Dungeon Defense (WN)

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“Damn it, damn it……!”

A middle-aged knight cursed.

Heidelberg’s cavalry knights were pathetically chased out of the city. There used to be 900 of them, but after their huge defeat during the night attack, their numbers had drastically decreased to 200. The majority of the remaining 200 were also apprentices as all of the veteran knights and even the knight captain were wiped out.

“That damn Nightmare of Bruno! Fall to Hell!”

The middle-aged man who was currently leading the remaining 200 members was the vice-captain.

He had been swearing at Dantalian for several hours now. His face was completely red. This was because he spent the entire night drinking.

The apprentice knights whispered among each other as they followed the vice-captain.

“Sheesh. Why has he been swearing since last night?”

“They say the one who predicted the night attack was that Demon Lord’s subordinate. I understand why he’s so upset.”

The vice-captain used to have a level road straight to success spread out before him.

He used to be second-in-command to a cavalry of almost a thousand knights. However, the knights of Heidelberg were utterly defeated.

If they return to the capital like this, all that waited for them was their unit being disbanded.

The situation was a little better for the normal and apprentice knights. They can be reassigned to somewhere else. But that isn’t possible for the vice-captain. He’ll probably be told to take responsibility for the defeat and be forever kicked out of the military.

“If that bastard didn’t exist……damn it!”

If he were a talented general, then he could’ve served as a commoner. However, the vice-captain climbed up to his position through his moderate skill, connections, and way of life. None of these things were enough to shake away the dishonor of defeat…….

His life as a knight was now over.

“Die……die like a dog……!”

“Sheesh.”

This was the reason why the vice-captain was drunk and swearing up a storm. The other knights sighed as they watched this, but they also understood how the vice-captain felt, so they walked in silence.

It was a little later that they noticed something while marching down a dirt path.

There was a shabby-looking man sitting in the middle of the road.

His looks weren’t impressive, but not only was the black mantle over his shoulders clearly luxurious, but the even weirder part was the fact that he was sitting on a marble chair that was placed in the middle of a dirt path. This was undoubtedly a weird sight.

“What’s up with this guy?”

The vice-captain slurred as he spoke.

“Isn’t he a mage?”

The attendant did his best to explain while trying to not offend his master. The vice-captain’s face twisted weirdly.

“A mage?”

“Yes. Mages have always been known to be eccentric. I heard that they would occasionally block the road like this and ask people riddles. They let people who solve the riddle pass while turning those who fail into toads.”

“Hmph. What retards.”

The vice-captain snorted. However, the fact that he lowered his voice made it clear that he was being cautious to not let the mage hear him. Mages were people who always brought fear and awe.

“Tell him to buzz off.”

“Understood!”

The attendant ran off after receiving the order. He conversed with the mage courteously before returning to his master with a troubled look on his face.

“Master. That mage is asking if we’re the knights from Heidelberg.”

“Huuh? Are you telling me he knows who we are?”

The vice-captain hiccuped.

“No, if he recognized us, then he should’ve gotten out of our way sooner. What is he thinking?”

“Well, uhm……. He says that he won’t get out of the way no matter what.”

“What? Ha. He really is a retard!”

The vice-captain got off his horse.

“I’ll ask this great mage whether he truly won’t get out of our way no matter what.”

He unsheathed his two-handed broadsword. It was a weapon that could easily decapitate someone.

The vice-captain emitted his aura as he approached the man in the chair.

“I’m the vice-captain of Heidelberg’s cavalry knights.”

The vice-captain’s body that was as big as a bear’s cast a large shadow on the ground.

“Mages may receive special treatment, but to block the path of knights, there is a limit to rudeness. Get out of the way!”

“Hmm.”

The man had his hands clasped together comfortably.

“So you have made it. Well, to be exact, you arrived here. No, it does not matter how it is described.”

“Haa? What nonsense are you saying?”

“I am saying that I have been waiting for you all.”

The man smiled.

Even though there was a knight emitting an immense amount of aura with hundreds of more knights behind him, the man didn’t seem scared or worried. On the contrary, it was the vice-captain who felt uneasy. Don’t tell me? Is this guy actually a high-ranking mage?

More than anything else, he was incredibly accustomed to informal speech. It was hard for anyone to be able to speak informally to the vice-captain like this unless they were a person with great skill or a noble.

“……For what reason were you waiting for us?”

The vice-captain spoke in a slightly more courteous tone. His way of living that had helped him reach his current position was sending out warning signals.

“You fool.”

The man’s gaze became vicious for a moment.

The man with a warm and gentle smile on his face was nowhere to be seen. A thick aura of killing intent flowed out from him. His gaze was so menacing that the vice-captain, who had never lost in a battle of courage before, flinched.

“For what other reason would I be waiting for a pig bastard like you?”

“W-What?”

“You seem to be strolling around rather pleasantly under the sun despite having not properly carried out Her Excellency’s orders.”

The vice-captain gasped.

He realized who the seated man was. There was only one type of person who could mention ‘Her Excellency’s orders’ in front of him. This man was undoubtedly an emissary sent by Her Excellency the Ruler of the Great Republic!

The vice-captain immediately dispersed his aura.

“I-I……did not recognize you.”

“You reek of alcohol. What a sight this is. You must already know that the gallows await you back at the capital since it seems you have already been having your final drinks.”

“Gueh!”

There was nothing more that had to be said.

The vice-captain threw his pride as a knight away as he tossed aside his two-handed sword.

“Please forgive me!”

Did they notice that the atmosphere was shifting into a dire direction? The men behind the vice-captain started to stir.

