156. Justia (1)

“What is your name?”

Duke Justia asked the young dark-haired boy in front of him.

“… … Zeke, Zeke Kleiman.”

“Hmm, at that age, they say they are called the arena ghosts… … ?”

“… … .”

The peacock’s red eyes contained the body of a skinny and diminutive boy.

He was wearing rags, and the clothes had already dried blood that had turned brown and stuck to it, but there was no blood from him.

Duke Justia found Zeke while visiting an underground arena, a colosseum of brutal pastimes enjoyed by some nobles in the underworld.

In the arena, Zeke Kleiman makes full use of his small body and fights with adult men and occasionally caught monsters.

He fought endlessly with only a small sword in his hand.

It wouldn’t be strange if he died at any time, but he survived with his innate sense of the sword, and his reputation as a ‘ghost with black hair’ was spreading in the arena.

Origin unknown, age unknown, identity unknown.

A child with black eyes and dark hair who guessed that he might be a descendant from the north.

In order to have a dagger to stab Joheiden, he investigated his personal information, but nothing came out.

He was a boy who thought he might have fallen from another world.

On the contrary, Duke Justia liked it.

Because I didn’t have to go through the trouble of sorting out those who were related to this guy.

“Your fight was impressive. Hmm, if you clean up your dirty hair and body, no one here will remember you. It saved me a lot of trouble.”

“… … .”

However, the black-haired boy glared at the duke without erasing his hostility.

“Kuk. That’s a very bloody expression. I look forward to how long I can keep those eyes. Red blood leader, prepare a magic imprint on him.”

Leaving those words behind, Duke Justia finished his brief first meeting with Zeke.

After that, Zeke Kleiman was taken to the red blood leader and received a procedure to engrave an imprint on his soul from the wizard. Do not dare to disobey the Duke’s orders.

It was an engraving that took a long time of a month, and it was a very expensive procedure, but Duke Justia thought it worth it.

An organization willing to die for its own command.

Because the red blood group will become a dagger to stab Joheiden, the biggest troublemaker.

Zeke Kleiman was relentless.

Although I had no choice but to carry out orders according to the imprint in my soul,

As if to deliberately fail the mission, he did various creative things without hesitation.

Even though so much money went into it, it is the point at which this guy should be discarded.

Zeke Kleiman was involved with Duke Justia’s daughter, Iriel.

“Zeke Clayman, I saw you from the side, so I understand. I am a person who has no qualms about using even my own family to get something. If you continue to maintain that attitude, uhm, Iriel’s life will be quite interesting.”

It was then that I was able to see Zeke Kleiman’s children’s songs for the first time.

It was never a pleasant thing to set eyes on her own daughter who would later become the empress, but using it as a leash for a mad hound for a while was something she could tolerate.

As he took Iriel as his weakness and gradually began to tame him, he soon began to stand out.

Overwhelming performance compared to others.

If it wasn’t for that rebellious temperament and temper, it wouldn’t be strange to be named as the next Red Blood Leader.

so that’s what he did.

Infiltrate the military base and achieve results, and get noticed by the head of the imperial knights and be located closest to the emperor.

Although he was given the status of a noble in the north, it was not easy to enter the emperor’s aide without any connection.

It was because the Imperial Knights were the only ones who could enter after going through a thorough verification of their background.

I was entrusted with such an important mission, but when I heard the news that he had suddenly entered the academy as an instructor, I was angry all the way to the top.

However, I couldn’t help but understand that he did such a thing to save Iriel.

Joining the Imperial Knights was to prepare just in case. Something that needs to be tweaked a bit. Rather, with this incident as an excuse, I knew that the leash was still valid, so couldn’t I use it for more things?

I was surprised to hear that he suddenly became an academy instructor, but it couldn’t be as shocking as it is now.

Is this really possible?

Duke Justia had been hiding with Hela since the demon king and Zeke started fighting.

A small gap in the bottom of a huge stone.

Collision of great force that causes terrain features to change.

Anyone can see that it was a miracle that he came out of the scene of destruction.

First of all, the first reason for survival was that dragon power did not reach the place where they were hiding, and the magical tools that he always carried with him to protect his body shone.

However, in the aftermath of the battle, the magic tool used all its power and was literally destroyed.

A magic tool worth hundreds of gold coins had degenerated into a worthless accessory, but he could have saved his life thanks to it, so he had to pay a cheap price.

