Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Newbie Adventurer Bern (19) - Not Even a Duel
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Bern showed not the slightest hint of negativity.
His face was serene, his tone and voice polite and composed.
That was why it took the others a moment to process the words spilling from his mouth.
The first to react was not the lord himself, but the knight named Gudrun standing by his side.
"You bastard! How dare you insult my lord?!"
A terrifying aura surged around Gudrun's body.
This was the reception room, with the lord watching, so he hadn't drawn his sword—but the mana and killing intent leaking from him were enough to unconsciously choke anyone faint of heart.
Yet Bern brushed off the pressure like a gentle breeze.
"'Insult' is such an easy word to throw around."
"What?"
"Sending low-rank adventurers is an insult. When they say they don't like it and decide to leave, that's an insult too. What's next? Is not cowering at your barking also an insult? If so, your subordinates must be truly pitiful. Having to react every time you lose your temper—how exhausting that must be mentally."
"Y-You, you lowly—!!"
Shing!
Gudrun's face flushed beet red as he drew his sword.
Bern's eyes turned icy.
No matter how much Bern had provoked him with words, drawing a sword on his own emotions without permission in the lord's presence was a clear breach of knightly conduct.
He might have had the excuse of self-defense if Bern had drawn first or posed a physical threat, but that wasn't the case here.
The bespectacled finance officer realized the same thing and frantically tried to stop him.
"St-Stop! Sir Gudrun! What kind of disgrace is this in front of the lord?!"
"Disgrace? The real disgrace is standing idly by while my lord and I are insulted! My lord! Please give the order! I'll cut this fool down right now and hold that foolish guild accountable too!"
"……."
The lord's brow furrowed in clear displeasure.
He was furious at Bern's insolence, but Gudrun's actions clearly irked him as well.
Still, blood is thicker than water, as they say.
"Do as you wish. Just... seeing blood here would be unpleasant, so carry out the execution outside."
"Understood, my lord!"
"Hey! Are you really going to pick a fight with the guild...?"
Blanca was about to explode at the proceedings unfolding without her say, but Bern held her back.
"It's fine."
The weight of words depends on who speaks them.
It was just a short phrase with no further explanation, but coming from Bern, Blanca trusted it completely.
She couldn't even imagine him losing, after all.
A training ground a short distance from the lord's manor.
"What's going on? Why's everyone gathering?"
"Sir Gudrun's executing an adventurer dispatched from the guild?"
"What? Why?"
"Beats me."
Amid the murmuring crowd, Gudrun spoke up with smug arrogance.
"Kneel and beg forgiveness now, and I might settle for just one arm."
Bern let out a scoff at the tone, as if he'd bestowed some immense mercy.
A moment ago, he'd been ready to lop off his head, but now that time had passed, he was trying to regain some dignity. It was ridiculous.
"Plead loyalty to your lord even now, and at least you'll preserve your honor as a knight."
"You bastard, determined to drink the dregs to the last drop!"
Gudrun drew his sword and charged at Bern.
No referee to mediate, not even a starting signal—just unilateral violence.
Utterly unacceptable in a duel, but Gudrun didn't care.
To him, this was punishment.
Why bother with rules when disciplining mere rabble?
And that action sealed Bern's approach.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, Gudrun's body soared into the sky.
The spectators' minds filled with question marks.
Few fully grasped that Bern had grabbed Gudrun's charging wrist, tripped him, and hurled him skyward—like readers flipping to a missing page in a comic.
But their confusion paled next to Gudrun's shock.
Dazed in midair for a split second, he only rolled desperately into a landing as the ground rushed toward his face.
He avoided fatal injury, but couldn't save his gleaming armor from caking in dirt.
"Wh-What was that just now?"
"Dunno. Sir Gudrun just shot up and fell."
"Did that red-haired adventurer do something?"
The delayed murmurs twisted Gudrun's face in humiliation once he grasped the situation.
Killing intent pouring from him, he leveled his sword at Bern again.
Seeing the faint sword aura shimmering at the tip, some knight apprentices widened their eyes.
"Sword aura!"
"Sir Gudrun's getting serious."
For mages, the line between rank 3 and 4 was infusing mana with properties. For swordsmen, it was manifesting sword aura.
Just as mana-enhanced bodies grant superhuman athleticism, mana-infused weapons dwarf unenhanced ones in lethality.
Even a cheap iron sword becomes a peerless weapon capable of slicing knightly armor like tofu when cloaked in aura.
No rank 4 mage beats a rank 3 in pure magic, nor rank 4 swordsman a rank 3—their weapons would cleave them apart instantly.
"I was careless once. Not twice."
Bern didn't reply.
He just stood there blankly, not even reaching for his sword.
A grinding of teeth echoed from somewhere as Gudrun pressed in with flashy swordsmanship.
