Chapter 270 – 26. Only the Strong Survive (Complete)
All of Gaul, and furthermore, the attention of the western part of the continent was focused on one thing.
Today’s duel trial is such a venue. How could an event that was nothing more than a spectacle to the people even if it was attended by a large number of people could suppress the war and replace it?
“Look there, it’s Oliver Somerset!”
“A master swordsman intruded?”
“Weren’t the deposed crown prince and the LeBlanc family on the same boat?”
This is an outright war. Even reducing the scale and giving it a different name does not change its essence. However, for outsiders who are not entangled in interests, they can only consume with interest, like a play on stage.
“Rather than that, didn’t you just say Kenneth Somerset?”
“If it’s a quick sword, Baron Ardenn took it down earlier.”
“You must have heard me wrong! It’s so far away that I can’t hear you very well!”
The maid of unique and smooth charm was therefore regarded as the favorite mistress of Yongmaenggong. Everyone guessed that the fact that they were stationed in the eastern camp was for the purpose of serving or admiring the duke.
“Kenna… !”
However, discerning observers immediately sensed it. Even if it is the type that comes into contact with the field after going through the crystal ball, some strong people have already recognized it. That Kenneth Somerset, who was brilliant but not of a floating reputation, was actually different.
“No, that is an irreversible choice… !”
Arno, who had vomited a handful of blood, exclaimed desperately. She was the one the Somerset knights, including Kinnard and I, tried to protect even at the cost of their lives. What is the reason for the money to protect such a strong person who can’t find a faster and stronger person in the world?
“I’m sorry, Arno.”
Said the witch, turning her head. Eventually, she rolled up her sleeves, revealing her naked tattoo, and took her strange hand. The duke, who had been so damaged that she couldn’t even lift a finger, hit the duke’s occipital part briefly with telekinesis, causing her to pass out.
‘Is this woman really Lucienne’s disciple?’
Receiving some kind of signal, the two eastern troops brought a stretcher and carried the duke back to their camp. In the meantime, Rom slowly caught his breath, recovering from her injuries and stamina, while keeping an eye on the woman her mentor had named the Real Quicksword.
‘It’s surprising that the identity of the witch was her freckled princess, Kenneth Somerset.’
It was a gift that hadn’t come and gone for a long time. She used to have a relationship with a priest, but since it was only a short and thick Dalpo, there were not many clues to guess her true nature and intentions. It wasn’t even a group of people who would splurge on absurd words, though.
‘Especially if it’s a brave man, why did such a great man receive the protection of the disciples I taught?’
One thing was certain. Her deep scarlet hair and freckles on her white face caught the eye very much, and Kenna was a strong person. Compared to the other two men, her dwarf body and slender arms were clearly felt, even though they were by no means those of a swordsman.
“You’re such a tender person, Kenneth.”
The life of a Pyo-dok, who is difficult to stand by with a fair amount of mental strength.
“Isn’t it natural to talk about what has happened before sharing the joy of the reunion? It was hard to chase because it erased the traces so well. It was to the extent that I had to search for a single intelligence about a woman nicknamed the Freckles Princess who haunted the Duchy of LeBlanc a few years ago.”
Oliver made a mockery of it. Even for the elderly man, she looked quite young for her age, but she managed to fit her age. However, with her body like steel, she still looked like a woman who wielded a quicksword at a level that mocked her time and space.
“There is no law whereby the loser takes the life of the winner. The duel trial in the past was, as you say, my defeat. As a person who lacked the skills and reason to engage in a slaughter battle, it was unfortunate to take the life of a fallen friend.”
It was frivolous like a city banquet, so I felt an unknown sense of guilt in the way I talked. On the other hand, there seemed to be a wish that she, who had been hiding her identity all along, would reveal the reason and respond to her conversation.
“I admit everything. So stop revealing your identity to them. Little by little, I’m starting to get tired of it. I’ve come such a long way to correct the most regrettable memory in my life, but only at the moment of reunion do I lose my excitement.”
“Accepting who I am is a ridiculous request.”
Kenna spat out the corner of her mouth with an expressionless face. She still used honorifics as if her identity as a witch was firmly established, but seeing as cynical hints popped out one after another in her brief words and actions, it was a mask that would soon come off.
“You know the hatred I have for you. What do you mean how to fix it?”
“In the name of Jacques de Gallia, I will end this situation.”
Rom, who had been listening quietly, twitched his eyebrows. It was a remark that left enough room for intervention, but I watched patiently. It was based on the judgment that the teacher in front of me must have achieved a level where it was impossible to guarantee a victory.
“Kenneth, you’re a woman who feels better when you give everything you have to a man you’ve fallen for once. That’s why I forced myself to participate when Simon stabbed me in the back in the past. Compared to your ignorant swordsmanship, your way of seeing the world was too naive.”
“… Under.”
“You seem to love Arno LeBlanc, don’t you want to save him?”
After retracting the intangible sword, Oliver held out his hand as if to shake hands. The gesture, with its obvious meaning of reconciliation, was the only way for Kenna to remain her witch, her eastern lifeline. If Kenneth of Somerset reveals his identity here, he will never be able to pick it up again like Valorant said.
“I want to apologize. I don’t mean to reap your vengeance against me. They’re asking for time until they wipe out the horde they deserve to be exterminated. When that day comes, I promise to face your sword and your hatred squarely.”