They hid like rats in the crevices, hugged each other, and could clearly see everything that was happening outside.

When Zeke swings his sword, the mountain collapses, and when the light flickers in the demon king’s eyes, the huge beautiful tree disappears without a trace.

Such a battle that can only be found in folk tales.

All they can do is be astonished.

“Go, duke… … . what the hell is this… … .”

Hella asked in a stunned voice, but there was no way she could answer that it was Duke Justia.

He just opened his mouth and made a stupid face.

‘Zeke Kleiman… … . To have such power… … ?’

“… … Duke Justia. please tell me Do all the red blood cells have such insolence? What the hell have you been hiding from me?”

Hella asked.

“… … Could it be that If all the Red Bloods were like that, would there be any reason to spend time swallowing the empire? How the hell does that guy… … .”

Even if he called the Red Bloods now, it would have been fortunate if he hadn’t been crushed by the aftermath of this battle.

Those guys were good at assassinating and killing people, because they weren’t raised to deal with monsters like that.

I tried to send a signal to call them in a crisis situation several times, but that was the reason I stopped.

“I’m greedy… … . really… … .”

Duke Justia breaks into a cold sweat at the battle in front of him.

He raised the corners of his mouth in disbelief and fear.

* * *

“Zeke Kleiman… … . You bastard, what the hell have you done… … .”

Duke Justia stepped forward and spoke in a voice full of tension.

“You turned a blind eye to the fact that you left the military without permission and became an academy instructor… … . How dare you come all the way here and blow candles… … . you crossed the line I never ordered you to come here. Zeke Kleiman.”

His luxurious clothes were covered with dust and became tattered rags as if he couldn’t withstand the aftermath of the shock, but his voice was heavy.

“However, if you carry out your orders well now, I won’t hold you accountable for this incident, and I will use you from now on.”

He looked at Zeke with eyes full of greed.

“for a moment… … . Duke Justia. What do you mean?”

The voice that intervened belonged to the Duke of Joheiden.

I know that Zeke Kleiman has a good opinion of Iriel Justia. He was also his disciple, and he said that he had saved her at the Justia Banquet. It was an understandable area.

However, his words now seemed as if Zeke Clayman belonged to Justia.

The Duke of Joheiden, who has received countless help from him.

Now, those words were completely unacceptable to him.

“Ah, it’s been a while since the Duke of Joheiden.”

Duke Justia, who already knew of his existence from the beginning, but spoke as if he knew only now.

The heads of the two huge ducal families met each other’s eyes.

Having been in a competitive relationship for a long time, they stared at each other without hiding their hostility.

The atmosphere froze coldly at the confrontation between the two giants.

“Now, what did you say to Zeke Kleiman? Say it again!”

“… … Ha, Duke of Joheiden. You guys really don’t change. Think well with that stupid head. what I meant.”

“… … .”

“You still don’t seem to understand. yeah, let me tell you Zeke Kleiman. This guy has been my go-to from the beginning. My subordinate who has even inscribed a spell that makes it impossible to refuse my order. It is a member of the red blood group. I raised you as a dagger to stab.”

It took a long time to understand Duke Justia’s words because it was an unacceptable story from Joheiden’s point of view.

“Hmm, Zeke Kleiman, you seem to have infiltrated Joheiden pretty deep. You did well. Did you make that choice to protect Iriel?”

“Uh, what is that… … .”

“Ah, let’s finish our boring story. Anyway, I lost a lot in this incident. I came here for no reason, really… … . I had a fun experience. Don’t you think so, Duke of Joheiden?”

“… … .”

“Because of this incident, I lost 10,000 troops belonging to Justia. And even their allegiance… … . Wow, all the things that fell down here are the swords that they abandoned… … ? Tsk, you threw away all the good swords.”

Duke Justia grabbed a sword that had fallen to the ground and examined it carefully.

“Hmm, they’ll all deal with it gradually, but anyway, don’t you think it’s unfair for me to suffer like this?”

His eyes turned to Zeke.

“So, although it is much earlier than originally planned… … . Even if you have to cut off the head of the Duke of Joheiden, it will pay off. Zeke Kleiman.”

Then the Duke of Joheiden, and his son Sedan.

It wasn’t a large number, but all the eyes of the Knights of Yoheiden who risked their lives were directed to Zeke.

“Zeke Kleiman, kill the Duke of Joheiden.”

The hand he raised, the ring on his middle finger, glowed red.