Unbending Tasks And Inviolable Principles (10)

It began with Wijel.

He transformed into his beastkin form the moment he dashed forward, striking the knights in front of him. What was absurd was that the knights could not even react; they were simply struck by his massive paws and sent flying.

Furthermore, such things happened again right after. It seemed Demina also intended to give her all, just like Wijel.

She charged straight ahead. In an instant, two knights were sent flying and became entangled with others, and as Wijel and Demina chased closely after them, the hall could not help but fall into a state of horror.

Everyone had a look of disbelief, and as I watched the two with the same expression, I saw Duke Yusillian hurriedly clutching his clothes and retreating.

However, there was only one entrance to the banquet hall. Even that was blocked by Debik and me, and it was then.

“Kwaaaaaaaah!!!”

It was Wijel, who let out a roar with a tremendous sound, and the knights, already tense, began to hesitate at that momentum. Demina used that gap to weave in and out, brilliantly taking down the knights by scratching, biting, and striking them.

Moreover, the knights who were hit once remained limp and motionless, to the point where it was unclear whether they had fainted or died. It was then.

“What are you doing!! Are you supposed to be the proud knight order of the Empire even after that!!”

It was Duke Yusillian’s shout. At that sound, the knights inevitably began to charge desperately; some toward Demina and Wijel, and others toward Debik and me.

As the situation turned out like this, I was able to see how much of a burden I was. To lessen the load, I eventually moved toward the entrance and, while using Construction, utilized my mana to its full extent to envelop the entire banquet hall. After that, I created a Panic Room about 2 meters wide around myself to secure a safe space, protected those who did not fit the current situation—including the maids—and then spoke to Debik.

“Debik, it’s fine if you don’t protect me… Let’s handle this quickly.”

I did not want to see what Duke Yusillian was doing. I considered locking him up too, but I wanted him to feel fear.

I wanted him to know how ignorant his actions were and how they made people angry. Furthermore, the behavior of the Imperial Court was a bit strange.

I certainly did not think they would act so extremely, because it was too much. I thought there might have been some trickery in the middle, or if not, I would truly end up cutting ties with the Terakan Empire like this.

And just in time, I saw Debik, who began moving according to my command, striking a knight who charged nearby.

However, it was too cruel. While Wijel and Demina’s strikes only went as far as denting armor and sending them flying, Debik tore the limbs of the humans he struck, similar to when he blew away the Ogre Lord’s jaw before.

Nausea surged up, but I endured it. I did not want to show a pathetic side, and I did not want to miss a single moment of the three people who were bravely fighting upon receiving my command.

Watching the knights fall one by one, along with Duke Yusillian who was turning pale, I made a vow.

That I would thoroughly trample, thoroughly verify, and thoroughly prepare. As I began to harden my heart, the world started to look a bit different.

While the previous world had been blocked by some kind of definition of justice, now it began to feel considerably free. Thinking that while it might be a good change, it could also be a change that was not good at all, I also took in the sight of the dying knights.

‘Let’s become strong… Not physical strength, but let’s refine my mind and become strong. It’s a world where you are eaten if you are weak. I was summoned to such a world. I knew it… but it seems I’ve only now come to truly understand it… Let’s become strong.’

I repeated the thought infinitely while watching the blood-chilling scene the three were creating, and I took in the noise made by the knights trying to somehow break through the wall I made so as not to forget it.

Tears suddenly welled up at the harmony created by ‘murderous intent,’ ‘hostility,’ and the struggle of those who wished to live.

‘I was weak… the me of all this time…’

It was a small realization. And I hoped that weakness would be contained in the falling tears.

“I, I can’t believe it…”

I realized for the first time that the eyes of a person in despair are murky. Duke Yusillian was standing atop the corpses of all his knights, looking at me.

I was able to take in with my own eyes just how strong Wijel and Demina were, and I frequently looked at Debik’s back to rely on him, seeing how dependable he was.

And now, the three who had handled all the knights were bowing their heads toward me.

“We have fulfilled your command.”

It was a single word from Wijel. At that sound, I used Construction to step out of the Panic Room and looked around. The very first impression I felt while looking at the dead knights was…

“There truly is a lot of blood contained in a human body, isn’t there…?”

The three tilted their heads upon hearing my words, but when I turned my gaze to face Duke Yusillian, I could tell that something about me had changed as I saw him flinch in surprise.

Hoping it was not a bad change, I moved toward him.

Stepping on dead knights when they were there, and treading on blood when it was thick, I slowly reached Duke Yusillian, and I saw him collapse and tremble.

“How does it feel to have become the weak one?”

“….L-Lies… There, there were 300 of them.”

