Chapter 327: Knighting Oneself?

Chapter 327: Knighting Oneself?

“T-the Lieutenant... h-he killed him...”

“What should we do?”

The group of armored knights looked at the embedded head in the tree next to them. Just a moment ago their leader’s head went flying into it after getting punched. They could not process this feat as no one had expected this much resistance coming from this place. Their spy network had never failed them before and had been ill-informed about this man’s power. It was becoming clear to them that he was not just a simple tier 2 runesmith but something else entirely.

“Hold your ground, we are Knights of the Valerian household! As long as we have the Knight Commander with us, we will be victorious! We must not waver as our cause is just”

One of the older knights stepped forward to take over the situation. It seemed that he was next in line and now had become their leader. Yet just as he was shouting at the remaining men here, his body was yanked forward. It flew at the man that had killed their Lieutenant with one strike to the head.

“You guys really like to prattle on, do you actually think that you are the ones in the right?

“U-unhand me, do you understand the gravity of the situation? We represent the Valerian Household, your deeds will not go unpunished!”

“My deeds? Do you even realize what you did?”

The man was floating up in the air while being held up by something that looked like a blue haze. These knights did not have the mana sense to see the spell used, the only one that was able to grasp the whole situation was the mage in the back. Even while the other knights were getting pumped up to give it another try against their opponent, he didn’t want to do anything but run.

His mana sense allowed him to see the difference in power. No one could really see the true magnitude of the man before them but he could somewhat compare it to other mages or monsters. It was apparent that this person was a tier 3 class holder and not someone that had just reached that point. Their mana was just too massive and comparable to mages well over level two hundred.

This was something he could measure by the simple mage hand spell the man was using. The spell was something even a level one mage was capable of casting. It wasn’t really a spell used for combat as it was usually sluggish and the focus was more on precise hand movements than speed or power.

He vividly remembered how this mage's hand grabbed their Lieutenant who was someone close to reaching level hundred fifty. The man was close to reaching his own class change yet in a matter of seconds his head was flying from his body. This was not someone that they could face on their own, only their commander could do anything. The mage was certain that there had been some type of deception afoot.

It was hard to believe that their spies would make such a blunder. If they knew that a tier 3 class holder was holding out here, then their commander would be here to meet him instead. In the mage's eyes, this person was probably hiding their real status through magical means for years. They had attacked such a person without any knowledge and there was probably only one way of getting out of this alive.

The man before them was still only a commoner, just on the level of a platinum adventurer. Thanks to his class being related to a mage, the man here knew that their intelligence and reasoning should be above average. If he could just point out the downsides of the acts he was performing, the situation could be saved. He needed to act fast though, the second in command was about to get himself choked to death by the mage's hand spell and the other knights would do a disservice to themselves if they attempted to save him by forceful means.

“Please wait! Stop!”

“You want me to wait? I’m not the one that started this.”

“Yes, please think about the repercussions of your actions, do you trouly wish to make enemies of the Valerian household? If you kill all of us here, you will be branded as a criminal!”

“A criminal huh?”

The mage nodded as he could see the man’s resolve wavering. It was impossible to go against the nobles and this problem was magnified when a Duke was involved. There was no way that this man here wouldn’t know the consequences. It was hard to see his facial expression as it was buried under a hood but his words seemed to have calmed the situation down. Now they just needed to retreat and their commander would make short work of this man for them.

“You make a good point but let me ask you a question then.”

“Ah, yes?”

“What’s the punishment for destroying a knight’s property and attacking his family members on the said property?”

“Huh? A knight’s? That would be... y-you don’t mean?”

“Yes, that’s right, my actions have been justified from the start...”

Thanks to the sensors and lack of mana-dispersing powder he could tell that five people had survived. While he could have easily chased them down to deliver the finishing blow this was enough. What he needed to focus on was the part after, Emmerson.

“This certainly won’t do...”

After raising his arm up he saw his gauntlet turning to dust. The number of skills and mana he used had burned through the runic traces. The metal was unable to tolerate his newfound power and had begun to disintegrate. Only thanks to constant uses of his skills to mend the runes was it even able to last this much.

Luckily the piece of armor he was wearing was a backup version that he used for black market business. He did not want people to recognize the usual armor designs that he wore. However, this didn’t mean that his better suit wouldn’t suffer the same fate.

“W-what are we going to do... should we leave the city? But what about the children, I can’t just...”

“It’s fine, just stay here and I’ll take care of everything.”

“What do you mean? How can you just kill knights, I don’t understand.”

Elodia had managed to cool her head down and also realized that Roland was in a lot of trouble. She clearly didn’t see a way out of this besides running.

“Have you forgotten who I really am?”

“Who you really are?”

It took a moment for her to realize what he was alluding to but this didn’t fully remove her worries. Even though she knew that Roland was an actual noble hiding from something, it wouldn’t be that easy.

“Are you sure? You’ve been hiding for such a long time, are there no other options... I’m sorry this is all because of me.”

“It’s not your fault and there are more important things to worry about now, those knights had no right to be here and my actions were justified, the only problem that remains now is...”

“The only remaining problem now?”

“... Hey...”

“Huh?”

While Roland and Elodia were talking about the whole situation they heard a voice coming from above them. It belonged to the third person involved in this mess, Bernir.

“Could you help me out here Boss, these magic vines are really tight.”

The man had become entangled by the mage that fled and then remained bound for that spot for the entirety of the fight. With some help from Roland’s magic abilities, the vines came undone.

“Those knights really pulled a fast one on me... but how is Agni? Did he?”

“He is fine, I’ll have to ask you to protect him until I’m back, he probably won’t wake up for a few hours.”

“Protect him? That’s fine, but what are you going to do Boss?”

“That’s what I want to know.”

“Nothing much, I’m just going to have a duel.”

“A duel?”

Both Elodia and Bernir looked at each other without really knowing what was going on. They didn’t really follow the conversation and had no idea that Roland had just decided to become Arthur’s head knight. This all without the noble even knowing what had transpired here.