Something Rudel didn't know was that what was happening was part of the game's plot.
A plot that Erselica, evidently, would have forgotten as usual.
But he would always find out too late, thanks to her.
Alicia is an important character for the game's plot, as her family would have much to do with the war of succession that would erupt over the throne.
The Campbell family supported Liam's half-brother because Count Olston sowed lies related to them, all orchestrated by Marquis Balzac.
The king lost his faith and support for them, which caused them to become resentful, since, being innocent, they were treated like criminals. This discontent was born the day the capital's port was attacked and one of the knights, who was part of Count Olston, found the Campbell family emblem among the pirate's belongings.
This accusation led them to side with that second prince, supporting him with weapons and everything his faction needed.
At the same time, Count Olston supported no one but his own pocket. Despite selling weapons directly and indirectly to the royal family and Marquis Balzac and his allies, his only true ally was money.
This wasn't known in the official story, but in drafts uploaded to the internet that told what happened to them, since the writer was too lazy to remember it and it was his way of covering his mistakes.
During the war, Alicia's family was betrayed by that very action, because Liam's half-brother discovered that they had secretly sold weapons to his counterpart. Therefore, the one who betrayed them was the one who planted the lie: Count Olston.
This led to their execution, while their territories were taken and their daughters were sold as slaves.
Count Olston would win no matter who won the war, because he always secretly supported both sides, and would have gotten away with it except for one small problem:
None of that happened.
His greatest ally was Rossini, who was his partner and was executed. Balzac, who was his sponsor, was destroyed. And the Herring Household, which provided them with pirates to send as cannon fodder, ended.
They had no choice but to hire former knights as pirates, and thus formed the Wing Sharks. Among them, they needed a reliable and loyal captain.
Therefore, the youngest son, Clyde, who was supposed to have died in the war, was made their captain.
He infiltrated the Campbell house and stole information to use in a trial against his master, planting forgeries inside the marquis's office.
Edgar is a kind man and trusted people—that was his flaw. It would be very easy to frame him, the Olston's thought.
Their plan was to pretend to harm his family to lure them to their territory, then plant tons of weapons and evidence of the Wing Sharks planning to attack the port. And then, in a revealing and sad turn, Edmund would reveal everything in exchange for mercy for his life. The Olston family would defeat the pirates and take their riches and daughters, since Jim wanted them to be the mothers of his children.
It was a perfect plan that was going far too well, except for one thing: Rudel was here.
◇
I had just discovered that Edmund was the guy in the photo. I could only deduce he was a member of their family, maybe a secret son.
After discussing it with Edgar, I told him we should go to the capital quickly. Since ships are slower than my armor, I'll go first.
Battler took about 20 minutes using all its energy; it was almost out of reserves, but I landed near the house.
I entered without knocking and there was no one, but there was a slight smell of gunpowder.
Ixion was scanning the house for human traces. I was doing the same, only holding a rifle I had borrowed.
Ixion approached me and reported his findings.
"Master, I detect hundreds of hidden crates in the house's basement."
"That's strange."
"When I was here last, the basement was empty, and now there are hundreds of crates with weaponry."
"That explains the gunpowder smell then."
"Master..." he stared at me to say what I was already thinking, "...this is a trap. There's also no one here..."
"Master, step away from the door."
"Why?"
Ixion grabbed my shirt and threw me inside, and before I could get up I heard a loud roar and saw flames shooting out of Battler. It had been attacked.
"How did it explode?"
"They're pirates. A group of pirates has run aground at the port and is attacking it. The knights can barely handle them."
"That pirate ship must have seen us, that's why they followed."
"No doubt this was planned by the Olston's. Most likely, they're trying to frame the Campbell's for the attack."
"If that's the case, it's an excellent plan I would use to finish off my enemies without lifting a finger. And for being done by humans, it deserves applause."
"Taking out the competition, you mean?"
"That's normal in business, but sabotage and framing someone for a crime is something only scum would do. And now I'm getting involved with the Campbell's, so I can't let these idiots get away with it."
"More importantly, Ixion: has the ship left already?"
"It moved quite far away. They probably thought we just landed and bombed us without checking if anyone was inside... if they're genuine pirates."
Now that I knew the Olston's' plan, I had to stop them, but there was no armor left to use.
"Ixion, can you bring your ship and an armor to fight?"
"Negative."
"Why?"
"Because... Bell hasn't responded for a few hours. I've been sending her absurd messages, but she's quiet now. Also, my ship is configured to protect her family's territory; I'd have to go there personally. Same with the spare armors."
