Emperor! Can You See Stats!?

Chapter 133: A Few Days Later.

The day of the proxy duel for the territory finally arrived.

A horde of horsemen visited the castle of the Cains viscount. 

They were the earl of Lawrence and his knights, the opponents of the duel. 

Behind them, soldiers followed in a long line, creating an atmosphere as if they came for a war rather than a duel.

“Did you arrive, my lord?”

The earl of Lawrence had a sullen expression despite the polite greeting of the viscount of Cains.

“How did you dare to accept a proxy duel in such a shabby and small territory? Did you prepare well for the transfer of ownership?”

He blatantly ignored the courtesy and offended the viscount. The retainers behind the viscount all showed displeased faces.

“…”

The viscount, who heard the insult, turned his back silently and moved his steps to lead them inside the castle.

“Hmph! Do you want to keep your last dignity? I’m glad you don’t beg or cry.”

He acted as if he had already won and followed the viscount into the castle with confident steps.

‘Well, it’s going to be mine soon anyway. I don’t want to look too bad by mocking it too much.’

He did not think that he would lose even by a slight chance. That’s why he could behave so arrogantly in a duel that involved both territories.

Buzzing.

The castle of the viscount, which was usually a quiet countryside territory, was bustling with external guests today.

They were the nobles and knights who came as witnesses for both sides of the duel. They were preparing for the duel.

Soon, an old noble who took charge of representing the witnesses came out and looked at both owners of the territories alternately before opening his mouth.

“Since all the guests have arrived, I think we should start soon. Are you ready?”

“We are ready on this side.”

“It’s no different from a decided outcome anyway. Let’s start quickly!”

He nodded his head after hearing both answers.

“Then you can send out your knights. The rules are as you know, the side that makes one knight unable to fight or subdues him first wins.”

And then he turned his eyes to the viscount’s side and showed a slightly sorry expression.

“The losing side must follow the rules and cannot take anything out except for two wagons of property. Do you agree?”

‘Tsk!’

He and other witnesses all clicked their tongues inwardly. They were annoyed by the earl’s rude attitude, but they also felt sympathy for the viscount.

“He had such bad luck in his old age.”

“Why did he resist when he could just surrender to the noble alliance? Knights from military backgrounds are too stubborn for their own good.”

The viscount could not help but hear their murmurs.

“…”

But he had a reason why he could not join the noble alliance, not only because of his loyalty to the emperor.

‘I can’t hold back my son who is doing well.’

What would happen to Cains, who was doing well by the side of the first prince, if he surrendered? He would not hear good words for sure.

If he had a chance to succeed in the capital, he could not burden his son with this problem of a rural territory. 

That was what the viscount thought.

‘Max said that he was angry and went back to the capital. That’s good. He almost made me worry for nothing.’

The viscount’s heart sank when he saw Cains for the first time. 

He came back on vacation at this time and almost ruined his hidden plan.

‘But why did he come back on vacation at this time?’

He had a slight doubt, but he soon sorted out his thoughts and nodded his head with a determined expression to the witness.

“Of course I am ready.”

“Then let’s begin.”

The duel was scheduled to take place in the training ground inside the castle. 

The earl’s side sent out their knight first. 

He approached a knight with a full smile on his chubby face.

“Hehe… It seems that Sir Howard will have to do us a favor again this time.”

The knight nodded his head without answering and walked out slowly. 

It was a bit strange to see their relationship as a lord and a knight.

The knight who stood in the center of the training ground opened his mouth and revealed his identity.

“I was a free knight, but I decided to serve under Earl Lawrence recently. My name is Rick Howard. I hope for a fair and good fight.”

Whispering.

There was another buzz from the witness seat after hearing his words.

They had attended two previous proxy duels that happened nearby, but they had some doubts about who this knight called Howard was.

“No matter how many hidden masters there are in this continent, how can someone who can easily subdue master-level knights be just serving under an earl?”

“Well, maybe he is a knight who is training under a prestigious martial arts family? Anyway, there is no need to watch the outcome this time.”

‘It’s my turn now.’

The viscount closed his eyes and raised his hand to signal to send out his knight. He was prepared to lose anyway, so choosing one was rather difficult.

The knight he chose was a middle-aged knight who had served him for a long time. He thought that sending out an experienced knight would allow him to surrender before getting seriously injured.

Thump thump.

He heard footsteps from behind and turned his head with a sorry expression.

‘I’m sorry for him. I hope he doesn’t get hurt too much… Huh?’

The viscount’s eyes widened. 

The knight who came out was completely different.

“Why are you?”

