Chapter 8: PBDK

Camilla and Elias were walking toward this direction.

Even I, with my unusually sharp eyesight, could only just make out their familiar silhouettes—they were still quite far away.

I quickly revised my plan in my mind.

“Don’t you think that’s a bit too harsh?”

I deliberately clenched my teeth as if suppressing anger and pushed back against Dmitri’s words.

With Camilla and Elias approaching as allies, I intended to create a situation where I wouldn’t be the only one being pushed around.

Seeing Hugo Knight and even me now wearing hardened expressions, Dmitri still failed to grasp my intentions. Instead, he curled the corners of his mouth into a vile smile.

Then, as if delivering a finishing blow, he sneered.

“Or did you learn submission from a commander who used to be a slave?”

Wow. What personality.

For a moment, I almost forgot my resolution to play the role of the victim properly—his words were that vicious.

He was trying to provoke us by insulting Elias, who wasn’t even present at the scene, and who was technically his superior.

Not only Hugo Knight, but also the knights of the 10th Order nearby had fury burning in their eyes.

No matter how much we grumble about our strict commander, only we are allowed to criticize him.

Just moments ago, I had been hoping Camilla and Elias would arrive faster, but now I found myself relieved that Elias hadn’t heard that remark.

Should someone like this really be left unchecked?

The answer came quickly after I asked myself.

‘As expected, my first instinct is usually right.’

I decided I would beat this knight up myself.

‘Insulting my order is the same as insulting me.’

As a minimal precaution against later regretting acting on impulse, I casually tossed the training sword I was holding into a corner.

‘As long as I don’t use a real sword, it’s fine, right?’

For someone like him, a good beating is the only lesson.

“Not everything you say qualifies as speech.”

I clenched my fist with all my strength and swung it toward Dmitri’s jaw.

Thud!

Caught off guard, he took the blow directly to his jaw and his body twisted halfway around.

I smiled crookedly, lifting only one corner of my mouth.

Camilla and Elias, who had witnessed the entire scene, were now running toward us with shocked expressions.

But unexpectedly, I felt no regret at all.

“B-Bi—no!”

Seeing me punch someone’s jaw from afar, Camilla tried to call my name in shock but covered her mouth mid-word.

Then she closed it tightly and ran toward us at full speed.

Elias followed right behind her.

Dmitri, who had been dazed from the punch, finally came back to his senses around that time.

“You… you bastard!”

He seemed deeply humiliated at being struck by a mere trainee knight.

His already swollen jaw matched the color of his flushed face.

Completely losing his rationality, he stepped forward as if to grab my collar.

I snorted and stepped back slightly.

‘Be grateful I’m holding back.’

Camilla would never just stand by and watch me get grabbed.

As he moved forward in anger, he lost his balance and staggered, then barely steadied himself.

His face, which had moments ago been filled with sadistic amusement like a child tearing off a dragonfly’s wings for fun, was now fully dyed with rage.

“Tch.”

Grinding his teeth, Dmitri spewed a stream of low insults.

Summarizing the parts I didn’t want to hear, he was essentially insulting my parents’ upbringing.

“Are you perhaps… tired of living?”

It wasn’t a threat.

If I hadn’t been currently undergoing my coming-of-age ceremony, that statement alone could have been punishable by death for insulting royalty.

I should’ve aimed for his teeth instead of his jaw when he insulted Elias.

But it wasn’t too late. I clenched my fist again.

Dmitri smirked crookedly at my reaction.

Sensing the atmosphere turning dangerous, a circle formed around us between Hugo Knight, Dmitri, and me.

Knights of the 9th and 10th Orders split into two sides, either cheering for their own or shouting at the opposing side.

“Dmitri Knight! Teach that insolent trainee of the 10th Order a lesson!”

“How dare you talk about another order’s trainee like that!”

“What are you all doing! Break this up!”

Only slightly later realizing the situation, Hugo Knight shouted at the surrounding knights.

But no one calmed down.

“Argh!”

Hugo Knight grabbed his head with both hands and screamed, then stepped between us with a face of determination.

“Dmitri Knight, please calm down.”

Then he looked back and forth between us, and upon meeting Elias’s gaze, he flinched.

That was when Camilla and Elias entered the training grounds.

“Enough!”

Elias shouted as he immediately grasped the situation.

Hugo Knight’s eyes trembled violently.

But the standoff did not break.

Neither Dmitri nor I stopped glaring at each other, even though no fists were flying.

Camilla strode toward me quickly, almost like she was running.

She gestured at Hugo Knight with a flick of her hand.

Hugo Knight stumbled back a few steps as if physically pushed away.

Camilla stepped in front of me in his place.

Then she asked in a cold voice:

“What happened?”

Dmitri, pressured by the presence of Camilla—the noble lady of a ducal house and a highly skilled knight—tried to speak but failed, closing his mouth tightly instead.

Seeing no answer, Camilla’s eyes grew colder.

“I will explain.”

Unable to withstand the pressure, Hugo Knight stepped in with forced ease.

However, Camilla’s gaze shifted to me next.

But I had no intention of answering either.

‘I’m an adult too. Tattling is kind of childish, isn’t it?’

I simply stayed silent, lips closed.

Resolving to personally crush that guy later.

Camilla immediately noticed my intentions.

As always when I was secretly up to something dangerous, her expression grew stern.

She stared at me without blinking, and I did not avoid her gaze.

It turned into a full-on staring contest.

‘It’s true I’m not saying anything, but why are you only trying to stop me?’

Frustrated, I held my ground stubbornly until Camilla let out a faint sigh.

“Let me ask again. What happened?”

“Well…”

I almost spoke honestly out of irritation, but stopped when I saw Elias.

If I explained properly, I would also have to repeat the insults directed at him.

I was too decent a person to relay such humiliation to the person involved.

‘Damn it.’

I bit my lower lip and swallowed my words.

But Camilla’s eyes pressed me again.

After quickly thinking it through, I decided to skip parts and tell the truth.

“That knight… insulted my parents.”

The moment I finished speaking, Camilla’s eyes turned sharp, as if she might draw her sword immediately and strike.

It couldn’t be helped—Dmitri had unknowingly committed a grave crime by insulting the Emperor and Empress.

From behind, Elias—who had been silently observing—finally intervened.

“Camilla Knight.”

At his low, warning tone, Camilla removed her hand from her sword hilt.

Then she glanced at my trainee uniform.

In this situation, punishing someone based on only one side’s statement could put me, still a trainee, at a disadvantage.

Realizing this, Camilla quickly composed herself and answered in a calmer voice.

“Yes, Commander.”

Elias gestured for her to step back.

Though partly a protective act for me, Camilla was currently his subordinate.

She obeyed and quietly stepped aside.

Even after removing her hand from her sword, Camilla still radiated faint killing intent as she retreated. Only then did the color slowly return to Dmitri’s pale face.

But it was still too early to feel relieved.

Elias gave Hugo Knight an order.

“Explain it. From the beginning to the end—leave nothing out.”