Chapter 171: The Competition (2)

Chapter 171: The Competition (2)

As Eugene approached the closed door to open it, he felt muted footsteps move away on the other side. Eugene stood and waited in front of the door for a few moments. Then, seeing how the door remained closed, the sounds of someone slowly sneaking drew closer once more.

Eugene immediately pulled the door open.

“Kyaaah!”

“Eeeek!”

Two foolish-sounding screams rang out.

Eugene stared through the open doorway with a sullen face. On the other side of the door, he saw Dezra, who had jumped back a few steps and was now caught in a guilty posture, and Ciel, who was keeping up an impudent expression as if she refused to admit to having just made such an embarrassing sound.

The ‘kyaaah’ had come from Ciel, while the ‘eeek’ had come from Dezra.

“What are you doing here?” Eugene demanded.

“What do you think I was doing? I was just passing through this hallway,” Ciel blatantly lied as she quickly calmed her rapidly beating heart from the ensuing shock. Ciel glanced sideways at Dezra, who was still shrinking backward, and scolded her, “Stupid Dezra, why did you make such an unsightly noise?”

“H-huh?” Dezra stammered.

“You started making noises like an idiot just now,” Ciel accused. “I’m talking about those ridiculous screams — ‘kyaaah’ and ‘eeek.’ No matter how surprised you were, isn’t it going too far to scream twice in a row?”

“Wh-what do you mean by that?” Dezra protested. “I didn’t scream twice. Also, strictly speaking, the sound I made just now was more of a gasp rather than a screa—”

“No, you definitely screamed twice. Thanks to that, I also froze out of surprise!” Ciel insisted, having no intention of admitting that she had let out any scream. At the same time, a question was brewing in the corner of her heart, ‘I was definitely paying attention to any signs of his presence, so how?’

Eugene had also noticed that Ciel was reading the traces of his presence. So, to tease Ciel, he had hidden all signs of his presence and waited at the door. No matter how keen Ciel’s senses were, it was impossible for Ciel to detect him if Eugene was determined to hide his presence.

“I only screamed once!” Dezra argued.

“Dezra! Do you, a squire, really dare to refute me, your senior officer?” Ciel demanded as she glared at Dezra with a stern expression.

It was just as Ciel had said.

As part of the massive recruitment drive enacted by the Knights of the Black Lion, Dezra followed her dreams and joined the Third Division of the Black Lion Knights, led by Carmen Lionheart, whom Dezra so admired.

Thanks to that, Dezra had fortunately been able to don the uniform of the Black Lion Knights, but unfortunately, Dezra’s skills were actually quite lacking for a member of the Black Lions. In the end, Dezra became an apprentice and an assistant to Carmen’s disciple, Ciel.

“...This… this is just absurd. Even if you are my senior officer, Lady Ceil, I can’t accept being accused of doing something that I didn’t do,” Dezra argued stubbornly.

“If you keep this up, then I won’t take care of you the next time we head out together,” Ciel warned as she stared at Dezra with narrowed eyes.

At these words, Dezra’s pupils began wavering with indecision.

Just by listening to their conversation, one might feel like Ciel was a paragon of absurdity for issuing such a threat, but unexpectedly, Ciel had indeed been taking care of Dezra in many ways after she recently joined the Black Lions as her assistant.

“You’re right,” Dezra confessed with an embarrassed expression. “The truth is that I did scream twice.”

“Hear that?” Ciel boasted smugly as she glanced over at Eugene.

“...So what do you want from me?” Eugene reminded her.

“Why do you keep popping in and out of Lady Carmen’s office lately?” Ciel asked as the smile that had just been pasted onto her face disappeared. Gazing at Eugene’s face with a suspicious expression, Ciel demanded, “You can’t be thinking of becoming Lady Carmen’s disciple, can you?”

“Is there something wrong with that?” Eugene asked.

“You can’t,” Ciel firmly rejected. “You’re already receiving special guidance from Sir Genos. If you accept instruction from Lady Carmen on top of that, that would just be too greedy and unfair.”

“That’s right… Sir Eugene. Lady Carmen is already very busy with just instructing the Third Division,” Dezra backed Ciel up while stumbling to address Eugene as a ‘Sir.’

However, since she now had to use honorifics whenever she had to address Cyan and Ciel, it would be awkward for her to not use ‘Sir’ when addressing Eugene as well. So now that she had become a member of the Third Division, she would just have to do her best to get used to addressing those from the main family as ‘Sir’ or ‘Lady.’

