Today, for the first time in a while, I’ll be doing a consecutive release.^^
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“Your Majesty. He is said to be the son of Hales Bruno, who was once a member of the Royal Guard Knights.”
“Oh. Is that so?”
The king of Pencilut welcomed Mitchell with unusual warmth. He had already resolved to win over the Kasim Mercenary Corps by any means necessary. If the mercenary corps’ swordsmanship instructor was the son of a former Pencilut Royal Guard Knight, nothing could have been more welcome to him. To put it simply, it meant he had secured a firm advantage over the other kingdoms in courting the Kasim Mercenary Corps. Facing the king, Mitchell bowed respectfully.
“I greet Your Majesty the King.”
“It is a pleasure to meet you. You cannot know how glad I am that you have come.”
Joy spread openly across the king of Pencilut’s face. Seeing this, the knight commander seized the moment and drove the nail in.
“He says he resolved to become a Royal Guard Knight of Pencilut in accordance with his father’s wishes. That loyalty still remains even after his father left the Royal Guard—surely this can only be the result of Your Majesty’s benevolence.”
“Oh, oh. Truly a joyous thing. Yes, indeed.”
Mitchell, who had been listening in silence, quietly opened his mouth. The way the words he had prepared flowed so smoothly made it seem as if his talent could put a first-rate actor to shame.
“Though my father’s body may have left, his heart never once departed from Pencilut. Even as he educated me, my father always emphasized this: ‘I pray that you will take up and complete the loyalty I could not fulfill. Only then can we repay, even a little, the grace His Majesty the King bestowed upon us.’ During all the years I wandered the continent, I never forgot those words for even a single moment.”
If Hales, who was in Karsel, were to hear this, his eyes would have rolled back in shock. Having left Pencilut in utter disillusionment, how could he ever have said such a thing? Yet the faces of the Pencilut dignitaries listening to him were shimmering with emotion. It was the very moment when a loyal subject who carried devotion across generations seemed about to appear.
“After the one year I promised the Kasim Mercenary Corps had passed, I came here to fulfill my father’s words. I came to offer my loyalty to Your Majesty in my father’s stead.”
At those words, the knight commander tensed sharply. It was because of what he had heard moments earlier. Just as he had expected, Mitchell’s face suddenly became troubled. By now, he had reached the level where he could even alter his facial expressions at will.
“But I could not fulfill my father’s words. Regrettably, because my skills were deemed insufficient, I was not even allowed to undergo the qualification examination.”
“That must surely have been some mistake. A knight of your caliber has no need for any qualification examination.”
The knight commander hurriedly waved his hand, but Mitchell silently shook his head. When Mitchell’s hand emerged from inside his coat, it held a single document.
“This is a document personally signed by Sir Frizman, the vice commander. It states in detail why my application was rejected.”
“L-let me see that.”
Taking the document, the knight commander quickly read through it. Soon, an angry roar burst from him.
“Below standard in every regard, including character, swordsmanship, and appearance? Vice Commander Riley! Are you in your right mind, or are you not? How could anyone write such outrageous nonsense in an official document unless he had gone mad? Judging by the handwriting, it is certainly yours. I do not know what you were thinking when you committed this act, but you had best prepare yourself for a severe inquiry.”
The moment the knight commander finished speaking, the gazes of everyone gathered there focused on Riley all at once. Every one of them looked as though they could not understand it. Riley’s face had already turned ashen. His legs trembled so badly that he looked as if he might faint at any moment.
‘I must have been insane.’
He regretted yesterday’s decision countless times, but the water had already been spilled. Who could have known he would face a moment like this? The king of Pencilut also seemed extremely curious about what the document contained.
“Hand the document to Us for a moment.”
After receiving the document through a Royal Guard Knight, the king spoke in a tone of utter disbelief.
“Does this truly make any sense? A fine knight who wishes to serve loyally across generations, and who has reached the level of Sword Master at such a young age, is below standard? By Our common sense, this is utterly incomprehensible. Indeed…”
After shooting Riley an angry glare, the king called the knight commander.
“Duke Karsus. We entrust the investigation of this matter to you. Take responsibility and thoroughly uncover why Vice Commander Riley committed such an act.”
“I shall carry out Your Majesty’s command without fail.”
While he was at it, the king even removed the scepter from his waist and handed it over. In order to appease the angered Kasim Mercenary Corps, he was sparing no effort.
“This is a royal command. No one shall withhold cooperation from the knight commander’s investigation. Anyone who obstructs it shall be regarded without mercy as a traitor.”
At those words, Riley’s vision went dark. Now that a royal command had been issued, his family could no longer serve as his shield. No matter how prestigious a noble house might be, it could not defy a royal command. Now he had no choice but to wait helplessly for punishment. Soon, the knight commander gave his order.
“By the authority of the commander of the Pencilut Royal Guard Knights, I hereby strip Riley of House Frizman of his position as vice commander. He is now a criminal. Imprison him immediately and do not allow him to come into contact with anyone.”
“Yes, sir.”
The Royal Guard Knights rushed forward and arrested Riley. After glaring at the pale-faced Riley with eyes full of killing intent, the knight commander turned his head again. Now that the urgent matter had been dealt with, it was time to placate Mitchell.
“As you can see, this matter has proven to be a mistake on our side. Riley Frizman, who committed this crime, will be severely punished according to the law, so I ask that you ease your anger.”
“I thank you for your wise judgment.”
The knight commander, unwilling to miss the moment, urged him to take the examination again.
“Since you are a Sword Master, there is no need for you to be examined, but if you insist on taking it, we shall conduct a reexamination immediately. As no further mistakes can be tolerated, I, the knight commander, will personally oversee it.”
Mitchell shook his head with a lonely expression.
