NOVPUB
Chapter 325: Tail Tag (1)
The knight grabbed by the neck by Kai immediately swung his right hand backward. He meant to strike his opponent’s abdomen and force him to retreat, but Kai was a far superior master than the knight had expected.
His flying wrist twisted in an unnatural direction, and the knight screamed. “Gaaah! Urgh...”
But Kai didn’t even allow that as he gripped the back of the knight's neck so tightly that only gurgling sounds escaped.
W-what kind of strength is this...?!
No matter how hard he tried, it was impossible to escape his opponent’s grasp. He felt so helpless, as if he were crushed beneath a castle wall.
“You were up to some very amusing business.”
“Kugh... Aaaargh!”
Kai dragged him along as he walked. In an instant, he entered the restaurant and scanned the interior. The guests who should have been enjoying their meals were hiding under the tables, trembling. There were even crying children and parents holding them tightly.
At that moment, something snapped inside Kai’s head. Then, he tightened his grip on the knight’s neck, and his neck bones shattered with a spine-chilling sound.
Everyone froze at the sound. The dozen knights who had been pressuring Blizzard, as well as the noble-looking man who had been watching the situation leisurely, all froze in place and turned around.
“Hm?” The man looked at Kai and smiled faintly. “You’ve finally come.”
He greeted Kai as if a long-awaited reinforcement had shown up. Then he pointed with his chin toward the two girls cornered against the wall and the stranger guarding them.
“Tsk, looks like you need to manage your territory better. How can nobles like us feel safe when scoundrels like those roam freely in broad daylight?”
Kai said nothing and simply stared at him.
“Well, I suppose you might not know since you were just a baron until recently. But now that you’re a count, shouldn’t you be protecting your people? Basic territory management is a noble’s responsibility. Of course, that doesn’t apply to fake nobles, filthy rats like these.”
He stomped on the back of the boy’s hand lying by his feet with his heel.
“Gaaah!” The boy clutched his hand and curled up in pain.
At that moment, Kai’s sword was drawn like a bolt of lightning.
“M-Master! You mustn’t kill him!” Blizzard shouted urgently.
However, Kai’s sword was already slightly embedded in the noble’s neck. A thin line of red blood trickled down the blade like a slide.
When the noble looked down and saw it, his eyes widened. “Blood...?”
As he fumbled at his neck with trembling hands, the pain finally reached him. He screamed from the pain he had never felt in his life, nor even imagined he would.
“I-it hurts... It hurts... It hurts so much!” The noble, now in tears, staggered backward, his eyes filled with rage. "How dare you... a lowly adventurer wound me, the heir to the House of Count Mediff?"
Then he charged at Kai.
“Whoa, what the heck.” Startled, Kai reflexively drove his foot into the noble’s abdomen.
“Kugh...”
“Y-Young master!”
Just as the knights prepared to charge at Kai, he turned his head and glared at them. “Anyone who moves dies. I won’t say it twice.”
Unable to do anything in response to those words, the knights looked at their superior, Morud. But Morud was just as confused. He stood still in place as if his feet had been glued to the floor.
“Argh! What are you bastards doing... Kill them! Kill them all!” the noble shouted with spit flying from his mouth.
However, not a single knight rushed at Kai as he ordered. It was because of the aura of a strong person flowing from him with the overwhelming stats of Dragon Fear. Even though they were knights, they were completely intimidated once they recognized Kai’s absolute power.
Just when it seemed like the situation was settling down, a furious voice shook the shop. “What is the meaning of this mess!”
The one who shouted as he entered the shop was Count Mediff himself. He saw his own son lying on the floor bleeding and glared at Kai as if to kill him.
“Was this your doing?”
To that question, Kai silently nodded once.
“Hah, hahaha... hahaha!” Count Mediff suddenly let out a hollow laugh.
After a brief moment, he abruptly stopped and clenched his teeth as he shouted, "Take off at least one of the legs of this crazy bastard!"
With that order, one of the knights who had entered the shop with the count charged at Kai.
So this is the level of a knight from a count’s territory, huh?
Assessing the knight’s ability, Kai honestly acknowledged it. He was a fairly strong one, and it explained why the count had been so arrogant. But that was all there was to it.
“Hah!” The knight thrust his sword straight forward.
The speed was fast, and since he had long limbs, the perceived speed of the incoming sword felt even faster than it was.
But Kai kept up with that speed. He could see the attack clearly as if time had slowed down.
That’s a fast sword.
But it wouldn’t reach him. He didn’t know why, but he had a firm belief that it wouldn’t.
My sword is faster.
His sword hadn’t even been drawn yet, but he believed he could pierce the enemy’s heart first.
Kai sharply raised his sword and thrust it forward. There wasn’t an ounce of wasted energy in the motion. Kai’s sword, though thrust later, reached the knight’s heart first. At the same time, the time, which had felt slow, returned to normal speed.
“Kugh...”
The knight’s sword sliced through nothing but empty air.
