The enraged knight
I wiped the sweat from my face, fed up with the sweat running down my entire body.
The cloth he wiped with smelled of the sweat that had seeped into his nose, and he raised an eyebrow.
Thanks to Claudia's frequent visits, there was no shortage of clean cloths with a faint scent of soap, but she hadn't seen the pretty face that made her feel better just by looking at it for a while now.
It was easy to guess that her overprotective family did not want to let the lively Claudia out of the house when she was told she was pregnant.
As a husband and a father of a child, I feel that I should go to pick her up with dignity, but it is difficult to do so since Alexandra has not contacted me.
It seemed that Alexandra, who was in love with Dietfried, was so jealous that she hadn't asked his Majesty to break off the engagement.
"Damn it! Jealousy after all this time, you're still a cute little bitch, aren't you..."
Alexandra had always done everything Dietfried ordered her to do.
The fact that she hadn't contacted him at all this time could only mean that she was jealous of Diethfried and Claudia's relationship.
"If he doesn't even respond to my call, he needs to be punished, doesn't he? I'll ask the head of the temple to bless the marriage..."
The head of the temple has been paying attention to Dietfried.
Lately, he's been taking care of Alexandra every time I visit her.
I'm sure he'll be more than happy to offer his blessing.
"Dietfried Wurzner!"
Her closed eyes widen and she quickly turns her body in the direction of the voice.
The voice is always the First Knight Commander! Because the voice was calling Diethfried with a harsh but gentle voice.
Without paying attention to the First Order members who were just as astonished as Dietfried, but who were in a hurry to pay their respects, the Commander-in-Chief of the Knights Eugen glared at Dietfried with a sense of intimidation that he had only directed at his enemies.
"I have received a message from Randolph Wurzner, Advisor to the Knight Commander. You are to return to your home today! You must return to your home today!"
"Huh!"
I folded my knees in intimidation.
Even as he hung his head deeply, a sharp gaze filled with hatred pierced Dietfried's back without mercy.
Without giving him permission to look up, he just blinked repeatedly, unable to comprehend the reality that he had just walked away.
"...What the hell are you so angry about?"
He is too tolerant of his subordinates' faults, to the extent that he is sometimes ridiculed by the Third Knight Commander of Cantor.
Diethfried is a high-ranking Knight Commander of the First Order, but to Bachelder, who is the Knight Commander, Diethfried is one of his subordinates whom he should cherish.
It would be an unbelievable attitude.
"...Could it be that Alexandra told on him?"
Alexandra is trapped in the temple, but there are many ways out.
Some of them Diethfried gave her.
Bachelder was very loyal to the royal family and was always worried about Alexandra.
Alexandra, a member of the royal family but only in name, did not seem to be the kind of person that Bachelder worried about, but he must have recognized her as a weak person.
I didn't dislike Bachelder's kindness to women and children, but I still wish he would choose his partners.
"But to the main house? And you called me! I don't know what you think you're doing, too."
As soon as I became the First Knight Commander, I insisted that I should be the head of the Wurzner family, but I was laughed out of the room.
You're too young, he said.
What? I was furious.
I'm not allowed to argue.
Everything!
You're a child in spirit!
He reprimanded me.
I wanted to ask him how he could become a knight-errant with the spirit of a child, but since I did not have enough achievements to convince Randolph, I bit my lip and held back at that time.
If there was even one war, I would have rewritten Randolph's record lightly.
"...Wait, what? Could it be that Alexandra's... -Did she offer to destroy you and Chan?"
If he was summoned to the main house by the Knight Commander, it must be an important matter.
If that was the case, he might have been forced to give up the governorship against Randolph's will.
He may have been told by His Majesty that if he was to be the parent of a child, he would need to have an appropriate position.
Randolph, like Bachelder, has sworn absolute loyalty to the royal family, so it is highly possible that he is upset with Dietfried's treatment of Alexandra.
"Damn it. I don't even like her, she's so ugly. I've given you so much of my precious time. I'd like to claim alimony. I'm really troubled by my father's royal family-first policy."
In the room given to him by the Knight Commander, he takes out his clothes, sniffling and rinsing off his sweat.
It's been a while, but I'm just going home.
There's no need to be afraid.
Bachelder looked at me disapprovingly as I passed him, but I pretended not to have noticed, smiled, bowed, and headed for home.
The Order had dormitories, but Dietfried was renting a small house.
He rented a small house so that he and Claudia could enjoy each other's company.
He used to live in the dormitory until he had sexual relations with Claudia, so he often returned to the main house for a good meal and a relaxing bed, but recently he had been away from the house for a long time.
