Ch.376The Duel Is Now Over.

The masters of Landenburg were mostly men in their 30s.

Perhaps because that was the age when knights reached their prime.

“The eighth sword. Jan Ridel.”

Jan Ridel was a man who looked so gloomy that just looking at him made one feel depressed.

His hair, grown long enough to cover his eyes, was a dull blue like half-rotten mushrooms, and his eyes were so hollow they looked almost corpse-like.

With sunken cheeks on a face that seemed like skin stretched over bone and a pale complexion.

Add to that the black hood pulled low over his head, and he looked like someone who belonged at a graveside. Yet despite all that, he was tall as a beanpole.

Is this guy really a knight?

Judging by his appearance, he looks more like some evil sorcerer.

“Um… you’re not sick or anything, are you?”

Jan silently shook his head slightly and stepped back.

Either he was a man of few words or just shy.

In his place, another master approached me.

A man with blonde hair and green eyes carrying a lance on his back.

Michel Lambert was his name, wasn’t it?

He was a knight who had fought alongside Nigel, commanding the knights when Amin and Havar’s armies invaded.

I believe he was the sixth sword or something like that.

Michel approached with an awkward smile, gave me a light greeting, then leaned slightly and whispered in my ear.

“I apologize. Jan wasn’t always like this… but since he lost his wife, he hasn’t been able to escape his depression.”

His wife’s death. So that was the reason.

It was an understandable explanation for his sickly appearance.

Even in the original world, it wasn’t uncommon for people to become wrecks after losing their spouses.

“That’s unfortunate… Judging by his age, it seems his wife died from illness or accident. Should I offer condolences for her?”

“Pardon? Ah, there seems to be a misunderstanding. I didn’t mean they were separated by death.”

Michel shook his head as if to say that wasn’t what he meant.

“Wait, you said he lost his wife. But it wasn’t death… What do you mean?”

At my question, Michel gave a bitter smile and glanced cautiously at Jan.

Ah, don’t tell me.

“…The tragedy occurred on the day Jan returned home after completing a monster subjugation mission.”

Michel lowered his voice further and whispered carefully in a theatrical tone.

Just from this introduction, I could guess what had happened.

“Jan headed home with a jeweled necklace and a bouquet of flowers, imagining how happy his wife would be at his return, which was four days earlier than scheduled.”

“…They must have been close.”

“Yes. He loved his wife very much. I heard they were childhood sweethearts. I’ve never met her myself, but I was told she was a woman of legendary beauty in their hometown village.”

Childhood sweetheart couple.

It reminded me of Demian and Millia.

“For such a wife, Jan always worked tirelessly and presented her with all kinds of gifts. That day would have been no different. If only his return hadn’t been four days early.”

Michel seemed more suited to be a storyteller than a knight.

His skill in controlling the tone of his voice to build atmosphere was excellent. I found myself tensing up in anticipation of what came next.

“And when Jan quietly entered the house to surprise his wife, and walked into their bedroom filled with memories of their life together, he saw it…! A reality too horrible and cruel to describe in words! His wife, entwined with another man, exchanging sweet whispers!”

Michel widened his eyes in an expression of shock.

“What’s worse, the man with his wife wasn’t a stranger. It was someone from his hometown…! A man named Rick who was treated as a thug in their village due to his violent nature! And there he was with Jan’s wife! In a most passionate state!”

“Um… that’s terrible.”

His childhood sweetheart wife falling for some hometown thug.

Yes, seeing something like that would drive anyone mad.

“Indeed! It was tragic! Shocked at the sight of the two panting figures, Jan froze like stone, and the jeweled necklace in his hand fell to the ground with a sharp noise. The startled couple turned to find Jan staring at them with a rigid expression…! Can you imagine what happened next?”

“…Did he draw his sword?”

If it were me, I would have cut down that man first.

“It was worse than that! When Jan regained his senses after losing his mind with rage, all that remained on the bed was a pile of meat cut into finger-sized pieces…! It was a divorce stained with blood. That day, Jan lost his wife, and became the gloomy person he is now.”

It was truly a tragic story.

—-

I couldn’t think of what to say in response to such a heartbreaking tale of catastrophe.

I’m really glad Millia would never do something like that.

“That’s tragic.”

In truth, it wasn’t an uncommon story.

It wasn’t rare for the spouses of deployed soldiers to have affairs.

Even in the original world, incidents like this happened occasionally.

There were cases where soldiers sent home on leave would commit suicide or murder, and about 40% of those cases were due to relationship issues.

“Yes. It’s tragic. After that day, Jan couldn’t even speak properly in front of women…”

Just as Michel was about to continue his story.

“Enough.”

With a quiet voice, a heavy piece of metal was thrown toward Michel.

