I Won’t Let the Execution Battalion Die, ~Even If the Empire Falls, We Want to Survive~

The noble’s villa wasn’t particularly luxurious, but it was quite spacious.

When a noble holds a hunt, they’d invite nobles from other houses, and then their retainers would need to stay as well. There were enough rooms to function perfectly well as an inn.

Nice. I’d like to have something like this too.

The soldier guide saluted at the end of the long corridor.

“This way, sir.”

“Thank you.”

I smiled and gave a light salute in return.

Perhaps that was a bit unexpected, because the soldier stared at my face for just a moment.

“What is it?”

“Ah, nothing…”

“Even death gods smile, you know.”

That was my best joke, but it fell completely flat, so I decided to leave the soldier behind and enter the room.

We really were hated, weren’t we…

Oh well.

“He did his job. Let’s do ours.”

“Y-yes. Right.”

Second Lieutenant Crimine nodded frantically as if flustered.

“Your face is red. Are you alright?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Since we’d walked through the rain, I was a bit worried she might be catching a cold. People in this world seem more susceptible to getting wet, probably because they didn’t wash their bodies much.

I’d have to get her some hot drinks when we returned to battalion headquarters. With that thought, I knocked on the obviously heavy-looking door.

There was an immediate response.

“Who is it?”

“Lieutenant Fonkt, deputy commander of the 3rd Company, Imperial Ceremonial Battalion. As promised, I’ve come for the duel.”

“Very well, enter.”

When I entered cautiously, I found an elderly gentleman enjoying something like chess in the spacious room.

This world didn’t have chess, but there was something very similar called [Vartis]. If I were to translate it, it would be something like “war board game.”

The white-haired old gentleman was rather thin and not particularly robust. He didn’t look agile either. No wonder he wasn’t specifying sword or gun duels.

But the wrinkles etched into his face and his raptor-like gaze conveyed experience and dignity, giving me the impression of a formidable opponent.

“Sorry to trouble you repeatedly. It pains my heart to see young people perish cleaning up after an old fool like me.”

Probably sarcasm. He was really trying to provoke me.

From Lord Grien’s perspective, we were enemies trying to kill him, so that’s natural enough, but he also seemed to be trying to shake me mentally.

So I smiled serenely.

“My apologies. We’ll finish this today.”

This bastard was my colleague’s killer. I’ll never be able to drink terrible cheap liquor with Lieutenant Meinen again. Not that I mind particularly, but it’s annoying regardless.

Lord Grien looked at me and smiled cheerfully.

“Good, you’re quite promising. You seem better than that previous lieutenant, whatever his name was.”

“You flatter me. Lieutenant Meinen was my contemporary, but he was the sort who’d fail at even such a simple mission as this.”

I am definitely going to kill you.

I smiled pleasantly as I opened the briefcase I’d brought.

“Your specified duel method was [ingested poison], correct?”

“Indeed. The heroic contest of voluntarily bringing sweet deadly poison to one’s own lips is fitting for an imperial noble.”

If you’re a noble, duel with swords or something. What a troublesome old man.

Probably this old man was knowledgeable about poisons. That’s why he’d managed to turn the tables on the executioners with poison twice before.

As for me, I knew absolutely nothing about the subject. Sorry, I didn’t have any previous-life knowledge or anything.

I didn’t understand the poisons of this world at all to begin with.

“Since this is the third attempt, I thought it would be discourteous not to put some effort into the presentation, so I’ve prepared something like this.”

When I unwrapped an embroidered cloth bundle, a black lacquered wooden box appeared.

Well, it was basically a furoshiki wrapping, but that was not a common usage in the Empire.

“Ho, interesting.”

“The interesting part is yet to come.”

I opened the lid of the wooden box.

“Oh!”

No wonder Lord Grien exclaimed.

Inside the compartmentalized box were small cookies packed in rows. Of course, that alone wouldn’t be particularly interesting, but naturally there was a secret.

“I had them made with the knights of the [Gray War] as inspiration. The light and dark shading of the dough represents the Black Knights and White Knights.”

This was a historical tale from before the Empire’s establishment, when the Black Knights and White Knights had fought a fierce war in this land. I didn’t know if it was a historical fact, but there were various theories about why they fought.

But Lord Grien peered into the box with interest.

“This resembles the piece arrangement in ‘Vartis.’ As if both armies are just about to clash.”

“Fitting for a duel scene, wouldn’t you say?”

Lord Grien grinned broadly.

“Quite an elaborate setup. It’s a pity I’ll have to kill you.”

“You needn’t worry about that—I won’t die.”

You’re the one who’s going to die.

Lord Grien looked at me with a supremely confident expression.

“You prepared these baked goods. You know which ones have poison in them. Therefore, I’ll be the one to specify which sweets we both eat.”

“Yes, otherwise the contest wouldn’t be valid. I will certainly eat whichever one Lord Grien selects.”

Come to think of it, my previous life also had several spicy Russian roulette foods. Since I loved super spicy food, I was happy when I got the “winning” piece.

Ah, I miss the sweets from my previous life.

As I was thinking about such things, Lord Grien smiled slyly.

“No no, if it’s just eating, there’s no need for it to be you.”

“What do you mean?”

Then Lord Grien pointed at Second Lieutenant Crimine.

“The sweet I choose will be eaten by that young lady instead of you.”

Wait just a minute!?