Episode 18: Warning (4)
The severed arm flew high into the air before crashing to the ground.
Blood erupted from the exposed shoulder.
Garrick, overwhelmed by the delayed agony, curled up and groaned.
“Ugh… ugh…”
He had lost his right arm, more precious than life itself to a swordsman.
His career as a knight was effectively over.
Yet, what filled Garrick’s mind wasn’t the pain of loss, but a burning question.
“How… how could this happen…?”
Damian had dismantled Garrick’s technique with a single move.
No, it was more than just dismantling.
When Damian thrust his longsword, the flow of magic was disrupted, and Garrick’s greatsword shattered.
“Tell me! What kind of technique was that? How could it…?”
The Blue Flame Brigandine.
One of the five great saints of the Order, unmatched in martial arts.
As a master, Brigandine had reached a level known as “Annihilation.”
At this level, one could use external forces to collapse the structure of objects.
With this, Brigandine had destroyed enemy techniques, weapons, and even magic.
Once, he had even dismantled a doomsday formation that Dorgo had spent years perfecting.
“Is this really the time to be asking questions?”
Damian pointed his longsword at Garrick’s throat.
Garrick’s face turned ghostly pale.
“Please, spare me.”
“If you were going to beg, you should have done it sooner. It’s too late now.”
The tip of the sword pricked his skin.
Garrick’s face grew even paler.
“I… I’m begging you. Please…”
Garrick fell to his knees, supporting himself with his remaining arm.
The once proud knight was nowhere to be seen.
“Spare you?”
Damian’s sword remained aimed at Garrick’s neck.
Garrick’s eyes trembled with fear.
“You terrorized my family and left my servant in that state, and now you ask for mercy?”
“I… I was wrong! I’ll apologize for that…”
“You’re apologizing to the wrong person.”
With that, Damian glanced back at his family.
They looked at him with a mix of shock and relief.
They knew Damian was skilled, but they hadn’t realized he was strong enough to overwhelm a low-class knight.
“Ugh… ugh!”
Garrick used his magic to seal the wound on his shoulder.
As a low-class knight, he managed to stop the bleeding with magic.
He forced his trembling body to stand and approached Viscount Haxen.
“Sir Haxen! I was wrong! I apologize for my rudeness to you…”
Garrick knelt as he spoke.
Viscount Haxen, initially taken aback, soon shouted with anger.
“You think a mere apology can make up for trying to oppress my son?”
Viscount Haxen’s anger was not easily quelled.
“If my son hadn’t been this strong, our estate would have been destroyed, and my son dragged off to the marquisate to suffer!”
Garrick’s apology was not sincere; it was a desperate plea for his life.
So, Viscount Haxen’s anger remained unappeased.
“I’m begging you!”
Garrick pressed his forehead to the ground.
Once wasn’t enough; he did it repeatedly.
“Please, show mercy!”
His father glared at Garrick for a long moment.
Then he looked at Damian and shook his head.
It was a signal not to kill him.
Damian sheathed his sword without protest.
‘I wasn’t planning to kill him anyway.’
Thinking of his family, he could have cut Garrick into pieces right there.
But killing Garrick would only worsen relations with the Marquis of Lionbloom.
‘I could fight the marquisate on my own.’
He could hide and attack their weaknesses.
If things got bad, he could join their enemies.
But he couldn’t do that, thinking of his family.
Even Damian couldn’t protect his family and fight Lionbloom at his current level.
‘Besides, it’s too difficult a path.’
When he returned, he had vowed.
He wouldn’t let his family suffer anymore.
‘But I can’t just let him go either.’
The second son and even the official knight had been defeated.
The Marquis of Lionbloom wouldn’t let this humiliation slide.
Retaliation would surely come soon.
‘Fortunately…’
Damian had already prepared for this.
From the moment he heard a knight from the Marquis of Lionbloom was coming.
‘I’m glad I made connections with the Order.’
Just then, a familiar voice rang out.
“What is going on here?”
Agnes and the investigation team were approaching.
