The Grand Duelist

"What did you say?!" 

Joseph fiercely retorted.

For the first time ever in this King's Trial, there was a look of confusion and panic on his face.

Matthew's face paled when he saw how shaken Joseph was by the news that he brought.

However, he forced himself to remain steadfast in the face of Joseph's intimidating aura as he replied.

"S-S-Senior... The war has started! The Kingdom of Evergreen is being attacked by the alliance of the Kingdom of Shade and Iblis!"

"No! Not that! What did you say? I was gone for several months? What are you talking about?" 

Matthew revealed a look of confusion on his face: "Surely, you jest, senior... I was practically visiting you every day since the last four months ever since I received intelligence that the war was neigh..."

"But all I got from your disciple in the culinary arts was that you disappeared somewhere without leaving any message..."

"I really thought that you had abandoned us, senior..."

Matthew looked like he was about to cry.

Meanwhile, within Joseph's mind, waves of turmoil inundated his brain as he fiercely called upon someone's name.

"[Pixie Fairy Elizabeth! I know that you can see what's going on so explain to me everything that is happening, right now!]" Joseph screamed in an authoritative voice that allowed no objections

"[Master...]" Pixie Fairy Elizabeth's voice rang.

"[It's true master, you have indeed disappeared from this world in the past four months.]" She confessed.

"[How come? How did something like that happen? Could it be because of...]"

Joseph's pupils constricted, he thought of a certain possibility. 

"[Could it be because I went into True Sleep Mode?]" Joseph continued.

"[That is a possibility that I cannot deny, master...]" Pixie Fairy Elizabeth nervously replied. She could feel the anger within Joseph's voice due to this sudden revelation.

"[Just what the hell happened? Going into True Sleep Mode doesn't pause the time within the King's Trial anymore, and now I unknowingly spent ten hours sleeping which was actually about four months? What the fuck, P.H Works?]" Joseph angrily turned to look at the skies.

He inwardly decided that he would definitely question the P.H Works whenever he visited them in the future. After all, the systems within the world of Victory had so many fail-safe mechanisms behind it that it could never possibly fail.

In other words...

The only explanation why True Sleep Mode didn't pause the time within the King's Trial was because of external intervention.

And who else could do such a thing?

Obviously it was the P.H Works!

Joseph took several deep breaths as he calmed himself down. He then turned to look at Matthew but before he could speak, the door was rudely opened with a kick and a middle-aged man whose height was at least seven feet tall came walking inside.

"Matthew... So you are here in this restaurant after all..."

The middle-aged man spoke in a stern voice.

"Great-General Emilio!" Matthew's expression paled.

Joseph turned to look at the middle-aged man in astonishment.

Great-General Emilio swept his gaze around the restaurant and he quickly found Joseph. A frown appeared on his face as he said: "A mortal? Why is a mortal in here when we already deployed most of the mortals here to the southwest?" 

"Matthew... Could it be that the reason you came here was to warn them about the deployment?"

Great-General Emilio sharply glared at Matthew.

Matthew gulped a mouthful of saliva.

Despite being twenty-years older than the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man's position as a Great-General alone served as a huge deterrence for Matthew.

Matthew was just a rich merchant in a single City, while the Great-General Emilio was someone bestowed upon his position by the Kingdom

Great-General Emilio flashed a golden token at Matthew and when Matthew saw the token. His fear intensified, the dual dragons inscribed within the golden token as well as the depictions of Spring indicated that the token came from the Royal Capital

Dual dragons were the symbol of the empire and arbitrary usage of the dragons was considered as lese-majeste. This was why Matthew was convinced that Great-General Emilio really came here with the intention of forcefully having him join the war.

"Now that you have seen the token. You know what it means, right? I know that you just went into retirement recently, but I hope that you can forgive me, Head of the Astolfo Family. The Kingdom of Evergreen is in desperate times at this moment and we need your help."

The Great-General Emilio lifted a smile that contrasted his domineering entrance earlier.

Matthew heaved a deep sigh.