It seemed the number of people in one knight order was a little over 100. If not that, they might have been widely deployed near the inner keep of the manor…

Regardless, now was the time to focus on something else rather than such trivial things.

“Debik, could you bring that over there?”

What I pointed to was the scroll where the Imperial Command was written. And as I unfurled the scroll and examined the contents, a chuckle escaped me.

“You, what on earth were you thinking to lie to me?”

The scroll with the Imperial Command contained content demanding 20,000 Large Gold Coins as a penalty fine.

I had a suspicion. It was because the knight had folded the scroll and stepped back after stating the command. Yes, since we were in a conversation, it could be said that stepping back like that was perhaps a natural thing.

However, as it was an Imperial Command, it was customary to hand the scroll over to the person being commanded so they could verify it once more.

And that was the correct behavior, and though I did have a doubt there, my brain reacted first because the situation was so wretched and foul.

To go off the deep end, and the result was right before my eyes.

“What should I do with you? You not only lied about the Imperial Command but even tried to kill me. And even if you didn’t kill me, you tried to make me a slave or privately seize my domain. Did you feel greedy?”

“….S-Send me to the I-Imperial Court!”

“I’m contemplating it because it seems no big problem would arise even if I killed you here. Didn’t you come to wage war? Bringing three knight orders with you.”

“N-No. I never, absolutely!!”

It seemed his own life was precious. To the point where I thought the Duke Balsen I saw last time was more like a Duke, this bastard Duke Yusillian felt like he hadn’t become a human being.

Furthermore, it was a skill he had practiced often. He was natural and appeared confident. Not only that. I could feel a form that paid attention even to the atmosphere and the staging of the situation.

Lining up the maids and showing them was the first, choosing a large place where he could bring all the knights to one location for all to see while waiting was the second, his action of trying to rape a maid to give the feeling that he could do anything, and seeing how he even lied about the Imperial Command and went further to try and grant titles because he was confident he would never be caught, he might have even been able to exercise influence over that wretched domain.

Who would ever think that someone would lie about the contents of a scroll written with an Imperial Command?

He looked far too accustomed to it.

“Do you know that even if I punish a noble who lied to the Lord and tried to assassinate him, the Imperial Court has no justification to say anything to me?”

“….I, I am a D-Duke of this country! Do you think you can do anything to me!!”

“I think I already have. What do you think your current situation is? If you thought that lofty noble title could save you, you were deeply mistaken.”

I steadied my breath, slowly stood up, and moved backward to create distance. Then, as I nodded to Wijel, he walked toward Duke Yusillian, and I saw the terrified Duke Yusillian trip over a body part of a dead knight while backing up in time with Wijel’s steps, tumbling to the floor with a fairly loud ‘thump.’

And then I looked at him as he lay limp without moving; Wijel approached and examined him, then spoke to me with an absurd expression.

“It seems he is dead.”

“…..?”

Something absurd had happened. And I thought it was a troublesome situation in many ways. I thought ‘evidence’ and ‘witnesses’ were the problems, and while I was agonizing, I felt noise and impact from the outside I had blocked as they tried to enter the inside, so I had no choice but to ignore Duke Yusillian and use Construction to open the entrance.

In that moment, a block of ice flew in, which Demina struck down as she blocked my front, and the person who burst in at that moment was Hare.

“Heup?!”

Taking a look around the hall filled with the thick scent of blood mixed with the foul smell of filth, and the banquet hall packed with death, Hare approached my side and spoke.

“Are you alright?”

“As you can see, I was safe thanks to these three, but a problem has arisen.”

At my words, Hare asked what I meant, and I informed her of the actions Duke Yusillian committed and that he had met his death in an absurd way; Hare then took out a mana stone from her bosom and spoke to me.

“I can store the memory of the earth with magic. I can contain what happened in this moment here; wouldn’t that be able to serve as evidence?”

“Is there no possibility of manipulation?”

“No, because it is purely magic that records what the earth remembers. I think one would have to be at the level of a Great Mage to interfere in the middle.”

If that was the case, it could be said to be a relief. However, even if Duke Yusillian had committed a capital crime, there was no way to know what the Imperial Court would think.

It was because he was a main pillar of the pro-Imperial noble faction.

“I would like you to do it. A massacre has broken out… but an even greater tragedy might come swarming… Let’s leave evidence and send it to the Imperial Court. Then they will surely send an answer…”

Saying she understood, Hare moved to the center of the banquet hall and began to draw a magic circle. The rapidly forming magic circle emitted a brilliant light, and soon, I saw a figure pulling something up and containing it in the mana stone Hare was holding.

After a while, the mana stone that had sucked something in turned blue, and Hare, who had erased the magic circle as if it were finished, spoke to me.

“We should hope… for a good result, shouldn’t we?”

“I hope so…”