The Iron Knight's Demand
At Ted's words, a muscle twitched in Sabina's face. The lines around her eyes cracked open like a drought-parched rice paddy.
"This is Lahen's domain, Ted."
"And what of it? What matters is that you took a man of Blædwin and tortured him as you pleased."
Beside them, Robon had been holding his breath in silence. His father's words moved him more deeply than he expected.
I never thought he would go this far for us.
He had assumed Ted only came along because he hated the idea of the Brutal Force getting wrecked, and because facing the head of Lahen required the proper dignity of two equal houses. He never imagined the man would throw himself into the fight so completely.
"In other words, Blædwin is sheltering a subversive. Are you planning rebellion?"
Rebellion. An exquisitely sensitive word left her lips. Merely uttering it by accident could earn a man the extreme penalty, yet she spoke it without the slightest hesitation.
"Is that truly the Grand Duke's will? Or is this your own private decision?"
Ted's question struck cleanly into the soft spot she had left exposed. Sabina took a half-step back.
"Very well. Call it Lahen's independent judgment. But the fact remains that he killed innocent people of the Principality."
Just as Ted had predicted. Hauling Andersen in for interrogation had been Lahen's own unilateral act. The Grand Duke had never been involved.
"Andersen is a man of Blædwin. If he truly is a subversive, then for staining the family name I will kill him myself."
"…"
Sabina fought to keep her expression calm. With her own retainers watching, she could neither bow her head nor draw steel.
Of all people, that mage had to belong to Blædwin…
Who could have imagined a six-circle mage would turn out to be under Blædwin's banner? Still less that Ted Blædwin would come racing up here the moment the man was taken and demand his release.
The Ted of old would have kept his dignity and simply observed from a distance.
But once he had chosen to step forward, he was the sort of man who would never leave without seeing that mage with his own eyes.
So this is the man Ted and his third son are so determined to protect?
A subtle change crossed her face.
"Fine. Elin. Bring the mage."
"Yes, Mother."
Elin vanished like a gust of wind. Moments later Andersen was dragged before them, a wreck of a man.
"Andersen-nim!!"
Robon cried out and rushed to him. Andersen, who had been unconscious, forced his eyes open with difficulty.
"…Young Master Robon?"
"Are you all right? What happened? Did you—did you really do something? Tell me."
Andersen exhaled a ragged breath.
"No… I would never… harm the laboratory… I swear it."
His eyes reddened. Guilt collapsed his features.
"I… am sorry."
"Sorry for what? This is bullshit!"
The emotion Robon had kept locked down until now erupted all at once.
"Unchain him right now!"
"Hold. He is still a criminal."
Sabina blocked him. Robon's entire body trembled with rage.
Honestly, when he first arrived he had not been this furious. He had assumed they would simply keep Andersen bound like any ordinary prisoner. Instead they had reduced a man to a ruin. How much pain and fear must he have endured?
If Andersen had truly been guilty, punishment would have been just. But the Andersen Robon had come to know was not that kind of man. If he had been, he never would have lived like a broken recluse in the back alleys of Eidras.
And those words—that he would never harm the laboratory—carried such raw affection for the place that Robon's blood boiled. Kidnapping an innocent man, using him, controlling him, destroying him for the sake of power… Wasn't that exactly what people who held power always did, as if it were nothing?
Andersen's face overlapped with the face of Robon's previous life. He had long since grown sick of the ways of the powerful.
"Do you have evidence?"
"…Evidence?"
"Evidence that Andersen killed innocent civilians. Do you have it or not?"
"How dare you speak that way in front of—"
"Do not interfere, Elin Lahen."
Sernia stepped forward and leveled her sword, stopping the younger woman cold.
"Ha. Are you looking for a fight right now?"
"Yes. Let's have one. Is Lahen truly so mighty that it can pick a fight with both Blædwin and Lobel?"
Erdin, already in a foul mood, piled on and pressed Elin harder.
What became of the mage was none of their business. But if they stood up here, they could at least earn a little of Robon Blædwin's goodwill.
Besides—
I don't like the way Lahen operates.
He knew they held the authority to interrogate the Principality's criminals. But how many times had they taken even the innocent and, through merciless torture, turned them into empty shells? Hearing the rumors was one thing; seeing it with his own eyes was another. The moment he witnessed it, irritation surged through him like a wave.
