A Fortuitous Encounter in the Game Becomes Reality – Episode 12
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A Fortuitous Encounter in the Game Becomes Reality – Episode 12
4. Time of Growth (2)
Quickly pulling off my headgear, I saw inside the familiar container barracks Arcia gripping the wrist of a big-built man.
"Sir Dalton?"
He was the Vanguard who had given me a tongue-lashing on the medical train.
Dalton hurriedly tried to shake off Arcia's hand, but it did not budge.
"What kind of woman's strength is this!"
I took the man-gyeong that was placed by the bed and put it on.
Then, as I checked the information displayed on the man-gyeong, I had to furrow my brow, because Dalton's status included something called lust.
'Well, well. This bastard...'
I made Arcia let go of him and gave him a light shove.
"You'd better explain the situation properly."
If he entered my room without a legitimate reason, then no matter that he's a Vanguard, I can't let it slide.
"As your escort, I merely sought to check on the young master's condition after such long hours in the game. But then this woman suddenly!"
At Dalton's angry outburst, I expressed my feelings by kicking his joint.
"Kugh! What the—?"
Did he really not expect that the fool who only used to smile stupidly would react like this?
Dalton was greatly flustered.
"Didn't I tell you to send a message if something happens to me? And even if you don't personally check, Arcia is standing by at my side. Come up with a slightly more plausible excuse."
As the commander of the brigade and acting lord, he had entered my room without my permission. How am I supposed to interpret that?
All the more since it's common knowledge that there has already been an attempt on my life.
"What, were you planning an assassination or something?"
"Isn't that going too far! What do you take me, Dalton the Vanguard, for!"
"Then you'd better make your actions convincing, you idiot."
I don't think there's any need to show courtesy to someone who has no respect for me.
Dropping the honorifics, I went in for another joint kick, and as the commotion grew inside, the knights waiting outside rushed in.
"Arcia. What exactly happened?"
I could tell from the man-gyeong that he hadn't come just to relay the division commander's orders.
At my question, Dalton's murderous gaze turned to Arcia.
The atmosphere clearly said, "Don't you dare say anything unnecessary."
But threats had no effect on Arcia, a homunculus.
"He tried to separate me from Lord Adrian."
"By that, you mean he tried to drag you away?"
"Yes."
The first emotion I saw on him through the man-gyeong was lust.
No matter what, he wouldn't display deviant lust toward me, the child of his lord, so it wasn't hard to deduce that the target was Arcia.
Besides, everyone in the order knew that once I logged into the game I wouldn't move for four or five hours, and in that time the beautiful Arcia just sat quietly by my side.
Moreover, since Arcia was, by setting, a commoner, he must have thought it would be easy enough to silence her.
'The knights who were outside are probably in on it with him.'
It clearly showed how much of a joke I was in the eyes of the family.
But there's one thing he's forgotten.
The fact that this is not the territory.
Cedric, the sturdy backing of the knight order, is not here, and I have been granted the authority of a brigade commander by the state, as well as serving as acting lord in my father's stead.
"Are you accusing me right now!? Young master! Are you seriously doubting a Vanguard based on the accusations of some girl whose origins you don't even know!?"
That damn "Vanguard."
Seeing Dalton keep brazenly playing dumb to the end, I let out a short laugh and held out my hand to Arcia.
Understanding exactly what that meant like a ghost, she drew the dagger hanging at the waist of her uniform and handed it to me.
"Violation of military discipline. No, this is insubordination, isn't it?"
Thanks to that, the mood in the room stirred greatly, but I paid it no mind, pointed the blade at Dalton, and ordered him.
"Come on. One step forward."
My blade was aimed straight at Dalton's abdomen, so if he took a single step forward, the sword would inevitably pierce his flesh.
"Are you out of your mind?"
"Brigade commander, please, calm down for now."
Dalton snorted as if to say, what kind of nonsense is this, and the knights around me tried to restrain me.
"To hell with calming down."
Even so, I simply stood there and gave the tip of the blade a little flick.
Thanks to that, everyone who realized this wasn't just an empty threat fell silent.
It's not that I've been holding back all this time because I have a good temper.
I only buried my temper to stay alive, that's all.
Anna's and Cedric's hands don't reach this place, so I had no need to mind anyone else's eyes.
'I've finally got a good pretext, so I should seize this chance.'
* * *
"D-Deputy Captain Billiam!"
Billiam, vice-captain of the Lawrence Knight Order and captain of the expeditionary knights, watched the subordinate rushing toward him in a panic and frowned in puzzlement.
"What's the matter?"
Could it be that the war has started?
Billiam thought there was no reason for his subordinate to be this shocked unless that were the case.
But the words that followed were so unexpected that he had to doubt his own ears.
"The brigade commander orders you to appear at once."
"Who does?"
"The brigade commander, sir. You must go quickly."
Billiam let out a hollow laugh.
He had never imagined there would come a day when he'd receive such an order from Adrian.
That blockhead is actually ordering him to come and go.
"Why are you so restless?"
"The brigade commander is making a huge fuss about executing Sir Dalton. You have to hurry."
What kind of nonsensical, ghost-eating-barley talk is this supposed to be?
Billiam could hardly make sense of his subordinate's words.
He had no choice but to move his feet under his subordinate's urging that he'd understand once he went, but even so he did not lose his composure.
However...
-Swish!
When he arrived at Adrian's quarters, what greeted Billiam was a bloodied dagger flying at him with fierce speed.
Billiam casually caught the blade, but when he realized the one who had thrown it was Adrian, his brow furrowed.
"Did you not hear me tell you to get your ass over here quickly?"
And then he saw Dalton, clutching his bleeding abdomen, kissing the floor.
"May I ask you to explain what is going on?"
Adrian looked straight into Billiam's eyes and spoke with biting sarcasm.
"I cannot, on any commonsense level, understand a knight harassing his commander's woman. What do you think, Deputy Captain?"
Naturally, Billiam wondered what on earth he meant and glanced around at the surrounding knights, and when the subordinates assigned as Adrian's guards avoided his gaze, he realized that Dalton and these men had blundered.
"What the hell were these bastards thinking!"
Billiam pressed his subordinates with a stony expression.
And they frankly admitted their wrongdoing and begged Adrian for forgiveness.
"This all happened because I failed to properly manage my men. I am truly sorry. Please, I ask for your leniency."
At his reasonable attitude, Adrian clicked his tongue briefly, then gave Dalton—who was groaning with his face buried in the floor—a light kick that knocked him fully over.
"Sir Dalton is hereby stripped of his status as Vanguard. Confiscate his arms and throw him into the underground dungeon. And those three knights are accomplices who allowed Sir Dalton to intrude, so send them to the dungeon along with him."
"...."
"As long as I am the one in command, I will not accept any objections."
He didn't like it, but the situation was bad enough that he couldn't refuse.
Billiam nodded, saying he understood.
Adrian walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder.
"This isn't the territory."
Billiam stood there in place, saying nothing, until Adrian left the room.
"With the smell of blood, this room is unusable. I'll move my quarters to the next room, so have the attendants clean this place up."
The knights watched Billiam's expression as they checked Dalton's injuries, and the atmosphere around them sank heavily.
"So that's his true nature?"
Not a question to anyone, but a mutter to himself.
From Billiam's point of view, it was an exceedingly unpleasant situation, yet for some reason the corners of his mouth were curving upward.
'It must have been hard for him, holding back all this time.'
Billiam decided he would have to revise his evaluation of Adrian.