The Duke’s Madness

Hallan’s eyebrows went up.

‘You say you agree so easily?’

Halan predicted that he would stutter until the end because he was acting like he was mute.

However, contrary to expectations, Arthur accepted so easily.

He was taken aback by that, but he did not reveal any change in his feelings.

The seasoned old knight threw a question with his expression captured.

“Then I must explain. Why are you pretending to be mute?”

“hmm… . There are many circumstances, do I really need to tell you?”

“circumstances? Are you saying there is a reason for pretending to be dumb?”

“yes. So, I want you to pretend you don’t know.”

At Arthur’s answer, Hollan burst out laughing.

“Then tell me why. As I said earlier, I am your godfather, so I deserve to hear it.”

“… If you are a godfather, you may tell me, but are you really a godfather?”

“What do you mean?”

Arthur tilted his head.

“If the godfather I know is right, he means another father to me, and I am seeing Sir Holland for the first time today.”

Hollan’s mouth fell shut at the sharp point.

Until Arthur stopped stuttering just a moment ago, he hadn’t shown any change in his emotions, but this answer had no choice but to reveal his emotional agitation.

“… Is that why you’re sad?”

“no. But it’s difficult to explain why I’m pretending to be mute.”

Hallan’s gaze sinks low.

He tapped his fingers, and soon after organizing the thoughts in his head, he opened his mouth.

“okay. It may seem to you that an old man who suddenly appears is exercising his rights by saying that he is a godfather. Then how about this?”

Hollan smiles.

“I am the Duke of Bavaria. He is also an older brother who has been watching your mother for a long time. In that sense, I’m going to tell you about this situation in order to relieve my precious little sister’s worries. What do you think?”

Arthur scratched his head.

“As I said, it’s difficult… .”

“If you don’t like that, explain the circumstances.”

“That is also difficult. hmm… .”

Arthur, speechless, pondered.

‘What should I do with this?’

It’s embarrassing that his true identity was discovered, but why did he have to be the sword master Hollan Leverkusen?

‘That’s also my godfather… How can I silence this?’

The best way to keep the truth from leaking is to kill him so that he can’t open his mouth, but this time he couldn’t because he was a sword master.

Because of that, when Arthur scratched his head and thought about it, Hollan next to him muttered in surprise.

“… Do you have mana?”

“yes?”

“how… Do you have mana in your body?’

At his words, Arthur burst into exclamation.

‘Wow, you noticed this?’

After getting better, he was gathering mana to create a circle.

But the reason it hasn’t been discovered yet is because the rings haven’t been made.

The mana that was not united was just a mysterious aura.

‘But to notice this… After all, he’s a sword master, isn’t he?’

In the meantime, Hollan, who was watching Arthur, muttered in a low voice.

“no way… Did you collect mana by yourself?”

Arthur pondered and answered.

“yes.”

“Did you study on your own?”

“yes.”

“What about the knife?”

“I know how to use a sword.”

“You did all this by yourself, without a teacher?”

Arthur didn’t answer anymore.

In that silence, Halan’s gaze narrowed.

“… .”

Hollan glanced at Arthur’s hand.

I could see soft bare skin, far from the hands of a trained swordsman.

‘Should I believe this… .’

Even before he came here, the boy who was called dumb Confucius learned the simbeop himself and even handled a knife?

Common sense didn’t make sense.

‘… Now that this has happened, I must hear the reason.’

But it seemed hard to hear.

Arthur Bayern in front of him seemed to have no intention of telling the truth.

So, Hollan threw the right bait.

“Then can I see your skills?”

“Ability?”

“okay. Since your mouth said to use a knife, let’s do sparring. The opponent of Dalian is my granddaughter. He’s gone out now, but he’s a pretty talented kid.”

Arthur’s eyes twinkled.

“You’re saying that if you win in sparring, you’ll keep the secret?”

“Yeah, that’s right. Also, please grant me one wish.”

“… What is your wish?”

“If you defeat my granddaughter in pure sparring without mana, I will grant you any wish you can.”

Arthur burst into exclamation at Holland’s suggestion.

“Is it too good?”

Hollan gave advice to the confident answer.

“You have to listen to what people say. If you lose, you will have to explain everything that happened. How are you? Will you accept it as it is?”

Arthur replied with a brighter smile than before.

“It’s so good. I’ll accept it. godfather.”

* * *

The hunting party of the Duke of Bavaria.

Nobles from all over the world gathered to participate in the time-honored tradition of the ducal family that had been with the establishment of the empire.

