CH 33

“Ha…!”

The guard captain stole a glance at Franz Bommel, who kept on sighing whenever he had a chance. Franz was adorned with an elegant chain mail, a long sword, and a navy surcoat embroidered with a colorful symbol of the family. He was the eldest son of Baron Bommel.

He did not fit the image of a knight with his rather chubby body. Franz continuously sighed and muttered while staring at the distant sky.

“Are there really no opportunities for I, Franz Bommel, to spread my fame and prowess across the land? Why won’t father let me lead soldiers into the battlefield?”

‘Because you are so weak that you can’t even hold your own against a mercenary, let alone a knight.’

Even though he thought as such, the guard captain was not foolish enough to verbalize his thoughts. He responded with a forced smile. “Perhaps it is because this isn’t a real war, but a battle to end with a compromise on both sides, would you not agree? Lord Bommel must have judged that this stage was insufficient to reveal the wisdom and bravery of his successor, Sir Franz Bommel.”

“I guess there aren’t any other explanations. Ha! How regretful. I was planning to propose to Alaina after defeating Lord Fairchild’s knights in a dignified manner.”

This was also the reason for the dispute between the Bommel family and the Fairchild family. It was because of the engagement between Alaina Fairchild and Franz Bommel.

It was very common for the children of local nobles to become engaged and get married. Similarly, the Fairchild and the Bommel family planned to strengthen their relationship and trust by marrying the second daughter of the Fairchild family with Bommel’s eldest son.

However, a disagreement arose due to the dowry demanded by the Bommel family, which eventually flamed into a blown-out dispute. In the end, the two families decided to respect the wishes of the victorious family.

‘What nonsense are you spewing? I told you, you can’t even handle a single mercenary, let alone a knight.’

The guard captain spoke disdainfully in his heart, then spoke in a voice full of regret. “The victory brought to us by the knights bearing the flag of Bommel is also a victory for the lord and sir, is it not? You must prepare yourself to march proudly to the castle of Lord Fairchild to greet Lady Alaina.”

“That’s right. But still, it’s a shame that… Hmm?” Franz spoke in a regretful voice, then suddenly became wide-eyed. “Over there… is that not a knight?”

“What? Hut!” The guard captain turned his head, then became startled. A knight on a horse was slowly approaching the castle. He was heavily armed in black, plate armor, and a figure was walking in front of him.

“All units, prepare for battle!”

Although there were only about fifty people remaining, the soldiers hurried up the castle wall at the sound of their captain’s shouts. All crossbows were nocked with bolts and aimed towards the knight. After a while, the knight came to a stop in front of the castle’s moat.

“Who are you, sir!? This is the castle of Lord Lizeplin Jonasen Bommel, the lord of Hailion!”

“I am Jan of the Eugene family. I brought Lord Bommel’s nephew, Sir Appiel Bommel Pascal.”

“Sir Pascal!?” The guard captain was taken back by Eugene’s words. He scrutinized the person standing in front of the knight identified as Eugene.

“It’s me! It’s Pascal, keeper of Langbon!”

“Brother Appiel!” Franz called out, unable to hide his shock.

“Sir Franz? I…”

“If you do not shut your mouth, I won’t hesitate to make a move!”

Eugene unsheathed his shortsword like lightning and held it against Pascal’s neck.

“Y-you dare!? You!” Franz was enraged by Eugene’s action. Since they were little, he had maintained a brother-like relationship with his cousin.

“You, me, stop blabbering and call Lord Bommel. As a knight hired by Lord Fairchild, I demand the exchange of Sir Robos, who is detained inside the castle, for Sir Pascal.”

“Agh!” Franz clenched his teeth. He finally realized the crux of the matter. However, he quickly regained his calm and shouted proudly as the successor of the Bommel Barony.

“The lord is not willing to speak with a man as impolite as you, sir! My name is Franz Bommel! I am the successor of the Bommel Barony! I will negotiate with you!”

‘He’s the successor?’

Although the opponent was dressed in chainmail, his body showed no signs of having undergone training as a knight. Eugene immediately jumped on the fortuitous encounter.

“Good. If you bring out Sir Robos, I will release him.”

