A full three minutes had passed since the duel began.
After sizing each other up, the two knights finally swung their swords at one another.
CLAAAAANG—!
“...!”
As the two swords collided with that tremendous impact, the two knights came away with entirely different thoughts. Roan thought, ‘This is easy?’ while Alfonso’s immediate thought was, ‘I’m fucked!’
‘W-what is this strength...?! What the hell is this monstrous strength...?!’
Alfonso’s wrist went numb. To be honest, he had nearly lost his grip on his sword from the impact just now.
‘W-what am I supposed to do?’
Anxiety swelled in Alfonso’s heart.
His original plan had been simple. He would keep clashing swords with Roan and use the repeated impacts to wear Roan’s horse down first. Since Roan’s horse was in poor condition, he had thought this strategy would limit his mobility. He had believed it was his only path to victory.
But once he actually crossed swords with Roan, reality proved different. At this rate, it felt as though his own head would roll across the ground before Roan’s horse ever tired. Cold sweat poured endlessly down Alfonso’s face.
CLAAANG—!
At that moment, Roan’s sword collided with his again. Alfonso barely managed to withstand it, but judging by the throbbing in his wrist, it seemed the bone had finally cracked.
“Are you all right? Will you surrender now?”
Roan suddenly asked in a relaxed voice.
“Grr! Surrender?! Do you dare toy with me?!”
At that, anger suddenly surged through Alfonso. He had ruled Gallard Castle and the surrounding villages like a king for years. How could such a man possibly surrender to some nameless knight?!
Even if he had put on a little weight compared to before, he was still a knight who understood honor. He had absolutely no intention of backing down from this duel. A look of determination suddenly appeared in his eyes.
“I will show you why I came to be called the Storm Knight! Huaaah!”
Alfonso roared and raised his sword high into the sky.
And at that very moment...!
WHOOOOOSH—!
Wind began to swirl around his sword.
It looked as though a small typhoon were raging around the blade.
***
When wind suddenly began swirling around Alfonso’s sword, everyone nearby was left stunned.
Expressions of shock and fear were plainly visible on their faces.
Yet even amid this unexpected sight, Roan alone reacted differently.
A faint smile appeared at the corner of his lips, and anticipation shone in his eyes.
‘No doubt about it. Alfonso is a Named Enemy! If I kill Alfonso, I might be able to obtain a Skillbook!’
Roan was certain of it.
That conviction came from his past experience.
Not long ago, Roan had fought and defeated a bandit far stronger than any ordinary outlaw. As a result of that battle, he had obtained the valuable Skillbook [Half-Ogre Strength (B)].
Afterward, he had encountered countless ordinary bandits, but none of them had dropped any Skillbooks. From that experience, Roan concluded that special items like Skillbooks could only be obtained from “special beings.”
Roan fixed his gaze on Alfonso once more. In his eyes, Alfonso clearly belonged in that category of “special beings.” He could be called a kind of Named Enemy, a special individual with a name. If Alfonso were merely ordinary, there was no way he could wield such a mysterious and powerful technique right before his eyes. If Roan killed him, he might be able to obtain a new Skillbook.
‘Of course, he could simply be an exceptionally skilled knight. Beings like that can emit Aura too. But no matter how I look at it, that isn’t Aura. If anything, it feels even more dangerous than Aura.’
He carefully observed Alfonso’s sword once again.
The wind around Alfonso’s blade was spinning at an unbelievable speed. It resembled a miniature tornado.
Roan tried to gauge its power. If something were struck by that swirling wind, it seemed obvious that most objects would be shredded apart in an instant. This clearly far exceeded the abilities of an ordinary knight.
“Huaaah!”
At that moment, Alfonso suddenly let out a thunderous shout and charged toward Roan.
Roan hesitated briefly. For an instant, he ran several possible strategies through his mind, calculating how best to respond. Then, moments later, he made his decision. He charged straight toward Alfonso in return.
CLAAAAANG—!
The two swords collided in midair with a piercing metallic shriek.
