Chapter : 154

-WAAAAAAAH!

-Break through-!

The cheers rang out thunderously.

Everyone inside the mansion had gone pale and fallen into chaos.

And among them were the Emperor’s magician and knights from the Holy Empire.

“What is this uproar?”

“Something must have happened outside?”

“Did a war break out or something?”

“Shh-!”

At the commotion, the Emperor’s magician, Yagielt, brought his hand to his mouth. The cheers coming from beyond the window were already telling them what was happening.

“It looks like Baron Pierre noticed.”

“What?”

“How did Baron Pierre notice?”

“He has the Margrave of Bellua at his side, doesn’t he. And I heard the Great Sage of the Forest is with the Margrave of Bellua, so they must have noticed the cursed mystique.”

“Ah, damn it!”

“Why couldn’t that idiot be more careful?”

At Magician Yagielt’s words, the knights all spat curses.

Schemes and plots did not suit knights. Especially things this insidious and wicked.

They had lowered their honor for a moment and jumped into this to catch the Emperor’s eye….

And now they had been exposed!

“We’re all finished.”

“Let’s run-!”

“Even now….”

The panicking knights all shouted as they tried to pull out, speaking negatively. But Magician Yagielt thought differently.

“Stop.”

Magician Yagielt raised his hand and shut the knights up.

“We go to Sir Andrea Bardi as we are. There is no running.”

“H-But…!”

“You have already botched it. If you run now, do you think the Emperor will like you?”

Looking at the protesting knights, Magician Yagielt sneered.

As for him, he could somehow falsify his identity and flee to another noble. Or if not, he could go all the way to the eastern part of the Empire.

But those knights were different.

Just from what had been revealed here, the knights had already taken a fatal blow to their honor.

If they ran like this and were abandoned by the Emperor, they would never rise again.

“At times like this, you must harden your heart. We will go to Sir Andrea Bardi and have him lead soldiers to strike that man.”

This sort of thing was familiar to Magician Yagielt.

How could the Emperor’s secret schemes succeed every time. Of course they would be discovered, and of course they would fall into danger.

But every time, Magician Yagielt had overcome the crisis.

‘The number of troops the city can mobilize is obvious.’

Under the city’s own autonomy treaty, the number of soldiers they could bring into the city was fixed.

And city nobles did not usually hire many soldiers, complaining it was a waste of money.

‘Solving it with force is more certain and faster than clumsy talk.’

A free man, by nature, had a chance to prove himself before God. Baron Pierre’s claims were clearly disadvantageous, but you could simply crush them with force. That was the method Magician Yagielt had used to make countless schemes succeed.

“But the Margrave of Bellua is beside Baron Pierre. I heard he is a knight with terrifying strength….”

“Why? Are you afraid?”

“T-That’s…!”

At Magician Yagielt’s words, the knight bristled. Even if it was true, wasn’t it rude to say it like that! Seeing the reaction, Magician Yagielt smirked and replied.

“Do not be swayed by reputation. How could a man be strong like an ogre? It is probably the usual exaggeration. Isn’t exaggeration something great lords love?”

“Hm, that is true.”

“And also!”

Magician Yagielt’s eyes glittered as he formed an evil smile.

“I am here. My cursed mystique will help you. So do not worry. Surely you are not scared of those Elang Kingdom bumpkins?”

“Hah! Of course not. Fine. Let’s do it together!”

In the end, the knights agreed with Magician Yagielt.

Only one thing remained.

Sir Andrea Bardi, the one who could actually mobilize soldiers.

But there was no need to worry about that. The one who was just as desperate as them was Sir Andrea Bardi himself.

“A-Alright! I will call my private soldiers at once. There is no need to die like this!”

That was why, the moment he received Magician Yagielt’s proposal, Sir Andrea Bardi shouted boldly.

—

Up until the moment we reached Sir Andrea Bardi’s mansion, everything had gone smoothly.

