A Mercenary’s Rebirth Among Nobles

After overcoming Belfor Castle, Lucian’s group encountered no further obstacles.

It was only logical.

A trap capable of stopping an army of five thousand men required time to prepare.

With barely two days remaining, there was no margin for something like that.

And, just as expected, two days later Lucian’s group arrived at their destination.

“It’s a magnificent castle.”

Lucian murmured as he gazed at the imposing, luxuriously adorned castle in the distance.

Pyrmont, where the main seat of the Marquis Roglan’s house was located.

Just as the rumors said, its grandeur had nothing to envy Kelheim, the heart of the ducal house of Valdeck.

Although it did not reach the level of the white walls of Tibron or Asagrim, it would be more than sufficient to stop five thousand exhausted soldiers without difficulty.

However, to the marquis’s misfortune, Lucian’s group had not come as enemies.

Guests cannot be stopped by the sturdiness of walls.

“Let’s go!”

— Waaah!

At Lucian’s brief command, the soldiers let out a short cheer and advanced, forming ranks of five and ten.

They sought to pressure the marquis by displaying the same iron discipline they had maintained up to now.

When the five thousand men drew close enough that arrows could reach them from the walls—

Rumble!

The gates of Pyrmont Castle opened, and soldiers began pouring out in a rush.

The soldiers on Lucian’s side flinched, thinking for an instant that it was a preemptive attack.

But contrary to their fears, the marquis’s side did not attack.

Just like them, they simply lined up in orderly ranks.

Faced with that perfectly coordinated movement, Lucian’s soldiers immediately understood the marquis’s intent.

‘It’s a contest of will.’

When forces of similar level confront each other, rarely does either side give way easily.

Bernhardt had no intention of admitting inferiority to Lucian.

He clearly intended to display how elite his troops were in order to preserve his pride.

Lucian’s soldiers frowned as they grasped the situation.

Tensions like this, though they might seem trivial, could easily escalate if someone misjudged the moment to withdraw.

While a subtle pressure ran through both armies, Bernhardt appeared from within the castle.

“…”

“…”

The gazes of Lucian and the marquis collided in the air.

They had seen each other once in the past, but now their positions were completely different.

After a few seconds of silence, Lucian slightly inclined his head toward Bernhardt.

A clear signal since you’ve come out, say something.

At that arrogant gesture, the marquis’s eyebrows trembled, if only for an instant.

Soon after, he let out a hearty laugh, as if meeting an old friend.

“It’s been a long time, Lucian! How many years has it been since we met during the Krephelt rebellion? Have you been well all this time?”

“…!”

**

The soldiers on Lucian’s side were frozen in place.

Bernhardt’s move was an extreme gamble.

Instead of resorting to official titles, he appealed to a personal relationship and the passage of time, trying to place himself above Lucian.

If Lucian responded by playing along, the pressure of the five thousand soldiers would be completely neutralized.

But if he reacted too harshly, bloodshed could be triggered.

While both sides swallowed hard amid tension on the verge of exploding—

“What audacity.”

Before Lucian could respond, Felicia stepped forward and murmured those words.

It was barely a whisper, yet her voice carried with unsettling clarity, as if she were speaking directly into the ear.

Looking at the marquis coldly, Felicia spoke.

“Know your place, Bernhardt Roglan. The king is not someone you may speak to lightly. If you cling to old ties and have forgotten when to bow your head, I will cut off your neck and use it as an ornament to teach you a lesson.”

“…!?”

At those words, not only the marquis’s soldiers, but even those on Lucian’s side, let out a silent cry.

Bernhardt had been provocative, but Felicia’s counterattack was even more brutal.

Speaking of decapitation before a marquis, no matter how much of a Swordmaster she was, went far beyond any notion of discourtesy.

As the soldiers stood paralyzed, Bernhardt’s face flushed red and he clenched his fist tightly.

He had never imagined receiving such an insult, least of all from his own daughter.

“Felicia Roglan! How dare you speak to your father like that? Have you forgotten where the blood flowing through your veins comes from?”

“Khk!”

At that revelation, one of the knights clutched his chest.

That Felicia was Eisen’s adopted daughter was something everyone knew.

But very few knew her true origin.

It was not so much that it had been deliberately hidden, but rather that Felicia hated speaking of her lineage, and those around her chose to remain silent.

Even if it did not entail political harm, there was no reason to earn her resentment by revealing it.

Whatever the reason, the words that came from Bernhardt’s mouth were enough to leave everyone completely shocked.

“Felicia was the marquis’s legitimate daughter!?”

“No, then how did she end up as sir Eisen’s adopted daughter…?”

“I don’t understand any of this.”

Seeing the soldiers and knights plunged into confusion, Marquis Bernhardt formed a satisfied smile.

If Felicia tried to deny or reject her origin, he intended to settle the matter right there.

No matter how much she denied it, the Roglan blood flowing through her veins could not be changed.

