Even a Scoundrel Gets Tired

154 – Meanwhile, at the Mansion

Meanwhile,

someone was wasting time

on useless worries,

someone else was trying

to pawn off the task

they’d been assigned onto

another,

and yet another was,

at that very moment, looking forward

to greeting a long-lost

friend.

*Clang-*

The sound of a sword crying out.

Though the servants nearby

were scattering in every direction,

shrieking and in utter disarray,

no one moved to stop them.

Their assigned

mission, after all, was singular.

Capture Reinhardt alive.

“..Ha, could you..just

let us take you?”

“Step aside. I need to speak with His Majesty.”

*Clang-*

As the Duke finished speaking, his sword swung out.

Kwakwang─

Pubung─

The hunting hounds encircling him were flung outwards in an instant.

In this half-destroyed mansion,

those walls that still

preserved some semblance of their original form

were shattered, and

wisps of smoke curled in the gaps.

A strength so great as to be

unbelievable for merely a single

swing,

an assault that would have intimidated

anyone else outright, and yet

the Duke didn’t stop there,

re-establishing his stance.

Because he knew full well

how Charlotte had made these dogs,

he thought, there’s no way they would fall like this.

“…How could I trust to send

you, in this state,

before His Majesty?”

“I am in a perfectly rational state, Charlotte.”

“…If you were going to say something like that, you should have at least erased the prominent veins on your face first.”

Pavabat─

The hunting hounds lunged again.

Clad in black robes,

thrusting their blades,

ready even to bare their fangs

if things turned sour –

the very image of hunting hounds.

In response, the Duke’s sword began to resonate.

A sword forged in blue,

infused with his mana.

“Wasn’t it said that a falcon is the cure

when dogs bare their teeth?”

“…Those aren’t *your* dogs, are they?”

Reinhardt Style Heavy Sword Art, Form 3, Dragon’s Ascent.

The air around the Duke seemed to

be sucked inward, and then

exploded outwards, scattering everything around him.

Each and every gust of that wind…

…carried the Duke’s razor-sharp

mana as a bonus, of course.

“Scum, be gone.”

“”…!”‘”

Kra-ka-ka-k─

The floor was scarred as though some unseen whirlwind had raged there, and

the hunting hounds, mid-charge

toward the Duke, were likewise

hurled back, slamming into the walls.

Even Charlotte, who hadn’t

budged an inch from her spot

since just moments ago,

was affected, to no small degree.

No, rather, Charlotte was to be excluded.

He, at least, seemed to have suffered

no harm whatsoever.

“Oh dear, I haven’t gone and killed them all, have I?”

“..That ability of yours

makes me uneasy every time I see it.”

“What can I do? These are the only

magics I’ve been taught.”

The shadow of a dark hemisphere

writhed beneath his feet, and

Reinhardt’s eyes, watching it all,

narrowed ever so slightly.

“..Tch, move aside, regardless.

I must speak with His Majesty directly.”

“But, haven’t I told you? That’s not going to happen.”

“His Majesty has made a

faulty judgement, and it is only right

that it be corrected.”

The Emperor’s judgement was

certainly wrong!

The Duke surely believed so.

Even if he,

or his family perhaps,

had made a pact with devils.

If the Emperor were to leave him as he was…

The thought of betraying it had never,

not once, even crossed his mind.

How much had his family done for the Empire’s safety and peace until now?

How many nobles followed

his family, and how

many knights only followed him?

This absurd confidence of his was

derived from

carefully considering each

of these elements in turn.

There was no reason to be afraid now.

‘Besides, when you think about it,

the current imperial family is almost entirely from our house…’

“That’s something you can say

after you’re caught, no?”

“…Caught? Me?”

A smile bloomed on Reinhardt’s lips.

A very arrogant and

mocking smile.

But that smile clearly

contained a great deal of confidence as well.

The confidence that he

would never lose.

“What confidence is this, Charlotte?”

“….”

“Have you forgotten that you’re

neither a knight,

nor a mage?”

“…Well, I guess not.”

“What confidence does a fellow who

abandoned the sword because it

didn’t suit him have to catch me?”

Charlotte was not a knight,

nor a mage.

He was merely someone

specialized in killing people.

Someone who possessed the ability

to easily gain the upper hand in a one-on-one fight, or

standing before an opponent who

wasn’t careless in the slightest.

He was not a man whose head could be taken with ease.

All the more so, if his opponent was strong.

And the fact that *he*,

instead of launching a surprise attack,

had revealed himself before him,

meant he had no way to prevail.

That thought flashed

through Reinhardt’s mind.

“Surely, you know it as well, no?”

“Know what?”

“That you, as you are now, have no way to defeat me.”

