The Failure Marquis Is A Genius [EN]: Chapter 103

14. Selection: The Prodigal Son Soars

The Elden Kingdom wasn’t exactly known for its safety.

If you weren’t strong enough to protect yourself, it was best to stay within the village walls.

If you absolutely had to venture out, the standard practice was to hire mercenaries or soldiers for protection.

But even these precautions were useless if the bandits were too numerous.

In such cases, you could only chalk it up to bad luck, and Andre had unfortunately stumbled into just such a situation.

“Defend!”

“There are too many of them!”

“Damn it.”

A nobleman named Andre leaned against his carriage, sword in hand, gasping for breath, surrounded by ten soldiers.

And encircling them all were a hundred bandits, grinning with yellowed teeth.

“We’ll offer a fair price for your ransom, so drop your swords and don’t resist. You’ll only get hurt swinging those useless blades.”

“You villains! Get out of here!”

Andre’s attempt at intimidation was laughable.

The guards would be slaughtered, and he would be taken hostage, causing great harm to his family.

In the worst-case scenario, his family might abandon him, and he would become a worthless, cold corpse buried in the ground.

“Young master, we’ll try to break through. Use that chance to escape.”

That was impossible.

How could ten men secure an escape route?

The horse hitched to the carriage had been shot dead by arrows when the attack began, and Andre was a slow runner.

The guard probably knew this, but his loyalty to the family made Andre’s future even bleaker.

“There’s no need. Let’s fight to the end. I’d rather die with you than be taken hostage.”

“Young master!”

“Kuh-huk.”

They exchanged their last farewells and raised their swords.

Just as they were about to charge with grim determination, someone suddenly intervened between the bandits and Andre.

“Huh?”

A mysterious man with black hair and green eyes.

He was quite tall and, at first glance, seemed slender, but his body boasted finely sculpted muscles.

What Andre found most puzzling was the man’s demeanor; he was humming a tune with his hands behind his back, as if he were out for a stroll.

If Andre found it strange, the bandits must have been even more perplexed.

The burly man who appeared to be the leader wore an incredulous expression.

“Who are you?”

“Thank you.”

He suddenly offered his gratitude.

“What are you thanking us for?”

“Thank you for showing up. I was feeling down, and this is perfect.”

The bandit leader looked at his subordinate, who circled his finger around his temple.

It meant he was crazy.

“You’re begging to be killed, so we’ll grant your wish.”

The leader swung his sword.

He was certain that his blade would cleanly sever the head of this screwball.

But to his surprise,

the sword stopped as if there were an invisible wall in the air.

Even the grinning man still had his hands behind his back, doing nothing.

“The absolute defense barrier is truly a cheat.”

Muttering to himself, the man accurately kicked the leader’s shin.

It was a lightning-fast strike, impossible to avoid even if seen.

Thwack!

“Kuaaaagh!”

The leader screamed and knelt.

The merciless man then pulled a sword from his waist and struck the man’s head with the scabbard.

The leader, hit once, collapsed with his eyes rolled back.

Even in his unconsciousness, he drooled and trembled, convulsing as if suffering from malaria, a painful sight to behold.

“I tried to hit him as lightly as possible, but he fainted? Unbelievable.”

He had knocked out the leader of a hundred-man bandit group with a single blow, yet his words were strange.

He had held back when he should have been giving it his all.

The feeling of genuine regret was palpable.

“That crazy bastard!”

“How dare you attack us with such a cowardly trick?”

“Consider yourself dead.”

With their leader fallen, the other bandits went berserk and charged.

There was no matching such numbers.

He might have been lucky enough to take down the leader, but now he would be stabbed dozens of times and become a hole-riddled honeycomb.

Andre mourned him inwardly.

Thwack! Pow! Thwack! Thwack! Pa-ow!

The emotion changed from mourning to astonishment in an instant.

“Wh-what?”

“Young master, what am I seeing right now?”

“I don’t know either.”

The black-haired, green-eyed man moved with ease in every gesture.

He didn’t seem to swing particularly fast, but he accurately hit vital points like a ghost, and he dodged attacks without fail whenever he twisted his body.

It was as if he were fighting a different battle all by himself.

“Should we help?”

Andre couldn’t speak at the guard’s words.

Already a dozen bandits were writhing on the ground, and the unidentified man hadn’t even broken a sweat.

“I’m starting to feel a little better.”

Someone was risking his life fighting bandits, but to this man, it was just a moment of amusement.

