Dragon Slayer's Castle (2)
"Just now… what did you say?"
"I said no."
Since Helian seemed unable to process what I had said, I repeated myself.
"Are you truly in your right mind right now, Klein?"
Helian spoke without losing her smile.
It looked as though she was forcing down her anger behind ridicule.
"You should know better than anyone what kind of state Leinrant is in right now, shouldn't you?"
"I know very well."
After answering her, I picked up one of the fruits before me, took a bite, and continued.
"Half of the vassal lords under House Leinrant have already turned their backs on the family."
"You know that well. And?"
The more she listened, the deeper Helian's mocking smile became.
"The sable fur hunting rights, once one of our primary sources of income, are being seized by Feliciann, while the mines are being taken over by the Empire."
Hearing that, Helian nodded and asked again.
"Then compared to that, how do you think the Paul Wyvern territory I rule is faring?"
Before I could answer, Helian spoke first while I brought another grape to my mouth.
"It possesses wealth and power beyond anything the current Leinrant could even compare to!"
"That's true."
That was merely considering the scale of House Paul Wyvern alone.
If the branch families loyal to Helian were included, her power would become even greater.
"And yet you would still choose Leinrant over me?"
"Yes."
I answered without the slightest hesitation.
Helian's lips twitched.
"Why? Why reject my offer for the sake of that pathetic ducal house that only retains its name—!"
"The fact that Count Cornwall provided the mines to the Empire's necromancers."
Cutting her off, I asked calmly,
"That was under your orders, wasn't it, Aunt?"
There was no reason for a mere count to do such a thing on his own.
Especially not an opportunist like Count Delkan.
Which meant this wasn't a question.
It was confirmation.
"That's right."
The reply came immediately.
A single sentence without even a trace of guilt.
"And those necromancers used the Northerners as test subjects."
At my words, Helian paused briefly before answering.
"We used a few hundred peasants to draw funding from the Empire. With that money, we armed hundreds of knights."
Funding.
The moment I heard that word, my stomach churned.
So once again, because of money, the people of the North had been sacrificed.
"And not only that. Look around this ballroom, Klein."
As she spoke, Helian pulled aside the curtains and gestured toward the ballroom.
"A lavish banquet and power beyond anything your Leinrant could ever imagine!"
Her declamatory voice mixed together with the laughter of pigs draped in gold.
"Do you still not understand? If you would just abandon that worthless pride of yours, all of this could become yours!"
As Helian shouted passionately, her figure overlapped with old memories in my mind.
Pigs obsessed with luxury and pleasure.
Maggots who ignored the plague devastating the North.
Even after two hundred years, these people had not changed at all.
"I'll pretend I didn't hear your previous answer, Klein."
Helian, covered from head to toe in luxurious jewels and silk, looked at me.
"Become my man. If you do, you can become the Duke!"
I couldn't deny that a small part of me had still held hope.
Helian Leinrant.
She too was a member of House Leinrant.
Perhaps she had her own reasons.
Perhaps our paths had simply diverged, leading us into opposition.
That meaningless expectation was one of the reasons I had come here.
'This is better. There's no reason to expect anything anymore.'
After reaching that conclusion, I rose from my seat.
I no longer wished to look at the face of that monster swollen with arrogance.
"I refuse."
A firm answer without hesitation.
At those words, the fan in Helian's hand twisted.
"Why?"
Meeting her now laughterless gaze calmly, I drove the final nail in.
"I want to become the Duke of Leinrant, not the Empire's lapdog."
For a moment after I said that, silence filled the room.
Then—
Crack!
With the sound of something snapping, the fan Helian held shattered in half.
"Hah… ha!"
Helian rose from her seat as though utterly dumbfounded, snorting sharply as she tried to suppress her fury.
"You monkey bastard born between the legs of filthy barbarians."
Cracks spread across the smiling mask she wore.
I heard grinding teeth, though it didn't come from her.
Probably that son of hers watching from the corner.
"I saw some talent in you and thought of raising you up, but your arrogance knows no bounds."
Behind her smile, her eyes locked onto me.
The eyes of a monster overflowing with hostility and killing intent.
"Still far better than you."
Without losing my smile, I stared directly back at her.
"You sow of a woman who wagged her tail at the Empire because you were afraid of that monkey bastard."
The moment I brought up the assassination attempt Cornwall had arranged against me, Helian's jaw trembled violently.
Cornwall acting on his own?
Ridiculous.
That coward would never have had the nerve to touch a ducal house without backing.
"I wagged my tail at the Empire?!"
Helian shouted furiously, rage reaching the top of her head.
"The Empire is the one wagging its tail at me! I am the center of this alliance!"
Watching Helian raise her voice as though her leash had snapped, I smiled inwardly.
'Just as I thought. There's no way there wouldn't be distrust.'
Now I was certain.
The ambiguous hierarchy between her and the Empire—
that was Helian's sore spot.
And the weakness of this alliance.
"Who knows? I wonder whether the Empire thinks the same."
"You…!"
Once you discovered a weakness, the next step was to provoke it and plant the seeds of anxiety.
So that anxiety could grow into suspicion, then distrust, and eventually become the dagger that shattered the alliance itself.
"You worthless insect! How dare you speak to my mother like that!"
A voice exploded from behind me.
'Right. There was another pig reaching its limit.'
I picked up one of the dining knives from the table.
At the same moment, a razor-sharp blade slashed toward me from behind.
'That sword path is far too simple.'
I had already read the trajectory with my eyes.
Using the dining knife, I deflected and twisted the incoming strike.
