Ch.223Towards the Sky. Peledias (2)

“Lord Victor.”

I received the officer’s salute while fondling my wife’s breast.

The man wearing a lieutenant colonel’s insignia was one of the officers who had come down with us.

“What is it?”

“Well… I’m sorry to report this, but there’s been a clash between our soldiers and local citizens.”

“Sigh…”

I rubbed my face with both hands and let out a deep sigh.

It wasn’t particularly unusual.

The military always had difficulty integrating with civilians wherever they went, especially when they were foreign troops rather than domestic ones.

Moreover, my army consisted of private soldiers belonging to a nobleman and adventurer who wasn’t affiliated with any nation.

And… our army had suffered severe casualties just a few months ago, losing a quarter of our total personnel.

If that trauma had caused a soldier to riot, resulting in civilian deaths or injuries, what could I possibly say?

“You all can roam around freely. I should probably go check this out.”

“What about the bill?”

For a moment, I almost blurted out, “Don’t you even carry a wallet, woman?!” but with superhuman patience, I managed to suppress it. Instead, I took out 10 gold coins from my wallet and placed them on the table.

“This should be enough for you to spend the day comfortably. I’ll be going now.”

*

“Explain in detail. What happened?”

“Well… the staff officers were walking around the streets with the recruiter when a young man approached them. After examination, he showed a first-class physique and sound mental state. So we gave him a contract to sign, but suddenly his family showed up and tried to stop him.”

“…Continue.”

“The recruiter and staff officers repeatedly explained to the family that ‘this young man is joining the army of his own free will,’ but… they wouldn’t listen. Eventually, the enraged family members charged at us…”

“So a physical altercation broke out. And the police came too, I presume.”

“…I have no words, my lord.”

“No… it’s fine. This was bound to happen sooner or later.

As they say, strike while the iron is hot. If misfortune was coming, it was better to face all of it at once, including future troubles. I could handle it anyway.

And if all else failed, I could suppress it with my noble status. If the opponent was also a noble, I could use the might of my knights, and if they were both a noble and a knight, I could assert my gold rank.

In short, I had a plan. Neither the police nor the military would want an all-out war with my forces, so they would likely let it slide.

Following the lieutenant colonel’s guidance, I finally arrived at the square where I could see women grabbing the uniforms of officers and assaulting them indiscriminately amid shouting.

“Do you know how preciously this child was raised?!? If he dies in the army, will you take responsibility?! Will you?!”

“Mom, please stop!! Everyone is watching! I’m an adult now! An adult!!! How long do I have to live under your skirt?! This is so embarrassing I could die!!!”

“After all the hardship I went through to raise you, you’re trying to join the army without saying a word?! Would you do this if your father were still alive?!”

“…”

Ah.

My head hurts.

Why can I never get used to that high-pitched screaming unique to those women… At least I was fortunate to have my wife at my right side. It meant one of those high-pitched screamers was beneath me.

Judging by their attire, they seemed quite wealthy, but if they were nobles, they wouldn’t be making such a scene in this public square, losing face in front of others.

The same went for the family members behind them.

Their neat clothing indicated they were definitely upper class, but not nobility… probably wealthy merchants or nouveau riche.

“Lieutenant Colonel.”

“Yes.”

As I gave the lieutenant colonel a signal, he understood my intention and stepped forward, stomping his foot loudly to draw attention.

“Behold…!”

The woman who had been grabbing and shaking her son’s collar, along with various other family members, turned their attention to him as the lieutenant colonel began to speak.

“Behold Lord Victor Walker! He who annihilated the ancient evil god sleeping beneath the sea, who saved the pitiful souls bound to earth by the blessing of the sun, the master of the Sky Warden, and one who has been commissioned by the Order of Relief Knights and granted the right to bear holy relics! All of you, show your respect before him!”

At the lieutenant colonel’s words, onlookers hurriedly retreated, knelt, or retreated and then knelt.

This is the power of nobility.

Whether born with it or proven through deeds, nobles were beings that commoners could not approach.

