047 – Revenge(1)
Blood demons are still unknown beings whose identity has not been revealed.
It is not clear whether it is a monster, a human, or some kind of phenomenon.
It just suddenly appeared like a hurricane from 5 years ago, swept everything away, and just disappeared as if nothing had happened.
But if there was one common pattern, it was the sudden appearance of blood demons during the war.
Naturally, it also appeared in the war between the Counts of Welf and the Counts of Vinsmoke.
The war was fought because Count Vinsmoke’s younger brother was murdered by Count Welf, but since Count Vinsmoke’s younger brother was killed in a duel with Count Welf, there was no chance of war.
But a cause is literally just a cause. The Vinsmokes found the duel unjust, and declared war on it.
In fact, Count Vinsmoke had been preparing for 10 years to devour Count Welf’s territory, and the Welf family, unaware of the Vinsmoke family’s ambitions, was helpless.
In the end, the Welf family, pushed back to the Welf family’s castle, eventually requested the imperial court to intervene.
The emperor dispatched Bergang to mediate, but a bloody incident occurred at the moment.
Irene thinks sometimes.
What if the Vinsmokes had not waged war?
If Count Vinsmoke had not been greedy, would Irene be holding her brother’s greatsword?
Irene hated the Blood Ghost to death, but she hated the Vinsmokes as well.
Irene pulled the sword from its scabbard and threw it to the ground.
The flames of revenge, ignited by anger, heated up the brain.
“Pull out your sword. Roy. I request you to a duel of life and death.”
“Hey, we have to admit that welf bastards have a temper. If you have a bad head and a dirty temper, you will be destroyed. Ttt.”
“If you don’t pick me up right away, I will kill you. Roy.”
Roy looked at Irene as if it was ridiculous.
“Hey, why am I in a duel with you? You have to duel with the right opponent.”
Irene couldn’t take any more insults.
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Just as Irene’s body was about to bounce off Roy, someone stopped in front of her.It was Charlotte.
“Irene, calm down.”
“senior. Stay away.”
“hey! Irene!”
“I need to kill that bastard right now.”
Irene’s eyes had already turned.
If it wasn’t for Charlotte who was stopping Irene, I would have ignored it and rushed in.
Charlotte glanced back.
A man with dark green hair and an unlucky smile.
Charlotte recognized at once who the bastard was.
He was the third son of Count Vinsmoke.
Charlotte also knew because he was a graduate of Imperial University last year and was notorious for his poor quality.
“Irene, I understand why you are angry, but please bear with it. Roy was trying to provoke you for something.”
However, there are some things you can tolerate and some things you can’t.
How can I bear it when the enemy’s son, who caused the collapse of the Welf family and killed the Welf family soldiers and knights, is right in front of us?
Charlotte put Irene on her back and shot Roy before things got any bigger.
“Roy. what are you doing now What did you come to Irene for?”
“I just came to say hello.”
“Greetings are crap. Do you not know what your family has to do with Irene? But how about saying hello?”
“That is a thing of the past. And I didn’t expect it to be this exciting. I came here because I said that I had become a direct disciple of Instructor Tigris, so I came here thinking that the person has changed, but it seems that blood is not deceiving.”
Irene couldn’t stand the insult any longer.
Irene passed Charlotte and rushed to him.
“Irene! no!”
Hung-!
Let Irene’s Black Dragon fly to him…
A giant tortoise fell out of the sky.
Zeng-!
The tortoise’s hard shell blocked Irene’s greatsword.
Roy was also startled when a giant tortoise suddenly fell from the sky and backed away.
A thick layer of dust rose and soiled Roy’s head and clothes.
“What are you doing right now in front of Imperial University?”
Irene, Charlotte, and Roy turned to the source of the voice.
She was Princess Rain Rover.
Charlotte reflexively knelt on one knee toward the princess.
“I see the great golden clan.”
Irene also suppressed the boiling anger and showed respect.
All the people around them were on their knees.
Roy froze in embarrassment at the appearance of the princess.
“Roy. Are your knees pretty heavy?”
“ah···. sorry. majesty.”
Roy hurriedly said yes.
Roy bit his lip.
There was no princess in Roy’s plan.
The reason Roy came here was to discredit Irene and Tigris at the orders of Count Vinsmoke.
If rumors spread that Tigris’ disciple Irene wielded a sword against a defenseless knight, both of them would be embarrassed.
Rain Rover examined the giant turtle’s shell.
There was a scratch where it collided with Irene’s greatsword.
“Are you okay? Are you Titty?”
-Ha-am~
The giant turtle yawned slowly.
Rain Rover stroked the giant turtle’s head once.
“I’ll give you some medicine later. Come in for a moment.”
Rain Rover put the Giant Turtle back into the summoning bag with a recovery magic.
