NOVEL WEB To be honest, my achievements as a Knight were not particularly impressive.
In the first place, I hadn’t achieved anything significant to earn my rank; rather, I had simply ascended to this position due to my connections as the son of a Prince, merely aging into my role. So, it was only natural that there would be no accusations of me being a parachute candidate amidst our family’s Knight Order.
The reason was simple.
There was no one stronger than me in our order, at least aside from the Commander.
Clang!
“I’m looking for the Baron!”
“Baron! Are you there?”
Thanks to a prior arrangement to withdraw the guards, the Baron’s security detail easily broke into the Cathedral grounds. They shouted at the top of their lungs, but their voices didn’t reach the Baron.
The debate between the Baron and the Archbishop took place in a part of the Cathedral protected by Silence Magic, to ensure that the service and mass wouldn’t be interrupted. Naturally, the only buildings capable of inscribing magic within the Palatinate, aside from the Imperial Palace, weren’t exempt in this case. Thus, talented priests from the Church had learned the magic and together cast it.
The Baron probably didn’t expect that he was being set up.
“Baron! Princess Maria is coming to the Mansion with the Imperial Inspection Team! You need to return quickly!”
As expected.
Maria was performing her role splendidly.
Just the arrival of the Imperial Inspection Team would be overwhelming for the guards, but with the Princess accompanying them, the Baron needed to be present to at least establish some authority to resist any interference.
However, the Baron was trapped inside and completely cut off from the outside by the Silence Magic, wasn’t he?
This meant they would ultimately have to breach the Cathedral.
My role was to stop them.
Thud.
I struck the ground with my sword sharply. The guards flinched and halted in their tracks.
“This is a Cathedral. I would like secular folks not to cause a ruckus here and to turn back.”
They clustered together, eyeing me warily. Not knowing how to proceed, they muttered among themselves for a while, but finally seemed to have reached a conclusion and formed a makeshift line.
“I—I do not know who you are, but we must escort our lord back! Holding such a dreadful weapon in the holy temple is a threat to us, is it not?”
Dreadful, you say?
That attitude is likely to get on my nerves. Of course, it does look rather menacing.
Still, they did get one thing right. It was commendable that even with a guy holding a menacing sword blocking the door, they didn’t take it upon themselves to charge into someone else’s territory.
It was a bit of a shame that even if they got the correct answer, they lacked the means to mark it down.
“Well, one thing’s for sure: as long as I’m standing, your dearly missed lord won’t be coming out.”
“What—what did you say?”
“You’re saying the Baron is imprisoned!”
I wasn’t lying.
In any case, with the Silence Magic in place, there was no way to call the Baron unless he decided to come out on his own. Inside, a desperate argument was underway (though the Archbishop was getting thoroughly trounced, one had to admire his tenacity in clinging to the theological debate), so it was unlikely he’d choose to emerge.
Ultimately, they’d have to enter through the door, and I had no intention of stepping aside.
Isn’t this imprisonment?
Honestly, I’m starting to doubt it myself.
“Damn it, damn it!”
Realizing the gravity of the situation (at least in their imagination), the guards finally couldn’t hold back and drew their swords. But they didn’t rush in recklessly.
Well, that was to be expected.
I flicked my wrist and spun my sword a bit. The closest guards unconsciously took a step back.
With a guy like me standing there, it wouldn’t be easy to charge in.
However, even if they were just trainees, they were aspiring Knights, and soon enough they charged at me to fulfill their duty.
“Attack!”
Waaaah!
With a cheer, they lunged at me.
“Not a chance!”
Whoosh!
I swung my sword. With a whoosh of wind, my blade advanced forward. They seemed to have learned a bit about drawing magic, as their ferocity was different from just a moment ago. Unfortunately, it made no difference.
Bam!
A sound far too heavy for mere metal clashing resonated as the foremost guard went flying backward.
“Wh-what…?”
