Chapter 10: Panda, Not Panda, Panda. (1)
Cain Loges, the one-year younger cousin of Ghislaine, is the heir to Count Loges’ Territory, located not too far from Perdium.
He’s quite large and fairly strong, so the folks in the Loges territory had quite the expectations pinned on him.
To Ghislaine, he was both a sole friend during this time and… arguably the biggest nuisance.
He often visited Perdium anyway, and with a festival going on, there was no way this troublemaker would miss out.
“Right! I totally forgot about this guy!”
Watching Cain smirk deviously brought back a flood of memories.
Both were troublemakers, but their reputations were a little different.
Cain was arrogant and violent, yet he wasn’t ignored by people.
Always oozing confidence and swagger, he sometimes even earned compliments for his overwhelming spirit.
In contrast, Ghislaine was always seen as whiny and riddled with inferiority.
“Because of this guy, I got more blame than I deserved.”
Thanks to this punk always toying with his pride and making his life miserable, Ghislaine had faced his share of embarrassing moments.
And it didn’t stop there! Even when they hung out, Cain treated Ghislaine like a subordinate.
It was natural for him to give him errands, and if he got drunk and lost his composure, he’d throw punches even for the slightest annoyance.
The more Ghislaine endured that, the more his rage built up, leading him to bother the people in the territory or cause accidents.
“Sigh, just thinking about it makes me embarrassed.”
Ghislaine chuckled bitterly, pressing his forehead.
Back then, he couldn’t retaliate against Cain, so he ended up venting his frustrations in all the wrong ways.
Unable to even squeak outside, he was stuck shouting in private, earning nicknames like “The Tyrant of the Room” and “The Sofa Swordmaster.”
“Ugh, why did I even do that?”
Squatting down, Ghislaine plucked at flower petals, lost in memories.
Seeing him like that, Cain frowned.
“What’s up? Can’t you hear me? I’ve been hearing rumors that the fortress is going downhill, but are you really losing it?”
Cain poked fun. Ghislaine dusted his pants off and stared at him blankly.
Then Cain, looking a bit taken aback, approached and whispered.
“Didn’t you prepare what I mentioned before? I came over to have some fun, but you’re acting a bit weird today. Did you take some weird stuff by yourself or what?”
“Ah… preparation.”
With Cain’s words, Ghislaine finally remembered and nodded.
“Done.
Right, this guy always told me to prepare drinks and women whenever he came around.
The pretense is that we’re just having fun, but is that really what friends do? To Cain, Ghislaine was just an easy mark to exploit.
Cain playfully poked Ghislaine’s cheek.
“Yeah, let’s drink up and have a blast. We really vibe well in that department, right? This is what true friendship is all about.”
That meant he was planning to go around and bully people.
Cain was just as arrogant as Ghislaine and had caused his fair share of troubles.
Forcing himself on maids was a regular occurrence, and he was also notorious for beating up soldiers for no reason.
Since Count Perdium was almost always away on campaigns, Cain made himself at home in Perdium Castle under the pretext of being a relative.
With Ghislaine being the heir to the territory, he had nothing to worry about.
As Ghislaine stood there blankly, Cain suddenly shouted.
“Hey, what’s wrong today! Huh? Why are you so slow to respond!”
“……”
“Hey, not answering? Did you go nuts? Did you eat something bad?”
“……”
“Hey! Ghislaine! Are you even with us?”
Cain leaned in close, growling. His guard knights urged him to calm down.
“Your Highness, there are eyes everywhere. Perhaps you should tone it down a bit here.”
“It would be better for you to speak with Ghislaine in a quieter place.”
This was the Perdium territory. There’s nothing good about rumors of bullying spreading, so they were just pretending to stop him for now.
He could take out his frustrations in a more secluded spot.
The knights didn’t even try to hide their true intentions.
After a long time in such a ridiculous situation, Ghislaine was left bewildered and rolling his eyes.
‘What should I do?’
It felt a bit beneath him to beat up a punk trying to start trouble.
Still, as the King of Mercenaries, he had maintained some dignity for quite a while, so getting physical with a rookie felt somewhat embarrassing.
Besides, it had been a long time since anyone dared to pick a fight with him. Even if they did, it usually got dealt with by his followers.
‘I really should find a useful subordinate soon.’
It was embarrassing to react to such a rookie’s provocation, but just leaving it be would also be bad for his reputation as the King of Mercenaries.
‘Rescuing someone is rescuing someone…’
Ghislaine subtly shot Cain a glare.
‘Should I just smash him? Or let it slide?’
He pondered for a moment before deciding to try his luck with a petal fortune-telling. This was a sure thing he occasionally enjoyed.
Ghislaine picked a flower and began plucking its petals to divine Cain’s future.
‘Pluck, don’t pluck, pluck, don’t pluck, pluck. Don’t pluck?’
Seeing Ghislaine with a peculiar expression as he plucked the petals, Cain frowned.
“What the hell are you doing…?”
“Ha, you’re lucky?”
“What?”
Ghislaine tossed the bare stem of the flower behind him after all the petals fell and continued.
“You little brat. Since you came as a guest, I’ll let this slide just this once. Be thankful for the petals.”
“What, what?”
Cain blinked in confusion before finally regaining his senses.
“People keep saying I’m crazy, and now I’m really starting to think… You’re just a fool taking out your anger on someone weaker than you. Isn’t that right?”
“Are you serious?”
Cain’s words intensified. Even the passing servants stopped to gawk at the scene.
Fuming, Cain didn’t hold back his venomous remarks despite the onlookers.
“Are you not going to lower your gaze? Do you really think you’re tough just because you brag about beating a knight?”
“……”
“I heard the rumor and couldn’t believe it—I laughed for a long time. Who do you think will recognize you with such a pathetic lie? Should I remind you of your place?”
