How To Live As A Third Son Of A Failure [EN]: Chapter 118

“Who are you?”

“Why the sudden formality?”

The man’s eyes sharpened at my glib reply.

“You don’t seem like a mercenary.”

“If I am, I am, and if not, then not.”

“There’s no time for games. If you don’t properly identify yourself, I’ll kill you too.”

“Do you have the ability to do that?”

There’s no need to reveal my identity right away. It’s possible that the person I’m dealing with is different from what I expect.

It won’t be too late to reveal it after I’ve figured things out for sure.

“…Let’s see if you can still talk so smoothly with a sword at your throat.”

The man raised his sword, and a blue aura began to gather around it.

Mana. I could feel his determination to get serious, so I also prepared to draw up my mana.

‘The level is roughly……’

Mid-level mana user?

He didn’t seem to be at a very high level.

But I can’t let my guard down. Even a mana user who is a knight is a human weapon capable of single-handedly slaughtering a mediocre mercenary group.

‘Let’s see.’

A practical fight against a knight who wields mana.

It felt like it had been a long time since that attack. I’ve had many sparring matches since then, but none like this situation where the opponent is unleashing killing intent without holding back.

“Hmph!”

There was no grand ceremony to announce the start of the sword fight. The man immediately thrust his sword forward.

It was a textbook sword strike. If there were a textbook on sword techniques, this would be in it.

But being textbook also means that the solution is easy to find.

I parried the attack with a single swing. The auras blooming from our swords clashed, and blue fragments scattered everywhere.

“A knight, I see.”

The man, stating this as if he had already expected it, kicked off the ground again and rushed at me.

The subsequent attacks also contained only straightforward sword movements.

But in between, the man slightly twisted his sword paths to target vital points. He probably intended to catch his opponent off guard and then gain an advantage with a sudden, unconventional attack.

But to me, who had been trained by that eccentric Lordain, it looked no different from a five-year-old trying to play tricks.

Clang!

Once again, I parried his attack and immediately switched to a counterattack.

What followed was a merciless series of attacks.

Three attacks upwards, then two attacks to the midsection to confuse his eyes, followed by a light low kick.

Thwack!

The man grimaced and staggered, having been hit in the thigh.

The leg strength of a human who wields mana contains the power to bend even a steel pipe. If the opponent hadn’t drawn out mana to respond, his leg would have broken instantly.

“One hit.”

I smiled and stepped back, and the man’s face turned as red as a ripe persimmon.

“You bastard!”

Anger is a great motivator. But in a situation where the difference in skill is so clear, it only becomes a self-defeating move.

As expected, the following situation was a repeat of the previous one. I blocked the man’s sword, launched a counterattack, and finished with a low kick.

Thwack!

The man, hit in the same spot as before, seemed to have lost strength in his leg for a moment and took an awkward stance.

“Two hits.”

“……!”

The man, whose footwork had become noticeably slower, gritted his teeth and thrust his sword again.

But if footwork is sealed in a situation where there is already a difference in physique, the aftermath is obvious.

Thwack!

With the third low kick, the man was finally forced to kneel on one knee.

“Three hits.”

“…….”

I could hear the sound of him grinding his teeth.

Well, he must be angry. It wasn’t a normal sword fight, after all.

But that doesn’t mean I can kill him, right?

“Are you playing games with me!”

“I didn’t intend to.”

“Judging by the way you handle mana, you seem to be a knight. If you have any pride, converse with your sword instead of using such despicable tactics!”

“With a sword?”

At the word ‘sword,’ I poured the mana I had squeezed out into my sword.

“Then you’ll die.”

The man who saw my sword shut his mouth.

That’s because, unlike the man’s sword, which was only tinged with blue, the mana on my sword had formed a complete aura.

The difference between a user and an expert is like an insurmountable wall.

And the man, having witnessed that fact with his own eyes, closed his eyes, realizing that he had no chance of winning.

“I couldn’t have won anyway. Kill me.”

I didn’t intend to kill him.

I sheathed my sword and looked at the man with his eyes closed, and opened my mouth.

“What is your affiliation and name?”

“I cannot reveal it.”

“Why? Because you’re carrying out a dishonorable secret mission?”

“…….”

“Judging by the looks of it, that mission is Duke Bashrun’s order to control all mercenary groups and merchants trying to join the Three Nobles.”

“…….”

“The reason why you’re even mobilizing a powerful knight order to carry out this operation is that you wanted to eliminate any future threats since the war is about to begin.”

“…….”

“It seems the Duke has really decided on war.”

I was secretly wondering if my guess might be wrong, but this confirmed the Duke’s intentions.

On the other hand, the man’s face was filled with bewilderment as he listened to the story flowing from my mouth.

“Who are you? How do you know my affiliation and the mission I’m currently carrying out?”

At the man’s question, I sheathed my sword and licked my lips.

“How should I introduce myself?”

It’s not quite right to say I’m a supporter.

It doesn’t fit to say I’m an emissary either, since I’m acting independently, regardless of the Lindayer family’s intentions.

“A mediator… yes, I guess you could say I’m a mediator.”

The man’s face began to change strangely at my words.

* * *

The knight, who identified himself as Broll from the Wisdom Knights, said that he was carrying out a mission for the Duke, as I had expected.

“Are you really the Third Son of the Lindayer Earldom [a territory ruled by an Earl]?”

“That’s right.”

“But your hair color…….”

“Dyed. Dyed.”

I don’t want to brag, but I had become quite famous in the Wisdom Knights.

That was probably because of my past achievements of defeating Reces Livern in a sword fight and saving Fleta from an attack.

That’s why Broll didn’t seem to mind losing to me. Rather, he was even showing respect for my skills, which had risen to the expert level in such a short time.

