‘Oh….’
Looking at the atmosphere, the knight protecting his subordinate, I could vaguely understand what was going on.
‘He’s the Squad Leader. He’s one of those proud superiors who always boast around how much responsibility he bears on his shoulders.’
Having such a superior is equivalent to having a life with struggles. Handling such people is really troublesome. I knew this because I also went through such an experience before.
Throwing a sympathetic glance to Lan, I continued speaking without a bother to resolve the situation.
“It was my fault for appearing with attire that can cause misunderstanding. So, I will overlook Sir’s rudeness for mistaking me as a palace servant. Let me introduce myself, I am Clara Weyburn, a serving knight similar to Sir.”
Since I had no intention of being polite to the guy who behaved discourteously to me, I responded with the same informal language he used.
“What? What nonsense…”
Ignoring Krosner’s frown, I took out my knight badge that I had roughly placed in my pocket and waved it in front of him.
“….”
The boorish guy read the words written on my knight’s badge carefully and then snorted.
“…Oho. Ruby Knights.”
Even after confirming that I was the Captain of the Ruby Knights, a knight faction of the Knights Templar, his attitude did not change.
Well, I somewhat understood his reason. Although the knights of the Ruby Knights faction do indeed have the title ‘Knights’, our actual job and scale did not even reach the standards that of other knights’ squads.
Even so, I was not in a position to be outclassed by the squad leader of another knights’ order. Ignoring his scrunched up face, I continued my explanation while still maintaining my position.
“Yes. The Heilbroner case has been transferred to us. So I came here to get more information….”
“That incompetent knights?”
“….”
My action of putting my knight badge in my pocket stopped at his blatant provocation.
“Squad Leader! You’re being unreasonably rude…!”
“How dare you find fault in your superior?”
“…Apologies. I will correct my behaviour.”
Biting her lower lip, Lan lowered her head with a disheartened expression. That Krosner guy sneered at me, seemingly satisfied with having dismissed his subordinate and opened his mouth.
“An incompetent knight order that has had no connection with the Imperial Palace in their entire lives has come to a place like this. It’s inevitable that we, the true knights, won’t recognize you.”
“….”
“In regards to being the Captain of such a garbage camp, did you come to someone else’s knighthood area to give them the burden of your own work? You’re insulting my subordinate!”
Lan raised her head with an expression as if she wanted to protest.
However, I waved my hand and gestured to her that it was fine. I didn’t want her to get scolded by her superior for me for no reason.
Since it was a dispute over me, it was up to me to handle it.
‘Haa….’
Honestly, I just wanted to leave.
I didn’t want to create trouble with my long but thin life.
However, that bastard crossed the line too hard, what I said or did later would be considered self-defense, right?
“Sir Krosner. You said that our knights are incompetent and a garbage camp.”
“Ha, isn’t that a fact that everyone knows!”
“It’s okay if you’re criticizing the competence of our knights from behind. Everyone does that. However, it’s common sense to know that it’s ungentlemanliness to throw vulgar words at people when they’re present.”
“….”
“You were not only cursing the knights, who are my subordinates, but you did it in front of me, the Captain. Are you prepared to face the consequences?”
I turned the corners of my mouth upward and rummaged through my pocket.
However.
‘…Oh no.’
As the realization dawned over, I instantly broke into a cold sweat.
‘…I put my gloves in my cloak’s pocket.’
I had carefully crafted the situation where it was my time to take out my gloves and throw them at that bastard.
With all the big talk I had said up till now but unable to do as I planned, how do I fix the situation?
Just at that time.
“I heard voices being raised all the way over there. What’s going on?”
A low, deep voice was heard from behind us.
‘Oh, this voice.’
The silver hair that glimmered in the late winter afternoon sunlight was unrealistically dazzling.
The sculptured face had a cold expression, but the overwhelming aura accentuated its fatal charm.
The steps taken by his long legs, which matched his overwhelming height, were powerful but elegant without any signs of hurry.
The person who caught everyone’s attention just by appearing here for a moment was none other than the Duke Ludger Kassen, whom I had met earlier.
“Young Duke! No need to worry! I was just trying to correct the disrespectful way the Captain of the Ruby Knights treated my subordinate.”
‘This bastard.’
Krosner quickly hit the nail and turned the argument over in his favor.
Ludger looked at him with an inexplicable expression before turning to me.
“Is it true?”
“No. He was rude first, I haven’t said anything to offend him.”
“Oho.”
“So I would like to challenge Sir Krosner to a duel.”
As soon as they heard the word ‘duel’, both Krosner and Lan’s faces turned into astonishment.
“I see. Then it would be rude of me to hold off you two. Please continue.”
Ludger took a step back with a clean look on his face.
“Young, Young Duke! She’s speaking nonsense. Please stop.”
“I understand that duels between knights are considered very honourable. I suppose it’s not up to me to step forward.”
