Former General Is Undead Knight

Volume 2, Chapter 13: Feudal Lord, Earl Mondo⑤

「Gentlemen from 『Dancing Sword』, please come over he— Uhm, is something wrong?!」

Huffing and puffing, the one who appeared was the female employee of Earl Mondo’s mansion, Migurd.

What she saw was the disastrous scene of the two gatekeepers, kneeling in front of the tall man in full-plate armor, and the figure of a fainted Glasco, whose messed up face was filled with fear.

Migurd hurriedly ran toward the gate as soon as she saw the figure of Glasco there, fearing that the captain of the earl’s private army was trying to make trouble again.

Glasco was famous for his hot-blooded personality and his hatred toward adventurers, who were prone to take the jobs that should have been entrusted to the earl’s private army.

Especially now, the matter of 『Dancing Sword』 guild’s success in securing the unicorn horn was practically smearing mud in the private army’s face, which irritated him even more than usual.

And yet, the result was beyond Migurd’s expectation.

The man in full-plate armor—Lambert—looked at the dumbfounded Migurd and nodded to her.

「My apologies for creating this ruckus.」

「… E-Eh?」

Migurd then looked at the fainted Glasco with a bewildered look on her face.

Glasco was the captain of the private army.

Glasco used to be the eldest son of a noble, but due to him being a hooligan and his infamy for causing so much trouble for the people in his house’s territory, his father kicked him out of the house and appointed his younger brother as the next head. After that, Earl Mondo took in Glasco and appointed him as a member of the private army.

Although it sounded like Earl Mondo was taking in Glasco for his sword arm, in reality, Glasco was expelled from his father’s territory before he caused even bigger problems for the citizens.

To make matters worse, Glasco’s rough outer appearance belied a cunning mind, and he was smart enough to avoid any match that he couldn’t win.

And yet, he was blessed with a burly, powerful body and above-average swordcraft thanks to the training that was drilled into him since his childhood by his father.

That was why Migurd, who knew about Glasco’s personality, was unable to make sense of the incident that happened right in front of her.

Even though Migurd was convinced that Glasco was trying to do something, in the end, she judged that it was his own fault for misjudging his opponent’s strength.

On the other hand, the gatekeepers, whose jobs should be rebuking Lambert for his actions, continued to tremble in fear, unable to raise their faces.

「Can you tell me what’s happening here, Migurd?」

At that moment, a low baritone voice resounded.

The owner of that voice was a healthy man in his forties.

Despite the wrinkles that formed on his face, the light in his eyes suggested that he was still in his prime.

「M-Mondo-sama… Uhm, Glasco-sama is…」

The man who just made his appearance was none other than Earl Mondo himself. He then walked toward the unconscious Glasco and heaved a sigh as he shook his head.

「It seems my subordinates have troubled you guys.」

In fact, Earl Mondo had already heard about the situation from his trusted subordinate just a while ago; Glasco was the only one who thought that no one else would hear about this matter.

Earl Mondo raised his face, his eyes locked onto Lambert.

「I see now. You’re the rumored armored man, huh.」

Seeing Earl Mondo approaching Lambert, Eunos quietly positioned himself diagonally in front of Lambert, falling on his knees as he bowed toward the earl.

「… No, this is just a quarrel. My deepest apologies for not trying to stop this even though I’m also in this place. This is my responsibility as the one who brought him. I shall receive the punishment for him.」

Eunos looked at Lambert from the corner of his eyes, as if to warn the latter to play along.

「… Raise your face. I also want to apologize for my subordinates misbehavior, which ended up in them showing such an inappropriate scene.」

The reason Eunos asked for the earl’s punishment was because he knew that Earl Mondo wasn’t the kind of noble who punished someone for no reason.

That was why he chose to side with Earl Mondo, indirectly blaming Lambert for beating Glasco.

Although it sounded like Lambert was embarrassing Eunos, the one who brought him to meet Earl Mondo, the person himself didn’t care about such a thing.

He already prepared to became the scapegoat in place of 『Dancing Sword』 the moment he accepted the match with Glasco.

The party then left the garden. They were guided into the mansion, toward the dining room.

When they were walking along the passage, Fando whispered to Eunos.

「Eunos-sama… Why did you chose to side with those rude soldiers?」

Naturally, Fando was referring to Glasco and Co.

The members of 『Dancing Sword』, with Fando in the lead, were actually on the verge of exploding as they endured Glasco’s childish taunt and one-sided beration.

Although their irritation felt a little bit better after they saw Lambert slap Glasco, they still had a hard time understanding why their leader—Eunos—bowed to the earl and plastered mud on Lambert, the one who stood up for them against Glasco, the one who taunted them just a while ago.

Eunos let out a wry smile. He didn’t say anything back to Fando.

Fando felt that something was wrong with Eunos’ smile, so he stepped back, looking down and deciding to not pursue this matter.

When he raised his face again, Eunos had already moved slightly ahead of Fando.

Fando pondered something as he looked at Eunos’ head.

‘Eunos-sama… Why does he seem really happy right now?’

Fando’s guess was spot on.

Although Eunos seemed to be flustered when Glasco suddenly appeared, looking for trouble with them, the former’s mood seemed to take a turn for the better after Lambert’s match against Glasco.

‘Those who are incompetent are destined to be kicked out anyway. Rather, this incident will only hasten that process. I used to think that they were a bunch of idiots, but after seeing this situation, they seem to be beyond help.’

The reason why Eunos was happy was the current state of the earl’s private army’s captain, Glasco.

Eunos’ goal was making 『Dancing Sword』 the number one guild in Barreira City, gaining Earl Mondo’s trust and getting rid off the earl’s private army. Finally, he hoped to use his position to interfere with the government of the earl.

『Dancing Sword』 was nothing more than a means for Eunos to gain the earl’s favor.

While it might be true that the earl’s private soldiers were useless, he didn’t feel them repulsive.

Rather, they made him feel delighted since their idiocy would make his job far more easy.

「I’ve troubled you with the unicorn subjugation commission. My niece, Chris has been in critical condition for the last few days, but… Her life was saved thanks to the miracle drug made from the unicorn horn that you brought back. Although she is currently recovering her condition… she told me that she wanted to meet the swordsman in full-plate armor who repelled Robin Hood.」

Earl Mondo spoke as they moved along the corridor.

The female employee, Migurd—who was escorting the guests—looked up at Lambert, whose height towered above her, and frowned as she gulped her saliva.

Lambert felt Migurd watching him and looked at her, but she averted her gaze as soon as they locked eyes.

The reason for this was because, the moment she felt the tall swordsman in full-plate armor’s eyes meet hers, she felt as if she was surrounded by a hungry monster, and her body became as heavy as lead.

‘If this man is the one who Lady Chris wants to meet… won’t that actually make her condition deteriorate instead?’