Great-General Emilio seemed to have seen through Matthew's worries as he said: "You do not have to worry about your family. Their safety will be prioritized, and we will never let any harm come their way..."

"However, as for this old man here, I don't think that he can be considered as your family, right?"

Great-General Emilio raised his head.

He stared right at Joseph.

O-O-Old man? How rude!

Joseph was about to complain when he realized that his physical body here in the King's Trial was indeed fifty-years-old in age.

In other words, Joseph was an old man near the appropriate age of retirement. 

Matthew glanced at Joseph.

The gazes of the two met in mid-air.

War...

I thought about it back then but will it be advantageous for me to participate in the war?

Law, Order, and Justice...

Joseph fell into deep contemplation, but before he could even think any further.

Great-General Emilio gave his orders: "Men, capture this mortal and send him to the nearest military camp!" 

As soon as his words came out, heavy footsteps rang inside the restaurant, and Joseph was easily subdued by the men.

Matthew had a look of horror on his face: "W-Wait, you can't..."

He was about to explain everything when he saw Joseph staring at him with a light smile on his face. Matthew was dumbstruck, he understood the reason behind that smile so he remained standing there, rooted in place.

Great-General Emilio turned to look at Matthew and asked: "Head of the Astolfo Family. I really am curious, why are you referring to that old man as senior when you're older than him?"

Matthew awakened from his reverie and he coldly replied to Emilio: "I suppose the matters of mortals isn't something of your concern, Great-General Emilio? I only refer to him as my senior due to the fact that his culinary skills are much better than me."

Great-General Emilio's eyes narrowed into slits when he heard Matthew's reply.

He didn't believe at Matthew's explanation at first, but when he remembered that Matthew indeed had the peculiar hobby of consuming the food and delicacies of mortals. He found Matthew's explanation as reasonable and he didn't say anything anymore.

But Great-General Emilio still turned to look at one of his soldiers and said: "You remember that old man, earlier?"

The soldier sternly nodded.

Great-General Emilio lifted an evil smile: "Since he's an acquaintance of this disrespectful Head of the Astolfo Family..."

"Make sure that old man he doesn't come out of this war alive..."

The soldier was astonished by the order, but when he saw Great-General Emilion's serious expression. The soldier gulped a mouthful of saliva and obediently nodded.

He didn't say anything anymore as he walked away and went towards the direction of the military camp where Joseph was scheduled to be deployed.

Joseph walked on the familiar street that he had lived on for the last twenty years.

There was a somber look on his face when he saw that the once lively and boisterous streets were now empty and devoid of any activity. Joseph couldn't imagine what happened in the past four months for everything to change so drastically like this.

But one thing was for sure.

War is coming...

Joseph didn't know what would happen to him in the war, but he had no other choice but to obey the orders of the commanders and generals for he was nothing but a mere mortal at this moment.

He could reveal his true power to everyone, but that would contradict what he said about before one could become an immortal, one must be a mortal. Unless his bottom line was crossed, Joseph decided that he wouldn't use his true strength.

Joseph heaved a deep sigh.

He entered a carriage and found that within the carriage were old men whose age looked to be the same as Joseph.

Some of them had nervous looks on their faces, while some were quite excited.

Those excited about the upcoming war looked to be commoners that wanted their name immortalized within the annals of history as brave and courageous soldiers.

While those who were nervous within the carriage had plump bodies that clearly enjoyed the depravity of the world and society.

They were anxious for they were afraid of dying.

They had a lot of wealth, dying as some nameless soldier in the war wasn't something that they dreamt of when they retired from their jobs. 

However, in the face of impending doom, everyone was equal.

There was no such thing as "hierarchy" in the face of death and only those that stood higher up in their positions could possibly choose their own ending.

Soldiers wielding blade would always die under the blade while generals in the position of command would almost often die from the schemes of other generals.

Joseph inwardly nodded. He understood this point at least... He understood that a hierarchy was necessary for Order, but without authority that could create Law. Establishing Order was impossible and without Order. There could possibly be no Justice in this world.

