Chapter 56

Chapter 56. Rotenfeld Great Castle (4)

A sword breaking in battle did not directly lead to defeat. However, a sword breaking in a friendly duel was no different from defeat.

It meant that George had lost in his duel against Balun.

But George could not accept the fact that he had been defeated. He argued against the result, claiming that the duel had made no sense.

“This was not a fair duel! It makes no sense!”

“What is the problem?”

“You broke a sword containing Aura with a mere iron axe! Does that make any sense?”

“Why does it not make sense?”

“An impossible thing happened, so I am saying it makes no sense. And because an impossible thing happened, I am saying it was not fair in the first place!”

George shouted at the top of his lungs, his face flushed red. The other knights around him tried to stop George, but George’s anger had already surged to the top of his head.

No, rather than simple anger, this was closer to a gathering of shame and humiliation. The shame of losing to a mere Barbarian mercenary had crushed his pride, and that crushed pride had even paralyzed his reason.

“Moreover, you are a man who cannot even use Aura. For someone like that to break my sword…… This must mean you resorted to some trickery!”

“Do you not think it is cowardly to use an Aura attack against someone who cannot use Aura?”

“Hmph! I only used it to evaluate your skill. There is no problem with an evaluator using evaluation tools for the sake of an evaluation!”

Hearing that, Balun almost let out a laugh.

‘No, you said you would punish me with that sword.’

Since when had “punishment” become “evaluation”?

Had he misunderstood the dictionary definition of “punishment”?

“I attacked you with Aura for the sake of a fair evaluation, yet you damaged the value of that fair evaluation through improper means, so how could this not be a problem? Is that not so, everyone?”

George looked around the crowd and sought their opinions. Perhaps because rumors that a duel was taking place had spread, more people had already gathered at the Small Drill Yard. Including administrators peeking in out of curiosity and servants moving back and forth while working, there were more than thirty people in total.

Most of them nodded. Of course, they were nodding because a knight, their superior, was glaring so fiercely as he spoke that they had been pressed down by his authority. Still, they did think George’s words had some merit.

They had seen it, had they not? An iron axe, with no shimmer or light upon it, had broken a blue sword that had Aura gathered upon it.

That was something outside common sense. Unless magic had been cast on the axe.

However, Barbarians did not usually carry magic axes around, so naturally, the conclusion could only converge on one thing.

“See! Do the others not share the same opinion! Everyone suspects your foul play! Will you still try to deny it?”

“Balun did not commit foul play.”

“Hmph. Criminals never say that they committed their crimes. Even if you say that, it is not trustworthy. There is only one way to confirm it.”

“What is that?”

“A re-verification.”

Balun struggled to swallow the laughter that kept trying to slip out.

‘Was that your goal?’

How truly pathetic. Was he not ashamed?

‘If it were me, I would have run away out of embarrassment.’

Still, it seemed he was not a man whose head did not work at all. If his head had truly not worked, he would not have been able to build such a pretext.

There was no need to deliberately go along with that ulterior motive, but Balun decided to willingly fall for it. Only then did it seem likely that George would stop finding fault afterward.

Moreover, the opinions of the spectators seemed similar. Every last one of them had curiosity in their eyes.

Some knights, perhaps possessing decent insight, shook their heads while looking at George’s reddened face, but even they did not step forward.

Apart from sighing at their colleague’s shameful behavior, they also purely wanted to see the rematch between George and Balun.

“Re-verification, good. How should we do it?”

“Your axes. Use other axes instead. It seems something has been done to your axes.”

“Good. I will do that. Then will you give me other axes?”

“Of course. You lot there, anyone, go and bring two axes.”

“Yes, sir.”

The servants who were pointed out hurriedly ran off and soon brought axes. They were ordinary iron axes, and at a glance, their dull blades showed that they had not been properly maintained.

‘Logging axes.’

They were not even combat axes in the first place.

“Use those axes. That should verify it.”

“It seems this family does not have many axes.”

“Do not say useless things. Take the axes and come out. Excuses are not a virtue of a Warrior.”