He was so surprised that he let out a sigh. 

The knight who finished his bow shouted before the viscount could say anything.

“I am Bernard Cains, the eldest son of the Cains viscount and a captain of the SCharnos knight order under the first prince!”

There was an exclamation louder than when the opponent came out from the witness seat after seeing the unexpected appearance of Cains.

“Indeed… I’ve heard his name before. He was a knight who performed well in the royal martial arts tournament a while ago, right?”

“Now that I think about it, the viscount’s eldest son is gaining fame in the capital these days, right? He had such a hidden card!”

They all nodded their heads with interest, and the viscount could not say anything to change his knight.

If he tried to change him forcibly in this situation, he would only humiliate his son. The viscount’s face shook and glared at Cains.

‘You bastard! Why did you come here?’

“…”

He did not answer anything and greeted the opponent knight as well.

“I ask for a fair fight.”

“Do you have the skill for that?”

The knight called Howard secretly sent his pressure to Cains. 

It was to intimidate him, but also because he was curious about him, who was a knight of the first prince.

‘He doesn’t look that strong, even though I’ve heard his name before?’

“Hmm?”

Surprisingly, Cains seemed to be slightly flustered by his pressure, but he quickly regained his composure. 

His eyes twinkled.

‘Look at that?’

He was hiding his identity, but he was actually a superhuman-level knight. 

The fact that he could deflect his pressure so skillfully meant that his opponent was not easy.

‘But he doesn’t look like a superhuman-level knight anyway. I’ll make him regret meeting me today.’

He only looked surprised for a moment, then his eyes filled with killing intent. 

He had no intention of sparing Cains, who was introduced as Julius’s aide.

On the other hand, Cains pretended to be calm on the outside, but he was sweating profusely inside. 

He had doubted the claim that he had suppressed a master-level knight, but this aura was unmistakably that of a superhuman.

‘No! Why am I so unlucky lately? Everyone I meet is better than me…’

The reason he could shrug off the aura of a superhuman was because he had gotten used to facing stronger opponents in his special training.

But that was training and this was real. And judging by the fierce aura of his opponent, he didn’t seem to have any mercy.

At this moment, Cains’s concentration reached its peak. 

It was an inevitable fight. 

Didn’t he have a reason to win?

‘It’s do or die!’

As Cains showed his fighting spirit, Howard only gave a cold smile.

‘You’re determined, but how long can you last?’

Soon, the duel began with the signal of the witness.

“Then, let the knights of both sides begin the duel.”

Swoosh!

Howard’s sword flew with a ferocious force towards Cains’s heart. 

It was a vicious move that aimed for a vital spot from the very beginning, even though it was a duel.

Seeing that, the viscount’s face turned pale.

‘Can he handle such a knight? He has a reputation, but…’

Clang!

“…!?”

Both Howard and the viscount were surprised. 

Cains had unexpectedly blocked that blow with ease. 

And he even launched a sharp counterattack.

Clang!

‘He’s better than I thought.’

Howard hardened his face and rushed in again. 

He swung his sword fiercely, not giving Cains any chance to counterattack. 

His intricate consecutive attacks were very flashy and powerful, and it seemed like Cains would fall at any moment, bleeding.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

In fact, he was pushed back relentlessly. He barely managed to defend against his opponent’s attacks.

“…”

However, Howard’s expression became stiffer as he attacked.

‘He seems to be pushed back one-sidedly, but he has no wounds at all. Is he trying to exhaust my stamina?’

The viscount also looked worried at first and was ready to raise a white flag at any time, but soon he realized what was going on and watched the duel with amazement.

“Look at that. Didn’t you say he had talent?”

Max, who had approached him unnoticed, smiled brightly. The viscount frowned.

“You lied to me. You said he went back to the capital.”

“It was his request.”

At that brief answer, the viscount sighed.

“It’s all because of my incompetence. I won’t blame you for it.”

“Of course not. Wasn’t it your will to send him to the capital?”

“I hoped he would change his personality a bit. But I didn’t expect this outcome.”

“Isn’t it good as long as the result is good?”

“…”

The viscount didn’t answer anymore, but Max knew what he was thinking and smiled contentedly. He also wondered about something.

‘By the way, who changed that stubborn young master so reliably? Was it his colleagues in the knight order? Or that first emperor?’

But before he could solve that mystery, the situation of the duel suddenly changed.

Slash!

“…!?”

“Young master!”

Cains, who had been blocking well until then, finally allowed an attack. 

Howard’s aura became even more ominous.

He clenched his teeth inwardly.

