“All right, let’s get a move on.”
“Lord Weiss,” said Rosalia, “there is no reason for you to go as well. You are our lord. You need not put yourself in such danger…”
“I appreciate your concern, but this fight is also about showing them the kind of lord I want to be. Plus…you’re going to protect me, right? I trust you unconditionally.”
“Gosh, how can I possibly say anything else after hearing that?” she replied with a frown.
At the moment, she was wearing light armor that was easy to move in, instead of her usual maid uniform. Barbaro had been reluctant to talk at first, but the information poured out of him like water after we said his life would be spared. Once we had what we needed from him, we made our way to the mansion where his men were.
“All right, everyone! Be alert!”
Upon hearing my words, the soldiers I had brought with me formed a line in front of the mansion. To be honest, I was worried about how good they’d actually be, but as luck would have it, there were many men who deeply respected Kaiser, so morale went up once he was restored to his old position.
That wasn’t quite the full story—I knew that Kaiser had gone around to the men with his head bowed, asking them to cooperate with me.
“Heh, this atmosphere… It reminds me of the battlefields of the past,” Kaiser said. “My lord, I will move as planned.”
“Right,” I replied. “I’m counting on you. Leave things here to me.” This was exactly like the stage in the game. Granted, this was a few years before the events of the game, so there must have been some small differences, but I knew the general layout of this building.
“I am Lord Weiss Hamilton!” I raised my voice so that it could be heard by the occupants. “We have your leader, Barbaro, in our custody! Surely you understand what this means. We know all of your crimes. The punishment for making my people suffer will not be a light one, but if you surrender now, I promise to spare your lives!”
Instead, the folks inside the mansion started to kick up a ruckus.
“What?! Isn’t he that worthless lord? I thought he was supposed to be under Lord Barbaro’s thumb?”
“Tch. He ain’t got that many men with him. Let’s take them down!”
Guys, I can hear everything you’re saying. Sorry for being so worthless, I guess…
Plus, Weiss tried to do his best! I was a bit irritated, but then I felt a chill from next to me. It was terrifying.
“Lord Weiss. They are being disrespectful,” Rosalia said. “Let’s kill them.”
“Um, you doing okay?” I asked, “But I suppose they’ve chosen to resist, so we’re in for a fight.”
“They dare call you worthless…” Her eyes were full of killing intent as she began to form an ice spear. “They have no idea how much you have suffered!”
I was scared stiff by the murderous look in Rosalia’s eyes, and the jackasses in the mansion took that opportunity to fire off a load of arrows at us. I guess that was their answer.
There was no point in waiting anymore. Our plan involved bringing a relatively small number of men to make the enemy lower their guard. This was the perfect chance to demonstrate that I would show no mercy to those who did evil.
“Everyone, charge!”
My soldiers began to rush the mansion, and of course, I was among them. I was the one giving the orders on the battlefield, which in and of itself would be more than enough to make the citizens feel better about me. That was great, but we did have bigger things to worry about. If we continued on our current course, this territory was going to be caught up in the incoming war that took place during the events of the game.
I needed enough power to let us survive that conflict. This territory had no unique industries, which meant it needed a lord with charisma. That was why I was fighting…and I needed practical experience to improve my stats.
“It seems as though victory will be ours with little struggle, Lord Weiss,” Rosalia said.
I nodded in agreement. “Not only did we catch them off guard, my men are all professional soldiers, even if they’ve been on the sidelines for a while now. Their fundamental skills are on a different level. Plus…”
“Ooh! I’m going to show off and get promoted!”
“This is Sir Kaiser’s return to battle! I can’t afford to look weak!”
Thanks to the reward I offered before the battle, in addition to Kaiser’s presence, morale was way higher than I had anticipated. We weren’t going to lose.
As I expected, we stormed the mansion and cornered the enemies, eventually trapping them in part of the building. It was about time to deal the final blow.
“Now then, I believe this battle is over,” I said. “Any further fighting would be pointless.”
“Dammit, stop acting like you’ve even done anything yourself!”
