Stay calm.
I had to stay calm.
Even if I had to bite my tongue, I had to stay calm.
I cooled down my shaking mind.
How did it suddenly turn out like this?
I just tried to mediate between them. Was this some kind of special mediation method only used by the Royal Knights?
Come to think of it, even in modern times, I was often surprised by the peculiar cultures of other countries.
In that sense, it wasn’t completely nonsensical.
Unfortunately.
Was that why the king entrusted me with the mediation? Because they couldn’t mediate with their own power?
If that was the case, the king was truly a damn bastard.
Thanks to that, I was about to die alone.
But even if the sky falls, there’s a hole to rise up.
First, to overcome this situation, conditions were needed. And the first condition was to absolutely avoid a head-on confrontation.
No matter how much I had the time stop ability, I would definitely lose.
Then, first, I had to bring it to a confrontation where I was much more advantageous with a plausible reason.
The problem was that no advantageous confrontation came to my mind.
While I was pondering for a while, The elf and dwarf stopped talking and suddenly started playing rock-paper-scissors with each other.
What were they doing again?
It was so absurd that a question popped out of my mouth without me realizing it.
“What are you doing right now?”
“We’re deciding the order.”
“Order?”
“We’re deciding who will confront you first!”
“…!!”
That’s it!
The question marks filling my mind disappeared, and instead, it felt like a light bulb had flickered on in their place.
There was that method!
Of course, almost half of it could be called coercion.
But from my current position, I had no choice but to try it.
Whether I died by a dog or died normally, if it was the same either way, I had to at least bet on the one with a higher possibility. But before that, I needed to prepare.
First, draw aggro.
They were fighting with each other again while playing rock-paper-scissors.
Naturally, because they didn’t know when they would start fighting.
It was also impossible to use time stop to stop that fight.
Rather, it was fortunate. Because I needed some kind of stage to draw aggro.
I drew the sword at my waist.
The cold sound of metal scraping as the sword was drawn from its sheath.
At that noise, they reacted. They stopped fighting and started to be wary of me.
I was worried that an attack might come right away, but fortunately, they didn’t seem to be that reckless.
But it wasn’t enough.
Rather, the real thing started now.
As if aiming a gun towards the sky in the military, I was pointing the tip of the sword towards the sky so that everyone could see.
Then, I gripped the sword in a reverse grip and stabbed it into the ground with all my strength.
Thud!!
The sword, with its weight properly concentrated, was instantly stuck in the lawn of the courtyard.
After confirming that it was firmly stuck, I nodded my head.
At my sudden action, the elf tilted her head.
“What are you doing now?”
Good, she asked well.
“I’m creating a stage worthy of you.”
“What?”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying!”
“This should be enough.”
I was worried about what I would do if no one asked.
Fortunately, that wasn’t the case.
If no one had asked and I had explained it alone, it would have been a bit awkward.
I turned my back and walked forward.
Very slowly.
Step by step, step by step.
When those steps accumulated to ten steps,
I turned my head again.
They were still looking at me with eyes that didn’t understand what was going on.
The distance between me and them was roughly estimated to be about 3m.
A distance that was narrow if narrow, and wide if wide.
But what I said here wouldn’t be inaudible to them.
This was the critical moment. If I succeeded here, I could somehow overcome it. And here, I threw out my trump card.
“What do you think is the virtue of a knight?”
The deadly-wind-breaking-speech technique!
Of course, even if I said it was just talking, it was only at the level of imitating the protagonist’s famous lines from the game.
But still, there were a few among them that I could use now!
“Those who call themselves knights simply because they are strong in force or wield a sword well are third-rate.”
“But that’s all there is to it, right?”
“Then who do you think is first-rate?!”
[A knight is one who protects everyone behind their back! That’s why I will never back down!!]
The protagonist of Royal Knights Maker was a typical hero.
Relatively weak in force, but instead, he had the corresponding intellect and tactical abilities, and even the discernment to discover talent.
He was truly a talent suitable for a commander.
Come to think of it, all of those were just the player figuring things out on their own. But still, in the game, they were clearly the protagonist’s abilities.
Not only their eyes but also the eyes of those who had become attracted to this commotion were all focused on me.
The burden pierced my lungs and strangled my heart, but I forcibly twisted my mouth.
“A knight is one who protects everyone behind their back.”
“Typical lip service.”
“In the end, you need strength to be able to protect!”
“…”
These damn bastards.
Why were they reacting so cynically?
Even though they were characters from an adult game, if I said something cool, they should have at least blushed while getting their panties wet.
You damn bitches.