‘I can’t believe I’m having a hard time with this brat!’

He activated his secret technique and his power and speed increased dramatically. So Cains had no choice but to be on the defensive.

He had endured well so far thanks to his repeated training with superiors who were far superior to him.

Slash!

His body was already covered in blood from various sword wounds. But Cains opened his eyes wider and looked for an opportunity.

‘I can still hold on. I just need one chance!’

He was definitely a superhuman, but he wasn’t as ruthless and strong as Julius or Beatrice who had beaten him up mercilessly. He didn’t care about the scratches he got used to.

As he saw him persisting, Howard felt something was going wrong.

‘He’s annoyingly tough.’

His secret technique was called Double!

As the name suggests, it had the characteristic of increasing his power and speed as he continued to attack. 

But Cains’s sword moved like a ghost and interrupted his attacks, preventing him from unleashing his full power.

He was weak among superhumans, but Cains’s swordsmanship itself was the worst match for his secret technique.

So even though he was overwhelmingly pushing him back, it wasn’t easy to decide the outcome. Howard panicked and nodded his head.

‘He can’t keep up his stamina while bleeding. It will end with my victory eventually.’

He had hoped to win overwhelmingly at first, but that seemed difficult.

“Huff…”

He loosened his attack a little to conserve his stamina.

And that was the moment Cains had been waiting for.

‘It’s my chance!’

Cains gripped his sword with both hands and jumped into his opponent’s swordplay. This was the trick he had learned by getting beaten up to death.

‘No matter how vigilant they are, superhumans don’t doubt their victory against ordinary knights!’

He had tried all kinds of ways to land a hit on Julius in order to escape from the hell of special training.

The most effective one was this moment. When the opponent was confident of victory and slightly slowed down his offense!

Swoosh.

His sword slid like a ghost and slashed Howard’s chest. It was his ultimate move that invested all his strength. Howard was shocked.

‘What the hell!’

No matter how superhuman he was, he couldn’t take the blade of a master-level knight with his bare body. 

If the sword stopped near his neck, it would be his defeat.

Howard gritted his teeth.

‘I’m not going to lose to this brat!’

He twisted his upper body to avoid the attack as much as possible and stabbed his sword towards Cains’s heart.

Slash!

Thud!

Cains’s sword missed the neck and cut Howard’s chest, and Howard’s sword pierced Cains’s heart area.

“Ugh…”

“Gasp!”

Howard had suffered a severe injury that exposed his ribs. And Cains, who had been stabbed in the heart, staggered back with a pale face.

“Lord… no, Sir Howard!”

“Bernard!”

The representatives of both sides looked like they were about to rush out at any moment with pale faces.

And the result of their one strike each was soon revealed.

Thud!

Howard collapsed first with a look of disbelief on his face.

“Th… the winner is Lord Cains!”

The representative of the witnesses declared Cains’ victory with a stutter, surprised by the unexpected outcome.

“Call a healer!”

“My lord!”

Sir Max, who hurriedly ran out, examined Cains’ condition and sighed in relief.

“It barely missed your heart by an inch. You’re very lucky.”

Just as Howard had stabbed him with a killing intent, he had also twisted his body slightly at the last moment and avoided the blade by a hair’s breadth.

Cains, who received emergency treatment, fainted on the spot. The witnesses were all busy praising him.

“He was amazing. I thought he would lose for sure. Poor Earl Lawrence.”

“Poor? He deserved it for being so greedy!”

Earl Lawrence was trembling with a pale face.

‘No, how did this happen!’

In his mind, Howard, the superhuman, was an unbeatable card. 

But that common sense was shattered. 

He couldn’t come to his senses for a while and started to think.

‘I can’t lose my territory like this. But what can I do?’

His eyes turned malicious.

‘This miserable land is nothing compared to my knight force. Maybe I should kill them all and destroy the evidence…’

“Surrender peacefully, criminal!”

But before he could make a decision, the gate came down and knights poured in. 

Their number was hundreds, a sight that could never be seen in this rural area of the south.

“What’s going on? What’s happening?”

Among the knights who surrounded the manor, a middle-aged man in a neat uniform walked out. He spoke in a stern tone.

“I am Count Perez, the commander of the Third Legion of the Empire.”

“…!?”

The people in the hall had no choice but to be surprised.

“Why is the central army here in this countryside…”

The reason was soon revealed.

“Earl Lawrence! You are under arrest for treason for joining the New Southern Alliance.”

“…!?”

Earl Lawrence shook his fat body and froze like a statue on the spot. How did they find out that information?