The bandits, sensing the difference in level, no longer dared to attack and merely surrounded the man, wary.

“Why aren’t you coming? Then I’ll come to you?”

The man’s figure blurred.

At the same time, the man at the very back screamed and fell.

“Kyak!”

That was the beginning.

The man’s figure was invisible, but the bandits were being beaten one after another.

Andre realized that the man hadn’t disappeared but was moving so fast that his optic nerves couldn’t keep up.

‘The level is different.’

Where did such a monstrous expert come from?

His curiosity was short-lived, as the hundred or so bandits had dwindled to thirty.

“Monster…”

Losing their will to fight, they turned their bodies.

Anyone could see they were about to flee.

Shadows fell on the faces of those bandits.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

A knife-hand strike landed on the crown of their heads.

The bandit staggered and fell without a sound.

“You can run, but I’ll deal with those who try to escape first. If you stay still, you’ll get hit less painfully, and if you move, you’ll get hit more painfully.”

Everyone present realized it.

Although they didn’t know the man’s identity, it was clear that he was an overwhelmingly skilled expert.

The bandits, caught in a dilemma, struggled with grim faces.

“Screw it! I don’t care!”

One bandit chose to flee.

He was an impatient friend.

He had directly defied the man’s warning.

A harsh choice immediately followed.

Kwa-jijik!!

“Kuaaaaaagh!”

The man’s knee kick struck the bandit’s nether regions.

He even stomped on it multiple times, ensuring the damage.

It was a cruel scene that no man could bear to witness.

Andre felt a strange ache in that area, even though he wasn’t the one being attacked.

“Ugh…”

The bandits who saw their comrade losing his manhood in real-time stopped trying to escape.

“Good. The rest of you are smart.”

“Damn it…”

The bandits became living punching bags, shedding hot tears.

The beating began.

* * *

I didn’t expect much from these rootless gangster bandits, but the feel was pretty good.

Still, after beating them without thinking, my complicated head became somewhat clearer.

“Vice-captain, you should have told me about this sooner. You can’t hog all the fun.”

“Young master, please include us next time.”

Sion and Campbell made cute complaints.

My fists were already soaked with blood.

However, since they arrived late, they had only actually hit five or six bandits.

“Who the hell are you people?”

Come to think of it, I had moved to save the nobleman who had just spoken to me.

I was so focused on beating the bandits that I had forgotten.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Baron Lloyd.”

“Could it be that rasca…”

That word was now familiar.

But he couldn’t call his benefactor a rascal, so he hurriedly changed his words.

“It was the Demon Slayer. I am greatly indebted to you. I am Andre DuPont, the third son of the DuPont barony.”

Andre, sweating profusely, promoted me from rascal to Demon Slayer.

“I saw you surrounded by bandits. I couldn’t just pass by.”

“You are truly a hero. You are indeed as rumored.”

“You called me a rascal earlier. I heard everything?”

“Ahem!”

Andre quickly finished with a cough.

His face was still young, and he was a fun friend to tease.

We exchanged greetings and had a light conversation.

“I was on my way to Princess Rebecca’s birthday party. I also plan to register as a royal consort and participate in the selection ceremony.”

So Andre was also trying to become a royal consort.

Young nobles from all over the country who didn’t inherit their families were participating in the selection ceremony with a nothing-to-lose attitude.

“I see. I hope you have good results.”

“It’s not nice to tease, Baron Lloyd.”

“Why do you think so?”

“In fact, the royal consort is practically Duke Charlie Hilton. We are just attending a party where the nominee has already been decided.”

If even nobles from the provinces were like this, the capital must be even more serious.

“Young master Andre, let’s travel together in my carriage for now.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

For now, I decided to listen to Andre’s story and understand the situation further.

* * *

The capital of the Elden Kingdom.

Fontano.

Neatly trimmed brick roads adorned the city.

Antique architecture was everywhere.

There were so many carriages that traffic jams occurred on some roads.

Compared to Liang, the scale was incomparable, and there was a different kind of vibrancy than the free city.

Andre was a talkative person.

He was the type to say everything, even things I didn’t want to know, but I gained some random knowledge, and it was quite useful.

“So, there are many rumors that this royal consort selection ceremony will be the best ever.”

“The result is already decided, right?”

“Still, who comes as a royal consort candidate raises the status of the selection ceremony. Even families that haven’t been very involved with the royal family are sending their children.”

“I want to know why.”

“It must be because of Princess Rebecca’s beauty, right? She is rumored to be the most beautiful woman in eight hundred years of history.”