It seemed that they wouldn’t be persuaded by talking nicely.
Then, I had no choice but to poke at that. This was a gamble for me too.
If it succeeded, it would be a jackpot, and if it failed, it would be a complete bust.
But there wasn’t much time. If I kept standing still like this, they would start to suspect me.
There was no choice, I had to press the button even if I couldn’t eat it.
I deliberately burst into laughter.
“Kuhahaha! Ahahahahaha!!”
“What, all of a sudden? Did you go crazy?”
“Get a hold of yourself! Kanf! He’s mocking us!”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
I knew very well the reason why they had fallen this far. It was the failure of the Royal Knights’ expedition.
In the original work, all of the Royal Knights had died in battle.
But for some reason, in this version, as many as 3 people had returned alive.
One of those 3 had deserted, but anyway, what was important here was that they had been defeated and ran away.
“Anyone can say lip service. Just like you.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“In the end, you were defeated and ran away in a miserable state, didn’t you? Even abandoning your comrades!!”
“…If you say any more than that, I really won’t let it slide.”
With this, they were almost completely persuaded.
I swallowed the tears that I almost shed.
The thick killing intent that I had been feeling for a while was pressing down on my shoulders.
If I didn’t have the incredible backing called time stop, I would have knelt down right now and begged for forgiveness while crying and screaming.
Anyway, since it was heated up, I threw out the bait right here!
“It will be a very simple confrontation. From now on, for 1 minute, try to protect the sword from me. If I take the sword, it’s my victory.”
“What does that have to do with this right now?”
“How can you try to protect the living when you can’t even protect a sword?”
It was an argument bordering on coercion, but I packaged it as plausibly as possible by citing the previous statement that a knight is one who protects. And while I was at it, I provoked them once more here.
“Or… is the handicap of not having a sword not enough?”
Deliberately showing my sword sheath well, I loosely waved one hand with nothing in it while exposing my side where the sword sheath was worn.
Then, sparks began to blaze in their eyes.
Indeed, it was the best provocation that worked in all countries.
Are you afraid?
* * *
Even though it was coercion, they somehow accepted that proposal.
The conditions of the bet were simple.
If I took the sword I had stuck in within 1 minute, I would win; if not, I would lose.
Helia would measure the time in the middle with an hourglass.
She wanted to fight alongside me, but I made her give up.
No matter how much of a genius she was, I couldn’t rely on her.
Even though she was a genius, the opponents were also geniuses.
Moreover, they were beings that could be called complete versions, having honed their experience and skills.
Helia as she was now wouldn’t be able to win.
I had my hands behind my back and was making the most relaxed expression possible.
As if to say that I could easily defeat the likes of you with my hands behind my back.
I was trying to create that kind of atmosphere as much as possible.
“Shall we start then?”
“You’re not even wielding a weapon. You’re very relaxed, huh?”
“Be careful. There’s a reason for my relaxation.”
“I know that too. I won’t let my guard down at all.”
“Come at me with everything you’ve got. Otherwise…”
I deliberately trailed off.
Putting my hands behind my back was half for show and the other half was for this.
At the same time as my words trailed off, I snapped my middle finger and index finger behind my back.
Everything turned black and white.
From their perspective, it would probably look like I was talking here.
So I deliberately trailed off and said the rest behind them.
Of course, with the sword I had drawn behind them. I slowly walked towards the sword.
Fortunately, the conditions were favorable.
If I had collided head-on, I would have never been able to win.
When it came to the Royal Knights, from the beginning their physical abilities were on another level.
Not only dwarves and dragons but even elves had very sturdy skin that could easily block a sword.
If there was a way, it would be to approach behind them using time stop and put the blade to their neck.
But it wouldn’t work on dwarves with their sturdy skin, even if it might work on elves.
I passed by them and walked to where I had stuck my sword. And I immediately reached out and pulled the sword.
No, I tried to pull it out.
I soon tilted my head.
Then this time, I tried to pull the sword out like a crowbar with both hands. But the sword wouldn’t budge as if it had been hammered in.
Cold sweat started flowing down my back like a stream.
I was screwed.
I was really screwed.
What? Fuck? This can’t not come out? Did I stick it in too hard earlier?!
“Huff…! I’m running out of breath…?!”
It was dangerous.
I was so flustered that I forgot to control my strength.
My stamina was already starting to run out.
Fortunately, I managed to pull it out somehow before my stamina was completely depleted and I was exhausted.
But I pulled it out too hastily and ended up falling over like a soybean beetle.
Fortunately, time was stopped.
If it weren’t, I would have died of embarrassment.
