The Mad Dog of the Dukes House - Chapter 175



Only Krnovel

Episode 175 55. Plains of Rest (3)

5.

The situation ended in an instant.

“I’ve taken care of everything. I killed those who ran away, and I cut the tendons of those who surrendered. Is this enough?”

Leo walked over with a limp, roughly brushing the blood off his armor.

In contrast to the blood-soaked armor, the sword Leo was holding, Sylphid, did not have a single drop of blood on it.

That alone made it clear how quickly Leo had grown.

“You’re doing well now. You’ve worked hard.”

“Did you find any useful information?”

“Oh. Unlike knights, mercenaries open their mouths easily.”

Leo stuck out his tongue as he looked at the ‘inhuman thing’ lying in front of Charon.

“Are you still alive?”

“I saved his life.”

“Wow, seriously, how do you do this?”

An injury that would not be surprising if one’s breathing stopped at any moment.

It was brave to be alive.

At Leo’s question, Charon snickered and put the guillotine back into its scabbard.

“Brother Leo, would you like me to teach you too? If you ask the Saint for help, your skills will improve in no time.”

“… …Why do I need the saint’s help?”

“Let me explain in detail… … .”

“stop.”

If I listened any further, I knew I would have terrible nightmares that night.

Leo took a deep breath and asked in a low voice.

“It seems a bit emotional.”

“Does it look like that?”

“Oh. You look angry.”

At those words, Caron smiled bitterly.

Leo and I have been together for a long time. That means he knows Caron and himself better than anyone else.

As Leo said, there was an emotional part to it.

But that doesn’t mean I feel sorry.

Such feelings are only felt by those who have lived uprightly. It was too much for someone like this trash who lives off of other people’s misfortune.

Caron kicked the body of the mercenary captain who was lying on the floor.

“He’s a 6-star knight just like my brother, so why did he get defeated like such a piece of trash?”

Leo hesitated for a moment at Charon’s question, then shrugged.

“Lack of practice?”

“Aha, unlike others, you practiced diligently?”

“… … That’s true.”

Leo certainly works hard.

Sometimes I thought it was admirable that even the most evil of training instructors silently followed along.

Caron smiled faintly, then patted Leo on the shoulder and said,

“That’s true, but… … Brother, remember one thing. The fate of a swordsman is to always chase down an opponent stronger than himself. Only then can he move forward without staying in place.”

“Then that kid… … .”

“This is what happens when you bully the weak. Do you understand?”

Leo pointed with his finger to the mercenary captain’s body lying on the field.

“Are you going to leave me alone?”

At those words, Caron nodded as if it was obvious.

“I wanted to give you the experience of being eaten alive by a beast.”

“… … Wow. You really shouldn’t badmouth demon lords.”

“why?”

“You really don’t know?”

Anyway, he’s a really stupid guy.

Leo shook his head and stuck out his tongue.

The two of them, who had simply cleared out the mercenary group, slowly walked towards the man and woman who were taking a rest.

Did you sustain quite a few injuries while escaping?

The condition of the two men and women did not look so good. The Suin woman had a blood-soaked bandage on her right thigh, but the dwarf was in even worse condition.

Arrows embedded all over the body.

And the wound on his left shoulder, which had been torn by the sword, was so deep that the white bones were exposed.

Moreover, he was so addicted to the paralyzing toxin that he couldn’t even speak properly.

“Are you both okay?”

Charon asked them slyly.

Then the Suin woman blocked the dwarf’s path with her body and said.

“Thank you for your help, but… … we have nothing to give you two.”

I sensed an unmistakable wariness in her.

It was a completely understandable reaction.

Caron nodded with a bitter smile. Anyone would have reacted that way.

So Charon took the elixir he had prepared in advance from his subspace pouch and handed it to them.

And he said with a blank face.

“It’s an elixir.”

But she hesitated to accept the elixir.

At that sight, Caron let out a deep sigh, took a sip of the elixir, and held out the bottle again.

“It’s not poison or anything.”

