Chapter 18: Warning (4)

The severed arm rose high into the sky before falling to the ground.

Immediately, blood spurted from the shoulder wound.

Gerrick, struck by the delayed pain, curled up and groaned.

“Guh, guh...”

He had lost his precious right arm to the knight.

His life as a knight was now effectively over.

However, what filled Gerrick's mind was not the pain of loss but confusion.

“How... how...”

Damian had shattered Gerrick's vision in a single move.

No, it wasn't just shattered; when Damian swung his longsword, the flow of mana was broken, and the greatsword was destroyed simultaneously.

“Speak! What technique did you use! What is it that can do this...!”

Blue Flame Brigandine.

One of the Five Great Saints of the Order, unmatched in the art of martial techniques.

As a Master, Brigandine had reached a level called 'Annihilation (滅格).'

At this level, it was possible to use external impacts to collapse the structure of objects.

Brigandine used this to destroy the techniques, weapons, and even magic of his enemies.

Once, he had nullified a destruction array that Dorgo had spent years perfecting.

“Is this the time to ask such a thing?”

Damian raised his longsword and pointed it at Gerrick's neck.

Gerrick's face turned pale.

“Spare me.”

“If you were going to beg, you should have done it earlier. It's too late now.”

The tip of the sword slightly pierced the skin.

Gerrick's face turned even paler.

“I will beg. Please...”

Gerrick knelt on the ground.

With his remaining arm, he touched the ground.

His former arrogance was nowhere to be seen.

“Spare me?”

Damian pointed his longsword at Gerrick's neck.

Gerrick's eyes trembled violently.

“You terrorized my family and reduced my servant to this state, and you want to live?”

“I was wrong! I will apologize for that...”

“You are mistaken about who to apologize to.”

Saying this, Damian looked at his family.

They were watching him with a mix of shock and relief.

Damian's skill was already known, but they were surprised by his overwhelming strength against a low-class knight.

“Guh!”

Gerrick summoned his mana to stop the bleeding from his shoulder.

As a low-class knight, he used his mana to seal all the blood vessels.

He then forced his trembling body to stand and approached Baron Haksen.

“Sir Haksen! I was wrong! I apologize for all the rudeness I showed you...!”

Gerrick said, kneeling.

Baron Haksen, initially bewildered, soon shouted in anger.

“You wanted to oppress my son, and you think you can get away with just a few words?”

Baron Haksen's anger did not subside easily.

“If my son didn't have this much strength, our manor would have been destroyed, and my son would have been taken to the Duke's family and suffered greatly!”

Gerrick's apology was not sincere.

It was merely a desperate attempt to survive.

Thus, Baron Haksen's anger could not be appeased.

“I will beg!”

Gerrick bowed his head to the ground.

Thinking once was not enough, he bowed several times.

“Please show mercy!”

The father stared at Gerrick for a long time.

He then looked at Damian and shook his head.

It meant not to kill him.

Damian obediently sheathed his longsword.

‘I didn't plan to kill him anyway.’

Thinking of the family, he could have cut him into dozens of pieces and still not felt satisfied.

But if Gerrick were to die here, the relationship with the Ryanbloom Duke's family would deteriorate to the worst possible extent.

‘I can fight the Duke's family alone.’

He could hide and pick away at their weaknesses.

If things went wrong, he could join the Duke's family's enemies.

But he couldn't do that with his family in mind.

Even Damian, at his current level, couldn't protect his family while fighting the Ryanbloom family.

‘Most importantly, it's too difficult a path.’

When he returned, he vowed.

To never let his family suffer again.

‘But I can't just let him go like this.’

Not only the engineer but even a formal knight had been defeated.

The Ryanbloom Duke's family would not let this humiliation pass.

‘Fortunately.’

In fact, Damian had already prepared a countermeasure.

Ever since he heard that a knight from the Ryanbloom Duke's family had come.

‘It was a good idea to establish connections with the Order.’

Just as Damian thought this, a familiar voice was heard.

“What is going on here!”