We deceived everyone, raided Poldein Merchant Guild, secured the cursed mystique-contaminated grain, and then immediately led troops to raid Sir Andrea Bardi’s mansion.

I thought all that remained was Sir Andrea Bardi’s surrender as he accepted everything in resignation….

“Fabricated evidence!! Baron Pierre has been blinded by power!”

“Do not waver! Hold formation!”

As if the earlier bewildered atmosphere in the mansion had vanished, the mood inside the mansion suddenly changed completely.

Sir Andrea Bardi came out in armor and shouted, and soldiers who looked like his private troops blocked every corridor and entryway throughout the mansion.

It was clearly the posture of fighting to the death. I had expected some small resistance, but I did not think they would come out this firm.

“Hm…. This is not good.”

I clicked my tongue.

As old as the history of the House of Viscount Bardi, Sir Andrea Bardi’s mansion was like a gigantic fortress.

If we tried to force our way in with brute strength, there could be considerable casualties.

Though my elf knights seemed to think differently.

“Impudent bastards!”

“Your Grace! Give the order at once. We will handle it!”

“Give the order! We will offer our honor to Your Grace!”

These were elf knights who had already heard the entire story.

Sir Andrea Bardi’s resistance—after doing evil and showing no remorse—was something the elf knights could not accept.

If anything, he should lay everything down honorably and die!

That was why the elf knights wanted to step forward and punish him themselves.

“That is enough. I will lead from the front myself.”

I dismissed the elf knights’ request. Instead, I drew my weapon and stepped forward.

“Oooo!!”

“As expected of Your Grace!”

“His Grace advances. You foolish ones, move aside at once!”

“Let us follow His Grace!”

Then the elf knights cheered and drew their swords together.

To elf knights who valued the honor of vivid, living combat, a lord who led from the front like this was the best kind of lord.

Of course, I….

“…….”

I thought they would at least pretend to stop me once, but they were so consistent that I had nothing to say.

“Subordinates naturally follow their superior. Is there any need to look so displeased?”

“I am not that reckless….”

“You…?”

Magician Agpiel asked back as if he found it absurd.

“Think of what you have been doing this whole time. Do you think your nickname, Performer of Miracles, Knight of Miracles, came from nothing?”

“No, that just happened somehow….”

“Oh, sure. I bet it did. Yes? Mm?”

“Grrr….”

It was unfair, but I really had nothing to say.

From the outside, my actions probably did look truly foolish—no different from hot-blooded knights.

“Tsk, tsk…. Stop the nonsense and hurry along. I will support you from behind. If anything happens, I will protect you with magic, so lead the way.”

“That is very reassuring and I am grateful, Magician Agpiel.”

I said that with my lips pushed out.

—

-D-Don’t retreat!

-Block them!

Since they chose resistance, they had to pay the price.

I was showing what it meant to be a knight who flipped the entire battlefield without hesitation.

-CRUNCH!

-CRACK!

Every time I swung the heavy War hammer that had become my personal weapon, soldiers dropped like flies.

Shields and armor were useless.

Before a single swing, everything was equal.

Smashed, torn, shattered.

-U-Ugh…!

-He’s a monster.

Because of that, the soldiers of Sir Andrea Bardi who had blocked the mansion gates began to retreat, step by step, with no exceptions.

“Sir Andrea Bardi has committed a very grave act of heresy. With the sacred title of Bellua’s Guardian bestowed by The Holy See, I will set this right. Those who surrender even now, I will forgive! Surrender!”

-Dding!

[Insidious Proposal!]

[Trait correction.]

[Your proposal hits more strongly. The enemy soldiers are thrown into confusion, wavering over your proposal.]

Oh, good. If this continued, it would not be difficult.

But then….

“You fools! Hold formation at once. Do not waver! The Margrave has joined hands with Baron Pierre. This is a frame-up to strike down the young master!”

-Dding!