They say it’s a duke in ruins, but in any case, it’s the only duke in the empire.

Just by attending such an event, the family’s status could be established.

Because of that, it was a time when the Bavarian mansion became noisy after a long time due to numerous nobles.

“From now on, your great Duke of Bavaria! Yonel Bayern Ghost will fire the first flare!”

The festival started with the declaration.

As is customary, Yonel stepped out to fire the salute.

Taking a deep breath, she aimed her pistol at the wild boar she had caught and released earlier.

bang-!

Blood fountains poured from the boar’s body along with the resounding gunshots.

The eyes of the aristocrats who watched the shooting were so neat that they were different.

That’s the Marquis of Leverkusen, Holland.

The Northern Commander-in-Chief was no different.

“Ohh… . When did you practice something like that again?”

“What is it, Grandpa?”

“As far as I know, it’s only been a week since the Duke took the gun. But you seem to have a lot more talent than I thought.”

In the words of Holland, his granddaughter.

Elin Leverkusen asked a question out of the blue.

“Grandpa, what kind of sparring is this? You don’t mean to swing a sword at me at the party, do you?”

“why? Are you ashamed?”

“Of course I am ashamed! If I say that the northern snowfields are my hometown, I gossip that I am a savage, but what will the people here think of me if I do such a thing?”

Hollan burst into laughter at his granddaughter’s sharp words.

Elin Leverkusen, now 15 years old, was a cute granddaughter that wouldn’t hurt even if you put it in your eyes.

The red hair that symbolizes the Leverkusen family, and the beautiful features resembling her mother’s, already had a reputation in the capital.

However, just like the lineage of the Leverkusen family, his understanding of the sword also fell into the category of ‘genius’.

‘If you grow up like this… . Even if you don’t know the master of the sword, you’ll easily rise to the level below it.’

In that sense, Arthur Bayern.

The sparring between that child and my granddaughter was in some ways unfair.

This is because there was no chance that Arthur Bayern, who did not even show any signs of proper training, would beat my granddaughter.

Nevertheless, the reason why he suggested Dalian was because he was curious.

‘How did the child change? He was a guy I couldn’t even look into my eyes until 5 years ago… .’

A child who listened to the voice of a prodigy when he was young.

However, at the same time as the death of the family head, he became mute, and now he has become a fool who is pointed at by others.

He did not stay still because he was Hollan Leverkusen, who boasted a strong friendship with the father of Arthur Bayern.

My name and medicine.

They were sent to the Duke every year, and until 8 years ago, whenever there was time, Arthur’s physical condition was checked.

Then, I was able to accidentally discover the poison in Arthur’s body.

‘It’s a very vicious poison. A vicious poison that first stutters and then idiots.’

Because of that, it was not easy to find an antidote.

However, what was more problematic was who fed the poison to Arthur and through what route.

‘Symptoms like that happen because I constantly fed. in other words… They say there’s a spy in the House of Bavaria.’

So while looking for an antidote to the poison, I investigated the inside story of this incident.

Jonel Bayern.

Without telling the current head of household this fact.

‘That Yonel kid… I can’t afford this fact. And I’d be quick to act. If that happens, the people who fabricated this will go into hiding, and next time they might target Yonel, not Arthur.’

Because of that, the investigation was carried out in a very secretive way, and around the time the tail was caught, Arthur’s change was noticed.

The vicious poison had completely disappeared from Arthur Bayern’s body, which he saw again after a year.

This fact alone is surprising, but Arthur, who has stopped stuttering, suddenly boasts of endless knife skills.

‘… Is this possible in just one year?’

Because of that, Hollan couldn’t help but feel a deep interest.

Best friend in the world.

The reason why the son of a close friend changed like this.

‘Originally, you have to know the inside story even if you force it… . If I do that, I really don’t deserve to be called godfather to that child.’

Deciding to protect Yonel, he has already used Arthur as bait.

It’s as if he doesn’t deserve to be called the godfather, but his last remaining conscience made him not cross that last line.

Halan, who had organized his thoughts like that, raised his head.

I saw Arthur Bayern, who had been waiting for me, to come first.

“Hello!”

“… hello?”

“yes! Hello!”

Hallan burst out laughing.

Should I tune in to this ridiculous rhythm?

After thinking about it, he decided to do it.

“Yes, our dumb Confucius. Are you ready?”

“yes! The preparations are over! Ah!”

“Good. Then let me introduce you to Dalian. My granddaughter Elin Leverkusen is your opponent today.”