The guards beside him were momentarily pushed back and turned to look at me in panic. They had probably formed a circle to try and encircle me.
Surrounding the opponent is a basic strategy of the majority; they seemed to have been well-trained.
However, with the person supposed to capture me flying away helplessly, the attempted encirclement had become a pointless endeavor, merely surrounding empty space.
“It would be wise to abandon your attempt at encirclement. There are no leisurely Knights or monsters willing to sit around waiting for you to confine them.”
“…Ugh!”
Upon receiving my rather helpful advice, they gritted their teeth and charged once more. This time, according to my suggestion, they tackled me first in an attempt to grab me before trying to encircle me.
“Too slow!”
Bam!
I slightly pivoted my sword so that the blade faced my opponent as I planted the tip into the ground.
When the sword aimed at me was blocked, I extended one arm to grasp him. With a swing of my arm, I hurled him away. His comrades hesitated as he flew through the air, creating an opening. I dove into that gap and drew my sword down from above.
Not the blade, but the flat side.
Whoosh!
The sound of air being cut was even louder than before. With a broader surface area, the air’s resistance intensified. I focused my magical energy, quickening both my sword and my arm.
Bam!
As the blade struck the ground, an immense blast echoed, as if a bomb had exploded. The already ragged sword made for an excellent projectile since even the air coursing along it was influenced by the magic.
Though it didn’t create a crater, it was certainly enough to shove back the unprepared Knight trainees.
“Ugh…!”
One guard, having collided with his flying comrade, wobbled and toppled backward.
This was my chance.
“Gah!”
I dashed forward and swung my sword. Not with the edge but with the back, and without infusing it with magic, but the sword’s weight alone was a weapon capable of killing.
Thud!
“Gah!”
“Ugh…!”
Two of them were struck in the stomach and side. One of them was spitting blood; it seemed like his insides had taken a hit. Well, that was manageable enough to fix up.
So, that makes three of them.
As I counted the guards, a sudden thought struck me: wasn’t it getting a bit too noisy? Turning my head, I saw the priests giving me a thumbs-up. It looked like they had cast another layer of Silence Magic.
Of course, while it didn’t completely block out the noise covering the Cathedral, it was enough to reduce it significantly.
“Five left, what are you going to do?”
The guards clenched their teeth, glaring at me.
I shrugged. Unless they were Medusa, glaring at me wouldn’t drain my stamina.
“Return the Baron! He is the head of the Ulm family, respected even in the Empire! Is the Church not afraid of consequences?”
“Think of it the other way around. We wouldn’t be pulling this kind of stunt if we couldn’t handle the repercussions, would we?”
“…”
The guards fell silent. They were not completely clueless about these kinds of situations. They’d figure out that those in charge often have the backing to weather genuine chaos.
They say that those with nothing to lose are terrifying, but in truth, those who truly have nothing just lack the ability to cause real trouble. It’s the ones with something to lose who are the true agents of chaos.
“Damn it.”
The leader among the guards sighed, wiping his eyes. Then he steeled himself and charged again.
“We must save the Baron!”
Now that was some tearful sincerity.
If their heartfelt intention matched their skill, then the Baron’s family might still have a prosperous future. Though, whether that lord would be anything like the current one remains to be seen.
“Hmph.”
I admired their resolve, knowing full well they were heading for defeat.
Shall I give them a suitable target to aim for?
“Let’s see how you handle this.”
Thunk!
I swung my sword to parry the attacks from three of them. Thanks to the length of my sword, a single swing was enough to ward off all their strikes.
“I won’t kill you.”
Since I put some strength behind it, the guards were forced to retreat a fair distance from me. This was my opportunity.
I twisted my body. With my back facing behind me, I lowered my sword. My legs spread wide to maintain balance against any vigorous movements.
Then, I tensed my arms, shoulders, and waist. My legs turned to face forward first, then my waist followed. Channeling all the magical power I could muster, I infused it into my sword, causing its surface to shimmer faintly.
