“What nonsense is…! Your joke is a little excessive, Your Majesty.”

Count Rudiger was appalled. He quickly took on a disgruntled expression.

“Joke? Have you forgotten who I am?” Eugene asked with a stiff expression.

“Hmm…” Count Rudiger flinched. He had made a mistake amidst the shock he had suffered. Regardless of the situation, there was no way a monarch of a country would make such a joke against the governor.

“Didn’t you make it clear? You wanted me to fight as an honorable knight and not as a member of the Dark Clan,” Eugene said.

“That’s true…”

“Who am I?” Eugene asked.

“What? You are the King of the Dukedom of Maren,” Count Rudiger responded.

“Then, where lies my honor as a knight?” Eugene asked once more.

“…!”

Count Rudiger hesitated before answering, “With the Dukedom of Maren.”

“That’s right. I am a knight who bears the honor of Maren. Fighting against the knights who represent Petrucca just for the sake of it? Does that make any sense to you?” Eugene asked.

“…”

Count Rudiger could not respond. Even he had to agree that it made no sense. The fight wouldn’t just be for simple entertainment. A monarch of a nation could not battle against representative knights of another region simply for the sake of fighting. Even if those directly involved considered the match as such, the spectators wouldn’t think the same. It wasn’t only the honor and pride of the duelists at stake, but rather the honor of the nations to which they belonged as well.

“Sir Rudiger,” Eugene called out.

“Yes, yes,” Count Rudiger responded after Eugene’s voice jolted him awake.

Eugene continued in a somber voice, “The weight of mine and Maren’s honor is not light.”

“…!!!”

“And I think the same can be said for Petrucca, wouldn’t you agree? Is Petrucca’s honor as light as a feather?” Eugene said.

Count Rudiger frowned at the obvious mockery.

Bang!

“The honor of our land is heavier than the mountains!”

“Take back your words right away!”

The knights fell right into Eugene’s provocation and shouted angrily.

‘You heinous bastards!’

‘Arrogant insects! I will kill them all!’

The shoulders of the clan masters quivered as they teemed with the desire to slaughter the knights. Eugene replied with a grin, “Then, you should put Petrucca on the line. Don’t you think so?”

“Fine! But if we win—”

“Then I will hand over Maren,” Eugene responded.

“…!!!”

Count Rudiger and the knights immediately stopped their ruckus.

“A-are you being—” Count Rudiger murmured.

Eugene interrupted him. “I don’t lie like a certain someone. I will unconditionally honor whatever words come out of my mouth. I can sign a document if you would like.”

“You cra—”

Count Rudiger stopped himself from calling Eugene crazy. It would have been a great disrespect, and he had to quickly figure out the situation as well.

‘Right. This is a bluff...’

Even if the King of Maren were being sincere, it was impossible to surrender an entire country or a city through a duel. Even if Eugene won, how on earth would he occupy and rule Petrucca? After all, there was only the king and a single knight in Petrucca. On the contrary, even if the knights won and Maren was relinquished, the nobles and merchants of Maren would not accept it. Even if a document containing the king’s seal were shown, the nobles and merchants would dismiss it, saying that the king had been forced to sign such a document.

‘There is no way that a king is unaware of these facts. This is just a complete bluff.’

His judgment had been briefly blurred by the king’s shocking remark.

‘This is what he was aiming for. He thought he could throw me off.’

Count Rudiger felt his cool returning amid the rising anger. It was to be expected from a member of the Dark Clan. The King of Maren had attempted to confuse his opponent even in a situation like this.

‘But you chose the wrong opponent...’

Count Rudiger quickly regained his composure and responded while calming his anger, “Good. Let us do that.”

“Ooohhh!”

“Just what I would expect from Your Excellency!”

“I will surely win and bring Maren into the arms of Petrucca and the empire!”

The dumb knights cheered, completely unaware of Count Rudiger’s true thoughts.

“Thank you for accepting my suggestion,” Eugene said.

“Not at all. I’m looking forward to it,” Count Rudiger responded.

The two men shared a gaze while ignoring the knights.

“Then, what about the date and time of the duel? Wouldn’t it be better to do it as soon as possible?” Count Rudiger asked with a suggestive tone. He wanted to make sure that Eugene couldn’t delay the fight to recover from his injuries.

‘I can let you off for three or four days, but I will never allow any longer than that.’

Count Rudiger was determined.

However, Eugene gave an unexpected response. “Is there a reason to drag it out? Let’s do it tomorrow.”

“T-tomorrow…?” Count Rudiger asked with doubt.

“Are you thinking of only having a few spectators…” he then muttered with a frown.

Eugene interjected. “Take care of the rest, sir. It doesn’t matter if there are a few opponents for me to face, so you can decide on that as well. I will have to return now if we’re done talking about business.”

“What? Is it truly okay even—”

“Let’s go.”

“Yes!”

Eugene turned around, and the vampire clan masters broke their silence and followed behind him like the wind. The count felt even more confused at the sight. When they first entered, the clan masters had completely ignored the King of Maren and treated him like a loser. But now, it almost seemed like they were treating him like their superior and were following his orders.

