Episode 1058. My curiosity tied a string around my neck, so
Elio stirred the pale soup with a spoon and said,
“Fabian. Didn’t I say that Hirhera is the county of Codrantes?”
“yes. Why?”
“No, it looks like the Codrantes knights are looking around here. Are you here to help me with something lacking?”
“Maybe. If you look at it small, it’s because they’re here to help with their estate. I wish they would support fresh meat or pakpak. Why doesn’t it seem like the ingredients are getting smaller and smaller?”
“I know. Eating in a place like this is a downer.”
One of the knights who had been listening to the whispers of the two nearby spoke quietly.
“This is Count Codrantes and his staff.”
“…”
At that moment, Elio and Fabian closed their mouths in surprise.
I thought it was just an article related to logistics, but Count Codrantes and his staff!
Just in time, Count Ellen Fares, the leader of the Phoenix Knights, who was in the dining room, got up from his seat and approached Count Codrantes.
“Oops! What is the patron saint of Campodeneve doing here? I’m sure you didn’t come here for a meal…”
Count Codrantes responded with a smile to Count Ellen Fares’s greeting.
“haha. It was nothing. You are the patron saint of Campodeneb. Didn’t you come running to solve Hirhera’s problem like this?”
“Is the ice wall a problem only in Campodeneb? The safety of the north as well as the continent of Rodina is at stake, so it has to come. By the way, have you eaten?”
“Not yet.”
“Then shall we eat together?”
“Maybe?”
Count Codrantes did not refuse Count Ellen Fares’ invitation.
As Count Ellen Fares and Count Codrantes moved together, high-ranking nobles from the Marquis Bernardo gathered around them.
It was to get acquainted with the sword master, Count Codrantes.
The company commanders, the barons, did not dare to join the ranks, and only smacked their lips from afar.
There is no way that Count Codrantes, a veteran of the war, would not know that.
As the high-ranking aristocrats who greeted them left, he hinted.
“I want to see the face of the company commander who is in charge of monitoring cracks, but are you here?”
For a moment, a strange smile appeared on Count Ellen Parres’ face.
‘Ohh! Did you want to meet Rufus’ company commander, who was said to be the great commander of Count Putocoa?’
He nodded willingly.
“sure. Let’s see. The Alpha Company Commander hasn’t arrived yet… There’s Captain Rufus, who is in charge of Alpha Company’s support. Viscount Kerry, go and get Rufus’s company commander.”
“yes.”
Viscount Kerry Donner, vice-captain of the Phoenix Order, hurriedly rose from his seat.
After a while, when he brought Baron Helio Lagoa, Count Ellen Fares said with a meaningful smile.
“That person is Baron Elio Lagoa, commander of Rufus Company and lord of Slash Land. Baron Elio Lagoa This is Count Codrantes, lord of Campodeneb. You called Rufus Company to praise them for their hard work, so don’t be nervous.”
At the words of the leader of the Phoenix Knights, Elio bowed in silence toward Count Codrantes.
“This is Elio Lagoa.”
“Nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot of rumors about you. But seeing it in person, I look younger. How old are you?”
“Twenty-seven.”
At that moment, an exclamation flowed from the mouth of Count Codrantes.
“Phew! Being a top-notch sword expert at twenty-seven… What a genius. I heard the sound of a genius when I was younger, but I can’t compare. The Marquis will reassure you.”
Count Codrantes glanced back at Count Ellen Fares.
“Nothing. It is the rising star of the Marquis Bernardo family. Oops! Is there such a thing as a star rising in front of the guardian castle of Campodeneb?”
Count Ellen Fares trembled.
Then, one corner of Count Codrantes’s mouth went up slightly.
‘Look at this? I’m known as the Great Warrior, but the Guardian Castle and the Rising Star?’
Anyone can see that this is creating a confrontational composition.
Even if I begged to take good care of him, he would listen or not, but I never thought it would come out like this!
Count Codrantes, slightly offended, turned his arrow at Baron Elio Lagoa.
“By the way, did you get involved in something bad with Count Putocoa?”
The atmosphere that had been friendly until just now became tense in an instant.
The nobles’ faces hardened, but Elio’s expression did not change.
“So I challenged you to a duel. I’m going to follow what Justia, the goddess of justice, has decided. I heard that the side that wins is right, is that right?”
At that moment, Count Codrantes’ staff, Viscount Bain Marino, said a word.
“Don’t be rude to the Count.”
In fact, Elio’s words were more than rude to him, who believed in Count Codrantes as a great warrior.
Elio stared at Viscount Marino, Bain, and asked again.
“ah! Looks like I got it wrong. Was the losing side fair?”
“Izaga!”
Viscount Bain Marino widened his eyes.
It was the first time I lived and lived like this, so I had nothing to say.
Count Codrantes, who was watching quietly, said with a calm face.
“no. You knew right away. In a duel, the one who received the protection of Goddess Justia was supposed to win. Stop and see.”
“yes.”
Elio nodded and left.
Viscount Bain Marino, unable to calm his anger, finally said a word.
“Pride pierces the sky. How dare you ask such a question to the Count, who is a great warrior.”
The leader of the Phoenix Knights, Earl Ellen Fares, asked with a surprised face.
“Is Count Codrantes really the great champion of Count Putocoa?”
Then Count Codrantes spoke as if he were talking to someone else.
“Not yet.”
“Oh, you did.”