“……thank you.”

Only then did the water woman, perhaps her guard having eased a bit, accept the elixir. Then she quickly poured it into the dwarf’s mouth.

After a while.

“Ugh.”

The dwarf came to his senses and opened his eyes, looking around.

“Sooya. Are you okay? Are you okay?”

A rather thin voice compared to his fierce-looking face.

At the dwarf’s one word, the water people called Suya nodded with tears in their eyes.

“Yeah, yeah. It’s okay.”

“What the heck is going on… … .”

The dwarf soon exchanged glances with Charon.

The two looked at each other for a long time.

As the heavy silence continued, the dwarves broke the uncomfortable silence.

“That sword… … .”

The dwarf’s gaze was fixed on Charon’s scabbard.

Could it be that I recognized them at first glance, as they are called the dwarves, a race of blacksmiths?

“… … Demon Sword?”

-Are you a crazy dwarf? How am I the Demon Sword? Master. This guy’s eyes are not what they seem…

At those words, Caron let out a small exclamation of admiration.

“You are a very skilled dwarf. Your eyesight is extraordinary.”

“It’s not exactly a demon sword… … but it is a vicious sword that has absorbed a lot of blood. I’ve never seen such a sword before. Usually, the owners of such swords… … .”

The dwarf quietly studied Charon’s face.

“That’s how you get eaten by a sword.”

“What do you think? Do you think I would do the same?”

When Charon asked the question, the dwarf smiled bitterly and shook his head.

“I am just a dwarf who handles iron, I cannot guess someone’s fate.”

“It’s fate that we met like this, so should we introduce ourselves?”

“My name is Akan Silverbeard. This is… … my lover, Suya Rzanne.”

A romance between a dwarf and a waterman.

I thought it was quite romantic.

Caron smiled faintly, then extended his hand toward Akan.

“My name is Caron Reston.”

Akan and Suya couldn’t help but be bewildered by Charon’s true identity.

The Duke of Reston.

Wasn’t it the place known as the most prestigious family on the continent, led by Grand Duke Halo, the strongest man of his time?

“Why are you here… … .”

Karon answered in a low voice to Akan’s voice, which seemed to have lost its mind.

“Let’s figure that out little by little. We’ll have plenty of time to talk anyway.”

Caron had a lot to ask them.

In particular, the story I heard from that mercenary guy named Ksian earlier.

『The Duke of Harlis was making siege weapons using the dwarves. I haven’t seen them in detail, but… … . They could dominate the Free Cities Alliance… … .』

A siege weapon that the Duke put his heart and soul into creating.

I couldn’t just pass up such an interesting story.

6.

The full story of the incident as told to me by Akan was as follows.

“You obtained the blueprints of an ancient siege weapon from the ruins near the city, and are building it according to the Duke’s orders?”

“Yes that’s right.”

“Oh, drink comfortably. Drink comfortably. It was a good thing I kept the beer in my subspace pocket. It’s beer made by the most famous brewery in the empire. It tastes good, right?”

“I can’t tell you how long it’s been since I’ve had a beer. Thank you so much.”

The dwarf and waterman couple seemed quite hungry.

Charon willingly opened his pockets for them.

He even gave the dwarf his prized beer in order to win his favor, and it certainly seemed to have played a significant role in reducing Akan’s wariness.

Unlike earlier, when he had been clearly tense, Akan had regained some of his composure.

“Such a weapon should not fall into the hands of such a greedy man.”

“Is it that powerful?”

“… … Of course. It is a weapon that is the essence of ancient magic engineering.”

An ancient weapon named Titan.

According to Akan, it is a weapon that can change the course of war.

-I’ve never even heard of it.

It must have been a weapon used long before the guillotine was in use.

‘I guess I’ll have to ask the tower about this.’

What is certain is that it is a weapon that is not recorded in history books.

This means that it was most likely a weapon used during the ‘golden age’ of antiquity, as many historians claim.

If you secretly give the Matapju a chance, he will come running at you with drooling.

That’s what wizards are like.