“I am truly grateful for your words, but you are one step too late. I have already signed the enlistment papers for the Kasim Mercenary Corps. Since I had nowhere else to go, that was the only path left for me.”
“M-Mitchell. Please think once more of your father’s wishes.”
The knight commander tried desperately to change Mitchell’s mind. But at the words that followed, he soon had no choice but to become as silent as a mute who had eaten honey.
“I have already sworn an oath as a knight. You, Commander, should know better than anyone what that means.”
An oath as a knight. It was directly tied to honor, which was more precious than life itself. Of course, it was not the sort of thing that would normally apply to a mere mercenary corps, but to the knight commander, they could by no means be considered an ordinary mercenary corps. Realizing that persuasion was impossible, the knight commander glared once more at Riley as he was dragged away.
‘That damned bastard.’
The moment that could have made Pencilut infinitely powerful was about to be ruined because of Riley alone. Damon, who had been listening silently, stepped forward.
“He is now a member of the Kasim Mercenary Corps, no matter what anyone says. Until the moment the mercenary corps is disbanded, he will continue hunting dragons with us.”
“……”
“Originally, I held considerable goodwill toward the nation of Pencilut. I thought that a country to which our swordsmanship instructor would pledge loyalty across generations must surely be trustworthy enough.”
After finishing those words, Damon slowly looked over the line of Pencilut dignitaries.
“Though our mercenary corps is small and elite, it is not as though we have absolutely no need for troops. Therefore, we had long been considering joining hands with a powerful nation, and when our swordsmanship instructor happened to say he was leaving for Pencilut, we accompanied him. We thought that if we could cooperate with a powerful country like Pencilut, it would be beneficial for both sides.”
The people listened to Damon in silence.
“But not only did you refuse to accept our swordsmanship instructor, you instead inflicted a tremendous insult upon him. Though we may be a mere mercenary corps, we take pride in being the best when it comes to ability. To hear that our swordsmanship instructor could not even take the qualification examination for the Royal Guard was truly a shock to us.”
“T-that was all a mistake.”
As the knight commander, he could do nothing but repeat that it had been a mistake. Not one thing the other party said was wrong, and all of the wrongdoing had been committed by Riley. Damon concluded coldly.
“Since his qualification examination was rejected, I consider all ties between Pencilut and us to be over.”
After spitting out those brief words, Damon slowly gestured with his hand. Then the space near where the Death Knights stood opened wide, and something enormous surged out from within it. For a perfect finish, he had brought out the Bone Dragons he had seen in Increcia.
Kwa-rurururu.
With a strange roar, the two Bone Dragons revealed their massive bodies, flapped their wings, and lightly descended onto the training ground. It was a bit of stagecraft prepared in case of an emergency, and its effect was undeniable.
“B-Bone Dragons.”
“They’re enormous.”
Seeing the color drain from the Royal Guard Knights’ faces, Damon sneered inwardly.
‘Heh heh heh. With this much, they won’t dare attack recklessly.’
In any case, Pencilut held the advantage in troop numbers. Thinking that, in the worst case, they might not let them leave peacefully, Damon had secretly planned a show of force.
“We will be leaving. Does anyone have any objection to our departure?”
A multitude of emotions crossed Knight Commander Karsus’s face. Against four Grand Master-class Death Knights and two Bone Dragons, even if Pencilut poured in every soldier it possessed, it could not rashly claim victory. It was possible that the entire Royal Guard Knights could be annihilated, and since there was no act more foolish than wasting troops on something meaningless, he was able to make up his mind before long.
“We have no intention of obstructing your departure. However, I personally have something I wish to say to Mitchell, so would you grant us a brief delay before you leave?”
“That much I can allow.”
Once Damon gave his permission, the knight commander approached Mitchell with a troubled expression. Perhaps because he was addressing the son of an old subordinate privately rather than officially, he unusually spoke in a more familiar tone.
“It is regrettable that we must part like this. Everything was my oversight. So I hope you will not feel too hurt over this matter. I will pursue the inquiry into Frizman on my honor.”
Mitchell also bowed his head respectfully. He could not be rude to someone who had once been his father’s superior. Moreover, judging by what he had shown so far, the knight commander was a man of character incomparable to Riley. Mitchell already felt a deep liking for him.
“I sincerely thank you for your concern. Though I may leave, I will never forget Pencilut or you, Commander.”
Perhaps sensing Mitchell’s sincerity, a faint smile appeared on the commander’s face. He suddenly lowered his voice. He began whispering so quietly that only Mitchell could hear.
“There is one more thing I wish to promise you.”
“……”
“I know well the circumstances that led to your father’s departure. As his squad leader, it would make no sense if I did not know what happened to my direct subordinate, would it? At the time, I was deeply distressed. Because I knew Hales’s honest character well, I believed in his innocence. But there was nothing I could do. As nothing more than a squad leader, I could not confront the pressure of the powerful Frizman family head-on…”
Mitchell was startled. Unexpectedly, the knight commander knew about his father’s matter.
“Now that a royal command has already been issued, I intend to dig into your father’s case as well. I have already sent Royal Guard Knights to secure the persons of the witnesses from back then. To think Hales held such loyalty toward Pencilut… Right now, I feel the responsibility of having failed to protect my subordinate’s honor deep in my bones. And I truly regret having buried the matter even after becoming knight commander. Therefore, as commander of the Pencilut Royal Guard Knights, I promise that I will restore your father’s honor without fail.”
As Mitchell looked at the knight commander’s serious face, something surged up warmly in his chest. At last, a path had opened to restore his father’s honor. If his father in Karsel learned of this, he would surely be happier than anyone.
“T-thank you, truly. I will never forget your grace, Commander.”
As he watched Mitchell bow his head sincerely, a relieved expression appeared on the knight commander’s face as well.