The metal cylinder opened up and a moment later a hologram was projected up from it which displayed a single room, a bed, a small table with a chair as well as a door which lead to a small bathroom, next to the bed a figure could be seen doing push-ups, Matthew spoke out loud

“Duke Adam, Marquis Elias Maitner have requested a conversation to confirm your wellbeing”

The duke slowly came to a halt in his excise and stood up before he wiped his face and let out a sigh and turned to face the hologram

“Marquis Elias, have you been well?”

The Marquis was stunned silent for a few moments before he responded

“D-Duke Adam, is that really you?”

A moment of lag passed before Duke Adam responded

“Of course I understand your confusion, but now is hardly the time nor place for such talks, I doubt Major Matthew allowed you to communicate with me for this purpose either”

The Marquis silently gathered himself mentally before he nodded to the scribes to continue their records

“I understand, I am able to see you inside a small room, have your wounds been treated?”

Duke Adam nodded and spoke clearly

“Major Matthew has provided full medical treatment to all survivors, as you can see the room I am imprisoned in might be small, but I have no complaints about the comfort, furthermore we receive 3 meals a day, and I am able to communicate with the others at assigned times… Major Matthew have really treated us quite well considering the circumstances”

The Marquis nodded and opened his mouth to ask another question when the hologram suddenly fizzled out, a moment later Matthew’s modulated voice sounded out

“I believe this will do for confirming the state of the prisoners, shall we move onto the discussion of the ransom payments?”

The Marquis was clearly frustrated, but he showed a diplomatic smile and accepted Matthew’s suggestion, about half an hour later when the two were about to finish the negotiations Alina’s voice sounded out over the local net

[Something is happening, the two remaining nobles inside the keep are moving towards the courtyard now]

Matthew stopped speaking mid-sentence, as the silence stretched Matthew shifted his posture to attack at a moment's notice as his voice echoed out over the courtyard

“I do not like surprises”

As the diplomatic smile on the Marquis froze, Alina’s voice sounded out over the local net once again

[I am moving the 30 battle androids into firing positions now, travel time for the hammer strike is set to 14 seconds on your go, Aea load a cluster munition for a high altitude dispersion onto Rail-002, I am moving in]

[Don’t, stay up high Alina]

[But—]

[Stay where you are, I need to you to keep overwatch and guard against all mystic threats]

Just then, the heavy wooden doors into the keep were blown open from the inside as two people strode out, one was a young man in his mid 20s, he was dressed from head to toe in fine clothes and had a sword on his hip, his face was twisted into a frown as his eyes was locked onto Matthew, the person following behind him was a woman in her early 30s, she wore a pure white robe that had a steak of vermilion red flowing down the middle, her skin was deathly pale, and her eyes bloodshot from stress and lack of sleep.

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Marquis Elias Maitner turned around to face this unscheduled interruption and was about to blow a fuse when the young man removed a seal from his belt and casually flashed it to the Marquis that nearly spewed blood of pure shock as he instantly kneeled down followed by every single mystic knight present.

“Hey you, perform the ritual quickly”

The young woman glanced briefly at Matthew before she brought her finger to her lips and bit it, before letting a drop of her blood spill into empty air as a ripple of mystic energy spread through the air, a moment later Matthew noticed the coil rifle on his shoulder shone with a vermilion red light, the young man also noted this and removed the white glove on his hand before he casually flung it at Matthew as he spoke

“You killed my sister, I would normally just have you flayed and executed for this, but I want to beat you to death with my own hands… Do you accept my knight duel?”

Matthew glanced down at the white glove that lay at his feet and was momentarily stunned, this bewilderment gave way to anger, then to amusement meanwhile in the background the white and red robed young woman that was accompanying the brat collapsed, clearly exhausted from the mystic ritual she just performed

[...Should I just send that spoiled brat half a kilometer into the ground so we can move on, Matthew?]

Alina received no response over the net, instead a quiet chuckle sounded out from Matthew before he asked

“Is this what passes for comedy in the Willmir empire, Marquis?”

