The Medieval-Modern Man with a Gamer Mindset

25. The Strongest Knight in the Duchy

This is the story of the day Narva, the third son of the Powys Duchy, was exiled to the monastery because of the misconduct he had committed.

It was around sunset when King Athelston called his second son, Terbear, to the office. And Terbear’s attitude in response to the king’s call was unusually different.

Terbear, who used to be so bold and lively, was now dragging his feet in front of the office, killing time. There was only one reason why he was groaning. It was because of his father waiting beyond the door.

Terbear let out a sigh and muttered to himself.

“If my father called me at this hour, he must be really pissed off.”

King Athelston had been devoted to his children ever since his wife was alive. After her death, his respect and affection for his children grew even deeper. He tried his best to refrain from scolding or reprimanding his children in front of others.

Even if it meant slightly tarnishing his authority and dignity.

Instead, the moment the eyes of others were averted, usually around sunset, he would have his subordinates call the child who had done wrong to the office. Naturally, the one who was called the most among the brothers was the second son, Terbear.

Terbear, the problem child who made King Athelston, who had never raised a whip to his children, unable to hold back and raise the whip. That was Terbear’s nickname. It was the memories of his childhood that made Terbear hesitate.

In the end, what made the hesitant Terbear move was the low voice of his father, King Athelston.

“Terbear. We must leave tomorrow to deal with the raiders.”

“…Ugh!”

Terbear opened the door with his eyes tightly shut, worried that he might have done something wrong without knowing it. But Terbear’s worries were for naught.

It was not King Athelston, but someone else’s voice that called Terbear.

“…Greetings, Sir Terbear.”

Terbear opened his eyes slightly and checked that there was someone else in the room before straightening his posture. The owner of the voice was the intelligence officer, Aubert, with his gloomy face and seaweed-like bangs hanging down.

Terbear was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. King Athelston would never physically punish his children in front of others. If he hadn’t been called for wrongdoing, there was no problem.

Terbear asked, being conscious of the intelligence officer Aubert, and observing etiquette.

“What is it, Your Majesty?”

“I would like to hear about the conversation you had when you met Narva.”

“Narva… you mean?”

Terbear blinked his eyes and soon curled the corners of his mouth upward. King Athelston in Terbear’s head was already showing a sullen interest as a father who had to send his child away.

“There wasn’t anything special. He was just worried about the internal strife within the monastery, so he asked me to visit him once. But I don’t plan on going right away when he calls me. I’ll go when I feel like raising Narva’s spirits a little.”

A man is truly complete only after being tempered through trials and tribulations. Terbear planned to take his time until Narva suffered a little, as per his usual principle. He thought he couldn’t raise his only younger brother as a weak man.

If King Athelston and the intelligence officer Aubert hadn’t shown strange reactions, it would have been so.

“Terbear. You must go before he calls you.”

“Huh? Your Majesty, a man shouldn’t whine, but be able to do it himself.”

Terver’s argument, presented with a tilted head, troubled King Athelstan. The king began to sweat, rubbing his forehead with his right hand.

“…Your Majesty, I must inform Sir Terver of the truth. He needs to know all the circumstances to succeed in this mission.”

“…”

“…Even if he is a little. No, somewhat. Perhaps even considerably…unworthy.”

Without the persuasion of the intelligence officer, Aubert, it would have continued for a long time. Eventually, King Athelstan accepted Aubert’s words. After a very long silence and a painful struggle, he decided to confide in Terver.

“Terver, listen carefully. The fate of our duchy and…your brother’s life depend on it.”

King Athelstan’s explanation was long. However, Terver listened intently to every word the king said.

The situation of the Duchy of Powys and the numerous machinations of Yubas. Twelve-year-old Narva, the youngest, who became the target of political intrigue. The reason why Narva was exiled to the monastery.

And the reckless gamble that put Narva’s life on the line.

“I will go right away.”

The foolish second son had already disappeared. Before King Athelstan stood Sir Terver, a strong warrior reassembling a slender hawk, determined to fight to the death. But King Athelstan had no choice but to stop Terver’s words.

“The reason why Narva risked danger and volunteered to go to the monastery was to buy us time. Don’t you understand that yet?”

“Time? Your Majesty…are you saying that you sent your own child as bait?! We should gather an army right now and wipe out that wicked group!”

King Athelstan seemed to be deeply hurt by those words and pressed his lips together tightly. Soon, just as Terver was about to press his advantage, the intelligence officer, Aubert, who was standing next to him, spoke up.

“Sir Terver, we…don’t have an army to gather.”

“What? We have vassals who serve His Majesty.”

“Do you really think your father didn’t try anything about the military threat of Yubas? Is that what you believe?”

