Chapter 55

Chapter 55. Rotenfeld Great Castle (3)

“What a rude fellow you are. What? Am I confident I can win? Do you call that something worth saying?”

The knight’s voice suddenly grew louder. It was probably because his pride had been wounded by the fact that he had been intimidated, even briefly, by the presence released by a mere Barbarian mercenary.

“Is that rude?”

“Of course it is!”

“Then is Balun not allowed to say even that? Should Balun have just answered yes, yes?”

Balun asked calmly. He was extremely irritated, but not to the point of losing his reason like he had during the pork gukbap stew incident.

Besides, because of who his opponent was, his anger naturally became easier to control.

Rather, the one who could not control his anger was the knight. At Balun’s calm question, the knight’s eyebrows twisted sharply.

“You have quite an insolent mouth, chattering so freely!”

Did he not want to answer?

The knight shouted and slammed the table with his palm.

“Come out at once. I will evaluate whether you have that much skill! Since you have skill, you must be able to speak so insolently. Before the sword of Rotenfeld, no less.”

“I understand.”

Balun obediently nodded, lifted his backside from the seat, and began walking toward the outside of the building. Only then did the knight cross his arms in triumph.

“I will give you ten minutes, so bring your weapon and come out to the Small Drill Yard within that time. I will be waiting there.”

“Where is the Small Drill Yard?”

“Grab any servant behind you and ask. They will tell you.”

The knight turned and left the servants’ dining hall, and only then did the frozen atmosphere thaw a little.

One of the maids who had been eating at another table away from Balun in a voice as quiet as a dead mouse watched Balun’s expression and carefully approached him. She was the maid who had guided him around the facilities.

Even the servants who did menial work looked down on Balun, but this maid alone did not treat Balun with discrimination. She had guided Balun sincerely, and thanks to that, he had been able to obtain the veal steak.

Well, he had become unable to eat that too.

“The Small Drill Yard is straight out from here, then left.”

“Thank you.”

“But will you be all right? Sir George is strong. No matter how famous a mercenary you are, you will not be able to win.”

“He does look strong. Though he has no dignity.”

At Balun’s words, the maid’s eyes widened. She looked around, confirmed that there was no one other than Balun and the servants, then spoke quietly.

“If you say things like that carelessly, you will be in serious trouble. You might be punished for insulting a noble!”

“It is all right. He is not here anyway.”

“That is true, but……”

“As long as you do not tell anyone, it will be a complete secret. Will you keep it?”

“Of course I will. Do you think I am crazy enough to blab? I would be in trouble too.”

The maid glanced left and right, then whispered to Balun while watching the room carefully.

“Believe it or not, there is a rumor that Sir George is from commoner origins.”

“That knight from just now?”

“Yes. He is especially harsh toward commoners. Especially when it comes to mercenaries, he hounds every last one of them so badly that mercenaries have fled after giving up their commissions. We think it is because he came from a commoner background.”

“I see.”

“Do you think that is all? The way he hounds the servants is just…… More than ten male and female servants have quit because of Sir George.”

“I understand well. But why are you telling me that?”

“Just. Well…… That is how it is. Hehe.”

The maid awkwardly smiled as she twirled the side hair that had slipped out from beneath her headcloth around her finger. Balun nodded and thought, ‘It looks like she suffered a lot because of him.’

That was why she was doing this.

‘She wants me to scold him on her behalf.’

Balun did not accept unpaid favor-commissions.

“Do you want to eat this, at least? You must have been very hungry.”

“It is all right. You eat it.”

The maid offered him a lump of bread from her bowl, but Balun refused.

Of course he was hungry, but how could he take food from the maids? Looking at it, the bread also looked disgustingly unappetizing.

“Do your best! Make sure you win! Though it will be difficult!”

Leaving behind the maid who cheered him on with a clenched fist, he left the dining hall. Afterward, he went to the lodging he had been assigned, picked up his weapons, and headed to the Small Drill Yard.

