chapter 4
Chapter 4: The prosecutor who Descended The Mountain for free starts a Fight
The eldest son of the Count's family that I remember, Ernst Büschel, was the very textbook definition of a scoundrel. Every single day he was lost in gambling and womanizing, without a shred of awareness that he was the family's heir—and yet, despite all that, he had a mediocre sort of talent. At least within the well that was the frontier, one that no one could match.
Perhaps that was why Freya, my half-sibling, always had a sharp edge to her attitude toward me.
"Disgusting brother. Why don't you go drop dead? Write my name as heir in your will before you croak."
"Your mom—"
"You just insulted my mother?! You absolute piece of garbage!"
For the record, that insult was the original Ernst's line, not mine.
Looking at it now, he really was an absolute piece of garbage.
In any case, nothing changed even after the reincarnation, and Freya, my half-sibling, watched me with a look of utter revulsion—as though she were staring at the lowest form of human filth. I was furious at the time, but looking back now, I could understand it to some degree. She must have been frustrated too.
Chloe was much the same.
"Oh, b-brother, I believe in you……"
Except her faith was placed in the wrong person. At least, the original Ernst was a scoundrel among scoundrels, one who made poor Chloe's trust seem utterly meaningless—and in the end, one could say Freya's sharp eye for character had been correct.
But there was a minor problem. According to the original story, Freya was supposed to make a splendid debut at the royal capital's social scene, earning herself the title of a proper County Lady. Yet that rotten personality of hers seemed to run in the family's blood, because 2 words ended up being attached in front of that title.
"Villainous Lady." And of all times, it had to be right after she'd gone to the royal capital and finished her debut.
‘What the hell, could that girl have caused some kind of incident?’
By this point, it was the most reasonable suspicion one could have. Whether it was fortunate or not, the moment I had been reincarnated was precisely 10 years before the original story began. Having neglected everything for those 10 years, it was only now, when the gears of the original scenario had finally begun to turn—
‘No, something still feels off.’
Something had gone wrong.
The Büschel Family's role was nothing more than to play a minor villain for a while before getting a proper lesson—small fry among small fry. And yet, that family's domain had been reduced to ruins before they'd even had the chance to play their third-rate villain role?
‘If that happened, she wouldn't be safe either.’
Weren't nobles the kind of people who lived and died by their family name? If the County Family had completely collapsed, she wouldn't be called a Villainous Lady—she'd be known as a Ruined Lady.
Whatever the reason, it didn't matter. Whether Freya, that girl, had caused some kind of trouble in the royal capital, or whether the nobles of the central region were harboring some dark ambition—
"In the end, every problem in this world is nothing but a shadow cast by the difference in power."
I recalled my master's words and raised my head.
"If you have enough power, most problems can generally be solved."
"As expected of you, Master."
"When power fails to solve a problem, ask yourself whether your power is simply insufficient."
Clop, clop.
A reasonably lavish carriage bearing the Knight Order's crest rattled forward through the muddy roads of the north. And the 2 riders guiding the horses at the front of that carriage were no ordinary commoners or squires—
They were 2 men clad in a dazzling silver full plate armor and violet robes.
For the record, I was sitting comfortably in the back of the carriage with my legs crossed. Chloe sat beside me, still wearing an awkward expression on her face. Every time the carriage jolted, the already precarious look on Chloe's face grew even more unsettled.
"Hey, coachman! Can't you drive this thing without shaking it so much?!"
I stuck my head out of the carriage window and barked. The shoulders of the 2 men sitting side by side on the coachman's seat, gripping the reins, jolted sharply upward.
"S-sorry! The road is terribly uneven out here……!"
"Hiik! I'll slow down right away and take a smoother path!"
A man in the silver full plate armor of the Royal Knight Order, and an elite mage in the violet robe of the Central Magic Tower. The sight of those 2 men huddled together on the coachman's seat, dripping with cold sweat as they cracked the horsewhip, was truly a spectacle to behold.
"Um, brother…….?"
Meanwhile, Chloe, unable to hide her trembling expression, spoke up.
"Is, is this really the right thing to do?"
She clasped her hands tightly together, visibly anxious.
"It'll be fine. They were kind enough to volunteer as coachmen themselves, after all."
"Th-that's not what I meant—the new lord's castle has elite forces directly under the Grand Duke's command……"
The Iron Lion Knight Order. I knew of that name as well.
Of course, the ones before me were technically a Royal Knight and a mage of the Central Magic Tower, but strictly speaking, they were less of a military force of the state and more akin to envoys of a sort. They couldn't possibly be treated the same as the 'real knights' who guarded the royal family's lives at a moment's notice.
A Romance Fantasy Web Novel that wasn't centralized—the phrase sounded rather like a handcrafted factory product—but that was the kind of world this was.
"Don't worry, Chloe."
I set it aside and reached over to lightly brush my little sister's hair back.
"Trust your brother."
Just to ease a little of her anxiety.
"I'll protect you, and you alone."
"Oh, brother……"
And as I stroked her hair,
"Haah, to think you've grown so gallant and dependable……! Chloe is so happy……!"
Chloe's rabbit-like trembling eyes began to fill with an indescribable light.
And while the siblings were bonding so warmly, the knight and mage on the coachman's seat began exchanging glances.
