How a Second Life Knight Lives

11. Reputation and Fame

I swung the battle hammer at the sailors rushing at me with various weapons.

Switching hands, from left to right, right to left, top to bottom, bottom to top.

It was a dazzling movement. The circle made by the battle hammer grew and shrank as it weaved through the sailors. The sailors couldn’t properly withstand the attacks of the battle hammer.

Wooden shields shattered as soon as they were grazed, and iron shields broke the arms of those holding them.

Those who struck with swords and thrust with spears couldn’t withstand the impact of their weapons clashing with the battle hammer and dropped them. Some weapons even broke.

Those trying to avoid the circle of destruction were hit in the upper body and fell flat.

More than thirty sailors and pirates were overwhelmingly driven by a single person.

No one could stop my battle hammer.

Not even arrows.

“Shoot! Shoot them down!”

A frantic shout was heard from behind the sailors.

A few sailors who had brought bows drew their strings in response to the shout.

The arrow pierced through the air.

With a sharp sound, the arrow flew towards me.

However, the arrow was no different from other weapons.

The circle created by the hammer shattered the arrow as well.

If one has sharp eyes, they can easily dodge an arrow they know is coming. But blocking it like this is a whole different level.

I was different from usual now.

I swear, this was the first time I had such an experience.

If it were me before the regression, I couldn’t have done this.

That was certain.

Wielding such a monstrous battle hammer in actual combat, and blocking arrows upon seeing them, would have been impossible.

But now, it was possible.

This state, as if slightly feverish, gifted me with heightened senses that could count even the tiniest specks of dust around me.

These heightened senses.

The precariousness that seemed like it could shatter at any moment.

Yet, on the other hand, the comfortable movements as if I had trained for a long time and made them my own.

It was a moment in battle that seemed like it would never end until I finished it.

And eventually, I cut through the ranks of the sailors.

Behind me, broken and shattered weapons were left discarded.

The sailors, broken, shattered, and crushed, lay groaning. No, those who were groaning were the lucky ones. More than half of them couldn’t even do that.

Only then did I become aware that I was slowly coming out of my heightened senses. The senses that could distinguish and pick out even the tiniest specks of dust around me had calmed down to the point where I could catch the incoming weapons.

I turned my body along the path I had taken, lowering the battle hammer to my side.

Blood dripped from the head of the hammer. Flesh and hair were still stuck to the hammerhead.

The massive battle hammer looked more threatening than myself, who wielded it.

I could smile again.

It was the moment when the sailors who had rushed for salvation failed.

*

Even while confronting the knight, Bram watched the entire scene.

There was no hope now.

He had to give up on leading all his subordinates to retreat.

At least those who could survive had to live.

“Run away! Brothers, run away!”

Bram gave the order with a heavy heart. Those who could hear his command whistled three short, sharp notes in succession. And those who heard the whistle also whistled three times in succession and moved.

Bram’s order, transformed into a whistle, was transmitted in an instant to the farthest subordinate.

Until now, Bram’s subordinates, who had somehow formed a line and fought relying on each other, began to flee in the fastest way they could as soon as they received the order.

Some ran into nearby buildings, and some ran through gaps in the encirclement. The bravest among them headed towards the place where I had swept away the sailors. They were trying to retrace the path the sailors had taken.

Among them was Bram.

But Bram had no intention of running away.

“You! I will kill you!”

*

Bram, the merchant leader, charged at me with eyes turned upside down.

It was a situation caused by the guard knight who was restraining Bram losing him. Bram’s subordinates threw themselves to block the knight’s pursuit, and in the meantime, the knight lost Bram.

Bram gripped his massive sword and pulled it back. In that state, he thrust it at me. At the last moment, when the sword was close enough to pierce me, he struck like lightning. It was a movement like using a spear.

I grabbed my war hammer again and aimed at Bram.

I couldn’t see the dust between Bram and me, but I could clearly see the trajectory of the weapons moving between us.

The head of the war hammer collided with the tip of the sword.

Sparks flew, and the sword bent.

At the moment when Bram’s already grim face twisted even more,

The sword broke.

Thank you, Christopher.

Your hammer is amazing!

If the war hammer had been made of lower-quality iron, it would have broken long ago. If it hadn’t been made of solid iron, it would have broken long ago.

