Is This Really That Melodramatic?

"Young master, Tevalinburg is just ahead. Do you think anyone will recognize me if I pretend to be that squire knight named Dickens?"

Outside a bluestone fortress built on a hillside, on the mountain road, a fully armored knight who stood taller than a mounted man looked levelly at his equally armored companion beside him.

"Look at that great helm of yours. Who could see what you look like through a helmet that only shows a T-shaped slit?"

Ergons was merely teasing Adam. Only Adam would take it seriously.

Adam was over two meters and ten centimeters tall—nearly seven feet in imperial measurements—while that squire, Dickens, was at most one meter eighty-five, less than six feet one inch.

Never mind how a squire knight could possess such expensive military gear as a sleeveless cuirass faced with black padded cloth, plate boots, vambraces, a massive Horned Helmet, a heavy spiked mace, a longsword, a greatsword, a kite shield, and more.

Judging by their builds alone, even a blind man would never mistake the two for the same person.

What troubled Ergons most now was not whether Adam resembled the squire Dickens.

What made him hesitate was why, after "Sir Davis Tevalin" had effectively taken control of Tervain Village, Tevalinburg had sent not praise, but a reprimand and a recall order.

Logically speaking, noble territories could not simply be handed over in private. After Tervain Village's heir had died without descendants, Baron Tervain should have reassigned it.

But the problem was that after Tervain Village reported Ergons Tevalin's "death in battle," Tevalinburg had sent the Baron's chamberlain to investigate, and the chamberlain had produced a sharply worded letter from the Baron.

The letter ordered "Sir Davis" to return to Tevalinburg as soon as possible to take part in the Northern Legion's rotation assignment and not linger in the local area.

The letter had arrived on the final day of the month, forcing him to set out that very day.

This chain of events made him feel that the Baron of Tevalinburg was not one of the organizers of the invasion, and that the current Baron was not particularly close to his nephew, Sir Davis Tevalin.

The sternly worded reprimand made it clear that the Baron did not seem pleased that Sir Davis Tevalin had gained the chance to inherit territory. Instead, he seemed somewhat... wary and rejecting.

Trouble.

Not only had he been exposed, but more importantly, he had badly misjudged Sir Davis's popularity.

Fortunately, he had already squeezed everything he could from Tervain Village, a small settlement whose outpost role outweighed its farming duties. The seven subordinates he had gained there were already the greatest force the place could provide.

He arranged for the other five to follow him separately to Tevalinburg, left Old Servant Adam behind to watch for changes, and arrived at the main family's Tevalinburg under the name of his distant cousin.

After removing his heavy great helm and wearing only a chainmail coif that left his face exposed, "Sir Davis Tevalin" easily entered the city on reputation alone. From the eyes of the gate guards, he could see their heartfelt, fervent admiration and respect.

"Looks like the situation isn't too bad. Sir Davis holds prestige and respect in this castle, so why does his relationship with his relatives seem so poor?"

Crossing the moat and passing through the gatehouse with its barbican structure brought them into the outer ring of this castle. Though it did not cover much ground, every part of it had been designed for battle.

Tevalinburg was a military fortress expanded in stages through the joining of multiple towers. Its main tower stood on a hillside along the last road before the marshlands. The mountain terrain to the east was rugged, while the north was practically a cliff. That was why Tervain Village, despite being Tevalinburg's outpost, lay to the castle's side and rear.

Because of the terrain, siege towers, ladders, and other large siege equipment could scarcely approach the castle from the usual direction of an invading enemy.

The outer ring's multiple towers connected directly to the final expanded wall, using towers staggered along the slopes to provide fire support for the walls.

Wooden walkways had been built between the towers of the outer ring, allowing troops to move quickly.

As Ergons and Adam walked along the ground, they could clearly make out the layout of the connecting paths overhead, which covered the sky. The towers were not only interconnected with one another; they also connected to the inner ring walls from both the ground level and the second level.

The elevation difference between the inner and outer rings, naturally formed by the mountain itself, was a defense in its own right.

Whether enemies broke in through the walls or the gates, they would be trapped in this mill of flesh and blood, crushed to death by three-dimensional attacks from every direction with no blind spots.