“There are quite a few of our own people being held captive by the Duke.”

Akan said he decided to escape to seek support from his fellow tribesmen.

Dwarves are a very insular race.

They built a city beneath the Kahalan Mountains that run across the center of the continent, and they rarely leave the city.

That was also the reason why dwarves were hard to find on the continent.

“I’m also curious as to how he ended up being captured as a slave.”

There are a total of fifteen such dwarves being held captive by the Duke.

Akan answered Charon’s question with a bitter expression.

“For dwarves, exploring ruins is a matter of destiny.”

“Ah, then the site where the blueprints for the Titan were discovered is… … .”

“Yes, that was the place we were exploring first.”

In short, the Duke of Hollis was blatantly planning to eat me alive.

Due to the nature of the dwarf race, the possibility of sending troops even if their own kind were detained was significantly low.

You have to go through the realms from the Empire to the Holy Kingdom and the Sultanate of Pajar.

That is, the dwarves are isolated there.

“How do dwarves usually deal with these situations?”

“I entrust the task to humans.”

“That’s smart.”

“The weapons we create are considered treasures by humans. If we promise them weapons as a reward, most of them will rush to us with their eyes wide open.”

For knights, dwarven equipment is worth risking their lives for.

Because knights were a race that lived by their equipment and died by their equipment.

Charon stroked his chin with his hand. Leo asked quietly at the sight.

“What are you going to do?”

“What do you think, brother?”

“Noah is the most powerful city within the Free Cities Alliance. There’s not much we can do about it.”

“That’s not wrong.”

Above all, now was the time to focus on the regent’s request.

But it was too much of a waste to just sit still and let this opportunity pass us by.

Wouldn’t this be a chance to become friends with the dwarves, following the elves?

“If I can’t do it myself, I can just ask for help from other people.”

I couldn’t give up such a delicious-looking prey.

You can tell at a glance that it’s a big board.

If you win this round, you will gain information about the siege weapon called the Titan and establish a relationship with the dwarves.

Isn’t that an attractive enough reward?

If it’s too much to eat alone,

“You can share it.”

Other people can join in and eat it too.

Leo let out a small sigh as he looked into Charon’s eyes that were sparkling with desire.

When Charon’s eyes shine like that, it’s usually because he’s thinking dark thoughts.

“… … What are you thinking?”

“Brother, I have a question for you. We have an opponent that is difficult for the two of us to defeat. What should we do then?”

Leo frowned slightly at the sudden question and answered.

“Wait and build up your strength and then fan?”

“You’re wrong.”

“Then what is the answer?”

When Leo asked, Charon nodded with satisfaction.

“It’s obvious. You just invite more friends and fight together. Numbers are no match for anything.”

“……and.”

“If you contact the Lord of the Towers, he’ll come running foaming at the mouth, and the Sultanate of Pajar… … The situation is so chaotic, wouldn’t it be a good idea to create an external enemy? It’ll give you a good cause, too. Liberation of the Dwarves. What if our family contributes a little bit to that? Isn’t that the case where the bear does the trick and James takes the money?”

“Is that James one of us?”

“That’s right.”

It was a great opportunity to get paid without doing anything.

Caron was not one to miss this opportunity.

After finishing the calculations so quickly, Charon looked at Akan and rubbed his hands together. Then he smiled brightly and said.

“Customer. Have you been waiting for a long time?”

“Yes, yes?”

“We’ll take care of that problem for you. Haha! I never thought I’d meet you, my precious customer, in a place like this. Come on, come on, stop this and have another beer. Let’s have a drink and talk about work.”

Caron starts boiling Akan.

Leo couldn’t help but close his eyes tightly at the pitiful sight.

Is there a proverb that says if you save a drowning person, they will ask you to hand over your bundle?

That proverb is wrong.

Caron, that guy.

‘……I’m sorry.’

Charon is a guy who would empty the pockets of a drowning man.

The number of victims of Caron was increasing day by day.

There’s a mad dog living in the duke’s house