How To Live As A Third Son Of A Failure [EN]: Chapter 120

I risked my life.

That meant I wasn’t taking this matter lightly.

Knowing the weight of those words, the Duke, who had been furiously scolding me, lowered his voice.

“You’re risking your life?”

“Yes.”

“I have no idea what you’re thinking. Is your tongue enchanted or something? Able to make people believe you with just a few words?”

“I don’t possess such magic.”

“Of course not. That’s what makes it even stranger. Without such ridiculous abilities, why would you recklessly risk your life?”

“Because I’m confident. I can’t give you the detailed plan right now. I haven’t properly assessed the situation yet. And I doubt you’d believe anything I said at this point.”

“…….”

The Duke closed his eyes for a moment, lost in thought.

Several minutes passed.

The Duke opened his eyes and stared at me.

“Count Lindaier mentioned something.”

“…….”

“He said you effortlessly solved countless seemingly impossible tasks as if by magic.”

“Did he?”

“Hearing that, I thought you were a gambler who enjoyed dangerous bets. But I was wrong. Even the best gambler wouldn’t risk their life if there was even a slight chance of failure. Once you fail, there’s no second chance. Especially since you’re essentially a third party with no stake in this matter.”

“…….”

“You’re really that confident that you’d risk your life?”

“Yes.”

The Duke chuckled in disbelief at my firm answer and leaned back in his chair.

“It’s true that I’ve been preparing for war. But as you said, marching all the way to the south where Rodkius is located is difficult, given the season and the remaining shortcomings. Since the three nobles are already caught in my net, there’s no need to rush.”

“…….”

“I’ll give you time.”

Despite his words, the Duke still looked reluctant as he continued.

“However, if you fail to produce results within the allotted time, I will take your life as originally agreed.”

“Yes.”

“Let me warn you in advance, I am not a man who reverses decisions based on personal feelings. Know that if you fail, I will certainly take your life.”

“If I fail, you say.”

“I’m truly curious where you get such confidence.”

I persuaded him. With a life-or-death bet, I finally managed to sway the Duke’s mind.

Of course, it wasn’t just because he completely trusted me, but also because the Duke himself was burdened by the expedition due to the still unforgiving season.

Besides, siege warfare generally offers more advantages the longer the encirclement lasts, provided supplies are smoothly maintained.

The morale of the isolated defenders crumbles, and if their stockpiled resources are low, they are more likely to tire and surrender.

Well, whatever the reason, the fact is I bought time, so I achieved my initial goal.

“From now on, I will assign a knight to monitor your every move during the time allotted to you. So don’t even dream of trying to back out if things go wrong.”

…I ended up with a bothersome tagalong.

* * *

Afterward, I was assigned a tent and unpacked my belongings.

Still, my status afforded me a better environment than the average soldier. It was located in the deepest and safest part of the encampment, so the surroundings weren’t bad either.

Of course, it might just be that they set up my lodging in such a place to keep an eye on me.

“May I come in?”

Just as I was finishing unpacking and thought I could finally rest, a voice called out to me from outside the tent.

“Come in.”

Three people entered the tent.

One of them was already familiar. Broll, I think his name was. The knight who had been thoroughly defeated by me.

“We have been ordered by the Duke to attend to the Third Young Master.”

“Attend?”

Not monitor?

But I refrained from further comment, and the three of them didn’t exactly deny it either.

“I am Harkins, the Deputy Commander of the Wisdom Knights. These are Loren and Broll.”

To assign even the Deputy Commander to monitor me… It seems the Duke is serious.

‘I heard the Deputy Commander of the Wisdom Knights is an Expert Intermediate, though.’

He was at least as skilled as Bailen Baranka, the Deputy Commander of the Wind Knights.

In other words, an opponent I couldn’t guarantee victory against even if I fought with all my strength.

Broll was probably an Intermediate Mana User, and the other person seemed to be higher-ranking than Broll. At least an Advanced User.

Escaping from those three in a fight would be nearly impossible. Well, I didn’t have any intention of running away in the first place.

“Pleased to meet you. I look forward to working with you.”

“Yes. If you have any questions or inconveniences while staying here, please don’t hesitate to let us know.”

I nodded at Harkins’ words.

“I plan to go to Baron Trill’s castle tomorrow at daybreak.”

“To the castle?”

Harkins’ eyebrows twitched at my words.

“Is that not allowed? The Duke said he would grant me authority.”

“I heard.”

“Yes. Then we’ll leave early tomorrow morning, and will the escort be ongoing 24 hours a day?”

“Since we have been given orders, we plan to wait in the tent next door.”

“Well, I feel bad for making you suffer, but those are the orders.”

I nodded and put on the coat I had hung on the side.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes? Where to?”

“We’ll be seeing each other for the next few months, so it’s a bit much to keep being so stiff. Let’s have a drink together.”

The stress of traveling such a long distance is no joke, so shouldn’t I relieve it with some alcohol?

As I raised my hand and mimed tilting a glass, Harkins’ face was filled with bewilderment.

“…We are on duty.”

“If you don’t want to, you can just watch.”

Harkins quickly added to my nonchalant words.

“I will not refuse if it is an order.”