I suddenly wanted to become a royal consort candidate.

“Have you ever actually seen the princess?”

“How could I? The princess is extremely shy and only stays in her room during the day, occasionally enjoying a night stroll when there are no people around.”

Andre continued to chatter about everything, but after that, it was all about his territory, so there was no particular value.

I came to the capital in one breath and was a little hungry.

I was trying to find a restaurant when Andre became a guide and led me.

“There’s a bakery I like in that alley. It’s quite hidden, but everyone who knows knows about it.”

Andre led us to the bakery.

As he said, the bakery was crowded with customers, and people were lined up waiting.

“It’s always like this. You have to wait at least an hour at any time. What do you want to do?”

“I have nothing to do, so let’s wait a bit.”

I always went to famous restaurants on Earth after they were introduced.

An hour wasn’t too long, so I decided to listen to Andre’s story and think about how to move in the royal consort selection ceremony.

1 hour passed.

Finally, we stood at the very front.

Sion and Campbell also sparkled with anticipation.

It was at that moment.

A fancy carriage squeezed into the narrow alley.

“Everyone move! You stupid things!”

It was like pushing a car onto the sidewalk and telling pedestrians to move.

I frowned at the behavior that seemed to have eaten etiquette for breakfast.

Andre, who was next to me, stopped breathing when he saw the emblem engraved on the carriage.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s the Hilton family’s crest. Duke Charlie Hilton must be inside.”

Oh ho.

I didn’t know I would meet him so soon.

The carriage finally stopped in front of the bakery, and a young man with a somewhat sly impression came out.

Then, some servants prostrated themselves on the ground, and the man naturally stepped on their backs to get down.

“Is this the delicious bakery?”

“Yes.”

“It’s probably not very good since it’s bread made by commoners.”

“Please try it once, Duke Charlie.”

A man who appeared to be a guard strode forward.

It was an act that completely ignored the line.

People looked uncomfortable, but they soon became quiet when they saw the sword dangling from the knight’s waist.

The knight immediately went to the front and placed an order with the owner.

“Owner, five salt breads here.”

“Sir, I’m sorry, but…”

“Why?”

“We are backed up with orders. We are already baking bread for those who came first.”

“Take out their bread and bake my lord’s bread first.”

“I can’t do that.”

The guard’s brow furrowed at the owner’s words.

“What? Did I hear wrong?”

The guard approached the owner.

Perhaps because of the difference in physique, the owner was pushed against the wall and cowered.

The guard, with one hand on the wall, cornered the owner and growled.

“Don’t you know who that person is over there?”

“Who is it?”

“It’s Duke Charlie Hilton. He will soon rule this country. So, if you don’t want to close the bakery, bake the bread and bring it out as quickly as possible.”

The law is far, and the fist is near [an idiom meaning that physical power is more immediately effective than legal recourse].

No, the law was near, and the fist was even closer.

Eventually, just as the subdued owner was about to open the oven, a hand flew from somewhere and stopped the owner’s wrist.

“My bread is being baked in that oven right now. If you really want to eat salt bread, why don’t you go to the back of the line now?”

In the end, I couldn’t stand it and stepped forward.

To be honest, I had no intention of enduring it.

The guard snorted in disbelief and cracked his neck.

“Is this guy crazy? Who are you?”

“Me? Baron Lloyd.”

The crowd stirred at the words Baron Lloyd.

Demon Slayer, Saint Destroyer, and Elf Slaughterer were occasionally heard.

The guard, who had identified me, paused for a moment and then twisted his lips and smiled.

“So you’re the boastful rascal who’s been doing well these days. I wanted to see you once. I wanted to take off that mask and show that you have nothing.”

As expected, he was from the Hilton family.

His lack of manners was cosmic.

“I’ll say it clearly now. If you want to eat bread, stand in line. Or go back.”

“I’ll say it clearly too. Move. I can’t waste our precious lord’s time baking bread for a lowly bastard like you.”

“What if I don’t move?”

“Then there’s no choice. We’ll have to have a conversation with our bodies.”

The guy who was pressuring the owner was now approaching me.

Our heights were similar.

Perhaps that’s why I could smell his disgusting breath.

“Ugh!”

My hand went out reflexively.

Slap!!

It was just a simple slap.

The guard’s head turned, and he flew through the air.

He fell to the ground exactly where he should have been standing in line.

I sincerely advised him, who was staggering with his swollen cheek, seemingly in great shock.

“Brush your teeth, you bastard.”