Sir Neumann.
Senior knight of the Frontera Barony.
He hated this backwater territory.
He wanted to make something of himself.
He wanted to live in luxury.
But reality was a cesspool.
This Frontera Territory was shoved into the farthest corner of the kingdom.
It was nice enough for enjoying a pastoral peace, but that was it.
He thought basking in such tranquility suited only a retired old geezer.
In other words, this place didn't suit him.
He believed he wasn't the kind of talent to rot away here.
'I want to escape!'
He wanted to abandon this territory and leave.
He wanted to swim in bigger waters and rise in the world.
He wanted to bask in wealth and glory without envy.
To do that, he wanted to retract the loyalty he'd sworn to Baron Frontera.
But that was impossible.
A knight who retracts his loyalty to his lord is shunned everywhere.
No lord would keep such a knight in their service.
A knight who betrays his lord.
A knight who has lost his honor.
He'd be branded a disgraced knight.
So he thought.
If he couldn't abandon his lord and territory, then he just had to make them collapse.
That way, he wouldn't be branded a traitor.
He could leave this godforsaken backwater without a single word of blame.
He put the plan into action.
He colluded with outsiders.
He sold the territory's information.
He sold information on the baron too.
As a result, the baron fell for a massive investment scam.
Plagued by severe cash shortages, he even resorted to loan sharks.
He was thrilled.
He was certain the baron's bankruptcy was imminent.
That meant his own freedom was close at hand.
'All my plans succeeded. I just had to wait a little longer. So why? Why?'
Why was he getting thrashed senseless by that punk young master here?
Whish!
"...!"
A shovel came flying.
The flat blade filled his vision, rapidly growing larger.
His head snapped around with a clear, ringing sound that echoed through the world.
The intense shock reverberating inside his skull was just a bonus.
Clang!
"Kuhk!"
Sir Neumann's legs gave out.
But he barely managed not to collapse.
Instead, he cried out in the most aggrieved voice in the world.
"St-stop! I don't even have my sword anymore!"
It was true.
He'd dropped it earlier.
He'd been unarmed ever since.
The duel should have been clearly decided.
That's when it should have ended.
That was the perfectly reasonable procedure, propriety, and conclusion within Sir Neumann's common sense.
But reality was a hardcore cesspool.
Even though he was empty-handed?
Lloyd's attacks didn't stop.
He even propped up the fallen Neumann and kept beating him.
Even repeated cries of surrender went ignored as the assault continued.
He even chased him down when he tried to flee and swung the shovel again!
"Grgh, st-stop! Don't humiliate me any further!"
Unable to endure, he screamed.
But no answer came.
Instead, only resolute shovel strikes(?) flew in.
Claaang!
"...Kuhk!"
His skull rang once more.
'Someone… stop this.'
His vision darkened.
If he kept taking hits like this, he'd really die.
It was no time to worry about pride.
His desperate gaze turned toward Baron Frontera on the platform.
'My lord! Help me!'
Lloyd swinging that shovel like a madman even after the duel ended.
The only one who could stop that worthless wastrel was his father, the baron.
With that thought, Sir Neumann desperately twisted his body.
He collapsed toward the baron.
He lifted his head and reached out to the baron with pitiable eyes.
'Please!'
The fact that he'd betrayed his lord, the baron, didn't even cross his mind. Forget ingratitude or whatever—surviving this moment was far more important.
Perhaps that plea reached him.
He saw the baron rise from the platform.
"Lloyd, stop. The duel seems to be over."
Baron Frontera's voice rang out across the training grounds.
It was low but carried the authority befitting the territory's lord.
At that moment, everyone thought.
Ah, this is when that wastrel young master stops swinging the shovel.
Farmer A, woodcutter B, housewife C, soldier D—all thought the same.
It was a natural assumption.
It was an order from the territory's lord and his father.
No one imagined the young master would ignore a lord's command in an official setting and continue his rampage, no matter how reckless he was.
