The knight threw a punch. Fidesz swiftly dodged it.
A faint energy rose from the knight's body. Fidesz responded in kind.
It wasn't high-level, but he too had learned the mana method as a soldier of Briol.
"You were a soldier of the Allied Army, huh."
The knight continued throwing punches.
He wasn't completely useless—as expected from someone trained since childhood. But to Fidesz, who had fought orcs, it looked easy.
"Yeah, you bastard."
Fidesz charged forward and grabbed the opponent by the waist. The knight brought down his elbow, but Fidesz endured it.
Compared to orcs, this knight was just a bit bulky. He was still human, wasn't he?
"Yaaaah!"
Fidesz slammed the knight to the ground.
As the two rolled across the floor grappling and fighting, the baron became visibly anxious.
"Quiet, keep it quiet…"
To any onlooker, it was clearly an even fight. In fact, Fidesz got on top and landed punches.
"You call yourself a knight? In the Allied Army, you're worse than a regular soldier, you bastard!"
His fists struck the knight a few more times. Then, the two other knights who had been standing by the baron rushed over and kicked Fidesz.
"Gah!"
As Fidesz collapsed, the knights began stomping on him.
"You can't handle it alone so now it's three on one? You call yourselves knights? Hahaha…"
How different these three fools were from the knights who had risked their lives beside him in the Allied Army.
Even while being beaten by the three, Fidesz laughed.
"You worthless scum."
"You dare challenge a knight?"
Now that the beating became one-sided, the noise died down.
Only then did the baron seem relieved and took his seat.
"Beat him quietly."
As the baron watched the scene with a sneer, there was suddenly a knock at the door.
Knock, knock, knock.
The baron gestured to stop the knights.
"Wait, wait. Stop."
The three knights, fearing Fidesz would make a sound, covered his mouth with their hands and punched his stomach. Fidesz curled up in pain.
The baron spoke toward the door.
"What is it?"
A staff member replied from outside.
"Is Sir Fidesz here?"
"Fidesz?"
The baron narrowed his eyes.
"What business do you have with that man?"
"I have something to inform him of…"
"What is it?"
"I can't disclose it here."
"What?"
The baron frowned.
It irritated him to be treated like this, but this was the royal palace. He couldn't recklessly harm a staff member.
"He's not here."
"Pardon?"
"He left."
"Are you certain?"
The baron gave a chin signal, and the three knights dragged Fidesz into a corner and hid him.
The baron cracked open the door slightly. The staff member stood there with an awkward expression.
"You know how uncomfortable I've been sharing this cramped room with some nobody from who-knows-where? Aren't there enough rooms?"
"I'm sorry. We're overwhelmed with guests…"
"Someone like that should've waited outside."
"Yes. So, about Sir Fidesz…"
"I told you, he left."
"To where?"
"How would I know? Maybe he realized a commoner like him doesn't deserve to see the prince and left on his own."
"No, that can't be…"
"What do you mean it can't?"
The baron's eyes turned sharp.
"So, when can I meet His Highness the Prince?"
"Well…"
"Don't bother him over some commoner. Just summon me when it's my turn. Sheesh."
He slammed the door shut. From behind, Fidesz stirred where he lay.
The baron looked down on him with a sneer.
"What, jealous? Hehehe…"
Just then.
The door burst open with a loud bang.
Startled, the baron turned around.
"Wh-what the…?"
A black-haired boy was swaggering into the room.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
The baron had shouted, but in that moment, he felt a jolt as if his heart dropped. In Briol, black hair meant only one thing.
"Phew…"
The boy scanned the room and furrowed his brows. When those black eyes turned to him, the baron felt like his heart had stopped.
It was the gaze one might direct at an object.
He briefly glanced at a stain on the wall as if passing over it naturally, and his eyes shifted away.
"Hey, Fidesz. How'd you end up getting beat?"
He chuckled as he strolled into the corner.
One of the knights tried to block him but was dragged back by a companion grabbing him by the scruff of the neck.
"Black hair…"
The knight finally grasped the situation and froze.
They realized the prince they had come to see, Yuri Briol, had appeared in person.
"Your Highness…"
Fidesz looked up at Yuri with a crooked smile and spat out some blood.
"I could've won if it was one-on-one, but they jumped me three-on-one."
"You sure you were winning?"
"I was pounding him at first."
"Really?"
Yuri looked at the three knights standing upright.
"Really?"
"Uh, well…"
Two of the three knights glanced at the same person. The knight being signaled lowered his head and opened his mouth.
"Yes. No, I mean… that's not…"
"Did you really get pushed back in a one-on-one?"
"N-no, not exactly. If we'd had more time…"
"So, you were losing then."
"No, if those two hadn't stepped in…"
"Those two?"
Yuri looked at the remaining two knights in the back. They now bowed their heads.
"What he said, is it true?"
"Yes."
"No."
They gave conflicting answers.
Yuri furrowed his brows. The two knights exchanged glances and soon, one of them spoke on behalf of both.
"It looked like the fight was getting too rough, so we were trying to pull him off…"
"So it was a situation where one of you alone couldn't handle it."
"Not necessarily…"
"Bow."
"Pardon?"
"Your heads."
Silence followed for a moment.
One of them, quick on the uptake, immediately dropped to the floor, pressing his forehead to the ground. The others followed. True to their knightly training, the punishment gesture was well-practiced.
Yuri kicked the knight at the end.
Mana was imbued in the kick. All three knights were thrown into the wall.
"Urgh…"
The baron backed away.
Even without martial expertise, that single kick told him Yuri's level was extraordinary.
"You are…"
"Y-yes, Your Highness. My name is…"
As Yuri looked at him, the baron stammered, beginning to introduce himself.
