Chapter 5. Here is a Pushover Who Surpasses You (2)
Paaaat!
The scroll's magic activated and emitted light.
Then, a subordinate magic circle, displaying a slave seal, was engraved on Brian's chest.
“Is it done now?”
“Yes. It is done, Young Master. The master is set as you, Young Master, so neither escape nor defiance is possible.”
“Kuhuhu. This is really good. It would have been so convenient if something like this existed in the old days.”
‘For the Young Master, when on earth were the old days?’
Lawrence, the butler, didn't understand, but he just let it be.
Prying into the master's words and actions was not a butler's duty.
Instead, he sighed and said.
“It was difficult to obtain, but this is expensive, Young Master.”
“I know. But don't worry.”
Patrick looked at Brian and said with a grin.
“I'll get my money's worth. I definitely will!”
“…….”
Brian's body shuddered at the look in his eyes, filled with firm determination.
In any case, with this, Brian was demoted from the fiefdom's sole knight to a slave soldier.
Brian had the expression of someone who had lost everything, but he was alive nonetheless.
‘As long as I'm alive…. there will be a chance to escape this predicament someday.’
Even in this situation, Brian tried not to let go of the thread of hope.
But would that really be possible?
Brian still didn't know who he had gotten himself involved with.
* * *
The training grounds of the Baron Schneider family.
With all the soldiers gathered there, Patrick went up onto the platform.
“What is it?”
“Why the Young Master?”
The soldiers were bewildered, and amidst their confusion, Patrick, who had climbed onto the platform, spoke.
“Ahem, ahh, can you all hear me?”
Patrick, having started to speak, addressed the lined-up soldiers in a calm voice.
“Starting today, there are two announcements I have for you all. First... Hey! Rookie!”
“Yes. Did you call?”
At Patrick's call, a figure came running quickly like a well-trained puppy, and it was...
“Sir Erickson?”
“Why is that person...?”
“Didn't he just call him 'rookie'?”
To the soldiers who still hadn't grasped the situation, Patrick said.
“Brian has been stripped of his knighthood. And he will serve as a rank-and-file soldier. The reason is that this bastard embezzled the fiefdom's budget.”
At Patrick's words, the soldiers clenched their fists and cheered inwardly.
‘Finally!’
‘He got caught in the end!’
‘Serves him right. That son of a bitch.’
In truth, the fact of Brian's embezzlement was an open secret among the soldiers.
However, the status that came with being the fiefdom's sole knight was too high, and Baron Schneider's trust in him was deep, so there was no way to report his corruption.
And now, that same Brian had finally met the iron mace of justice.
Patrick's words continued.
“I'll say it again, there's no need to give him any special treatment, calling him a former knight or whatever. If by any chance this rookie bastard doesn't get his act together and does something stupid, report it to me immediately. I. Will. Personally. Separate. This bastard's. Bones. And. Flesh. Slowly.”
With each word Patrick spoke, Brian's body trembled violently.
He would do it. He was more than capable of it.
Brian now knew how strong Patrick was, and also how vicious.
The slave seal was engraved on him, so he couldn't resist anyway, but somehow, even without it, he felt that resisting that vicious bastard would be nothing more than a very dangerous atrocity.
Next, Patrick spoke.
“And there's a second announcement. Starting today, I will be in charge of your training and command.”
At Patrick's words, the soldiers murmured amongst themselves once again.
“Um, Young Master.”
“What is it? Speak.”
“Are you saying that you, Young Master, will be training and commanding us?”
“That's right.”
“You, Young Master?”
“Yes.”
The soldier who had spoken made a very troubled expression and carefully said to Patrick.
“Um, Young Master, I apologize for saying this, but if I may cautiously state my opinion....”
“Just say it. Just! Don't beat around the bush.”
“Young Master, you are too young to command us.”
“I can't do it because I'm young?”
“Yes. That is correct.”
Patrick let out a snort and, looking at the soldiers, said.
“No. To be honest, you think I can't do it because I'm weak, don't you? Am I wrong?”
“That's....”
“I told you not to beat around the bush.”
Under Patrick's pressure, the soldier squeezed his eyes shut and spoke in a 'screw it, I don't care anymore' manner.
“Young Master, have you not even held a sword before? So how can you command us to fight monsters and train us?”
“In other words, you don't trust my skills, right?”
“Yes. That is correct.”
“Then it's simple. What's your name?”
“My name is Sanson.”
“Hmm, Sanson....”
Patrick looked at Sanson with intrigued eyes.
Black hair and reddish-brown eyes.
Broad shoulders.
Long, stretched limbs.
A tall stature that surpassed the average.
Just by looking at him, his body was that of a born martial artist.
“Are you the strongest among the soldiers?”
At Patrick's words, Sanson spoke with an inwardly proud expression.
“Yes. That is correct.”
“Your confidence is good. But why, until now... Ah, no. My apologies for that.”
As he spoke, Patrick realized.
In another fiefdom, if they had found a talent of this caliber, even a commoner, they wouldn't let him rot as a soldier.
He would have been accepted as a knight apprentice and given proper knight training.
But Sanson was unlucky.
His immediate superior was trash.
Brian had been sucking up considerable benefits from his position as the sole knight of this fiefdom.
So, he didn't want any other knight besides himself to appear in the fiefdom.
Sanson's talent was one that anyone would recognize unless their eyes were knotholes, but Brian deliberately ignored such talent.
“Aargh... Really! Hey, you son~ of~ a~ bitch~!”
“Aargh!”
As he thought about it, Patrick got furious and kicked the nearby Brian.
And he began to mercilessly stomp on the fallen man.