“Hmm.” Franz frowned, and the guard captain hurriedly whispered, “Sir, you cannot respond in a hurry. First and foremost, we must let the lord know.”

“That is true, but…”

The disposition of a captured knight was entirely up to the lord. Even if he was the successor, he had no authority to recklessly make such decisions.

However, Franz became jealous of the young knight. He appeared to be armed with plate armor that was much better than his, and even his horse seemed cooler. In addition, Franz had been planning to visit Lord Fairchild’s castle by himself to demand the hand of the lord’s daughter in a cool and confident manner. 

The young knight’s current appearance overlapped with the imagery in his mind.

Yes. This was what he wanted to look like.

Eugene’s voice cut through Franz’s stimulating fantasy, “Are you perhaps lying about being the successor? I cannot believe that a successor is unable to make such decisions by himself. I have never even heard of such a thing.”

“What did you say?!” Franz’s eyes filled with flames. He jerked his red face to the guard captain and the soldiers. “Report back to father right now! And you! Bring Sir Robos!”

“S-sir Franz, we must receive orders from the lord to…”

“Shut up! I will make the decisions! Bring him out!”

“…Yes.” The guard captain had no choice but to bow his head. No matter what, status was law, and the furious one was Franz, the successor of the lord.

“Hey, could you move your sword away?”

Eugene felt Pascal trembling through the shortsword placed on his shoulder. 

Eugene answered in a cold voice. “You promised on your honor, sir. It was you who broke that promise first.”

“T-that’s…”

“I told you that I would send sir to Lord Bommel’s castle. And I am still trying to keep my promise even now. So why must you talk nonsense and make things difficult for both of us?”

“…I apologize,” Pascal spoke in a feeble voice. He had no excuses.

Eugene removed his shortsword from Pascal’s shoulder and responded, “Do not test me again. This is your last chance, sir. I do not care what you say once you are in the castle, but don’t forget, you are still my prisoner, sir.”

“All right.” Pascal nodded hurriedly. He had a vague guess as to what kind of knight Eugene was. After a while, Franz Bommel led a man over to the wall.

“Hey, sir! I brought Sir Robos!”

The newcomer looked surprisingly tidy and clean.

Eugene shouted after spotting the figure, “And how can I believe he is really Sir Robos?”

“It’s true! I am Yekka of Robos! Sir Eugene, right? Did Lord Fairchild send you?” The man shouted with joy. Eugene didn’t actually care whether the man was really Robos or not. 

Eugene only spoke as if to deliberately taunt Franz, “Right. Now, then, let us quickly exchange prisoners. The sun’s going to set at this rate.”

Franz flinched but did not respond.

“If you are a successor, you should have that kind of authority, at the least, am I right? What a disappointment. Ah! Are you unable to exchange prisoners with me because you are scared of me? The mercenaries in Langbon were so weak. I thought things would be different here, but I guess I was mistaken. Mercenaries, knights, even the territory’s successor, it’s all the same.”

“S-sir. I think you…”

“Just shut up. Did you think that I pierced your horse’s butt with a spear by a fluke? If you want to put my skills to the test, I will not decline.”

“…..”

Pascal started to erupt in anger, then quickly closed his mouth. After experiencing it once, he already knew how skilled Eugene was.

However, it was different for Franz Bommel. This newly arrived knight had stolen the heroic scene he had always dreamt of, repeatedly provoked him, and was even openly underestimating him at this moment. His anger erupted.

“Agh! Gates! Raise the gate and lower the drawbridge! I will personally exchange prisoners!”

“Y-yes, sir!”

Even the guard captain was nowhere to be found. As mere foot soldiers, they dared not disobey the orders of the successor.

‘That idiot!’

Pascal was about to go crazy. It would be a questionable choice for the successor to come out even if he had several knights accompanying him, let alone by himself! No, before that, how could Franz fall for such an obvious provocation?

However, Franz was inexperienced. He had complete faith in his status as the lord’s successor.

Kiriririk! Boom!

Even so, Franz was not a complete idiot. He proudly rode on a horse and marched across the drawbridge along with ten soldiers and Robos.

“Here! Did you see!? I, Franz Bommel, came out to exchange prisoners! Now, take back those insulting remarks from a while ago, and…”

Eugene barely paid attention to Franz’s squealing and muttered quietly, “Here and there. Why are they all so stupid? It’s rather fortunate for me, but Lord Bommel must have a lot of worries.”