‘And what you did was not an excuse?’

This man truly had hypocrisy as a passive skill.

“Fine.”

Balun swallowed the thoughts that were about to come out and obediently followed his words. As he reached out to receive the axes, Balun’s three axes began to resonate wildly.

WOOONG! WOOONG! WOOONG!

It was a strong vibration, like the intensity had been raised to the maximum.

Everyone was surprised by that fierce tremor.

Axes suddenly resonating!

‘Damn it, why are these children suddenly acting like this?’

Balun was flustered. Why were they suddenly ringing like this?

“Children. Why are you doing this? Is there a problem? Hm?”

Balun asked very quietly in the Barbarian tongue so others could not understand. Naturally, there was no answer. They merely resonated fiercely.

‘Damn it, this is driving me crazy.’

“Could it be because I am holding different axes?”

WOOONG!

It seemed that was the correct answer.

“I am not throwing you away. I am only using something else for a little while. So do not be angry and stay calm, all right?”

Only after Balun pleaded did the resonance stop. Balun breathed a sigh of relief.

Not a single thing was easy.

“I knew it! See! What did I tell you? Did I not say that you had done some trickery!”

As Balun sighed deeply at the fate of being an unexpected father to three children, George’s furious voice rang out.

“Judging from this, those axes must be enchanted! What, did you recite a spell or something?”

“It was not a spell. It was my native language.”

“What?”

“Enough. Let us fight. Is that not enough?”

“This time, you will not be able to pull any tricks.”

Thus began a revenge match disguised as re-verification. The logging axes were in terrible condition, but George had also taken up a dull sword in the name of fairness, so it did not matter.

‘Well, I suppose this is fairer.’

Still, George did have the qualifications to talk big. Even while holding a dull sword, he unleashed powerful sword strikes one after another.

Balun acknowledged it. George was a knight with skill. Even while gripping an old sword, he possessed the ability to fully wield his swordsmanship. His sword was powerful and sharp. To reach that level of skill, he must have spent countless days in training.

However, the world was cold. No matter how powerful and sharp an attack was, if it did not land, it was of no use at all.

George’s attacks did not hit Balun even once.

Barely? No, with quite a bit of room to spare.

The reason?

It was simple.

He could simply see the attacks.

It was truly strange. Even though he was not using the Enhancement Art in particular, the enemy’s attacks looked clear to him.

In fact, even Balun found it quite fascinating.

How should he describe this feeling? It was as if he were growing stronger in real time.

‘How is this possible?’

The secret was simple.

The effects of the Fine Root of Mandragora that Balun had consumed were belatedly being displayed.

“I won.”

Balun placed his axe against George’s neck. George froze.

“Do you have anything more to say?”

“…….”

George did not answer.

With a blank expression, he dropped his sword.

“I lost? I did?”

“You lost.”

“That is impossible.”

“You fought well. George, although you lost, you are a strong Warrior. If you had been in our tribe, you would have been popular with everyone.”

Leaving George, who was staring blankly into the air like a man who had lost his mind, Balun picked up his own axes, which he had placed carefully on the ground. When Balun grasped them, the three axes hummed softly, flaunting their presence.

“See? I told you I would not abandon you.”

Balun was quietly muttering and soothing the three children when George’s powerless voice reached him.

“Kill me.”

“Hm?”

Balun turned around. He saw George’s hardened expression.

“What did you say?”

“I told you to kill me. A defeated knight has no right to speak. Now, cut off my head quickly.”

George stretched out his neck and closed his eyes, wearing an expression as though he had made a decision.

At this, Balun was naturally dumbfounded.

‘Is he insane?’

No, why were all these bastards making such a fuss about dying?

Philip had done the same last time too.

What was funny was that the other knights watching did not stop him either and simply stayed still.

Even Knight Roton and Sir Martin, who had arrived late after hearing the news, were the same.

However, if there was a difference between those two and the other knights, it was that unlike the other knights, who could not close their mouths from shock, those two were nodding as though it was only natural that Balun had won.