Harkins quickly changed his tune, perhaps missing the taste of alcohol amidst the tense atmosphere of war.

I chuckled at the sight and nodded.

“Your basic skills as an escort knight are well-honed. Good. It’s an order.”

“I will carry out the order perfectly.”

With the three men trailing behind me, I headed out of the tent to wet my whistle for the first time in a while.

* * *

The next day.

The early morning air was chilly.

A damp scent lingered at the tip of my nose, as if it were about to rain. And as expected, it began to drizzle from the sky just before we departed from the encampment.

I was suffering from a throbbing hangover, so I was almost glad it was raining. I felt the rhythmic patter of raindrops on my hood as I mounted my horse.

“Are all three of you coming?”

“We are on duty.”

Harkins, Loren, and Broll, dressed in splendid plate armor, mounted their horses.

In contrast, my appearance was the same as when I first departed, so at first glance, I looked like the knights’ attendant.

‘It’s the substance that matters, not the appearance.’

As I rationalized miserably and started my horse, the three knights began to follow me.

At the same time, Broll raised a flag he was holding high into the sky. A white cloth was wrapped around the flagpole, indicating that we were envoys [messengers or representatives].

Pat, pat, pat….

We gradually approached Baron Trill’s castle, getting rained on.

Baron Trill’s fortress wasn’t exactly massive in scale.

However, it was a well-organized structure that fulfilled its role, so it wasn’t a castle to attempt a siege on without proper preparation.

“They seem to have spotted us.”

Harkins nodded at my words.

Dozens, hundreds of black figures appeared above the castle walls. I couldn’t see them properly from a distance, but I could guess that the round objects in their hands were bows.

“That’s probably the effective range.”

“Wait there. I’ll go alone and call someone out.”

“I can’t send you alone.”

“Arrows don’t discriminate.”

“They wouldn’t be crazy enough to kill an envoy.”

“If that’s the case.”

We slowly reduced our speed and entered the range, and soon the castle gate slowly began to open.

The people who came out from there were also four in number, the same as us. Moreover, they were holding white flags like us, so it was clear that they had come out for dialogue.

For a while, only the sound of the eight warhorses’ hooves echoed.

“Stop there. Halt.”

The voice came from the other side first.

“Only those who wish to speak should come forward.”

At the other party’s request, I shrugged at Harkins.

“I’ll be back.”

“We will wait here.”

I nodded at Harkins’ farewell and slowly began to move forward, kicking the warhorse’s belly.

As the distance closed, I began to see the faces of the other party.

Their composition was also similar to ours.

Three of them were wearing armor with emblems indicating they were knights, while the other one was dressed in fairly casual attire.

“Affiliation and status.”

A knight asked me.

“Cain Lindaier.”

“Lindaier? Not Bashrun?”

I nodded at his narrowed eyes.

“That’s correct.”

“What brings a Lindaier here?”

“What other reason would there be to attend this meeting?”

“You mean you came as an envoy on behalf of the Bashrun family?”

“That’s right.”

“I can’t understand.”

“I don’t particularly want you to understand, so it doesn’t matter.”

Just as the knight was about to say something again, the man in casual attire raised his hand.

“Step back.”

“Excuse me?”

“Or should I step back? If so, you’ll have to be the spokesperson from now on.”

The knight closed his mouth tightly at the man’s sarcastic words and slowly began to step back.

I was puzzled by the sight. He didn’t seem to be Baron Trill himself, but he was treating the knight like that.

‘Is he a knight too? But looking at his attire, that doesn’t seem to be the case.’

The man who had dismissed the three knights spurred his horse and slowly began to come forward.

As he got closer, his features became clearly visible.

He was a young man. At most, he was in his late twenties. He was thin, but surprisingly, a confident aura flowed naturally from his body.

At the same time, the expression on his face was extremely gentle. The contrasting images gave me a feeling of sharpness piercing my mind.

It meant he wasn’t someone to be ignored.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Alin O’Donnell.”

The man who identified himself as Alin smiled brightly.

“Nice to meet you. I am Cain Lindaier.”

“Ah, Baron Cain. I didn’t recognize you because you dyed your hair.”

Look at this guy.

I had only been granted the title a few days before departing from Windnest.

There wasn’t much time, so the ceremony was rushed, and it was too early for the news to spread widely across the continent.

Otherwise, the three knights, including Harkins, would have called me the Third Young Master.

But the man who identified himself as Alin immediately addressed me as Baron.

It was clear that he was subtly showing off his intelligence.

He was just smiling, but I felt like I could hear his inner thoughts. ‘Just because we’re surrounded doesn’t mean we don’t know anything about the outside world, does it?’

It wasn’t a bad tactic.

He was a formidable opponent who was seizing the initiative without having to say it himself.

“So, Baron, what brings you here? You don’t seem to have anything to do with this territory war.”

“I didn’t come here for fun.”

“Of course not. Perhaps you’re acting as a spokesperson for the Bashrun family? If so, that’s a bit of a problem. Should we take it that Lindaier is supporting the Bashrun family?”

“Rather than a spokesperson…”

I paused for a moment, then smiled brightly at Alin as well and continued.

“You can think of me as a mediator.”

Mediator.

Alin narrowed his eyes and tilted his head at those words.