How To Live As A Third Son Of A Failure [EN]: Chapter 48

“By ‘willing,’ do you mean you accept the Dobeon [a formal duel], Third Master?”

A Knight of Radiance, not Baron Hogarde, looked at me and asked.

I met his gaze.

Then, as I nodded, the knight stepped back with precision, turned, and faced the platform.

Who is he looking at?

The answer was obvious: his master, of course.

“Knight of Radiance, Jeskal Heiklans, reports to His Majesty the King. Will you permit the Dobeon between Baron Hogarde and Third Master Lindaier?”

With a fluid motion, he knelt and removed his helmet.

Light platinum blonde hair flowed down. At the same time, a handsome face that even a man could admire was revealed.

But what I focused on was not his appearance or his hair, only the name he introduced himself with. That alone.

‘Jeskal Heiklans.’

A figure who would reach the realm of Master within 10 years and later be called the greatest knight on the continent as the commander of the Royal Guard.

It was a sudden encounter.

It’s not that I don’t understand. Since it’s 10 years before the war breaks out, his skills wouldn’t be in full bloom yet.

Even so, he has already established himself as a member of the 수도 [Capital] Knights. The level he has achieved was different from mine.

Soon, a flag signifying permission was raised from the platform.

At that, Jeskal rose.

Then, after putting on his helmet, he turned and looked at me and Baron Hogarde.

“The Dobeon has been permitted.”

As Jeskal Heiklans announced the King’s permission.

Uwaaaa―!

The arena blazed with excitement once more. That’s how rare the Dobeon was to witness.

“Prepare yourselves.”

At Jeskal’s words, I slowly dismounted from my horse.

Tuk- Tuk-

Subsequently, the removed pieces of armor fell to the ground, creating small clouds of dust.

During that tedious process, cheers still echoed throughout the arena. It was a scene that was turning from excitement to madness.

However, I was just silently removing the heavy equestrian armor.

Tuk!

Finally, the armor and warhorse I had taken off were taken away by a soldier who had been waiting at a distance.

After confirming that, I took a deep breath and turned to face the baron.

The four Knights of Radiance, including Jeskal, were drawing a circle at a distance, surrounding me and the baron.

The baron’s face looked impatient. He seemed eager to fight as soon as possible.

But I was taking my time.

It’s a kind of strategy. The baron’s vision is narrowed by the anger he has stirred up. It was necessary to cool him down and make him realize the situation he was in.

Fight! Fight!

쿵! 쿵! 쿵! [Sound of stomping]

The crowd’s cheers and stomping began to pound the arena.

I wondered if it could get any more overheated than this.

At that, Baron Hogarde, who had been staring at me all along, seemed to sense the atmosphere and turned to look around.

To a third party, it’s excitement, but what about the baron?

Once his head cools down, he will finally realize the situation he is in.

That his neck is under the guillotine.

“Third Master.”

Perhaps realizing the seriousness of the situation, the baron, who had been rubbing his hand on his cloak to wipe away sweat, called out to me.

“I have a special relationship with your brother.”

The baron lowered his voice so that no one could hear, but the meaning was clearly conveyed. He was a despicable fellow.

“So?”

“It means Dane Lindaier is behind me. Don’t you understand what that means?”

“Are you saying I should lose if I don’t want to be retaliated against?”

“Lose? Since you will be my brother’s knight in the future, show some respect and do it moderately!”

It’s an obvious intention. He was hit by a lance charge in a situation where he couldn’t even use mana.

At least a few ribs must have been fractured.

It would be burdensome to engage in a duel in that condition. That’s why he brought up Dane and told me to back off.

Of course, it was a story that I didn’t need to listen to at all.

“Moderately? Don’t you know honor, Baron Hogarde? How can you suggest a fixed performance in front of His Majesty the King?”

“Are you determined to make an enemy of me?”

“You’re being too verbose. Uphold your honor.”

At my words, the baron’s eyebrows furrowed.

“I will never condone this and will tell Dane Lindaier about it.”

At the baron’s angry words, I smiled, brandishing my sword.

“Please do.”

“Tsk…….”

Was he angry at my smooth attitude? Baron Hogarde charged in with a fearsome momentum.

Even so, there was nothing to be afraid of.

A sword contains the heart of the wielder. Therefore, a sword strike filled with impatience is bound to be dull.

Clang! Clang! Claaang!

I got a sense of it in just three clashes.

In terms of simple swordsmanship alone, Baron Hogarde was worse than Luce. There was no need to summon the Avatar of Bane.

In other words, he was weaker than me.

“You little brat…….”

The baron, gritting his teeth, barely corrected the sword I had let flow. But he must have felt it from the previous clash.

That the aura of defeat had fallen upon him.

Receiving the baron’s gaze mixed with bewilderment, injustice, and anger, I smirked.

“Aren’t you coming in?”

“…….”

“Then I’ll go in.”

I lightly kicked off the ground and dug in.

After that, I subtly and inconspicuously imitated the three sword strikes that the baron had shown earlier. The baron’s expression distorted. It was only natural. He would have felt that I was playing with him.

“What are you doing?”

“It’s a play.”

“A play?”

“Isn’t that what the baron wanted?”

The baron’s eyebrows twisted askew as he realized that I was mocking his words from earlier.

“Are you making a fool of me now!”

The baron’s sword, which had burst into a roar, was wielded fiercely.

The sword strikes became sharper. It was clear that it was swordsmanship unique to the Hogarde Baron family.

That’s what I wanted.

Strictly speaking, there were many people watching. It was difficult to end the character of the baron easily.