But the result of this clash was completely different from before. This time, the one forced back was none other than Roan. His horse staggered several steps backward under Alfonso’s powerful blow.
‘As I thought, it’s strong!’
Roan furrowed his brow. Alfonso, on the other hand, broke into a confident smile.
“Kahahahaha!”
Alfonso burst into arrogant laughter.
“How is that?! This is my true power!”
His voice was filled with the thrill of victory.
Roan asked calmly,
“Where did you obtain such a mysterious power?”
“Ha! Even if I told you, a nameless knight like you could never obtain it! So just stand there quietly and die!”
His tone had completely changed before anyone realized it. Up until the duel began, he had treated Roan with a certain degree of respect. Now, however, he showed no intention of respecting him at all.
In truth, Alfonso was feeling deeply humiliated. The fact that he had felt fear, even briefly, toward a nameless knight gnawed at him. He believed that the only way to wash away that shame was to completely eliminate the knight before him.
Roan noticed what was going through Alfonso’s mind.
‘...Looks like he fully intends to kill me.’
His expression hardened for a moment. But then he shrugged and returned to his usual calm expression. After all, he had no intention of letting Alfonso live either.
Roan had several reasons to eliminate Alfonso. First, it would raise the soldiers’ morale. He also wanted to earn a major achievement and obtain a fief. More than anything, he wanted to confirm his hypothesis that killing a Named Enemy could yield a Skillbook. If he could continue learning new skills through these Skillbooks, his life would change completely. All of those reasons stirred within Roan, driving him to take Alfonso’s life.
“Die!”
At that moment, Alfonso shouted once more and charged at Roan. Powerful winds still wrapped around his sword.
This time, however, Roan avoided a head-on clash.
He quickly urged his horse backward and retreated. At first glance, Roan’s actions might have looked like he was fleeing. But a closer look showed that he was retreating while maintaining a fixed distance from Alfonso. It resembled the tactics of a wolf waiting for its prey to exhaust itself.
“Huff...! Huff...!”
Just as Roan expected, Alfonso soon began tiring at a rapid pace. There was a reason he had not used this special “ability” from the beginning. Maintaining it continuously placed a considerable burden on him.
“...Y-you bastard! What a cowardly trick! Why are you not coming at me?! And you still call yourself a knight?!”
Having fallen into Roan’s strategy, Alfonso finally exploded.
He began hurling every insult he could think of at Roan. His intention was to provoke Roan into attacking.
But Roan had already been tempered by countless insults and provocations back when he was a gamer in his previous life. Alfonso’s abuse sounded like nothing more than a child throwing a tantrum. Roan calmly stuck to his strategy.
“...Huff! Huff!”
As time passed, Alfonso’s breathing grew increasingly ragged.
His movements were also visibly slowing.
Before long, the wind surrounding Alfonso’s sword finally disappeared completely.
Roan judged that the time had come.
He turned his horse and charged toward Alfonso.
At that moment, Alfonso cried out desperately.
“W-wait! I surrender! I claim my right to be treated as a prisoner! This is both a knight’s right and duty, so I ask that you respect it!”
Fear seeped into his voice. He might have been a knight who understood honor, but that did not mean he wanted to die.
“My apologies, Sir Alfonso. I shall pretend I did not hear that.”
“What?”
SLASH—!
But Roan severed his neck in a single stroke. To Roan, eliminating Alfonso was far more advantageous than sparing him and taking him prisoner.
THUD—!
Alfonso’s headless body fell heavily to the ground.
“...!”
At that moment, a heavy silence descended over the battlefield.
The soldiers on both sides who had been watching the duel all wore stunned expressions. No one had expected such an overwhelming victory. Roan’s cold-headed strategy and decisive actions had exceeded everyone’s expectations.
“W-waaaaaah! Sir Roan! Sir Roan!”
At that moment, a cheer erupted from among House Dragonbane’s soldiers.
The voice belonged to none other than Charles. His eyes sparkled with excitement as he kept chanting Roan’s name. Spurred on by Charles’s passionate shouting, the other soldiers began calling Roan’s name one by one.
