How a Second Life Knight Lives

45. The Purge is Over.

His build reminds me of a wrestler who was called a giant in Korea.

His arms almost reached his knees.

And he had short legs.

His thick neck made him really look like a gorilla.

Clason Friberg was extraordinary in appearance.

He seemed like someone who wouldn’t budge no matter how much you hit him.

I understand why they say he once fought evenly with Master Johan.

But now, he is nothing more than an inciter of murder.

He didn’t deny it either.

Then we should arrest him, right?

“Is that the iron club that beat up Patson’s knights? It’s sleeker than I thought.”

After commenting on the iron rod pointed at him, Clason showed his own weapon.

It was a large single-edged sword.

It was abnormally large, about the height of an average person.

Clason drew the sword from its sheath and threw the sheath aside.

The large sword with its sharp blue blade exuded an intimidating aura.

It looked like a falchion with an extended handle, but its size and thickness were increased to match his physique, so it didn’t feel like a falchion at all.

The thick sword, which could cut anything in half with a proper hit, seemed capable of killing a person even with the back of the blade.

As soon as Clason threw the sheath aside, he charged at me.

Long arms and a long sword.

This combination was powerful.

The distance between Clason and me, which I thought was still there, disappeared in an instant.

And at that moment, the characteristic downward slash of the single-edged sword fell like lightning.

It wasn’t just once.

The blue blade of the large sword, slashing down repeatedly as if in a frenzy, threatened my shoulders and head.

It felt like a cold chill was caressing me.

But I am more confident than anyone in seeing and blocking attacks.

No matter how fast the slashes came, I could see them all.

I parried the side of the large sword with my iron rod repeatedly,

looking for an opening.

If he came closer, I planned to stab his neck with the spike of my iron rod.

However, as if he read my mind, Clason did not approach any further.

Even though his large sword was abnormally long,

my iron rod was not short either.

The difference between the two was minimal.

Seeing that I kept aiming the end of my iron rod at him without any wavering,

he seemed to become cautious.

“`

However, that became his mistake.

When you become cautious, your momentum dies.

When your momentum dies, your speed slows down.

When your speed slows down, you get caught.

Like this!

The moment Clason’s great sword struck my shoulder again, the iron rod did not deflect the great sword but pressed it down.

And following the movement of the great sword, the iron rod moved as well, not letting go of the great sword.

Sparks flew where the iron rod and the great sword met.

However, although the place where the two weapons met slid and moved, they did not separate.

In the end, the iron rod caught the great sword.

The two of us entered a power struggle with our weapons pressed against each other.

When I took a step forward, Clason took a step back,

When Clason took a step forward, I took a step back.

Sweat dripped from Clason’s face.

His face, revealed by the torchlight, was glistening.

His breathing became rough.

Is he weaker than he looks?

Or is it that even this gorilla-like physique can’t keep up with my strength?

I grinned at him.

That guy was exhausted, and I had gained the upper hand.

I tried to strike Clason’s large sword down to the lower right.

The moment Clason tried to withstand my movement with his great sword,

I pulled out the iron rod and swung it hard, hitting the back of Clason’s left knee.

Clason, struck unexpectedly behind the knee, lost his balance and fell to one knee, tipping to the side.

Now!

I immediately started beating him.

Even before Clason completely fell,

I grabbed the iron rod long and beat Clason.

The first strike was to the hand holding the great sword.

The hand is a weaker part than you think.

“`

Considering the thickness of the finger bones and the muscles surrounding them, no matter how trained a person is, it is inevitable that a fracture will occur the moment they are hit by an iron rod.

With that, the large sword was completely neutralized.

From the very next strike, I repeatedly hit the head.

This instinctively makes one raise their arms to protect their head.

Both hands become useless, and the arms are effectively tied.

Trying to get up without using your arms while lying down is really difficult.

Moreover, being hit by a weapon that is confusing whether it is an iron rod or an iron club from 1.5 meters above makes it virtually impossible to get up.

So, Clason couldn’t get up and kept getting beaten.

A person who once had great influence in the Kalmar territory army,

A person who once matched Master Johan and, although eventually defeated, still has a name,

Is lying in front of me,

Twitching

Groaning

Being beaten miserably.

After beating him for a while, he gave up trying to get up and went limp.

He didn’t seem to have lost consciousness, but

Still, after being thoroughly beaten and well-tenderized,

He didn’t seem to have any thoughts of resisting.

“Is he all beaten up?”

“Considering he tried to poison me, no amount of beating is enough. I feel like killing him right now, but I’ll restrain myself because we need the Count’s judgment.”

“Right. Since he’s an instigator of murder, he needs a trial. It’s not rebellion, so we can’t execute him on the spot. We have to consider your reputation too.”

Reputation.

That’s right.

If people hear that the Countess’s fiancé is a madman, it could be a bit problematic for many.

However, from my personal standpoint, a reputation as a madman isn’t so bad.

