Chapter 89
“No, this is just training. It’s not like I’m actually hitting anyone,”
Evelyn said, flustered, waving her hands.
“We’d like to receive more instruction as well.”
Even if it felt like their bones were breaking every time they were trained, the knights didn’t care—as long as it led to mastery.
They had proof of results right before their eyes.
“We’ll do anything you say!”
The Northern Knights were already known for their excellent training, but the three days of instruction from the Grand Duchess before the subjugation were harsher and more brutal than anything they had experienced—even in the Imperial Palace.
“Alright. Then I will also do my best to meet your expectations.”
Evelyn was moved by the sparkle in their eyes. Seeing their pure desire to grow stronger made her heart swell.
Not all people were bad.
There was this kind of pure longing too.
Even if she didn’t help the North directly, just by holding her ground in her own position, she could become a source of strength.
“I will do my utmost to help you become the most outstanding swordsmen.”
The knights cheered at her shining golden eyes. The Northern Knights, catching the sharp gleam in their vice-captain’s eyes, sighed deeply.
They were dead meat.
Well, if they were going to die anyway, they might as well become Sword Masters before then.
With the Imperial Knights fired up, the Northern Knights’ eyes also burned with determination.
We have to be faster than those guys training at the ruins.
All three knight orders—including the Barrett Knights—looked at each other and fueled their competitive spirit.
“Grrk. Gack.”
Am I going to die like this?
Leonel blinked his blurred vision. He’d heard that the training intensity had been raised at the knights’ request, but his limbs were trembling.
The Duke and Duchess were taking turns beating the knights with wooden swords. They had to quickly channel aura to the targeted area and move accordingly.
Failing meant pain that felt like their bones were shattering.
Even the Northern Knights, who had claimed this was routine training for them, were now howling in pain more dramatically than anyone else.
“Tired?”
“I can do it.”
Leonel forced himself to his feet at the sight of his little sister’s worried eyes. If Evelyn could do it, he couldn’t quit.
At the very least, he had to get up to be of strength to her.
Thwack!
At the loud strike behind him, Leonel’s body moved on instinct.
He couldn’t afford to get hit again. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to move.
“Did you hear the North is recruiting mercenaries?”
“The North?”
In a back-alley tavern in the capital, a man waved around a recruitment notice from a mercenary guild.
“Looks like there’s going to be a large-scale subjugation soon.”
Lucas looked unimpressed.
And what’s that got to do with me?
Even if the North collapsed and the capital was overrun by monsters, he didn’t care. His family was already done for anyway.
“Aren’t you strapped for cash right now?”
Lucas’s usual mercenary companion asked seriously, despite Lucas’s disinterested expression.
“The North is too far. I can just find a guard job nearby. Why bother?”
“Haha. Who’d hire a fool like you for guard duty?”
Bastard.
Lucas clenched his jaw. His spear skills might be lacking, but his physique was better than most.
“A merchant who likes handsome men?”
“Why not just apply to be a gatekeeper?”
The man laughed loudly, and Lucas flicked his ear.
That doesn’t sound so bad, actually.
“No, if you were the gatekeeper, people would run away. What’s the use of a decent face when your body looks like a bandit’s?”
“Are you jealous of my looks or my body? Pick one.”
Lucas chuckled. He was two heads taller than the average man, with broad shoulders and thick muscles that stayed in shape even without regular training.
Though he’d get a bit rounder if he slacked, Lucas still trained every day while grumbling about his situation.
“Damn show-off.”
“Thanks for the compliment.”
“Still not going to the North? They’re paying fifty gold for this subjugation.”
A pitiful amount for risking your life.
“Nope.”
Lucas shook his head and raised a cheap beer mug. It was his pay for a recent merchant escort job.
‘Wasn’t that Everlit Barrett who became the Grand Duchess recently?’
Lucas recalled a young girl he’d once seen at a gathering when he was a child.
It was an event he’d attended with his parents, and the girl had smiled brightly, completely unaware of the rumors surrounding him—which had unsettled him at the time.
Looking back, she’d probably been too young to know anything. But that innocent expression had stuck in Lucas’s mind like an ominous warning.
Now that he was living a life far from nobility, he never thought he’d cross paths with her again. Still, he hadn’t forgotten the chaos and deaths linked to her name.
The Duke must be crazy.
No matter how desperate things were in the North, how could he marry a cursed woman?
“Don’t get any ideas just because that cursed woman’s involved.”
“Huh? Have you been living under a rock? No one calls the Grand Duchess that anymore.”
His companion burst out laughing at Lucas’s remark.
“The Duke is said to be madly in love, giving her gifts every day! And ever since the Grand Duchess went North, monsters have been vanishing.”
What nonsense.
Lucas scratched his ear. Still not going.
“Fifty gold—you’re really going to pass that up? Where else could you earn that kind of money with your skills?”
Lucas’s eyes widened at the jab.
“Even escorting a merchant caravan for a week only pays one gold. Right?”
As if saying, Still not going?, the other man gave him a look. Reluctantly, Lucas nodded.
“You’re planning a full-scale subjugation?”
Elliot nodded at Marquis Rusten’s question. The marquis’s family had long served the ducal house as Northern vassals.
“We need to eliminate the monsters early.”
If he could weaken the Evil God’s power even a little, he planned to slowly reclaim the snowy mountains.
Evelyn had said they just needed to become stronger, but Elliot preferred a more direct method of draining the Evil God’s strength.
“The Tower Master claims the snowfall in the North is due to the Evil God’s sealing formation.”
The marquis, who knew the secret of the sealing formation, looked grim.
“So it really was that. Is that also why you married Lady Evelyn?”
“You guessed?”
“Yes. I was sure when you tore up the garden.”
When the Duke had announced he was marrying a Sword Master, he’d thought it unlikely—but then it all made sense.
“Is the strengthening of the knights also related?”
“Yes. I discovered something interesting. Once the Imperial Knights leave, the North’s power will surge.”
“We merely follow our lord’s will. Just give the order.”
There were already many vassals itching to meet the Grand Duchess.
“When can I spar with the Grand Duchess?”
“Are you still at an age to be so competitive?”
Elliot shook his head at the grin tugging at the marquis’s lips.
“Age doesn’t matter before strength. If there’s a chance to become stronger, don’t forget about us.”
“We need to get rid of the fools siding with the emperor.”
He’d left them alone until now because it was too much trouble—but it was time to clean house.
Once a crack appears, it only grows larger.
“Well then, shall we begin the hunt?”
Done the Northern way.
The two men’s eyes sparkled with delight. It was time to remind those who had forgotten their place.
Click.
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
Just then, the door opened, interrupting their ominous smiles. Evelyn entered, bowing slightly when she saw Elliot speaking with Marquis Rusten.
“Grand Duchess! Please, come in!”
The marquis stood up at once to greet her.
The light of the North! The hope of the North! And the Duke’s first love!
Now fully convinced of his suspicions, Marquis Rusten’s hesitation vanished.
“If you’re in the middle of something important, I can come back later.”
“Not at all! Nothing is more important than you, Grand Duchess.”
Elliot shot the marquis a bewildered look. Just moments ago, they’d been discussing how to deal with Northern traitors.
“What brings you here?”
“I wanted to discuss tomorrow’s subjugation…”
Evelyn trailed off as she noticed the older marquis looking at her with sparkling eyes.
Was he going to ask a favor?
The marquis gazed at her with as much fondness as her own parents.
A great deal of it, in fact.