“It must be nice to keep receiving such affection from all over the place,” Eugene commented as he glanced over at Carmen, who had propped her legs up onto the table.

Poof, poof.

Carmen was idly flicking open and closing her Dupont lighter[1] while she tried to hold back the smile that was threatening to spread across her lips.

“It’s slowly getting to the scheduled start of the competition, so what are you guys doing here? Even if you aren’t going to participate, haven’t all the members of the knights been released to spectate?” Eugene inquired.

“That’s why we’re here,” Ciel claimed. “We’ve come to pick you and Lady Carmen up.”

“My apologies, but unfortunately, I won’t be able to hang around in comfort with you,” Eugene said regretfully.

“Why not?” Ciel complained.

“Because I’ve decided to participate in the competition,” Eugene replied without any trace of hesitation or worry.

Ciel and Dezra’s eyes widened in amazement.

* * *

Ever since three hundred years ago, the Lionheart clan had taken the entire sprawling forest on the western border of Ceres as their domain, and no other noble estates were located on the outskirts of their family’s territory.

In other words, the field the competition was taking place in wasn’t actually part of the Lionheart clan’s private property. This area belonged to Kiehl as part of the lands directly owned by the Emperor.

As this whole confrontation had stemmed from some trivial disputes, no more blood than necessary needed to be shed. During this competition, the participants had to make sure to always respect each other’s honor and keep to the rules of chivalry.

While that may have been the original priority of the organizers, none of the spectators who had gathered to watch the competition cared about that.

There were hundreds of eyes watching to ensure that all the participants in this competition behaved honorably to each other, kept to the rules of chivalry, and restrained themselves from any unnecessary bloodshed. Most of these spectators were aristocrats of at least some individual prestige within Kiehl, and even those who didn’t have their own titles were merchants whose wealth had granted them a status that could not be ignored. Rather than dull things like honor or chivalry, their eyes were full of interest as they anticipated the upcoming battles between the two knightly orders.

The White Dragon Knights, who served directly under the imperial family, and the Lionheart Knights, whose prestigious record had first begun three hundred years ago, would face each other head-on. Until now, there had never once been a direct confrontation between the Imperial Knights and the knightly orders that served the nobility of Kiehl.

‘Usually, it blows over before an all-out confrontation occurs.’

This wasn’t just the case for conflicts between the Imperial Knights and Noble Knights either. The noble knightly orders usually didn’t fight among themselves either, as a direct conflict between the knightly orders could easily lead to a battle for each other’s territory.

Therefore, any conflict between knightly orders always adhered to these rules: any dispute must always be founded on just causes, duels should be neatly arranged to not leave any regrets, and both sides were expected to show respect to each other to keep the loser from being overly humiliated. Like this, any conflicts that arose would not exceed the scale of a one-versus-one duel, and the mobilization of the entire knightly order into the field was expressly forbidden without the permission of their noble patrons….

“This conflict was caused by the White Dragon Knights in the first place, so the Lionheart Knights have been in the right from the very start of all this.”

“However, the White Dragon Knights who serve His Majesty can’t be the first to bow their heads.”

“That might be the case, but….”

“This is just a rumor spreading inside the imperial palace, but His majesty might be planning on escalating this into an all-out war.”

“What kind of nonsense…?”

“As you may know, not long ago, there was an internal conflict between family members over in the Uklas Mountain Range, within the Lionheart clan’s domain. There weren’t many casualties, but the prestige of the Lionheart clan, which has prided itself on being the strongest martial clan in the entire continent, has fallen to the bottom. They have even begun to abolish their old traditions to attempt to rectify this and restore the family’s power.”

The one leading this conversation was Marquis Blezico, a noble famous for the broad reach of his social circles, which even extended to the various churches.

Lowering his voice as low as he could, as if he was telling some great secret, the marquis whispered, “The Lionheart Clan is a prestigious aristocratic family that can even be called the strongest pillar of Kiehl. Their ancestor, the Great Vermouth, was a great hero who will forever leave his name in the history of the continent. …If such a clan were to begin to capsize… just how depressed would His Majesty be?”

His listeners gasped in understanding, “Ah…!”

Blezico further elaborated, “Through this competition, His Majesty intends to confirm whether or not the Lionheart clan has managed to make even the slightest progress in correcting its slow downfall. That is why he has allowed everyone here to observe the competition so that they can confirm it for themselves. Even if the Knights of the White Lion were to defeat the White Dragon Knights in this competition, His Majesty would still be very pleased with this outcome.”

Conversations filled with such content flowed throughout the entire crowd of spectators.