"...But, yo? This is strange..."
The butler, who had served Wurzner for generations, bent down and said, "Welcome home, Dietfried-sama," and reverently opened the door.
The door was opened quietly, without any particular time being specified.
I had admired it a long time ago, thinking that the gatekeeper must be able to communicate with the butler immediately.
However, the door does not open for a long time.
Come to think of it, I don't think there was even a gatekeeper.
I opened the heavy door with my own hands and exclaimed afterwards.
"...Huh? What the hell! What the hell!"
The door opens into an entrance hall.
In the middle was a staircase leading to the second floor.
The place that was supposed to have been carefully cleaned to the nooks and crannies, and where the armor and furnishings that had been given to us by His Majesty for generations were elegantly arranged.
"Nothing, nothing... nothing, nothing?"
The place had been cleaned with great care.
But there were no furnishings like in a newly built house.
There were no carpets, so the sound of my shoes echoed loudly as I stepped out.
"What the hell is going on?"
Despite my dismay, I continue on my way.
I head straight for Randolph's room, but he's not there.
There's no sign of anyone.
"An epidemic? No. If it was, they'd have called me, of course..."
There must have been dozens of stewards and servants, but there was no sign of anyone in any of the places I looked on the way to Randolph's room.
"And the Great Hall?"
I walk, thinking about where Randolph might be.
I felt as if something fearsome was chasing me from behind, and my steps naturally quickened.
The sound of my shoes hit my ears, and a cold sweat trickled down my temples.
"Jeez! Huh?"
I shook off my incomprehensible discomfort and opened the door leading to the hall.
Randolph was there.
He sits shallowly in the only luxurious chair in the empty hall, his legs wide apart, a sword between them, his eyes closed as if in meditation.
"What the hell!
"Give me your sword!"
"Huh?"
"Forehead, give me your sword!"
There are many ways to offer a sword.
It depends on the opponent and the situation.
At the end of the ritual to become a full-fledged knight, you are taught how to do it.
We all do not want to use it.
While sincerely vowing that this must be the first and last time.
For the crime of disrespecting the royal family, a special position to wait for absolution.
"Are you out of your mind! That was you!"
I pointed my sword at Randolph as he stood up.
By reflex.
Because Randolph had just unleashed a fierce killing intent he'd only ever directed at his enemies.
"If you don't want to give it up, that's fine too."
"Ah, ah, ah?"
A whiff of wind sounded in my ear.
The sound of a sword slicing through the wind, impossible considering the distance between Randolph and me.
The first thing I felt was heat.
"Gaaaahhhh!"
My knees shattered and I landed on the beautiful white floor stone with both hands.
"Ah! Aaah! Aaah! Aaahhhh!"
The pain came after I realized that my lower limbs were covered in blood from the fresh blood running down my thighs.
"Yesterday. I gave up my title and name."
"What? No! Ugh!"
I tried to raise my head, but my head was trampled down.
My forehead slammed into the floor with such force that my vision went black for a moment.
"The mansion, the sama, all the assets. I've already arranged for the servants to be rehired. My reemployment is also the same."
"Ow! Ouch!"
He was kicked in the jaw and almost flew into the air, but the movement of the wind caused by the swordplay that crossed in front of him left him unharmed and he was standing in front of Randolph.
There was no room for surprise at the impossible swordplay.
"As of today, I am no longer with you, Sama. Live as you wish."
"What are you talking about? I'm the only grandchild you have. The Wurzners...
"The Wurzner family..." You said you gave up your name. The Wurzner family no longer exists anywhere in this world."
"No! It's so easy! You can't do that!
"Considering what you've done, it's a mild punishment. Yes, yes, look at this."
Randolph's vision was obscured by sebum sweat, and he blinked desperately to see a little more.
Randolph held his sword out in front of Dietfried's eyes.
The same sword that had just bloodied Dietfried's lower limbs.
It's still dripping with blood.
There was some flesh left on the sword.
"This is part of the punishment. You will never be allowed the happiness of begetting children."
I didn't understand what Randolph meant.
But then he noticed that the flesh pierced by the sword was spherical.
I recognized two of them.
He pinpointed the location of the pain.
"Ah! Ahh! That! That one!"
As he desperately reached out, it was...
Diethfried's scrotum was burned to the ground.
The dazzling pure white flame called the Holy Flame, unlike ordinary flames, burns everything and does not allow regeneration.
Originally, it was a sacred flame directed against evil spirits and demons.
"Hee! Giiiiiiiiiiii!"
"You can't run away when you're bleeding to death."
