A Mercenary’s Rebirth Among Nobles

At Felicia’s words, Polcar blinked, stunned.

A surprise attack before the duel began? Hadn’t the mage acting as judge already finished his declaration and withdrawn?

At that point, the duel should have already begun. What was she talking about?

He was so bewildered that, when he raised his head to refute it somehow, something unexpected happened.

“…”

“…”

Thousands of icy gazes were fixed on Polcar.

Among them were even knights of House Lerum, the very house to which he belonged.

The knights of the viscount’s house, their faces pale as wax, shouted hurriedly.

“T-this was a unilateral action by Sir Polcar! It has nothing to do with us!”

“All traitors recorded in history said exactly the same thing when their rebellions failed. They claimed they acted out of loyalty.”

“That’s not true! I swear it by the Eight Gods!”

“Do not take the names of the gods lightly. It’s disgusting to hear.”

With a vacant expression, Polcar shifted his gaze between the knights and Felicia.

It seemed that no one considered that he had participated in the duel following proper procedure.

The idea that he had attacked Hugo before the duel even began had already been accepted as an established fact.

‘What the hell is going on? Why is no one defending me?’

The situation was so incomprehensible that Polcar felt his head spinning.

Then, what had the declaration he heard from the mage just moments ago been?

Had it been a hallucination caused by nerves?

‘Wait mage?’

Polcar’s eyes opened wide.

He didn’t know much about magic, but he was at least aware that it could cause absurd and inexplicable phenomena—casting fire from one’s hands, calling down lightning from the sky, even altering the climate and temperature.

Of course, just like with knights, the scale of magic varied depending on the mage’s ability.

But if it was the court mage of the North, wouldn’t it be easy for him to manipulate sound?

What if he had used magic so that only Polcar could hear the declaration, subtly?

‘That bastard…!’

Only then did Polcar realize he had fallen into a trap.

His opponent, Hugo, was the duke’s closest confidant—he couldn’t kill him.

The judge was a mage—it was impossible to know what tricks he might use.

The one accusing him of dishonor was a Swordmaster—arguing with her would be reckless.

Was there a better environment to weave a conspiracy?

On top of that, there were thousands of witnesses. If this continued, he would end up bearing an indelible disgrace.

“W-wait a moment…!”

“Shut up, Polcar!”

Smack!

“Ugh!”

Polcar tried to proclaim his innocence, but fell to the ground after being struck by a scabbard thrown by the knights of House Lerum themselves.

It might have been an unfair treatment for someone who had been their comrade until recently, but they too were desperate.

In their eyes, Polcar was nothing more than a lunatic who, without any declaration from the judge, had lunged to kill the duke’s confidant.

They could not expect anything coherent to come out of his mouth.

Worse still, he might spew accusations or curses and make the situation even worse, so the best course was to knock him unconscious.

“We reiterate that this has nothing to do with us…!”

“Enough.”

The excuse was cut off at the root by Lucian’s icy voice.

At his side, Viscount Oleg Lerum, completely pale, stood rigid as a statue.

Lucian turned his head, observing in turn the viscount, the knights, and Polcar, and spoke coldly.

“Take Sir Hugo inside and treat his injuries.”

“Yes! Fortunately, the viscount’s house has elixirs—”

“Shut up.”

Oleg tried to ingratiate himself, but a single curse was enough to make him close his mouth.

Though it was an excessive tone even for a king addressing a viscount, no one dared to stop Lucian.

Seeing Hugo being carried inside, Lucian stood up and declared.

“The duel is over. Everyone, withdraw.”

***

The result of the duel was truly absurd.

A defeat by default, due to Polcar’s surprise attack without waiting for the starting signal.

Put elegantly, it was a defeat by infraction, but in reality it was closer to the duel not even having taken place at all.

The confrontation ended in an instant, without the swords even clashing properly a single time, so it did not even serve as a topic of conversation.

However, setting that aside, the impact caused by such an empty duel was enormous.

“Wasn’t it enough for them to insult our king, that now they pull this kind of stupidity even in a duel?”

“How much audacity can they have? Is their face made of steel?”

“Disgusting. Just because they think the West is their backyard? We’ll see about that.”

The five thousand soldiers, who until then had maintained a certain degree of goodwill, began to burn with hostility toward the house of Viscount Lerum.

They started wandering frequently outside the camp, roaming the territory at will, and every time they moved, they did so carrying weapons.

Dozens of armed soldiers roaming the surroundings made the civilian inhabitants tremble with fear.

The knights of the house of Viscount Lerum tried to intervene, unable to endure the scene, but it was useless.

The soldiers pretended to listen for a moment and, shortly afterward, went back to intimidating the inhabitants.

“Damn it, doesn’t this warrant a formal protest?”

“A protest? Go protest to the duke right now? Have you lost your mind?”

The veteran knights frowned, irritated by the complaints of the younger ones.

In times of peace, it might have been possible to protest because mere soldiers disobeyed the orders of knights.

In any territory, defying noble authority was something intolerable.