“As if it would be so easy to understand His Majesty’s true intentions,” Alchester muttered to himself.

Only for the man beside him to pick up the topic, “It’s not like we really need to understand His Most Sublime Will.”

The man changed topics, “It’s true that the Lionheart clan has been going through a lot of storms lately, isn’t it? This competition might stem from a dispute between our knightly orders, but it isn’t bad to have an all-out confrontation like this in order to confirm the true power of the Lionheart clan.”

“...It was the Black Lion Knights who suffered from the latest incident. The Knights of the White Lion who serve the direct line haven’t suffered any damage,” Alchester reminded the man.

“Yes, I’m aware of that. However, these knights who have sworn allegiance to a family that has started cracking apart from the inside… will they really be as exceptional as the reputation and tradition that they have inherited…?” the man questioned doubtfully as he looked towards the opposing side with a thin smile.

On the other side of the field, the flags of the Lionheart clan were fluttering. Both the White Lion Knights in their gray uniforms and Black Lion Knights in their black uniforms were present for the competition. In the center stood the Patriarch, Gilead, riding a black horse.

“Don’t look down on the Lionheart clan,” Alchester said. “They are the martial clan that has reigned at the top of the Empire for the past three hundred years. Among all the knights fascinated by their reputation, only those with exceptional skills are carefully selected to join them and receive further training to become members of the Knights of the White Lion.”

Alchester was actually offended by the man’s blatant disrespect for the Lionheart clan. Although he had sworn absolute loyalty to the Emperor as the leader of the White Dragon Knights, as a knight himself, Alchester still respected ‘the Great Vermouth’ and was fascinated by his legend.

“...If I really did look down on them, I wouldn’t have even participated in this competition,” the man eventually responded.

This was one of the Captains of the White Dragon Knights, Eboldt Magius.

Eboldt continued, “Regardless of whether this competition ends in our victory or defeat, it’s necessary to get a more accurate understanding of the Lionheart clan’s strength, even if it’s just for the sake of the Unity Conference being held next year.”

But that wasn’t the only reason that this conference was being held. The Emperor had also spoken to Alchester privately about his goals for this competition.

No matter how heroic their lineage may be, the Lionheart clan was still just a noble family. Wasn’t it excessive for such a family to hold enough power to field two whole knightly orders, with one hundred and sixty knights in one order and sixty knights in the other? Was it really right for a hero from three hundred years ago and his legacy to receive more respect than the current reigning emperor?

That was why the Emperor wanted to put pressure on the Lionhearts. Even if they did end up losing the competition, the White Dragon Knights wouldn’t lose much. Their defeat would also work out as an example of the Emperor’s care. Such an idea had already been sowed throughout the spectators in advance.

However, what if they won? Then the whole world would know that the Lionheart clan’s fortunes had indeed declined and that the blood of the hero had now thinned out. Should there be any deserters from the White Lion Knights as a result of this, the Emperor would be sure to generously embrace them and provide a place for them in his knightly order.

“Any regrets?” Carmen asked.

She was also sitting on a black horse beside Gilead. The hem of her coat swished as she surveyed the open field in front of them.

“What do you mean?” Gilead asked.

“I’m talking about proposing this competition in the first place,” Carmen clarified.

Gilead smiled wryly as he admitted, “His Majesty was being a bit too outspoken.”

“It’s because this peace has lasted too long,” Carmen sighed.

Poof.

Carmen flicked open her lighter and placed a cigar in her mouth before continuing, “Although he’s slowly built up more and more power, he doesn’t have anywhere to release it. That said, there are a lot of considerations that need to be made before starting a war. But when even the Sultan of Nahama has started to drip his drool here and there because his belly is full of oil[2], you’d better believe that our Majestic Emperor drools just as much.”

“...That’s quite the dangerous claim to make,” Gilead observed.

“Is there something wrong with what I’ve just said? Even if you’ve become the emperor of an empire, you should still know how to be content in moderation…. If our Ancestor hadn’t laid down roots in the Kiehl Empire three hundred years ago, do you really think that Kiehl would have been able to retain its status as an empire during those chaotic times?” Carmen observed cynically.

“...I expect that the size of their territory would have been reduced by a little,” Gilead eventually agreed.

Carmen snorted, “That’s right. Kiehl has a lot of enemies. If our clan hadn’t immediately blocked the barbarians in the southern rainforest, then the Imperial Knights, whom His Majesty is so proud of, would have needed to take over our duty. Patriarch, you understand what I’m saying, right?”

