The Tyrant Won’t Let Me Go - Chapter 15

Brian’s hand, which was holding the sword, trembled.

 

“You little bastard…!”

 

But his attack didn’t work.

 

Although I was much smaller in size, I had the upper hand in speed.

 

‘In the first place, I have Caliberne.’

 

In a pure sword-to-sword battle without the intervention of any other external factors, Caliberne’s win rate reached nearly 100%.

 

It was possible only on the premise that someone with some talent for swords sharpened their swordsmanship every day, but I met both conditions.

 

Still, when my sword broke, it meant that Brian had done something.

 

‘Even in such a situation, the win rate of Caliberne could still reach 70%.’

 

As long as Brian didn’t have another dirty trick left, a half sword would be enough to defeat him.

 

“What the hell did you do!”

 

It was funny to see him shouting like a gorilla.

 

‘I’m not the one who pulled the trick, I’m the one who did it.’

 

Clank-

 

Two blades of swords collided in the air.

 

At one stroke, the sword in Brian’s hand flew into the air.

 

The greatsword that left the human hand fell helplessly to the ground.

 

Just then, I saw Brian’s face turn white with both eyes.

 

All this happened in less than two seconds.

 

“Uh, what-”

 

“No way!”

 

I could hear the sound of the Knights around me.

 

Ignoring their gibberish, I pointed the blade at Brian’s neck, who had lost his weapon

 

The upper half of the sword was blown and only the lower half remained, but the remaining blade was still sharp.

 

When the sword was pressed a little toward his neck, drops of blood began to form.

 

When a drop of dark red blood finally dripped down, I put my sword back down.

 

“It’s over.”

 

If you make the other person bleed first, you win.

 

It was a complete victory by any means.

 

Ciel raised her eyes and looked up at Brian, who was still pale, and said.

 

“Since I won, you must leave the Knights.”

 

His face became distorted in an instant.

 

“What nonsense-”

 

“You promised to do that before the duel.”

 

Then Brian gritted his teeth.

 

“No way. This isn’t valid. What the hell did you do? Ha! What kind of trick did you use?”

 

“What do you mean by a trick? A drop of blood was dripping down your throat. Anyone could tell that I won, right?”

 

“That’s ridiculous!”

 

Now my ears are starting to hurt.

 

If this had been in my previous life, I might have tried to claim damages from Brian for both mental damage and the physical damage inflicted on my eardrums.

 

“There’s no way it’s possible to block my greatsword with a half-broken sword!”

 

“Huh? What are you talking about? I’m sure you saw it a little while ago.”

 

Are his eyes decorative?

 

Or was his brain just a decoration?

 

I don’t know exactly what he did, but it was him who broke my sword.

 

“And I’ve told you over and over again. A great swordsman doesn’t care about tools.”

 

“Shut up!”

 

I smiled brightly at him and said.

 

“However, it’s a pity that Tekarke, who said that the greatsword was his specialty, lost to me who was a person ‘without the basics or skills’.”

 

I said, looking down at the broken half greatsword with both hands.

 

In fact, it was something I wouldn’t normally say.

 

But at this moment, I was quite angry.

 

“If you lose to me like that, I don’t know if you would ever become an apprentice, let alone a sword master.”

 

The people who had been buzzing for a while became quiet and silence passed.

 

“How dare you…!”

 

Brian’s face turned red in anger and strode towards me.

 

His bloodshot eyes looked insane.

 

“Someone from a slum where things that are less than beasts are infested-”

 

He strode over to me, clenching his fist with his right hand.

 

“Don’t disturb me!!”

 

It was just then.

 

“Stop.”

 

Brian paused at the chilling voice echoing through the hall.

 

At the same time, a thin, red flare of light hit Brian’s right hand.

 

“Argh!”

 

He screamed and clasped his hands.

 

“What the hell are you doing?”

 

I knew who the owner of that voice was.

 

And who was the owner of that red light, it was still weak and thin, but the color was clearer than anyone else.

 

“I, Your Majesty…!”

 

Turning my head, I saw Cedric standing with his sword pointed at Brian.

 

“Your Majesty, this…”

 

“Quiet.”

 

The cold voice was very similar to that of the Emperor.

 

I had never felt that way from him at all, but now his voice was filled with a tremendous sense of dignity, just like that of the Emperor.

 

‘Was that all?’

 

The gentle camellia eyes, which always had tears on them, radiated a glimmering red blood color.

 

For a moment, the figure of Cedric, who had become a tyrant, was seen like in the original story, passed before my eyes.

 

“What did you do to have such a big mouth?”

 

Cedric lowered his sword and said, looking at Brian with blazing eyes.

 

“What a disgrace to the Imperial Knights, to use a fist instead of a sword. Brian Tekarke.”

 

“I, Your Majesty! Please listen! It’s wasn’t me, not me-”

 

“Not because of you, but to Lord Ciel Minerva?”

 

Cedric said in a voice cold as ice.

 

“Paul.”

 

At that word, Paul, who mixed himself among the knights, strode out.

 

And he threw a skinny man in front of Brian.

 

Brian’s face turned white as soon as a man wrapped in a cloak appeared in front of him.

 

“I saw with my own eyes that he had broken Lord Minerva’s sword with his magic. At least it was him who ordered it.”

 

“…”

 

“I don’t think that a solid greatsword would have broken with just a sword clash.”

 

Only then did I know.

 

The fact that Cedric had been watching since the middle of the duel.

 

“Y-your Majesty, forgive me…!”

 

Brian got on his knees and started to beg.