Joseph repeatedly nodded.

The old men around him subconsciously distanced themselves from Joseph when they saw how he always nodded his head and mumbled some nonsense to himself. It was clear that they had already thought that Joseph had gone senile due to his age and was mentally ill.

Provoking the ire of the mentally ill wasn't wise at this moment.

They knew that they must distance themselves from him.

Their actions elicited a bitter smile from Joseph, but he didn't say anything.

After all, Joseph felt peaceful that this position within the carriage wasn't so cramped anymore.

However, there was one old man who approached him with a kind smile on his face.

"Brother... Are you doing good there?" 

Joseph raised his head and turned to look at the old man.

The face of the old man was filled with wrinkles and it was clear from a single look that he should be at least seventy-years-old of age.

But despite his age, there was this excited look in his eyes as if he couldn't wait until the war formally started.

"I'm fine... I'm doing fine... I was just thinking about something."

The old man nodded his head and replied: "I see... If you are thinking about something..."

"I reckon that you must be thinking of your family, right?"

Joseph paused. 

A bitter smile escaped on his face as the old man patted his shoulders: "It's fine... We may be old and people may think that we do not care about the world anymore. But I believe that there's something that we will definitely care of no matter what happens to the world..."

"And that is our family!"

"Hahaha! Am I right? You're thinking about your family, right?"

Joseph revealed astonishment to the old man's words.

"I suppose... What's your name?" He didn't deny nor agree to what the old man had said.

"My name? Hahaha, it's been so long since someone asked for this old man's name. I already forgot about it!"

"But you can call me Old Two if you like." The old man winked.

"Old Two? Why not One?" Joseph jokingly said.

"Oh!!! That's a good question, I wonder why I don't call myself Old One? Hmmm... I feel like there's some reason behind it, but oh well... Let's just forget about it since I can't remember it anyway. Hahaha!!!" The old man laughed at loud, acquiring the ire of the nervous old merchants at the front of the carriage.

"Hey there, you shut up!"

"Can you not laugh so loud? How uncouth..." 

"Ooohhh! That voice! It sounds like you're challenging me!" The old man suddenly whipped out a dagger from inside his pants and brandished it to the complaining old merchants.

"Ah! He has a dagger!"

"Shit! Help!"

Joseph was shocked by the sudden escalation of events, but the old man merely cackled: "Hahaha! Look at these bastards getting scared by just the sight of a dagger! This Kingdom has really been so peaceful for too long that even the old generation doesn't get excited by the sight of a blade..."

"They fear it, instead!"

Joseph's eyes suddenly narrowed when he heard what the old man had said, That even the old generation doesn't get excited by the sight of a blade? What the hell is he talking about? Isn't he part of the old generation of this Kingdom too? 

Or could it be that he's also...?

Joseph stared suspiciously at the old man but he couldn't feel anything strange from him.

Soon, the carriage came to a halt and the passengers disembarked.

Joseph came out of the carriage first for he was the nearest to the exit and when he came out.

A soldier was waiting for them with a stern look on his face.

The rich old merchants were the last to came out and when they saw that they were in a campsite somewhere in a great plain. Their faces turned ugly as they simultaneously complained.

"Why the hell is the Great-General doing this to us? Even though we are mere mortals we are contributing greatly to the Kingdom by paying our taxes in time! If you really need the manpower then you shouldn't have done this to us!"

"You should've taken those who are useless to society like these senile bastards here..."

"Yeah, that's right! If you need people to help you why not hire mercenaries? Hmmph... I'm out of here, you will never be able to force me to participate in this war!" One of the rich merchants waved his sleeve and walked towards the exit of the campsite.

But before he could even take a few steps towards the exit.

A silvery light flashed and in the very next moment, the head of the rich merchant rolled onto the ground, leaving behind a crimson trail of blood.

"Ah... Ahhh!!! You're killing people! Murdeeer!!! Help!!!" The rich old merchants fell onto the ground and landed on their butts. Some of them directly screamed out loud.

