I Became a Swordsmanship Instructor in a Romance Novel

“What!? Th-That’s…!!”

Zeke clenched his jaw.

‘He engraved a formula onto this body!?’

If Zeke was certain of one thing, it was that there was definitely a connection between his body’s compulsion and the formula.

Just now, when he stabbed Soi Spoon’s heart with the sword, Zeke distinctly remembered resisting with all his might, but in the end, he couldn’t overcome that compulsion.

To think that all of this was Duke Eustia’s doing…!

As his mind raced, Duke Eustia spoke.

“Zeke Clayman, kill Duke Yohaiden.”

Zeke regretted not taking action as soon as Duke Eustia had appeared.

It was his own stubbornness, his unwillingness to shed blood today, that had brought things to this point.

No, he didn’t even need to spill blood. If he had swiftly subdued them and used Soi’s ability, everything would have been fine!

Soon, his body would move according to the duke’s command.

So, rather than attacking the duke right away, he had to resist the compulsion.

“Haa!”

Zeke clenched his fists tightly and mustered all his strength.

Killing Duke Yohaiden with his own hands.

That would be more than enough to shatter Selena’s heart into a million pieces.

There was no way she could calmly accept the fact that Zeke Clayman had killed her own father.

‘Absolutely not.’

It wouldn’t be strange at all if she were to make an extreme choice due to that anguish.

‘Still, I’m different now. I don’t need to suppress my power anymore! Thanks to Soi, my madness is gone.’

The reason Zeke had always hesitated in unleashing his full power.

It was the impulse and madness for slaughter.

‘Now that the last lock is gone, maybe I can resist the compulsion.’

Besides, it had been a while since he had exhausted all his mana.

The residual mana that had been shaved off from the magic stone as the Saintess crafted Soi’s heart was now overflowing in the atmosphere.

All that energy was drawn towards Zeke.

Thump, thump, thump—

His eyes widened, and thick tendons stood out on his clenched fists.

The very ground beneath his feet trembled.

Rumble, rumble, rumble—

The landscape, which had barely settled, began to shift once more under Zeke’s power.

Duke Yohaiden lost his balance and braced himself against the ground with one knee bent.

He looked up at Zeke with wide eyes.

“…Z-Zeke Clayman…? Could it be— No, no… You, you couldn’t possibly…!”

A truth he desperately wanted to deny.

“Sir Zeke Clayman!!!”

“Hero!!!”

“Uwaaaah— Wh-What is this…! The hero is trying to kill us…?”

Zeke, drawing his power as soon as Duke Eustia gave the order.

The people of Yohaiden felt fear before betrayal at the sight.

They felt the chilling touch of steel against their necks.

‘I’m going to die.’

Everyone was pale, their faces etched with the same thought.

Had they ever felt death so clearly before?

They had all walked a tightrope through this expedition, growing stronger than before, but compared to the colossal beasts, they were still but insects, even if slightly more resilient.

It was none other than Yohaiden who had witnessed firsthand the extraordinary power that Zeke Clayman possessed.

But, for that hero to be a spy of Eustia.

The deep trust that had been built up over countless times their lives had been saved.

Now, it was crumbling along with the earth.

Thump, thump, thump—

As if sensing the frozen atmosphere of Yohaiden, Duke Eustia stretched his lips into a wide grin, reaching all the way up to his ears.

Even he couldn’t escape the effects of the earthquake, clinging to a rock for support.

“Khahahaha!!! Yes! Zeke Clayman! Crush that wretched Yohaiden! No, break the limbs of his son, Sedan Yohaiden, too, and leave only his torso behind! Ah, turning him into a living corpse wouldn’t be bad either! If you send him to Eustia in that state on a carriage, it’d be quite a sight!!!!”

He burst into maniacal laughter.

His laughter was filled with ecstasy and madness.

“Hahahaha!!!! And there’s another one from Yohaiden, around Iriel’s age! Was it Selena!? I’ll crush that child’s life thoroughly too! I’ll turn her into someone who can’t die even if she wanted to!!! I’ll use her as a plaything for the new Blood Fang, and then sell her off to a brothel!!!”