The tip of the sword cut the cloth even wider and pressed against the wound.
The bleeding has stopped.
The pain and the smell of burning flesh persistently lingered, not even allowing her to pass out.
"I want to ask you something."
She collapses, her cheek lifted from where it had been pressed against the bloodless floor.
There was no pain in the hair being pulled up.
In fact, there might have been, but the pain in his lower limbs was so strong that he could not feel it.
"Why did you break off the engagement without consulting me?"
"I didn't think it was anything worth discussing."
"...Huh?"
"Always! All the time! Always! I don't even like you. There's nothing good about her... and she's forced upon me! I'm supposed to mind my own business! That's crazy!
He curses Randolph in pain.
"!"
The cold air emanating from Randolph made me feel as if the temperature around me had dropped a few degrees.
An unbelievable amount of cold sweat poured out of my face.
"...There is such a thing as compatibility. I was grateful for the opportunity that His Majesty had given me, but if I had only taken my turn, it would have been worse. No, even if you hadn't followed the order, it would have been possible to break off the engagement if you had followed the procedure."
He looked down at me with a look that seemed to freeze me to the tips of my hair, and his words went on and on.
"We were very close when we were children, so I was relieved. And Alexandra-sama is a precious woman who, as she has grown older, has come to understand the value of the lowly word."
"What do you mean, the value of a woman?"
"...Though outwardly treated poorly, Alexandra-sama is the first heir to the throne who has served her people well. Her consort has no claim to the throne, but she is guaranteed a high position. She would have been able to reach the positions of Knight Commander and Knight Advisor much earlier than Bachelder and I."
"My, ability!"
What is Randolph saying when it's obvious that he was able to become the youngest Knight Commander because of Dietfried's high ability?
"Your ability is a trivial thing that doesn't even have the power to reach the rank of Commander. It was only because of Bachelder's respect for my and Sven's loyalty and achievements, and Alexandra-sama's help, that I managed to get the job."
"His help with what? Huh? What, what did you do?"
You're still trapped in the temple.
"If you were aware, you wouldn't have done something so insane and inhumane as forcing me to break off our engagement, would you?"
His smile deepened.
A smile that could be called a smile of madness.
At least it's not the way he looks at his grandchildren.
"He acknowledged your letters every time you acted without consideration for the people around you. The lowly but loyal Alexandra-sama's personal correspondent delivered them. Beautifully written and sincere. When you receive a sincere letter from Alexandra-sama, who is devoted to the royal family even though she is treated poorly, you can't ignore it."
"That's it!"
I've seen Dietfried several times when he was with Alexandra.
She was small and poorly dressed, but her eyes were a rare green color.
Once, when I praised her eyes, she stared at Dietfried for a moment with tremendous disgust.
The next moment, she got down on her knees and thanked me, so I forgave her.
The next moment he was on his knees, thanking me, and I forgave him, though I remembered that he was so deeply hooded that I never saw him again.
"It seems you were too stupid to recognize Alexandra-sama as royalty. With the exception of a few fools, you understood that Alexandra-sama was an untouchable noble."
"What's the point of being high and mighty if you're treated so coldly by His Majesty?"
"Not a few people assumed that the cold treatment had a meaning. All sensible people respected the benevolent Alexandra-sama. That's why you had to go and hang your head and ask her to break off the engagement."
The pain is as bad as ever, but I'm getting used to it.
The knight knows the extent of his injuries and has learned how to let go of the pain.
"In addition, because of my engagement to the royal family, I, as the head of the family, naturally had to be present... that's all. That's all I needed to know! The Wurzner family would not have been cut off for disrespecting the royal family... but it's too late for that now."
"Even if you followed the proper procedure, did you really break off the engagement? She was obsessed with me, wasn't she?"
"...You-sama's eyes were just for decoration. It's true he had a crush on you when he was young. But for the past few years, he has faced you only out of duty."
"What, huh?"
"Think about it from the other side. If the only person you're allowed to have a relationship with continues to mistreat you, it's not surprising that you harbor hatred rather than affection. That person, however, seems to have become indifferent..."
Alexandra's eyes are filled with regret.
Not Dietfried.
"He's indifferent to me? No! It can't be. Didn't you tell him to break off the engagement? That's what I want!
"...if that's what you want to think. It's true the betrothal was broken just as you wanted. Alexandra-sama is to be married to the empire."
"The Empire!"
According to the informant Dietfried was using, the Volturnine Empire was preparing to invade the Misuire Empire.
It was information he hadn't presented to His Majesty because he didn't have all the details, but if it was going to be such a ridiculous story, he should have presented it as soon as possible, even if it was still undetermined.
