Chapter 208: There’s No Dirty or Clean in a Fight

The Imperial Knights, once called the loyal knights of the Altringen royal family, were thoroughly suppressed along with the disgrace of being branded traitors. Not the Imperial Knights who fled east, but the families they belonged to.

Their blood relatives desperately claimed innocence, insisting they had nothing to do with the Imperial Knights, but the reason those families had been selected for the Imperial Knights in the first place was precisely for this moment: they were chosen from noble houses that had been eating away at Beren.

The families of the Imperial Knights who had benefited from this arrangement were riddled with all manner of corruption. And this became the decisive justification that brought about their downfall. The Judicial Department rapidly rose to become the most powerful governing body.

Of course, not every Imperial Knight family was purged.

"Your Grace! Please grant honorable treatment to the fallen vice commander and his men."

"They are loyal subjects of the Altringen who stood against the rebellion. I will see to it."

The Grand Duke bestowed exceptional rewards upon the families of the vice commander and his subordinates who had been killed opposing the Imperial Knights’ commander, even erecting a statue in the plaza to commemorate their noble sacrifice.

As a result, the citizens of Breisburg came to praise the vice commander as the sole loyal man among the Imperial Knights. The truth, of course, was that he had approached me to consolidate his own power by pushing out the commander.

The commander had executed the vice commander because the vice commander had been using me to pressure him. It was true that I had also used the vice commander to keep the commander in check, so I had no intention of denying it.

It may have been an alliance forged from aligned interests, but what did that matter? What counts is the reputation others see. The Grand Duke used the vice commander’s death to stir public outrage against the traitors.

Just another exercise in building justification, you could say.

He also fiercely denounced the Duke of Radensdorf for manipulating the weak-willed Louis. The Duke of Radensdorf fired back by bringing up the crown prince and the queen, attacking the royal family’s sordid shame. A true mudslinging battle.

Word had it that the printing houses of Breisburg were churning out condemnation leaflets and distributing them like hotcakes. It was the greatest war Beren had ever seen, with each side commanding its own forces, but at its core, it was nothing more than a power struggle between brothers.

[Gale Knight IV Quest]

[Defeat the Imperial Knights Commander]

[Reward - 10,000 points, 10 gold coins (hazard pay)]

[Item Reward ???]

[Danger Rating ★★★☆☆]

A three-star quest had been generated. The massive increase in rewards was encouraging, but I had no luxury to worry about quests right now. I needed to focus on that damned backside in front of me.

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!

The Imperial Knights were heavy cavalry, so their cumbersome equipment couldn’t demonstrate its full power in this forest. It was actually a disadvantage. The reason they had fled into the forest anyway was to conceal themselves.

I had also cut through the forest to avoid enemy cavalry search parties, for the same reason. In that sense, the Imperial Knights’ choice wasn’t bad—if only this hadn’t been Feuzen.

For the Gale Knights, every forest and mountain range in Feuzen was intimately familiar ground.

As light cavalry optimized for guerrilla warfare, they had consistently trained to traverse forests. For the Imperial Knights, it turned out to be the worst possible choice. We picked up speed like fish returning to water.

Unable to endure the pursuit any longer, the Imperial Knights broke formation, ignoring the commander’s orders and scattering in every direction. The reason the Imperial Knights, once numbering 200, had dwindled to so few was surely because of the stigma of being called traitors.

The title of Imperial Knight itself had become worthless, so desertion was their only option.

I’d have run too.

At my hand signals, Fiel and Viktor split off to hunt down the scattered Imperial Knights. I was after only one man. Once I dealt with him, the Imperial Knights would collapse.

The Imperial Knights’ commander was fleeing with only five loyal subordinates, but his horse was flagging more than expected. Meanwhile, Mont Blanc was still going strong despite having fought in battle.

Anton and my personal squad followed behind me. I had the clear numerical advantage, but rotten though they may be, Imperial Knights were still a cut above. Their combat ability was high. The commander, too, was among the most skilled.

"You stubborn leech! I’ll kill you!"

The Imperial Knights abandoned their retreat and turned to fight. The commander’s last remaining men bravely drew their cavalry swords and charged toward us. The Gale Knights and Imperial Knights collided.

Several of my men were knocked from their horses, but Imperial Knights were unhorsed as well. On the ground, they savagely swung cavalry swords at each other. My men fought calmly, taking on the Imperial Knights in pairs.

My cavalry sword and the commander’s clashed with deadly force.

I confirmed that the commander’s skill was no less than mine.

Clang! Cl-clang!

"You were scurrying around like a rat, and now you’ve finally given up!"

"Bullshit! I’ll kill you and reclaim my honor!"

For the first time since the tournament, I was fighting the commander with live steel. Just what I’d been hoping for. The price he’d paid for humiliating me had been a mere trip to the hospital, and that hadn’t satisfied me one bit.

So, die!

A fierce sword fight and battle of wits unfolded atop our saddles. Since swords couldn’t subdue a knight in plate armor, most of the fighting focused on unhorsing each other. Because of that, our clash wasn’t easily decided.

"Attack him from the front and back!"

"Damn it, you cowards!"

Seeing his Imperial Knights struggling against the Gale Knights’ superior numbers, the commander must have realized the situation was hopeless. He feinted a thrust aimed at the gap in my helmet’s visor, then fled without looking back.

He was abandoning his men and running?

"Where do you think you’re going, you cowardly bastard!"

"Be grateful I’m letting you off, you lowborn wretch!"

I chased the commander up a steep mountainside at a furious pace. While the Gale Knights scattered to engage the Imperial Knights at various points, I pushed Mont Blanc hard to keep from losing the commander.

Mont Blanc was struggling with stamina too; his breathing had grown very ragged.

The commander’s horse was no different. It was frothing at the mouth.

Neeeiigh!

"Wh-what?!"

The fleeing commander’s horse suddenly reared up and stopped. Something like massive walls filled the mountainside. Enormous wild cattle, startled by the commotion, caused the ground to tremble as they stampeded away.

It was a herd of aurochs, a protected species in Feuzen. I knew them to be endangered and had taken measures to prevent hunters and poachers from hunting them, but their numbers seemed to have grown considerably.

"Aaargh!"

Thanks to that, the commander lost his balance and was thrown from his horse.

Never had I felt more rewarded for protecting the aurochs. This was a huge stroke of luck. Just as I gripped my cavalry sword in reverse to strike his head like a bludgeon, the commander grabbed my arm and yanked me down.

Damn it, I had let my guard down.

The commander pulled me off my horse too.

The commander climbed on top of me and smashed my helmet repeatedly with a stone the size of a fist. Thwack! Thwack! I could feel my helmet caving in. I grabbed a fistful of dirt and threw it through the gap in the commander’s visor.

"Gaaah! You fight dirty, you bastard!"

"There’s no dirty or clean in a fight!"

Thwack!

I headbutted the commander’s helmet with mine. It was helmet against helmet, but the impact was tremendous, and the commander’s body jerked far backward. I barely managed to free myself and ran to Mont Blanc.

My longsword was on Mont Blanc’s saddle. I drew the longsword engraved with the Streit crest and faced the commander. The commander had also retrieved his longsword from his horse’s saddle.

"How the hell did you find out and come back?"

"Because I knew the Count of Baschurten was conspiring with you."

"So that bastard double-crossed us. And it would have been the perfect chance for glory!"

I’m sure it would have been. Their plan to stab us in the back was certainly well-executed. If I hadn’t caught on, I would have suffered devastating losses and might have become a mindless slaughterer, shedding tears of blood.