"We have nothing on hand except..."
"Except what? Now more than ever I need your technology."
Ixion looked at me as if wondering 'should I use it or not?' and that's what he told me.
"I have a new invention I planned to use with you at some point, but now there's no time for tests."
"What tests?"
"It's already on the way. I left it hidden in the capital for you to use earlier."
"Observe and admire..."
A sound similar to a plane crossing the sky was heard.
I went outside and saw a black object crossing the sky. Its shape was similar to a flying jet ski.
No, it really was one. A flying motorcycle.
Jet black with gray lines, it was the size of a normal motorcycle, but its lower part was flat and blew out hot air. It had a turbine at the back.
"I want to sell these in the future; you'd make a lot of money from them."
I took my rifle and got on the bike. Ixion settled into the hole in the center, looking ahead.
"Shall I explain how it works?"
"Not necessary."
I grabbed the handlebars as if it were a real motorcycle and accelerated a little. This made the turbine rev and tilt me upward.
"I just need a little practice. Five minutes is all I need."
(Don't underestimate a motocross fanatic.)
◇◇◇
Count Olston and Jim were meeting with Edmund—Clyde—on the flagship attacking the port.
The place was in flames, and the knights, most of whom were protecting the king in Aster, were fighting hard against the pirates.
Nathan watched in awe as his plan, years in the making, finally bore fruit.
"This is what I've desired for so long. To clear my name of crimes I didn't commit and beat the competition."
"More importantly, did you bring them?" said the Count to his son, who had changed into his pirate captain uniform and changed his hair color back to its original form.
"Yes, Father. Although you should tell me first: 'it's a pleasure to see you again, son.'"
"I'll do that after I see them."
Clyde stared at him for a moment and then led him to an adjoining room where the family's women were, including Rosetta and Wendy, who were asleep in their rooms.
"They are undoubtedly beautiful. They'll fetch a good price. But I have a question."
"Why the dog?"
The Count pointed at the dog Leomel, who was in a corner.
Clyde told him, averting his gaze.
"I like dogs, and I was thinking of keeping him as a pet."
His father got angry and hit him on the head like when he was a child.
"Why do you want to keep that sack of fleas? Get rid of him, throw him overboard or whatever. I hate the fleas they bring."
Clyde, after facing him directly, said.
"I don't want to. I still remember what you did to Darwin."
His father hit him again and said very angrily.
"I don't care if you cry; you're an adult and my son, and you do as I say."
"Jim, stop smelling their hair and let's go. We need to prepare for the spectacle; my knights await my order."
"Huh? Can't we stay a little longer?"
"I said we're leaving!"
The Count left the room, Jim behind him, but before leaving he gave a few words of encouragement.
"Ignore him."
Clyde clenched his fist in resignation.
(It was always like this. He treats me like the worst just because I remind him of his deceased brother.)
(I thought with this, he would start treating me better, but he doesn't. It really angers me how he looks down on me like trash.)
"When I take power of the family, you can have anything you want."
Clyde remembered what happened in that moment when he thought his life would improve.
He went to war to earn a title or some award; that would make his father praise and treat him better.
But when he arrived on the battlefield, he found an armed unit defeating a foreign fleet.
He survived without killing anyone, but the humiliation of that day, where he lost the chance for his father's praise, was stolen by Rudel.
Clyde put his hands to his face and told Jim.
"Go with him; you need to be present for when we're defeated. I'll have the boat ready to escape with them soon."
"By the way, Jim, is it true you want them as wives? You know Dad will sell them, right? You can only take one as your mistress, not your wife."
"Huh? In that case, her, she's the prettiest."
"Miss Alicia, huh?"
Clyde remembered how well the whole family got along with him, including Alicia, who considered him a member of her family.
"Captain, something's approaching!"
Clyde told Jim to go and went to check the problem the first officer reported.
Using binoculars, he saw something strange and unreal.
It was Rudel approaching on a small object coming quickly.
"Marquis Bradford. It seems his reputation as a busybody is true."
"Ready the cannons and focus all priority on eliminating him! It's time you pay for my humiliation."
As he said this, he didn't notice the door closing silently behind him.
◇◇◇
Rudel took a little longer than expected because he didn't remember how to use motorcycle handlebars.
He'd used one once through a work colleague.
He was wearing a helmet against the strong wind, and it also served as a communicator with Ixion.
"There are so many ships."
"Fortunately, the kingdom's forces are holding back the majority."
