A knock resounded on the door of my study yet again today. Before I could say anything, the door swung open and a giant tank of a man came rushing inside.
"Young master, trouble. Let's go."
I slammed my quill down and picked up my coat at Keith's words. We rushed out of the mansion as he began explaining the situation.
"It seems someone has sent a knight brigade to your zone. They don't look strong, but they're there on official orders."
At the mansion's front door, a young man stood panting heavily.
"Maria was there at the time, she is dealing with them now," Keith said.
When the young man saw me coming down, he tried to pull himself up straight and bowed deeply, "Y-young master! T-they are trying to break everything—"
I placed my hand on the man's shoulder and patted him, passing him by. "Leave it to me."
It had barely been a week since I visited it and I had to go again, the territory was attracting eyes faster than I thought it would.
Lily had already prepared Black and Blanche, we immediately got on the horses and set off through the path that was much smoother than before. Fixing up the road here had reduced the travel time from an hour and a half to just forty minutes.
"What are you planning? Will we be kicking the baron out?" Keith asked.
"Don't worry about it."
The first person to notice any change would be none other than the baron, and so would the first person to take action. He had anyway been collecting the taxes from the villages that had now merged under us.
"Pick up the pace, Keith."
The horses neighed and we dashed ahead.
***
We reached the territory of the village soon. It was already an insult to call it a village, I'd have to bother with picking a name for it later.
Right where the road widened and spread through the grounds of the place, a bunch of people in armor much heavier than whatever Keith wore stood boldly, in front of them were the villagers with distressed looks and a single maid holding them back. The knights flailed around a sheet of paper in their hands and screamed at the villagers.
I could see little kids trembling behind the backs of the adults at the rear and a bunch of material and food splayed out on the ground, some of the villagers at the forefront had small scratches and swabs of dirt on their hands and face, likely a result of the knights kicking them down.
As we got closer, our horses grew quieter and their voices started reaching us.
"Turn away right now," Maria's familiar voice echoed. "You don't have the qualifications to question the legality of this place."
"This bitch maid!" The knight with the paper in his hands clicked his tongue and stepped forward. He reached out to push Maria. "Do you not understand who —"
"Hey."
Before I knew it, the horse had come to a stop and all the people over there had stopped and were staring at me.
"What do you think you're doing?"
What was this? It was as if my mouth had a will of its own, the chilling voice oozing out unknowingly. I stepped off of Black and walked over to the damn knights kicking up the fuss. Keith hurriedly followed and stood beside me.
At our sudden appearance and the pressure I put down on the bastards, the knight at the forefront became flustered. His clunky armor shuffled as he turned around and screamed at my face.
"Y-you brat! Who the hell are you? Can't you see people talking here?"
I increased the pressure I put down on him.
The knight gnashed his teeth as his fellows took a step back. Pissed, he pulled out his sword and tried to charge at me.
A silver flashed in front of my eyes, followed by a stream of blood.
"Ah...? AH!"
The knight's sword arm plopped down to the ground.
Keith imposingly took a step forward, brandishing his sword to intimidate the ones down. The knight held his arm and screamed as he fell on his back. The other knights held their breaths. If I could only see the swing, then there was no doubt that these third rates had no idea when Keith had cut off their leader's arm.
Keith didn't let his moment go slow. Without wasting a second, he stepped forward and slammed his foot down on the leader's head, stomping it under his boots.
"For the sin of raising your weapon against the noble leader of the kingdom of Schwarz,"
Keith said, his voice as cold as mine was just a second ago.
"The son of the magic of the kingdom, Marquis Hall's third child, Lord Eugene Hall, I have cut off your arm."
"M-marquis...!?"
"That was the outcast son?!"
"You want to die?! Shut your mouth!"
I ignored the voices of the knights.
"Keith..." I said.
The man glared at me for a second. I couldn't see his eyes, but he couldn't hide his murderous intent. Was he getting pissed because he thought I was going to hold him back?
I sighed.
"You insult me. The punishment is too small."
Keith's glare turned into a wide-brimmed smile. He raised his zweihander again.
"As you say, my lord!"
Keith swung his blade down again and chopped off the knight's other arm too.
We couldn't kill him just like that, so this was more than enough. I was sure that the vengeful Keith or Maria would find this man some time and kill him anyway. There was a more pressing matter to tend to.
I quietly walked over to the screaming shouting knight. Keith took a step back and sheathed his sword when he saw me approaching. Without paying the knight any heed, I bent down and picked up the sheet of paper he was so gallantly waving about.
"Hm, a letter from the baron, huh?"
I said.
The knights around all gulped.
"Good, take me to him. Now."
It was about to time teach him a lesson anyway.