Even if the sword strike was infused with mana, changing the direction of force made it manageable.
It was a technique Heinkel had taught me.
Clang—!
With a metallic crash, the redirected sword strike split the dining table between Helian and me clean in half.
KABOOOM—!
An attack overflowing with mana.
With a deafening roar, thick smoke exploded through the salon, and screams erupted among the nobles enjoying the ballroom.
"Kyyaaaak?!"
"W-What is this?! What's happening?!"
"Escort the guests this way! Hurry!"
Amid the chaos, I leapt out of the salon and glanced down at the dining knife in my hand.
'Tch. This thing's useless now.'
After tossing aside the knife bent completely out of shape, I waited for my opponent.
"You bastard…!"
The one who stormed out with a voice full of fury was a red-haired young man.
A nobleman around the same age as Delline.
"Young Master Hector?!"
By now, knights gathered to contain the situation had already surrounded the area.
'Hector Ross Paul Wyvern. The eldest of the three pig brothers and the designated successor to the ducal seat.'
One of Helian's sons, whom I had only heard about by name.
The current heir to House Paul Wyvern.
"You thought you could insult the lady of House Paul Wyvern to her face and walk away alive, Leinrant?!"
Hector shouted through gritted teeth.
I raised my voice in return.
"The one who insulted me and my mother first was Duchess Helian. Think about the order of events."
Even while exchanging words, I continued observing my surroundings.
Arin wasn't in sight, which was a relief.
But we had surrendered our weapons upon entering the ballroom.
'Even if I asked for my sword back, there's no way they'd hand it over… Guess I'll have to test what I learned secondhand.'
With that thought, I removed the cloak from my shoulders and wrapped it around my arm.
"Hah! You think you can defeat a knight like me with a mere piece of cloth?"
Ignoring Hector's ridicule, I took my stance.
A low posture, with the arm holding the cloak pulled behind me.
It was the very technique Randel had used when he offered me his wrist.
"I'll slit your throat right here!"
The moment he shouted that, Hector launched himself at me.
'Approach from the front. Thrusting sword path. Bastard sword. Mid-range distance.'
The instant I finished analyzing him, I threw the cloak wrapped around my arm directly into his face.
"Hah, this little trick—!"
Hector thrust through the black cloak blocking his vision, then slashed upward to tear it apart.
The mana-infused blade split my cloak in two as easily as paper.
"With this, you're—!"
"Finished. Though not me."
In the brief instant his vision was obscured and then cleared—
I had already stepped inside his guard.
Crack!
I drove my foot upward into his jaw.
The impact traveled through his jawbone straight into his brain.
"Ghk?!"
The moment I sensed the strength leaving the hand gripping his sword, I struck his wrist.
The sword that had been in Hector's grasp was now in mine.
Shing—!
"Kgh…!"
Holding the sword in reverse grip, I aimed the blade at Hector's throat.
With even the slightest force, I could split open his windpipe.
"That's enough, Young Master Klein."
But my sword could advance no further.
"Sanchez!"
"...."
Hector, having barely escaped disaster, called out the man's name.
A massive dark-skinned giant was standing there, aiming a gigantic sword nearly two meters long at my neck.
Shrrrng—!
The knights surrounding Hector and me finally drew their weapons.
A deadlock.
I held Hector at swordpoint, while the knight called Sanchez held my own life in check.
Even Helian, who had been glaring with fury, momentarily fell silent.
"Both sides, lower your weapons."
The one who shattered the tense atmosphere that seemed ready to erupt at any moment was a clear and elegant female voice.
When I turned my head, I saw a familiar woman walking toward us.
'The woman who laughed from the balcony.'
Golden hair tied up neatly and blue eyes.
Though she appeared around my age, the mana radiating from her was anything but ordinary.
"M-My Lady. But Young Master Hector's safety—!"
"You've already ruined a ballroom filled with honored guests, and now you point swords at an invited visitor?!"
The moment she spoke, the knights behind her grabbed the hilts of their swords.
Their attitude wasn't that of fellow family knights.
It was how one treated enemies.
Seeing the groups surrounding us, I could roughly grasp the situation.
The ones following Helian and Hector were from the central continent, while the others were westerners.
'So this conflict has expanded into a faction war between the traditional Paul Wyvern line and the imperial faction.'
The situation was unfolding even more smoothly than expected.
I almost felt like humming.
The disgust I'd felt while watching the pigs enjoy their ballroom was finally fading.
'As expected, the bigger the incident becomes, the more important figures start showing themselves. Then now…'
Suppressing the smile threatening to escape, I deliberately put on a serious expression.
I had already evaluated one faction.
Now it was time to observe the other.
'Let's see how they react to this.'
With that thought, I let out a sigh and lowered the sword aimed at Hector.
'Now then. What will you do?'
Though I lowered my weapon first, I had no intention of simply letting myself be controlled by the situation.
The Death Knight mark engraved on my hand could itself function as a summoning gate.
If things turned for the worst, I could summon Rudel and escape.
That certainty was what allowed me to act so boldly.
"N-Now's the chance! Cut off that bastard's head immediately—!"
"Brother—!"
Hector's furious shout was cut off midway.
"To persecute a guest—someone who isn't even armed. How much more disgrace do you intend to bring upon this family?!"
"Ugh…!"
At her words, Hector visibly flinched.
Confirming that reaction, the woman stretched out her hand toward everyone present and declared loudly:
"I, Laia Ren Paul Wyvern, first daughter of House Paul Wyvern and commander of the Blue Holy Spear Knights, command you. Cease this fight at once!"