Agnes and the investigation team were approaching.

* * *

When Agnes arrived in front of Damian, she looked around in shock.

The broken objects, the devastated ground, and the bloodstains scattered everywhere.

“This is...”

Agnes's gaze stopped on Gerrick.

“The emblem on that armor... is it from the Ryanbloom Duke's family?”

“Yes, this guy and the two lying over there. They are all knights from the Ryanbloom Duke's family.”

Agnes's eyes widened slightly at this answer.

“The Duke's family's knights... attacked the manor?”

“Yes, that's what happened.”

Agnes looked at Gerrick again, specifically at his shoulder.

Compared to the standing Damian, Gerrick was kneeling with a severed arm.

The winner and the loser were clearly visible.

“...The Duke's family's knights are known for their excellence. Did you face three of them at once?”

“Three, but two were engineers, so they were nothing special. This one was the only formal knight.”

Agnes's eyes widened even more.

She had expected Damian to have the skills of a formal knight or higher, given that he had killed Aigis alone.

But she didn't expect such a decisive victory.

“I'm glad you weren't harmed.”

“Glad... I wasn't harmed this time, but I don't know what will happen in the future.”

Agnes looked puzzled at Damian's words.

“I'm worried about how the Ryanbloom Duke will react when he hears that I defeated his knights.”

Saying this, Damian glanced at Agnes.

Agnes thought for a moment before speaking.

“I can help with that worry.”

“Do you have a plan?”

Damian asked, and Agnes nodded.

“Thanks to Baron Haksen, the Order has successfully killed a Ulan officer for the first time. With this achievement, we can designate Baron Haksen's family as a cooperative family.”

A cooperative family meant a family with a close relationship with the Order.

Even a great noble family couldn't easily touch such a family, as the Order would intervene.

“What do you think?”

“I will humbly request it.”

This was exactly what Damian had been aiming for.

To use the Order's influence to restrain the actions of the Ryanbloom Duke's family.

“What is your name?”

Agnes asked Gerrick, who spoke hesitantly.

“...Gerrick Howard.”

“Gerrick Howard. Go and tell the Ryanbloom Duke that Baron Haksen is under the protection of the Order. If they use force again, they will face the Order's wrath.”

Gerrick nodded heavily at Agnes's warning.

“Take the trash lying there and get out quickly.”

At Damian's threat, Gerrick quickly moved.

He placed the two people on the horses and left the manor.

“Thank you for your help.”

Damian said to Agnes, who replied that it was nothing.

“Damian.”

As soon as Gerrick left, Baron Haksen came over and said.

“...We need to discuss what to do next. We should hold a meeting.”

At his father's command, Damian nodded without a word.

* * *

Thus, a family meeting was held on the spot.

The attendees were Damian, Baron Haksen, his mother, his sister, his brother, the butler, and Agnes.

“I will start the meeting. The topic... as you all know, is to find a way to resolve the conflict with the Ryanbloom Duke's family.”

At Baron Haksen's words, the youngest brother, Abel, raised his hand and spoke.

“Aren't we under the Order's protection? Why do we need to resolve the conflict?”

“Abel, that's because we can't expect the Order to mediate.”

“Huh?”

Abel looked puzzled. Baron Haksen nodded and explained.

“Louise is right. The Order doesn't deeply involve itself in the affairs of nobles.”

The Order already meddles in various places under the pretext of heresy trials.

Intervening in conflicts between nobles would be overstepping the line.

“But... since the Duke's family can't touch us, isn't it fine?”

“The Duke's power isn't just in military might. If they want, they have many ways to crush a small noble family like ours.”

They could interfere with the export of wheat, the main source of income for the Haksen family, or block the purchase of food.

Or they could apply pressure through the royal palace.

“That's why we need to resolve the conflict. Only then can the Haksen family be safe.”

After hearing his father's explanation, Abel understood the situation of the Haksen family.

“The only immediate solution is to compensate the Duke's family or join another great noble family.”

But compensation was unrealistic.

The Duke's family would demand an enormous amount.