"The second son of Lobel? A nobody like you, knowing your place—"
"Enough. Elin, restrain yourself."
"…Yes, Mother."
Sabina found herself unexpectedly intrigued by the magic engineer who stood before her, making no attempt to hide the raw fury in his eyes. A man weaker than a common foot soldier, a man she could kill with the flick of a finger, yet he showed her not the slightest fear. It was almost fascinating.
That thing behind them must be his creation as well.
The massive vehicle parked at their backs looked nothing like the Black Terahole R1. It radiated pure intimidation. A machine powerful enough to climb the steep slope of the Floating Castle—known as the Path of Trials—as if it were nothing. Considering even the Black Terahole struggled on that road, the performance gap was not even worth comparing.
If I push him any further here, I will only earn this boy's lasting hatred.
Ted was already an awkward opponent. Instinct told her that Robon Blædwin would one day become just as awkward—perhaps more.
A man one must never make an enemy of. The vehicle alone was proof enough.
Perhaps the wind of change that has been blowing through the Principality began with this boy.
She drew a line through the air with her index finger. Wind shot forward and sliced cleanly through the chains binding Andersen.
"Huh."
"Impressive…"
"So that is the head of Lahen…"
The Lobel knights all gasped in unison.
It looked almost effortless, yet the internal force contained in that gesture was profound. A blade of wind launched without chant, without gesture, that severed only the chains and passed the man by without a scratch. Only someone who had reached her level could perform such a feat.
Everyone present could not help but admire that single stroke.
Everyone except Ted and Robon.
"Take him."
"See? You never even had evidence!"
Robon shouted as he hurried to support Andersen and get him into the vehicle. Sabina's temple twitched.
That brat… After I went to the trouble of releasing him…
Ted looked at her with a questioning gaze.
"I have no desire to fight either of your houses any further. And I do not believe Blædwin would hide a true subversive."
As she spoke she shot a sidelong glance toward Erdin.
"I cannot say the same for others."
"…Are you insulting Lobel right n—"
"We're leaving."
"W-wait…"
Just as he was about to climb into the vehicle, Andersen spoke.
"Please… free the others who were taken with me as well."
"That I cannot do."
"They are innocent as well. I beg you. They truly have done nothing wrong. So please…"
Andersen dropped to his knees on the stone. Ted took a single step sideways, shielding the man with his body, and said,
"Release them too."
"Ted. Remember that you are overstepping the goodwill I am showing you."
"If any of them prove false, I will cut off their heads myself and deliver them to His Grace."
"……Release them all."
At her command the thieves were dragged out and set free.
Ted sheathed his sword and climbed into the vehicle. The Lobel knights and Robon helped the thieves aboard.
In an instant the Brutal Force was packed to bursting. Even with more than ten people aboard it moved without the slightest strain, pulling away from the Floating Castle.
Watching it go, Sabina let out a sound of pure admiration.
"Remarkable. Having one of those would make trips to and from the Floating Castle far more convenient."
"Mother. Is this really the time for that conversation?"
"For what? We have done everything required of us. Blædwin says they will handle it themselves. What more is there for us to do?"
"But if they truly are subversives…"
"Tsk. Elin. If you ever wish to sit in the head's seat, you must stop burying yourself only in magic and learn to look at the world with wider eyes."
Sabina opened her palm. Wind rose above it. Tiny currents collided and tangled until several miniature typhoons spun into being. Then a single slender stream of air slipped between them and scattered every last storm into nothing.
"Raw strength is not everything. And Blædwin is not the sort of house that would do such a thing. The ones we must catch are elsewhere."
Her eyes went completely still. The atmosphere around her was nothing like the one she had worn while facing Blædwin a moment earlier.
Elin flinched. She recognized that her mother was truly, deeply angry.
"Bring me the warden. And find out exactly who captured those people this time. Now."
"Yes, Mother."
In truth the conclusion had already been reached the moment Ted and Robon arrived.
From the very beginning there had been far too many irregularities in the arrest of the mage and the thieves. Under normal circumstances she would have extracted the truth through further interrogation. She had only released them because Blædwin itself had stepped forward to vouch for them.
To think they dared try to use Lahen…
As Sabina walked back into the manor, a cold wind began to howl around her.