But everyone's assumptions were spectacularly wrong.
Claaaang!
Accompanied by a crisp impact that tickled every inner ear.
The shovel blade soared in a mighty arc like a pro golfer's tee shot!
Delivering a powerful blow to Sir Neumann's jaw.
"...Kwaak!"
"'Kwaak'? It's not over yet. You need more."
"Kr, kuhp, kuluk! Khek!"
"Hurts? Feel wronged? Think I'm a lunatic? Huh?"
"Gr, grrrk, stop...!"
"Stop?"
"Y-yes...."
"Who are you to order me around?"
Crack!
He smashed the shovel handle into his back.
Sir Neumann wailed in pain again.
But Lloyd's gaze toward him was ice cold.
'Feel wronged? Tough luck. This is what an example looks like. If you didn't want this, you shouldn't have betrayed and screwed over the one who trusted you.'
That was his honest feeling.
Strictly speaking, this guy was a traitor.
If he forgave such a guy leniently?
Would a beautiful story unfold where he repents, reflects, and becomes a new man?
'No, absolutely not.'
Lloyd shook his head.
Such tales existed only in fairy tales.
He knew all too well how vile and filthy reality was.
He'd lived at rock bottom in Korea long enough to know.
'It was like that flophouse too. That uncle who got caught sneaking my braised beef from the communal fridge. I should've chewed him out then. I let it slide instead.'
He'd been flustered at the time.
Missed the moment to snap.
Ended up awkwardly smiling and politely asking him not to do it again.
And what happened?
'He kept stealing.'
Later, he even got snide remarks about sharing living space and not being so uptight.
Even now, looking back made him laugh in disbelief.
'And forgive a guy like that? Ridiculous.'
Humans get brazen over something as small as braised beef.
Forgive a guy who sold out his lord?
Shower undeserved kindness?
You become a sucker.
After that, others would see him as an easy mark and line up like Vienna sausages to pull the same stunts.
"So you're the example today. You'll be beaten black and blue. Not done yet. Quit yapping and get up."
How much had he sharpened his resolve for this day.
Lloyd reached out.
Grabbed Sir Neumann by the scruff.
Raised the shovel with his other hand.
But that was the moment.
"Did you not hear my command to stop!"
The baron's thunderous roar flew in.
Lloyd flinched.
He turned to the baron.
Replied calmly.
"I heard."
Clang!
With his answer, the shovel blade struck Sir Neumann's crown.
The baron's eyebrow twitched violently.
"What?"
"I heard, but it's an order I can't obey."
Clang!
The shovel blade smashed Sir Neumann's head again.
The baron's eye twitched.
"Do you even realize what you're doing right now?"
"Of course."
Cluuung!
Sir Neumann's body jerked with each head blow.
Anger flared in the baron's eyes.
"You're humiliating an opponent after the duel. And not just any opponent—he's the scion of a family that's served our baronial house for five generations and the territory's senior knight."
"Yes. And despite that trust, he's the one who betrayed his lord and territory."
"What?"
The baron froze.
Lloyd replied calmly.
"I figured you'd ask, so I prepared. Check under the cloth on the platform table."
"What...."
"I've prepared something."
"...."
The baron was dumbfounded.
What was he talking about?
Sir Neumann betrayed him and the territory?
Check under the platform tablecloth?
Dumbfounded, the baron still lifted the cloth on the platform table.
His eyes widened instantly.
"This is...."
Under the cloth was a paper envelope.
He pulled it out and opened it.
Three or four worn letters tumbled out.
"What is this?"
"You'll know once you see."
"...."
Something felt off.
Lloyd's attitude was too confident to dismiss as mere rowdiness.
The baron turned his gaze to the letters.
At first, slowly and carefully.
Then with increasingly trembling eyes.
Finally, fingers shaking as he hastily read through.
"This...."
Rip!
The baron's hand crumpled the letters.
Before he knew it, he was glaring at Sir Neumann with incredulous eyes.
He had no choice.