The Baron family's castle stood within the inner ring walls. The inner ring, likewise made of multiple towers, appeared more compact, but one area amid that density had been deliberately left empty.

It was an isolated structure occupying nearly one-third of the inner ring's area, with no connection to any of the inner ring's towers or walls.

"Sir, a lady wishes to meet you tonight at three. She hopes you will wait by the spring."

While they were moving forward, a hooded man who seemed to appear from nowhere left those words in a voice so low it was almost imperceptible, then vanished back into the crowd.

"So this is the contact."

From the "mini-map," he could easily track the hooded man as he made a circle and returned to that isolated tower structure.

That one point in Tracking and one point in Guidance had not been wasted.

On the map, the man was labeled "Second-rank Deacon of the Holy Light Church," and inside the church, a seventeen-man "Deacon Group of the Holy Light Church" was waiting.

Ergons pulled a small cloth bundle from his boot. It must have been slipped into his boot shaft by that deacon just now.

"May Holy Light shine upon you, my dear brother Davis:

The plan has suffered a setback. The Foot Knights of Tevalinburg Church's previous Deacon group were nearly wiped out. Let us mourn their misfortune. May Holy Light shine upon them!

Fortunately, His Excellency the Bishop dispatched fresh reinforcements after hearing the news, and supplies are plentiful. Unfortunately, Count Hefenm Anduin appears to have noticed something. His decree reached Tevalinburg before our reinforcements.

We were unable to provide you with the necessary cover before Baron Tervain reacted. Given the misunderstandings and prejudices between you and Baron Tervain, you are no longer suited to take part in liaison duties under an official identity. We will arrange a legion rotation assignment for you, and then send you to garrison Tervain Village in the name of the Knightly Orders.

Best wishes, your loyal brother, Bein Spencer."

The letter was not long, but it lifted a corner of the thick fog surrounding Ergons.

At the very least, he had confirmed the faction to which "Sir Davis Tevalin" belonged.

He had also learned that the powerful figures behind this were truly terrifyingly powerful.

It was actually a bishop of the Holy Light Church who had betrayed the duchy and joined forces with people from the County of Tervain to invade the province.

Even if someone beat him to death, he never would have guessed that.

Because as far as he knew, the duchy had been founded by Grand Knight Commanders who believed in the Lord of Holy Light. By rights, the Church was the foundation of the duchy, so how could a regional archbishop betray it?

Had that bishop become arrogant because no miracles had appeared for over a century? Did he really dare to conspire with heretics to overthrow the duchy's government?

Could those heretics truly overthrow this theocratic duchy that possessed the Four Great Knight Orders?

"Ow, my helmet!"

He could clearly feel that he had touched upon some important piece of information, but before he could seize that flash of inspiration and think it through, Adam, that big fool, interrupted him.

The fool was already tall to begin with. With that massive Horned Helmet on, the tips of its horns stood more than two and a half meters above the ground.

The castle climbed upward with the mountain, and its levels were already uneven in height. As Adam walked, he somehow drove his Horned Helmet straight into the underside of the walkway above.

"Creak, creak~"

Now he was using his enormous strength of more than twenty-three to pull the helmet free from the walkway.

While this fool drew everyone's attention, a plate-armored sergeant at the entrance to the inner keep spotted Sir Davis's handsome face at once and hurried over in a panic.

"Sir, Lady Alisa heard about the Baron's reprimand of you and had a huge fight with him yesterday afternoon. You'd better not go before the Baron today and invite more trouble."

He did not know this old sergeant at all, but after disguising himself as Sir Davis Tevalin, he had inherited the other man's social connections. They only needed to meet before those relationships could be awakened.

Comparing the people he knew through the backend panel, he found that this Tervain Sergeant named William Adena actually had an intimacy score of sixty-seven with Sir Davis Tevalin!

He was the illegitimate elder brother of Lady Alisa Adenauer, who had an intimacy score of ninety-seven with Sir Davis.

Lady Alisa Adenauer's identity was anything but ordinary.

She was Baron Tervain's second wife, and Sir Davis Tevalin's well-known... lover!

Did it really have to be this melodramatic?