There was no need to show too much of my skills.

To do that, there needed to be evidence that we both had done our best, and fortunately, the baron followed along, even showing off his secret techniques.

“This, this bastard…….”

Of course, the situation still hadn’t changed.

Rather, as time passed and the swords clashed, the baron’s expression only darkened more and more.

It must be because he realized that my skills were better than he thought. By now, anyone who wasn’t a fool would have realized that something was wrong.

But by the time he realized that, the play would already be over.

“Hup!”

At the same time as deflecting the baron’s sword, I changed my stance.

I instantly changed the position of my feet to a straight line. At the same time, I unified my waist, wrist, and legs, and then kicked off the ground and thrust the sword, which had become one with my body.

A technique that had been half-sealed because Luce had a strong sense of instant death.

It was the ‘thrust’ of kendo [Japanese swordsmanship].

“Tsk…….”

The tip of the sword, which shot out like a flash, aimed for the baron’s heart.

The baron, who belatedly tried to avoid it, was met with my sharp sword strike.

Despair settled in the baron’s eyes.

* * *

The arena, which had seemed to pour cold water on the previous equestrian competition, regained its atmosphere with a new aspect called Dobeon.

After that, the cheers of the spectators echoed without knowing how high the sky was.

The situation seemed to be roughly in favor of Baron Hogarde. The baron was attacking proactively, and the Third Master was only blocking.

Among the crowd watching such a scene, Fleta, with a worried face, looked at Baranka.

“Isn’t it dangerous?”

“It’s not dangerous.”

“Yes?”

“If you’re someone who doesn’t know swordsmanship, you might think that the Third Master is being pushed back, but in my opinion, that’s not the case at all.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“It’s hard to explain in words. Once you reach a certain level, you can see the sword path. You can feel the path the sword is heading towards, or something like that?”

“Then, the fact that you can see the sword path means…”

“It means you can know where the sword is heading.”

“Does that mean the Third Master is doing that now?”

“Yes. He keeps blocking the baron’s sword before it can even dig in.”

At Baranka’s words, Fleta carefully looked at the Third Master.

It was as he said. The baron’s sword was being deflected or bounced off before it could even be fully wielded.

“When did the Third Master’s skills get so…….”

“It’s a skill that defeated Luce Meyer, even though it was just a sparring match. Furthermore, Baron Hogarde may be good at 마창술 [Machangsul – Spear Fighting], but his swordsmanship skills aren’t that great. He’ll also have aftereffects from being hit by the lance earlier, and he can’t use mana.”

Baranka said calmly, but the inside was different.

‘Even if I concede a hundred times that his swordsmanship is like that, what about that 마창술 [Machangsul – Spear Fighting]…….’

Clearly, Baron Hogarde is a case who has made a name for himself with 마창술 [Machangsul – Spear Fighting]. Compared to that, it is also true that his swordsmanship is not very outstanding.

That’s why it wouldn’t be surprising if the baron lost in this Dobeon. [formal duel]

The baron’s injury is also an injury, and the Third Master had actually defeated Luce in a sparring match before.

But.

There was no other way to explain the mysterious 마창술 [Machangsul – Spear Fighting] from earlier.

‘How on earth…….’

It felt like he was possessed by a ghost.

There was no other way to express it but as a perfect technique.

After simply deflecting the difference in reach with parrying, he aims for the fleeting gap that appears in the meantime and digs in.

It’s easy to just list the words. But the problem is that the opponent is the strongest player in last year’s tournament. Baron Hogarde was recognized as the best in 마창술 [Machangsul – Spear Fighting], if nothing else.

‘If the Third Master wins in the opening match?’

Still, nothing much will change.

It could be a fluke once.

It’s just the opening match now, and there are many matches left in the future. It means that he has to continue to be verified.

But what if it’s not a fluke?

What if the Third Master wins the championship like that?

‘If that’s the case…….’

A big upset will blow through Capital.

Not just the capital, but news will be delivered to all places in the east, west, south, and north.

It means that he will establish a new position. Until now, the Third Master’s activities have only been limited to the north.

“It reminds me of the Lord.”

“Yes? If it’s the Lord…… are you talking about Count Lindaier?”

Fleta expressed doubt at Baranka’s words.

“Yes. The Lord also has a history of winning the Founding Day competition in his youth and rising to the top.”

“I’ve heard. No one challenged his overwhelming 마창술 [Machangsul – Spear Fighting], so he voluntarily restricted his participation.”

“At that time, it was like the birth of a new myth. After that, the Lord rose to the upper level of Expert in his late 20s, and he became the successor of the family with dignity, without leaving any objections.”

“Does that mean the Third Master is also……?”

“Of course, we don’t know yet.”

The duel didn’t last long.

The Third Master, who had been constantly pushed back, suddenly changed his stance and took the offensive.

What followed was a sharp, awl-like blow. The baron, who failed to properly avoid the sword that had dug in in an instant, was eventually pierced through the forearm.

Puuk!

The sprayed blood was scattered on the dirt.

It was an exquisite swordsmanship. Even though it was suddenly spewed out, the process was like flowing water.

Tuk!

Baranka, who saw the baron dropping his sword after being pierced through the forearm, exclaimed with reverence.

“But I can’t deny that the Third Master is getting closer and closer to the Lord’s 모습 [mosub – figure/image].”

The baron, who dropped his weapon, then knelt down.

“…….”

The baron, with a miserable face, slowly lowered his head as if he realized that everything was over.

Waaaaaa―!

The countless crowds watching it shouted.

It was a shout that welcomed the fall of last year’s emperor and the birth of a new hero.