Rain Rover looked around for a moment.
There were too many eyes to question Roy and Irene here.
Besides, Irene is Tigris’ direct disciple.
As the reputation of Tigris could be damaged if something goes wrong, it was important to find out why this situation happened and fix it.
“Irene, Charlotte and Roy, follow me.”
* * *
A small classroom inside the Imperial University.
It was empty because no one was using it now.
Rain Rover spread the silence magic and opened his mouth.
“Let’s get right to the point. Could you please calmly tell me what happened?”
Roy said hurriedly.
“I just told Irene that I was Roy de Bean Smoke. Then suddenly Irene attacked me.”
“Is that right? Irene?”
Irene clenched her fists.
“yes. you’re right. But Roy insulted my family first.”
“But that’s why he wielded a sword in such a hurry…!”
“Be quiet, both of you.”
The two shut their mouths at Rain Rover’s words.
“Charlotte, I think you were the first to discover. What was the conversation between you two?”
“I didn’t hear it from the beginning, but Irene asked Roy to a duel, and Roy said that he couldn’t accept it because he was inferior.”
Rain Rover looked at Roy and said.
“Did you really say that? Roy?”
“That… that’s right…”
“So you, the third son of Count Vinsmoke, brought up the Welf family’s extinction in Irene’s face, and even though you applied for a duel, you were not accepted because you were inferior?”
“It wasn’t just me, but Irene was also wrong, wasn’t it? Irene swung her great sword at me. It was a fatal wound that could have killed me if I hadn’t avoided it. In terms of the severity of the sin, Irene is bigger.”
“It is true that Irene was at fault, but no matter how much you think about it, it seems that you only provoked Irene on purpose. Am I wrong?”
Roy was in a cold sweat.
Roy wasn’t originally planning on doing this.
Roy was going to be hurt by a slight hit with Irene’s greatsword.
Because swinging a sword at a defenseless person was an unacceptable felony, no matter how insulting the other person was.
Then, as Count Vinsmoke wanted, the honor of Tigris and Irene could be lowered to the bottom.
‘If I had known this, I would have just hit the first attack.’
Irene’s surprise attack was so fierce that she avoided it without realizing it.
So I tried to block the subsequent attack, but I never thought that a giant turtle would fall from the sky and block the sword.
“Then do this. I’ll be joining the party, so the two of you should fight for each other’s honor.”
“yes?! Are you talking about a duel?”
“It was wrong for Irene to wield a sword at Roy, and it was wrong for you to insult Irene, Roy. If that’s the case, then you have to deal with it like a nobleman and a knight.”
There’s no point in fighting.
It was important for Roy not to win or lose Irene through the duel, but to make Irene do the wrong thing to him.
If the case is resolved by a duel, it will be impossible to carry out Count Vinsmoke’s orders properly.
Irene took a white glove from her arms and threw it at Roy.
The white gloves hit Roy’s chest and slammed to the floor! fell.
“I, Irene de Welf, challenge Roy de Vinsmoke to a duel to restore honor.”
Roy looked at Irene.
If you don’t get this, you have bigger problems.
If he did not receive a duel to restore his honor, Roy would become a lifelong avoidance coward, or could be expelled from the Counts of Vinsmoke if done wrong.
You should get it, but then your plan will go awry.
Roy gritted his teeth and picked up the glove.
“I accept the duel.”
Roy said while looking at Princess Rain Rover.
“I think it would be unreasonable to fight right now instead. This sword I have brought is not suitable for dueling, so I want to duel with Irene with a different sword.”
In fact, it was an excuse, and he had to report to Count Vinsmoke that things had gone wrong and get instructions.
This was because Roy was simply instructed to induce Irene to do something wrong, but was not instructed on how to proceed if things went wrong.
“This is a fair request, so I will accept it. When are you going to duel?”
“Next Wednesday. Then we will proceed.”
Rain Rover furrowed his eyebrows.
“Do you know what day next Wednesday is? Roy?”
“···yes?”
“Next Wednesday is the day when His Majesty the Emperor will receive a report on the results of the internal inspection from all the lords. It is also the day when it is decided whether or not to lift the martial law that has fallen on Victoria. Do you really need to duel on that important day?”
On that day, Rain Rover was unable to attend that day due to state affairs.
Apart from that, it was something to be ashamed of that the nobleman of the Empire did not know the importance of the Empire.
Roy bowed his head.
“···sorry. I thought it was short. Then we will do it next Monday.”
“Then I understand that the duel will be held at 4 PM on Monday. As an initiator, I will arrange a place for you, so be prepared until then.”
“···All right.”
“Then go away, Roy.”
Roy chewed his lips at the obvious congratulatory message and bowed his head.
“I’ll just go.”
Roy closed the door and left.
Rain Rover looked at Irene with her arms crossed.
