New Management (2)
If there was one way to describe the group of knights that had arrived to impose their tyranny on the village, Vergil had only two words for them.
Punching bags.
Once upon a time, every last one of them had been nothing more than stress relievers for Vergil.
And now, merely seeing him again was enough to drag those memories back to the surface.
The effect was immediate.
Felix’s grip on the decree tightened.
“I… I heard Knight Vergil was loitering around the north somewhere… I didn’t expect it to be here. B-But this no longer concerns you, Knight Vergil…! This land now falls under Imperial authority, granted to us by the Dragons! Just your presence alone violates your exile. L-Leave at once…!”
Vergil did not move.
“You are looking for an Ice Dragon, right?”
“T-That is correct.”
“I saw it. It’s not here anymore. Likely headed west. Toward the Elves.”
“That is a lie!”
Before Felix could raise his voice again, the village chief chimed in.
“Sir Vergil has no reason to lie. He’s the most competent knight in these parts. We rely on him for nearly all patrols, even beyond the northern ridge. If anyone here knows what travels these lands, it is him…”
Several villagers nodded at once.
“We see Sir Vergil circling the borders every morning. If something passed through, he would know.”
“He keeps the roads safe for our children. There is no one more familiar with the terrain.”
The local knights spoke as well.
“He handles the patrols alone most days. Reports every threat. If he says something went west, then it did.”
“Haah?”
Vergil watched Felix, who couldn’t bring himself to meet his gaze.
“Think of the recognition you would gain if you follow that trail.”
“I…”
Felix opened his mouth, closed it again, and then turned toward the knight holding the banner for support.
But no one stepped in to help.
No one wanted to call Vergil a liar. Not after remembering what his fists had once taught them.
The silence stretched endlessly for a moment until Felix finally spoke.
“…We will remain here for now. But once reinforcements arrive, they will be redirected to pursue the western lead. If the Ice Dragon is truly there, we will confirm it.”
Vergil nodded once.
“That is reasonable.”
“But you will still leave the village, Vergil. Your exile still stands…!”
“And who are you going to report that to?”
Vergil’s voice remained calm as he took a step closer.
“You think the Empire will welcome you back so soon? Or what. Are you planning to force me out?”
“Ah—ah?”
Vergil closed the distance and wrapped an arm around Felix’s shoulder.
“You’re going to kick me out. Is that it?”
Vergil leaned in closer.
“I was already kicked out once. Are you going to do it again? Right here?”
“.......”
“Or what? You send a letter. Call in the Head Knights to drag me out?”
Vergil’s grip around his shoulder tightened.
“Do that, and I promise I won’t make your stay here pleasant until they arrive.”
Felix slapped Vergil’s arm away with a smack, though his hand trembled afterward.
“We’re not the same as we were two years ago, V-Vergil!”
At once, the knights behind him unsheathed their swords.
“Unlike you, who was probably lazing off in some ditch, w-we’ve been training every day! Handling missions, honing our skills, climbing the ranks! We’re not afraid of you anymore! Y-Your threats don’t mean anything!”
Vergil tilted his head.
“Then why are you stuttering?”
“Kill him!”
Several knights lunged forward at once. The villagers screamed. The chief shouted for them to stop.
Vergil didn’t even draw his sword.
Whoosh——!
The first blade came down from above. Vergil stepped lightly to the side. The strike split only empty air.
Another knight swung from the right. Vergil ducked down and drove his fist straight into the knight’s ribs, sending him hurtling away.
A third rushed from behind. Vergil turned, caught the man’s wrist mid-swing, and slammed his elbow into the knight’s jaw. The body dropped into the snow.
More came.
Vergil moved through them without hurry.
He sidestepped every slash. Each strike that reached him was answered with a powerful blow of his own.
Thwack——!
A palm to the throat.
Thwack——!
A fist to the stomach.
Thwack——!
A knee to the temple.
Thwack——!
One by one, bodies fell.
The remaining knights trembled with their blades, arms locked in place, while Felix could only watch his men fall without having the chance to retaliate.
