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“My lord, should we bring him away?”

[The second son of Lord Macsen. That stubborn old man has such an interesting boy.]

Brendel studied the youth in front of him and shook his head, changing his mind: “Release him.”

The soldiers were taken aback and they glanced at each other, chewing on the meaning of his command.

“Go on, release him,” Brendel repeated himself and nudged the soldiers.

The soldiers then released the thick ropes on Carglise’s wrists. The youth exposed his teeth in discomfort and rubbed the area where the ropes bound him, frowning. Even though the soldiers did not beat him up, they certainly were not gentle with him.

He glanced at the red impressions on his pale skin and made a sulky face. But he was more interested in Brendel’s intentions and stood up to look at him with a pair of light grey eyes. After a moment of staring, he asked: “Are you really......”

“Ah, you mean to say, the leader of the rebels?”

“I hope I didn’t offend you.” Carglise laughed awkwardly as the pitch of his voice went a few octaves higher.

In truth, there was a series of explosions setting off in his mind. The person in front of him looked like he was no older than him; not only did he defeat him soundly in swordsmanship, he was also in command of an army that was bigger than his father’s.

The more Carglise looked at Brendel, the more he felt that the past ten years he had been living was wasted. Lord Palas had told him more than once with a grave tone that staying in a small place like Trentheim would ultimately limit his growth.

“I’m curious,” Carglise asked as he rubbed his wrists, “why are you releasing me?”

“Well,” Brendel put on a bright smile and turned into a salesman, “if I say I want you to work for me, would you believe me?”

“I don’t believe you. Why should I work for you?” Carglise’s head immediately shook left and right.

“Well now. How about if I tell you this? I’m the secret agent of the princess Gryphine Corvado Ordelis, and my mission is to build a covert operational base to curb Count Randner. Do you believe me?”

This time it was not just Carglise’s eyes which threatened to pop out of their sockets, even Kodan lost his footing and stared at Brendel.

Carglise’s next expression was one of complete disbelief and even looked at Brendel as though he was insane.

But the old man’s eyes appeared as though he had come to some form of revelation. There was a certain relationship between Brendel’s grandfather and the Corvados, and Brendel’s actions from the very beginning he appeared in Trentheim seemed to have a grain of truth.

At least part of his words had no lie in them.

“This joke isn’t funny at all. But seeing you’re the lord here, I’ll reluctantly force myself to say that it’s a passable joke.” Carglise said.

Brendel took out a silver brooch with a grin: “This is called the Silver Emblem. It happens to be the symbol of the royal family’s knights.”

“...... How do I know you’re not lying?”

Kodan was somewhat skeptical as well. He had naturally heard of the Silver Emblem, but it was another matter whether the thing in the youth’s hand was the real deal. Yet the more he thought about it, the more he felt that Brendel had some kind of link to the Royal Faction.

The brooch was indeed real.

It was delivered together with the princess’s reply. The contents of the letter were quite simple; it mainly described how the royal family admired a talented youth like him, but there was no other mention of any requests or hints.

The letter was merely a proper, courteous diplomatic reply, and the entire letter had nothing useful in it. Even if Brendel claimed that this letter that was written back to him by the princess, it had no material use. But the youth treated it like a great treasure and kept it away carefully.

Amandina was incredibly confused, mumbled to herself about how stingy the royal family was, and only an idiot like Brendel was unable to see how awful he was treated.

Brendel obviously understood this point, but there was a great amount of regret in him for being helpless in the princess’s final moments in the game. Each failure in the War of the Black Rose only led to the next failure, and there was no one more bitter than the princess herself.

When this letter was presented to him on his table, it would be a lie if he said he did not feel anything.

“Fine. Let’s put aside the matter of the brooch’s authenticity and talk about something else. I heard that you intend to bring a few of your servants to go to the north and answer the princess’s call to revive the power of the Corvados?” Brendel said.

“It seems like you know much.”

“You’re much better than most of the youths that I see around here. Trentheim wouldn’t be able to contain your potential,” Bendel said as he tried to recall the name of Carglise in the other world’s history, but it was a blank.

Still, it was not a strange thing, there were quite a number of youths who did not shine in the end. Perhaps it was because there was someone who was more talented than them, or they were simply unlucky and died on their way to Vlada.

Bandits, monsters, evil disciples of cults, or even evil human lords who were like Graudin. The current era in Aouine was a little dangerous.