Krosner’s face crumpled violently. It’s not like it was made of paper, but wrinkles seemed to form easily on his face.
“Sir Clara. You can continue what you’ve been doing.”
“Well, that.”
“…?”
“Gloves… I left it in the knights’ office. I think it’s better for me to come back and challenge you to a duel again later.”
There weren’t any lies that I could say because the guest of my superior, and my future work partner was present and in the middle of deciding who was right and wrong.
Therefore, at the risk of being embarrassed, I told the truth. A brief moment awkward silence befell in the training ground.
‘I want to die….’
Suddenly, the sound of Ludger’s stifled laughter was heard. Then, he took out a pair of soft leather gloves from his pocket before sticking them out to me.
“Then, you can have this.”
“Ah….”
“Throw this instead.”
Although this wasn’t what I intended, I suddenly ended up taking gloves that looked more expensive than my salary.
Satisfied with my response, Ludger started walking to the shades installed at the edge of the outdoor training ground without any hesitation.
‘…Err, I don’t know if I should.’
Thump!
I grabbed one of the gloves and threw it towards Krosner before my mind could make me hesitate to throw such expensive gloves.
“In the honor of the Ruby Knights, I, Captain of the Ruby Knights, challenge you to a duel. If I win, I will apologize for my rudeness. In addition, I will send a reflection letter to Commander Geloic!”
Even though I had embarrassed myself by borrowing someone else’s gloves to challenge, that bastard would be defeated anyway.
***
In this world of romance fantasy novel, the most important ability that a knight could have was ‘Spirit’.
Spirit was not only power unconnected to magical power, it also has its own distinctions.
You could think it of similar to using energy (氣) that is often shown in martial arts novels’ world building. By operating Spirit, one could demonstrate a skill that was incomparable to that of an ordinary person.
Just like magic that only some people, who are born with it, can use, Spirits are also a trait that is used by only those people, who are born with it.
People with Spirit were in demand mainly in occupations related to martial arts. Representative examples were mercenaries and knights.
As I thought about it, I realized how fortunate I was that this body was a Spirit holder. Thanks to this, I could make a living.
As the memory of my childhood surfaced….
‘Ugh, no. What good would it do to me thinking about my not-so-good past?
Shaking my head vigorously, I walked to the center of the training ground.
Perhaps the news of the duel had already spread, many people were seen appearing in the training ground. Not only Ludger but other people, mainly knights, were also seen sitting or standing in the shade with curiosity and excitement in their eyes.
Most of them probably belong to the Diamond Knights.
As the thought surfaced in my mind, my arms became stronger.
‘Let’s focus.’
Although I was a knight, it wasn’t me who was willing to pursue such an honorable life.
I wasn’t desperate for survival where I had to earn money through which I could buy food or drinks to shove down my throat.
I just chose this profession for the sole purpose of living a prosperous and stable life until retirement.
Even so, I couldn’t bear anyone insulting my subordinates.
Although Lionel was sadistic, he was capable, and although Billy was too clueless and airheaded for his own good, he had a sincere and kind heart. And Although Sir Sein was only good at disappearing without news, he was also a person who handled his share of tasks like a sharp sword.
We certainly had shortcomings, but we were also working hard in our own way.
We may have been joking among ourselves, insulting our own incompetence, however, I fail to see any reason to tolerate others calling them incompetent or a garbage camp.
I slowly took up my stance with Krosner in front of me.
He tilted the corner of his mouth and let out an expected sarcasm.
“It was worth seeing you wasting my time like a coward, making excuses saying you don’t have gloves.”
“….”
“Why don’t you go back to your shabby knights’ office and fetch your gloves? I can wait as long as you want.”
“Your tongue moves too much.”
I clicked my tongue and nodded at the knight who was acting as referee.
“Please command the starting.”
“Oh, I understand!”
The referee looked at Krosner before raising his voice in a panic.
“By mutual approval of both parties, the duel begins now! The conditions for defeat are: if you first declare surrender, you lose your weapon, or you are incapacitated to the point where you can no longer continue the fight.”
“….”
“…Additionally, according to the laws of the Leuke Empire, the opponent is never held responsible for injuries or deaths resulting from a duel between knights. Please keep this in mind.”
This was also the reason why Lan and Krosner reacted in surprise when I brought up the topic of the duel.
Since this is something you risk your life for (of course, it rarely gets to that point), they couldn’t help but be surprised.
Even if it doesn’t lead to death, one could get seriously injured, to the point of being crippled, or never being able to hold a sword ever again.
Krosner provoked me in a low voice, so only I could hear.
“If you value your life, it would be better to kneel now and ask forgiveness.”
“Your extortionist skills are unnecessary. It seems like they would fit in with a gang of back alley thugs, not the Knights Templar.”
When I returned the provocation with the same language, he gritted his teeth and glared at me.
Thank you