Gilead was silent.

“The Lionheart clan has been protecting Kiehl for the past three hundred years. Without receiving any official titles for doing so! Still, His Majesty, whose belly is so full of oil, does not appreciate our hard work and seeks to target us at our time of weakness, trampling on our family’s name and coveting our power,” Carmen delivered these words with cold anger.

Although she had retained the appearance of a woman in her twenties, Carmen was still Gilead’s aunt.

This was reflected in the way Carmen encouraged him, “So Patriarch, there’s no need to regret proposing this competition. This is the decision that you have made as the head of the household. The great hero’s blood that flows through our veins has never thinned, and the Lionheart clan remains unbroken despite the harsh storms it has weathered. That’s right, we’re just like a pine tree that weathers the roughest storms…!”

But what does a pine tree have to do with anything?

Gilead felt the need to ask such a question, but, in the end, he managed to keep it from bursting out. Having experienced this sort of thing throughout his childhood, he knew full well that affirmations and silence were the most effective means of communicating with Carmen.

“...I don’t regret it,” Gilead eventually declared. “As you’ve said, Aunt, someone needed to make a decision. And this decision is something that I, as the Patriarch of the family, chose to make.”

“Don’t call me Aunt,” Carmen immediately snapped.

“...Yes, Lady Carmen. And why would I have any regrets in the first place? I believe in the knights who have sworn their loyalty to the Lionheart clan. Even if their last name isn’t Lionheart and the blood of the Lionheart family doesn’t flow through their veins, they are still the Knights of the Lionheart clan, the ones who have sworn allegiance to the Lionheart family,” Gilead declared proudly.

The White Dragon Knights were called the best knights in the Empire. Even Gilead was fully aware of their reputation. However, he didn’t believe that the White Lion Knights were in any way inferior to them.

“...Also…,” Gilead continued as he looked ahead with a wry smile. “...I honestly can’t imagine the sight of that child losing.”

There were nine Knights of the White Lion who would be participating in this competition.

Eugene was standing at their center.

“Don’t push yourself too hard,” Eugene advised these knights.

Crack crack.

As Eugene slowly cracked and loosened the knuckles of one hand, his other hand was tucked inside his cloak, inspecting his weapons.

“Our opponents are the best knightly order in this empire,” Eugene warned them.

But his words sounded like they were spoken without any real conviction. Or at least that’s how it seemed to the other knights.

The White Lion Knights were well aware of what an absurd and inexplicable monster this young master of theirs was. They were so out-classed by him that they couldn’t even hold any envy or jealousy toward Eugene. In addition to his innate talents, Eugene had managed to achieve the results by not missing even a single day of training. Their young master, who was only twenty years old this year, had already received the knights’ recognition for both his talent and hard work.

“Should I go out there as well?” Cyan proposed, hopefully.

“It’s obvious that that will just draw unfavorable comparisons between you two. Don’t be selfish and just stay here brother,” Ciel chided him.

Cyan made a sullen expression and glared at the back of Eugene’s head as he complained, “That bastard has no humanity, absolutely none. Although I know that some people can be extremely talented, isn’t that just going too far?”

“Your jealousy is ugly,” Ciel commented.

“Have you only been watching us for a day or so? Huh? It’s already been seven years since I first started feeling jealous of that bastard? Why make a fuss about it now?”

“Even when admitting his faults, brother, you still look so ugly.”

“In any case, just the fact that he’s so talented is inhumane. Look at me. I’m only moderately talented, so I’m overflowing with humanity. Did you know? I’m actually more popular with the Knights of the White Lion than Eugene,” Cyan first shrugged slightly and then proudly boasted in front of Ciel.

“...Since he has so many drawbacks, it must make them want to take care of him even more,” Ciel muttered to herself.

“What did you just say?” Cyan asked.

“I didn’t say anything,” Ciel denied.

Ciel was definitely correct. The attitudes that the knights sworn to the main family held towards Eugene and Cyan were very different but still positive. It was all thanks to Eugene’s repeated declarations that he had no desire for the seat of the Patriarch, Ancilla’s decades-long efforts to win over the members of the household, and Cyan’s own efforts to improve himself without succumbing to his own feelings of inferiority towards Eugene.

Eugene checked the rules, “So anyways, if I win, I can just call out my next opponent and continue fighting, right?”

“Yes,” Hazard, the Captain of the Second Division of the Knights of the White Lion, replied with a nod. “If you run out of stamina or are left in an injured state, it’s alright if you don’t challenge the next opponent and just leave the ring. This isn’t a fight to the death after all….”

