Chapter 6

By: xImpulse  

<Lionhart (4)>

A spear meant for training. It’s basically a stick with a spear blade. However the tip of the spear was long and sharp, so if thrusted properly… It would still hurt even if it didn’t penetrate through.

And if thrust right into an unguarded stomach?

“Urghh!”

That would happen. Cian rolled around and spewed vomit everywhere. Ciel, who had been standing there with her mouth agape, screamed as she approached Cian. Nina covered her mouth in shock.

“I won.”

Eugene laid his spear down as he said this with blasé. If it had been a real spear, Ciel would have died from the attack. Of course, it wasn’t a real spear. However, there was no doubt that it was Eugene’s victory since he attacked Cian’s vital spot, leaving him rolling around on the ground.

“Nina. Go and call someone to take him away.”

“Y–yes, sir!”

“You coward!”

Cian couldn’t stop vomiting amidst his running sinuses. Ciel, who was worried about her brother, did not approach him anymore after seeing him in such a sorry state. Instead, she widened her eyes and glared at Eugene.

“Who’s a coward? The duel started the moment he threw the handkerchief.”

“That’s… You’re right about that! However, you’re still a coward.”

“Is your head filled with some sort of peaceful bed of flowers, or something? Talking about cowardice when the duel’s already started is bullshit. Isn’t your brother in that state because he was full of himself when he threw the handkerchief?”

Ciel became docile and shut her mouth at his aggressiveness. She wondered what he would say next, but she also couldn’t understand what he meant by ‘peaceful bed of flowers’.

“…Are you saying I’m pretty?”

“Have you gone insane from the heat?”

“Anyway… You’re still a coward. There wasn’t honor in your duel.”

“Ha. There’s a resemblance even in your logic, maybe because you’re twins.”

“I don’t resemble my brother.”

“I think your brains are similar, though? Then what is an honorable duel to you? Is it one where we throw the handkerchief and count to three?”

“Um…”

Ciel pursed her lips as she glanced at Cian. Cian, who had been rolling around on the ground, was sobbing while covered in his own vomit. Aside from being dirty, she felt bad for the pathetic state he was in.

“…You should have held back your attack a bit.”

“Sorry, but that attack was as restrained as they come.”

“Were you really not training with mana?”

Ciel’s eyes shone as she asked. Eugene, who had been cleaning up the sandbags on the ground, clearly displayed his annoyance and looked back at Ciel.

“Aren’t you leaving?”

“I asked if you really didn’t train with mana.”

“I said I didn’t!”

“Liar. How can you carry such heavy things without using mana? And your attack, even if my brother did expect it, it was still too fast for him to have reacted.”

Her eyes that once shone with curiosity started to narrow. Eugene stopped cleaning up the sandbags and froze.

“I guess you saw.”

“A little.”

“I guess your eyes aren’t just there for decoration.”

“You’ve got quite the potty mouth.”

“I’ve heard that before from others.”

He heard it from everyone but Vermouth. As Eugene piled the sandbags in one place, Ciel dazedly stood still and watched Eugene’s back. She couldn’t clearly see his muscles underneath his clothes, but it seemed as though he used just his strength, rather than mana.

So Ciel couldn’t understand it even more. Ciel and Cian went through physical training since they were young, too. Since he was seven? Ciel thought deeply about Eugene’s words.

‘He’s pretty solid for a 13 year-old.’

Cian felt resistance when the spear head reached him. It was proof of Eugene’s physical training, to the extent that his strength didn’t fit his age. And his strength when he pushed Cian down – there’s no doubt that enough mana had already been built up in his body for it to automatically be able to react to dangerous situations.

And Cian didn’t simply just get beat up. As soon as the attack hit him, Cian instinctively tried to pull back. Against a kid with no practical experience, he tried to escape as if it was a crisis.

‘He’s pretty amazing for a kid. But he’s trash for a descendent of Vermouth.’

Of course, Eugene wouldn’t know how strong Vermouth was since he’s 13 years-old. When Eugene – or more specifically, Hamel – first met Vermouth, Hamel was 20 years-old. Still, he already roughly knew how strong Vermouth was.

Although Cian Lionhart received the main family’s education from a young age, he was such an amateur that it’s doubtful if he’s really a descendant of Vermouth.

‘But he’s got a good start.’

The standard is Vermouth, after all. But he’s got a good start. Ciel, too. While she didn’t fight, she’s got a great eye for things.

“How… How dare you… to me…!”

Cian looked up at Eugene as he tried to breathe. His head was spinning. His stomach hurt every time he tried to move, as if he had been pierced. In his mouth, he could taste the fishy and rotten stench of barf.

“You coward… Coward…!”

“Maybe it’s because you’re twins, but you both said the same thing.”

Eugene chuckled as he looked at Cian.

“I don’t want to repeat anything I’ve already said, so ask your sister what I told her.”

“You… son of a bitch…!”

“Or just look around in your memories. Perhaps you heard some things while you were rolling around vomiting everywhere.”

Cian couldn’t say anything back. He had heard it clearly. Even while it hurt like hell and felt insanely unfair, he heard Eugene’s words.

However, it didn’t matter if Eugene wasn’t a coward. 13 year-old Cian just could not accept his defeat. He was utterly humiliated… Humiliated in front of his sister and servants!

“You should clean this up.”

Eugene said as he looked at Cian’s contorted face.

“Your vomit is everywhere. If you clean this up, I’ll also go clean the carriage. That sounds fair, right?’

“How… How dare you…!”

“Also, if you lost a duel, it’s only proper to humbly accept your defeat. You were prattling on about honor… I hope you weren’t thinking about doing something disgraceful.”

