Lahen (2)
Ted Blædwin.
One of the strongest men in the Mardan Principality—and a cold-blooded bastard without a drop of pity in him.
There was a reason they called him the Iron Knight. The name came from the fact that his blade was never free of blood.
It wasn't only the Blædwin family who knew that. Knights of every other house knew it just as well. So when Ted Blædwin blocked the road with his temper already sour, the Lobel knights felt their hearts drop into their stomachs.
"Wh-what? Why is the head of House Blædwin blocking the road?"
"Ah, damn it. We're screwed."
At Robon's reaction, the three knights' faces went bone-white. Something was very wrong.
"Everyone out."
Ted's voice was low and quiet. Even from inside the vehicle, that deep, resonant tone reached their ears with perfect clarity.
"Out! Get out!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Oh, hell."
Robon and the Lobel knights scrambled down from the truck.
"You've finished the Brutal Force?"
"It's not finished yet."
"Not finished?"
"The fine-tuning isn't done. We haven't even done a proper test run. But the situation was urgent, so I had no choice…"
"Because of Andersen."
"…Yes."
Ted already knew about Andersen. The man had been helping Robon as the magic advisor at RMEL, after all. He'd only heard that Andersen had been seized as a suspected subversive within the principality. In name it was the principality's doing—but the ones who had actually taken him were Lahen's mages. There had clearly been a clash.
"Father! I'm truly sorry, but please—just let me take it this once. Andersen is in danger! I have to go!"
"He is a suspected subversive. Be grateful he never did you any harm while he was with you."
"That's not true! You saw it yourself, Father! How Andersen poured himself into the research day and night, how much he helped me! Without Magic Advisor Andersen, I never could have built this Brutal Force!!"
Robon threw everything he had into persuading Ted. Behind him, the Lobel knights—who had been watching the whole exchange in blank confusion—finally understood what was going on.
Insane. A subversive? He was going to rescue someone like that? Right now?
So their magic advisor got hauled off.
Robon Blædwin… going this far for a subordinate? All those rumors about him really were garbage.
Ted's gaze slid past Robon's shoulder to the Brutal Force.
He built it properly…
Brutal Force. True to the name, it reeked of raw, masculine power. The overall shape was blunt and angular. Dark metal sheen and a blue glow ran over thick steel plating. The front held a menacing square grille and sharp steel protective guards, and at their heart the finely worked Blædwin crest was set into the grille. Wheels far larger than those of a Black Terahole held the massive vehicle's weight with steady confidence.
How much fun would it be to take this hulking Brutal Force through mountain country?
Gulp.
Ted swallowed dryly without meaning to as he stared at the truck.
I want to drive it. Right now…
But he couldn't let that kind of desire show. It would be undignified. And quite apart from that—
This boy won't listen to reason no matter how I try to talk him down.
The resolve in Robon's eyes was sharp and unmistakable. The same look he'd worn the last time, when he modified the Black Terahole and made that bet with Sienna.
If I stop him, he'll sneak off on foot if he has to.
What was he supposed to do with this reckless son of his? The person this boy meant to confront wasn't some nobody—it was the head of House Lahen herself. Even if he dragged the Lobel knights along, would he even get an audience with her?
"Get in."
"What?"
"What do you intend to do, going to the Lahen territory alone?"
"I'll talk my way through somehow—"
"Lahen's rigid mages do not abandon their convictions easily. And once they are certain of a decision, they almost never reverse it."
Ted walked calmly up to the driver's door.
"And is this not mine? I refuse to watch you wreck it again."
As he spoke, he cast a look at the knights standing awkwardly behind them.
"You're from Lobel?"
The Lobel knights, who had been hovering uncertainly in the rear, snapped to attention and scrambled to offer Ted a proper greeting. He accepted it with his eyes and crooked a finger.
"Get in."
"…Sir?"
That was all Ted Blædwin said before climbing into the driver's seat. The three knights, reading the room, urgently turned to Erdin.
"He said get in—what do we do?"
"Sir Erdin. Go ask him, quickly. He can't mean for us to ride in there, can he?"