“S-Selena!! No, no way!! Eustia!!! Zeke Clayman!!!!”

Duke Yohaiden’s voice cracked as if it were about to break. But his cries fell on deaf ears.

Crackle, crackle, boom—!

The ground beneath Zeke cracked with a harsh roar.

It seemed as if another landslide was about to occur…

Whoosh—

…But it didn’t happen.

“What…?”

The wave of power that had been emanating from Zeke Clayman suddenly ceased, as if it had never been there.

Zeke frowned and examined his body.

A sudden silence fell.

The thick dust that had been kicked up settled back down to the ground.

“What, he put some kind of engraving on me.”

Zeke prepared to resist, not letting his guard down, but he couldn’t feel any sense of pressure.

There was no uncomfortable feeling of being disconnected from his body, no mana trying to invade him, not even a single flicker of emotional turmoil.

Zeke frowned and looked towards Duke Eustia.

“Thought you had something there.”

Duke Eustia was even more bewildered than Zeke was.

The command engraved on the soul wasn’t something one could resist just because they wanted to.

No matter how old a person was, no matter how powerful they became, it was a shackle, a leash that bound them for life.

Zeke Clayman had resisted his commands so fiercely in the past, but all he could do was exploit loopholes in the orders without directly disobeying them.

That was how powerful the command engraved by the inscription was.

‘T-This can’t be… N-No! Ah, I see…!!! That’s right!’

There were times when Zeke Clayman found loopholes in his orders and didn’t carry out the operation properly.

He had simply ordered Zeke to kill Duke Yohaiden.

That didn’t mean he had to do it right now, nor did it specify how to kill him. If one had a strong will, they could evade the order that way.

“Zeke Clayman! Right now! With the sword in your hand! Cut off Duke Yohaiden’s head this instant!”

This time, he emphasized the timing, the method, and the action to be taken.

An order issued with no room for escape.

However, Zeke simply tilted his head.

“What are you doing…?”

“What…?”

“I don’t want to. I’m not killing Duke Yohaiden.”

Duke Eustia’s eyes bulged as if they were about to pop out.

“F-Follow my order! The frozen Duke Yohaiden…!”

“I said I don’t want to. Why should I kill the old man?”

Zeke nodded as he confirmed the words of refusal that naturally came out of his mouth.

As expected, there was no compulsion.

“Chili Pepper Head, I don’t think I have that engraving thingy on me.”

Zeke flashed a cruel smile.

“T-That’s impossible… That can’t be! That can’t be!!”

Duke Eustia’s eyes darted towards Zeke’s hand.

“…Oh…”

It wasn’t there.

The thing that should have been there.

Eustia’s ring.

The magical tool that served as a medium, connecting his command to the engraving.

He had made sure to protect that ring, even in the most dangerous situations.

The ring had been given top priority for protection, even above his own life.

But the ring was gone, even though his finger was still intact.

“The, the ring…! Where is Eustia’s ring…!!!!”

Duke Eustia shrieked in a shrill voice at the unbelievable sight.

“Pfft!”

Zeke burst into laughter after a moment of trying to understand what the duke was talking about.

“Puhaha! Hahaha. Ahahaha!!”

When he was first summoned to this land, as he rode in the carriage towards the academy, there was a ring he had tossed aside, saying it was getting in his way.

An elegant ring that emanated a vibrant red light.

He had regretted not selling it at the time, but his choice back then turned out to be the best one.

He had never felt so exhilarated.

Zeke laughed heartily.

“Answer me!!!! Where is the ring!!!”

Duke Eustia scowled and roared at Zeke.

“Ah, that? I just took it off and threw it away…?”

“Don’t lie!! You can’t just take it off because you want to…!”

“Mister, why would I lie? And you can tell just by looking at my hand. Did your eyeballs malfunction or something?”

“…H-How in the world is the engraving on your soul…?”

‘Ah, so the engraving was on my soul?’

Zeke was able to understand from his words.

Why Duke Eustia’s orders weren’t working on him.

This body now housed a completely different soul, so it was only natural that the orders wouldn’t work.

Well, it wasn’t like Zeke had nothing to say about it.

