The Hero Becomes the Duke’s Eldest Son

Translator: Marctempest
Editor: Rynfinity

Chapter 8

……

Aden dashed towards Carl like an arrow.

In the blink of an eye, Aden’s sword came crashing down on Carl’s head.

“……!”

Carl quickly blocked the strike, but Aden’s next attack followed immediately.

It was the Knight King’s sword technique, the ‘Binding Sword,’ the same technique that had been demonstrated to the apprentice knight Bazan.

The essence of a knight’s swordsmanship lay in the continuity of techniques.

An upward strike would flow into a diagonal slash, then a rotating slash into a thrust.

Even if one technique was blocked, the next one would seamlessly follow like a flowing river.

Clang! Clang! Clank!

However, Aden’s swordsmanship continuously disrupted this flow.

Whether it was an upward strike or a thrust.

Whatever Carl attempted, Aden’s sword was already blocking or launching a surprise attack that Carl had to fend off.

‘What, what is this!’

Carl found himself only able to block Aden’s attacks, unable to counterattack.

There was no opening.

At that moment, Aden swiftly closed the distance and clenched his fist.

Thud!

He launched a mana-infused punch towards Carl’s abdomen.

“Urgh!”

With a gasp, Carl’s eyes widened from the shock, and his body was pushed back about two meters before collapsing.

Clang.

Carl’s sword fell from his hand and rolled on the ground as he lay sprawled out.

The knights were stunned and speechless.

“Young Master Carl, lost?”

A formal knight muttered in disbelief.

All the knights had seen and heard it.

The sound of Sword Howling from Aden’s sword.

My god.

The eldest young master, who had only trained for three months, had reached the state of Sword Howling?

The same question arose in everyone’s mind.

‘Has he been hiding his power all this time?’

If not, he must be an unprecedented genius who reached such a state in just three months.

Either way, it was a terrifying matter.

“The young master won!”

“Wow! Young Master Aden!”

Meanwhile, the apprentice knights were ecstatic.

Carl tried to get up, clutching his stomach and staggering.

“Ugh, what is, this…?”

“Hey, are you okay?”

Aden nonchalantly asked about Carl’s condition, to which Carl looked up at him with a dazed expression.

“This can’t be happening… This makes no sense…”

His face looked exactly like those of the countless defeated apprentice knights Aden had seen before.

Shock, confusion, denial.

But Carl took it a step further.

“I lost to my worthless brother? And Sword Howling! There’s no way a piece of trash who loses to the village dogs could reach such a state!”

Carl spat out his horrified insults in a rapid-fire manner.

“There’s no way a simple-minded, drunken, destructive piece of garbage could achieve this! This is impossible!”

Carl lost his composure and began spewing everything he had kept inside.

Hah, look at this guy?

Aden’s eyes grew cold as he watched Carl.

Had he not once told himself that he wouldn’t be swayed by the words of a brat?

He revoked that statement now.

This insolent brother needed to be taught a lesson.

A cold, bright smile spread across Aden’s lips.

“Hey, you need a beating.”

That day, the training grounds echoed with the sound of drumming blows and Carl’s harmonious screams.

* * *

From that day onwards, Aden continued to visit the knights’ training grounds, sparring with three or four knights a day.

Each time, Carl inevitably saw Aden’s face, and each time, Carl cowered and couldn’t say a word.

Thanks to Aden beating him so well, nothing was broken, and the potion took care of the bruises in a day.

But for Carl, it seemed to have been engraved as a time of nightmares.

For Aden, it was convenient that Carl wasn’t acting so annoyingly anymore.

Aden defeated the knights one by one every day.

“Argh!”

He knocked down ten knights.

“Ugh!”

He never lost even when it came to the twentieth knight.

“Gah!”

The same went for the thirtieth knight.

Eventually, about fifteen days after the day he defeated Carl, Aden had won against all the knights except for the captain and vice-captain.

As a result, the awaited reward appeared.

<‘You have achieved the title of ‘Unbeaten Swordsman’.’>

It was an achievement.

<[Unbeaten Swordsman]>

Finally, the awaited notification appeared.

Aden read the string of text in his mind and murmured.

“Unbeaten Swordsman….”

A 15% increase in attack power meant that during combat, any injury inflicted on the opponent would be more severe than it would normally be.

A 20% reduction in damage meant that he would be less injured when attacked.

A 20% reduction meant that an attack that would normally shatter his bones would only leave a slight crack.

In combat, small variables could determine the outcome, and this was a significant advantage.

This was the power of achievements.

A great blessing bestowed by the system, which only transcendent beings should possess.

In the past, the great mage Shau had found the effects of achievements and titles bestowed by the system fascinating and studied them.

‘This is a pretty good achievement.’

The fact that the achievement would degrade to a lower one if he lost even once was a bit concerning, but it was only natural that such a good achievement would come with some penalty.

‘Great, now I’m basically ready.’

Aden called for his waiting attendant, Philip, and instructed him.

“Go fetch Lowe and tell him something for me.”

“What should I tell him, young master?”

A mischievous smile spread across Aden’s face.

“Tell him it’s time to get what he wants.”

* * *

“Is it Lowe? You want to go out alone with this apprentice knight, my son?”

