529 – Beyond The Wolf, A Human
Private property cannot be arbitrarily seized or requisitioned. A vassal state is a feudal state that began as a vassal of the empire. Even though they are vassals, they do not have the right to arbitrarily handle the property of the feudal lords, and if they attempt to do so, they will be subject to sanctions from the empire.
“Are you saying that we should leave the beast ears who caused the rebellion and destroyed order alone?”
Although rebellion is a characteristic that can be used as an excuse to interfere with other fiefdoms, Duke Erectorus denied even that.
“Rebellion? It’s just that the beast I was raising broke the fence and ran away. So I left for a while and came back. I don’t know if Marquis Rafaeno has ever raised a beast, but beasts are inherently fickle and difficult to manage. Shouldn’t we be able to tolerate this much?”
If one denies the rights of the beastmen, one also denies their crimes. Those who have no rights cannot even commit crimes. It is a defense that is possible because Duke Erectorus ignores the beastmen, but… it is still a defense.
‘Wait a minute. Is that cheap duke protecting the beastmen now? No way! He’s just being sincere!’
‘Erectorus’ words seem to simply ignore the beastmen, but if you listen carefully, they are extremely political! Are you calculating and speaking, Erectorus?’
Whether he simply dislikes the vassal state having its own property or whether he really wants to help the beastmen, neither Grull nor Sapien could tell.
Even Marquis Rafaeno was the same.
“No, do you really intend to live with the beast ears? The beast ears chased you out and even tried to kill you?”
Rebellion is like a scar, once you experience it, it is easy to get another one. If the nobles feel threatened, they will rely on the vassal state in order to maintain their power.
Such a calculation was in place, but on the contrary, the nobles opposed it, so the excuse for intervention disappeared.
“I don’t understand. You’re saying that my master’s beast is property? Have you developed feelings for the beast ears during this time?”
“How could that be? If you say that being stingy with property is love, then I don’t know.”
“Hmm.”
Although he did not intend it at all, thanks to Duke Erectorus, Grull made up his mind. If there were no other options, he might have thought about it a little more, but for some reason, Duke Erectorus was also taking Suin’s side. If so, there was no need to choose Marquis Rafaeno’s coercive option.
“Okay, Marquis. I’ll refuse too. I think it’s better to stay as the patriarch and continue my business than to be a sixth finger that may or may not exist. There’s no need to do the general’s job in a narrow place.”
“Is that so…”
Marquis Rafaeno slowly pulled his horse. The nobles of Ende refused, and Grull did not accept the offer. Unless he used force, he could not interfere with Ende. Marquis Rafaeno did not expect that he would treat Suin as private property and take away his legitimacy.
However, if he were to return just because he could not overcome a single legitimacy, he would not have led the legion. Marquis Rafaeno preferred this side. Solving everything with force.
The corner of the marquis’ mouth drew a faint smile like a mustache.
“Master!”
The escort, Welsh, moved urgently. Welsh, who was paying all his attention to his master’s safety, sensed the marquis’ hostility before Grull. He raised his fur with his qi, pushed his master away, and blocked him.
However, unlike the time with the regressor, the marquis did not stop his sword.
Puff. The tragedy was visible even behind Welsh’s body. Blood splattered along the tip of the rapier. Welsh, who shook his body greatly, fell over Duke Erectorus. Duke Erectorus hurriedly received her body.
“Welsh!”
“…Ah, uh.”The hand that touched his back was hot and wet. Duke Erektus found a large, purple wound on Welsh’s back. So much blood was gushing out of his small back.
And behind him, Marquis Raphaeno, holding a roaring rapier, was shaking off the blood with his qi. Duke Erektus’s eyes sparkled.
“Damn it, open your eyes, Welsh! Damn it! What the hell are you doing, you!”
His heart was pounding with worry for his servant, and hatred for the marquis who had inflicted the wound. The marquis read his fluctuating emotions and spoke as if he was bored.
“Look at that. You really do care about him.”
The atmosphere changed in an instant. Grull and Sapien stood up with their weapons in their hands.
“Hey, hey! What are you doing!”
“Marquis, what is this outrage!”
At the same time, the soldiers standing behind Marquis Raphaeno moved. The army in formation aimed their swords while emitting qi, and the royal wizard unit took out their wands and summoned clouds. Rumble, a menacing aura from beyond the clouds was aimed at Grull and the Beast Warriors.
An army is a group that prepares for war. If there had been a wolf king, the force that had fought the wolf king was aimed at Grull. Grull dragged his feet and dug into the ground as the sensation of magic power wrapped around his body.
Marquis Raphaeno, who had caused all this, was the calmest of all.
“I just wanted to check if the watchdog was doing his job well. He’s doing a good job. He saved my master’s life, so he’ll be satisfied even if he dies.”
“What…!”
“But more than that. Grull. Aren’t you being too arrogant? I made the best offer to you, considering that you have reached the level of Master. If you humiliate me like this, my pride will be hurt.”
In a situation where they were facing each other with their weapons drawn, Duke Erektus was the only one who was busy moving.
First, Duke Erektus tore his clothes to stop the bleeding from Welsh’s wound. However, it was like trying to block a dam with his hands. When the blood didn’t stop, Duke Erektus picked up Welsh and ran urgently.
Marquis Raphaeno nonchalantly extended his rapier toward his back. As if it didn’t matter whether he died or not, the rapier only contained a faint aura. Grull, who had his senses sharpened, spread out the ground he had chosen and moved.
Clang. Grull’s dagger violently knocked away the rapier. The tip of the sword that had been aimed at the duke’s life was deflected. Grull was shocked by the heavy impact he felt in his wrist.
‘It’s heavy! That thin, curved sword…!’