Vergil finally stopped moving.
There wasn’t a single cut marked on his body
“Two years, and this is what you learned. I pity the Empire’s future.”
“Vergil!”
Felix finally moved, aura gathering around his blade.
The snow at his feet trembled from the surge of mana.
Vergil lifted his chin.
“.....?”
So Felix had learned something after all.
Felix swung.
Whoosh——!
The blade split the air in an arc meant to cleave him in two. Vergil advanced instead of retreating.
At the moment the blade descended, he placed a hand against the flat of the sword and redirected its momentum.
The aura-infused strike slammed into the ground beside him, erupting in a burst of light that sent a plume of snow billowing upward.
The villagers gasped as the snow scattered like a white explosion.
Felix recoiled.
“You’re still unharmed… How are you…?"
“You rely too much on aura. Your fundamentals were always weak.”
Felix gritted his teeth and launched again.
His aura flared brighter, coating his blade in a pale sheen as he thrust forward.
This time, his footwork was much more prominent.
Vergil deflected the thrust with his wrist, guiding the sword past his ribs, then struck Felix’s shoulder with the heel of his palm.
Felix’s body staggered, but he recovered faster than before.
He really had trained.
“Don't underestimate me!”
“I’m not. This is you at your best, and that's the problem.”
Felix shouted, and the surrounding knights moved at once.
“Together! Bring him down!”
Six of them leapt toward Vergil in unison. Aura ignited across their blades.
Snow rose around their feet as they converged on him from every angle.
Vergil stood still for a brief moment as the circle closed around him.
“......”
Then he moved.
The first attacker swung from above.
Vergil moved under the blade and struck the man’s abdomen with a sharp blow, forcing him to fold.
A second lunged from the right, but Vergil dodged, catching the wrist mid strike, and hurled him into the knight charging from the left.
Both fell in a tangle of armor, cursing at each other.
Another knight attempted to slash at his back, but Vergil spun around, sweeping his leg low.
The man’s feet left the ground as he crashed backward into the snow.
“What the hell are you idiots doing?!”
Felix roared and charged straight through. His aura surged brighter than before, swinging horizontally to take Vergil’s head.
Vergil placed a single hand against the blade again.
The aura detonated at once.
Snow blasted outward in a spiraling burst. Children shrank back behind the adults. Knights shielded their eyes.
The entire village was momentarily blinded by white.
When the snow settled, Felix’s sword arm was trembling. Vergil stood exactly where he had been.
“You might want to reconsider your career path at this point.”
“G-Get off me—”
Snap——!
“Kyaaaaaa!”
“Wow, you sure can scream. I would’ve mistaken you for a little girl.”
* * *
Despite everything, the knights did not leave.
Just as Vergil had warned, they found no opportunity to send a single letter.
Every possible channel was cut off. At this point, their only remaining option was to wait for reinforcements and relay everything then.
And so, the knights established themselves in the village.
However, instead of plundering the village for whatever it could offer, reality was quite strange.
“Damn, I haven’t had beef in a long while.”
It was Vergil who was robbing them.
Vergil walked past their camps, a meat skewer on a stick in one hand and a sack of rations in the other.
None of the knights stopped him.
None of them even looked him in the eye.
They sat around their fire, feeling hungry, exhausted, and humiliated.
The homes they had planned to occupy were no longer an option. Vergil had driven them out and forced them to camp in the open.
And more than that, supplies meant for them never reached their hands. It all went to Vergil instead.
By the time they realized what was happening, it was already too late. Any attempt to retaliate would only end one way.
A thorough beating.
Seris watched from the edge of the village, wrapped in her coat.
“…You’re bullying them.”
“They came here to bully this village first.”
He bit into the meat without a shred of guilt, then handed some to Seris.
“Want one?”
“Of course.”
Seris watched the dying fire for a moment, then her eyes gleamed with something sinister under the embers.
“Serves them right.”
That night, the knights slept with empty stomachs.
