There were three main reasons why Lord Lothar could be so confident.
First, he was deeply intoxicated by the victory at the Battle of Schafendorf.
In truth, the credit belongs to Lord Rutger’s seasoned tactics and the knights’ brave charges. But it seemed Lothar was too caught up in the fact that it had been his first time commanding an army.
Still, it was hard to fault him entirely after all, the overall commands to attack or retreat had been his decisions.
Granted, even with that in mind, he hadn’t done all that much…but it wasn’t like he’d been off picking his nose either.
Second, Lord Lothar had been relentlessly pushing for cavalry charges from the very beginning.
And it had actually worked out fairly well. So it wasn’t unreasonable that his stubbornness had only grown stronger.
Lastly, the cavalry of the Duchy of Lys, even if classified as medium cavalry, were no match for proper knights.
This wasn’t just about training or equipment. It was a difference between a handful of elite warriors and mass-produced cavalry.
The gap was inevitable. Those troops barely wore partial lamellar armor on the upper body just to save on iron.
Knights, on the other hand, were practically human tanks. Once they charged on horseback, there were few forces that could withstand them.
All of this had led to the Lord Lothar who now sat confidently before Keldric, casually suggesting that a hundred foreign cavalry could be crushed by fewer than ten knights.
Thanks to that, Keldric’s head was throbbing.
Part of it was from the frustration, sure but more than that, it was just painful to watch someone act so recklessly.
Baron Yaben had, at least, been a reasonably likable lord.
He hadn’t completely ignored his subjects, he listened to matters concerning his domain, and he didn’t scoff at trade but valued it.
Even if Lothar had inherited some of that, his stubbornness and utter lack of military insight were serious flaws.
Had Baron Yaben failed in raising him properly?
Keldric knew all too well how terribly a child could turn out if they were coddled too much from a young age.
And to fix that kind of thinking…
“…Should I just quit?
The thought flashed through Keldric’s mind
‘Wouldn’t everything be easier if I just walked away from all this?’
Serving in Lord Lothar’s army? That, he could tolerate.
But if even a temporary liege had so little grasp on reality, Keldric couldn’t help but start reconsidering.
Not that he could blame himself how was he supposed to know Baron Yaben would fall ill, or that his son would turn out to be this kind of person?
“Lord Lothar. That hundred-strong cavalry force is no child’s play.”
So, trying to soothe his churning stomach, Keldric slowly opened his mouth.
He chose his words carefully, but still ended up sounding a bit harsher than usual.
“They’re a tricky opponent, and we don’t have an effective way to counter them.”
“But Sir Keldric, I’ve fought against Lysian troops before.”
“They’re not the same as those small bands of three or four raiding backwater villages.”
Among the Lysian forces gathering on the Ramders Plains, there were medium cavalry and worse, mounted archers.
And the mounted archers were the real problem. As long as they had the skill, they could keep hammering and retreating across the open plains.
They’d come in a rush, circle around, rain down arrows, then vanish the moment a counterattack was expected or their quivers ran dry.
The classic “hit and run” tactic.
Keldric knew well that it ranked right up there with the infamous “you come here” strategy as one of the most underhanded methods in human history.
Of course, if the enemy’s horses couldn’t maneuver properly, the tables would turn and they’d be the ones getting hunted.
But unfortunately, this region was nothing but flat plains. To fight with the cover of forest or hills, they’d have to retreat a long way back.
And if they did that, forward villages like Runt would essentially be abandoned.
“Go back to Schafendorf? That’s absolutely out of the question!”
And of course, Sir Lothar, the lord’s son, would never allow such a thing.
Keldric’s temper began to simmer.
“Then what are we supposed to do?”
“Naturally, we fight here! Once we reach the Ramders Plains.”
“And once we get there, what exactly can we do?”
Fighting on the Ramders Plains. Keldric knew that was practically being forced upon them.
What Keldric wanted was for Sir Lothar to have some sense of reality. Not just blurt out nonsense like a fool, but to speak with the weight of a commander leading an army.
The atmosphere in the room chilled slightly. A heavy silence hung in the air for a moment.
Even someone as oblivious as Sir Lothar could tell that Keldric’s barely-contained frustration was reaching its limit.