There were quite a few people at the Small Drill Yard. Including George, who had arrived in advance and was waiting, there were about ten people.

When Balun approached, those twenty eyes turned toward him. Gazes mixed with curiosity, contempt, and a little expectation shot at Balun in a dizzying blend.

“Is that him?”

“His build really is large. He looks strong.”

“What does it matter if he is only strong? His skill has to be good. Did you not hear? They say he cannot even use Aura.”

“I heard it from Commander Werner.”

“See? How great can a fellow like that be?”

“That is true. If strength alone mattered, Trolls or Ogres would have ruled the world.”

Leaving behind the flood of whispers, Balun stood in the Small Drill Yard. George, who had been warming up, stopped and stood opposite Balun.

“You came without running away.”

“I came for the veal’s revenge.”

“What?”

“Balun is very hungry right now. Because of you, Balun could not eat.”

Perhaps finding Balun’s words absurd, George chuckled.

“So your meal is more important than having your value evaluated?”

“Of course.”

“You truly are low-class beyond measure. This is why you lower ones are hopeless. Tsk, tsk.”

George clicked his tongue.

Balun asked calmly, “Then does that mean the meat you overturned was not very important?”

“What is so important about a mere piece of meat?”

“Even though it was a veal dish that had been placed on the Count’s family dinner table?”

“What?”

“It was a veal dish the Count generously permitted and had served to Balun, but you are saying it had no value. I understand your opinion well.”

“No, what kind of……”

George’s expression turned bewildered. Why was the Count suddenly being brought up here?

“A knight who overturned a dish served by the Count, saying it had no value. I am curious how the Count would react if he learned this fact.”

“Wh-What kind of sophistry are you spouting!”

“It is not sophistry. It is fact. Whether Balun is lying or not is information that can be found out quickly with an investigation.”

“You insolent bastard……!”

George’s face flushed red. In the corner of the Small Drill Yard, Balun could see the fellow knights who were watching click their tongues softly at George from the corner of his eye.

“Balun likes the Count. Even though Balun is poor at the common tongue and does not know manners, the Count treated Balun generously. Yet even after hearing of the Count’s hospitality, you said it had no value and kicked it away.”

“No, I……”

“This is an insult to the Count.”

After saying plenty of words he did not even mean, Balun drew Blue Moon and Crimson Moon. When Balun carefully stroked the handles of the two axes, a very faint humming vibration could be heard.

‘I will be counting on you, Crimson Moon, Blue Moon.’

Smiling inwardly at the vibration that felt pleasant, like a cat’s purring, he extended the axes.

“Balun is a Warrior who knows honor. Balun does not tolerate insults. Balun will repay the insult against the Count on his behalf.”

“How dare you spout sophistry!”

In an instant, George’s face flushed red and blue. He drew his sword, strode forward, and snorted.

“You are the one insulting my liege by trying to deceive me with such slander! I will punish you with this sword!”

THUD.

George stomped his foot, raised his sword, and charged. Balun hurriedly crossed Blue Moon and Crimson Moon as though overlapping them and blocked.

CLANG!

Along with the metallic sound, a shockwave spread in a circle. Balun’s hanging hair was whipped fiercely by the rising gale, then settled.

Balun’s expression hardened. His grip tingled quite a bit. On top of that, George was very swift. It seemed that, however faintly, Aura had been placed into the sword.

‘Damn it, did I provoke him too much? Even a mouse will bite if it is cornered.’

He had not meant to anger him this much.

‘No, what am I supposed to do when that bastard’s brain capacity is so small?’

Was the one who fell for a provocation of this level not the problem instead?

Though there was, in fact, no denying that it had been somewhat forced.

“Haap!”

George pushed Balun’s axes away forcefully with a shout. At the same time that Balun’s axes were forced back and deflected away, George seized that opening like a snake and thrust his sword.

In that instant, Balun’s waist bent like an acrobat’s. Balun inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. He had never dreamed that he would be pushed back in strength.

