“Nine times out of ten, that’s how the story goes. You kill someone’s son in battle, and next thing you know their dad comes out from the woods all screaming vengeance and wanting to take your head in turn. Sometimes if you kill off the dad, the grandpa might come next, though those are usually easier to take care of.

Sucks when the grandpa happens to be some sort of high noble though.” - Leandros Dowfrey, Captain of the Dowfrey’s Demons mercenary company.

“What’s that wanker there going on about?” asked Elfriede when she heard the loud yells and cursing from the other side of the square. She had already shifted her sphere of perception so that she could “watch” Erycea’s fight, but the sphere was far from enough to span the whole square, so she had no idea who was yelling from the other side. “And who is that, anyway?”

Or what they said, for that matter, since they used the local language she wasn’t familiar with.

“Ah, that’d be Ser Vincenzo de Kars, the former swordmaster, Madam Edelstein,” explained Estelle, who happened to be watching from next to the Edelstein couple. “The father of poor, silly Adrian who challenged your daughter to the duel and had just gotten his brain unceremoniously splattered over the square. Ugh. That’s going to be a pain to clean.”

“Oh, and what’s he jabbering about?” continued Elfriede. From the tone of Estelle’s voice, she could tell that the councilwoman was clearly not a fan of the de Kars family, which was understandable, considering that she and Bernd Adenauer seemed to be in the same faction and they were the ones who gave the extra list of council members to cut down a peg to the Free Lances after all.

“The usual spiel, pretty much. Honor this, cowardice that, claims that your daughter broke some dueling rules or whatnot. Typical of their sort to always try to make others look like they won by cheating when they lost,” replied the councilwoman with a disgusted scoff. “Oh, the old one seems really incensed, he’s stepping up himself and demanding a duel in the name of vengeance. I guess I can understand that a bit since he did lose both his sons…”

Estelle’s words trailed off when she noticed that Elfriede had walked towards the center of the square and laid a hand over Erycea’s shoulder before the somewhat confused girl – she guessed what was going on but had no idea on what was exactly being said – could say anything.

“My turn, girl. If they want to have the parents start meddling in their kid’s fight, then I’d happily do the same,” said Elfriede to Erycea.

“Huh, so that’s what’s going on,” replied Erycea as she caught on to what Elfriede said and the situation she was in. “All yours then, mom. Will be cheering for you.”

“Good girl. Tell your dad that I won’t take long.”

Elfriede heard one of the councilors talk to the same angry voice she heard the first time – the father of the man her daughter just killed in the duel – as he seemed to ask him a few questions, which the man answered. She had no idea what they were saying though, as they were using the local tongue while they did that. Before long, the same councilor turned towards her and spoke, though fortunately he switched to common before addressing her.

“Madam… Edelstein, correct?” asked the councilor, to which Elfriede replied with a nod. “Ser de Kars had claimed a right of vengeance over the deaths of his sons against your family, and as such had made a formal challenge for a duel to the death over the matter. Are you going to answer the challenge yourself?” asked the man with some doubt in his voice.

“Yes, tell that old fart that I’m here to answer his so-called challenge,” replied Elfriede nonchalantly with her arms crossed over her chest. “And tell him to wash his neck clean so I wouldn’t dirty my blade when I chop it off in a bit. Not sure if that idiot even speaks common, so do translate what I just said to him, word for word, please.”

She heard the councilor dither for a bit before he said some words to her opponent, which seemed to incense him further. She couldn’t care less, though. An emotional and angered opponent was always easier to handle than a calm and rational one. It was one reason she liberally used profanity on the regular, as noble types like her current opponent were always easily goaded by them.

As if speaking politely would have helped save their lives in a battle.

Through her perception from the wind, Elfriede could tell that the middle-aged man before her was only clad in an arming doublet rather than any heavier piece of armor, which just about matched her, as she was similarly only wearing the gambeson she usually wore. She sensed it when the man drew a longsword out from its sheath and took a stance ahead of her.

To her surprise, he seemed to be waiting for her to bring out her weapons, instead of immediately going on the attack. Foolish nobles, always so tied up in their self-made rules and etiquettes.

With a smirk on her face, she brought out her pair of blades out from her storage artifact – in her case a pendant hidden under her clothes – and noticed the slightly befuddled look on her opponent’s face as he saw her unusual weapons. For some reason, many nobles liked to wear their weapon visibly instead of storing them in storage artifacts, despite how they were all clearly rich enough to afford a storage that would fit their weapons.

Elfriede naturally didn’t prescribe to that sort of habit. It was much more convenient to have her weapons stored in an artifact where she could bring it out with a thought. Wordlessly, she took a step forward towards her opponent, looking as if she gave no damns about the longsword her opponent had pointed towards her.