"No! Tell His Majesty!"
"Serve you with what?"
We have information that the Empire will invade Mysia! If she marries you, she'll only make you look weak!"
"There's no need to play along. It's useless. If Alexandra-sama leaves this country, the Empire of Mysia will be destroyed in no time..."
"Hmph! What are you talking about? Mister!"
"Don't call me 'sir'! I'm no longer with you! You're a commoner now, you're not allowed to see the Emperor. You've ruined too many lives. There's nothing you can do now. Crawl on the ground and continue to watch the horrors you've wrought. Death, I will never, ever allow."
"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
The sound of wind ripping at my ears again.
This time a limb was severed.
The sword is pulled from its scabbard, even though it's still hanging from Randolph's waist.
It was an unbelievably quick action.
He screamed out in new pain.
"Hiiiiiiiiii!"
The same foul-smelling smoke rises from the burning wound.
The smoke was bright red.
The smoke was bright red, very similar to the blood plume from the training accident.
"Your unfaithful partner will be punished accordingly. It's karma. But your innocent great-grandson who must be condemned just because he's your son..."
I pity them.
And.
This is the first time Diethfried recognized Randolph as an old man in his fading consciousness due to intense pain.
"Aaah!"
He jumped up, sweating all over.
"Was it a dream?"
I looked around me and saw that I was lying on a bed in a house rented by Dietfried.
I lifted my head and saw that I had hands and feet.
But...
"It's real!"
I reached out to touch my lower extremities, but my scrotum was not there.
"Ouch!"
Diethfried bit down on his back teeth as he felt a pain so intense that a new sweat broke out all over his body, even though he had only touched it gently through the cloth.
"The scrotum cannot be regenerated by any surgeon, and the pain will be with you for the rest of your life. But there are ways to reduce it."
"What?"
She twisted her head in the direction of the voice.
A healer under the direct command of the First Order was standing quietly in a pungent dark green robe.
"...It exists, but it's useless for you now."
"Why not?"
"Because you would not be able to pay for the healing."
Huh?
What a stupid thing to say, came out an unconscious and crazy voice.
"First of all, the cost of having the limbs connected is one million silver. Second, I have connected the limbs.
Forty million silver."
"Don't talk in your sleep!"
One million silver is enough for a family of four commoners to live on for a year.
Forty million silver is enough to buy a house large enough for a family of four commoners to live in comfortably, with a field where they can grow enough vegetables to meet their daily needs.
"In the first place, there's no charge for a knight's healing!"
"There is no charge for injuries sustained in the line of duty or accidental injuries. But you're not one of them."
"Do you know the situation? !"
I spoke directly to Randolph-sama when I brought him here. Randolph-sama told me to leave him alone but he's a nobleman after all. The punishment is too lenient. A piece of trash who's missing a limb for disrespecting the crown is nothing more than a scourge. I convinced him that his sins are more redeemable in a state of physical and mental health.
How can an atrocity that deprives a man of his fertility and his limbs be a mild punishment?
"It's a sanctioned condemnation for disrespecting the king, so it doesn't fall under the rules, and you..."
The edge of the healer's mouth lifted strangely, as if he was always smiling.
"You're not a knight, so you're not eligible for free healing."
It was a mockery that would have been punishable by disrespect if directed at a nobleman by a commoner.
"Randolph-sama also informed me that you are no longer a knight or a nobleman. I have also confirmed that official notice has been given. Now, please pay me immediately."
My vision turned crimson at the overly conceited comment of the healer who could only heal wounds.
"You-sama! Don't you have any compassion for the wounded?
"That's a terrible thing to say. Before I became your direct supervisor, I once treated a patient illegally but without charging for my services. I healed criminals with full knowledge of their circumstances. My friends say I'm the most good-natured healer they know. That's why I was the only personal healer of the First Order."
When I raised my eyebrows at him, the healer continued happily.
"The First Order, more than any other knightly order, was famous for not taking good care of healers... so they refused everyone but me."
I was disappointed.
The Order wouldn't be able to survive without healers like Bachelder. He didn't treat them as special as Bachelder did, but he didn't abuse them like Cantor did, who always had a number of healers with him to the front lines, thinking that he could just throw them away.
If he thought they were overworked, he made them pay special allowances.
"They are not allowed to go to the front lines, but wait alone at the base. They force those who are already too late to be taken to the temple, and if they cannot heal them, they call them incompetent and violent. What is the special allowance? It's supposed to be paid by the Knight Commander. Did you know that?
How should I know?
It's usually paid by the injured party.