Terver realized the reality of the duchy and how powerful Yubas was only after the intelligence officer, Aubert, explained the situation in detail. It wasn’t that King Athelstan had given up on responding strongly to the rude marriage proposal.

“Sir Terver. Yubas had already laid out the framework for the plan a long time ago. Even though the execution itself was sudden, it means that the foundation was laid long ago. The vassals did not respond to His Majesty’s summons, and judging by their attitude, it is highly likely that they have already been won over by Yubas. Those who have not been won over must have noticed the situation and chosen to stand by.”

King Athelstan had also tried to gather an army to confront Yubas. Perhaps he was even prepared to go to war.

The problem was that it was only the king’s own idea.

King Athelstan summoned his vassals to confront the threat of Yubas, but no one responded. Everyone knew how powerful Yubas was, so they guessed that the outcome of a fight would be clear and delayed the day by making all sorts of excuses.

Some even ignored the summons.

King Athelstan was concerned about the authority of the duchy and ignored this fact, but the rumors were already spreading little by little. There must be a reason why the surrounding duchy were watching the situation. The truth hidden behind the incident was truly horrifying.

When Terver lost his words, Aubert touched his bangs and supported King Athelstan.

“However, even if the vassals don’t know, the retainers are faithfully assisting His Majesty. While Prince Narva draws the attention of the enemy, His Majesty plans to use all his strength to weed out the traitors and collaborators within. Our goal is to reorganize our stance while the enemy focuses on the succession or the fight for legitimate. However, the only thing we are worried about is…”

“Narva’s safety.”

It was King Athelstan who continued Aubert’s words, letting out a painful groan. Terver, who had learned the whole truth, could no longer blame King Athelstan.

Vassals who watched the power of Yubas, a monarch who was forced into marriage because of this. And a miserable father who had to use his son’s life as bait to seize the opportunity to revive the knights.

King Athelstan said, worried about the safety of the child he had sent away.

“Narva expected Yubas to attempt two attacks. Once on the way, and once after he arrived at the monastery. He thought that if he had too many escorts, they might give up on the assassination and turn their attention here, so he took only a minimum number of escorts.”

“The monastery…? Your Majesty, that’s. Even for Yubas.”

“They will most likely disguise it as the work of raiders. If the attack takes place, it will be when the monastery accepts outside merchants for trade. They will infiltrate traitors disguised as merchants and neutralize the defenses. Narva said he would send a signal because he predicted that Yubas would target a regular time, but…I think differently.”

Even though he was cornered by the powerful national power of Yubas, he was a dignified adult monarch. As an experienced monarch and a concerned father, King Athelstan pointed out something that Narva had not guessed.

“Yubas is moving so impatiently. The attack is more likely to happen before Narva has a chance to send a letter or signal.”

“Your Majesty’s eldest brother, Sir Athelred, cannot move separately because he is preventing the defection of his vassals and persuading them. …Sir Terver. You are the only knight who follows His Majesty’s orders now.”

Terver now understood why his eldest brother, Athelred, had not returned. Athelred had no time to spare to confirm the loyalty of the vassals who had not responded to the summons and to prevent their defection.

If he had had the time, King Athelstan would have sent his eldest son on this mission without hesitation. However, it is not because his eldest son, Athelred, is an excellent knight. He only entrusts him because he is trustworthy.

“Terver, pretend to go down to defend the coastline and release some raiders. Make an excuse that you are changing course on the pretext of pursuing them as they flee inland. Then keep an eye on the monastery where Narva has entered. It shouldn’t” t be too far away to be late for rescue, and it’t be too close to give the enemy time shouldn’t delay or retreat.”

King Athelstan slowly raised his head and looked at Terver clearly as he spoke.

“It is your brother we seek. Will you lead us to him?”

Terbair stared into the anguish-ridden face of the High King of Aeselton for a long moment. His reply, when it came, was brief after such an extended silence.

“Aye, Father.”

***

Beneath the swirling moonlight, the blade carved its way through flesh, accompanied by a wet squelch.

First through skin, then through sinew with a sharp snap, then through muscle as life was extinguished. The severed head thudded to the ground before the gout of blood could follow.

The headless body crumpled, feeling only the chill wind and the relentless pounding of hooves that shook the earth all around. Ten knights in mail and surcoat, wielding swords and flails from atop their destriers.

Terbair rode at their forefront, his voice a savage snarl.

“They mock the gods, cut them down! Leave not one alive!”

“Yaaagh!”

A chain-weighted flail whirled and came down, crushing a man’s skull with a sickening crunch. Again and again, the knights brought their blades down, sending headless bodies and gouts of blood spraying.

Soon the ground near the portcullis was slick with gore, and Terbair was the first to dismount, sword in hand.

“Half here, half with me.”