"Still, I don't think I can take them on alone."
"Don't worry, I'm bringing drones to steal armors and manipulate them. They'll take a while, but they'll be the necessary help until Marquis Campbell arrives."
"So hold on for a while."
"You say that like it's easy."
He said that while watching how the Olston family's ships were now aiming at him.
"No more pretending, huh? Fine, I won't pretend not to humiliate them either!"
Rudel changed direction and went to attack them. Since he couldn't damage the ship or the armors, he went straight for the cannons.
He aimed his rifle at one of them and a powerful golden ray hit the cannons.
It was an electric bullet; since the cannons operate by a mechanical mechanism, it paralyzed their movements for a while.
He reloaded and fired again; this time it was a fire-imbued bullet, causing a large explosion.
Rudel kept attacking the cannons. It seemed like a cowardly act, but in a fight where you're at a disadvantage, gaining an advantage over your enemies is all that matters.
Clyde watched as Rudel disabled almost all the cannons.
He was too fast to aim at and was destroying their cannons, leaving them with nothing but shields for defense.
At the same time, some armors manipulated by drones joined the battlefield, ejected their pilots, and took them over to protect Rudel from threats.
Even with Count Olston's fleet here, they couldn't defeat Rudel or carry out their plan.
Count Olston would obviously be angry, but Clyde was even more so.
"Why the hell won't he die?"
"Is he some kind of superhuman or something?"
"Doesn't matter. I'll go finish him myself; surely that's why he's still alive."
He left the first officer in command and went to get his armor.
It was an armor worthy of him, red with a great axe that could cut down a thousand-year-old tree in seconds.
Once outside, he looked for Rudel, who he saw disabling more cannons.
He went straight for him.
Rudel noticed his presence and avoided the slash of his great axe.
"What you're trying to do is stupid, Marquis Bradford."
Rudel recognized his voice immediately.
"Edmund, isn't it?"
"I'm Clyde. Clyde Olston, my father's second son."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Rudel, the third son."
"Don't mock me!"
"I'm not, but I'm telling you to withdraw your troops before they get hurt."
"You see, today I don't want to kill; I want to give them a beating instead of killing them."
Clyde felt Rudel was looking down on him, when it was the opposite.
"Are you making fun of me? Just because you're a national hero?"
"I'm not. But you're not the first enemy I've faced, and I always end up defeating them."
"That was until today!"
Clyde attacked him and Rudel dodged.
"Come back here and fight like a man, coward!"
Rudel looked at him incredulously.
"You think a battle is defined by frontal combat? It shows you lack combat experience, Clyde-chan."
◇◇◇
The girls were waking up and were being untied by Alicia.
They were very confused.
The dog was also waking up and she covered his mouth.
Alicia explained the situation to them in a low voice, and they were all horrified to hear it.
"Really?"
"Edmund is a pirate and a traitor."
"I can't believe how far Count Olston would go to make money."
"Uwaaah, pirates kidnapped us! They're going to sell me to some rich old man for being so pretty!"
"Rosetta-san, please don't cry, you'll attract them."
"Listen to me, all of you, beforehand."
Alicia explained her plan to escape.
"We must stay still and pretend we're still asleep in case someone comes near. So I'll go to the door and observe outside; I'll tell you if it's safe to come out one by one."
They were all surprised by that plan; her mother didn't hesitate to ask.
"How can you be so calm in this situation?"
Alicia replied with extreme confidence.
"Experience. I've been a hostage once and learned some things later from veteran teachers."
Following her plan, everyone except Alicia lay down, including the dog. She opened the door and checked outside.
The pirates were busy watching the situation, trying to do something.
Little by little, she told each one to go out and head straight to the entrance, which had a space reserved for a bar where they could hide. Finally, Alicia went with the dog, sneaking.
They opened the door and silently went down the hallway.
"Even if it's a pirate ship, it must have a map to the hangar where they keep the lifeboats."
Ships have lifeboats in the hangar, since having them around the ship is problematic when attacked.
After finding a map, they went straight to the hangar.
They would take a boat and escape quickly.
That was the plan, and so far they had succeeded.
But when they entered the hangar,
they found Count Olston and his son arriving, precisely to take them out.
"They must kill that idiot as soon as possible, or else my master plan will—"
Before finishing his sentence, he met Alicia's eyes staring fixedly at him.
"Idiots! The hostages are escaping!"
The guards ran towards them.
Rosetta shouted in panic.
"Alicia-sama, what do we do, they're coming!"