Aden Remes’s father, Duke Fried Remes, asked, looking at his son and the apprentice knight accompanying him in the office.

Aden nodded at the question.

“Yes, father.”

The duke frowned at his son’s request.

“Hmm. It’s fine to go out since it’s been a while, but taking only an apprentice knight as an escort is difficult.”

Aden already had a knight assigned to escort him on outings.

But to replace the escort with an apprentice knight of lower skill?

It was hard to understand and lacked justification.

“Don’t you already have Sir Chapelo as your escort? He will find it hard to accept.”

“I have a solid reason.”

Aden pointed at Lowe and told the duke.

“He’s stronger.”

“Haha! You make good jokes!”

The duke dismissed Aden’s words as a joke.

Sir Chapelo was a veteran knight with outstanding achievements in regular monster subjugations.

Yet, this apprentice knight who had only been with the family for a year was stronger?

It was an amusing joke.

However, Aden’s face held a meaningful smile.

“Then let’s have them fight. I’ll take the winner as my escort. Lowe, can you do it?”

“Of course, young master.”

Lowe’s face showed confidence as he respectfully answered.

The duke blinked in disbelief.

But soon after.

It didn’t take long for the duke to understand his son’s words after calling Sir Chapelo to the training grounds for a sparring match with Lowe.

“Huh….”

A sigh escaped the duke’s lips.

The match was over quickly.

Barely a minute had passed?

The trusted knight chosen for his son’s protection, Sir Chapelo, lay on the ground foaming at the mouth and unconscious.

In contrast, the apprentice knight named Lowe was calmly sheathing his sword.

Aden looked at Lowe as if this was to be expected.

‘As expected, that guy is a freak.’

Practicing the footwork used by the free knight Lowe daily instead of a scarecrow, his skills naturally grew, and he learned the footwork on his own.

Indeed, Lowe was an annoying genius.

Little did Aden realize that he himself was an annoying genius too.

Unaware of Aden’s thoughts, Lowe nodded slightly to him in acknowledgment, thinking to himself.

‘Thank you, young master.’

By mastering the footwork taught by Aden and the rigorous daily sparring, Lowe’s skills had exponentially increased.

Now, he could stand toe-to-toe with any veteran knight.

However, Lowe didn’t know that his sparring was nothing more than a playful beating by Aden.

Aden asked his father, who was left speechless.

“Father, may I take Lowe as my escort?”

“…….”

The duke had no words.

* * *

Aden rode the carriage down to the small city of Marillen, situated below the hill where the mansion stood.

For Aden, it was the first time seeing the outside world since entering the body of the delinquent noble.

‘It’s peaceful.’

Aden felt this as he looked at the city.

Of course, the presence of mercenaries and armed men indicated a warlike atmosphere typical of such regions, surrounded by monster-infested mountains.

However, the expressions of the passing townspeople showed no fear or worry about monster attacks.

This indicated that the territory’s defense measures and preparedness against monsters were robust enough to make them feel safe.

This peaceful scene felt strange to Aden, who hadn’t seen such a view in a long time.

And seeing the passing mercenaries reminded him that he had once been one of them, now looking down from a noble’s carriage.

Before long, Aden and Lowe reached their destination.

The coachman hesitantly asked Aden in a cautious voice.

“Young master, we have arrived, but is this really the place?”

“It’s correct.”

Aden was headed toward the alley leading to the slum area where the poor lived.

The Remes Duchy was a wealthy territory.

But just because the land was rich didn’t mean there were no poor or ill-reputed people.

This was a rough area where such people lived.

Since the alley was too narrow for the carriage, Aden and Lowe got off and entered the alley on foot.

Here and there, there were dirty clothes, hungry people, and addicts smoking drugs.

Lowe, who followed Aden without a word, couldn’t help but think.

‘Is there really a clue to fix my arm in such a place?’

Though he trusted Aden, it was natural to have such thoughts in this place.

The eyes of the slum dwellers were all focused on Aden and Lowe.

Their gazes were sharp with envy, greed, and wariness, but no one dared approach them.

Aden’s luxurious attire.

The family crest on Lowe’s apprentice knight uniform.

These were enough to show who they were.

Then, Aden approached a child.

“Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Me? Y-Yes?”

Aden asked the child who had been looking at him with eyes of admiration.

The child stuttered in surprise when Aden spoke to him.

“Do you know where the only pharmacist in this slum lives?”

“Yes, yes! If you follow this road and turn right at the old tree, you’ll find it! But the pharmacist always says he’s not a pharmacist.”

“Really? Thanks for the information.”

Aden took out a gold coin from his pocket and handed it to the child.

“T-Thank you!”

The child was startled and ran off after receiving the gold coin.

Clap!

Aden clapped his hands lightly.

“If anyone thinks of stealing the child’s money, don’t. I’ll hunt them down and destroy them in the name of the Duke’s family.”

Flinch.

Those who had been eyeing the direction the child ran with greedy eyes flinched all at once.

Aden casually spoke and then led Lowe away from the spot.

After walking through the slum for a while.

Aden stopped in front of a certain building.

Although old, it was a relatively well-constructed wooden building compared to the others.

Aden looked at the sign.

[Drug Store]

Note: This is not a clinic, so stop coming here. And we don’t make drugs, so junkies get lost.

Aden knew he had arrived at the right place.