“…”

“Step aside, or else

escort me to His Majesty.”

*Shooong-*

Reinhardt’s sword cried out, mournfully.

Compressing and containing mana

to its very limit,

finally drawing forth the sword’s lament.

The Black Ones called this state

*Sword Song*.

It was much like

the trembling of one’s entire arm

when clenching a fist with all one’s might,

which meant, in turn,

that a considerable amount

of Reinhardt’s mana

was packed into that thin blade.

*Kugugung-*

The air surged,

and the small debris around him trembled, slowly.

The small pieces of stone

scattered around him

were already reduced to powder,

crumbling away,

and anything touched,

even slightly, by his blade

immediately began to shear away like paper.

Now, that sword…

…pointed towards Charlotte.

“You…you truly intend to fight?”

“Then did you unleash those dogs

because you *didn’t* intend to?”

“No, it isn’t quite that…”

*Shwooosh*—

The shadow of Charlotte,

who had witnessed everything,

also couldn’t remain still.

Darkness began to envelop

the Duke’s entire body,

and soon his world was dyed black.

These were his beloved shadows,

the ones he’d shown even when

battling that monstrous old man.

And, shadows that only

appeared when Charlotte

resolved to fight.

“Haa…I truly wished to

continue this through dialogue if possible…”

*Glug-glug*—

A murky darkness, as if

moving of its own volition,

began to slither along

the surface of his skin.

Reinhardt frowned slightly,

but quickly steeled his resolve

and once again aimed his sword steadily.

“Finally decided you’d─”

“No…wait a moment.”

“…?”

But this time,

Charlotte stepped back.

After all, Duke Reinhardt was

one of the Empire’s important figures.

For Charlotte, who revered

the Imperial family

and served only them,

harming him

was also a rather undesirable option.

He decided, for the moment,

to take a step back.

“Reinhardt, must

we truly go this far?”

“..You run your tongue long.”

“If you would simply

allow yourself to be detained here,

you could even meet with His Majesty?”

“I’ll simply go to the Emperor myself, bypassing the likes of you.”

“..And what would you accomplish there?”

“Why, to demand this preposterous order be revoked immediately—”

“And why would His Majesty

have any reason to listen to you?”

“….”

“..Speak further, and you risk

burdening yourself with treason.”

Wooong—

Likewise, Charlotte’s

dagger began to weep sorrowfully,

Shara-rak—

Snowflakes touched the bridges of the two Dukes’ noses and melted.

“..Snow?”

“You asked earlier, didn’t you?

Whether I thought I could win against you.”

“..Ha, with the sunlight

blazing bright, snow, you say…”

“Do you find fault with my magic?”

A beautiful voice, as if

carried from some unknown place, echoed, and at the same time,

snowflakes crashed through

the shattered windowpane,

bursting inside.

Despite a day where not even a breath of wind stirred.

Shara-ra-rak—

The cold snowflakes

became round snowballs, and

Shara-ra-ra-ra-rak—

the snowballs soon formed a single sculpture, and the color of the

sculpture, as cold as ice, gradually

It began to shift, taking on the hue of blood.

“Why wouldn’t I win?

It’s not as though you’re only facing

me, you see.”

A chuckling filled the air,

Charlotte’s laughter,

and at the same instant, a woman’s hair materialized,

the color of the sky, an azure blue,

just like that statue from moments ago.

“Melissa…!”

“Sorry I’m late, Charlotte.”

“Haha… no, your timing’s been impeccable. What of Iris?”

“That merchant’s also due to arrive soon, apparently.”

“…Just so long as he’s not deliberately arriving late.”

One by one, other dukes

began to assemble,

and Reinhardt, witnessing the spectacle, could only furrow his brow further.

“…This is bullshit.”

“Haha, your son

is rather fond of that particular phrase as well, isn’t he?”

“Is that so? Well, father and son couldn’t be more different.”

“Well… I suppose it no longer matters, seeing as he’s no longer your son?”

*Crack*—

After enduring such taunts,

Reinhardt felt something

snap within his forehead

for a fleeting moment,

then he, maintaining silence, gripped his sword and charged.

“Yes, once this is over,

I’ll need to impart some discipline to that brat.”

“How do you intend to do that?

You won’t be leaving here.”

“Besides, that child now belongs to your family as well…”

“No. He is mine.”

“…Tch, you’re not worth talking to.”

*Thud*, the conversation severed,

and a flurry of snowflakes

and a tempest of steel erupted.

*KWA-GWA-GWA-GWANG*—

In broad daylight, within the heart of the city,

a battle unfolded with a ferocity

unbelievable.

A clash between titans,

ranked amongst the strongest

in the entire Empire.

All within the confines

of this half-ruined mansion.