The soldier who did the execution explained: "All of you bastards must know that since all of you are here at this campsite already. You are now a soldier of the Kingdom. Disobeying orders and cowardice are absolutely not allowed and are equal to a death sentence!"

The soldier then swept his gaze across the terrified old men.

A satisfied smile appeared on his face before he walked forwards and started jotting down the names of everyone along with their talents and skills on a piece of parchment. 

Joseph had a pale look on his face when he saw the gory scene, but he managed to calm himself down after several deep breaths. He then raised his head and swept his gaze around the area to which, he discovered a familiar figure at a nearby carriage.

"Shopkeeper Dan!" Joseph subconsciously exclaimed.

"Brother Seph!" Shopkeeper Dan turned around and also exclaimed when he saw Joseph.

Joseph let out a smile and approached Shopkeeper Dan.

Shopkeeper Dan was the owner of the shop beside Joseph's restaurant. He once visited Joseph's restaurant and offered the hand of his daughter for marriage twenty-years ago. Of course, Joseph refused his offer but the two still became good friends after that ordeal.

Now after two decades...

Shopkeeper Dan who was a middle-aged man back then was now at the twilight of his life.

"What are you doing here, Brother Seph? Did they capture you too?" Shopkeeper Dan asked.

Joseph revealed a bitter smile and said: "Yeah, they captured me. Just what are we going to do here? Do you have any idea? I don't think that they are going to let a bunch of old men wield swords and rush at the enemies, right?"

Shopkeeper Dan lightly chuckled: "It seems like you're still quite a charmer despite your four-month disappearance, brother Seph. But you really shouldn't have returned this time..."

"Earlier, you should've bribed them not to capture you so you don't have to be here and possibly sacrifice your life for these bastards..." He revealed a mournful look on his face.

Joseph heaved a sigh: "How is your daughter, Shopkeeper Dan?" Joseph asked in worry, but the moment he spoke these words...

Shopkeeper Dan revealed a fierce look on his face.

Joseph rapidly blinked his eyes.

He suddenly remembered that back then when he and Shopkeeper Dan were drinking. 

The latter told him that he was a mercenary before he decided to settle down and become a merchant. Joseph had never seen Shopkeeper Dan's mercenary side but at this moment. Sensing the killing intent from his body. Joseph was convinced that he really wasn't lying at that time.

"Hey, both of you! Come here!" At this moment, a fierce voice interrupted the reunion of the two.

Joseph and Shopkeeper Dan turned to look at the source of the voice and they found that it was a soldier holding a pen and a parchment.

"You!" He pointed at Shopkeeper Dan and gestured for him to come closer.

Shopkeeper Dan obliged and Joseph followed.

"What are your talents? Any skills? I suggest that both of you do not lie to me. Trust me, we have a lot of ways in confirming your true identity so both of you better be not lying or else, you'll be dealt with according to the military laws!"

The soldier gravely warned.

Shopkeeper Dan stepped forward and said: "I'm a retired Mercenary, now a merchant of a Fabric Shop..."

The soldier revealed astonishment for a moment before he scribbled down some words on the parchment.

He proceeded to ask Shopkeeper Dan several questions before he turned to look at Joseph and said: "It's your turn, you heard my questions to him earlier so I think you should know right now how you're supposed to answer."

"I'm a shop owner, I own a restaurant... As for skills..." Joseph hesitated for a moment, "I don't know, I've been cooking for my entire life."

The soldier lifted a mocking smile when he heard Joseph's question. Afterwards, he then handed over a sword and a crude armor to Joseph before saying...

"Congratulations, you've been chosen to be one of the soldiers that will handle the first wave of attack from those dogs at Iblis and Shade! Be honored, take this, and rendezvous with the other."

Joseph's eyes widened in shock when he heard what the soldier had said.

Shopkeeper Dan almost leaped up from shock as he protested: "But sir! Brother Seph has never held a sword before! He's just a Chef! Why would you send him to the battlefield and send me to the logistics squad? That doesn't make sense!"

