Chapter 327 – Knighting Oneself?

“T-the Lieutenant… h-he killed him…”

“What should we do?”

The group of armored knights looked at the embedded head in the tree next to them. Just a moment ago their leader’s head went flying into it after getting punched. They could not process this feat as no one had expected this much resistance coming from this place. Their spy network had never failed them before and had been ill-informed about this man’s power. It was becoming clear to them that he was not just a simple tier 2 runesmith but something else entirely.

“Hold your ground, we are Knights of the Valerian household! As long as we have the Knight Commander with us, we will be victorious! We must not waver as our cause is just”

One of the older knights stepped forward to take over the situation. It seemed that he was next in line and now had become their leader. Yet just as he was shouting at the remaining men here, his body was yanked forward. It flew at the man that had killed their Lieutenant with one strike to the head.

“You guys really like to prattle on, do you actually think that you are the ones in the right?

“U-unhand me, do you understand the gravity of the situation? We represent the Valerian Household, your deeds will not go unpunished!”

“My deeds? Do you even realize what you did?”

The man was floating up in the air while being held up by something that looked like a blue haze. These knights did not have the mana sense to see the spell used, the only one that was able to grasp the whole situation was the mage in the back. Even while the other knights were getting pumped up to give it another try against their opponent, he didn’t want to do anything but run.

His mana sense allowed him to see the difference in power. No one could really see the true magnitude of the man before them but he could somewhat compare it to other mages or monsters. It was apparent that this person was a tier 3 class holder and not someone that had just reached that point. Their mana was just too massive and comparable to mages well over level two hundred.

This was something he could measure by the simple mage hand spell the man was using. The spell was something even a level one mage was capable of casting. It wasn’t really a spell used for combat as it was usually sluggish and the focus was more on precise hand movements than speed or power.

He vividly remembered how this mage’s hand grabbed their Lieutenant who was someone close to reaching level hundred fifty. The man was close to reaching his own class change yet in a matter of seconds his head was flying from his body. This was not someone that they could face on their own, only their commander could do anything. The mage was certain that there had been some type of deception afoot.

It was hard to believe that their spies would make such a blunder. If they knew that a tier 3 class holder was holding out here, then their commander would be here to meet him instead. In the mage’s eyes, this person was probably hiding their real status through magical means for years. They had attacked such a person without any knowledge and there was probably only one way of getting out of this alive.

The man before them was still only a commoner, just on the level of a platinum adventurer. Thanks to his class being related to a mage, the man here knew that their intelligence and reasoning should be above average. If he could just point out the downsides of the acts he was performing, the situation could be saved. He needed to act fast though, the second in command was about to get himself choked to death by the mage’s hand spell and the other knights would do a disservice to themselves if they attempted to save him by forceful means.

“Please wait! Stop!”

“You want me to wait? I’m not the one that started this.”

“Yes, please think about the repercussions of your actions, do you trouly wish to make enemies of the Valerian household? If you kill all of us here, you will be branded as a criminal!”

“A criminal huh?”

The mage nodded as he could see the man’s resolve wavering. It was impossible to go against the nobles and this problem was magnified when a Duke was involved. There was no way that this man here wouldn’t know the consequences. It was hard to see his facial expression as it was buried under a hood but his words seemed to have calmed the situation down. Now they just needed to retreat and their commander would make short work of this man for them.

“You make a good point but let me ask you a question then.”

“Ah, yes?”

“What’s the punishment for destroying a knight’s property and attacking his family members on the said property?”

“Huh? A knight’s? That would be… y-you don’t mean?”

“Yes, that’s right, my actions have been justified from the start…”

…

Roland remained silent for a moment while thinking. Only now did he have some time to cool off after almost losing Agni. The man that was responsible was already dead but these people that were here were not devoid of any responsibility. They all had participated in the attack and did not blink twice before following his orders.

While he knew that these people weren’t entirely at fault. After going through the tier 3 trial he became aware of the layers of indoctrination needed to build up a reasonable army. It started at the knight academy and following orders had been drilled into their very core.

‘This mage is right, I’ve already become a criminal by killing that guy. It won’t even matter if I try to explain myself.’

Before he could choke the other knight to death with his mage hand spell the other person started talking. After killing the first person his rage had gone down slightly and was steadily decreasing during the conversation. While he had become stronger, this strength would do him no good against a noble household.

There were a few options that he could go with, one of them was murdering everyone here and then making a run for it. Escaping into another country was feasible if he was able to gain access to a ship and get off this island. It might have even been possible for him to take all the blame which would save both Elodia and Bernir from being taken in. Roland at least felt somewhat confident in his own skills for such a plan to work. There was even that woman that he had connections with that would probably smuggle him out of here.

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This was one option but there were others, one of them would keep him here while giving validity to his acts. There was another way of getting out of this mess alive without any need of moving away from Albrook. However, if he decided to take this path he would be constraining his own life considerably.

Treading it would put him out into the public eye a lot more than now. It could potentially also alert his father to his presence. That is if he actually revealed his true noble name which wasn’t truly necessary for this to work. A decision needed to be made and it had to be now. There was no time to think everything over anymore. This was something that he managed to avoid for more than ten years of escaping from his old home.

Yet if he didn’t make this decision then his life in this place would probably be over. Knights from the side of the duke’s son would probably come for him. There was no such thing as a justifiable cause for a commoner to kill a knight, even less if this knight was related to a prominent noble house. The Valerians were known for not tolerating any pushback from their citizens and Arthur would not be able to save him from this.

There was just one possible route that he could take without giving out his last name to these people. This route would bind him to Arthur’s fate at least until a proper heir for their Duke house was named. It would give him a reason for killing this Lieutenant though and also allow him to stay in this place where he built up his life.

Perhaps if it was the old Roland from before he would have been inclined to take the easier route out. Running away had always allowed him to survive and building up a new base of operations with his current skills wouldn’t be that hard. Perhaps after things had calmed down a bit, he would even be able to revisit this place again.

No, this was not the way for him anymore. After spending over a year battling with wooden men he realized that sometimes the best defense was a strong offense. If he didn’t take things into his own hands here then he would lose everything that he already built up.

He was tired of constantly being taken advantage of by people he did not respect. If he didn’t put his foot down here then nothing would ever change. At another time a similar situation would arise and perhaps then he would not be there to save his friends and loved ones. It was important to show people that they could not take advantage of him anymore. For this reason, he needed to make an example of someone, someone like Knight Commander Emmerson.

It was still possible for him to talk it through with that man and make him leave. This was not the issue, the real problem would come from what happened next. Without showing that he couldn’t be messed with, there probably wouldn’t be much of a change. It wouldn’t even be strange if another group from one of the Valerian son’s sides appeared a week later. To keep this place secure he needed to not only be a shield but also a sword.