NOVEL WEB Chapter 12-1
“……!”
At Otto’s words, the knights of the Iota Estate, including Camille, stiffened.
‘What did I just hear?’
Camille doubted his hearing.
But he didn’t hear it wrong.
“Why don’t you just hand over your lordship and leave? Just surrender, it’s easier for both of us.”
Otto said to Michael.
“Surrender….”
Michael replied, looking very stern, completely different from before.
“You expect me to surrender to someone like you, who is not even worthy of being a monarch?”
The moment.
BOOM!
The knights of the Iota estate, including Camille, stood up from their seats and drew their swords.
‘Is this what you meant when you told us to attend in armour?’
Camille suddenly realised the reason for the order.
“How did you know?”
But Michael, no, Condor, barely blinked, turning to Otto.
“We, Orth, and you, Iota, have had but little contact; did any of you know my face?”
“Come on, we often met, I think we met hundreds of times.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean exactly what I said.”
Otto smiled bitterly.
‘We’ve met a lot, many many times.’
Condor is one of the most troublesome bosses in early play, right after Pizarro and Nazrak.
It was also the last obstacle I had to overcome before I could become a fully-fledged force to be reckoned with.
“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, I don’t remember meeting you, Otto de Scuderia.”
“Yes, yes, of course you do.”
“Insolent b**tard.”
The condor rose from his seat.
“Today will be the last time you and I meet.”
“Will it be?”
Otto looked back at Camille.
“Camille, I have chosen you!”
“……?”
“I chose you?!”
“What are you talking about?”
“Fight him!”
“… I see.”
Camille felt bad for some reason, but for now, he stepped towards Condor.
“Camille. I’ve heard that he’s a worthless man to be a lord of the Iota estate. Wouldn’t you rather be my vassal than suffer under such an idiot?”
“Nonsense.”
Camille swung his sword at Condor in response.
“Why?”
Then Condor drew the sword he had hidden under the table and confronted Camille.
At the same time, a battle broke out in the banqueting hall.
The officials and servants of the Orth estate who had attended the banquet drew their weapons and began to attack Otto’s men.
***
The battle was sudden.
Otto remained unfazed, watching the battle from the protection of his knights.
“Waaaaaaaaaah!”
“The lord is in danger! Seal the banqueting hall!”
“Cut them all down!”
The knights of the Iota estate stood by.
The elite soldiers of the Iota Domain rushed into the banqueting hall and began to subdue the Condor men.
‘Shall I take a hit or two?’
Condor is known for his myriad of tricks and traps.
Attacking players in the banqueting hall was another familiar pattern.
Otto attends the banquet in full armor from the start.
He had knights and elite soldiers ready in advance.
It was all in preparation, for the many times he had fallen into Condor’s trap and got himself killed.
“You’re way more powerful than I’ve heard.”
“Noisy.”
“It’s definitely a skill that doesn’t belong in Iota.”
“Only Iota can have me.”
Meanwhile, Camille and Condor traded blows and fought tooth and nail.
But Condor’s strength was clearly in his favor.
As the minutes ticked by, he began to overwhelm Camille.
“Sir Camille!”
“Be careful!”
Eventually, even the lower-ranking Iota knights were forced to attack the condor.
‘We’ll never beat him by force, never.’
Otto watched the fight and timed it.
‘He’ll flee in five minutes. It’s four and a half sec now. Thirty more seconds and….’
Exactly thirty seconds later.
“Too bad…!”
Condor swung his sword violently, shaking off Camille and the knights.
“We’ll have to wait for another time.”
He then threw himself against the window.
CRACK!
The window shattered, and Condor’s figure disappeared without a trace.
“Let him go.”
Otto called out to Camille, who was running after the condor.
“But….”
“It’s dangerous to chase him.”
Otto calmed the disappointed Camille.
“That’s probably a trap.”
“I see.”
“Good work.”
Otto patted him on the shoulder to encourage him.
“You don’t look so good, Don’t get your pride hurt.”
“I know.”
Camille nodded.
“But it’s also true that your opponent is much stronger than you.”
“That’s true.”
“What about these guys… what should I do?”
Camille asked, gesturing to the subdued Orth people.
“No need to kill them, just imprison them.”
“They were the ones who tried to kill our lord.”
“I know.”
“They deserve to be executed.”
“I know.”
“And yet you show them mercy?”
“Do I look like I’m showing mercy?”
Startle!
Camille was surprised by the eeriness in Otto’s expression.
“Killing them would only increase their antipathy. Condor would want me to kill them.”
“That’s… Are you afraid?.”
“If we kill them, we’ll only be helping the Condor. And….”
Otto added.
“You don’t have to go after them and kill them.”
“Why do you think that?”
“I told you, it gets messy when people are in groups.”
“Are you trying to force Condor to make an irrational actions?”
“Exactly.”
Otto nodded.
“What we need to do is not kill the condor, but induce him to behave in a way that loses public support.”
“Ah…!”
Camille exclaimed in pure amazement.
He had never, ever, ever thought that Otto’s thoughts had gone that far.
“When a man is cornered, he’s bound to make a mistake, and we’ll just have to wait it out. It’ll be a bit of a hassle, but don’t worry, I have a plan.”
“I understand.”