I wiped the sweat from my face, fed up with the sweat running down my entire body.
The cloth he wiped with smelled of the sweat that had seeped into his nose, and he raised an eyebrow.
Thanks to Claudia's frequent visits, there was no shortage of clean cloths with a faint scent of soap, but she hadn't seen the pretty face that made her feel better just by looking at it for a while now.
It was easy to guess that her overprotective family did not want to let the lively Claudia out of the house when she was told she was pregnant.
As a husband and a father of a child, I feel that I should go to pick her up with dignity, but it is difficult to do so since Alexandra has not contacted me.
It seemed that Alexandra, who was in love with Dietfried, was so jealous that she hadn't asked his Majesty to break off the engagement.
"Damn it! Jealousy after all this time, you're still a cute little bitch, aren't you..."
Alexandra had always done everything Dietfried ordered her to do.
The fact that she hadn't contacted him at all this time could only mean that she was jealous of Diethfried and Claudia's relationship.
"If he doesn't even respond to my call, he needs to be punished, doesn't he? I'll ask the head of the temple to bless the marriage..."
The head of the temple has been paying attention to Dietfried.
Lately, he's been taking care of Alexandra every time I visit her.
I'm sure he'll be more than happy to offer his blessing.
"Dietfried Wurzner!"
Her closed eyes widen and she quickly turns her body in the direction of the voice.
The voice is always the First Knight Commander! Because the voice was calling Diethfried with a harsh but gentle voice.
Without paying attention to the First Order members who were just as astonished as Dietfried, but who were in a hurry to pay their respects, the Commander-in-Chief of the Knights Eugen glared at Dietfried with a sense of intimidation that he had only directed at his enemies.
"I have received a message from Randolph Wurzner, Advisor to the Knight Commander. You are to return to your home today! You must return to your home today!"
"Huh!"
I folded my knees in intimidation.
Even as he hung his head deeply, a sharp gaze filled with hatred pierced Dietfried's back without mercy.
Without giving him permission to look up, he just blinked repeatedly, unable to comprehend the reality that he had just walked away.
"...What the hell are you so angry about?"
He is too tolerant of his subordinates' faults, to the extent that he is sometimes ridiculed by the Third Knight Commander of Cantor.
Diethfried is a high-ranking Knight Commander of the First Order, but to Bachelder, who is the Knight Commander, Diethfried is one of his subordinates whom he should cherish.
It would be an unbelievable attitude.
"...Could it be that Alexandra told on him?"
Alexandra is trapped in the temple, but there are many ways out.
Some of them Diethfried gave her.
Bachelder was very loyal to the royal family and was always worried about Alexandra.
Alexandra, a member of the royal family but only in name, did not seem to be the kind of person that Bachelder worried about, but he must have recognized her as a weak person.
I didn't dislike Bachelder's kindness to women and children, but I still wish he would choose his partners.
"But to the main house? And you called me! I don't know what you think you're doing, too."
As soon as I became the First Knight Commander, I insisted that I should be the head of the Wurzner family, but I was laughed out of the room.
You're too young, he said.
What? I was furious.
I'm not allowed to argue.
Everything!
You're a child in spirit!
He reprimanded me.
I wanted to ask him how he could become a knight-errant with the spirit of a child, but since I did not have enough achievements to convince Randolph, I bit my lip and held back at that time.
If there was even one war, I would have rewritten Randolph's record lightly.
"...Wait, what? Could it be that Alexandra's... -Did she offer to destroy you and Chan?"
If he was summoned to the main house by the Knight Commander, it must be an important matter.
If that was the case, he might have been forced to give up the governorship against Randolph's will.
He may have been told by His Majesty that if he was to be the parent of a child, he would need to have an appropriate position.
Randolph, like Bachelder, has sworn absolute loyalty to the royal family, so it is highly possible that he is upset with Dietfried's treatment of Alexandra.
"Damn it. I don't even like her, she's so ugly. I've given you so much of my precious time. I'd like to claim alimony. I'm really troubled by my father's royal family-first policy."
In the room given to him by the Knight Commander, he takes out his clothes, sniffling and rinsing off his sweat.
It's been a while, but I'm just going home.
There's no need to be afraid.
Bachelder looked at me disapprovingly as I passed him, but I pretended not to have noticed, smiled, bowed, and headed for home.
The Order had dormitories, but Dietfried was renting a small house.
He rented a small house so that he and Claudia could enjoy each other's company.
He used to live in the dormitory until he had sexual relations with Claudia, so he often returned to the main house for a good meal and a relaxing bed, but recently he had been away from the house for a long time.
