The Rocksfield Family's Betrothal (3)
The mercenary captain wore a stony expression as he handed the order slip to the eldest son of the Rocksfield family. The document proved that the elf woman they were transporting had been purchased by none other than the princess of the Valua Kingdom.
Breaking through the Rocksfield forces by force was next to impossible. Their opponents were the kingdom's loyal hounds. Even if all his men charged at once, he knew they couldn't defeat the man before him.
So the mercenary captain had played the Princess Katrin card.
Trading non-human races, including elves, as slaves is strictly forbidden by the Holy Empire. But the Rocksfield family, loyal to the crown, won't raise a fuss over it.
The captain bared his yellowed teeth. Flashing proof of Katrin's purchase was a gamble bordering on recklessness. But it was a gamble with high odds.
Everyone knew the Rocksfields' blind loyalty to the Valua royals. That's how the captain slipped out from under their interference.
"...So the elf is in that carriage?"
"Yes, that's correct."
Sermes's eyes sharpened like blades, a heavy aura radiating from him at the captain's reply.
"I can't trust some scrap of paper to reveal your true intentions. I need to meet Princess Katrin in person. Once I hear the full story from her lips, I'll decide your fate. If it's a lie... you'll be executed for deceiving the crown."
Sermes raised his hand. The knights waiting behind sprang into action, swiftly encircling the thirty mercenaries with hands on their sword hilts.
"Wh-what's the meaning of this...? Are you committing treason against Princess Katrin?!"
"Treason? That's not for the likes of lowly mercenary scum to utter. Wag that filthy tongue again, and I'll cut it out without mercy."
The mercenaries raised their voices in protest at Sermes's warning, calling it outrageous. There was no way Princess Katrin would openly admit to buying an elf. The Holy Empire, which coexisted with numerous non-humans including humans, strictly banned the slave trade or ownership of non-humans like elves.
No sane princess would step forward to shield mercenaries over such a scandal.
"Brother Sermes is pretty stubborn, huh?"
"He's a man who values justice and knightly honor above blind loyalty to the crown. Those fools thought they could slink away by name-dropping the princess—they were the idiots."
Gubelas nodded in agreement to Berban's question.
The eldest Rocksfield son took after his father in his unyielding nature. But unlike their father's blind devotion, Sermes prioritized justice above loyalty. That was why he planned to drag these mercenaries to the capital to sort truth from lies.
"First, we'll confirm the elf."
With his family knights surrounding the mercenaries, Sermes declared they would inspect the carriage. The mercenaries objected vehemently, but boxed in by the Rocksfields, they had little recourse.
Treated like prisoners, they could only watch wide-eyed as their "merchandise"—the elf slave—was brought out of the carriage.
"We are knights of the Rocksfield family. From this moment, you're all under our watch."
Sermes stepped into the carriage. He reached out and freed the detained elf woman.
Gag. Handcuffs. Shackles. She was bound like some beast.
Gubelas and Berban glared daggers at the mercenaries, fury twisting their faces.
"Money-mad undead bastards."
"Why bother hauling them to the princess? Just execute them here."
Sermes extended a hand to restrain his brothers' feral impulses. Then he supported the gray-haired elf woman—her locks falling to her waist—and helped her down from the carriage.
Her legs trembled severely, likely from prolonged confinement in the cramped space; she leaned heavily on Sermes.
A bitter smile crossed his face. The Valua royals were involved. As a subject of the kingdom, it was a profound shame.
"I'm sorry."
Sermes apologized. Cautiously, the elf woman spoke.
"...Who... are you?"
"I'm Sermes Rocksfield, eldest son of the Rocksfield family. We've apprehended these thugs—rest easy."
"Ah..."
At the armored youth's words, the elf woman flinched back warily, putting distance between them. She was grateful for the rescue, but... she couldn't blindly trust another human.
Sermes nodded in understanding. He draped a Rocksfield-emblem cloak over her tattered rags.
Troyed frequently summoned Yushin to discuss the marriage. This time, he'd tie the knot for sure. The man was almost obsessively persistent.
Is he that terrified of his daughter ending up a spinster forever?
He'd proposed the wedding multiple times. Yushin gave positive replies to ease his mind, but Troyed insisted on the ceremony the moment the kingdom-wide rebellions ended.
Come to think of it, Sir Troyed paired me with Allen from the start, eyeing me as his son-in-law. Gotta respect that grit and persistence.