‘Wow, he is no joke. A knight really is a knight, after all.’

He had heard that Aura supported physical ability, and it seemed that statement was true.

“You are flexible, unlike how you look.”

“Of course. Balun is practically an elite member of a circus troupe.”

“But you will have no opening to flap that mouth of yours.”

The attacks poured in afterward. The sword strikes that surged in without giving him time to breathe were fierce. Balun countered some attacks and avoided others with his unique agility, passing fifteen exchanges in an instant.

“You only run away like a rat! Stop dodging and fight me head-on! And you still call yourself a Warrior?”

George laughed loudly as he swung his sword. His swordsmanship style was a heavy sword style, one that pressed down with strength rather than technique.

Although he was smaller than Balun, he was on the larger side on average, so that kind of swordsmanship seemed to suit him.

However, in Balun’s eyes, it made no sense for someone with only that much build to wield a heavy sword style at that level. Therefore, he reached the conclusion that there was only one reason it was possible.

‘Aura must be good. Seeing how it turns a slow-as-molasses bear into a madman.’

Balun controlled his quickening breath and calmly countered the enemy’s pouring attacks. It was a heavy sword style with flesh-trembling power, but that kind of heavy swordsmanship could not fluster Balun.

Far from being flustered, Balun actually had room to spare. If one could call being flustered because it was easier than expected “flustered,” then perhaps he was flustered in reverse.

‘Is this the end?’

Balun smacked his lips. He had thought it would be quite difficult because the force of the sword strikes was strong, but it was not.

‘I thought knights would be terrifyingly strong. It looks like that is not necessarily the case.’

Perhaps because he had room to spare, a sudden question rose in his mind. Was this knight weak, or had he become strong enough to surpass knights?

He did not know what the answer was, but Balun hoped it was the latter if possible. That way, his chances of surviving in this damned world until he was old enough to smear filth on the walls would grow higher.

‘I have definitely grown stronger too. Thanks to the Enhancement Art.’

Even without using the Enhancement Art, he had become able to use greater strength, and his stamina had increased as well.

‘And I have these children too.’

Balun firmly gripped the two axes. The subtle vibrations of Blue Moon and Crimson Moon gave him a strange sense of reassurance.

Even after visiting the Mindscape, Balun still could not converse with the three axes. Instead, he had become able to hear the axes’ resonance whenever he wished.

According to Seria, that itself was proof that the Ego Weapons had begun to grow.

She had said that if he raised them well, they would eventually be able to speak even in the real world.

‘She also said that the more Ego Weapons grow, the more they resemble their master. Then will my children come to resemble me in the future?’

Would they resemble their fool of a master who could not even use Aura and become nothing more than absurdly brute-force axes? Would they end up cutting through iron plates without even needing the Enhancement Art?

As his thoughts continued, the anger he felt over not getting to eat the veal gradually faded. Instead, a powerful desire for growth and curiosity took its place.

‘Is that truly so? Black Moon, Crimson Moon, Blue Moon.’

Balun stroked the axes. The constant humming felt like an answer to his inner thoughts, and he found it fascinating. Even though that could not possibly be the case.

When he spoke to them, they would immediately resonate, but how could they possibly listen to his inner thoughts?

This was probably because he was in combat. Had they not said that last time? That they wanted him to use them often.

‘If you are going to resemble something, it would be better to resemble knights who use Aura instead of resembling me. A beam axe is much cooler than an ordinary axe. Or you could resemble an impressive mage and become magic axes.’

-No!

WOOONG!

The axes suddenly trembled violently.

WHOOSH!

SLASH!

“Huh?”

Balun’s thoughts were cut off. Because the attack he had swung without thinking had cleanly snapped George’s sword.

And it was a sword with clear blue light gathered upon it.

‘It broke?’

How had he done that?

‘I did not even put much strength into it.’

No, more importantly.

‘Did she just speak?’

He was certain he had heard a voice.

Was it his imagination?