"...But, yo? This is strange..."
The butler, who had served Wurzner for generations, bent down and said, "Welcome home, Dietfried-sama," and reverently opened the door.
The door was opened quietly, without any particular time being specified.
I had admired it a long time ago, thinking that the gatekeeper must be able to communicate with the butler immediately.
However, the door does not open for a long time.
Come to think of it, I don't think there was even a gatekeeper.
I opened the heavy door with my own hands and exclaimed afterwards.
"...Huh? What the hell! What the hell!"
The door opens into an entrance hall.
In the middle was a staircase leading to the second floor.
The place that was supposed to have been carefully cleaned to the nooks and crannies, and where the armor and furnishings that had been given to us by His Majesty for generations were elegantly arranged.
"Nothing, nothing... nothing, nothing?"
The place had been cleaned with great care.
But there were no furnishings like in a newly built house.
There were no carpets, so the sound of my shoes echoed loudly as I stepped out.
"What the hell is going on?"
Despite my dismay, I continue on my way.
I head straight for Randolph's room, but he's not there.
There's no sign of anyone.
"An epidemic? No. If it was, they'd have called me, of course..."
There must have been dozens of stewards and servants, but there was no sign of anyone in any of the places I looked on the way to Randolph's room.
"And the Great Hall?"
I walk, thinking about where Randolph might be.
I felt as if something fearsome was chasing me from behind, and my steps naturally quickened.
The sound of my shoes hit my ears, and a cold sweat trickled down my temples.
"Jeez! Huh?"
I shook off my incomprehensible discomfort and opened the door leading to the hall.
Randolph was there.
He sits shallowly in the only luxurious chair in the empty hall, his legs wide apart, a sword between them, his eyes closed as if in meditation.
"What the hell!
"Give me your sword!"
"Huh?"
"Forehead, give me your sword!"
There are many ways to offer a sword.
It depends on the opponent and the situation.
At the end of the ritual to become a full-fledged knight, you are taught how to do it.
We all do not want to use it.
While sincerely vowing that this must be the first and last time.
For the crime of disrespecting the royal family, a special position to wait for absolution.
"Are you out of your mind! That was you!"
I pointed my sword at Randolph as he stood up.
By reflex.
Because Randolph had just unleashed a fierce killing intent he'd only ever directed at his enemies.
"If you don't want to give it up, that's fine too."
"Ah, ah, ah?"
A whiff of wind sounded in my ear.
The sound of a sword slicing through the wind, impossible considering the distance between Randolph and me.
The first thing I felt was heat.
"Gaaaahhhh!"
My knees shattered and I landed on the beautiful white floor stone with both hands.
"Ah! Aaah! Aaah! Aaahhhh!"
The pain came after I realized that my lower limbs were covered in blood from the fresh blood running down my thighs.
"Yesterday. I gave up my title and name."
"What? No! Ugh!"
I tried to raise my head, but my head was trampled down.
My forehead slammed into the floor with such force that my vision went black for a moment.
"The mansion, the sama, all the assets. I've already arranged for the servants to be rehired. My reemployment is also the same."
"Ow! Ouch!"
He was kicked in the jaw and almost flew into the air, but the movement of the wind caused by the swordplay that crossed in front of him left him unharmed and he was standing in front of Randolph.
There was no room for surprise at the impossible swordplay.
"As of today, I am no longer with you, Sama. Live as you wish."
"What are you talking about? I'm the only grandchild you have. The Wurzners...
"The Wurzner family..." You said you gave up your name. The Wurzner family no longer exists anywhere in this world."
"No! It's so easy! You can't do that!
"Considering what you've done, it's a mild punishment. Yes, yes, look at this."
Randolph's vision was obscured by sebum sweat, and he blinked desperately to see a little more.
Randolph held his sword out in front of Dietfried's eyes.
The same sword that had just bloodied Dietfried's lower limbs.
It's still dripping with blood.
There was some flesh left on the sword.
"This is part of the punishment. You will never be allowed the happiness of begetting children."
I didn't understand what Randolph meant.
But then he noticed that the flesh pierced by the sword was spherical.
I recognized two of them.
He pinpointed the location of the pain.
"Ah! Ahh! That! That one!"
As he desperately reached out, it was...
Diethfried's scrotum was burned to the ground.
The dazzling pure white flame called the Holy Flame, unlike ordinary flames, burns everything and does not allow regeneration.
Originally, it was a sacred flame directed against evil spirits and demons.
"Hee! Giiiiiiiiiiii!"
"You can't run away when you're bleeding to death."