“My Lord Terbair, who shall we send forth?”

“All who would leave.”

The knights with him dismounted in turn, following Terbair’s orders. Half moved to bar the exit, while the others followed their lord into the monastery itself, their voices soon lost in the carnage within.

Bloodstains marred every surface, and bodies lay strewn thick upon the floor of the hallway. There had been no time for the decencies due to the dead, and the knights found themselves wading through gore that soaked the hems of their cloaks.

“Is this what it means to serve Lux Stella?”

“Hah, they tell us to drink less, yet they sup on the blood of men.”

The knights’ voices dripped with contempt, soon hardening into grim determination. For beyond the blood-soaked hallway, a force of heavily armed raiders had revealed themselves. They moved with a surprising discipline, forming a defensive line before the knights.

Shields locked together, the raiders made a show of holding their ground.

“Raven of the Stars. The heraldry of Powys… you shall go no further.”

“Heathen raiders, and yet you speak the heraldry of the Lux Stella nobility.”

Terbair could not help but scoff at the raiders’ words. He may have been ignorant of politics, but he was not entirely without the education befitting his rank. A grim smile spread across his face as he swung his flail.

“Pretend better. Raiders do not bear the heraldry of Powys.”

Beneath the anonymity of their face-concealing helms, the eyes of warriors who had faced down countless foes seemed to speak.

“I, fear the knight Terbair!”

With those words, Terbair charged. The knights with him followed with a thunderous roar, their charge down the narrow hallway and into the shield wall seeming like madness.

The raiders sneered at the knights charging their shield wall, but Terbair and his knights were veterans of countless battles against the relentless heathen raiders of the marches.

The chain-weighted flails whirled and crashed down, and only then did the raiders truly understand, as they saw the heads of their comrades crushed beneath the shattered remnants of their shields.

“What…!”

“Where do you look, heathen!”

Clang!

Terbair’s chain-weighted flail shattered a shield in a single blow. The shield wall they had thought unbreakable crumpled like so much tofu before the flails, a testament not to divine intervention, but to the fearsome martial prowess honed by training and experience.

The knights who followed could not shatter shields with the ease of Terbair, but they flailed and battered at the shield wall, creating gaps through which they could crush the heads of those behind.

Soon the raiders who had so confidently barred the knights’ path scattered in disarray, begging for their lives.

“Please, wait! I am no heathen!”

“You commit murder in a monastery dedicated to Lux Stella and claim not to be heathen? You are shameless! You betray your faith without a second thought, do you have no shame before the gods!”

“Ugh, guh, guh…”

Clang, clang, clang.

Begging for mercy was no exception. Terbaire lifted his chained mace with all his might and brought it down again and again. It was only after he had bashed their heads in that he resumed his march with his knights.

Numerous monks and raiders blocked his path. Of course, the price of arrogance came around to bite him.

“Arghhh?!”

“R-Run away! That’s the second son of Powis! Terbaire!”

“How could he be here when he should be stuck in front of the sea…!”

Terbaire swung his mace every time, crushing shields and heads alike as he inspired.

“Narba, your brother is going! Hold on!!!”

Terbaire didn’t need to know about strategy or schemes.

He was the strongest knight in the duchy.

***

The monastery, which had been quiet, was filled with new energy.

The people were so lively that they screamed so loudly that it sent shivers down their spines, even as they slept. So much so that the raid captain, who had been studying the monks, found it strange.

The raid captain paused and waited for his soldiers to get into position before asking the one closest to him.

“What’s going on?”

“…It seems like something happened in the rear. The soldiers there are rushing over here.”

In that instant, it couldn’t have been a coincidence that the raid captain and I locked eyes.

Although the raid captain was a despicable man, he was certainly a loyal servant of Yubas. The moment things went wrong, instead of running away to save his own skin, he chose to point his sword at me.

The raid captain threw himself forward in one breath and charged towards me. He ignored the monks who desperately tried to block him along the way, as if he didn’t care if he got stabbed a few times, and I couldn’t help but applaud the sight.

Such an A-class talent proves Yubas’s power. I felt once again that Yubas was truly a formidable force. However, even an A-class talent is bound to be blocked by a disabled obstacle at some point.

Clang!

The blades clashed with a loud clang. Even the raid captain, who had been charging at me with such bravery and determination, couldn’t hide his bewilderment at the sight of his opponent blocking his path.

“You…”

“Your Highness, this must be the right moment you were talking about!”

His plump face and sturdy physique didn’t match his sharp skills. The monk, with a kind smile on his face, blocked the raid captain with my blade and glanced at me with a forced smile.

“I’ve been waiting for you!!!”

“hahahahaha…”

Surtel. This twenty-year-old had finally decided to step in after watching for so long.