Hazard paused for a moment and looked around.

“...Judging from this atmosphere, it has practically become just a friendly match without any stakes,” Hazard observed.

“Even though they’re the ones who picked a fight in the first place,” Eugene said with a snort as he unbuckled his cloak.

At this action, Mer stuck her head out from inside the cloak to ask, “Are you going to fight without your cloak?”

“I only need to use a single sword. That means I don’t need to wear my cloak,” Eugene explained.

Mer complained, “But that means I can’t help Sir Eugene.”

“I’m not going to use any magic either. Didn’t I just tell you that all I needed was a sword?” Eugene repeated himself.

“Really? If that’s the case, is it alright if I stay outside the cloak and watch the duel from the side?” Mer requested.

“Since when did you need to ask me for permission for something like that?” Eugene grumbled as he placed the cloak down beside him.

Then Laman, who had been standing behind them, hurriedly ran up and picked up Eugene’s cloak.

Laman began, “Instead of the young master going out personally, I can—”

Eugene cut him off, “What qualifies you to do so? Just go over there and take care of my father.”

Eugene waved Laman off as he sent a glance toward Gerhard. Sitting on his own horse, Gerhard was looking down at Eugene with eyes full of emotion. This was his first time seeing his son look so impressive on the battlefield, attracting everyone’s attention like he had a spotlight shining down on him.

“...If father ends up being so moved that he starts crying, get your handkerchief ready,” Eugene ordered.

“Understood,” Laman acquiesced.

“If you let him get closer because he can’t see me fighting, then I’ll give you a ride on a wooden horse[3], got it?” Eugene threatened.

“A wooden horse…?” Laman repeated in confusion.

He didn’t have any real reason to do so, but seeing Gerhard with such an emotional face made Eugene feel that he should just start the fight ahead of schedule.

‘Well… the purpose of getting involved in this is to attract Lord Alchester’s interest after all, so this should only help with that,’ Eugene persuaded himself.

Eugene fastened the longsword he had taken out beforehand onto his waist and looked back at the White Lion Knights who would be participating in the competition.

“Well then, I’ll be heading out first,” Eugene informed them.

“Huh?” Hazard and the other knights gaped, unable to hide their bewildered expressions. “I don’t think there’s any need for that…?”

“Allow me to go out first,” Hazard offered. “That will give you a chance to figure out the other side’s strength and decide when you want to fight—”

“Nope, just let me go,” Eugene demanded, shaking his head firmly.

Then, without waiting for a response, he started walking forward.

At first, the spectators didn’t recognize Eugene.

As the foster child of the main family, there were a lot of rumors swirling around him. The youngest member to have ever entered Akron and the master of the Wise Sienna’s staff, Akasha…. Such unconventional rumors abounded around him, but Eugene had never once shown up to a church service, a ball, or any other type of social gathering.

However, he didn’t go unrecognized for too long, as the spectators soon realized who Eugene was. He was wearing the formal dress of the Lionheart clan, with the Lionheart sigil on his left chest. That, along with his shaggy gray hair and golden eyes, was enough to reveal who he was.

“...Is that Eugene Lionheart?”

Could he be coming out to give a public greeting? The spectators let out a muffled roar as they watched Eugene stride forward.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Eugene was currently the most famous young man in the entire Lionheart clan. There might be a lot of rumors swirling around him, but Eugene was a mysterious celebrity who had never once appeared at any of the social gatherings regularly attended by the Kiehl nobles. As a result, the spectators couldn’t help but hold a lot of expectations in their eyes as they watched Eugene.

The White Dragon Knights had also started to mutter among themselves. As their leader, Alchester, in particular, was greatly flustered as he stared accusingly at Carmen and Gilead, who were standing behind Eugene.

Perhaps noticing this gaze, Gilead smiled wryly and shrugged his shoulders. Instead of laughing like she wanted to, Carmen proudly held up her Dupont lighter and flicked the lid open and closed in an eye-catching manner.

“...Really now…,” Alchester let out a short sigh and shook his head.

The list of participating knights hadn’t been disclosed to each other. But he hadn’t expected that the young master of the main family, Eugene Lionheart specifically, would step forward to represent them.

‘...I can’t go out and challenge him now,’ Alchester thought in worry.

While he was busy worrying about this, Eboldt, standing beside Alchester, climbed off his horse. He put one hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist and confidently strode forward.

“Eboldt?” Alchester called out in question.

“Let me go first,” Eboldt simply replied without halting his steps.