Agnes arrived in front of Damian, her eyes wide as she surveyed the scene.
The wrecked objects, the shattered ground, the bloodstains scattered everywhere.
“This is…”
Her gaze stopped on Garrick.
“That armor’s emblem… isn’t it from the Marquis of Lionbloom?”
“Yes, this one and those two lying over there. They’re all knights from the Marquis of Lionbloom.”
Agnes’s eyes widened slightly at the response.
“Knights from the marquisate… attacked the estate?”
“Yes, that’s what happened.”
Agnes looked at Garrick again, her eyes focusing on his shoulder.
Compared to Damian, who stood unscathed, Garrick knelt with a severed arm.
The victor and the defeated were clear.
“Knights from the Marquis of Lionbloom are renowned for their skill. You faced three of them at once?”
“Two were just squires, so they weren’t much. Only that one was a full knight.”
Agnes’s eyes widened further.
She had expected Damian to be skilled, having taken down Agito alone.
But she hadn’t anticipated such an overwhelming victory.
“It’s fortunate you weren’t harmed.”
“Fortunate… I may be unharmed now, but who knows what will happen next.”
Agnes looked puzzled at Damian’s words.
“If they hear that they were defeated by me, who knows how the Marquis of Lionbloom will react.”
Damian glanced at Agnes as he spoke.
Agnes pondered for a moment before speaking.
“If that’s your concern, I can help.”
“Do you have a plan?”
Agnes nodded at Damian’s question.
“Thanks to Viscount Haxen, the Order succeeded in taking down a high-ranking member of Yuran for the first time. With such merit, we can designate the Haxen family as an allied house.”
An allied house meant a family with close ties to the Order.
Even a great noble wouldn’t dare touch such a house, lest they incur the Order’s wrath.
“What will you do?”
“I’d be grateful if you could.”
This was exactly what Damian had been aiming for.
To use the Order’s influence to restrain the Marquis of Lionbloom.
“What’s your name?”
Agnes asked Garrick. He answered cautiously.
”…Garrick Howard.”
“Garrick Howard. Go tell the Marquis of Lionbloom. The Haxen family is under the Order’s protection. If they attempt violence again, they’ll face the Order’s wrath.”
Garrick nodded heavily at Agnes’s warning.
“Take those two pieces of trash and get out of here.”
At Damian’s threat, Garrick quickly moved.
He loaded the two onto the horse they had ridden in on and left the estate.
“Thank you for your help.”
Damian said to Agnes. She replied that it was nothing.
“Damian.”
As soon as Garrick left, Viscount Haxen approached.
”…We need to discuss what to do next. Let’s hold a meeting.”
Damian nodded without a word at his father’s command.
And so, an impromptu family meeting was convened.
The attendees were Damian, Viscount Haxen, his mother, sister, brother, the butler, and Agnes.
“Let’s begin the meeting. As you all know, the topic is how to handle the enmity with the Marquis of Lionbloom.”
At Viscount Haxen’s words, the youngest, Abel, raised his hand.
“Aren’t we under the Order’s protection now? Why do we need to resolve the enmity?”
“Abel, that’s because we can’t rely on the Order to mediate everything.”
“Huh?”
Abel looked puzzled. Viscount Haxen nodded and explained.
“Louise is right. The Order doesn’t deeply involve itself in noble affairs.”
The Order already stirs up enough trouble with its inquisitions.
Intervening in noble disputes would be overstepping.
“But… as long as the marquisate can’t touch us, isn’t it fine?”
“The marquisate’s power isn’t just in force. If they want, they have many ways to crush a small noble house like ours.”
They could block the export of wheat, the Haxen family’s main income, or prevent them from buying food.
Or they could pressure them directly through the royal court.
“That’s why we need to resolve the enmity. So the Haxen family can remain safe.”
Only after his father’s explanation did Abel understand the situation the Haxen family was in.
“The immediate options are to compensate the marquisate or join another great noble.”
But compensation was realistically impossible.
The marquisate would demand an exorbitant amount.