“Sir Lothar. They have at least a hundred cavalry alone. Of those, no fewer than thirty are heavy cavalry. The rest are light cavalry and mounted archers. And even their supply units can fight.”
“I’m aware of that.”
“Oh, really? Then I’m even more curious. How exactly do you plan to deal with them? And please, spare me the whole ‘the knights will charge’ nonsense that’s just a suicide run.”
Sir Lothar paused, pretending to think.
Keldric found it absurd.
What had he been doing all this time, only to start considering a strategy now?
“If you include their supply units, they have at least 150 men. Even if we’re only short by fifty, their cavalry is of much higher quality.”
“Sir Rutger, how many cavalry do we have?”
“With the reinforcements from Bellam, about twenty, give or take.”
A hopeless number. Sir Lothar was struck speechless.
Keldric saw the dissatisfaction in his eyes.
“…Very well, Sir Keldric. I understand your concern.”
He said it, but his gaze still held resentment.
Keldric slowly loosened his jaw. The thick tension in the room deepened even further.
“It is a virtue to possess courage as a knight, but you cannot apply that to everything. I understand your fear.”
“…….”
“But how can you pass judgment on the outcome before even giving battle? You’re far too timid.”
Keldric placed his helmet on the table.
Yeah. He’d tolerated enough.
And now he saw that reasoning was pointless. All he had learned from this was the true nature of the future lord a fool who spouted nonsense.
If the man was so stubborn and incapable of listening to reason, there was a simple, clean solution.
“This has always been the cure since old times.”
Keldric clenched his fist. A crackling sound echoed through the house.
“Sir Lothar. Just now, you insulted my honor.”
“Huh? What are you…”
Keldric’s tone had completely changed.
Only then did the people in the room begin to realize what was about to unfold.
“I am not timid. I am always ready to step onto the battlefield and lay down my life in battle, and I have acted in a way that brings no shame to the glory of God or to my honor.”
Clank.
The metal greaves clashed with a sharp sound.
Alyssa, Arno, and Helga, standing behind Keldric, swallowed hard without realizing it.
Keldric’s back, which always seemed large, now loomed like a mountain, leaving them breathless.
“I swore an honorable and sacred oath before Duke Bogenberg and God but that does not mean I’ll stand by and let my honor be trampled. And you, sir, have just insulted that honor.”
“No, when did I ever…?”
“Sir Kyung called me a coward. Yet I have never once retreated on the battlefield, nor have I ever feared the path to the gods.”
“Y-you insolent…! Show respect! I am Lothar Mikesh, son of Baron Devanou Mikesh of Yaben!”
CRASH!
It all happened in an instant. Shards of shattered wood scattered across the floor.
As the loud sound echoed through the house, Sir Lothar blankly stared below his elbow.
The table he had been leaning on had now returned to nature reduced to mere bark and splinters.
THWACK!
And the wine glass Keldric had snatched was no different.
“You scoundrel! How dare you! I am your future lord—”
CRACK—!
“To me, you dare…!”
Sir Lothar couldn’t finish his sentence.
The wine glass in Keldric’s grasp was being crushed in real time by his large hand.
The way it was crumpling, as if it were paper, was surreal enough to make even Sir Rutger who had rushed to stop him freeze with wide eyes.
“Arno!”
“…Ah, yes! Sir Keldric!”
Startled by Keldric’s thunderous voice, Arno snapped out of his daze and hurried over.
Everyone in the house stared, baffled. What was he doing?
“Take it off.”
“Y-yes, sir…”
Arno hastily began removing Keldric’s left-hand gauntlet.
As the gauntlet was quickly removed, Keldric, now with his chainmail sleeve tightly bound with cord, began to speak:
“Sir Lothar. Though you have insulted my honor, up until this moment I have considered you, by contract at least, to be my lord.”
“….”
“And yet, the return for my trust is such a cruel betrayal. You claim to be the next lord? Then act like one!”
The timid Helga flinched. Alyssa quickly pulled her into a comforting embrace.
Keldric, catching the gesture from the corner of his eye, cooled down for a brief moment but the die was already cast.
“Still, Sir Lothar. Despite your affront to my honor, I believe there is hope for your attitude to change.”