People who want to use me as a pawn will hesitate a bit more before trying to use me.

What if they get bitten by this mad dog?

If I can instill such hesitation, that’s a really good reputation.

Since I’m not really going to marry Countess Linnea, there’s no need to manage my reputation.

While the knights who were on standby tied up Clason and arrested the surrounding personnel, some of the territory soldiers and the knights who commanded them entered the Freyberg family’s mansion and dragged out all the servants to isolate them.

At dawn, the clerks and knights of the Count of Kalmar will come and search the mansion once again.

If nothing special comes out, there won’t be any problems, but if any special evidence comes out, the charge of murder instigation could be changed to treason.

And I am sure it will change.

“You’ve worked hard. It seems your skills have improved more than I thought. Klason wasn’t an easy opponent, but you subdued him easily.”

“Well.”

I showed the iron rod that had suffered more than I did.

The iron rod that had deflected Klason’s greatsword was scarred in many places.

Some of the scars were quite deep, so it seemed dangerous to continue using this iron rod.

It could break in half at any moment.

I should hand it over to the blacksmith.

“It’s damaged. Klason’s greatsword skills have always been good. His footwork wasn’t great, but his weapon skills were something even I couldn’t ignore. It’s a shame we had to cut him down due to our differences. He could have been quite useful in the territorial army.”

“Is the purge over now?”

Master Johan glanced at the surrounding knights.

He gestured to me and started walking towards the lord’s castle.

I followed him and walked side by side.

“My master was a renowned martial artist. He held the title of Baron and had considerable wealth. His house was quite large. He had many disciples. I was still a child then. Sara was a baby.”

“I heard you weren’t from around Kalmar.”

“We’re not even from the Marsolom Empire. We’re from the Kingdom of Mumil. It’s a meaningless name now.”

The Kingdom of Mumil?

It’s a kingdom in the north of the empire.

Most of its land is mountainous, and its people are known to be very rough.

That’s all I know about the Kingdom of Mumil.

It was fascinating to have someone from a country I had only seen on maps right next to me.

“Due to certain circumstances, my master, his youngest Sara, and I had to leave the kingdom. We hid our identities and drifted to the city of Kalmar. That was over 30 years ago.”

“Master Johan’s master was chosen by the former Count of Kalmar.”

“That’s right. The former Count of Kalmar was a young man with a big heart. He and the Countess even took Sara and me in as family. He was like an older brother to me.”

Master Johan and Baroness Sara, the head maid, were not typical retainers.

They acted like relatives of Countess Linea, and Countess Linea treated them no differently.

At first, I even wondered if they were actually family.

“Kalmar was a county, but when we settled, the Count’s authority wasn’t as great as it is now. He was just the chairman of the city council, the representative of the merchants, and the mayor. He didn’t have the power to control people’s lives like he does now. The current power was established by the former Count.”

“The fact that the former count passed away a year ago means we’ve been really lucky so far.”

“Think of it as a testament to our hard work. How many assassins do you think we’ve caught so far?”

Assassins without a minimap?

It’s impossible for me.

I shrugged my shoulders.

“Still, there have been very few cases where entire families were wiped out. Most of the time, we just issued warnings and let it go, except for those who blatantly colluded with external forces and rebelled. So, the influential people in the territory tend to compromise. As long as they didn’t go too far, their lives were safe. Anyway, with the purge of the two Berke families today, I think there are no more families left that would collude with external forces and plot against us. Whether it’s Maximilian or Glenn, they won’t find anyone in Kalmar to support them.”

“Are you worried about the troubled times? The former count?”

“He was always worried since the emperor’s abdication. But he predicted that the abdication situation wouldn’t last long. At most, about five years? So, he emphasized maintaining neutrality and not getting involved in territorial wars unnecessarily. I’m just following his will.”

But I know that even after five years, there was no emperor.

Or did the emperor ascend shortly after my death?

A difference of about 1-2 years in predictions is understandable.

“But if the emperor’s throne remains vacant even after that, he said a full-scale civil war among the electors could break out. Then the empire would be shattered, and great chaos would ensue.”

“That’s something we’ll have to see after five years. The most important thing right now is not getting involved in the territorial wars happening around us, right?”

“That’s right. I think that’s the most important thing too.”

“We’ve dealt with all the troublemakers who might cause problems by colluding with external forces, so we can just focus on business. Even during wartime, people need to eat and wear clothes.”

“You definitely smell like a merchant. You make a good fiancé for the Kalmar count family.”

“Don’t forget. Five years. I won’t work beyond that.”

“Yes, five years.”

I really didn’t want to get caught up in the pointless wars of the surrounding territories.

From Countess Linea to the retainers who knew the situation, everyone thought the same.

But even if we have no interest in war, sometimes war takes an interest in us.

The aftermath of the territorial war that broke out in the Ulborg region reached the Kalmar count’s territory.