“Sir Fran—” After hearing Eugene’s words, Pascal started shouting after preparing himself for death.

But simultaneously, Silion shot forward like a storm.

“Uagh!?”

Franz was startled, and soldiers rushed in front of him. However, the soldiers were armed in leather armor and spears. It was impossible for them to stop the charge of a knight armed in plate armor riding a horse adorned with armor.

Pupupupuk!

“Uaggh!”

“Keugh!”

The soldiers were inexperienced compared to the mercenaries. They were unable to put up a fight as they screamed while being swept aside. Five or six soldiers fell into the moat in an instant. Franz’s expression turned pale as he realized the severity of the situation.

“Stop him! Stop him!” Franz shouted urgently while attempting to pull out his longsword.

However, when Eugene revealed a tiny portion of Vampire Fear, the horse was stunned silly.

Neigggh!

“Huh? Uaah!”

Franz was familiar with horseback riding as a nobleman, but it was impossible for him to properly wield a long sword on top of a rampaging horse. On top of that, he wasn’t even a proper knight in the first place. As he struggled on the saddle, the longsword dropped from his hand.

Shuak!

“Uagh!?”

In the meantime, Eugene took care of all the soldiers and stopped his shortsword in front of Franz’s helmet. With a blade only a minuscule distance away from his face, Franz felt as if he was being drained of blood from his entire body. No, rather, he felt more afraid of the red eyes that glowed from inside the opponent’s helmet.

Franz had never felt such a degree of fear in his entire life. Without realizing it, he urinated in his underpants.

“Sir Robos, take hold of the successor’s horse.”

“Ah! I got it!”

Robos was momentarily overwhelmed by Eugene’s outstanding performance. He hurriedly grabbed onto the reins of the horse Franz was riding. Soon, Silion departed from the drawbridge alongside Franz’s horse. Eugene raised his visor and looked back at Pascal.

“Sir, what are you doing? Go on in.”

“…..!”

Like Robos, Pascal had been staring at Eugene with an open mouth and a dazed expression.  He flinched when he heard Eugene’s words.

“I promised you, didn’t I? I said that I would take you to Lord Bommel’s castle. Go ahead.”

Pascal’s shoulders trembled. The knight certainly kept his promise. However, he never imagined that the knight would exchange himself, who was only a knight stemmed from a collateral line, with the authentic successor of the barony.

“If you don’t want to, feel free to stay with the successor.”

“Ha. How could I leave by myself and leave the successor of the territory alone? I will stay behind as well.”

Pascal possessed common sense and honor. If he were to return to the castle by himself, he would be labeled a coward and become the sole recipient of his uncle’s anger.

‘I would rather be criticized for being incompetent. Dammit.’

Since he was by the side of a successor who was even more foolish than himself, even if he was reprimanded later, he would share it with Franz.

***

Baron Bommel was enraged after hearing the news. His nephew had been captured, but more importantly, his son had voluntarily crawled out of the castle and was taken captive. However, he was eventually left with no choice but to open the gate to pay tribute to the knight who captured both his successor and nephew.

With all of his knights and mercenaries dispatched, more than ten soldiers of the castle were lost in a single clash. In addition, the testimonies of the observing soldiers made it clear that even if all the remaining troops had been mobilized, they would have been helpless against Eugene.

More importantly, if they made a move earlier, the lives of his eldest son and nephew could have been endangered. As such, in exchange for the safe return of the two figures, Baron Bommel was forced to admit defeat. He would have to write a letter sealed with his ring’s stamp, admitting his defeat and asking for Lord Fairchild’s consideration.

Nevertheless, Eugene did not easily trust Baron Bommel. Therefore, he kept Pascal with him, saying that he would politely protect him until the two lords met in person and discussed the matter.

Moreover, a large box full of silver coins and the Bommel family’s flag accompanied him. There were even two powerful slaves carrying their spoils of victory.

“Kieeeeehhh! Silver! Slaves! Success! All we have to do now is to climb up the hierarchy!” The spirit of desire ran wild in ecstasy. The performance this time was certainly a great success.