“What? What is this…?” Count Rudiger muttered in bewilderment. However, the naive knights were completely oblivious to his concerns as they continued to chat and cheer in anticipation of their upcoming victory.

***

The rumor of the duel between Eugene and Petrucca’s knights spread like the wind throughout the city. It was surprising enough that the rumored King of Maren was in their city, but the entire city was stirred up when they heard that the famous king would face the representative knights of the city. Moreover, the King of Maren would face not just one but five knights. It was clearly unfavorable for the King of Maren, but the people of Petrucca did not raise any objections. Rather, they were convinced.

“Well, it’s the King of Maren after all, right?”

“The undefeated knight! If it’s the wyvern slayer, having only one or two knights would be rather disadvantageous to them.”

“But isn’t five a little too much? I heard Sir Veloze is participating as well.”

“You have it wrong. Even Sir Veloze isn’t raising any complaints, right? The knights have recognized the skills of Maren’s King!”

Things quickly took a strange turn. The entire event had been planned to crush the King of Maren as a knight, but his reputation was further inflated instead. Count Rudiger was rather flabbergasted, but he could not undo what was already done. He could only look forward to the victory of the knights in the upcoming duel. After all, he had no doubt that the knights would come out victorious.

Although the clan masters had acted rather strangely just before going out with the King of Maren, he was certain that Maren’s King was still impaired from the aftermath of his defeat. Even if he was a high-ranking noble of the Dark Clan, a vampire incapable of exerting his power and mystery was an opponent that could be defeated with strength and skill. In preparation for the match, the knights honed their favorite weapons and silver-plated daggers as well. They sang hymns of victory while intoxicated in anticipation of their soaring reputation after their victory tomorrow.

Finally, the night passed, and morning dawned.

***

A large, inestimable group of people gathered in the central square of Petrucca. The windows and balconies were filled with the wealthy, while the poor tried to find good seats of their own by climbing street lights and trees. The nobles of the City of Petrucca, including Count Rudiger, were seated on a high platform raised overnight.

There were some who asked if the cities of Petrucca and Maren were on the line, but Count Rudiger answered with only a smile.

In truth, his insides boiled with fury.

‘Stupid knights! I told you to watch your mouths!’

Defeat wasn’t even an option for the knights, and they had drunk and blabbered the entirety of the previous night. They had gone around declaring that they would take Maren for the empire and be recognized by the emperor.

‘Even so, they will win...’

Count Rudiger comforted himself. Naturally, he had no thoughts of doing anything to or with Maren. After all, such a thing wouldn’t even be possible. Instead, he would greatly humiliate the King of Maren using the document containing his personal seal. Moreover, he intended to quell Maren’s complaints using the same document while Eugene was being extradited to the imperial castle.

Petrucca was a port city, and many spectators weren’t imperial citizens but foreigners. Even Maren would be left helpless if the king was defeated in front of such an audience and even if the contents of the document he had signed were revealed.

‘There were ups and downs, but the plan is perfect…’

All that was left was for the crown prince to arrive and clean things up. The crown prince would clearly be overjoyed that the governor had demonstrated the dignity of the empire and brought glory. Count Rudiger laughed heartily, knowing that his future was bright.

Suddenly, the sound of the buzzing crowd died down.

Clop, clop…

Through the path created by the city soldiers, a lone knight on an armored horse entered the square. The knight was without his helmet.

“It’s the King of Maren…”

Uwaaaaaahhh!!!

A loud roar erupted in response to someone’s whisper. It was a strange sight to see a foreign monarch being welcomed in the Roman Empire, but no one found it strange. The reputation and achievements of Jan Eugene Batla—the King of Maren—were simply amazing and astounding. The crowd cheered even more enthusiastically, knowing that his undefeated legend could be broken today.

Silion finally came to a stop in the middle of the square, and the five opposing knights lined up side by side. They had been waiting for Eugene’s arrival. Eugene stared at the knights with an indifferent gaze, and the representative of the knights shouted.

“As a knight seeking honor! We do not want it to become known that we won by taking advantage of an unjust situation! We will leave the order of the confrontation to Your Majesty!”

In other words, they were allowing Eugene to choose the order of his battles.

“…”

Eugene looked around at the square without giving an immediate answer. After looking over the spectators beaming with anticipation and excitement, his gaze stopped over Count Rudiger. The count flinched when he felt Eugene’s gaze.

Eugene grinned and shouted, “This is not simple entertainment! This is a showdown between Maren and Petrucca with everything on the line!”

Ohhhh…!!

Eugene’s words caused turmoil in the crowd. Most of the spectators had no idea of the match’s conditions, and the few in the know had only considered it to be a simple rumor. However, the man in question had just announced the conditions surrounding the battle.

‘T-that crazy man!’

Everyone was shocked, but the most surprised was Count Rudiger. He had never imagined that Eugene would speak the truth in front of so many people. However, Eugene wasn’t finished yet—what he said next caused an even greater shock.

“As a knight carrying Maren’s honor! I do not want to hear that I was bullying the weak! So…!”

Eugene looked around the square once more before sweeping his gaze at the five knights.

“Come, all at once!”