Abercio and Altezza's Duel
Everyone stared at Altezza, making him the center of attention. Their eyes which had always been filled with confidence towards Altezza were now starting to show doubts. Why? Of course because of what Abercio said!
"Even though Young Master Altezza still lacks the experience to be proud of, still… to say that he is a coward is a bit too much, right?" said Zola Morla, the troop commander.
"So what?" replied Abercio casually.
Everyone who witnessed the duel between Abercio and Vino will understand that Abercio may have potential that they have not seen. Moreover, now that he is challenging Altezza to a duel after finishing his duel with Vino, it seems that Abercio has considerable courage. Not cowardly as rumored. Also, Abercio's performance against Vino earlier had cracked everyone's image of him which had been negatively rumored. Abercio has shown that he could be a more suitable person to inherit the position of Marquess than Altezza, plus according to tradition, Abercio has the great advantage of being the eldest son.
"I'm worried about you, my little brother. Even if my position as the eldest son is more likely to be the heir to the title of Marquess Bronka, that doesn't mean that you don't have the right to succession to the title. You still have a chance to inherit the title despite being a second son, what do you think people will think if you run away from here like a coward? People might be very disappointed to see that you don't have the courage of this rumored eldest son right?" quipped Abercio provoked.
"What kind of nonsense are you saying?" growled Vivian, Marchioness Bronka.
"That's not bullshit, Mother."
After hearing Abercio say Mother, the Marchioness' expression became disheveled again, and the people started muttering.
Abercio continued, "Although this duel is not official, it is very important for Altezza and me. But as his older brother, I tried to make the situation more favorable for Altezza. Look at my body. Isn't it really a mess right now? If he tried to escape from a situation like this that was even clearer in his favor, he wouldn't be able to become worthy of Bronka then. And most importantly, Mother, Altezza has promised me that we will have a duel where I can decide the date and time."
Abercio's eyes searched for the Marquess, his Father. Then, as soon as he found it, Abercio smiled at the Marquess who looked at him with scary eyes.
"What are you going to do for this time, Father?" Abercio asked about his Father's decision.
Marquess Bronka's jaw tightened, "Altezza, come down to the arena to carry out the duel as you promised Abercio," he ordered.
"My Lord!"
"Father!"
Both the Marchioness and Altezza shouted in surprise. But the Marquess would not go back on his words. His stiff and even expression showed that his words were undeniable.
"Get down, Altezza," Theodore Bronka said emphatically.
Inevitably, following his father's orders, Altezza entered the duel arena. The swords on his hips felt heavier, his legs felt heavier and many hands were tugging at him as he walked towards Abercio.
"Your injuries must be treated first, Young Master Abercio!" said Priest.
"I told you, didn't I? I will fight without being treated!" Abercio grumbled.
"Please be quiet for a moment, Young Master. We can't let you fight with a body full of wounds and blood like that!" grumbled the priest named Leon while several young priests who were holding Abercio's body and Leon wrapped bandages around Abercio's body. Despite Abercio's annoyed expression and lazy groans, he still moved his body to make it easier for the priest to bandage his injured body.
A few minutes later, Leon's work was done.
"I was only doing emergency treatment, so please keep in mind that you lost a lot of blood, Young Master. So please, just fight as necessary. I don't want to see our territory's Eldest Son die in front of my eyes," Reverend Leon pleaded.
Abercio smirked, it felt strange because this Priest Leon looked like he really cared about him even though other people were acting normal and it seemed that they didn't care about him.
'It feels weird that someone cares about me even putting on a worried expression like that. But, it doesn't taste bad either,' thought Abercio.
"Please listen to me, Young Master Abercio!" said Priest Leon.
Abercio had to forcefully push the priest who looked like he was about to cry from in front of him. Without saying anything, Altezza saw the situation and looked at Abercio. The entire body of the Bronka family's eldest son was covered in bandages like a mummy. However, because he had only received the minimum of emergency care, blood quickly seeped through his bandages and made him look hideous.
Altezza shuddered, 'how is he still moving with such a bad body?' he thought.
All this time, Altezza had always thought he had good stamina, but seeing Abercio's current state, he realized that he was nowhere near Abercio's level. His stepbrother has a much stronger body resistance than him.
Abercio started swinging his sword, only to check whether the bandages wrapped around his body were hindering his movement or not. As expected, Abercio's wound widened again, and blood began to seep through the bandage at a faster rate than before. However, Abercio didn't seem bothered by this and seemed happy that the bandages didn't hinder his body's movement. Reverend Leon who saw the incident also grimaced, their Young Master did not hear the message at all.
Abercio signaled that he was ready to fight, and Morla, the leader of the dueling on this sunny day shouted, "Take your swords!"
No unnecessary preambles this time. Considering Abercio's injury which is arguably very severe, it looks like Morla is trying to continue the duel as quickly as possible. Altezza drew his sword and Abercio raised his sword.
"Begin!"