episode_0006

“It seems like the two of us are going to have a duel in succession.”

“Is there a problem?”

The young man shrugged at Aramis’s words.

“You seem confident in your skills. Can you handle it?”

“To get into the Musketeers, I have to deal with people like you easily.”

“We are the Musketeers you are talking about.”

At Aramis’s words, the young man hesitated.

“Yes, I am a Musketeer, and that guy sitting at the fountain eating bread is also a Musketeer.”

The young man looked at me.

“I am a recruit, so the three of us should handle it well.”

I shrugged my shoulders as I continued to eat bread.

“Well, shall I start the duel then?”

Aramis stepped forward towards the young man.

“It’s a bother, so both of you attack me.”

The young man drew his rapier and aimed it at both Rotose and Aramis.

“Haha! You are shameless. What should I write on your tombstone? Arrogant brat? Pitiful dog?”

Rotose laughed loudly and asked.

“Laurent.”

“Hey, Laurent. When did you arrive in Paris?”

“Yesterday.”

Laurent replied shortly to Aramis’s question.

“If you arrived yesterday, you must have been busy from yesterday until today.”

“Thanks to you, I came to Paris and saw all the dirty things.”

Laurent said, hanging his rapier on his shoulder.

“I got a recommendation letter to enter the Musketeers, but I was robbed by a pickpocket shortly after arriving in Paris, and I couldn’t catch the pickpocket because I got into a fight with you.”

“You should have been more careful.”

When Rotose said that jokingly, Laurent’s eyebrows furrowed.

“I missed the pickpocket and went to apply for enlistment in the Musketeers, but I was rejected.”

“Laurent.”

Aramis called out to Laurent, who looked at him.

“My name is Aramis. Their names are Rotose and Mari.”

“Aramis, Rotose… Those names sound familiar. But where is Porthos?”

“He’s not here. Don’t try to find him.”

I replied nervously to Laurent’s words.

Laurent flinched at my sharp response.

“Too bad. It was a chance to see all the famous Three Musketeers.”

Laurent said, lowering his sword.

“Our father was a Musketeer. And the friend of my father who wrote the recommendation letter was also a Musketeer. That’s why I came to Paris to become a Musketeer.”

“Even with the recommendation letter, you couldn’t get in?”

“Why not?”

Surprised, Laurent asked as I mumbled while eating bread.

“Don’t you know we are Musketeers by looking at us like this?”

“Budget cuts, the young king’s ascension, Duke Orleance, choose your poison.”

Aramis continued my words and said to Laurent.

“Anyway, welcome to Paris.”

Aramis drew his saber and aimed it at Laurent.

“It’s a bit of a shame that you’re going to die soon.”

“Well, even if I can’t become a Musketeer, I have to fight as a Musketeer to save face in front of my father.”

Laurent raised his rapier and aimed it at Aramis.

“If I can defeat two of the famous legendary Three Musketeers in a 2-on-1 fight, wouldn’t that be an honor as a man of Elance?”

“Hurry up. I can’t fill my stomach properly with bread alone, I want to eat meat soon.”

Aramis laughed at my words and clashed his sword against Laurent’s.

“Haha, I’m also demanding food on the ship.”

“Aren’t you going to join the fight?”

Rotose, with his arms crossed and not drawing his sword, watched as Laurent aimed his sword at him.

“Me? I know I’m going to end up as a piece of meat if I mess with Aramis, so why bother drawing my sword.”

“Don’t regret it later.”

Aramis and Laurent clashed their swords, then stepped back, holding their swords towards their faces, taking on a dueling stance.

The tension between Aramis and Laurent began to rise.

As their swords clashed…

“Stop right there!”

We all turned to the sound of someone’s voice.

“Ah, it’s Dusak.”

Aramis sighed and lowered his sword.

“Can you believe this? Is this the Three Musketeers I knew? One of them is missing, and now they’ve lost their authority and honor, turning into a drunkard who drinks all day.”

Not only me, but Rotose, Aramis, and Laurent all frowned at Dusak’s words.

“Causing a ruckus in the tavern, gambling every day… now you even want to challenge us to a duel, ignoring the law?”

“Are you tired of bothering the citizens, so you’ve come to us now?”

“Nonsense!”

Dusak snapped at Aramis’ words.

“Ahem! Anyway…”

Clap clap

“Block the way!”

As Dusak coughed loudly and clapped, soldiers began to gather around us.

As numerous soldiers surrounded us, Dusak stepped forward, smirking.

“Drop your weapons and come with us.”

“Hey, who are those people?”

Laurent pointed his rapier at Dusak, who was swaggering in front of us.

“You might not know the nobleman who came from the countryside. That guy is Dusak, one of Count Rashpor’s subordinates.”

“Who is Count Rashpor?”

“Well, who knows, he’s the uncle of His Majesty King Angju XIV, Duke Orlean’s subordinate.”

In response to Laurent’s question, Rotose explained, holding his shoulder.

“But… if you don’t want to surrender…”

Dusak drew his rapier with a flourish.

“It wouldn’t be a bad choice to take on all these people at once.”

Dusak put his hand on the hilt of his sword and stepped forward.

“Well… fighting is not really my thing.”

Rotose nodded in response to Dusak’s words.

“Hey, you. You call yourself an honorable Musketeer, but why aren’t you fighting?”

Seeing Rotose unwilling to fight, Laurent got angry.

“Honorable Musketeer? That’s an old saying.”

When I mumbled, scratching my cheek, Aramis spoke instead.