Orthodox techniques honed through systematic training—beyond what battle-hardened adventurers could match.
The aura-like blade seemed poised to bisect Bern.
Swoosh!
Once more, Gudrun's body flew through the air.
This time in a low arc, denying even a landing roll.
Crash!
The armored giant tumbled like an empty can, eyes bulging among the crowd.
"Th-This... impossible...!"
Face contorted in boiling rage, Gudrun kept lunging at Bern.
He maintained distance to prevent grapples, weaving strikes with feints to lure openings.
But no matter the tactic, the result was the same.
Gudrun launched skyward, then crashed humiliatingly to the ground.
Repetition turned anger to disbelief, disbelief to shock, shock to terror.
Even a boar like Gudrun had to realize it now.
The despairing gap between him and Bern.
"……."
In mere minutes, Gudrun was filthy and defeated, staring at Bern with shattered confidence.
Unable to attack again or sheathe his sword, he stood awkwardly—prompting Viscount Frensia to bellow.
"Sir Gudrun! What utter disgrace is this?!"
Truth be told, Gudrun wasn't the perfect knight.
Short-tempered, poor emotional control, prone to rampages under "loyalty."
Yet he guarded the viscount as Frensia's champion thanks to genuine loyalty and raw skill.
But this? Rolling in the dirt against an unarmed adventurer, now cowering like a beaten dog?
The champion symbolized the territory's might— this shamed the viscount himself.
Gudrun squeezed his eyes shut.
Unable to bear his lord's pressure, he charged Bern blindly, despite knowing it was hopeless.
Wishing only to lose consciousness.
"...Not even failing marks."
If one of his Golden Cloud Knights acted like this, he'd smash and exile them personally.
Bern shook off the fleeting thought of his "Crown Prince" duties and moved once more.
Gudrun rocketed higher than ever—forcing spectators to crane necks—before slamming down.
Boom!
Staring at Gudrun's body inches from his feet—a slight misaim would have crushed him—the viscount's face turned ghastly.
Step, step.
Bern approached and spoke.
"Frensia seems to have poor public safety. Armed thugs keep coming at me, so I had to use basic self-defense. Please be careful yourself, my lord."
—No judge, no consent, no introductions—so not a duel. Gudrun's no knight, just an assailant I defended against. But this is your territory; can't you manage it?
Some spectators tilted heads; those who understood paled.
Viscount Frensia was firmly in the latter camp.
"……."
Bern glanced at the silent viscount and turned away.
One step, two, three.
Gazing at Bern's unhesitating stride, devoid of regret, the viscount swallowed his pride.
"I'd like to entrust you with the request. I apologize for my past rudeness. Shall we talk again?"
Bern thought:
He'd shown disgrace, but wasn't beyond saving.
After that, negotiations with the viscount went smoothly.
Despite the humiliation, Bern's prowess was proven beyond doubt.
The finance officer, whose pallor had improved from near-collapse during the argument, continued politely.
"The disappearances began two months ago. We didn't realize the severity at first and let it slide, only investigating properly after the victims mounted. That's when we confirmed it was the first incident."
The first victim: Mary, a herbalist's daughter.
She routinely gathered herbs in the nearby forest and returned, but one day vanished without a trace.
"After her, young women heading to pick fruit or gather firewood—anyone nearing the forest—disappeared one after another. Pleas from residents prompted guards to search, but no luck. It seemed settled as 'stay away from the forest.'"
But it didn't stop there.
Bakery girls, inn maids, village seamstresses—even those nowhere near the forest—began vanishing.
When a merchant caravan's pampered daughter visiting for trade joined the list, it escalated from commoner issue to territory-wide crisis.
"Homes with young women can't sleep soundly anymore. One vigilant family member suffices, but if everyone's asleep, no lock holds—women are taken anyway. The whole territory's on edge and exhausted."
Stories spread of a father and daughter duo: he stayed awake a week, dozed once, lost her, and wailed. The residents' stress and fear were indescribable.
"Please, we're begging you. Solve this!"
Leaving the bowing finance officer, the party gathered in a small manor provided by the territory and consulted.
"Man, that's eerie and scary. If it were me, I'd lose sleep worrying about a little sister."
"Finding the enemy comes before fighting. What do you think, Bern?"
"Hmm. First, visit victims' families, hear about the circumstances... Hm?"
Bern's head turned toward the main gate; seconds later.
Knock, knock.
Renya swiftly opened the door. A man with tidy gray hair and beard, and mischievous eyes, regarded them.
"Hmm, should I say 'pardon the intrusion' or 'welcome to the city'? Tough call, but first, introductions."
The man grinned, voice warm with familiarity.
"Alses Burtrea. Your senior adventurer—and pathetic failure who botched the request and raised the white flag. Got time for a chat?"