“Hmph, you are correct. At this rate, you’re going to suffer a completely one-sided loss, so I can imagine you are dissatisfied with that. You’re the leader, yes? In that case, what say we duel? If I lose, you can take me as your hostage and flee. Should I win, however, I will have you confess to all of your crimes.”
“My lord?!” My men let out a shocked cry upon hearing this proposal.
“Urgh…” As for Rosalia, well, I’d managed to get her to agree with this beforehand, but she still looked extremely displeased with the situation.
“You’d better not be lying,” the man said, drawing his blade and marching toward me. “If I win…”
“But of course,” I said. “I am nothing like you people. As a lord, my conduct must be irreproachable. I will keep my promise. Which is why—”
“Is that so?!”
Before I could finish my sentence, the man swung his sword down at me. He was attacking me out of nowhere, obviously thinking he’d already won!
Before he could reach me, he sputtered, coughing up blood.
My shadow hand had stabbed him in the back with a sword.
“Because I’m stronger than you,” I said. “I told you, my conduct must be irreproachable. I’m all too aware of the stunts a person like you would try to pull.”
Actually, this guy showed up in the game as well, so I already had his stats committed to memory. He had no special skills to speak of, making him much weaker than Barbaro, so I figured my little sneak attack would work.
“No, I’m not dead yet… It’s not over…” Just as the man spoke, the wall behind us was destroyed. I could hear footsteps approaching. He yelled, “Hah! You fell for our trap! Kill them!”
He sounded certain of his victory, but as soon as he saw who the people behind us were, his face fell.
“Lord Weiss, we eliminated the enemy troops lurking in the hidden passage, just as you ordered,” Kaiser reported. “Well done. Though how did you know all of that would be there ahead of time?”
“Excellent work, Kaiser. Thank goodness you took care of their backup,” I said, then grinned at the man in front of me. “Didn’t I tell you? I’ve got a good idea of what sort of stunts you people like to play. What was all that about it not being over?”
“Impossible… I refuse to die like this!”
“Lord Weiss!”
Like a cornered rat biting a cat, the injured man swung his sword at me with a desperate look on his face. He must’ve hoped to at least kill me on his way to the next life. While Weiss was suffering, this man, his people, and Barbaro had their way with this territory. He had no right to be angry with me!
After making sure all eyes were on me, I used my trump card.
“Tyrant of shadows, grant me your chains of judgment!”
As I cast my spell, the image…didn’t come to mind. Of course it didn’t. This was a spell that Weiss couldn’t use in the game.
Instead, I pictured the gameplay I’d seen hundreds of times, as well as my memories of the spells I daydreamed that Weiss might’ve been able to use, then linked them to my spell incantation.
“What the hell?!”
“Lord Weiss, how are you using High-rank magic…? Even Firis doesn’t have that ability yet!”
Bwa ha ha ha! This is the fruit born from the fusion of my game knowledge and Weiss’s magic skills! This spell is something Firis learns how to use around the midpoint of the game, and since I’ve played it to death, I’ve seen the incantation and the results of the spell who knows how many times. Imagining it is child’s play.
That being said, I was feeling rather lightheaded after using a spell so far above my current abilities. I wasn’t going to be able to cast this multiple times in a row, but before I passed out, there was something I needed to do.
“This is my…Weiss Hamilton’s power!” I shouted. “All of you, do you believe me when I say that I am more than just talk? After suddenly becoming your lord, I failed you. I know that you all would have preferred my little sister as your leader. However, I plan to prove to you that Weiss is the best fit to be your lord!”
“Ooh! That was High-rank magic! Only the elite palace mages can use spells like that!”
“Lord Weiss is incredible! He might even be more gifted than Lady Firis…”
“What the hell? No one told us anything about this!”
“There’s no way we can win.”
Enemy morale dropped to zero after learning their backup was gone and their foe could use high-level magic. One after another, they laid down their arms and surrendered. I remembered having a real rough time in the game when these guys caught me in a pincer attack.