A greatsword thrown by Jan, the protagonist of this cruel tale of infidelity.

“Whoa…!”

Michel, seemingly startled, twisted his body to avoid the greatsword and retreated backward.

The greatsword flew past and embedded itself in the training ground floor.

“That’s enough.”

Jan walked back toward us with a frown, looking at Michel.

His expression was full of displeasure.

It seems he was listening all along despite pretending not to hear…

Should I apologize? It must be a painful memory for him, and we’ve been digging into it.

I scratched the back of my head and apologized to Jan who was looking down at me.

“Well… somehow I ended up prying into someone else’s personal affairs. I’m sorry about your wife. Still, someday you might find a better relationship…”

“…I am unmarried.”

…What?

Wait, what did he say?

“Unmarried? But Michel clearly said…”

“He lied. He always does this.”

Jan glared at Michel who had retreated behind us.

So that tragic tale of infidelity was all a lie? From that guy?

I looked at Michel with an incredulous expression, and when our eyes met, he grinned and gave me a thumbs up.

“Haha. But wasn’t it exciting?”

This guy is insane.

—-

Jan was a swordsman who wielded a greatsword like Demian, but unlike Demian, he didn’t fly around.

Instead of leaping, he used the centrifugal force of his greatsword to spin continuously and deliver successive attacks.

Michel was just a typical spearman.

Perhaps because he was a master, he could perform lance charges even without riding a horse.

It was such a perfect charge that if Asha saw it, she might want to take him as her master.

Though he did end up sprawled on the ground after taking a counter punch.

The last one arrived at the training hall after my sparring with the other two had ended.

“I apologize for delaying your time, Count. I had urgent matters to report to the Lord, so I’m afraid…”

“If you were late because of work, it can’t be helped. So, who are you?”

“Oh, how rude of me. I’m William. Despite my inadequate skills, I’m honored to be called the third sword of Landenburg.”

William greeted me with knightly courtesy.

He was a man with a noble impression, with a well-groomed mustache that twitched as he spoke.

The two axes at his waist seemed quite out of place for a nobleman’s weapon.

“By the way… Sir Lambert seems to be in a particularly miserable state.”

William, preparing for our sparring, glanced at Michel who was receiving treatment in the corner.

Is it really that bad? Well, I did break his leg and smash his face…

“Did he perhaps commit some offense against you, Count?”

“The crime of impudence.”

The nerve of him to tell me such lies.

The story about Jan’s wife was completely fabricated by Michel.

In reality, Jan had never even had a lover, let alone a wife, and his taciturn nature was simply his personality.

Even his corpse-like appearance was just due to overwork.

I punched him in the face with my gauntlet when he smirked and said I was more innocent than he expected.

I hadn’t planned to go that far… but he kept teasing about Hersella in my head too.

“I see. The crime of impudence… a fitting charge for Sir Lambert.”

As if this wasn’t the first time Michel had done something like this, William nodded in agreement.

Well, despite his problematic mouth, his skills weren’t bad.

Unlike Nigel who used spear techniques like acrobatics, his orthodox spear style had much to learn from.

My specialty is the sword rather than the spear, but it doesn’t hurt to learn spear techniques as well.

—-

William was stronger than I expected.

Despite not being a barbarian warrior, he swung his dual axes like a madman, and his arm movements were so dazzling that it felt like fighting two opponents at once.

He charged forward, shattering all the tentacles and chains I created with Karma of Murder using just his axes.

In the end, I firmly grabbed his two arms holding the axes, and knocked him unconscious with a headbutt.

In a fight, you have to use your head after all.

—-

The sparring sessions, where blood splattered and bones broke—specifically, not my blood and bones—continued for several days.

After them, only the seventh sword, Hayden, came.

I had been worried since it was Heinrich, who was from Dane, who was supposed to come next, but he didn’t show up at all.

I thought he might have refused to spar with me due to some grudge or complaint, but when I asked Nigel, he said that wasn’t the case.

“I heard he became a father. The Lord has specially arranged for him to stay at his residence to take care of his wife.”

“Well… that’s something to celebrate.”

I wondered if it was okay for him to stay home because his son was born in such precarious times, but I understood when I heard it was their first child after 22 years of marriage.

In that case, he probably can’t see anything but his son.

Ah, Hayden was the knight who wielded dual swords that I had met before, and he had a somewhat frivolous personality like his appearance suggested.

As soon as he saw me, he started saying things like what an honor it was to serve such a beautiful successor.

His skills were, well, just okay.

He wasn’t weak, but William’s dual axes were on a completely different level.

—-

After spending two weeks here like that, a change finally came.

It was unexpected good news, you could say.

Blake’s reconnaissance team, which had gone out to investigate beyond the wall, returned with a Ka’har prisoner.