Taking Over or a Flaw

Led by his conveniently acquired brother-in-law, Sergeant Major William Adena, "Sir Davis Tevalin" and his new companion from the Church arrived at the tower where Foot Knight Adam Dickens Rilanka had finally returned. The tower was practically fused into the walls of the inner ring.

Just from the location of this residence, one could tell how poorly the original Sir Davis Tevalin had been regarded by the Baron.

Thanks to the benefits of his current face, Ergons discovered that this conveniently acquired brother-in-law, the Sergeant Major who had mistaken him for Sir Davis Tevalin, was genuinely enthusiastic.

Moreover, his support for Sir Davis Tevalin was completely undisguised!

"Sir, with the Church behind you, my sister will be blessed in the future. Don't be fooled by how the Baron is basking in the Count's trust and looking so glorious now. He's finished!"

Now that you mention that, I'm not sleepy anymore.

I was planning to send you off quickly and review the important points for living in this castle from now on. But seeing how enthusiastic you are, I might as well get it all out of you.

"His eldest son died young, and this younger one is obviously sickly too. At his age, he really can't perform in bed anymore.

"Once he kicks the bucket, and something happens to his younger son too, Tevalinburg will be yours, David!"

Hearing that he actually had something worthwhile to say, Adam immediately opened his pack without needing to be told and took out white bread, caviar, and smoked meat. With strong liquor, the three of them drank and chatted.

As cups were exchanged, Ergons and Adam's eager flattery began to work. This brother-in-law seemed to have a bellyful of grievances he had been holding back.

After a few sentences and a few cups, he spilled out all the things he should or should not have said.

"David, look at your friend. He's a Foot Knight of the Church, right? Then look at me. I don't think I'm any weaker, yet under the Baron, I can only be a Sergeant Major.

"Although Foot Knights are merely senior infantrymen among the Church's armed forces, with neither land nor title, they can still be compared to mid-ranking military nobles.

"Now look at me. My strength is practically the best in all of Tevalinburg when it comes to fighting on foot, and it's not as if I can't fight on horseback.

"Has anyone ever given me a chance?

"Has anyone ever asked whether I had that ability?

"My sister and I came here to seek refuge with him, yet all I can do is guard the damn gate!"

No wonder this man had sided with Sir Davis Tevalin. His dissatisfaction with Baron Tervain was probably as well known as the fact that his sister had become Sir Davis's mistress.

"Three years ago, in that Private War the old bastard started, I drove back more than twenty enemy light infantrymen by myself, helped him hold the flank, saved that old bastard's life when the battle was on the verge of collapse, and salvaged his honor.

"But what happened after we won?

"He seized a manor from the defeated side, yet all he did was give us a little money, a few barrels of lousy ale, half a sheep, and treat the sergeants to a meal. That was supposed to settle everything?

"A year and a half ago, after the Northern Legion's troop movements, the castle's forces developed serious problems with rotations. If anyone attacked the castle, we would have been unable to defend every side at once.

"I was the one who studied troop allocation and routes up the walls. Taking our climate and actual conditions into account, I made effective use of all our forces, which was how our current comprehensive system came about.

"I made contributions to the operation and deployment of the city-defense forces, but that old bastard still planned to let it pass without saying a word.

"It was only after my sister repeatedly brought it up in front of him that he gave me a tiny, broken-down house in the outer city. My sister and I had been relying on him for years!

"And only then did he give me one tiny, broken-down house!

"Did he really think I cared about living in the inner city? I, William Adena, third son of Baron Adena of North Province! Back with my family, I was a master attended by maidservants!"

It sounded like a truly indignant speech at first, but even while he was drunk enough to slur his words, he could still recite it so smoothly. Clearly, this was not the first time he had made this complaint.

"You're different. You're a true hero. You won't be like that old bastard.

"I think highly of you. As long as the Church supports you, the title, territory, and everything that old bastard stole from your father will eventually return to your hands."

As he drank, his tongue grew clumsier. No matter how much they asked about Tevalinburg, they could get nothing more out of him. He seemed to have sunk into his own resentment, recounting past achievements and the injustices he had suffered.

He spoke with great passion, but he could not make Ergons or Adam share his hatred. After two jugs of weak wine went down his throat, William Adena, drunk on himself rather than the liquor, collapsed on the table unconscious.

Ergons Tevalin and Adam exchanged a glance, both wondering what to do with him, when the tower door was unexpectedly unlocked from outside with a key.

"David, did my brother get drunk at your place again?"

A woman entered, her graceful figure impossible to conceal even beneath a gray cloak. The half-open door let in the evening glow, tracing a golden edge around her seemingly fully ripened body.

In the hazy backlight, the outlines of her face and the soft, downy fuzz like that of a young girl came into view. Light flowed across her cheeks, following her into the room before finally vanishing along the curve of her upturned lips.

She was both pure and tempting.

What man could possibly resist this woman?

Adam, the big fool who had only been given the identity of Foot Knight Adam Dickens Rilanka half an hour ago, had never understood the difference between women and men.

But the instant he saw this woman push open the door and enter, a primitive urge seemed to erupt from the depths of his heart. Immediately afterward, the bashful embarrassment inside him prevented him from remaining there.

It was as though the air itself were scorching his nerves. He awkwardly dodged around the woman by the door, shoved the door open, and ran outside.

"Young master, I-I'm going to buy some daily necessities..."

"Is this man your friend? Why does he call you young master?"

Elisa Adena was twenty-seven this year. She had married into Tevalinburg as the Old Baron's second wife six years ago, and in her first year there, she had captured the heart of Sir Davis Tevalin, who had already been an up-and-coming warrior in the Northern Legion at the time.

To Ergons, this woman, ripe as a peach, was simply overwhelming.

Elisa did not make any deliberately seductive gesture. She merely pulled back her hood, took off her cloak, and naturally cleared away the leftovers on the table while speaking to Sir Davis Tevalin.

That alone had gotten to him. It gave him a strange sense of familiarity, like the domestic sister-in-law, the teacher visiting a student's home, the saleswoman, or the stepmother and wife's younger sister from the films he had watched before crossing over.

She's the Old Baron's second wife, and she has an affair with that dead man. If I fool around with her, the disguise might be exposed because of a difference in positions. Besides, her brother is still passed out drunk on the table. This isn't good...

Ergons Tevalin could only persuade himself like that. Yet the more he persuaded himself, the more he felt that making a move so directly would be rather thrilling.

But just as his thoughts began to wander, the conveniently acquired brother-in-law slumped over the table suddenly shrugged. In his right hand beneath the table, he had somehow already gripped a shortsword.

Whoosh!

Before the blade arrived, a glint of cold light struck first!

Elisa Adena, who had been arranging the plates, also flung one at Ergons's head and neck as though throwing a concealed weapon.

Ergons kicked the table with both feet and threw himself backward, avoiding the shortsword aimed at his throat. But several plates smashed into his face and head.

Blood immediately began to flow.

Where had he exposed a flaw?