“The only option left is to join a great noble family...”

“There is one more way.”

Agnes, who had been quiet, spoke up.

Baron Haksen asked with interest.

“What is it?”

“Damian Haksen becomes a Holy Knight.”

Agnes said.

“Then this matter becomes the Order's business, and they have a reason to mediate.”

The family all looked at Damian.

But Damian shook his head.

“No.”

Baron Haksen looked back at Agnes.

“Since Damian refuses, that option won't work.”

“...I understand.”

Agnes nodded, looking disappointed.

“Then let's think of another way...”

“Father! Why are you so easily accepting this?”

At that moment, Abel stood up and shouted.

“If Brother becomes a Holy Knight, this will be over! Tell him! Tell him to become a Holy Knight quietly!”

Abel pointed at Damian and said. Baron Haksen quietly reprimanded him.

“Sit down.”

“Father! This is all because of him! It's all Brother's fault! He should take responsibility!”

“Abel.”

Baron Haksen's voice grew stern.

Under the pressure, Abel had no choice but to stop speaking.

“I told you to sit down.”

Abel bit his lip and sat back down.

Baron Haksen continued in a low voice.

“You're right, the conflict with the Duke's family was caused by Damian. But it's not entirely his fault.”

Abel looked up, puzzled.

But he bowed his head again under Baron Haksen's stern gaze.

“The Duke's engineer had ill intentions towards Louise. You know he is known for his lechery. It's unlikely he would have given up on Louise just because Damian didn't fall for his tricks.”

Damian nodded, agreeing with his father.

Given the engineer's character, he would have caused trouble in some way.

“In a way, Damian protected Louise from the engineer's schemes. In place of this powerless father.”

Baron Haksen looked at Louise with an apologetic expression. Louise smiled silently.

“The knights today were the same. Even if Damian provoked them, the engineer was the one who challenged the duel and drew his sword first. The Duke's family blamed our family without considering this.”

Baron Haksen clenched his fist in frustration.

“Damian.”

“Yes, Father.”

“You did well today.”

At his father's praise, Damian's eyes widened slightly.

“You avenged the insults to our family well.”

For some reason, a strong emotion welled up inside Damian.

It was so intense that he had to hold back tears.

“It was... my duty.”

Suddenly, memories of his past life came to mind.

He had caused nothing but trouble and brought great harm to his family. He had ruined his sister's life.

In the end, he had killed all his family with his own hands.

In those terrible days, the only thing Damian had wished for was atonement.

Hearing his father's praise, Damian felt a slight sense of atonement.

“Still, this is because of me.”

Damian held back his tears. It was too early to cry.

He had not yet fully atoned to his family.

“Please wait a little longer. I will resolve this matter.”

“No.”

Baron Haksen said firmly.

“I will handle this matter.”

“Huh? But...”

“You're underestimating your father. I plan to reach out to a great noble family through a known noble. We can use their influence to mediate with the Duke's family.”

Baron Haksen pounded his chest with his fist.

“Let me show you what a father can do.”

“Father...!”

Tears welled up in Damian's eyes. Baron Haksen smiled warmly.

“Father!”

Damian ran to his father and hugged him. His father hugged him tightly.

As the father and son shared a touching moment, the butler knocked on the meeting room door.

“My lord, may I enter?”

“Come in.”

Baron Haksen said, releasing Damian.

The butler entered and reported to the baron.

“A guest has arrived.”

“Guest? Could it be from the Duke's family?”

“No, it's from the Goldfairy Duke's family.”

At the mention of Goldfairy, the family, including Baron Haksen, looked puzzled.

“What brings someone from the Goldfairy Duke's family here?”

“Well, it's...”

The butler hesitated.

“Prince Damian borrowed money using the manor's wheat fields as collateral... and the deadline has passed.”

Damian looked at his father.

The father, who had been calm until a moment ago, slowly filled with anger.

“Damian! You damn brat!”

Hearing his father's roar, Damian sighed.

‘...Oh, did I already sell it off?’