The Tyrant Won’t Let Me Go

 

⚔️

 

“You would be removed from your position as the vice commander.”

 

Simply put, Brian Tekarke believed he had misheard.

 

He wanted to believe otherwise.

 

“You– your Majesty, what did you just say–”

 

But as the Emperor turned to face him once more, his eyes were cold.

 

“As I said, you’re going to be stripped from your position of being the vice commander.”

 

Brian wanted to believe it was all a dream.

 

He struggled through a variety of difficulties after joining the Imperial Knights before finally becoming the Vice Commander.

 

He believed that his path to promotion had finally been made clear after passing the Emperor’s rigorous examination and becoming the Crown Prince’s sole swordsman trainer.

 

“Why… why the heck…?”

 

Only less than a month after his sweet dream came true, he was now being deprived of achieving a promotion to Vice Commander.

 

“Are you asking because you don’t know?”

 

The armored man with white hair who was standing next to the emperor carefully opened his mouth to speak.

 

“Commander…!”

 

“I’ve been telling you this all along. If you don’t have the confidence to do both from being the vice commander and as a swordsmanship teacher of the prince, you’d better not do it in the first place.”

 

He had gray hair that had lost its color and a wrinkled face, but his strength and energy were comparable to those of young knights.

 

“I’ve heard you used a great sword that doesn’t match the Prince’s level.”

 

When Brian heard what the Emperor had said, his face darkened.

 

‘That damn kid did something…!’

 

Brian opened his lips to beg as he tightened his fists in both hands.

 

“Your Majesty, it’s not that it’s inappropriate for the prince level. His Majesty has enough power to wield that sword. If he takes my class and practices a little more, he’ll be able to handle it well.”

 

The Emperor gazed upon the papers with gleaming eyes.

 

Brian was unable to continue speaking because it felt as though a beast was gnashing its fangs right in front of his eyes.

 

“I didn’t want to say this because I knew you were from a family that produced great swordsmen for generations.”

 

As if angry, the Emperor put the documents down on the desk and said in a vicious voice.

 

“Eyes and ears are meant to keep a watch on the surroundings. On what basis did you decide that the Great sword would be suitable for the Crown Prince, who had only started swordsmanship for a month?”

 

Brian realized he had made a huge mistake.

 

“Right now, you seem to be confused with the training of the Knights and the Prince’s class. If you continue like this, I would have no choice but to remove your swordsmanship teacher position.”

 

Brian regretted delivering an explanation, thinking,

‘I should have just kept my mouth shut and went out quietly, but I didn’t know that I would lose even my swordsmanship teacher’s position in this way.’

 

“Well, it’s…”

 

“Don’t use the justification that you assumed would be acceptable because the Crown Prince said nothing as an excuse. Have you not realized that he is a child who would put up with challenging and unreasonable lessons because he is afraid of making me worry?”

 

In other words, the Emperor was saying this.

 

Brian, who hasn’t been able to figure out a single student’s weakness for a month, was not qualified as a teacher.

 

“I’ve heard everything from Commander Farbe. Recently, your performance as vice commander has also been somewhat low. In this way, I decided that it would be better to dismiss the position.”

 

“Your Majesty, give me one more chance—” cried Brian.

 

“I think I’ve already given you enough opportunities to leave your teaching position.”

 

The Emperor replied in a stiff voice, “Don’t be mistaken that I gave you that opportunity for your sake. It’s because it takes time to find a replacement for the swordsmanship teacher, even if many people would succeed as vice commander.”

 

The Emperor’s voice hummed in Brian’s head, which had stopped blankly.

 

“You would also be fired from the teaching position if you don’t show any signs of improving your teaching methods and focusing on the Crown Prince.”

 

Brian had no choice but to grit his teeth and respond, despite his feelings boiling with grief and rage.

 

“Yes, Your Majesty…”

 

⚔️

 

The Commander, who gave off a kind impression, spoke among the line of knights in dazzling armor.

 

“As of today, I appoint you to be an official knight of the Imperial Knights of Deamant, the proud sword of the Empire.” 

 

Applause broke out all around me as I took the sword the Commander handed me.

 

‘I didn’t anticipate things to play out this way.’

 

In fact, what transpired was…

 

Sir Farbe, the commander of the Imperial Knights, and I interacted with him often at the training facility, and we developed a close relationship. To the point that he even encouraged me to call him Grandpa Dennis if it were just the two of us.

 

He invited me to accompany him on an expedition one day when he was leaving the city.