The letters Lloyd showed the baron.
They were the correspondence Sir Neumann exchanged while selling territory secrets to a con artist.
'Tordes.'
A name suddenly came to mind.
The young merchant who'd approached him.
Passionate yet cautious, with an enterprising vibe.
One day, he staked his honor as guarantee.
Said there was good land.
Land that looked worthless now.
But in a few years, its value would skyrocket.
So if he bought it now?
He swore it would multiply his wealth several times over.
He believed him.
Of course, all investments carry risk.
If the investment went south?
If profits were lower than expected?
He figured he could just resell the land.
At least break even, he thought with relief.
No more hesitation.
He bought the land, even borrowing against the territory's funds.
And lost every last coin.
'Turned out the land only existed on paper—a fake listing.'
Naturally, the investment was a total loss.
Tordes swallowed all the money and vanished.
One night, he was buried in debt with nothing to show.
'And Sir Neumann was the one who leaked every detail to Tordes—from the territory's finances to my personal tastes, preferences, and interests?'
He recalled the many gifts from Tordes.
From mahogany furniture to eagle-feather shirts.
Every one hit his tastes perfectly.
Their conversations too.
Tordes always nailed his interests.
It was like he scratched exactly where it itched.
'Made me think he was a great match. That's how he wormed his way in and bought my trust.'
That trust ended in painful betrayal and bankruptcy.
And the one colluding with the con man was Sir Neumann.
Thud, thud!
Blood surged in reverse.
His heart pounded against his eardrums.
Dizziness made the world yellow.
Watching the baron, Lloyd smacked his lips bitterly.
'It must be a shock.'
The truth that someone by his side had driven him to ruin.
The shock and betrayal he must feel realizing it.
Even from afar, the baron's face was pale.
He could collapse any second.
Maybe he shouldn't have shown those letters.
But no choice.
'I have to show hard evidence like this for him to grasp the situation.'
That's why Lloyd had mobilized Podong-i early on.
Sent Podong-i sneaking into Sir Neumann's bedroom.
Had it retrieve those letters.
In the novel *Iron-Blooded Knight*, there was a mention that Sir Neumann kept his correspondence with the con artist in his bedside drawer.
'And that mention turned out true.'
Podong-i, small like a hamster, infiltrated Sir Neumann's bedroom stealthily.
Despite its size, its strength was mighty, easily prying open the drawer.
Thus securing the evidence of betrayal.
'Those letters include the con man's promise to hire Neumann later. Complete with a magical signature proving authenticity. That's why Neumann couldn't discard them. Got caught red-handed thanks to that.'
Suddenly, his mouth tasted even more bitter.
If only it had been like this in Korea.
If the con men who'd tricked his father had left evidence.
Then his family might not have fallen into misfortune.
At least his parents wouldn't have died.
'Whew, no time for sentiment now.'
Lloyd shook his head.
Not the moment to get emotional.
He had to steer the situation favorably as planned.
With that thought, Lloyd looked up. Toward the still-pale baron, he spoke.
"Are you alright?"
"...."
"If you're dizzy, sit and catch your breath."
"...Understood."
The baron's delayed response.
Seeing it, Lloyd thought.
As expected, the baron can't be ruthless.
He's just a good man who can rule kindly.
Such men earn praise as sage rulers in times of peace.
But in chaotic times demanding adversity-overcoming strength?
Their kindness gets exploited.
They turn into suckers fast.
In other words, they get weeded out.
'Clear from how he hesitates to deal with a trusted retainer even after learning of the betrayal.'
The baron's expression was a whirlwind of shock and confusion.
How to accept Sir Neumann's betrayal.
How to handle it.
He was hesitating, unable to harden his heart.
'Then I'll do it.'
Someone had to anyway.
Delay it, and the territory's discipline crumbles.
With that thought, Lloyd spoke.
"I, Lloyd Frontera, son of Arkos Frontera, have words to say as this territory's heir."
(End of Chapter 17)
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