"Not interested."
"Yes!"
"You came to see me?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Do you know me?"
"We don't have a personal relationship, but I admired the Third Prince's heroic deeds in wiping out the orcs for the Allied Army, so I brought this gift…"
"You don't know me."
"N-no. I mean, yes…"
"A guy who doesn't even know me came all this way…"
Yuri helped Fidesz up himself.
Fidesz leaned against Yuri and laughed.
"You're bullying my friend?"
"Pardon?"
The baron's face turned pale.
"He's… your friend?"
"We fought side by side on the battlefield. You could say we're very close friends."
Yuri stepped toward the noble.
"It pains me deeply to see someone like you defile the honorable spirit of Briol, built up by the blood of our ancestors."
The baron, head bowed, trembled.
He had assumed that, being from the Allied Army, Fidesz was just some soldier trying to scrape up leftover crumbs by forcing a meaningless meeting. He never imagined they were truly close.
A prince and a soldier being close—how could that possibly make sense?
"What's going on?"
"What is this?"
"Huh? Your Highness?"
As Yuri knocked the three knights to the ground, guests waiting in other rooms began to trickle out.
There were even a few high-ranking nobles among them.
"I-I apologize…"
The baron mumbled in a tiny voice, and Yuri chuckled.
"My friend Fidesz is not the kind of guy who needs me to step in. Hey, you. Come here."
Yuri pointed, and the knight lying near the wall, trying to read the room, flinched in surprise.
It was the knight who had first fought Fidesz.
"Y-yes?"
"Come over here."
"Uh…"
"Hurry."
The knight ran over in a panic.
Yuri lined up Fidesz and the knight side by side.
Then, standing between them, he declared,
"Fight again properly. One-on-one."
***
"What, you can't even do it when I give you a chance?"
"But I still won, didn't I?"
"You need to win with style—what's the point otherwise?"
Under Yuri's supervision, Fidesz and the knight resumed their fistfight.
It was such a brutal brawl, it was hard to believe one of them was a knight.
Fidesz and the knight flailed their fists, trading a few blows, then quickly grabbed each other and began wrestling.
They spun and rolled, taking turns getting on top and throwing punches.
The knight, still a knight despite everything, gradually pushed Fidesz back.
Fidesz was nearly unconscious, but mustered his final strength to flip the knight over, choke him out, and win with a tap from a chokehold.
Still, Fidesz' face was in much worse shape.
"I won, so it's fine."
Yuri summoned a priest to heal Fidesz, then invited him to the best room in the reception hall.
Tasting the palace refreshments, Fidesz' eyes widened with amazement.
Yuri even pushed his own plate toward him.
"Eat up."
"How did you eat military rations with us when you usually have things like this?"
"Now you feel the heat of my brotherhood?"
"I respect you."
"So, why did you come find me?"
"Your Highness…"
Fidesz looked troubled.
"You see…"
If Fidesz had come to find him in person, it meant something had happened. It clearly wasn't just his problem.
"Do you remember the Allied Army Comrades' Association?"
"Of course. I founded it."
"It's about the condolence money sent through the association."
After the Allied Army was disbanded, the government provided large compensations to the participating forces.
Yuri had gone further, creating the Allied Army Comrades' Association to provide additional funds to families of soldiers who were disabled or killed in action.
"There's a problem."
"A problem?"
"They say they're going to tax it."
"Huh?"
"They say since it's unidentified income, they have to tax it. But the tax takes over half of the condolence money."
"Who the hell?"
Yuri let out a dry laugh.
Officially, the Allied Army Comrades' Association was funded by pooled donations. In truth, it was all Yuri's personal money.
As a major shareholder of the Rein Company, he had used his wealth to fund the association in its name. Who could be bold enough to demand taxes on a prince's personal gifts?
"It seems the lords have coordinated. Seeing a large sum being circulated, they agreed to use taxes as an excuse to take it."
"How long has it even been since the Allied Army disbanded…"
"Everyone was so angry that I was sent as a representative."
Yuri sighed.
Briol was one of the less exploitative regions, but the long peace had caused its lords to grow corrupt.
"This works out."
"Pardon?"
"Looks like I've got something to do before I head to the Empire."
To fight the enemy, one must first control their own.
Yuri decided to use this incident to restore order in Briol.
"Give me the names of those pulling this stunt."
"Your Highness…"
Fidesz looked at Yuri, overwhelmed with emotion.
He had come hoping for help, but never truly believed Yuri would step up. On the battlefield, they had been comrades, but now they were no longer equals.
There was an enormous gap in status between a prince and a commoner.
Yet Yuri was exactly the same as he had been in the Allied Army.
Fidesz realized again that Yuri's actions had always been sincere.
"Thank you…"
"No need. It's only right. If not for you, I would've died to that Okua bastard."
"I didn't do much…"
"You rushed out and got the message through, didn't you? If not for that, would Ernando have even thought to use magic?"
"Hahaha…"
"So, who are the bastards?"
Fidesz took out a piece of paper from his coat. On it were listed the names of the lords who had taken the condolence money.
Yuri skimmed the contents, then spoke.
"Fidesz."
"Yes."
"What's the easiest way to win a battle?"
"I don't know. Soldiers like me just follow orders."
"Right, I'll tell you. You take out the leader."
"You mean…"
"Out of all these names, we just need to crush the one with the highest title."
Yuri pointed at a name on the paper and smirked.
"Looks like I'll be seeing Sir Raymond again. That gambler, too."
At the tip of his finger, the name Genard Jetherie was written in bold.
[T/L: Read more chapters on Ko-fi page "RevengerScans" : https://ko-fi.com/revengerscans ]