“……”
Ghislaine felt a sudden realization about how much he had changed.
‘If it were the old me, I would have knocked him out cold right away when he called me an idiot. After dying and coming back, I’ve grown up, I guess.’
“Hey, what’s wrong? Not gonna answer? Do you want me to rip your mouth apart?”
‘Calm down, I’m an adult now. No need to get provoked by this little punk…’
“Hey, you idiot!”
In a flash, Ghislaine’s right hand moved.
Thwack!
“Ugh!”
Caught off guard, Cain shielded his face with his hands. Ghislaine looked down at his right hand, astonished.
‘I just wanted to hit him, and my hand moved on its own?’
Cain howled, clutching his face.
“You crazy bastard!”
Thwack!
“Ugh!”
“Prince!”
As Cain staggered again, the guard knights rushed in, alarmed.
Meanwhile, Ghislaine watched his left hand, wearing an expression of amazement.
Cain’s face turned beet red as he took a step back and drew his sword.
“I’ll kill you!”
“You can’t, Prince!”
One of the guards quickly stepped in front of Cain, whispering urgently.
“There are too many eyes watching.”
Servants and maids, along with soldiers, had already gathered around, murmuring about the situation.
Cain gritted his teeth as he looked around.
“It’s the same for me; I got hit in front of everyone, so are you telling me to just take it?”
“Request a duel, Prince! That should settle it. Besides, the one who attacked first was him, right?”
The guard spoke with a meaningful expression. Cain pondered for a moment before nodding.
“A duel… Yeah, that’s better.”
If he publicly humiliates him, that pile of inferiority complex won’t be able to handle it.
Plus, he might even have some fun smashing him down a peg or two.
Cain immediately took off his glove and threw it at Ghislaine’s face.
Whoosh.
As Ghislaine easily dodged the glove, Cain’s face twisted in anger.
“It’s a duel! I’ve heard rumors that you’re bragging about beating Jamal and Philip! You’ve brought disgrace to the nobility by daring to attack me while I’m just confirming the truth!”
Ghislaine, taken aback by the sudden declaration, blinked with wide eyes, pointing at himself with a finger.
“A duel? With me? Are you serious?”
“Yes! You won’t back out now, will you? Too many people are watching!”
“Wow….”
Ghislaine felt an utterly unfamiliar sensation.
A duel! He couldn’t even remember the last time he had one.
Even Aiden, one of the Seven Greats of the continent, had opted for safety in numbers in their last battle.
The Seven Greats are those kinds of beings. No one can guarantee a win in a one-on-one fight against them.
But to think he would receive a duel challenge from such a rookie of a rookie.
‘Let’s just go with the flow. Has my future planning been weighing on my mind too much since I suddenly came back? I’m really struggling to adapt.’
“Was I overthinking because of the plan? It’s tough to adapt.”
It could be due to the dissonance between the memories of my past life and my current body. I needed time to get used to this, but I had been too impatient.
“What happened to that guy in the future?”
Count Loges’ Territory fell along with Perdium during the ongoing territorial wars.
After that, Cain went missing.
In my previous life, Ghislaine had collected information only up to that point and lost interest.
The bad memories from childhood weren’t traumatizing to him because he was too big for that.
Anyway, the son might be hopeless, but Count Loges had loyalty.
“Yeah, whatever. I need to give some proper training this time, even for Count Loges’ sake. At this age, proper teaching is essential for enlightenment. I suffered a lot because I wasn’t wise enough back then.”
Having made a decision, Ghislaine swiftly threw a glove at Cain’s face.
Cain snickered and tried to dodge it, but the glove changed direction mid-flight and landed squarely on his face.
“Uh?”
The people around stifled their laughter, chuckling to themselves.
“This brat….”
Cain’s face turned beet red. Just as he was about to explode, Ghislaine nonchalantly continued.
“Alright, I’ll accept your duel. I was thinking of just letting it slide because I’ve been preoccupied with the fort’s finances… but wait a moment.”
Ghislaine recalled something he’d forgotten and brightened up.
“Hey, pay me back the money you borrowed.”
“What? When did I borrow money from you?”
“You kept borrowing small amounts from me.”
Cain used to swipe paltry sums from Ghislaine whenever he felt like it.
Even the little money that Ghislaine managed to give to the heir of a poor territory was siphoned away like that.
“If you add it all up, it should be a thousand gold.”
Upon hearing the whopping sum of a thousand gold, Cain gasped and shouted.
“What do you mean a thousand gold! Even what I took from you wasn’t even a hundred gold!”
“Oh, was that so? Well, the fact remains that you did borrow it. Adding interest, it becomes a thousand gold. Pay up quickly. I’m in dire need of cash right now.”
In reality, even a thousand gold wouldn’t be enough for Ghislaine to execute his plans. He would need at least ten thousand gold to handle even a fraction of it.
But since Cain was unlikely to have that kind of money, Ghislaine settled for just the thousand gold for now.
“A pittance, but money can grow. Starting is what really matters.”
Oblivious to Ghislaine’s true feelings, Cain shouted in disbelief.
“What the hell is this madman rambling about! What does your need for money have to do with me! Besides, you gave me that money out of goodwill, as a thank you for being friends! Don’t you know about friendship fees?”
My goodness, I guess these days, you need to pay to make friends.
“Friendship fees? What nonsense is that… I was just being a sucker.”
Ghislaine shook his head.
The more they talked, the clearer it became. Honestly, he didn’t want to give money, but he was forced to when Cain threatened him with his fist.
“Those who take by force always say that. Well, once the duel’s over, whether I want to or not, I’ll have to pay you back.”
Ghislaine raised his fist and grinned.
“After a few hits, you’ll find money you didn’t even know you had.”
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