Even so, Kenna did not hold her hand. She cried out in displeasure, then lit up in her eyes and groaned.
“It’s an unchangingly disgusting attitude.”
“Well, if it were you, you would sell it like that. But unlike Yu-Geom, that Yong Maeng-Gong seems like a pretty decent friend. If it were me, I would make a decision carefully, even for the sake of my lover.”
“You’re an idiot who only knows half the truth.”
“Hey, Kenneth…”
“Shut up!”
It was a decision based on emotion rather than reason.
“The trash that wandered the streets without a mother or father! You took everything from me! It wasn’t enough to make Master and his lover die, he even took the child in the womb! It’s disgusting that I didn’t take this head off because of petty sympathy, an apology?”
A voice full of resentment echoed through the arena. It was a cry so loud that even the deaf could hear it. Kenna, who bit her lips and palms until they bled, vomited them all out.
“You asshole, you always did! You didn’t even know who was responsible for Evangeline’s death, and you turned the point of the knife against the two innocent people!”
“… What?”
“Yes, I am Somerset’s real quicksword! She is Kenneth, a disciple of Edgar Somerset and a woman in love with Simon Somerset! I am the one who went to a duel trial with you because I wanted to protect her husband even though I knew it was impossible with her pregnant body!”
“Wait a minute, what are you talking about!”
“You want to apologize to me? Even though I was the one who caused the death of the teacher you admired so much?”
He paused, and the smile disappeared from Oliver’s expression, which had been smirking a moment ago.
“Why was it you? A worm-like scumbag like you! Trusting my talent and muddying the union was not enough, causing accidents both inside and outside, and it was impossible to save! Even so, Evangeline smirked like a puppet, and I was sick of her acting cute, asking me to watch her because she was my precious disciple!”
“Is that what you did?”
“All I wanted was a trip abroad for a month or two! It wasn’t that the owner of that skill was horribly defeated and left speechless! She should have known the moment the sad woman changed her mood when I taught her the enemy of a close friend!”
“It wasn’t really Simon, was it you?”
“I wanted to kick you out of the union! In order to do that, it was just an act of her purpose to keep her away for a while! But the result was this! Knowing the truth, the master and lover forced me to shut up, and in turn chose to sacrifice!”
Edgar tried to calm Oliver’s anger by surrendering his head. When Simon didn’t stop, he risked the stigma of betrayal and put a knife in his back.
For the most important person.
Being a body with a child is no excuse. It was none other than Kenna herself who brought things to that point. When Simon, who has become the head of the Guild, sets out to duel against the returning Oliver, he joins the ranks because he is the one who contributed to the cause.
“… Stop, no need to say more.”
Wrathful Oliver muttered quietly.
“Die.”
Kwajik, who was about to crush the invisible sword, he swung the sword at Kena to decapitate her. And even then, Rom, who had been listening to the conversation between the two, immediately reacted to the momentary action and pushed it aside.
“Calm down for now, Master.”
“Clean it up.”
“Let’s cool down and think about it calmly.”
“I told you to clean up.”
“Oliver Somerset, listen when you say good things. I’m warning you that if you move any further, you will be cut.”
“The guy who was just cute when he was young has turned into a cocky guy. This seat is no longer a good place for you to sit.”
It was a threatening threat, but to no avail. The disciple, who was innocent enough to use the expression cute, had long since been reborn as a man with bloody scars across his face. Not to mention being a strong man who commands the era or the continent.
“I make the decision. And the dueling trial between North and East is not over yet. Also, Master isn’t the only one who wants to ask the Freckles Princess.”
Thanks to the witch’s roar, everyone in the world now knows. That the women of the Somerset Swordsmen’s Guild masculineized my name according to a long tradition, and that the foreign Kenna here is actually the real quicksword Kenneth Somerset.
“Kenneth Somerset, can you explain your relationship with Lucille of St. Bourch?”
“… Why should I?”
“I’ve been thinking a lot about why those who fought me were so determined to hide your identity. Lucille is only sloppy towards me. She was originally a tenacious and fearsome schemer.
“Give me a point.”
“Aren’t you a body that can’t hold a sword?”
It was a straight line. In the midst of an uncomfortable stalemate, the witch who kept her mouth shut with a disapproving face answered before long.
“If you’re just pushing me with a trivial heart, stop speculating.”
It was kind of counterproductive. It was the resentment of a woman who had been protected by those I wanted to protect. Kenna, her sharp fingernails scratching and marring the tattoos on both of her hands to the point of bleeding, added, widening her bloodshot eyes.
“The important thing is, this chain of fate won’t end until you die or don’t kill it.”
“Then you will die, Kenneth.”
She didn’t back down, so did the Ron River sword. Rom sighed through her strained body and shrugged her shoulders, saying it couldn’t be helped. Not like a man who has already overworked his body to the extent that words such as fierce battles or series of battles are not enough, he readily declared.
“If you really have to do that, it’s a three-way battle.”
“You are overbearing and arrogant. It doesn’t really matter, but it’s good to keep that in mind.”
“What?”
“The rules of the world.”
Against Oliver, the strong sword who also has no intention of backing down, and Kenna.
“Yes, the unchanging truth of this world.”
I grabbed my sword and took a stance.
“… Only the strong survive.”