As they passed through the castle gate they came face to face with the Lahen mages and soldiers they had fought only a short while earlier.
Watching the Brutal Force leave in leisurely triumph after achieving its purpose, the Lahen men muttered in hollow disbelief.
"They built a monster."
"It charged straight through every ranged attack we threw at it. Like some hellish beast."
"How is something like that even possible?"
"They have the Black Terahole, don't they?"
"Even that thing has terrible mana efficiency and guzzles mana stones. Look at that! How many people are riding in there—ten? Twelve?"
"Just how much of a genius is Robon Blædwin?"
Everyone who had faced the Brutal Force, even for a brief moment, could not hide their shock.
A sufficiently powerful mage might still stop it with concentrated fire, but without such a mage the vehicle was practically an invincible war machine. Simply ramming that massive frame into a line of soldiers would leave them no chance to react before they were crushed.
The Lahen soldiers stared after the receding Brutal Force with eyes full of pure envy.
Leaving the Floating Castle behind, the Brutal Force reached Sky Peak Territory and stopped in front of a certain building.
"Wait—stop for a moment!"
Andersen had spotted something and climbed down. A farmer who had been tilling a small plot looked around, then pulled off his hat and ran toward Andersen.
"Derik? What are you doing out here?"
"How did you get free? Don't tell me the head of Blædwin himself released you!"
"No. Young Master Robon secured my release."
"Robon Blædwin?"
"Yes."
Derik's eyes went round. Andersen was not the type to boast without reason. If he said it, then Robon Blædwin had truly exercised his influence.
Whatever had happened up there, given the nature of the case the opponent must have been the head of Lahen herself.
"Impressive."
"A farmer this time?"
"Yes. Someone might get suspicious if they see us talking. Go. Leave my men somewhere halfway; I'll pick them up."
"…You weren't planning anything foolish, were you?"
"Just go. They're waiting for you."
Andersen nodded and climbed back into the vehicle.
Derik pulled his straw hat low again, took up his hoe, and began stirring empty dirt as if nothing had happened.
"You've found yourself a good master. Live well there, Andersen."
The Blædwin manor had gone onto emergency footing.
Without warning Robon had decided to march on Lahen and demand answers, and the head of the house had gone with him, taking the Lobel knights along. The retainers who knew their lord's temperament had placed the entire estate on high alert, preparing for the battle that might follow.
Hundreds of knights stood in full armor on the training grounds. The elite order, ready to sortie at a moment's notice, was drawn up in the central garden.
"That idiot brother of mine! Is he so short of people to fight that he has to pick a fight with the head of Lahen? Aigoo!"
"Wendy. Don't worry so much. Father went with him."
"Doesn't that just make a bigger fight more likely?"
At her words, the lady of the house—Marie Blædwin—smiled gently and stroked her daughter's hair.
"The head of the house is far more cool-headed than any of you give him credit for. He considers many things. He will not make a rash decision."
"Father? From what I've seen, when he gets angry he just cuts everything in half…"
"You little—! What kind of way is that to speak of your father!"
"Tch."
In the midst of the confusion, a familiar noise began to rise in the distance.
Bwaaaaaaaah……
The massive vehicle appeared with a roar of exhaust, blue light blazing as it raced through the night, its cargo bed packed with human cargo. The Brutal Force had returned.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The knights drew their swords and assumed perfect formation to greet their lord.
— Loyalty!!
Swords held reverse-grip pressed to the earth, one knee slightly bent, every knight lowered his head in the exact same posture.
Clank! Clank!
It was a flawless ceremonial drill, as if every knight had become a single body.
Ted stepped down from the vehicle and walked between their ranks.
"The matter with Lahen has been settled. All of you, return to your posts."
— We receive the head's command.
The knights' restrained yet powerful voices made the Lobel knights feel oddly small; they stole nervous glances at one another.
Just how hard do Blædwin's knights train to project this kind of presence?
Incredible. So this is Blædwin.
The house led by the Iron Knight is on another level entirely.
There was no time for the exhausted travelers to rest. Blædwin's hearing began at once.
"You lot come too."
Robon called the Lobel knights.
"Us as well?"
"Yeah. You helped me, didn't you? Go in there and make your case properly. Tell them exactly why you came all this way."
Erdin's eyes changed. He clenched his fist tight and nodded.