“Why does it sound like that I’m being mocked when the words come from your lips?” Carglise frowned.

Brendel shook his head vigorously to deny it: “No, of course not. I’m serious. So, how about it? Do you want to?”

“Want to what?” Carglise was perplexed.

“I’m lacking an adjutant.”

“Are you pulling my leg?”

“I already said I’m serious. I think you’re skilled enough to take up this position. The most important thing is whether you have this wish—”

“Hold on,” Carglise interrupted, “I never said I’m interested in joining you.”

“Then are you going to stay in Trentheim forever and miss out on the opportunity where heroes rise up in this era? In the end, you are satisfied to become a small lord in a backward territory with balding hair?”

“You sound like you’re insulting my father on purpose.” Carglise frowned again. He felt like he was becoming more of a guest rather than a prisoner: “But why should I trust you?”

“You can leave anytime if you don’t like it.”

“But I know that once I help you it wouldn’t be that easy to get off this pirate ship. Even if you want to convince me, you should at least do so with a better reason. If you turn out to be a shyster, and you’re not working for the crown, wouldn’t it be too stupid of me?”

And Brendel’s eyes were gleaming when he heard the reply.

[Ho ho ho, you’re asking me to give you a better reason? Sounds like there’s room for negotiations.]

Carglise sounded like he was guarded but was already starting to be persuaded. He was never one to be stuck with rules, he did not want to live an ordinary life like his father did, even if he had to follow the leader of the rebels and not the princess. There was also the fact that Brendel seemed like he could succeed with his confidence and skill too.

“Well, if I say I want to grab Duke Arreck by the beard and beat him up violently on the ground, then get revenge for Madara’s invasion, would these reasons be enough—”

Everyone froze. Even Kodan felt this answer came out from nowhere.

“W-who are you exactly? What did you say you want to do?” Carglise stuttered and tested to see if he heard wrong.

“What do you mean? I already told you who I’m working for and what I want to do.” Brendel looked back with a subtle expression.

Carglise blanked out for a long while before a fire started blazing in his eyes, and nodded vigorously: “Your ideas are wonderful!”

Kodan’s eyes twitched a little as he stared at the two insane youths in front of him.

He felt that he was getting old.

He momentarily reminisced about the past when he was working with Torbus and other knights, also unafraid of the world around him. They were even recognized as demons in the November War where every enemy was afraid of their group.

But the era was different from the past.

The old swordsman glanced at Carglise who seemed to be completely convinced and ready to try it out.

He hurriedly dragged Brendel over to the sides, and spoke to him in a hushed voice:

“Are you crazy, Brendel? Have you thought it through at all? That stubborn old fool Samuel will risk his life if you kidnap his son.”

“Risk his life?” Brendel looked back with an incredulous expression and laughed: “That can only happen if he escapes from the house arrest.”

“You don’t intend to let him out?” Kodan suddenly felt that this youth was a little insidious.

Stealing away Samuel’s son that he raised for decades, and imprisoning him? This was a little too much.

“Well, I’m open to the idea of letting him out as long as that person over there agrees to it.” Brendel pointed at Carglise.

Kodan met Carglise’s eyes and immediately shook his head. If Samuel knew that his son joined hands with a rebel, he might just beat him to death instead. His son obviously knew it as well, and he would certainly agree with Brendel to delay the release of his father.

[The youths these days......]

“Really, there’s no need to worry. Lord Macsen will definitely be treated well. I look forward to Carglise’s future; he’s going to be someone who achieves much.”

“..... The things that you said earlier, are they true?”

“What things?”

“Stop pretending,” the old man’s voice was harsh, “I’m talking about the princess.”

“False.”

“Oh fuck off!” Kodan sent a foot at Brendel, but the latter was ready for it.

“Ha ha ha, Grandmaster Kodan, even if this matter is real, it’s supposed to be a secret. How can I claim it as true.....?”

Kodan’s mouth was agape. It was true that it would not be good for someone under the princess to admit killing a noble who was appointed by the crown, but Brendel seemed like he did many dubious things as well.

He should not believe everything the youth said.

Brendel nodded as he continued speaking: “In any case, Ser Kodan, are you interested in going on an adventure?”

“What?” Kodan looked at Brendel with strange eyes. What was the devious youth trying to do now?