32. Should We Eat the Duke’s Family?
＜Edmer Dukedom＞
The castle where the mazoku had fallen was in chaos.
The people of the Duke’s family were busy cleaning up the ruined castle.
But all eyes were on one person.
“Is that him……is that the one?”
“He looks younger than I thought?”
“He’s so young, yet he defeated such a monster.”
The people couldn’t stop talking.
The achievements of the main character were that great.
He had single-handedly defeated a monster that even the knights of the Duke’s family and 100 other knights had difficulty fighting.
It was even more surprising that he hadn’t received a single wound.
No wonder the key figures of the Edmer Dukedom had called the main character to the conference room.
‘Is that man the hero of the rumors?’
‘……But why has he been smiling so sinisterly since earlier?’
Everyone was staring at the main character, who was chuckling.
There was no other reason.
‘I finally got rid of all that stress.’
It was stress that had been building up for 18 years.
The desire to fight was not satisfied by Warden Hanson and the soldiers of the labor camp, or even the bandits of Earl Sanderson.
‘I was worried that he’d be too weak, since he’s an early-game character, and that it would end too quickly.’
Fortunately, the sandbag was extremely durable.
The demon Siond of the ＜North Wind＞ wouldn’t stop, no matter how much he begged.
[You maniac! Stop… STOOOP!]
Many had fallen to his storms.
I took revenge for them, without fail.
But even the most durable sandbag has its limits.
[Kuugh… I may have been defeated like this, but we will never lose to the likes of humans…]
[Yeah. I’ll pretend that I won, not that the humans did.]
[Inooogh! You mock me… even to the end… Ughhh!]
The protagonist’s relentless attacks far exceeded the demon’s ability to recover.
Siond eventually disappeared into dust, his expression full of resentment.
The buffs I had temporarily received when I ＜Inherited＞ returned to normal.
Now I could start properly developing the abilities I had inherited.
Of course, there were a few skills that I hadn’t inherited, but that didn’t matter.
‘I’m not going to become a knight anyway.’
For now, I had obtained the potential to develop my body, which was the most important thing for defense. I could slowly acquire the minor details later.
This, on the other hand, was important.
＜You have perfectly inherited part of the potential of the King of Knights.＞
＜Your current potential will increase to the limit of the inherited potential.＞
＜Your potential is returning to its original state and rapidly increasing to the limit.＞
＜[Inheritance] Great Success!＞
＜You have achieved a new achievement.＞
＜Perfect Inheritor＞
＜The remaining inheritance cooldown is reduced by half.＞
‘The inheritance cooldown is reduced by half? That’s amazing.’
Thanks to that, I had cut the time down by half.
Plus, my growth would be much faster thanks to the potential.
But there was something even more important than that right now.
‘Humans leave behind names, and monsters leave behind items.’
Jooin checked the glowing objects on the table.
They were the spoils of war he had obtained from killing the demon.
From Noble mtl dot com
＜Demon’s Horn＞
＜Wings of the North Wind＞
The demon’s horn was a symbol of the demon, but the wings were even rarer.
‘If I make an item with these wings, I can use the power of the ＜North Wind＞ directly.’
The wings themselves were imbued with power. And in this world, titles and aliases held great power.
＜North Wind＞ may not have a high rank among the mazoku, but it was an extremely rare ability.
Furthermore, his infamy had spread throughout the world, becoming his title.
Indeed, the people began to stir.
“Aren’t mazoku items impossible to obtain after the Demon Lord died and the mazoku disappeared?”
“That’s right. If the mages found out, there would be chaos.”
It was a legendary material only heard of in tales.
Not to mention, it was in good condition.
Normally, one would expect it to be difficult to even recognize its shape due to fierce battles, but it was completely intact.
The protagonist smiled at their gazes.
‘Actually, I cut this off first because I wanted it.’
However, he couldn’t use it like this.
＜Materials imbued with power must be specially processed before they can be used.＞
In other words, he had to create an item. To do that, he needed a skilled craftsman.
Special materials and a manufacturing method were also essential.
But who was the protagonist?
‘Don’t underestimate a nuclear-powered relic.’
He was the one who had thoroughly checked the manufacturing method in order to obtain the materials. Of course, this material was the body of a mazoku of the Named-grade.
‘There’s no one who can handle this.’
Among humans, that is.
‘Dwarves should be able to handle it well.’
Even among them, not just anyone could handle it, but that didn’t matter.
‘There’s already a skilled one here.’
＜Iron Breath＞
It was the master of the forge whom the protagonist had managed to recruit here back when he was a player.
That guy would definitely react to this material.
The problem was that others would react as well.
“Oh…… This is the rumored…….”
“It’s a treasure that came from a mazoku, is it?”
“…….”
They were the nobles around the protagonist. They were the retainers who had come after hearing the news of his dukedom.
Every one of them had faces that were swallowing their saliva, but the protagonist understood.
‘Yeah. I get it.’
No matter how much of a duke’s family they were, their eyes would naturally be drawn to a treasure from the past that was now difficult to obtain.
No. With something of this level, they could buy not just a territory, but an entire kingdom.
The problem was that the protagonist was the owner of that item.
Bang!
The protagonist’s sword was stabbed into the table and vibrated.
“How dare you even think of coveting it.”
“We were just going to look at it for a moment…….”
“If you want to watch, you have to pay. Why are you looking at me like you’re going to steal it?”
“No…”
“You’re not thinking of donating this, are you? You’re not thinking of displaying it in the duchy, are you? You bastards?”