“That leaves joining another great noble, but…”
“There is one more option.”
Agnes, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up.
Baron Haxen, his face lighting up with interest, asked, “What is it?”
“Demian Haxen should become a knight,” Agnes suggested.
“That way, the matter becomes one for the Order, giving us a reason to mediate.”
All eyes turned to Demian, but he shook his head firmly. “No, I refuse.”
Baron Haxen looked back at Agnes. “If Demian doesn’t want it, then that won’t work.”
”…Understood,” Agnes replied, nodding with a hint of disappointment. “Then we need to think of another way…”
“Father! Why are you giving up so easily?” Abel suddenly stood up, his voice rising in frustration. “If my brother becomes a knight, this will all be resolved! Tell him to just do it!”
Abel pointed accusingly at Demian, but Baron Haxen calmly intervened. “Sit down.”
“Father! This whole mess is because of him! It’s his responsibility to fix it!”
“Abel,” Baron Haxen’s voice carried a weight that silenced Abel.
“I told you to sit.”
Abel bit his lip and reluctantly sat back down. Baron Haxen continued in a low voice, “It’s true that Demian’s actions sparked the conflict with the Marquis’s family. But it’s not entirely his fault.”
Abel looked up, confused, but quickly lowered his gaze under his father’s stern look.
“The Marquis’s second son had ill intentions towards Louise. You know his reputation as a womanizer. Even if Demian hadn’t provoked him, he wouldn’t have given up on Louise so easily.”
Demian nodded, agreeing with his father’s assessment. Knowing the second son’s character, trouble was inevitable.
“In a way, Demian protected Louise from the second son’s schemes, standing in for his powerless father.”
Baron Haxen glanced apologetically at Louise, who simply smiled in silence.
“The knights came today because of the same reason. Even if Demian provoked them, it was the second son who challenged him to a duel and drew his sword first. The Marquis’s family ignored that and blamed us entirely.”
Baron Haxen clenched his fist in frustration. “Demian.”
“Yes, Father?”
“You did well today.”
Demian’s eyes widened slightly at the unexpected praise.
“You didn’t let our family’s honor be trampled.”
Why was it? A surge of emotion welled up inside him, so intense that he had to fight back tears.
“It was only what I had to do,” he managed to say.
Memories of his past life flashed through his mind. He had been a disgrace, bringing ruin to his family and destroying his sister’s life. In the end, he had killed his entire family with his own hands. In those horrific days, all he had wished for was redemption.
Hearing his father’s praise, Demian felt a small, fleeting sense of atonement.
“Still, I can’t deny that this all started because of me.”
He held back his tears. It was too soon to cry. He hadn’t fully atoned to his family yet.
“Please, just give me a little more time. I’ll resolve this.”
“No,” Baron Haxen said firmly. “I’ll handle this.”
“But, Father…”
“Don’t underestimate me. I plan to reach out to a noble acquaintance to mediate with the Marquis’s family.”
Baron Haxen thumped his chest with determination. “Let me show you what a father can do.”
“Father…!” Tears welled up in Demian’s eyes. Baron Haxen smiled warmly.
“Father!” Demian rushed into his father’s arms, and they embraced tightly.
As the father and son shared this heartfelt moment, a knock came at the door.
“My lord, may I come in?” the butler asked.
“Yes, come in,” Baron Haxen said, releasing Demian.
The butler entered and announced, “There’s a visitor for you.”
“A visitor? Is it someone from the Marquis’s family?”
“No, it’s someone from the Goldpixie Duchy.”
The mention of Goldpixie left Baron Haxen and the family puzzled.
“Why would someone from the Goldpixie Duchy be here?”
“Well, it’s…,” the butler hesitated, unsure how to continue.
“Demian borrowed money using the barony’s wheat fields as collateral… and the deadline has passed.”
Demian turned to his father, whose face, once calm, was now slowly filling with anger.
“Demian! You wretched child!”
As his father’s furious voice echoed, Demian lamented internally.
’…Oh no, did I already sell it off?’