Alicia remembered that feeling from that time, when she was in a place where her life was at stake. But now it was different.
The enemy was smaller and they couldn't count on external help, only escape quickly and tell everything to her father and the prime minister.
Before coming here, they took rifles as a precaution. Alicia took one from her sister and aimed at a pirate.
She pulled the trigger and the bullet missed, wounding him in the shoulder.
"We must take that boat! Everyone must fight!"
"Sisters, you use magic, use it! Mom and Wendy, you know how to use rifles, right? I need your support. And Rosetta, close the door using all your strength."
The girls obeyed Alicia's order, who was remembering Rudel from that day.
Everyone was scared, but her words, though offensive, gave everyone courage to fight. She was recreating that scene.
Layla was behind her mother, who aimed at the Count. The dog Leomel jumped from the spot and ran to bite them.
He bit his groin.
"Buhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"
He made that strange sound while being bitten. His son tried to remove the dog.
The guards were trying to approach them without hurting them because they were valuable merchandise.
Anne used a fireball and Mary an ice block that hit the pirates.
Since the water inside was freezing and the fire combined with the outside, the result was freezing their enemy due to the temperature shock.
Since they were just a group of decorative escorts and not real pirates, the women could fight them.
Jim removed the dog Leomel from his father's groin and then went to bite him.
"Ahhh! Dad, help me!"
The Count was making sure the family's jewels were still there. Seeing how a group of incompetents couldn't defeat a group of women, he got very angry.
He drew his pistol and aimed it at Alicia.
"I'd rather lose merchandise than lose my status."
Before he could pull the trigger, shots were fired by someone.
Edgar's voice echoed in the place.
"Pirate fleet, you are surrounded by the fleet of Marquis Campbell! Surrender now and we won't sink you!"
The Marquis had to leave a group to fight the false pirates.
He and his son were in armors ready to go fight for their family.
Rudel managed to get more allies, as on the way they made a call.
"The fleets of Baron Alencon and Baron Klemin are also joining the battle!"
Hearing that Edgar and Lionel were here, the girls were very happy.
Now the tables had turned for the Olston's.
◇◇◇
When Edgar and Lionel arrived, they couldn't believe their eyes.
At least 40 ships gathered and ninety armors together.
All were attacking the same spot, Rudel, who was fleeing and attacking.
Anyone would think he's a coward who doesn't fight, but they'd be wrong.
Edgar understood what Rudel was doing.
He was a normal human being surrounded by enormous beasts that could kill him with one blow.
Someone so fragile wouldn't stand a chance against them.
Therefore, Rudel decided to cut off the source of those problems: the cannons.
Without cannons, the possibility of being hurt or the allies being attacked when they arrived wouldn't exist. It was the best possible decision.
Edgar knew Rudel was someone who had been in two wars and several fights; his fighting style was survival. He wasn't some eminent figure immune to bullets or blows; he was an ordinary human being, but blessed with a luck no one else in the world had.
Several enemy armors were covering him; he had no idea if they were allies or he convinced them to switch sides, but the fact was that Rudel had turned things in his favor.
If the enemy had fewer armors and disabled cannons, defeating them was much easier.
"Lionel, without a doubt, our family will be blessed if he marries Alicia. It's undoubtedly a message from heaven; he represents a change for all of us."
Lionel didn't understand what his father was saying, but he thought the same.
"If you mean how amazing Rudel-san is, you're right. It's incredible how he alone turned the situation into a disadvantage for them and a great advantage for us."
"Let's all go support him!"
Shouted Lionel, making the knights and sailors muster courage despite being outnumbered.
They went straight to fight them.
Meanwhile, on the other side...
"Fight like a man and don't run away!"
Clyde was losing patience; he swung his great axe to cut Rudel, but the aero-bike was faster and dodged.
Once at a distance, he fired an electric bullet at him, but Clyde repelled it with his axe, making it miss.
"You have no idea how much I've desired this, and you're taking it as a joke!"
"I'm not joking. I'm fighting seriously; my fighting style is like this."
"That's not honorable! I want you to fight me like when you fought the Bloody Knight!"
"You can't compare to Bandel. That guy was scary just to look at and listen to; to this day I still get chills from his smile."
Rudel shuddered because he remembered the beating his demonic form gave him that day.
Clyde got so angry he stopped reasoning. He felt insulted by Rudel; he wanted to have a death match with the kingdom's hero to prove his power.
He wanted to savor the honor that was stolen from him, but Rudel only dodged his attacks and shot from a distance.