Sir Lothar’s expression twisted. What kind of nonsense was this?
Matching that expression, Keldric strode right up to Lothar’s face.
“In this world, there is such a thing as the rod of love.”
“T-the rod of love?”
“Do you think people strike others merely out of hatred or to scold them? Absolutely not.”
Keldric dramatically raised his left hand. Sir Lothar, dazed, followed it with his eyes.
No way…right?
Even with that look of disbelief, Keldric’s hand like the lid of a cauldron was already flying toward Lothar’s cheek.
BOOM—!!
A strange sound rang out.
It wasn’t the usual slap of flesh hitting flesh. It sounded more like a compressed burst of air exploding.
“Ack!”
With a bizarre shriek, Sir Lothar’s head snapped to the side as he was flung violently to the floor.
And he hadn’t just fallen his body had practically flown four or five steps through the air before crashing down.
“Ah, no… what is this.”
Several soldiers who had been standing guard outside rushed in, startled, and Sir Rutger looked at Keldric with a dumbfounded expression.
The reactions of the other soldiers who came in late and grasped the situation weren’t much different.
However, Keldric had an invincible shield he could raise as a knight.
“Sir Lothar insulted me first. My honor was sullied.”
“……”
“Sir Rutger. I trust that you will respect my honor.”
“Y-yes, of course…”
Sir Rutger nodded, beads of sweat trickling down his face.
The soldiers, without needing any orders, quickly made their way back outside.
Satisfied by this, Keldric approached Sir Lothar and bowed slightly.
“Sir Lothar. I remain with you for the sake of our contract with the Duke of Bogenberg, but if you insult my honor again…”
“……”
“…Sir Lothar?”
Keldric slowly turned Sir Lothar’s body. His torso, which had been bent toward the floor as if bowing, swung around limply.
“Uh…”
His body drooped like a puppet with its strings cut.
Seeing this, Keldric’s expression immediately turned awkward.
It had only been a single slap one that Keldric had, in his own way, carefully held back on.
But its impact had been no joke.
☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩
Despite the strong feeling that he had made a mistake, Keldric was not subjected to any punishment during his time in Runt.
Sir Lothar had fainted, but he woke up a few minutes later, and it was because he did not punish Keldric that the situation didn’t escalate.
Moreover, Count Bogenberg, who had heard the news through a messenger, sent Keldric a letter offering his heartfelt sympathy.
“I fully understand the distress of Sir Lothar, but even though we hate him, let’s give him one more chance!”
It was roughly the content of the letter.
While indirectly criticizing Sir Lothar’s thoughtless actions, there was no mention anywhere of scolding Keldric for what he had done.
This was understandable, as honor was something that could be weighed equally with a knight’s life.
Sir Lothar’s bold actions towards Keldric were that dramatic, so Keldric also treated him in an equally dramatic manner.
The result, of course, was the pitiful sight of Sir Lothar fainting from joy, but no one blamed Keldric for it.
Thanks to this, Keldric was able to rid himself of any lingering anxiety.
The impulsive desire to quit out of anger also subsided, much like boiling water cooling down.
The thought of just leaving it all behind and going, however, was somewhat complicated by the tempting reward of Baron Gottfried’s title.
It wasn’t so bad to part ways with Sir Lothar’s army, but without an army, Keldric would just be left twiddling his thumbs.
It would be better to stay and collect what could be gathered during the campaign.
Moreover, regardless of such thoughts, Keldric couldn’t unilaterally break his contract with Count Bogenberg.
Even if Sir Lothar’s honor had been tarnished, Keldric had already slapped him across the face and come to an unspoken agreement.
Perhaps, there was still hope for Sir Lothar to redeem himself?
Whatever the case, what mattered was that things were going well. Keldric was not a person who held grudges.
Now, Sir Lothar would carefully think before speaking and could no longer ignore the advice of Keldric or the other knights.
After all, he probably didn’t want to be beaten senseless for ignoring knights.
Keldric, too, was ready to step in without hesitation if necessary.
Then, the opportunity to prove Sir Lothar’s change came earlier than expected.
“Sir Keldric. Sir Lothar has summoned the honorable knights.”
The serious battle was approaching.