"Heh..." The soldier stared at Shopkeeper Dan in derision: "I do not have the obligation to explain everything. Just follow the orders and if you dare to disobey..." He stared right at Joseph before continuing: "Only death is waiting."

He then turned around and never bothered about Shopkeeper Dan and Joseph anymore.

"Fucking hell... Is there even Justice in this world anymore?" Shopkeeper Dan had a mournful look on his face as well as helplessness.

It was because even though he wanted to help Joseph as much as possible.

He understood that now that they were in the territory of the army.

Their fate wasn't in their hands anymore.

"It's fine, Shopkeeper Dan... I've endured countless things in my life..."

"I won't let this war end me so easily..."

Tears welled up in Shopkeeper Dan's face as he said: "I'm sorry... I'm really sorry, Brother Seph. As much as I want to help you... I can't afford to offend those bastards... I have to... I have to save my daughter and wife..."

Joseph patted his shoulders: "It's fine, Shopkeeper Dan. We do what we must. I won't blame you."

Shopkeeper Dan gratefully stared at Joseph and even bowed.

Out of everyone that he knew in his lifetime.

Joseph was one of those rare people whom he respected the most.

His culinary skill alone was enough to earn Shopkeeper Dan's respect, but when he got to know Joseph...

He also found that Joseph was altruistic and kind.

There was even this time twenty-years ago when Shopkeeper Dan begged Joseph for some money.

Back then, Shopkeeper Dan beseeched Joseph for a few gold coins even if the interest rates were high.

However, not only Joseph gave him the gold coins that he required...

He didn't even place any interest rates.

This event made Joseph earn his respect and from there on, everything was history.

Shopkeeper Dan took a final look at Joseph before he turned around to report to a nearby soldier.

Joseph did the same and he was guided to a location full of people around the same age as him. 

Old Two was also there and he revealed a wide smile: "Oh, you're also here? Hahaha! I had a hunch that you'd be here too!"

Joseph waved his hand and sat down beside Old Two. He found the old man's antics quite amusing.

"Hey, hey, hey... Do you know about the reason why those soldiers want us to fight at the front lines?"

"Oh? Do you know anything about it?" Joseph raised an eyebrow.

"Hehehe? What? You don't know the answer to the question? Take a look around us!" Old Two gestured at Joseph.

Joseph obliged and he found that everyone had deflated expressions on their faces.

Joseph even recognized some of the excited men earlier in the carriage, but now...

Their excitement was nowhere to be seen.

Instead, there was this look of despair and hopelessness on their faces.

Joseph's expression turned grim: "Are you saying that the reason why they gathered a bunch of old men instead of young soldiers to fight at the front lines is that they want us to be their cannon fodders?"

"Yes!!!" Old Two leaped up in excitement, "That's the answer! They want us to be their cannon fodders! Hahaha, it seems like you're quite smart too, my friend. What's your name?"

"Just call me Seph," Joseph replied with a faint smile.

"Oh, Seph... Hehehe... Since you are here... Let me show you something good. It's something that us soldiers have the privilege to use, but since we're already this old. I don't recommend using it since it's really for those young men."

Old Two suddenly gave an ambiguous smile as he gestured for Joseph to follow him.

On the way, Joseph had a frown on his face for he could hear ambiguous moans around the area.

Old Two maintained the ambiguous smile on his face and when they arrived at the tent where the ambiguous moans were coming from. Old Two slowly opened the tent and the sight that revealed itself in front of Joseph thoroughly shook him to his core.

On top of a table was a grunting young soldier.

Beneath him and on the ground were two women continuously sobbing.

When Joseph saw the two women...

He subconsciously uttered.

"Shopkeeper Dan's daughter, Miss Linda, and her daughter, Abigail?!" 

The instant he uttered these words, spiritual energy burst forth from his body as Joseph instantly separated the space surrounding the tent into an independent space.

"You bastards..." 

"Hands off them!"

He screamed, his voice rang like thunder.