But in times of chaos, the situation had changed.

Now, which side one belonged to mattered far more than rank itself.

“The arm always bends inward. If you touch the soldiers relying only on your status, you don’t know how the knights on their side will react.”

“So we just have to endure it even if they keep behaving like this?”

“And what do you propose? That we don’t endure it and start a war?”

“…”

“Shut your mouth and stay still. Unless you want to turn this territory into a sea of fire.”

It was a frustrating answer for the young knights, but the veteran’s analysis was correct.

Even their lord, Viscount Oleg Lerum, was bowing his head as much as possible to prevent Lucian from exploding.

“Finish the bridge as soon as possible! Use all available materials and advance it by even a single day!”

Oleg altered the original plan, which had aimed to detain Lucian a bit longer, and accelerated the bridge repairs.

At this point, he needed to expel Lucian as quickly as possible.

If they continued lodging at House Lerum, at any moment the soldiers could explode and spark a war.

“I’ve done everything within my power. If I keep holding the duke back, the effect will be the opposite. The marquis will understand.”

“Of course. But, my lord, Sir Polcar is still proclaiming his innocence from the prison…”

“Ignore him.”

Oleg cut off his subordinate’s report at the root.

It no longer mattered whether Polcar’s impulsive action had been the result of a conspiracy or not.

What mattered was that, the moment he was released, the hostility of the five thousand soldiers would explode.

“Even if Polcar fell into a trap, for now there is no choice but to keep him confined. Once they leave, then I will hear the truth.”

Postponing the clarification of the facts, Oleg concentrated all his efforts on repairing the bridge.

Thanks to that, the work progressed rapidly, and it seemed it would be completed ahead of schedule.

As Lucian showed no strange movements, the viscount began to calm down—until news struck him like lightning.

“W-what!? The bridge that was already repaired collapsed!?”

“Yes! It wasn’t an accident! There are clear traces that someone came at night and destroyed it by force.”

“…!”

Oleg’s eyebrows trembled.

He had a fairly clear idea of who had destroyed the bridge.

After closing his eyes and reflecting for a moment, he spoke to his subordinate in a trembling voice.

“…I must see the duke.”

***

“The bridge collapsed?”

“Yes. There are even signs that someone deliberately destroyed it.”

“Ha.”

Lucian let out a hollow laugh, as if he no longer had words to express the absurdity of the situation.

But Oleg looked at him with hardened eyes and spoke.

“Your Majesty, please, don’t do this.”

“Don’t do this? What do you mean?”

“You know exactly what I mean.”

“Are we going to play guessing games? Drop the empty words and say it with your own mouth.”

Faced with Lucian’s voice, heavy with killing intent, Oleg shuddered for an instant—but only for a moment.

Gathering his courage, he spoke clearly.

“I know that it was Your Majesty who destroyed the bridge.”

“…”

“We will open the road immediately, so please stop. Don’t you think this is already enough? What do you gain by venting your anger by pressuring me? Do you truly intend to start a war?”

“A war? That sounds good.”

“What…?”

Lucian raised the corner of his lips and glared at Oleg.

“It wasn’t enough to humiliate me and injure my knight—now you even try to pin the blame on me. At this point, I’ve already endured more than enough.”

“Your Majesty…”

“From now on, I refuse to be your guest. Withdraw the army outside the wall, and I will grant you three days to prepare your defenses. I, Lucian Grimaldi Valdeck, in the name of the royal house of Grimaldi, declare war on the house of Viscount Lerum.”

“…!?”

At that unexpected declaration of war, Oleg was horrified.

He was truly going to start a war in the very heart of the West?

“Have you lost your mind? You’ve just turned the entire West into your enemy!”

“And while I face the entire West, you will rest peacefully in a coffin.”

“…!”

“I’ll take care of my business, so you worry about yours. House Lerum will be exterminated in three days.”

After saying that, Lucian left without paying any further attention to Oleg.

The viscount, stunned, took a moment to react and hurried after him.

“Your Majesty, please, calm down! It was not our intention to insult you!”

“Felicia, Marius. Gather the soldiers. We are leaving House Lerum immediately.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Please listen to me! It was my fault!”

“And remove this annoying insect. Every word he says irritates me.”

“Your Majesty! Ugh!”

Oleg, who was clinging to Lucian, stopped abruptly.

He felt the cold touch of metal against the back of his neck.

“V-viscount!”

“Lower that sword right now!”

The knights of House Lerum were horrified to see Felicia with her sword drawn.

Instinctively, they reached for their hilts, but Felicia spoke without blinking.

“As long as he does not cling to the King, there is no reason to use the sword. Step back.”

Faced with Felicia’s threat, Oleg had no choice but to take a step back.

She sheathed her sword and followed Lucian together with Marius.

Shortly afterward, Lucian truly led the soldiers out beyond the wall.

And, with a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, he proclaimed.

“As the price for all the humiliations and mockery I have suffered at House Lerum, I declare war on them! There are only two options—surrender or extermination! You have three days to think it through!”