“Cut me down. Quickly.”

“I will not kill you.”

“What?”

“Get up. Your clothes are dirty.”

“Are you pitying me right now? No matter how much my honor has crashed to the ground, I am not someone who should receive pity from you.”

George continued.

“I beg you. If you are truly a Warrior, hurry and kill me. Please allow me to preserve at least the bare minimum of honor.”

Seeing him shut his eyes tightly, Balun naturally could not help thinking,

‘Are all knights originally like this?’

Even the Warriors of the Great Plains, who were mad about fighting, were not like this.

‘Ha, I cannot help it.’

Balun opened his mouth.

“I will ask one thing.”

He had stepped forward because he had no choice but to step forward, but he had no intention of killing an innocent person.

What madman would do that?

What if he ended up making enemies of these grand noble lords? What if they made a fuss because he had killed one of their subordinates?

“Is the reason you chose death because your honor has fallen?”

“That is right.”

“Is honor more important to you than life?”

“Of course it is.”

“Then I will ask this. Is it more important to protect honor, or is it more important to devote your life to your liege?”

“That is……”

“Balun does not know knights well. But in Balun’s eyes, the latter seems more important.”

Balun continued speaking.

“Are you not working here to protect your Count? Then naturally, your life is more important, so I cannot understand why you would try to die over something like this.”

“Of course I know that it is disloyal. But if that death is a death to protect honor, my liege will surely think generously of it. So hurry and cut me down.”

Balun shook his head. This method would not work on a madman. It seemed he would have to try another method.

‘Damn it. I did not want to go this far.’

“Then there is even less reason to die. Balun will not kill you. Balun will let you live.”

“What?”

“Balun is stronger than you. A stronger man defeated one who was less strong. That is the truth.”

“What are you……”

“You lost to a strong man, so your honor did not fall. You are still a proud knight of Rotenfeld. You are a knight respected by everyone. So you do not have to die.”

Balun continued before George could even have a chance to say anything.

“I am Balun. A Warrior of the Red Fang Tribe. The son of Senior Warrior Ktam and Senior Warrior Rana, the youngest candidate for Greatest Warrior and the youngest candidate for chieftain. This is the first such case in the history of the Great Plains.”

“…….”

“Balun is called the Nightmare on the Great Plains. Because Balun fought more than several hundred wars and never lost once. Balun’s name has that much worth among us.”

“…….”

“That Balun defeated you. Balun, who slaughtered more than a hundred Black Moon assassins alone that night.”

“…….”

“Everyone, think about it. Is losing to such a Warrior truly losing honor?”

“…….”

“Balun does not think so. Losing to a strong man is natural. That is my honest feeling.”

Balun looked around once. He felt every gaze in the silent Small Drill Yard turn toward him.

He could not tell what emotions or intentions were contained in their gazes. In Balun’s eyes, he could only see George, who was saying nothing with his head bowed.

‘Please do not die, you stubborn bastard.’

At this moment, Balun was more desperate than anyone else.

‘Will you take responsibility if you die and cause me harm? You will not.’

A desperate heart that wanted to somehow rehabilitate this damned suicidal villain!

“Balun thinks so.”

Balun spoke whatever came to mind.

“Losing to a strong man is actually good fortune. Because one can find what one needs to improve. You also gained such fortune.”

“…….”

“Becoming stronger is joy. If you survive here, you can enjoy that joy. You will find what you lacked in this battle, and you will become stronger. Then you will become the greatest knight.”

Honestly, he did not even know what he was saying.

It was simply coming out as he found an opening.

“So get up. We fought unpleasantly, but I acknowledge you. You were an excellent Warrior.”

Balun patted his shoulder.

George did not react.

“Get……”

Balun flinched mid-sentence.

Because, for a moment, George’s shoulders trembled.

Then came a soft sob.

“……Khup.”

When Balun confirmed the direction of that sob, he was shocked.

‘Is this bastard crying?’

No, after he had gone through all that effort to persuade him, why was he crying now?