Then, Kai struck the knight, whose face twisted in pain, with his fist. One to the side, one to the face, two more to the face, and then three final blows to the face.
The knight, beaten into a bloody mess, had his health shredded to pieces in an instant. Then he was kicked in the chest by Kai, and flung out of the shop.
Count Mediff was silent.
Kai stared at him and said, “Open inventory.”
What he pulled out was a communication crystal. It was an expensive one, the kind only used in wizard towers or guilds. However, Kai had distributed these evenly across all his territories and factions for moments just like this.
—Lord Kai, did you call?
Once he entered the code, the face of Albert, head of Arcan Academy and teacher of theology, appeared in the crystal.
“Albert, may I ask you one thing?”
Though polite, Kai’s voice was sharper than usual.
Realizing that, Albert responded even more respectfully.
—Anything you wish.
“Is there a limit to the authority I can exercise within the Solarian Church?”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Albert replied,
—There are no restrictions placed on you, Kai.
It was a clear and satisfying answer.
Kai glanced at Count Mediff, whose eyes were darting nervously. “So, what’ll it be?”
“... What are you saying?”
“Are you going to get on your knees and apologize now, or should we take this all the way?”
Count Mediff’s eyes trembled violently. As far as he knew, Kai was the commander of the Holy Blood Order of the Church of Solaris. Furthermore, the Holy Blood Order was currently the strongest armed force within the church. Logically speaking, it was best to back down at this point.
However...
Born a noble, he suffered a deep wound to his pride. If he were to apologize and back down here, he would surely become a laughingstock in noble society, and that was something he absolutely could not allow to happen.
Besides, no matter how much that bastard tries to intimidate me, the time he and I have spent building our power is on completely different levels.
His family had been nobility since the founding of the Kingdom of Rashion.
Thinking that way, the confidence that had momentarily faltered surged back up again.
Yes. My house is Mediff. There's no way we would be pushed around by some newly made count.
Regaining his confidence, Count Mediff said with determination in his eyes, “If you take this all the way, your faction won't come out of it unscarred either. I guarantee it.”
Kai simply nodded once in response. “You’ve made your choice. Don’t regret it.”
Count Mediff slightly flinched, but the train had already left the station.
“As of this moment, the Solarian Church will cease all activity and support near the Mediff territory. Furthermore, I hereby declare a state of hostility with the Mediff County.”
—Everything is as you will it, Kai.
***
Count Mediff and his son left the city, leaving behind a warning that they would remember this.
Kai wanted to throw them both in prison, but High Priest Albert had dissuaded him.
If you imprison them now, it may create an unfavorable situation for you in the future, Kai.
Trusting the high priest’s words to leave it to him from this point on, Kai followed his advice.
“You did well, Blizzard.”
Kai gave a compliment, but Blizzard instead declined with modesty.
“No. I’m rather sorry I couldn’t handle it myself, Master.”
Right, he’s always been like that.
Then Kai shrugged and turned his gaze toward Helik and Cal Rashya.
“Are you both hurt anywhere?”
“I’m fine, but Rashya was really scared.”
“I-I was not scared.”
“Then who was the one gripping my sleeve so tightly earlier?”
“You're so petty. Just wait.”
After bickering briefly, the two soon looked exhausted.
“Sigh... Kai, I’m hungry.”
“Me too. We came in to eat something nice, but all we got was a load of insults from that noble guy...”
Kai looked at the two with their pitiful expressions and said, “Then let’s head to another restaurant nearby. It seems like our tour of the city is out of the question anyway. Please wait just a moment."
Finishing speaking, Kai moved around the restaurant, checking on each and every customer.
“Sunlight’s Warmth.”
“Cure.”
He offered not only healing but also a small amount of compensation, bowing his head in apology for what had happened.
“I hope this incident won’t leave a bad impression of Haveros.”
“O-of course not. And please, don’t bow your head like that. How could a count bow to commoners like us...”
But instead of gratitude, all Kai received were anxious reactions from the NPCs.
Somehow, dealing with NPCs became harder after I became a noble.
Before, he had been just an adventurer, always the one bowing his head. Though his mindset and attitude hadn’t changed, the other side now felt burdened by it. Still, acting full of pride wasn’t his style either.
Well, I guess I’ll figure out the right attitude as I keep playing the game.
Finally, Kai healed the boy who had been harassed by the noble.
"Thank you so much. Please be sure to contact us someday. Our family never forgets either grace or grudge." The boy, who introduced himself as the son of Baron Verma, gave a polite bow and left.
Then Helik approached with her wide eyes and asked, “Kai, is it truly over now?”
“Yes, it’s over. The Mediff County is finished off, and though we didn’t get to enjoy it ourselves, judging by the reactions, the City of Culture was a big success.”
“That is truly good news.”
“C-congratulations.”
Receiving congratulations from the two girls, Kai smiled happily.
Exactly two hours later, High Priest Albert contacted him, informing that the Mediff territory had been seized.