If they could be approached, they wouldn’t be called nobles.

“Everyone, raise your heads.”

As I spoke arrogantly yet firmly, people began to rise cautiously, glancing around.

My towering height of 220cm, my appearance close to a biological weapon with all sorts of implants, and my status as a nobleman commanding private soldiers—with these three factors in place, no one in the square dared to stop me, and even the police began to watch my movements carefully.

“If you do not explain why you accosted and intimidated my staff, I will punish you through the divine right bestowed upon me by God.”

“I… I…”

As I strode toward her, the mother who had been yelling at my staff and recruiter froze instantly, and her son appeared before her, blocking my path.

The stretched collar of his clothes, still in his mother’s grip, was clearly visible, and he spoke through gritted teeth.

“Lord Victor… I will apologize on her behalf! My… my mother has mental issues… Since my father’s death, she hasn’t been able to recover from the shock. It’s my fault! I should have at least told my mother before leaving.”

You were raised well.

His speech was so refined and neat that I could sense it.

He must have received a good education. With his neat appearance and tall stature, he was indeed too valuable a talent to waste in the army, as his mother had said.

However, that was a separate issue.

“Step aside. How deep your mother’s wounds are or what they look like is of no importance to me. Do you think you can intimidate officers of a noble’s army and walk away unscathed?”

“Please! If money can resolve this, I’ll pay! My mother is mentally ill!”

“Then you, or others, should have taken her to a hospital long ago. Are those dumbfounded people standing there your relatives?”

“…Yes.”

“Then none of them, including you, have been taking care of your mother.”

“That’s…”

“Step aside. I will not hold you accountable. You cannot willingly accept the consequences of a rudeness you did not commit. Even if you wish to.”

At my gesture, the lieutenant colonel grabbed him, while the recruiter and staff officers seized the arms of the unnamed mother and lifted her up.

“You said your husband died. Was he also a soldier?”

“…Yes… He went to the battlefield and died! In the sky! His body was never found because it burned in the wind… We couldn’t even give him a proper funeral!”

“You bitch… How dare you raise your voice to—”

I slapped Raisha’s cheek as she made a vicious expression.

Slap!

A clear and painful sound. As Raisha, who had fallen to the ground, absorbed the impact with her chest vibration damper and glared at me, I looked down at my wife and said quietly:

“What kind of wife speaks without her master’s permission?”

“But…”

“Silence. Despite my restraint, a lowly woman cannot suppress her true nature and hurls abuse at another woman in the same situation? What contradiction is this? It seems you’ve mistaken your base blood for something noble just because you became a nobleman’s wife. Hey!”

Raisha’s pupils trembled, and tears began to flow.

How detestable—despite being embraced and whispered words of love every day, she couldn’t even feel pity for that poor woman and instead overstepped her bounds as if she were a noble’s servant… This is why superior men, not inferior women, rule the world.

“Hey there.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“My wife seems tired. Escort her to our party members at the café.”

“Understood. Let’s go, my lady.”

One of the staff carefully helped the dust-covered Raisha to her feet and rushed through the crowd toward the café.

What humiliation! I couldn’t be more terrified by the fact that my wife might develop the same temperament as that mother once she has a child.

I approached the mother who was standing awkwardly, and delivered my judgment.

“The crime of intimidating an officer serving in the Sun’s Legion is by no means light. I hereby pronounce the sentence: death.”

“No! Please! Mother!”

I drew my sword.

Right beside me was her wailing son, but that was none of my concern.

“And as payment for her other crimes, your son will serve a mandatory three-year term in the Army of the Sun.”

“…”

The mother turned pale and couldn’t utter a word.

Yes… she must be terrified.

Just this morning, she couldn’t have imagined that she would die and her son would be dragged into the army.

But throughout history, tomorrow has always been a gift given only to those who survive today.

And for today’s dead, tomorrow will never come.

“In the name of the Sun, I execute you, weak and insolent mother.”

I brought down my sword, and a head rolled across the square.

It was an ordinary scene of state authority yielding to the glory of a knight who follows God.