his childhood. The absolute reason why he had to ascend to the position of Grand Duke.
Karon had never truly spoken of his feelings for her to anyone.
His father, Roderick, did not know. His mother, Enora, did not know either.
They only knew that Karon had someone in his heart.
Neither of his parents could have ever imagined that she was his childhood friend from his days in the capital.
There was no way Kyle could know such a secret.
Yet, Kyle had spoken it. Elena.
"What is it?" Kyle asked, feigning ignorance.
"Is that a name you happen to know?"