However, Felicia showed neither confusion nor anger.

On the contrary, as if accepting her origin, she calmly nodded and replied coldly.

“Precisely because of that, I warn you. If you truly are my father, do not commit such miserable acts in front of me. That blood is already shameful enough—now do you intend to turn even the fact that I am still alive into a sin?”

“…!”

“Even if our ties were broken long ago, blood is still blood. If you continue to be disrespectful to His Majesty the King, I will cut off your neck myself and offer it up! There is no better way to atone for a father’s sins than to do so at the hands of his own daughter!”

With that severe reprimand from Felicia, the confusion among Lucian’s soldiers immediately dissipated.

That the two were father and daughter was still shocking, but given the circumstances, it could hardly be called a family relationship.

It was easy to understand why that bond had remained secret until now.

By contrast, Marquis Bernhardt’s face turned pale as paper.

He knew that after what had happened in the past, affection would be scarce, but he had never imagined she would display such open murderous intent, and before everyone.

“H-how dare you…?”

“Enough.”

Just as the marquis was about to say more, Lucian, who had remained silent until then, stepped forward.

Just like Felicia before him, his voice was barely a murmur, yet it sounded as if he were speaking directly into the ear.

However, unlike Felicia’s precise control, Lucian’s technique was crude.

The overflowing magic not only carried the sound clearly, but also made it feel as if pressure were striking the skin.

It was the side effect of forcing an immature technique with sheer power.

Even so, there was no one there who could mock that clumsiness.

‘How much damned magical energy does he have…?’

‘This isn’t something a human can endure…’

Failing on the first attempt and simply pouring in an absurd amount of magic until it worked by force?

A normal human should not even possess that much magic to begin with.

It was completely absurd.

Lucian took a step forward, sweeping his gaze across the knights who were swallowing hard.

“I came here answering your invitation. And yet the house of Marquis Roglan, despite receiving legitimate guests, does nothing but utter useless words, without even a single phrase of welcome.”

“…”

“I will ask only one thing. Will you allow us to enter as guests, or do you intend to leave us standing outside and then drive us away?”

Lucian’s cold eyes fixed on Marquis Bernhardt.

It was an opportunity to bring order to a situation that was becoming complicated, and at the same time a clear warning.

If he intended to continue this pointless contest of pride, Lucian would not let it pass.

Amid the prolonged silence, the marquis bit his lip.

If from the beginning he had chosen a siege, perhaps.

But now he had brought all his troops out of the castle merely to pressure Lucian.

If, wounded in his pride, he chose to openly make an enemy here, the result was obvious.

“…Of course. The house of Marquis Roglan will receive you as guests.”

In the end, Bernhardt had no choice but to retract his earlier disdain and shift to formal treatment.

Satisfied with that response, Lucian smiled faintly.

“Then I would appreciate it if you would open the gates. My soldiers urgently need a place to rest.”

***

The battle of nerves between Lucian and Marquis Bernhardt ended anticlimactically, but in practice it was a complete victory for Lucian.

He had gone in with the intention of crushing the opponent’s spirit from the very first encounter, and instead it was the marquis who ended up yielding.

Not only did he allow an army of five thousand men, far superior to his regular forces, to enter his territory, but he also had to watch them move about with their morale intact.

A perfect defeat.

“Damn it, it’s over.”

Marquis Bernhardt clenched his teeth as he spat out a curse.

Once Lucian had penetrated to the very heart of the Roglan house, his objective was practically achieved.

In everyone’s eyes, Lucian would be the one who had crossed the west as if it were his own backyard, while the marquis would be left as the idiot who could not stop him even while seeing it coming.

“Marquis, what shall we do about the banquet preparations?”

“Handle it yourselves! Have we held a banquet only once or twice for you not to know how to deal with something that simple?”

“M-my apologies!”

The word “banquet” made the marquis explode despite himself.

Since he had used the excuse of inviting them to a banquet, he would have to receive them accordingly.

Just thinking about spending a fortune to entertain someone he detested made his insides twist.

“A-and also…”

“And now what?”

“The duke is requesting an audience. He says he wishes to speak with Your Excellency about the future of this Empire…”

“What?”

At those unexpected words, the marquis blinked.

It was true that he had mentioned discussing the future of the Empire, but it had been nothing more than a pretext.

The other side should know that as well, so what was this talk now about the future of the Empire?

‘What is he plotting?’

Although the request for an audience struck him as highly suspicious, the marquis decided to accept it.

There was no reason to refuse, and avoiding the meeting would only serve to provoke the opponent.

Shortly afterward, Lucian arrived at Marquis Bernhardt’s study and, without asking permission, dropped into a chair.

“How does it feel to fall into a trap you dug yourself?”

The marquis’s face immediately tightened.

He had agreed to the audience, and the first thing he received was blatant mockery.

“…Did you come just to mock me?”

“Not exactly. But since I was here, I thought mocking you a bit would be fun too.”

“Damn brat…!”