 

— Oh, of course, I have to go!

 

— Right? I have to participate and contribute if I want to be His Highness Cedric’s teacher.

 

I agreed to his suggestion right away, since I felt thrilled about the opportunity of seeing the Imperial Knights actually embark on an expedition.

 

That was a poor decision.

 

I encountered ten Black Cerberus wolves, the dangerous second-class monster, while on a lighthearted adventure.

 

According to what I’d been told, it was a creature that hadn’t been caught by a hunter in around 50 years.

 

I was so terrified that something like that raced directly in front of me, so I felt as if my life was in jeopardy and swung my sword.

 

Although the sword was wielded recklessly, Caliberne showed tremendous accuracy and lethal power even in these circumstances.

 

Of course, Caliberne went berserk at the large-scale attack I threw involuntarily and nagged me.

 [What would you do if you died from a surge of mana?] 

It was true, but when gazed at the wolf’s fangs, I couldn’t help but think that it would be preferable to die from a mana surge rather than being eaten by that tooth.

 

I ended up killing all 10 wolves with

‘probably one shot and one kill,’

which was the reason the Imperial Family awarded me a third-class medal.

 

Because I was a commoner and had no family name, I was taken to an orphanage, where I was given a castle and the surname

‘Minerva.’ 

‘Was that it, then?’

 

I was knighted and enlisted in the Imperial Knights after Commander Farbe, who claimed to be constantly on the lookout for new talent, highly recommended me to the Emperor.

 

‘I found it hard to believe I would become a true knight.’

 

I was astonished. I couldn’t believe that my childhood fantasy had come true.

 

Paul crammed his enormous frame into a little seat in the corner of the stands where the audience was watching the inauguration ceremony. While Cedric gripped the hem of his clothing with a twinkle in his eyes.

 

I calmly giggled as I turned to face them.

 

Ciel was unaware of it at the time. That Brian Tekarke was looking at her, grinding his teeth.

 

⚔️

 

Three days had passed since Ciel joined the Knights.

 

“Hey there rookie.”

 

Someone unknown came hurtling toward my face at a terrifying rate as I turned to look at the term

‘rookie’.

 

I avoided being struck by the object by grabbing it at a speed greater than the speed of light.

 

In the end, it turned out to be a glove.

 ‘What’s this…’ 

Just then, I heard the voice of a man I didn’t want to see.

 

Brian Tekarke was staring down at me when I turned my head, one hand covered in gloves and the other without.

 

“I request for a duel,” shouted Brian.

 

With his remarks, around a dozen individuals surrounded us.

 

Among them, there were no people whom I often saw around Commander Farbe.

 

‘They’re all scums that follow Brian.’

 

A pointless duel would simply generate gossip. I didn’t want to fall for this simple-minded ruse.

 

“I decline.”

 

“Why are you scared?”

 

The knights chuckled and began to laugh at his statements.

 

“Mom, I’m so scared! Please help me!”

 

“Mom, Mom! Save me!”

 

His followers’ obnoxious whining was unpleasant.

 

Brian appeared delighted with the people who gave him such applause.

 

“Everyone, stop it,” said Brian.

 

His lips were pursed in an agonizing grin.

 

“Oh, you don’t even have a mother that would listen to you like that, do you?”

 

Everyone started laughing at that point. A string broke at that very moment in my head.

 

“Well, you do understand scary things. You wouldn’t have been able to hold a proper sword because you didn’t have the money, but how scary would it be to deal with me on such a subject.”

 

Then he took out his great sword and pointed it at me.

 

“You don’t even have the basics or skills. I’m sure you won’t be able to last long even in this Knighthood. Did you do something to defeat the Cerberus wolf?”

 

With a smile full of arrogance, I thought I would throw up.

 

“It would be better for you to leave on your own feet before you get kicked out crying, kid.”

 

Staring at him with cold eyes, Ciel said to him,

“Then if I win, you should leave this Knighthood.”

 

Seeing him acting this way made me sure, I don’t have to be patient anymore.

 

Caliberne said boldly,

[Hey, why are you holding back? Pull out your sword right now. Let’s split that body in half.] 

Caliberne offered to slash him in half after we spoke.

 

‘No, although I would also like to do that, we can’t kill him.’

 [What do you mean? A single death would save you three times.] 

It wasn’t necessary to go to that extent and kill him.

 

There only has to be a tiny bit of work needed.