The pupils of Laurent, who had been listening to our conversation, began to tremble.

“Your truly powerless appearance is like a dying chicken.”

Dusak sneered at us.

In response to Dusak’s criticism, Laurent stepped forward with a grim expression.

“This country bumpkin wants to fight me? How could he make such a stupid choice… ugh!”

Laurent deflected Dusak’s hand trying to swing the sword and then struck his face with his elbow.

“This guy!”

As Laurent’s preemptive strike hit Dusak, his soldiers nearby began to swing their swords at Laurent.

Laurent quickly fended off the soldiers’ attacks and effortlessly slashed the throat of one of the soldiers.

“Wow.”

Sitting on the fountain, I muttered in amazement as I watched him.

As the fight began, citizens who had been watching us from windows and railings started cheering.

Two soldiers extended their rapiers to stab Laurent’s stomach, but Laurent wielded his sword, parrying the attacks and swiftly slashing the chests of the soldiers one by one.

“Oh.”

I let out a small gasp as I watched him dart between the soldiers, skillfully blocking and counterattacking every attack that came his way.

Declared to win by fighting 2 to 1, it seemed like it wasn’t just an empty boast.

“He’s quite good,” said Rotus, approaching me with his arms crossed, looking at Laurent.

Laurent, who subdued over 15 of Duke Shark’s soldiers with his flashy swordsmanship, dodged the blades coming at him from all directions, rolled forward once to avoid them, and then cut down the soldiers.

“Wow, he’s quite skilled,” Rotus, who had been silently watching Laurent’s swordsmanship, whistled.

“Watching him fight, I can’t help but join in. Shall we interfere too?” Aramis threw his hat and entered the fray where Laurent was fighting alone.

After patting my shoulder a few times, Rotus drew his sword and followed Aramis.

Honestly, I also wanted to join them in the fight, but I hesitated to get involved in the fight because I didn’t know how my changed body would fare in battle.

As Laurent tumbled and dodged the attacks coming from the side, blades kept coming at him from all directions.

With a smile on his face, Laurent skillfully dodged the swords and stabbed a soldier in the abdomen.

“Aargh!”

As the sword was pulled out, the soldier grabbed his abdomen and writhed on the ground.

“Damn it!”

Another soldier cursed and raised his sword high.

“Hey, you shouldn’t hold the sword that high.”

Laurent raised one corner of his mouth as if mocking the soldier, then swiftly slashed the soldier’s side.

“Ugh!”

The soldier whose side was slashed dropped his sword and fell to the ground.

“These bastards! Can’t even subdue a country bumpkin…!”

Thwack!

“Ouch!”

After receiving a blow from Laurent and barely getting up, Duke Shark, seeing Laurent single-handedly fighting his soldiers, got angry and, on his way to support him, received another slap from Rotus and fell.

Aramis and Rotus headed towards Laurent, who was surrounded by enemies, to help him.

“Strengthen yourself a bit.”

Tension rose between Duke Shark’s soldiers and Laurent, Rotus, and Aramis.

“Why are you staring blankly! Hurry up and attack!”

As the soldier who had been knocked down by Rotus got up again and shouted, the soldiers all reached out their swords towards the three.

Despite the numerous sword strikes, the three easily dodged the soldiers’ attacks and began to counterattack.

Aramis caught the soldier’s sword attacking him in the side, then struck down the soldier’s hand and body with his sword.

“Aargh!”

As the soldier screamed in pain from the broken bones, Aramis broke his arm and then stepped on his neck.

“Ugh!”

Rotus, after cutting down the soldiers with his saber, inserted his sword and began to beat the soldiers with a wooden hammer.

“Hey-ya! Hey-ya!”

Thud!

Thwack!

As Rotus swung the hammer, the soldiers fell like sticks, making a dull sound.

Laurent fought against the soldiers 4 to 1, swiftly dodging and cutting them down like a cat.

“You…you…damn it, die!!!”

When their comrade fell to Laurent’s sword, three soldiers simultaneously swung their swords at Laurent.

Fighting against three opponents alone, Laurent tilted his sword sideways, causing the soldiers to lean and fall.

Not missing the opportunity, Laurent turned around to the soldiers’ backs and stabbed them each in the back.

“Wow!”

As the crowd cheered watching the three’s battle, I could only watch their performance with a bitter feeling of not being able to participate in the fight.

“Hey!”

Aramis was in the midst of cutting down soldiers with his saber when a soldier thrust a mangosu (a short knife used for defense) into his back.

“No way!”

Having already noticed, Aramis grabbed the soldier who stabbed him with the knife and used him as a shield.

“Aaargh!”

As the mangosu pierced his back, the soldier screamed in pain.

Aramis pulled out the mangosu stuck in the soldier’s back and threw it at the soldier’s chest, who had been trying to throw it back at him.

*Thunk!*

The soldier let out a final gasp as the blade of the mangosu pierced his heart accurately.

Sitting dazed by the fountain, I watched the fight and suddenly noticed Laurent fighting nearby with soldiers.

Two soldiers were unable to handle Laurent and were being pushed back helplessly.

‘These pathetic bastards…’

Watching the country bumpkin noble being overwhelmed by himself made me wonder if these were really the soldiers of the Duke d’Orleans.

“Hey.”

Having defeated the two soldiers, Laurent approached me.

“Your name is Mari… right?”

Laurent suddenly started talking to me instead of continuing to fight.

“How do you find the show?”

‘What is he talking about?’

I looked at him with a bewildered expression.