In an instant, the battlefield was filled with cheers for Roan.
“Waaaaaaah! Sir Roan won!”
“Sir Roan! Sir Roan! Sir Roan!”
“The man who calmed the storm!”
“Roan, the Storm Breaker! Waaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
Most striking of all, the soldier shouting Roan’s name the loudest was Bake. Ironically, he had been the most skeptical of Roan’s chances of victory at the beginning.
“Khuhuhuhuhuk! Sir Roan!”
Bake’s voice was filled with both joy and regret. Deep down, he had actually hoped Roan would win. But when Roan achieved a victory far more overwhelming than he had expected, his joy grew even greater. Bake’s passionate cheering was an eruption of the respect and guilt buried deep within his heart.
“G-good heavens...!”
“Sir Alfonso lost...!”
Meanwhile, cries of shock and confusion rose among the soldiers of Gallard Castle.
Disbelief was written clearly across their faces.
Many stared blankly at Alfonso’s corpse.
To them, Alfonso had been almost a godlike existence. His defeat was an event that shook the foundations of their worldview.
Then, amid the confusion, Roan slowly began walking toward the soldiers of Gallard Castle. They watched him with tense expressions.
After catching his breath for a moment, Roan spoke in a booming voice.
“Brave soldiers of Gallard Castle! By God’s will, I have emerged victorious from this duel! As promised, Gallard Castle now belongs to House Dragonbane! However, I respect your loyalty and courage! Therefore, those who wish to leave may do so with honor! Those who wish to surrender, however, are to lay down their arms and come outside the castle by tomorrow morning so that the transfer may proceed peacefully! I swear upon my honor as a knight that whatever your choice, you will be treated fairly!”
“...!”
Roan’s declaration was truly shocking. They had expected him to mercilessly seize Gallard Castle the moment Alfonso died, yet he showed such astonishing mercy...! Could Roan possibly be an angel?
“Sniff...!”
“Sir Roan is truly a great knight!”
Some of them were even moved to tears by Roan’s offer despite being his enemies. That was how merciful his proposal seemed.
But no one knew that entirely different thoughts occupied Roan’s mind.
‘...Ah, I want to check the Skillbook already!’
In truth, the reason Roan made such a generous offer was simple. He wanted to hurry up and check the Skillbook that had fallen into his hands.
In fact, Roan had been deeply disappointed when he cut off Alfonso’s head. Contrary to his expectations, nothing resembling a Skillbook had appeared immediately.
‘Damn it, was my guess wrong from the start?’
He sighed inwardly.
But before long, the situation changed. As the soldiers’ cheers thundered toward the sky, Roan discovered a special object near Alfonso’s heart. It was the very “Skillbook” he had been hoping for.
‘I couldn’t see it before... Does it only drop a little while after they die?’
Roan carefully picked up the Skillbook, his heart pounding with excitement.
Beautiful lettering was engraved across its cover: [Sylph’s Gift (C)].
Roan immediately guessed what the title meant.
‘As far as I know, a sylph is a wind spirit... It looks like Alfonso somehow obtained that ability from a wind spirit by chance.’
Roan instinctively realized that this skill was the very “ability” Alfonso had shown before he died.
However, Roan knew very well that seeing something and using it himself were completely different matters. He wanted to learn the skill and try it out for himself as soon as possible.
“...Sir Roan!”
Just as Roan was filled with impatience and anticipation over [Sylph’s Gift (C)], Adeline and Paul came to find him.
‘Ah.’
Only then did Roan realize his mistake. So consumed had he been by the desire to check his new skill that he had arbitrarily decided how Gallard Castle would be handled without even consulting Adeline, the commanding officer. He immediately tried to apologize to her.
But Adeline spoke before Roan could.
“Sir Roan, I am truly sorry!”
“Yes?”
“I did not trust your abilities! Even if no one else believed in you, I should have! Sir Roan, you truly are a great knight!”
Adeline clasped her hands together and spoke with sparkling eyes. Roan tilted his head and looked toward Paul.
But Paul merely wore a strange smile. Roan could not understand what was going on at all.