And more words from Count Perez’s mouth shocked everyone in the hall.

“And that fallen man over there too! His Majesty has ordered to question him for his involvement in the New Southern Alliance and for leaving his post without permission as an Earl of Change.”

Squeak!

One of the knights who approached him peeled something off from the face of Howard, or rather, the superhuman.

There was nothing more to be surprised about, but some nobles gasped.

“That face is?”

“Isn’t that Count Patrick?”

And the face that was revealed was none other than Count Patrick, the superhuman who was in charge of the southern border. 

He was the one who disguised himself as Howard.

Perez accepted it and declared.

“This is a very sophisticated mask made from human skin that came from the east! There’s no doubt about his identity with this, right?”

“…”

There was nothing to say. 

The knights roughly tied up Count Patrick, who was barely breathing, with thick chains.

“…!?”

The lord had no idea what was going on and looked back and forth between Cains and Perez with a blank expression.

Seeing that, a young man among the witnesses walked out.

“I’ll explain it to you, my lord.”

A while later, Cains woke up after receiving treatment and also looked at the person who was barely holding back his smile in front of him with a bewildered expression.

“No way, Devon brother! How did you get here?”

“Well, I came here by His Majesty’s order.”

“What? His Majesty?”

Cains frowned. He remembered what Eurius had said to him not long ago.

“You’ve worked hard enough. Go back to your hometown and rest!”

***

This is what happened behind the scenes.

“A New Southern Alliance?”

Eurius frowned at the unsettling currents in the capital and the news of a force that was forcibly gathering nobles in the south.

“And it seems that Count Patrick, the superhuman of the south, is behind it.”

Hearing Jegal Hwayoung’s words, Eurius spat out one word without much hesitation.

“If that’s the opponent, then this is a good opportunity to send Cains.”

“Cains, you mean?”

Devon, who was next to him, tilted his head. 

He trusted Eurius’ judgment, but could Cains handle a superhuman?

“Isn’t he the weakest among the superhumans of the empire? And I heard from Victor that he was talented but arrogant and cruel, which made him disliked by the Grand Duke. He should be able to handle someone like that.”

“Still.”

Devon closed his mouth as he was about to say something more. 

Surely Eurius wouldn’t send Cains to his death?

“Then I’ll estimate their strength and prepare accordingly.”

“I trust you.”

At that time, Eurius had no time to spare for the southern troublemakers because of the affairs in the capital. 

Besides, no matter how much the southern nobles united, they couldn’t match the Third Legion led by Devon.

‘The problem is Count Patrick, the superhuman of the south, but if my guess is right, Cains will be enough to stop him.’

Eurius had his own confidence. It was his memory from his previous life.

“Who would you choose as the best knight in the south, excluding the Grand Duke?”

“It would have to be Count Patrick, another superhuman, wouldn’t it?”

“But what about Lord Cains, who is undefeated?”

“Do you think he can stand against a superhuman?”

In his previous life, everyone would name those two as the best swordsmen in the south, except for the Grand Duke. 

But there was an interesting anecdote about their outcome.

“It’s unpleasant to compare me with such a person.”

But Count Patrick seemed to be always bothered by the comparison between him and Cains, who was rumored to be lazy.

One day, he visited Cains’ territory and challenged him to a fight.

“Sigh… This is a lose-lose situation…”

Cains was very embarrassed by his persistent request and finally accepted it on the condition that they would do it secretly indoors.

And the result was surprisingly a draw.

“…”

After the fight, Count Patrick left for his territory with his mouth shut. 

This was the representative event that made Cains so famous.

He had a fight with a superhuman in his undefeated record.

But when Eurius heard that Count Patrick was arrogant and cruel, he immediately realized it.

‘If he has such a personality, he wouldn’t have spared Cains. In my previous life, that fight was definitely Cains’ victory.’

Cains surely had enough skill to hold his own against him, so Eurius sent him to the south.

Of course, sending him to the territory and participating in the duel was not exactly his strategy, but Devon’s plan.

‘If I lose Cains in a battle with an accident, I won’t be able to face His Majesty.’

That’s why Devon came up with the plan of territorial war. 

It happened that Earl Lawrence, who was greedy, had his eyes on Cains’ hometown territory.

It was a perfect opportunity to create a one-on-one situation between them.

Devon disguised himself as a witness and attended the duel. 

As soon as the outcome was decided, he immediately signaled and called in his legion. 

He also prepared a minimum measure to save him in case Cains was in danger.

***

“…”

After hearing the whole story, Cains shivered and couldn’t help but cry out in injustice.

“Your highness!”