‘Just wait a little longer, you monster. The moment we step inside the Viscount's Castle, we'll have your head—!’
Master had said that simply reading the killing intent of one's opponent was enough to gauge how close the destination was—and indeed, those words proved true.
Before long, the carriage bearing the Royal Knight Order's curtains came to a stop.
"W-we've arrived……"
The knight reported in a voice barely above a whisper. The sight that unfolded before my eyes as I stepped out of the carriage was quite the scene.
My breath caught in my chest.
It was not the scorched ruins of a Lord's Castle from the past. What should have been the plains where the domain's people made their homes, or fertile farmland— That place had been turned into a massive construction site.
As if to flaunt the power of the new lord, Viscount Vilmayer, a grand wall being stacked up and the frame of an ornate spire were rising before me.
Enormous outer walls built from stone. But they were less than halfway complete, with scaffolding jutting out at intervals and wooden frames tangled like cobwebs throughout.
And the ones reinforcing that ugly structure were gaunt, skeletal people with ropes strapped around their necks like animals, hauling heavy slabs of stone.
"Move faster! You traitorous filth!"
"Can't you work any quicker?! Does it take you all day to haul one stone?!"
"Useless trash from a traitor's line, dragging your feet!"
Crack!
Every time the whip sliced through the air, red blood seeped through the mud-caked backs of the domain's people. Soldiers cackling as they stomped on a collapsed elder with their military boots—
"Every domain resident of the traitor family is sentenced to forced labor!"
"Be grateful that Grand Duke Wilhelm has seen fit to spare your miserable lives!"
A shout rang out from the distance. A knight in an iron helmet cracked his whip as he bellowed.
"No one leaves this place until the castle is complete!"
Surrounding the newly constructed Viscount's Castle, massive barracks were packed in tightly on all sides. And stretching endlessly along those barracks, waving proudly in the wind—banners.
The crest of a roaring ash-gray lion. The Iron Lion Family Crest of the House of Grand Duke Wilhelm.
Of course, the modified variant crest used by the third son Viscount Vilmayer's collateral line was also hung there, but it was parasitically clinging to the Grand Duke's authority in an almost brazen manner.
Burning someone else's domain to ashes. Seizing someone else's land by force. Working someone else's people like slaves.
All to erect their own magnificent castle.
"……"
The moment I confirmed that wretched sight. Inside my head, a single thin yet resilient thread of reason snapped with a quiet crack.
Of course, neither the late Count nor I in my scoundrel days had been saintly figures who particularly cherished the domain's people—but even so, nothing had ever been this bad.
"Over here! My lord! Viscount Vilmayer!"
While I stood momentarily frozen, the knight and mage on the coachman's seat leaped down from the cargo carriage and began desperately fleeing toward the barracks.
"We have an intruder! Some mad monster who claims to be a swordsman is—hiik!"
At the ruckus, the soldiers who had been overseeing the construction site, as well as several knights of the Iron Lion Knight Order in ash-gray armor, all simultaneously drew their swords and turned to look this way.
"Wait here, Chloe."
"But of course, brother……"
Seeing that, I too stepped out of the carriage without hesitation.
"What in the world is all this racket?"
Through their escort, the curtain of the largest and most lavish temporary barracks was swept aside, and a greasy-faced man walked out wearing a displeased expression.
"I ordered you to bring the Büschel's woman bound in chains—why have you shown up with one filthy orc instead?"
Viscount Vilmayer, the third son of Grand Duke Wilhelm, ran his gaze up and down my ragged attire.
"To think you let some lowly beast dare set foot upon the sacred construction grounds where the history of House Wilhelm is being built."
"We, we are deeply sorry, my lord! The man is no ordinary fellow……"
"My lord! That monster killed Joseph! Have the Knight Order's blades cut him down at once!"
The Knight Order's blades. Hearing those words, Viscount Vilmayer let out a scoff. A flicker of mild irritation crossed his expression.
"You want me to draw the Iron Lion Knight Order's swords against some lowly orc? What a pathetic lot. Like using a dragon-slaying blade to cut down a goblin!"
"W-we are deeply sorry!"
Just as the viscount haughtily raised his chin and pointed his finger at me—A voice rang through the air.
"That is enough."
And in the same instant, the air froze over. As if yet another layer of ice and snow had settled upon the already-bone-chilling northern earth.
"There is no need to stir up unnecessary commotion. Here, allow me to handle it."
"Lady Iris!"
At the sudden appearance of a new silhouette, the expression of Viscount Vilmayer, who had been arrogant throughout, stiffened. Even before her tone—which clearly addressed a superior—he could not conceal the fear and dread written plainly across his face.
"So you're the one responsible for this disturbance."
"Maybe you need to be turned upside down and inside out before you can see the world straight."
"Oh? Think you can manage it?"
"Your screaming will be something else. Should I have you step aside first?"
At my taunt, she continued without so much as blinking.
Captain of the 3rd Iron Cross Knight Order, Snow Spear Iris.
She was an elegant beauty clad in pure white full plate armor, with crystal-blue hair and a silver spear, whiter and more beautiful than even her hair, gripped in her hand.
"I will now begin the execution."
The moment she said those words and adjusted her grip on the spear—
"—!"
The fangs of the snow-wind came surging toward me. Aimed with flawless precision directly at my retinas.