It was the kind of patience that would make even Liu Bei, who visited Zhuge Liang three times, tip his hat. This bordered on obsession.
Pity stirred in Yushin at the middle-aged man's fixation.
"You go way back with Sir Troyed, huh?"
Troyed nodded at Yushin's words.
"I learned of you through Sir Heinkel. Who wouldn't want the disciple of the kingdom's greatest swordsman as a son-in-law? Don't feel too burdened."
Recalling old times, Troyed smiled wryly and nodded repeatedly.
Disciple of the kingdom's greatest sword. When he heard Heinkel had a disciple—and that the disciple was an Another One, bearer of divine stigmata—Troyed sensed fate at work. That's when he began scheming to unite Yushin and his daughter.
"Ah, by the way... do you know where my master is?"
Yushin had heard Heinkel vanished mysteriously. But Troyed might know something, so he asked.
Troyed shook his head.
"Sadly, no. I was shocked to hear he'd vanished from his estate... like a man who'd foreseen something and slipped away."
"Could be."
Heinkel Lineholder, the kingdom's greatest sword, was far stronger than publicly known—stronger than any foe in this world. Yushin figured his master had foreseen the kingdom's fall and gone into hiding.
"I want you to take Heinkel's place as the kingdom's greatest sword."
Troyed laid bare his hopes. It was a plea for Yushin to return to Valua.
Yushin had the skills and fame for it. The Diablo Slayer who'd felled the Tyranny Demon King and Raging Flames Demon King in succession ascending to the top sword was only natural.
Troyed vowed his full support.
"Sir Troyed."
"Speak."
Yushin sighed deeply before continuing.
"I'm grateful for your high regard. But I've let go of any lingering ties to Valua. I have no intention of becoming the kingdom's greatest sword or rejoining the Kingdom's Seven Swords."
Hmm. Troyed swallowed a groan at Yushin's refusal.
So it was greed after all.
He'd half-expected the rejection, nodding with a complicated expression.
"Understood. But please keep considering marriage to my daughter positively, even after returning to the Liberia Elf Kingdom. I look forward to the day the rebellions end and you two visit Rocksfield Earldom together."
"Thank you for your understanding."
Ending the long talk, Yushin bowed as if in final farewell. He and Allen would soon depart for the Liberia Elf Kingdom again—that's why this was his last chat with Troyed.
"Bro, you done?"
As he opened the door, a blue-haired knightess waited, grinning ear to ear.
Yushin smiled wryly and pinched her snowy cheeks with both hands.
"Wh-what're you doing... It's embarrassing!"
Allen's face flushed in the corridor outside the office, flustered by his affectionate touch. Yushin felt sorry for her. She always seemed swept along by him.
So he vowed to himself never to abandon her, no matter what.
"You really okay leaving?"
"Yeah. I already said goodbye to Mom."
"The countess told you to eat three square meals and brush before bed, right?"
"How'd you know?! Were you spying?! Or did you bug me with listening magic...?"
"No way. What, you think I know magic?"
"Tch. How'd you guess, seriously."
Allen scratched her head at Yushin's prophetic insight, like some oracle with clairvoyance. It really felt like listening magic. She'd heard jealous husbands cast it on wives.
Of course, Allen welcomed it with open arms. Deeper suspicion and obsession meant deeper love.
True to her own obsessive, jealous nature, she interpreted it through her lens.
"Something's coming."
Yushin glanced across the corridor. Nothing in sight yet, but he heard an adult man sprinting frantically. Hurried footsteps. Clanking armor. Gasping breaths.
Like a herald bearing urgent news.
Soon, an armored knight appeared, rushing toward Troyed's office. Yushin and Allen stepped aside.
"What's going on?"
Allen glanced at the knight's back and asked. Yushin replied.
"Maybe the countess is protesting, refusing to let her daughter go?"
"What? I said goodbye to Mom just fine."
"If not that, dunno."
Shrugging at Allen's response, Yushin wondered if something had happened and waited outside the office. No need to wait for the knight to emerge—the voices boomed clearly through the door.
"The three young masters were ambushed by assailants and are all badly wounded!"
Sermes. Gubelas. Berban.
The count's sons, future pillars of Valua, had been gravely injured by mysterious attackers.
That was the report.
Yushin's face twisted in horror at the knight's frantic cry.