Joo-yeon openly showed her displeasure, but the nobles were surprisingly docile.
Joo-yeon tilted her head at their behavior.
‘What the heck? These guys?’
She had intentionally provoked them, intending to make an example of a few, but why were they so docile?
‘Why are they just staring at me?’
Joo-yeon had often interacted with nobles.
Normally, if an ordinary noble’s pride was hurt, they would immediately attack.
And with the Knight King here, they had nothing to fear.
But what was with this reaction?
‘Did I fight too ruthlessly?’
Even she thought the sight of her using the demon as a punching bag at the end was a bit… much.
They probably wanted to avoid the crazy person.
However, that was not the reason why the nobles were not attacking.
Thud, thud.
“Don’t make yourself look bad for no reason. Who knows, one of us might become that person’s comrade.”
“That’s right. It’s not like we can’t become the comrade of a hero like the Knight King, right?”
“If we can build wealth and fame as the hero’s comrade, becoming the second House of Duke Edmer is not a dream.”
It was because of the precedent set by the Knight King, the former Duke Edmer.
Everyone knew that the former Duke Edmer, who had been an ordinary knight, had become the Knight King by accompanying the hero.
They might be able to travel with the hero like the Knight King, so there was no need to provoke him.
‘I need to look good.’
Even Aiden had a look of anticipation in his eyes.
Of course, unlike the other nobles, his gaze was pure.
‘Could [that person] really be the hero? If I am recognized as that person’s comrade… I too could become a hero like my grandfather.’
If Joo-yeon had heard that, she would have burst out laughing, asking who the hero was.
However, this situation did not last long.
The Knight King, who had been quietly watching until now, moved.
He approached the kneeling prisoner.
“Do you know what crime you have committed?”
“Ah… Father…”
“The moment you betrayed humanity and joined hands with the demons, you ceased to be my son.”
It was Duke Edmer.
Until recently, he had been the great lord of the north, but he had become a traitor to humanity because of his pact with the demons.
The duke was tied up, looking resentful.
However, the evidence was too clear.
[All the knights who escorted him to prison are dead.]
[Bishop Jamie found traces of demons in the broken pendant.]
No matter if he is the son of the King of Knights, this has definitely crossed the line.
Even the vassals following the Duke grimaced.
“Oh my god. The son of the King of Knights is joining hands with the mazoku.”
“He’s a disgrace to the nobility. I never expected it would happen to our family.”
“How on earth… someone in such a position… can make such a choice…”
Everyone looked at the Duke with disgust.
Some were ready to spit on him for tarnishing the honor of the family.
However, no one dared to make a move in front of the King of Knights.
“I will give you one last chance to die honorably. What did the mazoku want?”
“……”
The Duke kept his mouth shut despite the cold gaze directed at him.
Then, a commotion broke out around him.
“Please, tell us!”
“At the very least, maintain your pride as the former head of the ducal house!”
“Know your honor, Duke! You were once the one who led the Edmer Dukedom!”
Even so, the Duke did not open his mouth.
On the contrary, he hardened his heart even under the cold gaze of the King of Knights.
‘My father will never compromise with evil. He is enduring it only because I am his son.’
The moment he opened his mouth to answer, his neck would fly off.
However, the Duke felt wronged.
‘How did I become the Duke? How could my father cast me out for such a trivial mistake?’
That too, because of that good-for-nothing who didn’t even know his own origin.
Even so, he could live if he just kept his mouth shut.
‘If I just hide that thing, the mazoku will come to my rescue.’
So the Duke kept his mouth shut.
Anyway, the King of Knights would soon go into seclusion as always.
‘If I have the support of the nobles who follow me and the King, it will be enough for me to become the Duke again.’
Just a tiny gap, as thin as a thread, would do.
Then, he would definitely be able to rise again.
As the knights and vassals around him felt suffocated and frustrated at his appearance, Ju-yeon laughed.
He seemed to see through the Duke’s thoughts.
‘Does he think he can become the Duke again?’
In the first place, the King of Knights would never allow it.
‘Do you think I will just watch?’
Ju-yeon stepped between the Duke and the King of Knights.
“I know what they want?”
The Duke made a genuinely bewildered expression.
“Wh… what are you talking about. How would you know that!”
“Just like that. It’s the Hero’s holy sword.”
“Wha… what?”
The duke’s expression hardened at Joo-yeon’s words.
He recognized the weight of the words spoken so lightly.
“Th-that… how could you possibly…”
Joo-yeon smiled at the duke’s look of horror.
In truth, there was no need to keep an eye on him.
No matter how fast the story progressed, there were some things that never changed.
The hero’s holy sword was guarded by the paladin.
‘And the demons would try to get rid of the hero’s holy sword by any means necessary.’
Preventing that was one of the player’s storylines.
It was the same in the first round’s tutorial, and it was the same in the main story that was unlocked after that.
‘It’s definitely the main storyline of “Valentino Saga”.’
‘How dare he try to escape?’
It was a rule to get rid of any trolls that got in the way from the very beginning.
Why else would Joo-yeon have offered the next duke’s position to [him] to find out where he was?
It was to get rid of the duke who was highly likely to cooperate with the demons from the very beginning.
Originally, Duke Edmer had a high probability of getting mixed up with the demons, so he had been a pain in the neck for players.
Of course, it was unexpected that he would join hands with Sanderson.
‘So, should we go and take a bite out of the dukedom for that bastard who thinks we’re dead?’
The corners of Joo-yeon’s lips curled up slightly.