As someone who was just reading a romance fantasy and suddenly got summoned into this world, he could talk for days on end, but the one who should be answering wasn’t Chili Pepper Head, but someone else.

‘That blonde bitch.’

The smile vanished from Zeke’s face.

“I don’t care about that.”

Thud.

Thud.

Zeke’s footsteps headed towards Duke Eustia.

Duke Eustia backed away until he bumped into Hela, who was standing behind him, and they both tumbled to the ground.

Their voices grew desperate.

“W-Wait…! Z-Zeke Clayman! I-I am Duke Eustia! One of the three pillars of the Empire!”

“Yeah, yeah. I know. Red Head.”

“I-If you kill me, it will cause great chaos in the Empire…!”

Duke Eustia pleaded desperately, stretching out a hand.

“As if. If that’s what you’re worried about, we can just leave it to Duke Yohaiden here.”

“P-Please spare me at least! I-I will be of use! I will join Yohaiden instead of Eustia…! I will devote my meager abilities to your cause!!!!”

Hela also begged for her life.

She was certain that Duke Eustia had no cards left to play.

However, Zeke’s footsteps did not stop.

Thud.

“I gave you a roof over your head when you had nowhere to go! I even gave you food! And you’ve forgotten all that kindness, all that grace!!!!”

Zeke nodded at the duke, who was still putting up a fight.

“Yeah. I’ve forgotten everything. I don’t remember.”

“……!”

Thud.

“Iriel Eustia!!!!!!”

Duke Eustia’s last resort.

Pause.

Zeke’s steps came to a halt.

As if he had expected this, Duke Eustia forced a smile.

“Khahahaha. Haha… T-That’s right! You’ve lost your memories!!! Iriel Eustia!! I-I’ll give you Iriel! Zeke Clayman!! So please… Please spare me!!”

“I-Iriel is much closer to me! If you let me live, I can tell you everything she likes!!! No, I can even go beyond that and properly educate her to become a true lady worthy of you!!!”

Hella chimed in, not wanting to be left out.

“Ha, seriously… I feel bad for Iriel, having these bastards as her family…”

But, indeed. The name Iriel gave Zeke pause.

That child had done nothing wrong.

In fact, she was a girl who had made various sacrifices for him.

However, in the end, wouldn’t it be better for her if this family simply ceased to exist?

Just like Yuri Gilbert.

“Hmm…”

Zeke scratched his chin, pondering what to do with Duke Eustia.

Originally, he had planned to use Soi’s ability to brainwash these people.

He was going to hand them over to Duke Yohaiden and turn them into his puppets.

But the words that this bastard had just uttered.

The words about turning Selena into a plaything and selling her to a brothel.

It had struck a nerve with Zeke.

And so, Zeke decided to break the limbs of Duke Eustia and leave him alive to suffer for a long time.

As for Hela, he planned to sell her to a brothel as he had initially intended.

However, Iriel lingered in his mind.

‘Well, I do owe Iriel that much.’

How heartbroken would she be if the Eustia Dukedom, the only home she had ever known, were to suddenly crumble and disappear?

Sigh—

Zeke let out a sigh.

“Fine, whatever. I should at least give Iriel a chance to grow up with a decent father.”

Zeke scratched his head.

Duke Eustia and Hela’s faces brightened at his words.

“Y-Yes! I’ll give you both Iriel and Eustia! So, join me in ruling the Empire…!”

“Mister, I think you’re mistaken about something…”

Zeke cut him off in a chilling voice.

“Soi Spoon.”

“Y-Yes!”

Soi, who had been watching with a complicated expression, flinched and replied.

“Hmm, let’s mess with this guy’s head a bit. You know that emotion you felt from me earlier? Plant that in them.”

“…B-But, if I do that, they’ll be broken…?”

The emotion Soi had witnessed wasn’t something an ordinary human could handle.

It was a dark, viscous feeling of an unimaginable intensity.

If it hadn’t been for its owner, even she wouldn’t have dared to approach that madness.

“Yeah, I’m saying completely break them and rebuild them with a proper personality.”

“……!”

“It’s for Iriel.”

Zeke’s lips stretched into a wide grin.

Conversely, Duke Eustia and Hela’s faces turned deathly pale.