“Then why did you hide your identity and travel with the mercenary group?”

“It’s a long story. To put it simply, I’m not going as a member of the Lindayer family.”

“Then…….”

“I’m going to advise Duke Bashrun as an individual.”

“What do you mean by advice?”

“I said I’m a mediator, so what do you think? I’m trying to stop the war.”

“You’re going to stop the war?”

“Yes.”

“…….”

“That’s a suspicious look you’re giving me?”

“Why are you trying to stop the war? You’re not going to side with the Three Nobles, are you?”

I let out a hollow laugh at Broll’s question, whose eyes had suddenly changed.

“Side? Of course not. I’m neutral right now. I’m just trying to sort things out in a natural way. That’s why I’m running around like this, sweating.”

“……Is that so.”

“More than that, tell me roughly about the mission you’re currently in charge of. I need to know how the situation is going.”

“That’s confidential.”

“What’s confidential? It’s already been exposed to me.”

“Even so…….”

“Okay. If you tell me everything, I’ll swear on my honor to keep it a secret forever. Isn’t that a good deal?”

“…….”

After hesitating a few times, Broll finally opened his mouth and began to explain.

The Duke’s order was as I had expected.

To block everything that could be helpful to the enemy forces for the upcoming war.

For example, he controlled everyone entering and leaving the duchy, from mercenary groups to merchants carrying war supplies, and ordered the extermination of anyone who didn’t comply.

It was a radical method, but also an effective one. It was a way to defeat those who were trying to side with the Three Nobles before they could unite, and the dead tell no tales.

“But that’s an operation that could result in innocent victims.”

“The Duke has already decided to abandon what’s important.”

What’s important?

Ah, Fleta.

Well, there’s no way the Duke, who even thought of abandoning Fleta, would act with innocent victims in mind.

“So, when is D-Day?”

“That’s confidential.”

“Are you going to keep being so strict?”

“Even if you make a vow of silence, I cannot tell you D-Day. This is a different matter.”

“Really? Then I’ll ask something else. How far is it from here to the military camp?”

“It takes about three days.”

“Then that’s good. That means it’s at least a week away, even if it happens.”

“Yes?”

“You wouldn’t fight a war without the knight order that’s carrying out the mission, would you? If you want to save as much power as possible to make it a long-term war, you’ll have to use the knights generously. If you assume that the scattered knight orders will gather and then execute, it will be at least a week.”

“…….”

I nodded, confirming that fact with Broll’s silence.

“So, are you going to continue carrying out that mission?”

At my question, Broll pointed to his leg.

I could see his thigh, which was swollen from being repeatedly hit with low kicks. It seemed difficult for him to move smoothly for the time being.

“……I can’t. Then how about returning to the military camp together?”

“I’ll have to do that. I think I’ll have to report the current situation and receive appropriate punishment.”

“Punishment?”

“Didn’t I let a witness escape? I failed the mission.”

Only then did I realize that the coachman I had spared had run away somewhere.

“Ah, I’m sorry about that.”

“It’s not your fault. It’s because of my lack of skill.”

“Still, wasn’t it a bit much to try to kill even civilians?”

“Such things will be commonplace in the future anyway. I don’t want to pretend to be clean in such a situation.”

Such things will be commonplace in the future.

Those were Broll’s words, who guessed that the war that would break out from now on would not be of a simple scale, since the Duke had decided to give up even Fleta.

“I understand.”

And in a war of that scale, the boundaries between good and evil are bound to become blurred.

So I could understand.

Distinguishing justice is the right of the victor.

So that must be the Duke’s intention to use any means to win the war.

And that’s why Broll is willing to get his hands dirty to become a winner, even though he doesn’t like it.

‘But please don’t ask me if you were bad or I was bad until ten years later.’

I couldn’t help but let out a long sigh at the stuffiness rising in my chest.

* * *

Baron Trill, Baron Icus, Viscount Lake.

The alliance of these three was the opponent currently waging a territorial war with the Duchy of Bashrun.

According to Broll, Fleta was currently being held as a prisoner in Baron Trill’s castle.

The other two nobles were gathering troops from all directions and preparing for a decisive battle. They were probably watching Duke Bashrun’s next move before taking action.

Since they were fighting a war with the Three Nobles at the same time, I was worried that they might be vulnerable to guerrilla warfare, but that worry was unfounded.

“……What is this?”

The Duchy of Bashrun’s military camp, which surrounded Baron Trill’s castle, came into view.

The white camps lined up in rows as if measured with a ruler were a number that made me give up counting, and hundreds of flags with the silver fox emblem were fluttering on the elaborately built wooden fence.

And that’s not all.

The people who looked like small ants in the distance were working hard to make something, and judging by its appearance, it was clearly a trebuchet [a type of catapult] catapult, a weapon to be used in a siege.

The makeshift stables lined up far away were also a spectacle.

Judging from the scale, it seemed that they were operating at least three hundred heavy cavalry units, called tanks of the Middle Ages.

‘Is that the appearance of a hastily raised army and dispatched? By any chance.’

The scale was so different from what I had expected that I let out a hollow laugh.

No matter how I looked at it, Duke Bashrun’s army did not look like it had rushed to counterattack the Three Nobles. It was too perfectly prepared and the atmosphere was very calm.

‘If that’s the case, then the preparations for the rear must be thorough.’

If my guess is correct, the Duke must have anticipated this war long ago and made thorough preparations.

There’s no need to worry about when that was.

It must have been since I and Fleta were attacked before.

‘Have you been anticipating the war with Rodkius since then, Duke Bashrun?’

The Duke’s will felt more resolute than I had expected, and I felt suffocated.