“Irene.”
“···Yes. Her Majesty the Princess.”
“You know I made a huge mistake right now, right?”
Irene shook her head.
“Yes. I know.”
“It is natural for a teacher to cover up a student’s mistakes, but the student must also be careful not to damage the teacher’s honor. Sir Tigris is no longer just an instructor at the Imperial University. The hero who saved the emperor. You know that.”
“···sorry.”
Irene burst into tears.
Irene could stand everything else.
Heard that Irene’s greatsword didn’t suit him, or that he was attached to Tigris like a leech.
But insulting the Welf family was intolerable.
It was even more unbearable to be insulted by the people of the Vinsmokes, who had triggered the Welf family’s downfall.
Charlotte held Irene’s hand with a sad expression on her face.
“Irene···.”
Rain Rover’s heart ached at Irene’s tears.
Had the Empire mediated the war between House Welf and House Vinsmoke sooner, House Welf might not have collapsed.
Therefore, Rain Rover felt responsible for Irene’s tears.
Rain Rover took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped Irene’s tears.
“Irene, I dare not say that I understand the anger you are feeling. But I’ve given you a chance to wash away the insults you’ve suffered, so do your best. All I can say is this.”
“···thank you.”
Irene clenched her fists.
He will surely win the duel with Roy.
* * *
Inside the train running on the railroad.
Count Lucas de Vinsmoke crumpled up the message sent by his youngest son.
“Useless bastard. You can’t do one easy task properly.”
Lucas entrusted his son with one really easy task.
Provoking Irene to induce a mistake.
The reason was simple.
It was to ride Irene and beat Tigris into it.
‘Hopefully it was the easiest chance to kill Tigris or turn him into a half-beast…’
Count Vinsmoke wanted to tear Tigris to death.
I broke out in a cold sweat when I found the Chimera Lab of the Zodiac.
Part of the funds to build the Chimera Lab came from Count Vinsmoke’s pocket.
Moreover, with Viscount Kayle captured by Tigris, the Empire had clear evidence that the Vinsmokes had financed the Chimera Lab.
Still, there was one reason why the Empire was quiet.
‘I’m thinking of grabbing my weakness and shaking it.’
At present, there is no other family other than the Vinsmoke family that can stabilize the Black Earth region to the west of the Empire.
The Black Soil region was the largest granary of the Empire and consisted of flat land without hills, so wars between neighboring territories were very frequent geographically and historically.
Although the various empires that ruled the continent made great efforts to stabilize this black soil region, the families of the black soil region, who were extremely reluctant to interfere with the foreign powers, rose up as a group and threatened the kingdom with food as weapons.
Even the current Lucet Empire could not touch as much as the Black Land, and although it was the land of the Empire, it was reluctant to interfere with foreign powers to the extent that it could be regarded as a completely different kingdom like the Kingdom of Gillion.
Historically, there were only two families, the Welfs and the Vinsmokes, that had both the legitimacy and power to mediate the war between these small lords.
The Welf family came to power at once as the savior who saved the Black Land area from dragons, and the Vinsmoke family was a historical noble who survived the Black Earth area for about a thousand years.
However, since the Welf family was destroyed by the Vinsmoke family, the only family that could mediate the fights between the lords that frequently occurred in the Black Land area was the Vinsmoke family.
If House Vinsmoke were to be destroyed, a war would be waged to devour the territories they controlled.
Then the next year the Empire will face a great famine until a new hegemon emerges from the Blacklands.
Therefore, it was the worst case scenario for Count Vinsmoke to be swayed by the Empire.
Count Vinsmoke didn’t want to end up as Count.
I wanted to be a king.
He wanted to be reborn as a king like the kings of Gillion Kingdom or Godiva Kingdom, free from the irrational relationship of bringing and paying taxes to the Empire every year.
‘To do that, you must kill Tigris.’
In fact, it is pointless to touch Tigris, but recently received a call from Arphem and Levis, who helped to destroy the Welf family.
If you kill Tigris, I will do everything I can to help you become the king right away.
So he was aiming for Irene.
Tigris was supposed to accuse Irene of her crimes and to kill Oslo, the best knight and adopted son of the Vinsmoke family.
But things went wrong from the beginning, so there was no answer.
Lucas said to the butler behind him.
“Tell Roy to live and die.”
“Are you talking about life and death?”
“It doesn’t matter if either of them dies.”
Even if Roy died, I could bet on Tigris to restore the honor of the dead Roy to Tigris, and even if Irene died, I could cut off the Welf family’s buds.
It didn’t matter what happened between the two, but I thought it would be better for Irene to die.
Still, it’s not very good to see that the son of the Count Vinsmoke’s was killed by the Welf’s wife.
For Lucas, the sons were just pieces of the chessboard.