The Marquis remained silently keeling, but from his face that had flushed completely red from a mix of fury and embarrassment Matthew understood that he was powerless against this brat that had already moved over to the side and casually discarded his black furred cape and warmed up his shoulders just outside a white clacked mock battle circle, after a few moments he turned and looked back at Matthew before asking in a mocking tone

“Are you going to step up to the challenge, or should I just cut you down where you stand, barbarian?”

A few moments passed before Matthew’s voice sounded out again

“...Would you do me the honor of overseeing this honorable duel, Lord Marquis?”

The Marquis nodded silently before he rose to his feet and responded

“Of course”

The space next to Matthew distorted for a moment before Alina appeared, she started blankly at the Marquis that quickly ordered the proper procedures for the upcoming duel to be completed, as she turned her gaze towards the noble brat one thought went through her mind

‘...I really just should have removed that one before he got in the way’

As she continued to observe the noble brat, she quickly realized something and informed Matthew over the local net

[This brat is quite the Mystic for such a young age… No, something is off about him, it’s like he is shrouded in a haze…]

[Be ready to interfere the moment he attempts to use any of those mystic powers, Aea load a Marshal sword for fast delivery]

[Orders received, Rail-002 tasked, package arrival in 54 seconds]

“Are you just about ready to face your end, barbarian?”

Matthew didn’t answer the noble brat, instead he asked him a question

“Do your parents know you are here interfering with a diplomatic negotiation which outcome could mean the end of Duke Adam and the youngest imperial princess?”

The noble brat showed a smile before he turned his head to the side and spat on the ground, his disrespect clear before he spoke

“That old man have lived a long a fruitful life, and Erik have enough offspring and bastards that he is pitting them against each other, burying another daughter won’t bother him too much”

The noble brat laughed out loud at his own callus joke, but the silence of the Willmir mystic knights that all had had sworn a personal oath to Emperor Erik himself was deafening, the tension in the air was rippling silently about to violently exploded at any moment

[...Aea, cross-reference the seal that the brat flashed earlier with the collected Neurological data]

[Processing… 1 result found, the seal appears to be an Imperial order of command, awarded directly to the most loyal retainers of the current Emperor, as long as the person holding it is of the same bloodline they wield the power of the Emperor, however the young male’s face doesn’t show up in any of the gathered Neurological data processed so far]

Hearing this, something clicked for Alina and she quickly spoke

[That’s because his figure is shrouded, he is hidden beneath a Mystic illusion that alters his outward appearance]

[That means he has already violated the laws of the knight duel before it has started, I can expose that and use it to sway the opinion of the Marquis towards aligning with us]

Alina and Matthew walked towards the duel circle when the noble brat spoke arrogantly

“The sacred knight's duel disallows the use of all external factors besides the use of a single sword, but I can forgive the ignorance of a lamb walking towards the slaughterhouse to be ignorant of this”

A series of loud metal clang sounds echoed out from the front of the Mk. 22 armored suit for a few moments as it unsealed, then a hiss sounded out before it opened up in the front and Matthew stepped out, despite only wearing his usual pair of black sweat shorts the imposing air around him had not diminished now that he had stepped out of his armor

“I know that, you little shit… Tell me, would your family prefer a closed or open casket at your funeral? Well, I guess as long as it fits in a body bag, it’s fine…”

The noble brat was about to curse back when he spotted a metal cylinder that flew towards the fort at amazing speed, right as he was about to shit his silk pants and deploy a Mystic barrier to protect himself from the impact a loud sound of metal meeting metal sounded out as Matthew snatched the metal cylinder out of the air faster than he could follow with his vision

“If you were under my command, I would have shipped you back to pearled dog shit you crawled out of in a sealed 2 liter bucket”

As Matthew retrieved the Marshal sword and laid it on his shoulder, Ukiad, younger brother of the late Saratheen thought for the first time in his sheltered life that he might have bitten off a little more than he could chew