Stay calm.
I had to stay calm.
Even if I had to bite my tongue, I had to stay calm.
I cooled down my shaking mind.
How did it suddenly turn out like this?
I just tried to mediate between them. Was this some kind of special mediation method only used by the Royal Knights?
Come to think of it, even in modern times, I was often surprised by the peculiar cultures of other countries.
In that sense, it wasn’t completely nonsensical.
Unfortunately.
Was that why the king entrusted me with the mediation? Because they couldn’t mediate with their own power?
If that was the case, the king was truly a damn bastard.
Thanks to that, I was about to die alone.
But even if the sky falls, there’s a hole to rise up.
First, to overcome this situation, conditions were needed. And the first condition was to absolutely avoid a head-on confrontation.
No matter how much I had the time stop ability, I would definitely lose.
Then, first, I had to bring it to a confrontation where I was much more advantageous with a plausible reason.
The problem was that no advantageous confrontation came to my mind.
While I was pondering for a while, The elf and dwarf stopped talking and suddenly started playing rock-paper-scissors with each other.
What were they doing again?
It was so absurd that a question popped out of my mouth without me realizing it.
“What are you doing right now?”
“We’re deciding the order.”
“Order?”
“We’re deciding who will confront you first!”
“…!!”
That’s it!
The question marks filling my mind disappeared, and instead, it felt like a light bulb had flickered on in their place.
There was that method!
Of course, almost half of it could be called coercion.
But from my current position, I had no choice but to try it.
Whether I died by a dog or died normally, if it was the same either way, I had to at least bet on the one with a higher possibility. But before that, I needed to prepare.
First, draw aggro.
They were fighting with each other again while playing rock-paper-scissors.
Naturally, because they didn’t know when they would start fighting.
It was also impossible to use time stop to stop that fight.
Rather, it was fortunate. Because I needed some kind of stage to draw aggro.
I drew the sword at my waist.
The cold sound of metal scraping as the sword was drawn from its sheath.
At that noise, they reacted. They stopped fighting and started to be wary of me.
I was worried that an attack might come right away, but fortunately, they didn’t seem to be that reckless.
But it wasn’t enough.
Rather, the real thing started now.
As if aiming a gun towards the sky in the military, I was pointing the tip of the sword towards the sky so that everyone could see.
Then, I gripped the sword in a reverse grip and stabbed it into the ground with all my strength.
Thud!!
The sword, with its weight properly concentrated, was instantly stuck in the lawn of the courtyard.
After confirming that it was firmly stuck, I nodded my head.
At my sudden action, the elf tilted her head.
“What are you doing now?”
Good, she asked well.
“I’m creating a stage worthy of you.”
“What?”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying!”
“This should be enough.”
I was worried about what I would do if no one asked.
Fortunately, that wasn’t the case.
If no one had asked and I had explained it alone, it would have been a bit awkward.
I turned my back and walked forward.
Very slowly.
Step by step, step by step.
When those steps accumulated to ten steps,
I turned my head again.
They were still looking at me with eyes that didn’t understand what was going on.
The distance between me and them was roughly estimated to be about 3m.
A distance that was narrow if narrow, and wide if wide.
But what I said here wouldn’t be inaudible to them.
This was the critical moment. If I succeeded here, I could somehow overcome it. And here, I threw out my trump card.
“What do you think is the virtue of a knight?”
The deadly-wind-breaking-speech technique!
Of course, even if I said it was just talking, it was only at the level of imitating the protagonist’s famous lines from the game.
But still, there were a few among them that I could use now!
“Those who call themselves knights simply because they are strong in force or wield a sword well are third-rate.”
“But that’s all there is to it, right?”
“Then who do you think is first-rate?!”
[A knight is one who protects everyone behind their back! That’s why I will never back down!!]
The protagonist of Royal Knights Maker was a typical hero.
Relatively weak in force, but instead, he had the corresponding intellect and tactical abilities, and even the discernment to discover talent.
He was truly a talent suitable for a commander.
Come to think of it, all of those were just the player figuring things out on their own. But still, in the game, they were clearly the protagonist’s abilities.
Not only their eyes but also the eyes of those who had become attracted to this commotion were all focused on me.
The burden pierced my lungs and strangled my heart, but I forcibly twisted my mouth.
“A knight is one who protects everyone behind their back.”
“Typical lip service.”
“In the end, you need strength to be able to protect!”
“…”
These damn bastards.
Why were they reacting so cynically?
Even though they were characters from an adult game, if I said something cool, they should have at least blushed while getting their panties wet.
You damn bitches.