“Urgh…!”

Cian couldn’t deny it, but he was angry and in pain, and there was a disgusting taste in his mouth. Everything sucked. If his body didn’t hurt as much, he would get up and ask for a rematch. But Cian couldn’t do that right now.

He was filled to the brim with sorrow and anger, and those emotions started to turn into tears. Cian sniffled as he lowered his head. Eugene, of course, felt no remorse as he saw this. Cian was the one with the fucked up attitude anyway.

However… he couldn’t believe that he acted in such a petty way towards a 13 year-old.

‘Maybe I should have just held it in. I feel like this will come back to bite me in the ass.’

He worried a little about his future. He’d been bullied and looked down on at first, but he left Cian – a child from the main family – in that kind of state… More importantly, Eugene was worried that they would complain about this and make things complicated for his father living in the countryside.

‘I dare you all to try. I’ll be watching you.’

While Eugene was thinking about all this, Cian tried his hardest to hold back his tears. He didn’t want to humiliate himself even more… And he didn’t want to accept his defeat. It was all childlike stubbornness.

“Young master!”

The shouting soon grew closer. A tall man in a uniform arrived at the exercise hall. Nina was still running far behind while holding up her skirt.

“What… What in the world?”

The lack of a lion emblem on his chest. The fact that he called Cian, “young master”. The man seems to be an ordained knight of the main family.

‘Huh.’

He surveyed the man’s movement with wonder. Although he didn’t know the man’s age, it’s clear that his skills are superior to Gordon’s, who escorted Eugene all the way here.

“He-Hezar.”

Cian looked at the man with glazed eyes.

“I… I lost. To that bastard… I asked for a duel, but… I lost…”

“Duel…”

Hezar looked at Eugene with a rigid expression. Then he crouched down and helped Cian up. Vomit smeared all over Hezar’s hands and uniform. Ciel retreated a few steps as if she was disgusted by the sight.

“…I apologize for only introducing myself now. I am the young master Cian’s tutor, Hezar.”

Hezar bowed his head as he supported Cian.

“I heard about what happened from the maid, but I was unable to listen to her until the end since I was in a hurry. Just… What happened here?”

“I’m Eugene Lionhart from Kidol.”

Eugene did not lower his head.

“If it’s Kidol… then it’s where Master Zehad currently resides.”

“Yes. He’s my father. As for what happened, well… Cian started it. I didn’t want to respond, but…”

Eugene trailed off as he stared at Cian’s face.

“Cian insulted my father.”

“When did I ever?!”

“He asked if my father never taught me to be honorable, and told me that I was a coward.”

Cian turned bright red hearing those words.

“He said that my body smelled of cow manure.”

“…It’s true, though. Your body smells of cow manure…!”

“Your trap smells of vomit, so shut up.”

Eugene widened his eyes and glared Cian down. Unbeknownst to himself, Cian started to shake in response to Eugene’s hawk-like glare. His stomach still ached from the previous attack.

“…And the duel?”

“Cian did not only insult me, but he insulted my father, Sir Hezar. Is that not a valid reason to accept his request to duel?”

Hezar felt an intense sense of danger from the question. The boy in front of him must not have been much different in age from Cian and Ciel. And yet he didn’t let his emotions lead him, instead he spoke with calmness. Hezar, who had suffered from the twins’ whining for years now, couldn’t decide whether this boy in front of him was the abnormal one or if the twins were.

“…Although what you say is quite reasonable… it also seems like you were too harsh.”

“Isn’t it an insult to the opponent if I were to show him mercy during a duel?”

“…”

“Sir Hezar, I will accept any criticism of my technique. However, I do not wish to hear that I was simply ‘too harsh’.”

“…It seems like I was being presumptuous. I apologize.”

Hezar bowed his head once more. Cian, who Hezar had been supporting, wrinkled his face.

“Hezar! That son of a bitch – he used mana. When he’s a collateral descendent! He used mana even though he didn’t go through the blood ceremony!”

“I told you to shut your trap.”

Eugene tilted his head and glared at Cian. Cian tightened his lips again and looked down.

“…Young master.”

Hezar let out a deep sigh as he shook his head.

“Master Eugene did not use mana.”

“Hezar! Why are you lying, too?!”

“There is no reason for me to lie to you, young master…”

“That doesn’t make any sense…! He didn’t use mana and defeated me? And… And that! Those sandbags! He had those hanging from his body…”

“I did not feel any mana from Master Eugene.”

Hezar said as he glanced in the direction of the sandbags towards the back. Even with a quick glance, the sandbags seemed to be quite heavy. He moved while carrying all of those? Hezar simply could not believe it.

However, he couldn’t feel any mana emanating from Eugene no matter how many times he examined him.

“You’re… You’re lying.”

“Young master. For now… Let’s take a look at your injuries.”

Hezar said as he observed Eugene’s expression.

“I hit his abdominal region with a spear.”

“…Anywhere else?”

“It was a single blow.”

A single blow… Hezar let out a groan, and Cian bit his lip out of embarrassment.

“…Then… Master Eugene. I look forward to meeting you again.”

Hezar said nothing more and courteously bowed. Nina, who had been running from afar, finally arrived at the exercise hall. Not knowing what to do, she simply lowered her head.

“I-I apologize.”

“What are you apologizing for?”

Eugene chuckled as he watched Hezar still supporting Cian as they walked farther away. What had he been doing with that brat? While it was true that he was in disbelief, he was content that he at least taught the brat some manners.

“See you later.”

Ciel smiled back at Eugene as she followed behind Hezar.

“See you.”

Eugene also smiled at Ciel as he waved his hand.

End