It was not a qi that could be obtained simply through training. The qi was so vast and delicate that it could even control the elasticity of the rapier. How much elixir had he consumed? Even Grull, who had consumed a lot of elixir in his own way, could not dare to estimate it.
“The southern part of the Enger Plains was originally under the jurisdiction of the principality. Our rule was only delayed for a while because of the wolves and other beasts. The elixir hidden in the old kingdom’s territory or the elephant’s tomb below… It’s not an abandoned property without an owner. It’s difficult if you act as if everything is yours.”
And the goal of Marquis Raphaeno and the principality was none other than those elixirs. Grull finally realized it and raised his qi.
“From the beginning, you didn’t intend to leave me alone…!”
“You were a bit of an eyesore to leave alone, Grull.”
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Grull moved to dig the ground again. He couldn’t dig much because the situation was urgent, but in a battle between humans, even that short distance could decide the outcome. Grull, who moved through the wind, aimed his dagger at the marquis’s limbs.
However, Marquis Raphaeno was also a qi master who had reached the realm of the extreme. With just one or two steps, he escaped the disadvantageous gap and counterattacked. The roaring rapier aimed at Grull like a snake.
‘His reaction is not ordinary, but…!’However, Grull’s reason, the peak of the martial art of the earth, was implemented with reason. Grull’s body came to an abrupt stop half a step ahead of the rapier. The tip of the rapier, which was swaying, passed in front of Grull’s eyes. It was a truly picturesque counterattack, but Grull read even that counterattack and put in a fake.
‘Slower than the wolf king! I’ll finish it before you can use your reason!’
He moved his body, which had stopped for a moment, again. A gun that has already been fired is the most defenseless, and a sword that has already been swung is the weakest. He dodged the attack by 0.1 seconds and moved into a space where he could only be safe….
At that moment, Grull’s body was bounced off with a thud. A self-defense weapon that only a skilled martial artist can use, something broke the energy scattered throughout his body and slapped Grull in the face.
If he hadn’t protected his body with martial arts, or if he hadn’t slowed down because he had stopped for a moment, his face would have been blown away by the invisible tragedy. Fortunately, Grull survived with only a trace of blood.
‘I was cut…what?! But what?! There was definitely nothing there…!’
If there was a problem, it was that even those who had reached the reason did not know ‘what’ had cut him. The marquis spoke strangely to Grull, who could not approach rashly.
“But I wish I had known a little more about my subject.”
Empire, vassal state. A weapon of war created by humans who monopolized wealth and power.
The strong who were chosen by fate received the support of the state and reached the peak of the pyramid by absorbing all kinds of elixir and emergency supplies.
Black Tiger General, Marquis Lafaeno of the Charcoal Sword. He had developed his reason.
Charcoal Sword (連彈劍).
The trajectory carved in the air by the rapier remains. It is not a sword, but a pattern carved in the air in the form of a tragedy. It is nicknamed the Charcoal Sword because it seems to embroider a musical score in the air.
If Grull controls the interval, Marquis Lafaeno controls the space. The trajectory of the sword embroidered in the air is his space and reason. He is invincible in the fortress made of tragedy.
Sapien, who saw the gleaming sword, exclaimed urgently.
“Grull! Be careful! The Marquis’s reason is to leave the trajectory of the sword in the air! That trajectory is pure tragedy itself. If you touch it, you will be cut as if you were caught in a sharp thread!”
“Hmm. Revealing the master’s reason before the battle…. This is clearly treason!”
Sapien also knows how serious a crime it is. But there was nothing he could do. From the moment he led the army, Marquis Lafaeno intended to solve all problems with force if he could not do it right. Sapien was in no position to be picky, as he had swung his sword at Erektus without hesitation and inflicted a great wound on Welsh.
“Charcoal? Che, I thought it was a sword that lit up!”
“That’s not it! Charcoal means musical score! Two people…! Ugh!”
“That’s enough, Master Sapien.”
The adjutant, who had approached from behind, grabbed Sapien’s cloak and threw it away. Sapien’s large body, dressed in armor, flew through the air like a pebble. As Sapien tried to regain his center in the air, the adjutant grabbed Sapien’s cloak again and slammed him to the ground. The already damaged ground shook uneasily.
“Keuk…!”
The Marquis’s adjutant approached him, who had hurriedly raised his body. He had not reached the reason, but he was the elite who served as the adjutant of the Black Tiger General. His martial arts skills and combat experience were incomparable to Sapien’s.
Even with just one move, a dizzying gap was felt. And perhaps, the gap between Sapien and the adjutant… the gap between Grull and Lafaeno would be greater. Sapien sensed it.
“Secrets are secrets. Please do not disclose them rashly.”
“What’s wrong? Even if it’s a secret, there’s no one who doesn’t know. I’ll make a name for myself and brag to Grull.”Marquis Rafaeno tapped the scabbard hanging from my waist with a leisurely smile. One, the scabbard from which his rapier had been drawn. There was still another scabbard with a sword handle still attached.
“I originally wield two swords, Grull. Just like you.”
Among the masters who have reached the realm of the first, there are many who use dual swords. This is because they can wield the first with either their left or right hand.
However, in the case of Marquis Rafaeno, the sophistication of his dual swordsmanship has crossed a certain boundary. With two smoothly curved rapiers, he carves a trajectory in the void, gradually filling the space and pressuring the enemy without giving them room to breathe. It is said that the way he wields his dual swords, as smooth and powerful as an orchestra conductor, is like playing two musical scores alone, hence the nickname “Ember Sword”.
In other words, his true worth cannot be brought out with just one sword. Marquis Rafaeno said, covering half of his face with one rapier.
“You’re a master too. Let me use both swords.”