The place Ted had pointed to was not the cabin. It was the cargo bed at the back of the truck.
"Understood."
Erdin took a deep breath and approached the driver's side.
"Um…"
Ted, who had been looking around the interior, turned his head and fixed Erdin with a cold stare.
"…What is it, Erdin Lobel?"
"N-nothing, sir! We just ride in the back, then?"
"Yes."
"Yes, sir!"
With that, Erdin vaulted into the cargo bed first.
"Sir Erdin!"
"Lord Erdin?"
"Get in, quickly. You too, Gast. Hurry."
Wearing miserable faces, the two knights climbed up and crouched down. In the meantime Robon had taken the passenger seat, and the truck spat a rough exhaust note as it surged forward.
Vroom! VROOOOOOOM!!
The Brutal Force's exhaust roared like a living beast, and the three knights flinched in alarm. Once they left the estate and hit the open road, the speed climbed higher and higher—and their reactions shifted with it.
"How fast does this thing get? At this rate it's far beyond a horse…"
"How can a vehicle this heavy put out this kind of speed? And with five people aboard, no less."
"It barely even shakes. What is this?"
The longer they rode, the deeper the three knights' shock grew at this new wonder.
"Father? You're really coming with me?"
"I am."
I wasn't sure whether to be glad or not.
I'd only meant to meet the head of House Lahen and demand Andersen's release. Defend him as hard as I could, and if that failed, buy him free with a bribe if I had to. And now Father had suddenly inserted himself into it.
This is getting bigger by the minute.
Still, having Father along was reassuring, I had to admit. Compared to those unreliable Lobel knights in the back, his presence was on a completely different level.
Clunk!
The truck jolted hard and leapt. I startled and looked out the window—and for a brief instant we were flying. Father hadn't slowed at all; he'd jumped the hill.
"Good."
With a satisfied smile, Father floored the pedal over the poorly maintained mountain road without a hint of hesitation.
VROOOOOOM!!
The engine's light-speed roar came through clear and sharp. His handling was extraordinary—he took every corner with smooth precision—while screams kept pouring in from the rear.
"We're flying!"
"Hold on tight!"
"Sir Gast! Lord Erdin is about to go airborne! Grab him!"
"Aaaaaaaah!!"
I glanced through the rear window and nearly lost it. The sight of them thrashing around in full heavy plate was somehow both ridiculous and fascinating. The knights I'd imagined back in Korea had never looked like this.
"How did you do it?"
"Huh? Do what?"
"The turning is completely different. It's as if the wheels are spinning independently to match the speed."
He could feel that while driving? What kind of sensory organs did the knights of this world even have?
"It's because of a feature called a differential. Normally both left and right wheels spin at the same speed—but when you turn, that means the inner and outer wheels rotate the same number of times, and that causes problems. The differential feeds different rotational power to each wheel so the vehicle can handle the turn stably."
"I see. And how is that possible?"
"Well… put simply, imagine a rod pushing two wheels to make them spin. Depending on each wheel's rotational speed, the pushing force shifts, so different power goes to each side…"
As I talked, something felt off, so I glanced sideways.
Father was driving one-handed, staring out the window.
"…So this morning I wasn't hungry, so I just pretended to eat and left the rest… Are you listening, Father?"
"Yes. I'm listening. So that's the principle."
"…"
He hadn't been listening at all. Then why ask?
"The sky's really clear today."
"So it is."
Even so, it felt good to have gotten a little closer to Father on the way to Sky Peak Territory. Ordinarily it was hard even to start a conversation with him, and he never said much—but the moment the talk turned to vehicles, his curiosity woke up. Of course, the second something got too technical, he seemed to tune it out again.
Screeeech!
Clunk!
The truck stopped. A massive boulder sat squarely across the road ahead—clearly placed there on purpose.
"Tch."
Father clicked his tongue in annoyance, then looked back. I looked with him.
Through the rear glass, the three knights' hair was an absolute disaster. Catching our eyes, Gast hesitated, then jabbed Erdin in the side.