The vice-captain prostrated without any hesitation. Pride was important; however, pride was something you could build again later on. That’s impossible to do if you aren’t alive.

“Forgive? What are you asking me to forgive?”

The man smiled cruelly.

“Do you understand how you have wronged the great leader and the Republic? Fine. Go ahead and try telling me your crimes with that intoxicated mouth of yours.”

“We failed to assassinate an executive within the Demon Lord army…….”

“How dare you try to return to the capital while being aware of that!”

A roar was let out.

The cry was so loud that one might mistake it for the sound of thunder. The vice-captain lowered his head in surprise and the cavalry knights behind him almost fell off from their horses. It was clear that the man had used a spell that amplified his voice.

“You pig! Try making an excuse!”

“T-This humble one tried to take part in the envoy group……but that sly fox of a scoundrel placed a condition that forbade knights from being included among the envoys……so the mayor had to go alone…….”

“Hmm.”

The man’s voice loosened slightly.

“Her Excellency the Leader gave you guys a secret order, did she not?”

“Y-Yes. Of course.”

“In other words, you are also responsible for the assassination incident.”

“That is correct…….”

The man’s question seemed somewhat strange, but the vice-captain continued to keep his head down. One wrong word and he might end up being executed immediately. His priority right now was getting out of this situation alive.

“There is one thing that you did well. Do you know what it is?”

Was it thanks to him throwing his dignity and pride away? The man’s voice became much gentler. The vice-captain rejoiced in his mind as he carefully answered.

“T-This humble one is ignorant, so I have only thought about my crimes.”

“It is the fact that you willingly gave me these confidential pieces of information.”

“……?”

The vice-captain raised his head.

The man was smiling happily.

‘Wait a second.’

The vice-captain’s face froze.

‘Come to think of it, this guy hasn’t revealed his identity yet━.’

The vice-captain couldn’t continue his thought. His field of view suddenly flipped upside down before eventually going black. A black curtain fell over the world.

“I had a feeling that Elizabeth didn’t give secret orders to only one person. Thank you for kindly answering my questions, Vice-Captain Frederick.”

Thud, the vice-captain’s head fell to the earth and rolled.

The sword that rose up from the man’s shadow sank back down into the road after decapitating the vice-captain. The other knights were shocked by the tragedy they had just witnessed. However, they weren’t given much time to be shocked as swords started to come out from their shadows as well.

“M-Magic! He’s using magic!”

“The vice-captain has fallen!”

The knights fell into a panic.

The man retrieved the vice-captain’s head before taking out an artifact. A teleportation spell was activated the moment he tore the parchment. The man was teleported to the forest nearby along with his chair.

The man hid his body in the foliage as he watched the knights fall one by one from afar.

The knights fell helplessly to the swords that were rising up from the shadows. If there were a veteran knight among them, then they would’ve realized that death knights were the ones behind this attack and that it was not because of magic. They would have then proceeded to tell everyone that the host should be nearby and that they simply had to deal with the host, but a veteran like that didn’t exist in this group of knights that had practically been wiped out already.

In the end, around a hundred of the two hundred men were slaughtered and the remaining men ran away without being able to take their equipment.

“…….”

The man ripped the skin mask off his face, revealing Dantalian’s face.

Dantalian muttered as if he were reprimanding himself.

“……With this, I’ve repaid my debt to Paimon for losing in Frankia’s civil war.”

It was only natural for the glory of victory and the goal of the battle to all go straight to Paimon.

If Dantalian got worked up and pursued revenge for the assassination attempt, then Paimon would’ve had no other choice but to agree. Dantalian and Laura had contributed the most to capturing Heidelberg, after all.

But Dantalian held himself back.

Just as how Paimon forgave him for the defeat at Frankia, Dantalian also didn’t complain and only considered the political gains. Even if his subordinate was almost assassinated, he absolutely couldn’t pursue vengeance…….

“But you bastards messed with my subordinate.”

Dantalian looked down at the vice-captain’s head he had dropped on the floor.

Dantalian was well aware that Laura was a child who didn’t actively seek revenge. She was someone who was satisfied with just serving her lord, and if her lord wanted to help Paimon, then she would more than gladly discard revenge from her mind.

However, Dantalian made a promise before. He promised to get revenge in his subordinates’ stead if they were to be ridiculed.

It was by no means a promise he had made lightly.

Dantalian had spent two consecutive days tracking the knights down in order to keep his promise, before finally choosing an appropriate spot to carry out the revenge.

Dantalian secretly placed the vice-captain’s head in Laura’s room within the dungeon.

Laura was surprised by the new addition to her head collection, but she immediately noticed that the object that was wrapped around the head was the flag of Heidelberg’s knights. She then figured out who had done this and why.

“Your Lordship is more perverted!”

“No, Laura is more perverted!”

But Laura didn’t say anything about it to Dantalian. Dantalian also didn’t make any sort of implication toward it. The master and servant called each other names and spent their days laughing.

That was how the master and servant shared their feelings.

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. What a nice way to end this segment. Dantalian getting revenge in Laura’s stead. You wouldn’t think he’s a scheming scoundrel if this was all we saw of him.

On a more serious note, uh, the next chapter might have some delay. I found out yesterday morning that my mom has covid, so yeah. I’m not sure what’s going to happen. I might end up having symptoms in a few days, so I’m just doing my best to not push myself. I really don’t know what’ll happen, so if I do end up getting it as well, I’ll probably announce it in the discord.

I’ll see you guys in the next chapter. Hopefully I’m not dead.

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