 

He must be aware that the situation was quite serious.

 

It was because Cedric, who had never been angry, would treat him like that in front of others.

“Forgiveness?”

 

But God didn’t seem to be on Brian’s side.

 

“Should I show such mercy to someone who calls me no better than an animal?”

 

The air sank coldly at Cedric’s scornful voice.

 

“Your Majesty! It’s a misunderstanding! How could I say such unspeakable things to Your Majesty!”

 

Then Cedric squinted and spoke.

 

“…do you think I didn’t hear you curse at Lord Minerva?”

 

“Your Highness…”

 

“You mean that you, a swordsmanship teacher, didn’t know that an insult to my master was also an insult to me?”

 

“Your Highness, please have mercy…”

 

Bang- !

 

The sound of metal hitting the ground interrupted Brian’s words.

 

The imperial family stands at the peak of the Deamant Empire.

 

And the thing that the Deamant Empire respects the most was the sword.

 

In other words, the order of the imperial family with the sword was absolute.

 

“There’s no mercy.”, A cold, low-pitched voice said.

 

* * *

 

Eventually, Brian Tekarke was expelled from the Knights and lost his qualifications as a swordsmanship teacher for Cedric.

 

Not only that, he forever lost access to the main palace.

 

In short, it meant that there was no way to enter any important positions in the Imperial Palace.

 

It was a pretty painful loss for the Tekarke family, who had been working in the Imperial Knights as a magic swordsman from generation to generation or working in important political positions.

 

‘Brian had it coming, relying on his family name.’

 

I muttered to myself as I touched the well-trimmed wooden sword.

 

“Ciel.”

 

As I raised my head to the familiar voice, I saw Cedric gasping for breath as he ran in a hurry.

 

“Did you sleep well?”

 

“I slept well. Your Highness Cedric, did you also sleep well?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Cedric answered, rubbing his cheek.

 

“You’re starting swordsmanship class today, right, Ciel?”

 

“That’s right.”

 

As Brian was stripped of his qualifications as his swordsmanship teacher, I also took over Cedric’s pure swordsmanship class.

 

At first, I turned down the offer, but I liked it very much, and Commander Farbe strongly recommended me for the position of being Cedric’s teacher.

 

In the end, the Emperor encouraged me to take written tests and practical tests.

 

As the words of encouragement were said, it was practically semi-compulsory, so I had no choice but to take the test, and after passing the tests, I was ordered by the Emperor and became Cedric’s pure swordsmanship teacher.

 

‘Well, I’d rather think it’s a good thing, but…’

 

It was good that I could even manage the swordsmanship class now.

 

Of course, my salary also increased.

 

However, as the responsibility and burden increased, it was inevitable that I had to spend more time with Cedric.

 

‘Let’s reflect deeply in our hearts…’

 

I have to be more careful and keep the line.

 

Well, we are, and we would never develop in that kind of relationship.

 

[Was that really up to you?]

 

‘Shut up, I’m in control of this body.’

 

[‘Teacher, are you confident that you won’t be shaken even if he says ‘I love you, teacher!’]

 

‘If you’re shaken by that, you’re not a professional swordsman.’

 

I replied inwardly to Caliberne, who continued to crackle and annoy me.

 

‘I’m a teacher, and he’s my student. I have to be able to say that to be a professional.’

 

[A new knight who has just joined the Imperial Knights talks like that to the Crown Prince? Wasn’t that an immediate disease?]

 

‘Oh, that’s what you mean.’

 

It doesn’t help anyway.

 

“Shall we get started?”

 

“Oh, right…”

 

Cedric answered with a slightly stiff face.

 

Maybe it was because it was his first swordsmanship class with me, so I glanced at his face, but Cedric quickly avoided my gaze.

 

I thought something was wrong, but I decided to let it slide for now and move on to our class.

 

“Here you go. It’s a wooden sword. I’m going to teach with this for a while. It’ll be a lot lighter than the one you used before.”

 

“Oh, that’s true…”

 

Cedric held the wooden sword and shook it a couple of times.

 

“I’m going to keep training you to swing this thing over and over again.”

 

“Ah, uhh…”

 

For some reason, Cedric clenched his fists, he seemed unsure of himself.

 

I spoke as lively as I could to cheer him on.

 

“Come on, you can do it, Your Grace. Be confident.”

 

And then I put Cedric in the right position and stood by his side and said.

 

“Come on, let’s begin.”

 

After that, Cedric started wielding his wooden sword to my chant.

 

A lively practice continued for a while longer than when dealing with the greatsword.

 

“Focus on swinging slowly and accurately, Your Highness Cedric.”

 

Cedric, who was fixed gaze on the tip of his sword, said with a serious look on his face.

 

“I’m going to start with the basics slowly.”

 

“Yes.”

 

Before long, sweat was forming on Cedric’s forehead.

 

After a while, Cedric’s movements started to slow down.

 

Seeing Cedric’s reddened face, the sword slipped out of his hands while I was deciding whether to stop or not with class.

 

“Oh…!”

 

Just as I was about to pick up the sword and place it in his hand, Cedric fell down on his knees and reached out his hand towards the sword.

 

But his appearance was a bit strange.

 

“…Your Highness?”

 

No answer came back from Cedric.

 

The hand holding the sword was trembling as if tired from a game, and the face half covered with black hair was as pale as a ghost.

 

“Hyuk, ahh, haa…”

 

Cedric’s rapidly breathing as if gasping for air.

 

He was breathing hard…

 

“Your Highness…”

I reached towards him with an urgent voice.