"I'm dying back here. What? What is it?"
"Look over there, my lord."
Erdin met Father's gaze at that—and immediately whipped his head away.
"Tell them to clear it."
"Yes."
On Father's order, I spun the hand crank on the door, rolled the window down, and called out.
"Clear the road ahead."
"What?"
"Father, Erdin says he doesn't want to—"
"Which bastard dumped a rock in the middle of the road?!"
Erdin was already at the boulder, shoving at it—when an arrow hissed past his side. He snorted and settled into a stance.
"What insects dare overstep their—"
"Hey! Hey! We don't have time—just clear it fast and get back!"
I shouted. The expression Erdin had been building crumpled.
Then, from the trees, a pack of bandits began to slink into view.
"Well, well. Out for a little noble outing, are we?"
"Heh. Nice armor you've got on."
"That'll fetch a good price."
"This is our stretch of road. You know how hard it is to keep it maintained? Pay the toll and move along."
Two or three of them were wearing armor themselves.
"There he goes, barking orders again."
"Lord Erdin, I'll handle this."
"We'll do it together."
"That I, Erdin Lobel, should have to deal with trash like this…"
Furious, the three knights drew their swords. Father and I sat back and watched in comfort.
"Erdin Lobel? Don't tell me these are Lobel people?"
"Nonsense. Why would Erdin Lobel be out here clearing rocks looking like that?"
"Kahaha! Fair point. They've got armor on, so they must be the sons of some well-off house out on a trip, right?"
"But what's that scrap heap? Weird-looking thing."
At the big bandit's remark, Father's brow twitched. Damn it. At this rate there was going to be a bloodbath.
"Finish it already! We don't have time!"
I pushed them again, and the three knights moved. Every time a sharp blade cut through the air, a bandit's head went spinning into the empty sky.
"Hup—"
I sucked in a breath without meaning to. I'd expected them to rough the bandits up a little. There was no mercy at the edge of those swords.
This was the first time since coming to this world that I'd watched people die. I hadn't expected to see it so raw.
"Ugh."
My stomach lurched; I barely kept from throwing up. I felt Father's cold gaze. A look that said, You're reacting to something this trivial?
It was a moment that drove home just how different the people of this world were from everything I knew.
Boom!!
Once the bandits were all dealt with, the three knights shoved the boulder aside and came back. Looking at the blood spattered across their armor, they seemed like different people entirely.
"Annoying pests."
"Looks like they'd been at it a while. Their weapons and armor weren't ordinary."
"There were former knights among them, I think. Apprentice level at best, though."
"Did you really have to kill them? They might just have been farmers who took a wrong turn because life got too hard."
We could have ignored them and driven past. I asked anyway. I wanted a clear answer—how people in this world thought.
"Raised soft and spoiled, so of course you spit that kind of nonsense. Robon Blædwin."
Erdin Lobel spat the words out like a man getting something off his chest, just before climbing back into the cargo bed.
"You think if we go easy on them they'll repent and live honest lives? Human nature doesn't change. And once someone gets a taste of the easy path, it's hard to go back to the hard one. Those bastards had luxury goods on them. You know what that means? It means they'd killed nobles too. Why do you think they came after me? Because they wanted a windfall badly enough to risk it. That's the kind of men they were. You soft little scholar."
He finished dressing me down, then climbed into the cargo bed looking thoroughly satisfied.
The truck started moving again. All the way to Sky Peak Territory, I turned Erdin's words over in my mind—and wondered what I would have done in the same place.
Screeeeech!!
After a long stretch of driving, the truck stopped.
We had finally reached Sky Peak Territory.
A steep slope climbed toward the high ground. To enter the territory, you had to take that punishing incline. At the foot of a path even horses struggled to climb, Father's mouth twitched—and he hit the accelerator again.
VROOOOOOOOOOM!!
With that distinctive roar of exhaust, the Brutal Force charged up the slope. At the top, the faces of the Lahen soldiers standing guard came into sharp focus.
Faces gone white as if they had just locked eyes with a monster.