Thanks to Christopher’s high-quality weapon, I was able to finish comfortably.

Bram, holding the broken sword, rushed at me as if to tackle me. In an instant, I punched Bram in the face.

Bram was a bear of a man.

He was a man with the toughness to take a punch with a smile.

But my punch was on a different level from any punch Bram had ever experienced.

With a single punch, the light disappeared from his eyes, and his limbs staggered as if they were not his own.

“As expected. Bram, the merchant leader. You endure this. That’s why I lost to you before. There was no answer back then.”

I said something Bram could never understand and threw another punch.

This time, he was completely knocked out.

The eyes completely lost their light and fell sideways without a single movement.

Thus, the fallen Bram became my prisoner.

Bram was not the only one who became a prisoner.

When Bram’s subordinates chose to flee, the guards were able to properly demonstrate their abilities.

Catching multiple fleeing criminals as if herding them was the specialty of the guards. It was what they always did.

The instructions from above were clear.

Capture them alive if possible.

Even if they have no arms or legs, as long as they can speak, it doesn’t matter.

It meant there was much to learn from the prisoners.

No one here failed to understand that.

If they killed too openly, there might be suspicions of silencing them.

Even a guard would have connections to understand the atmosphere above. It was a time to be cautious.

So far, it was practically a battle, so there was no time to follow the instructions from above, but from now on, they had to focus on capturing prisoners according to the instructions.

Therefore, as Bram had anticipated, there were not many sacrifices.

A few managed to escape, but most were captured by the Kalmar guards. Especially the sailors, who were all detained with the ship.

That ended the short battle.

And I proved in front of many people that my reputation was not just a rumor.

No one could call me a mere knight trainee or squire who had not yet been knighted, after I single-handedly overwhelmed the 30 or so sailors who attacked with weapons. Everyone was busy respectfully adding “Sir” to my name.

I began to gain fame.

And that fame led me to another place.

* * *

The Holy Marsolom Empire

The only empire on the continent

A great empire that lasted for 500 years

The center of continental civilization had always been the Holy Marsolom Empire since its establishment.

Although there were kingdoms scattered across much of the continent and surrounding islands, they were always peripheral in the history of the continent.

The Holy Marsolom Empire was always the one to rule, attack, and interact.

The rulers of the empire were the eight families.

And the emperor of the empire was chosen by the representatives of the eight families.

The eight electors were them.

Those who represent families eligible to become emperors.

The electors decided who to elect as emperor through public support.

The elected one became the emperor and ruled the empire with the assistance of the senate composed of nobles.

However, the emperor’s crown is not hereditary.

When the emperor passed away, a new emperor was elected by consensus among the electors. Although there were cases where one family monopolized the emperor for several generations, it was extremely rare to exceed three generations.

This system, which has continued since the establishment of the Marsolom Empire about 300 years ago, has sometimes creaked but has functioned more or less properly until now.

Sometimes an idiot emperor would appear, and sometimes a seemingly crazy emperor would appear, but usually, a moderate emperor was elected and ruled moderately. Perhaps it was neglect disguised as governance.

This was also thanks to the efforts and choices of the electors.

No elector wanted a powerful emperor who would grab them by the neck and shake them. If such a family appeared, the other electors would express their will through implicit collusion and checks. Then, such a family would soon lose its talents and wealth and return to being one of the electors.

And in fact, even as an emperor, it was impossible to lead the empire by one’s own will.

The empire was too complex and vast for one family to rule at will.

The nobles, with the eight electors at the top, formed a complex hierarchy through contracts, oaths, and customs, which were divided into several large noble groups. The nobles had their own territories and acted like kings within their territories.

And within that, there were free cities, autonomous cities, semi-independent territories, organizations with imperial mandates, secret societies, and so on, all intricately intertwined.

None of them would willingly give up their rights. Even if the emperor ordered it, most of them would raise their heads if it infringed on their rights. Many of them sincerely thought it was better to lose their lives than to lose their rights.

To them, the emperor was merely a symbol of imperial unity, and the eight electors were just distant elders.

They thought they would continue to live as they had lived until now.

Everyone thought so.

Until they experienced the unprecedented situation where an emperor could not be elected for ten years.

And when they did not know how far humans could go when they obeyed their desires.