Hollan backed away, and Elin, who was embarrassed, walked out.

Arthur smiled and said hello.

“Hello!”

“… hello. nice to see you. however… . Confucius is really my opponent

“Yes!”

At the answer, Elin looked away.

Hollan nodded at the corner of his eyes that raised his eyebrows.

“Is it true, Grandpa? They said it was Dalian, so I did something, but I was really dumb… no. You want me to raise a sword against you?”

“It’s a wooden sword, not a real sword.”

“That is what it is.”

“Don’t you like it?”

“You like it and go to bed, does this make sense?”

Halan snapped his fingers at the granddaughter’s insistence.

“If you win this battle, stay in the capital for two more days. During that time, I will never interfere with you going out of town or shopping.”

Elin’s eyes widened at Hollan’s suggestion.

It was because the grandfather, who said that he would return within a certain period of time, no matter how cute he tried, was stubborn.

‘What the hell is this Dalian?’

What is the point of sparring with that dumb Confucius in a gymnasium where there is neither an audience nor a referee?

Concerned, Elin immediately shrugged.

Come to think of it, it didn’t matter what happened.

‘There’s no way I’ll get tired of such a dumb person, and that means I can play two more days in the capital, right?’

Elin, who made a decision, raised the corners of her mouth.

After that, I picked up the wooden sword lying on the gymnasium.

The tip was sharper than a normal wooden sword, and it seemed to be enough to cut through flesh.

In the meantime, Arthur also naturally stood in front of her with a wooden sword.

Hollan, who confirmed that, opened his mouth.

“This couple does not use mana and fights with pure swordsmanship. Defeat until I decide. Any questions?”

“doesn’t exist.”

“No!”

Hearing the answer, Hollan stepped back.

In the meantime, as Elin had learned from the knights, it was time to step back to measure the distance with the other person.

Arthur, who had not moved, gestured.

“Come-!”

“… ?”

“Attack first! It’s because I’m older!”

Elin narrows her eyes.

And muttered in an absurd tone.

“Are you going to give up the first attack now?”

“Yes!”

“under… … . I’m sorry I’m dumbfounded. Are you confident, Gongja-nim?”

“Yes!”

Elin hardens her expression.

He’s smart, but he’s 15 after all.

As soon as he felt that he had been ignored, the casual sparring became meaningful.

And Hollan, who watched this scene, clicked his tongue.

The granddaughter’s sword, once angry, was few and far between even the youths raised in the North.

‘It may end sooner than expected… . This couple.’

It was when Holan looked at Arthur with his thoughts.

Elin, who gave strength to the sword she was holding, bent her knees.

“then… . I will not hesitate and take the first attack. Confucius.”

With these words, Elin runs out of her seat.

Its movements were fast, and the wooden sword that extended it was extremely sharp.

Because of that, Haulan’s expression suddenly hardened.

It was because the blow of the granddaughter was more dangerous than expected.

‘If you can’t avoid it, at least it’s a bruise. Even so, the sword’s track is honest because I’m considerate.’

Hollan looks away with judgment.

What kind of move will Arthur Bayern show against that blow?

His eyes widen with the question thrown at him.

At the same time, Elin also raised her eyes.

A sharp wooden sword.

It was because Arthur jumped straight into the tip of the wooden sword.

“… !”

Kwajik-!

With a strange sound, Elin’s outstretched sword pierced Arthur’s shoulder lightly.

At the same time, all of Elin’s thoughts and actions stopped due to the blood that gushed out.

However, it wasn’t Arthur.

With his shoulder pierced by the wooden sword, he sharply raised Elin’s wrist.

Elin, who was distracted by the sudden fountain of blood, could not react properly and let go of the wooden sword.

“Uh, huh?”

Embarrassed, she backs away.

On the contrary, Arthur moves forward.

Her shoulder was pierced, but Arthur’s wooden sword did not lose its strength and hit her head hard.

thud!

With a heavy echo, Elin’s body trembled once.

And the moment he fainted and fell, the broken wooden sword flew away and stuck under Hollan’s feet.

“… !”

Halan, who was in a state of fascination, hurriedly came to his senses at the fragment of the wooden sword.

“you you?”

Hollan, stuttering, tried to approach Arthur, who was bleeding profusely.

However, Arthur’s hand, which moved first, pulled out the fragments of the wooden sword stuck in his shoulder.

Chew-!

Together, scattered once more, Hollan eventually lost his words.

In the meantime, Arthur smiled, raising the corner of his blood-stained mouth.

“I won, godfather. So please keep your promise.”