The tip of the sword cut the cloth even wider and pressed against the wound.
The bleeding has stopped.
The pain and the smell of burning flesh persistently lingered, not even allowing her to pass out.
"I want to ask you something."
She collapses, her cheek lifted from where it had been pressed against the bloodless floor.
There was no pain in the hair being pulled up.
In fact, there might have been, but the pain in his lower limbs was so strong that he could not feel it.
"Why did you break off the engagement without consulting me?"
"I didn't think it was anything worth discussing."
"...Huh?"
"Always! All the time! Always! I don't even like you. There's nothing good about her... and she's forced upon me! I'm supposed to mind my own business! That's crazy!
He curses Randolph in pain.
"!"
The cold air emanating from Randolph made me feel as if the temperature around me had dropped a few degrees.
An unbelievable amount of cold sweat poured out of my face.
"...There is such a thing as compatibility. I was grateful for the opportunity that His Majesty had given me, but if I had only taken my turn, it would have been worse. No, even if you hadn't followed the order, it would have been possible to break off the engagement if you had followed the procedure."
He looked down at me with a look that seemed to freeze me to the tips of my hair, and his words went on and on.
"We were very close when we were children, so I was relieved. And Alexandra-sama is a precious woman who, as she has grown older, has come to understand the value of the lowly word."
"What do you mean, the value of a woman?"
"...Though outwardly treated poorly, Alexandra-sama is the first heir to the throne who has served her people well. Her consort has no claim to the throne, but she is guaranteed a high position. She would have been able to reach the positions of Knight Commander and Knight Advisor much earlier than Bachelder and I."
"My, ability!"
What is Randolph saying when it's obvious that he was able to become the youngest Knight Commander because of Dietfried's high ability?
"Your ability is a trivial thing that doesn't even have the power to reach the rank of Commander. It was only because of Bachelder's respect for my and Sven's loyalty and achievements, and Alexandra-sama's help, that I managed to get the job."
"His help with what? Huh? What, what did you do?"
You're still trapped in the temple.
"If you were aware, you wouldn't have done something so insane and inhumane as forcing me to break off our engagement, would you?"
His smile deepened.
A smile that could be called a smile of madness.
At least it's not the way he looks at his grandchildren.
"He acknowledged your letters every time you acted without consideration for the people around you. The lowly but loyal Alexandra-sama's personal correspondent delivered them. Beautifully written and sincere. When you receive a sincere letter from Alexandra-sama, who is devoted to the royal family even though she is treated poorly, you can't ignore it."
"That's it!"
I've seen Dietfried several times when he was with Alexandra.
She was small and poorly dressed, but her eyes were a rare green color.
Once, when I praised her eyes, she stared at Dietfried for a moment with tremendous disgust.
The next moment, she got down on her knees and thanked me, so I forgave her.
The next moment he was on his knees, thanking me, and I forgave him, though I remembered that he was so deeply hooded that I never saw him again.
"It seems you were too stupid to recognize Alexandra-sama as royalty. With the exception of a few fools, you understood that Alexandra-sama was an untouchable noble."
"What's the point of being high and mighty if you're treated so coldly by His Majesty?"
"Not a few people assumed that the cold treatment had a meaning. All sensible people respected the benevolent Alexandra-sama. That's why you had to go and hang your head and ask her to break off the engagement."
The pain is as bad as ever, but I'm getting used to it.
The knight knows the extent of his injuries and has learned how to let go of the pain.
"In addition, because of my engagement to the royal family, I, as the head of the family, naturally had to be present... that's all. That's all I needed to know! The Wurzner family would not have been cut off for disrespecting the royal family... but it's too late for that now."
"Even if you followed the proper procedure, did you really break off the engagement? She was obsessed with me, wasn't she?"
"...You-sama's eyes were just for decoration. It's true he had a crush on you when he was young. But for the past few years, he has faced you only out of duty."
"What, huh?"
"Think about it from the other side. If the only person you're allowed to have a relationship with continues to mistreat you, it's not surprising that you harbor hatred rather than affection. That person, however, seems to have become indifferent..."
Alexandra's eyes are filled with regret.
Not Dietfried.
"He's indifferent to me? No! It can't be. Didn't you tell him to break off the engagement? That's what I want!
"...if that's what you want to think. It's true the betrothal was broken just as you wanted. Alexandra-sama is to be married to the empire."
"The Empire!"
According to the informant Dietfried was using, the Volturnine Empire was preparing to invade the Misuire Empire.
It was information he hadn't presented to His Majesty because he didn't have all the details, but if it was going to be such a ridiculous story, he should have presented it as soon as possible, even if it was still undetermined.