 

Therefore, I ignored Caliberne’s remarks and spoke in a stern tone after opening my lips.

 

“That’s great. I didn’t want to use the same training ground with the person who was deprived of the vice commander’s position because he couldn’t protect himself,” said Ciel.

 

The silence in the place spread swiftly after those words

 

As I spoke, I cast a glare at the knights, who were staring down at me and exhibiting a look of ridicule.

 

“If I win, you should leave this Knighthood.”

 

“What?”

 

He was challenging what I said, so I grabbed the sword out of my sheath and pointed it at him.

 

At that word, a knight who was giggling next to him ran out to stop us.

 

“This little kid—”

 

“That’s enough.”

 

Brian pushed him in, appearing to do it out of generosity, but his hands were shaking.

 

“Let’s go with the usual rules.”

 

Brian snorted at my words.

 

I ignored him and continued, “The first one to bleed would lose. And let’s not use mana, but only fight with pure swords.”

 

“You’ll regret it,” Brian said as if to refute.

 

“No way,” answered Ciel.

 

“It’s magic that you even know how to handle it,” Brian added, mocking Ciel for holding a sword.

 

“It doesn’t matter anyway, since those who handle the sword better are more likely to handle mana better.”

 

“Ha, so you handle swords better, you mean? That’s funny.”

 

Having said that, Brian didn’t change the rules. He obviously felt that such a rule was more to his advantage.

 

One of the knights standing behind him emerged with a sword and handed it to me as he shook his head.

 

“Would this work for you?”

 

“We must fight under the same circumstances and with the same equipment if we want to win.”

 [Wow, that little bastard.] 

Brian appeared with his preferred sword and used it, Caliberne seemed to stick out her tongue at him.

 

“So, you want me to use this?”

 

“Oh, you’re saying that you couldn’t handle a great sword at all, making it impossible for you to wield one? Well, I wasn’t aware of that, since I was certain in my assertion that great swordsmen don’t consider such things important.”

 

I bit my lip and grasped the great sword with my hands.

 

‘That worthless bastard.’

 

In any case, it doesn’t matter if I am unable to wield a great sword. I’ve been training frequently with Caliberne.

 

Since Brian was shorter than the average adult, our physical differences didn’t present a significant disadvantage.

 

‘I’ll see to it that you leave the Knighthood sobbing and sniffing.’

 

The rules were like this:

 



 

“Well, then, let’s start.”

 

Brian gave the command once everything was prepared.

 

At his words, a young knight whistled, signaling the start of the duel.

 

Brian attacked me head-on and swung his enormous great sword.

 

It was apparent that the great sword’s weight with Brian’s strength would cause significant harm to its target.

 

‘His strength was adequate, but…’

 

I contemplated while I cautiously avoided his blade for the sake of testing.

 

‘His movements are sloppy.’

 

Now I have somewhat understood.

 

‘He’s slow.’

 

His motions had pauses that were obvious. Time and energy could not be wasted any longer, and neither could they be.

 

To evade Brian’s sword, which was pointed at my right leg, I swung the great sword at his left arm.

 

Unless it was halted, it would have been difficult to prevent this.

 Clank— 

Brian was able to deflect my blow as his face went pale.

 

Even at that moment, I could see a gap.

 

I took a step back and, without hesitation, aimed towards the opening.

 

‘It’s over.’

 

It was just then… The sound of a metal blade striking the ground could be heard.

 

Clearly, Brian’s blade was behind him.

 

There would be no need for him to create such a fuss right now if he hadn’t missed the sword.

 

‘Huh…?

’

 

My weapon didn’t appear in view till after that.

 

The great sword I was carrying broke in two, despite not being struck in any area.

 

‘Why is this…?’

 

At that precise moment, I heard a loud scream that reverberated in my ear.

 “Die!” 

A huge sword flew through the air.

 

It was difficult to determine if Brian was a knight or a beast as he shouted while swinging the great sword.

 

My blood started to boil all over my body in rage as I stared at my sword that had been broken in two and looked at the beaming smile trotting by.

 Clank— 

“Oh no, what…!”

 

Tekarke spoke with a quivering voice, his eyes appearing to be bursting from his face.

 

Ciel subdued him easily, even with the remaining half-sword.

 

The sword could still cut him, but I couldn’t use it to stab him.

 

Ciel said softly as she turned to face him, “Did I scare you so much?”

 

A cold sarcasm hung around my lips.

 

“You know, it would have been better to leave on your own feet before being dragged out while peeing in your pants.”