For a moment, Viscount Bain Marino looked at Count Codrantes with startled eyes.
Not yet?
“Weren’t you a great warrior? Rumors abounded, so I thought they were true. Please forgive me. I made a mistake.”
“There is no such thing as a false statement. It’s not like there’s any chance of that happening.”
“That means…”
“Looking at Baron Lagoa reminds me of the old days. It’s not easy to meet a knight with that level of speculation.”
Count Codrantes gave a vague answer, but no one could ask further.
***
Viscount Bain Marino asked sneakily on the way back to the camp of Count Codrantes after finishing the meal.
“Do you intend to step out as a great warrior for Count Putokoa, Count?”
“What do you think of Count Putocoa?”
“He looked like a resourceful person for his age.”
“He’s like a snake.”
Count Codrantes shook his head excitedly.
As soon as he finishes negotiating with himself, he spreads rumors of a great war.
“You mean cunning?”
“Exceed my father. look at me Didn’t you get stuck in a great battle?”
Simply ‘helping Earl Putokoa’ and ‘fighting as his warrior’ are as different as the sky and the earth.
He has no chance of losing to Baron Elio Lagoa, but if he loses in the unlikely event, the aftermath is unimaginable.
It was astonishing that he, the lord and sword master of Campodeneb, was being controlled with the right to develop the Firestone mine.
“Isn’t it okay if I don’t have a great battle?”
“Does that sound like that when you look at the attitude of Baron Elio Lagoa?”
“Were you a little stiff?”
“He knew I was a great warrior, but he wasn’t afraid. That too in front of the nobles of the Marquis Bernardo. My curiosity has a rope tied around my neck. Now, if I reject the great warrior, the nobles of Marquis Bernardo’s family will shout, ‘The sword master called the star of Campodeneb is afraid of Baron Helio Lagoa’. I can’t hear that.”
It was the sound of a grand war.
In fact, from his point of view, it was better to fight cleanly once.
“You mean all of this is Count Putocoa’s plan?”
“I thought that young man was too easy. A great battle for just one Firestone mine development right. The more I think about it, the more amazing it is.”
As Count Codrantes’ self-reproach intensified, Viscount Bain Marino quickly changed the subject.
“By the way, only Baron Helio Lagoa is pitiful. Because I have to fight against a sword master who was not in my arms.”
“Originally, life is about not knowing the future. I thought you hated him?”
“Because dislike and sympathy for unhappiness that go beyond the limit are different.”
“That’s it again. It looks like your wings are broken before you even fly high…”
“Aren’t you still young? If the Count doesn’t take his life, there will be something to be gained by fighting the Sword Master.”
“Life and death depend on his mastery of swordsmanship.”
“Is that so?”
“The higher his level of swordsmanship is, the more likely he is to die. Because there is no such thing as being considerate of the opponent in a close fight.”
Count Codrantes shrugged as if he couldn’t help it.
Until now, many swordsmen died at their own hands in such fights.
It could be said that only those who survived can enjoy the glory of a sword master.
***
After dinner, Fabian followed Elio back to the inn.
“No, company commander, why are you running into Count Codrantes there?”
“I’m the one who will fight tomorrow anyway, so what are you looking at?”
“You’re not a warrior yet, are you?”
“Well, of course you are saying that because tomorrow hasn’t come yet. Is there anyone who can replace Count Putokoa?”
“No.”
“I will come out as a great warrior.”
“Isn’t that a good thing though? You can look after me when we fight.”
“Look at this guy. It has been said that swords do not have eyes.”
“It is not in the sword, but it is in the person. It’s good for the company commander if Count Codrantes comes out a little bit, but why…”
“Tsk tsk! You live in dreams and fantasies. I’m still alive with that mentality. Have you met only good people so far?”
“I never had to fight criminals.”
“Earl Codrantes and I aren’t even acquainted, but you’re a bitch. And everything I run into is an operation.”
“Is there such an operation?”
“It is to make the other person lose their temper by making them angry. The more excited the opponent is, the better it is for me.”
“Do you think such shallow numbers would work for the Sword Master?”
“Hehe. The stronger the self-esteem, the better it works.”
As Elio laughed like a villain, Fabian asked with an incomprehensible face.
“But why does a strong person like the company commander use such a naive trick?”
“It’s not a joke, it’s a tactical strategy.”
“Somehow I feel that it is not like a knight.”
“Will you die as a knight? Do you want to live a humble life?”
“Well, I want to live.”
“Why are you taking it out so rudely?”
“Yes yes. I want to live a long, long life even if it’s humble. I can do that, but isn’t the company commander strong enough to not have to resort to such a move?”
“A man-tiger does his best even when he catches a rabbit.”
“…”
Fabian had nothing to say about the distribution of Baron Elio, who compared Count Codrantes to a rabbit.
***
Next day.
At noon, knights and soldiers from the Hirhera garrison gathered around the central command and control barracks one by one.
To watch the duel between Count Putocoa and Baron Helio Lagoa.
Unlike the Baylem Kingdom Army, which was quiet because the gambling board was overturned because it was tilted to one side, the Escatos Kingdom Army was noisy.
It feels like watching a market place with the sound of fighting between soldiers and the jingling of silver coins.
“come!”
The commotion died down at someone’s cry.
Soon after, a young man appeared with a relaxed face as he separated the Marquis Bernardo’s army.
He was Baron Elio Lagoa, the lord of Slash Land and called the ‘Knight of the Rift’.