[The enemy commander neutralizes your stratagem. If you leave it as is, the soldiers’ wavering will return.]

One commander, seeing that, roared. He was trying to raise morale and rebuild discipline.

But that only brought trouble.

“Even now…?!”

-SWISHHHHHHH-!

The spear I threw tore through the air with tremendous force—

-THWACK!

“Kghhhhuk!”

The commander who had been shouting was blown backward, vomiting blood with the sound of cloth ripping.

“?!?!?”

A scene too shocking to believe.

The soldiers around him all gaped, their eyes wide.

“Anyone else have objections?”

I walked forward leisurely between them and smirked.

Then—

-Aaaah! Run!

-I-I surrender!

The soldiers blocking the mansion gates began to collapse in an instant.

—

Rumors are usually exaggerated.

For more honor, and more prestige.

So Magician Yagielt had also thought the rumors about the Margrave of Bellua were exaggerated.

Until he saw it with his own eyes.

“C-Crazy!”

It was skill and strength beyond belief.

What was that, if not a human.

An ogre bastard.

Every time the heavy War hammer swung, men collapsed, spitting blood. Even the knights the Emperor had attached rushed in, but they were no different from ordinary soldiers.

Even if they ranked at the bottom of the Emperor’s court, it was not as if they had no skill at all.

Yet this was what happened!

“H-How are we supposed to do this, Magician?!”

“Calm yourself. Sir Andrea Bardi. It is not over yet.”

“Not over?! He is already right in front of us. Damn it, I should have just surrendered and been dragged to trial!”

Sir Andrea Bardi screamed. If he were dragged to the city’s trial, there was at least a chance left. A city trial was originally just an extension of power and political struggle.

But to resist and fail like this….

“Shut your mouth, Sir Andrea Bardi! Should a superior shake like that? Your subordinates will be unsettled.”

“K-Khm.”

Only then did Sir Andrea Bardi clear his throat and look around.

Just as the magician said, it had been behavior unworthy of a noble.

“Then what should I do?”

“What should you do? When he comes this far, go forward insisting on your innocence. Strongly insist on your innocence before God.”

“You want me to duel? Against that monster of a Margrave?”

Sir Andrea Bardi said, trembling. No matter how he looked at it, this was not an opponent he could beat.

“You only need to buy time and draw attention.”

That method that had always handled problems very effectively.

With the powerful cursed mystique he had prepared, even a strong knight would die in an instant!

“After that, I will finish everything.”

That was why Magician Yagielt said it with a deeply insidious expression.

—

“Honestly. This is truly splendid and miraculous.”

“…Khm, please stop mocking me.”

“Mocking? Not at all. It is just truly splendid. Isn’t it?”

“Y-Yes. Great Sage. I heard about it, but I didn’t think it would be to this extent….”

Now even Baron Pierre was saying things like that.

What a mess.

I clicked my tongue and shook my head.

“By the way, it seems Sir Andrea Bardi still has no intention of surrendering.”

At some point, I had pushed deep into the mansion and was now standing right before Sir Andrea Bardi.

Sir Andrea Bardi was heavily armed, holding a sword awkwardly, trembling in front of me.

“M-Margrave of Bellua! How can you collude with Baron Pierre’s house to frame me!”

“Frame you? Don’t you know better than anyone that this is not a frame-up?”

“N-No! This is a frame-up!”

Sir Andrea Bardi shouted as if screaming.

Words that would not work at all.

But something felt off.

From the look of it, he was trying to insist on innocence before God—meaning, he was trying to attempt a trial by duel….

‘He must know he can’t possibly match me.’

I frowned and tilted my head.

I quickly ran through my thoughts, searching for what I was missing.

And then—

‘A magician? That cursed mystique?’

The moment I realized it—

“Be careful! Magic…!”

Magician Agpiel’s warning struck my ear, and at that moment, powerful mystique surged from the side and rushed toward me.

“?!”

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