He couldn't take it anymore and went straight at him without measuring his speed.
"Die already!!"
Clyde threw his axe, which pierced part of the ship, creating a huge hole where they could see inside.
There, the girls were subduing Nathan and his brother Jim.
Clyde, seeing how his family was being taken hostage—despite hating his father, he couldn't abandon them—
quickly reached in and grabbed Alicia, who was the one on top of his father.
She was being squeezed tightly by him.
"Miss Alicia, I never expected you to be the kind of woman who hits the weak."
"Edmund, please, surrender now. If you do, I'll ask my father to be lenient with you for the time we spent together."
"Are you still seeing me as a servant? I'm not Edmund, I'm Clyde, and you're in no position to give me orders!"
Clyde turned to Rudel and showed him his hostage.
"Marquis Bradford, if you don't surrender this instant, she will die, either by my hand or the fall. You decide."
Rudel had only two options: Alicia lives and he dies, or she dies and he lives.
For any normal person, it would be a difficult and stressful decision to make.
But that person was Rudel, and that word didn't exist for him.
He looked at the frightened Alicia and reassured her with his words.
"Alicia, don't worry. Everything will end soon."
"To be exact... in five seconds."
He said, looking at his watch.
"Die, marquiiiis!"
Shouted Clyde as he lunged at him.
"Ixion, do it."
"It was a nice prototype."
Clyde didn't pay attention to those words.
Rudel accelerated to the max and jumped into the void.
The aero-bike went straight towards Clyde, who threw it in Rudel's direction to protect himself from the attack.
The aero-bike exploded against him, but he suffered no damage.
Clyde watched as Rudel and Alicia fell into the void.
Sad feelings came over him because he truly cared for the Campbell's; they were the family he never had with his father.
But an Olston couldn't betray them.
"Enjoy your trip to the other world, hero. Hahahaha!"
Clyde laughed as he watched them both fall to their deaths.
But he noticed something strange:
Rudel was aiming his rifle at him.
"The distance is ridiculously long. The range is short and the wind is against you; you'll only make your defeat even more humiliating."
Alicia was crying from the speed of the fall.
Rudel approached her, hugged her, and said the words.
"Everything will be fine."
"Ixiooooon!"
"Don't shout, they're here."
Two armors carrying a mattress approached, and both impacted firmly on it.
They sank in, and instead of bouncing, the speed helped prevent it.
Clyde couldn't believe how Rudel had just cheated death.
"That's cheating!"
"Marquis Bradfooooooooooooord!"
Clyde went straight for him after retrieving his axe.
"Fools like you are easy to read."
Clyde was still far away, but that didn't matter to Rudel.
He pulled the trigger and a magical bullet was fired at high speed.
It streaked across the sky like a hypersonic rocket.
The ammunition used was special, capable of piercing armored tanks at 500 meters.
Rudel calculated with the rifle's sight how many meters' difference there was, and Clyde reached the minimum distance.
The electricity-imbued magical bullet went straight towards Clyde, who tried to cut it.
But since it was a bullet imbued with magical power that Ixion collected from the air and charged until now, it would equal the power of a mini ballistic missile.
"Damn you... you had something like this... stored away..."
Clyde was electrocuted by the bullet and fell to the ground with his armor, seriously injuring himself in the process.
Now safe, Rudel told Alicia.
"Everything is fine now. It's all over."
"Look, the pirates were captured by your father and brother."
The battle had already concluded and the aggressors were arrested.
The Wing Sharks had finally been destroyed.
Alicia couldn't believe what happened seconds ago.
"Was that for real? Everything that happened in less than a minute was real?"
"Well, at this point I don't care if it's real or not. I'm used to it."
"But things like this happen to me daily. So if you want to be with me, you should know you'll be prone to being in situations like this constantly."
Alicia hugged him and gave him a loving kiss on the mouth.
"Rudel-san is the very embodiment of a knight from legends. No, he's the very embodiment of a mythological hero. What woman wouldn't want to be with a man like that?"
He remembered his girlfriend's said the same. Rudel sighed and told her the words she so wanted to hear.
"In that case, welcome to the Bradford family."
Alicia was so happy that Rudel recognized her as one of his fiancées, and with that hug, that chaotic game event ended.
________________
What did you think of Clyde/Edmund as a character? I feel there was potential in all he said. What do you think? Is he worth bringing back as Derrick, or should he be left forgotten as the villain of the moment?
To close the fanservice with Alicia in wife mode: https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/138607936