“Embezzlement, dereliction of duty, and even personnel corruption? You've done it all. All of it... Huh?”
“Aargh. I was wrong, Young Master.”
“Die! Die! If you were wrong, then just die!”
“Kuaaargh!”
As Patrick suddenly began to stomp on Brian like a madman, the soldiers' eyes widened.
‘The Young Master is...’
‘Beating Brian. How?’
‘Even though he looks like that, he's still a knight, isn't he?’
The soldiers stared at the scene as if they couldn't believe it—Brian, a 2-star knight, being unilaterally stomped by the ten-year-old Patrick.
And after stomping on Brian for a while, Patrick said.
“Ah, this isn't what's important right now. Where did I get sidetracked...”
“Kuaargh. S... save me...”
“Stop screaming! You bastard. It's distracting, I can't organize my thoughts.”
Then shouldn't he stop stomping?
But Patrick's feet relentlessly continued to pound Brian's body without a break. And then...
“Ah, you said the problem was that I'm weak, right?”
As if he finally remembered, he stopped stomping on Brian, stepped forward, and said.
“Then the solution is simple. I just have to prove that I'm strong, don't I?”
At Patrick's words, Sanson smiled bitterly and said.
“Are you saying you want to spar with me?”
“Huh? No. No. No matter what, do you really think I'd be that unreasonable?”
That's a relief.
Then what is he planning to do?
Just as Sanson was thinking that, Patrick said.
“I have to spar with all of you. Do you think you'd be convinced if I just beat you? You all need to get a good beating to come to your senses.”
“…….”
“No matter how thick-headed you are, if I fight one against two hundred and win, you won't be able to make the absurd claim that I'm weak, right?”
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah, why?”
“…….”
“Now that it's come up, let's do it now. Go on, grab your weapons.”
Then, Patrick went to one side of the training ground and picked up two wooden swords.
“Ah, you guys can use real swords.”
The soldiers watching this were dumbfounded.
The soldiers of the Baron Schneider family were strong.
Although their knightly force was at a disastrous level, they could proudly say that the level of their soldiers was second to none.
Facing monsters that attacked the fiefdom almost weekly, the soldiers naturally had to become stronger through continuous real combat.
Get stronger? Or die?
In the first place, this was a place with only two options.
And now, Patrick, who was only ten years old, was telling them he would take them all on.
How were they supposed to take this?
To the bewildered soldiers, Patrick said.
“Not drawing your weapons? Well, do as you please. Anyway, are you ready?”
“Young Master. Are you serious?”
“You talk too much. Talking a lot before I fight is the twenty-eighth thing I hate the most.”
Why does he hate so many things?
As the fiefdom's soldiers were having such thoughts, Patrick said with a smile.
“Then, be... gin!”
Jjeoeok!
The moment the word 'gin!' was finished, Patrick's body disappeared.
And when he reappeared, Patrick had already kneed a soldier in the face.
“Uh... uh uh?”
“Wait, what is this...”
Amidst the panicked soldiers, Patrick said with a bright smile.
“You're not paying attention and spacing out, are you? I'm coming!”
And then Patrick began to truly run wild.
* * *
Radiant Dragon Great Master.
It was an alias given to him, literally meaning a dragon as fast as light.
Well, behind his back, he was more often called the Mad Dragon.
Anyway, the core of Patrick's martial arts was speed.
Even the masters of the Unorthodox Alliance who were confident in their speed, like Soul-Snatching Single Hand or Gale Demonic Wolf , couldn't even follow his shadow when the past Patrick decided to move seriously.
Especially Patrick, who had a lot of experience fighting many alone, was accustomed to facing multiple enemies.
By exploiting weak points and rampaging through them, preventing the enemies from properly forming their ranks, the advantages of numbers disappear, and the disadvantages are maximized.
“Damn it, what are you doing?”
“Block him. Block him, I said.”
“Uwaaaargh!”
The soldiers belatedly moved to fight back against Patrick, but it was impossible for them, with no command structure, to catch him.
They could only get beaten up one-sidedly and collapse by the rampaging Patrick as they stumbled around in confusion.
“Can't you do it properly? Are you all scarecrows?”
Patrick shouted furiously.
Even while doing so, he kicked one soldier and, using the recoil, smashed his fist into the face of another soldier on the other side.
While relentlessly pushing the soldiers, he spoke in a stern voice.
“Are you just going to get beaten up and let it end? Why are you holding weapons in your hands if this is all you've got, you idiots! Even a worm should squirm when it's stepped on!”
Out of the two hundred soldiers, more than fifty had already fallen.
And at Patrick's roar, the soldiers realized.
This was not the time to worry about face or anything else.
If they didn't want to be utterly humiliated, they had to do their best.
“Draw your weapons. Your weapons!”
“Don't fight him bare-handed! Grab your weapons!”
“Surround the Young Master!”
As the soldiers drew their weapons, a deep smile finally spread across Patrick's lips.
“Yeah, you should have done that from the start. I don't know why you only come to your senses after getting hit.”
No one would now see Patrick, who was smiling contentedly with a wooden sword dangling from each hand, as an ordinary ten-year-old child.
That was a monster.
“Stay sharp!”
“Hold your shields properly and get in formation!”
“Think of him as a troll and surround him!”
As the soldiers drew their weapons and somewhat got into formation, the corners of Patrick's mouth curled up as he said.
“Looks like you're ready.”
“…….”
“Then I can start beating you in earnest now.”
In earnest?
Then what was that feast of brutal violence that had just happened?
Patrick, with a wide smile on his face, raised a hand and beckoned to the soldiers, saying.
“Come at me.”