"No! Tell His Majesty!"
"Serve you with what?"
We have information that the Empire will invade Mysia! If she marries you, she'll only make you look weak!"
"There's no need to play along. It's useless. If Alexandra-sama leaves this country, the Empire of Mysia will be destroyed in no time..."
"Hmph! What are you talking about? Mister!"
"Don't call me 'sir'! I'm no longer with you! You're a commoner now, you're not allowed to see the Emperor. You've ruined too many lives. There's nothing you can do now. Crawl on the ground and continue to watch the horrors you've wrought. Death, I will never, ever allow."
"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
The sound of wind ripping at my ears again.
This time a limb was severed.
The sword is pulled from its scabbard, even though it's still hanging from Randolph's waist.
It was an unbelievably quick action.
He screamed out in new pain.
"Hiiiiiiiiii!"
The same foul-smelling smoke rises from the burning wound.
The smoke was bright red.
The smoke was bright red, very similar to the blood plume from the training accident.
"Your unfaithful partner will be punished accordingly. It's karma. But your innocent great-grandson who must be condemned just because he's your son..."
I pity them.
And.
This is the first time Diethfried recognized Randolph as an old man in his fading consciousness due to intense pain.
"Aaah!"
He jumped up, sweating all over.
"Was it a dream?"
I looked around me and saw that I was lying on a bed in a house rented by Dietfried.
I lifted my head and saw that I had hands and feet.
But...
"It's real!"
I reached out to touch my lower extremities, but my scrotum was not there.
"Ouch!"
Diethfried bit down on his back teeth as he felt a pain so intense that a new sweat broke out all over his body, even though he had only touched it gently through the cloth.
"The scrotum cannot be regenerated by any surgeon, and the pain will be with you for the rest of your life. But there are ways to reduce it."
"What?"
She twisted her head in the direction of the voice.
A healer under the direct command of the First Order was standing quietly in a pungent dark green robe.
"...It exists, but it's useless for you now."
"Why not?"
"Because you would not be able to pay for the healing."
Huh?
What a stupid thing to say, came out an unconscious and crazy voice.
"First of all, the cost of having the limbs connected is one million silver. Second, I have connected the limbs.
Forty million silver."
"Don't talk in your sleep!"
One million silver is enough for a family of four commoners to live on for a year.
Forty million silver is enough to buy a house large enough for a family of four commoners to live in comfortably, with a field where they can grow enough vegetables to meet their daily needs.
"In the first place, there's no charge for a knight's healing!"
"There is no charge for injuries sustained in the line of duty or accidental injuries. But you're not one of them."
"Do you know the situation? !"
I spoke directly to Randolph-sama when I brought him here. Randolph-sama told me to leave him alone but he's a nobleman after all. The punishment is too lenient. A piece of trash who's missing a limb for disrespecting the crown is nothing more than a scourge. I convinced him that his sins are more redeemable in a state of physical and mental health.
How can an atrocity that deprives a man of his fertility and his limbs be a mild punishment?
"It's a sanctioned condemnation for disrespecting the king, so it doesn't fall under the rules, and you..."
The edge of the healer's mouth lifted strangely, as if he was always smiling.
"You're not a knight, so you're not eligible for free healing."
It was a mockery that would have been punishable by disrespect if directed at a nobleman by a commoner.
"Randolph-sama also informed me that you are no longer a knight or a nobleman. I have also confirmed that official notice has been given. Now, please pay me immediately."
My vision turned crimson at the overly conceited comment of the healer who could only heal wounds.
"You-sama! Don't you have any compassion for the wounded?
"That's a terrible thing to say. Before I became your direct supervisor, I once treated a patient illegally but without charging for my services. I healed criminals with full knowledge of their circumstances. My friends say I'm the most good-natured healer they know. That's why I was the only personal healer of the First Order."
When I raised my eyebrows at him, the healer continued happily.
"The First Order, more than any other knightly order, was famous for not taking good care of healers... so they refused everyone but me."
I was disappointed.
The Order wouldn't be able to survive without healers like Bachelder. He didn't treat them as special as Bachelder did, but he didn't abuse them like Cantor did, who always had a number of healers with him to the front lines, thinking that he could just throw them away.
If he thought they were overworked, he made them pay special allowances.
"They are not allowed to go to the front lines, but wait alone at the base. They force those who are already too late to be taken to the temple, and if they cannot heal them, they call them incompetent and violent. What is the special allowance? It's supposed to be paid by the Knight Commander. Did you know that?
How should I know?
It's usually paid by the injured party.