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Merging
After all the nay-saying, we arrived at the nearest town to Scudetto.
After the defeat, they decided that it would take time to rebuild the army, including reinforcements.
When they arrived in the town, they immediately saw a large number of knights and mercenaries. However, they were fewer than I had expected. I wondered if they had already gone to the battle to recapture the city.
“Maybe the castle wall has collapsed, just because I couldn’t see it from my side?  If so, they would want to move on to the battle to retake the castle before the other side repairs the walls.
I muttered, and Dee crossed his arms and groaned.
“Hmm
I can see why they’d want to do that to make up for their blunder, but really
”
“The side that’s caged in has lost completely. I wonder if they will be well-prepared to take on the challenge.”
“If I were you, I would. I would be prepared to receive reinforcements and just capture the citadel. We always expect a long battle.”
As we were having this conversation in the town, we heard footsteps coming toward us. I also hear the clash of metal and the distinctive sound of those in armor.
When I turned around, there was a surprising opponent standing there. No, I should say that I had expected it, but I was not yet prepared for it.
“It’s been a long time. Father.”
I bowed my head and my Daddy, the Marquis Jalpa Bull Ati Fertio, whom I hadn’t seen in a year, looked down at me.
He looks slightly thinner than before, but his steely eyes are the same. Surrounding him are his father’s guards in black armor decorated with gold.
Because of his father’s extreme meritocracy, the Marquise’s knights are all very stout.
Surrounded by these powerful knights, my father looked down at me with an annoyed expression and opened his mouth.
“
I see you’ve become a baron.”
“Ah, yes. I haven’t changed my family name, so I’m still called Baron Van
”
“
I heard you slayed a dragon.”
“Oh, in case you were wondering, a Green Forest dragon.”
My father’s brow wrinkles deeply as he answers this matter-of-factly.
“How did you do it?  Even I cannot defeat a dragon of that class by myself. That’s exactly the kind of opponent that my knighthood would challenge with all its might.”
As I said this, my father looked at me with a questioning look.
“
Well, using ballista.”
My father laughs as he exhales in reply.
“What, ballista?  No way, did you use a Mithril’s spear?  That’s impossible, isn’t it?”
I sigh in reply to his mocking comment. Even if I told the truth, he probably wouldn’t believe me.
“
Marquis Jalpa. Please give me something, an unnecessary sword or shield.”
When I tell him this, my father blinks his eyes for a moment, then immediately changes color. He is clearly angry.
But what did he think? The father suppressed his anger and looked at the knight standing next to him.
“Bring out your spare weapon.”
“Ha!”
The knight offers a straight sword about seventy centimeters long with a stagnant movement.
I took it and lifted the sword, still in its sheath on the spot, parallel to the ground.
“Camsin, try cutting.”
I muttered that much, and Camsin silently drew his beloved sword and slashed down from the top.
A high-pitched metallic sound echoed slightly, confusing my father and the knights.
“What are you
?”
As soon as the knight who owned the sword said something, the sword in its scabbard was split in half from the center, and the sword tip side fell to the ground.
The fathers were astonished at the impossible cut and the fact that it was only a child of about 10 years old who had done it.
Hmmm. The next time Camsin gets a new sword, we will name it “Zantetsuken”.
As I was thinking this, my father looked down at me as if he could not believe what he was seeing, and opened his mouth.
“What was that
 what the hell is that sword
?”
Just as I opened my mouth to answer my father’s question, I heard a voice from the opposite direction.
“Baron Van!”
I turned to look at the familiar voice and saw a beautiful woman of stunning proportions, the embodiment of the American dream, coming toward me.
“Baron Panamera. It has been a long time.”
Panamera was dressed in light armor, the opposite of father’s, white and silver. It is probably a big battle armor. It is more beautiful and elegant than anything I have seen before.
“Hmm. You’ve grown a little taller.”
“Yes, I have. I plan to be bigger than the Viscount someday.”
“Ha ha, I’m looking forward to it!  Now, His Majesty is waiting for you. Follow me.”
“Ah, so His Majesty has already arrived.”
“Yes, His Majesty is already here. “Oh, His Majesty is already here, isn’t he? I hope you have prepared something interesting again.
As we were laughing and having such a conversation, my father, who had been left out of the conversation, looked up.
“
Van, did you really defeat a Green Forest Dragon?”
My father said that much in a gravelly voice. To that question, I smiled vaguely, nodded, and answered.
“Yes, I did. For now, let’s greet His Majesty and then show him ballista.”
When I told him that, Panamera, not my father, opened his mouth in a good mood.
“Yes, that would be good. Seeing is better than hearing. If you give me the arrows, shall I show you my ballista?”
“No, I have something better than what I gave the Viscount.”
“What! What?  What? What?  I want one too!
“Well, I’ll get you one next time. We can discuss the price.”
I went to His Majesty’s office, placating Panamera’s excitement. My father followed a short-distance behind me, but he did not speak to me after all.
As we continued through the town, the number of soldiers gradually increased, and in front of the two-story mansion at the far front was a line of knights in obviously gorgeous armor.
They were knights in splendid red armor. They must be the King’s Red Armor, the SS under the direct command of His Majesty. Well, it is said that they are also called the “bloody armor” with awe by people from other countries.
I am Viscount Panamera Carerra Cayenne and I have brought Baron Van Nay Fertio.”
“Come in.”
Panamera said his name, and the red armors all split to the left and right to make way. Interesting.
The red armored men stood straight and tall, with the same posture as if they had been standing in a straight line. It was just like an army lineup.
“Oh
”
Panamera laughs as she lets out a small exclamation and lets out a breath.
“Phew, are you impressed by seeing His Majesty’s Imperial Knights?”
“Yes. It’s very powerful, isn’t it? Are they very strong after all?”
I asked, and Panamera nodded with a laugh.
“It is. Only 500 people are allowed to wear the red armor. Those who are judged to be outstanding in the annual knight promotion examination must fight against the current Royal Guards and take it from them on merit. In other words, only those who are truly competent can become knights.”
Panamera glances at me as she answers this.
“
Well, depending on the equipment, the boy might have a chance to win.”
He muttered quietly.
The red-armored men’s eyeballs twitched as they looked at him, but Panamera paid them no mind as she walked into the pavilion.
With the attention of the kingdom’s best and brightest on me, I smiled and took off at a run.
Panamera. You did that on purpose.
I followed Panamera with my nose stretched out under his bonkers backside.