It seemed that they wouldn’t be persuaded by talking nicely.
Then, I had no choice but to poke at that. This was a gamble for me too.
If it succeeded, it would be a jackpot, and if it failed, it would be a complete bust.
But there wasn’t much time. If I kept standing still like this, they would start to suspect me.
There was no choice, I had to press the button even if I couldn’t eat it.
I deliberately burst into laughter.
“Kuhahaha! Ahahahahaha!!”
“What, all of a sudden? Did you go crazy?”
“Get a hold of yourself! Kanf! He’s mocking us!”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
I knew very well the reason why they had fallen this far. It was the failure of the Royal Knights’ expedition.
In the original work, all of the Royal Knights had died in battle.
But for some reason, in this version, as many as 3 people had returned alive.
One of those 3 had deserted, but anyway, what was important here was that they had been defeated and ran away.
“Anyone can say lip service. Just like you.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“In the end, you were defeated and ran away in a miserable state, didn’t you? Even abandoning your comrades!!”
“…If you say any more than that, I really won’t let it slide.”
With this, they were almost completely persuaded.
I swallowed the tears that I almost shed.
The thick killing intent that I had been feeling for a while was pressing down on my shoulders.
If I didn’t have the incredible backing called time stop, I would have knelt down right now and begged for forgiveness while crying and screaming.
Anyway, since it was heated up, I threw out the bait right here!
“It will be a very simple confrontation. From now on, for 1 minute, try to protect the sword from me. If I take the sword, it’s my victory.”
“What does that have to do with this right now?”
“How can you try to protect the living when you can’t even protect a sword?”
It was an argument bordering on coercion, but I packaged it as plausibly as possible by citing the previous statement that a knight is one who protects. And while I was at it, I provoked them once more here.
“Or… is the handicap of not having a sword not enough?”
Deliberately showing my sword sheath well, I loosely waved one hand with nothing in it while exposing my side where the sword sheath was worn.
Then, sparks began to blaze in their eyes.
Indeed, it was the best provocation that worked in all countries.
Are you afraid?
* * *
Even though it was coercion, they somehow accepted that proposal.
The conditions of the bet were simple.
If I took the sword I had stuck in within 1 minute, I would win; if not, I would lose.
Helia would measure the time in the middle with an hourglass.
She wanted to fight alongside me, but I made her give up.
No matter how much of a genius she was, I couldn’t rely on her.
Even though she was a genius, the opponents were also geniuses.
Moreover, they were beings that could be called complete versions, having honed their experience and skills.
Helia as she was now wouldn’t be able to win.
I had my hands behind my back and was making the most relaxed expression possible.
As if to say that I could easily defeat the likes of you with my hands behind my back.
I was trying to create that kind of atmosphere as much as possible.
“Shall we start then?”
“You’re not even wielding a weapon. You’re very relaxed, huh?”
“Be careful. There’s a reason for my relaxation.”
“I know that too. I won’t let my guard down at all.”
“Come at me with everything you’ve got. Otherwise…”
I deliberately trailed off.
Putting my hands behind my back was half for show and the other half was for this.
At the same time as my words trailed off, I snapped my middle finger and index finger behind my back.
Everything turned black and white.
From their perspective, it would probably look like I was talking here.
So I deliberately trailed off and said the rest behind them.
Of course, with the sword I had drawn behind them. I slowly walked towards the sword.
Fortunately, the conditions were favorable.
If I had collided head-on, I would have never been able to win.
When it came to the Royal Knights, from the beginning their physical abilities were on another level.
Not only dwarves and dragons but even elves had very sturdy skin that could easily block a sword.
If there was a way, it would be to approach behind them using time stop and put the blade to their neck.
But it wouldn’t work on dwarves with their sturdy skin, even if it might work on elves.
I passed by them and walked to where I had stuck my sword. And I immediately reached out and pulled the sword.
No, I tried to pull it out.
I soon tilted my head.
Then this time, I tried to pull the sword out like a crowbar with both hands. But the sword wouldn’t budge as if it had been hammered in.
Cold sweat started flowing down my back like a stream.
I was screwed.
I was really screwed.
What? Fuck? This can’t not come out? Did I stick it in too hard earlier?!
“Huff…! I’m running out of breath…?!”
It was dangerous.
I was so flustered that I forgot to control my strength.
My stamina was already starting to run out.
Fortunately, I managed to pull it out somehow before my stamina was completely depleted and I was exhausted.
But I pulled it out too hastily and ended up falling over like a soybean beetle.
Fortunately, time was stopped.
If it weren’t, I would have died of embarrassment.