In that moment, as my body finally faced forward, I swung my sword.
“It’s not every day you get to witness a true Sword Expert in action, is it?”
Bam!
In an instant, the air erupted behind the sword.
The sound of the sword slicing through the air only reached my ears after I had swung it.
And with that shockwave, the wind rushed forth.
“Wait…?”
The guards were sent sprawling, completely clueless about what they had just been caught up in. I had angled the blade slightly instead of keeping it straight, meaning they coughed up blood and had their limbs bent awkwardly, yet they weren’t dead.
Boom!
Then, another shockwave reverberated through the air.
This time, I turned my head towards the source of the sound, wondering what it was.
“Oh.”
The iron door of the Cathedral had collapsed, lying flat on the ground.
I felt the piercing gaze of the priests upon me.
Damn.
It seemed I had misjudged my strength.
—
Really, the old man is annoyingly tenacious.
The Baron was thoroughly exasperated. Communication seemed impossible.
Sure, I could understand his affection for the orphaned child. However, what he couldn’t grasp was the sheer stubbornness in holding himself captive to such an extent.
How many hours were they going to drag out this nonsense?
“That’s what I’m saying! This is—!”
The Baron shouted once more at the Archbishop, who was spouting yet another ridiculous argument. Now, he focused on dismantling that rambling and convincing him, or rather, just trying to shut him up altogether.
Without doing so, it felt impossible to escape this place.
At least inside the Cathedral, the Archbishop had the power to make that happen.
“Oh, that’s enough.”
Just as he was about to launch into yet another tirade, the Archbishop stopped him.
“Huh?”
As I looked on in confusion, the Archbishop pulled something out of his robe. It was a long, stick-like object, flickering red at the tip.
The Baron recognized it.
“A disposable communicator?”
It was a cheap device sold with hastily inscribed magical runes, often only usable once before being discarded.
While it was used for security purposes at times, this seemed to be a particularly shoddy one-way communicator.
The Archbishop nodded at the communicator.
“Hmm, it seems we’ve managed to buy some time.”
“…Time?”
In that moment, the Baron felt his blood run cold. So, all of this was just a delay tactic?
The absurd pretenses and nearly insulting verbal abuse directed at me—was it all just a ruse to buy time?
Though he didn’t catch the purpose behind it, a sense of foreboding was already crawling up the Baron’s spine.
Something had gone terribly wrong.
“Well then, I think it’s time for me to take my leave.”
The once-menacing older man had vanished, replaced by the Archbishop who had seemingly completed his business and was ready to let the Baron go.
“What, what on earth is…?”
Only the Baron was left bewildered and dazed, unable to comprehend the situation.
But one thing was clear: someone—most likely Wilhelm von Brandenburg and that unruly Princess Maria—was involved in this and had been stalling him. Just that thought was enough to overwhelm him with unease.
“I need to get back to the mansion, quickly!”
After swiftly coming to a decision, he opened the Cathedral door and stepped outside.
“Ah, you’ve finally come out.”
However, it didn’t take long for him to realize that it was already too late.
Wilhelm was waiting for him, draped in an atrocious attitude that was downright grotesque. Behind him, the priests were somehow tending to the guards who had come here. The aides who should have been waiting in the carriage were already subdued, gagged, and kneeling on the ground.
And the grand entrance, which marked the Cathedral’s domain, lay in ruins on the floor.
“What, what the hell is going on…?”
The Baron asked, dazed and confused.
Wilhelm shrugged and pointed towards the sky with a finger.
“I’d love to show you the heavens, but alas, I’m not a Sword Master yet.”
He then pointed back at the ground.
“But I can certainly slice through the wind.”
Once again, it was an explanation that didn’t clarify anything.
But one thing was for sure.
The situation had already spiraled out of control.
Thud.
The Baron collapsed onto the ground.