Chapter 313: Rumors

Ronin's forceful arrival pressed the stop button on this one-sided bullying.

He observed the opposing side, noting that the three men and two women leading them were relatively elegantly dressed and appeared to be children of nobility, though their exact identities were difficult to determine.

Judging by the seven or eight lightly armored knights surrounding the five of them, their background must not be small.

"Ronin, what great audacity you have, actually daring to lay hands on and injure my attendants!"

The man who spoke was handsome, and his hair color was particularly conspicuous, being a crimson even deeper than Ruydar's, resembling a fiercely burning flame.

"Who are you?"

Ronin's brow furrowed slightly; the other party knew him, yet he did not know them.

It seemed it was time to gain a certain understanding of the prominent noble members within the kingdom.

Hearing this question, the red-haired man's face immediately darkened.

Those who could enter the Golden Feather Palace were essentially nobility; among these nobles, the Wushan family was conspicuous for their silver hair, and similarly, there was only one great noble family with red hair.

As long as the family was determined, one could roughly judge the person's identity based on their age.

Yet at this moment, Ronin asked such a question, which in his eyes was clearly a deliberate pretense of ignorance.

"Sure enough, Grandfather was right; the Wushan family is an impolite family, and being able to rank among the marquises is entirely the grace of His Majesty Kingsman!"

Someone chimed in, saying, "His Majesty Kingsman probably pitied Count Rulance's crippled state and the grief of losing his son, and so bestowed the marquisate of the Wushan territory as charity."

These two sentences immediately drew bursts of laughter from the crowd.

They looked at Ronin just as nobles look at uncouth peasants, filled with an absolute sense of contempt.

"If pity could be exchanged for a marquisate, I suggest that the counts, viscounts, and barons of the Auduin Kingdom need not fight on the battlefield anymore; just have a few more sons and daughters, and then perform a few misery plays before His Majesty Bruno, and perhaps they can be promoted in rank."

Ronin sneered, counter-satirizing, "As for whether the Wushan family is polite, I do not know, but those families that love to slander others behind their backs will not have politeness that is much higher either."

The red-haired man's face changed; he had not expected Ronin to have such a response, and even dragged His Majesty the King into it.

In truth, among the great nobility, especially those outside the Auduin surname, none had obtained their titles by gaining others' pity; without exception, they had all relied on generations of accumulated merit to achieve today's status.

Using this matter to slander the Wushan family was indeed untenable.

Ronin could not be bothered to wage a war of words with them, turning to walk toward Tom and David: "How are you two?"

Tom and David stood up, gritting their teeth; despite it being only a single exchange of blows, both had sustained injuries that were not light.

"Feels like two ribs are broken."

"Me too..."

"Then lie down on the ground, don't stand up."

Tom and David froze for a moment, then lay back down, likely aggravating their injuries as the two groaned twice in pain.

"Tell me, what exactly happened?"

Mentioning this, a look of anger flashed across both of their faces.

"They insulted you, saying you..."

David spoke urgently, wanting to say it, but when the words reached his lips, he dared not continue.

"Said what about me?"

"Said you are a waste, and that becoming a count was entirely relies on Lord Rulance's backing to lift you up."

Tom also added in a low voice: "They also said you were involved with many women in your early days, and are completely unworthy of Her Highness the Princess."

"They even said your temperament is cruel and violent, having hounded Count Orson's granddaughter to death..."

"We stepped forward to stop their remarks, but we didn't expect to be insulted by them instead!"

The two of them, each adding a word, described the general sequence of the entire event.

Ronin had been wondering earlier where Tom and David got the courage to provoke nobility; it turned out it was for his reputation and dignity, which was indeed what followers ought to do.

He showed a gratified and encouraging smile: "You did well, now just lie on the ground and rest."

He turned around, his face darkening as his icy gaze swept over the crowd: "The ones who injured my attendants, step forward!"

At this moment, the two knights who had just been injured by Ronin had also returned to their group, and their companions were briefly treating their wounds.

Compared to Tom and David's broken ribs, their superficial wounds would heal much faster.

"What, 'Count' Ronin wishes to seek justice for your attendants?"

The red-haired man bit the word 'Count' rather heavily, making Ronin's title of count seem extremely cheap, beneath their notice.

Then he asked back in an eccentric tone: "Only our knights were also injured by you, should I also seek justice for them?"

"Duel!"

Ronin drew the Flame Stream Sword and thrust it into the ground, pouring battle qi into it as flames rose fiercely, completely changing the atmosphere of verbal sparring.

"You talk the most, so let it be a life-and-death duel between knights between you and me! No matter who wins or loses, this matter will be written off!"

He was not acting impulsively out of a desire to stand up for his subordinates.

Although it was unknown whether the opposing side injuring Tom and David was premeditated, their spreading of Ronin's past negative news at this time was absolutely intentional.

Although the marriage alliance between Ronin and Blanche had not been publicly announced on the surface, some great nobles had their own channels for obtaining information, and the several interactions between the royal family and Wushan Castle were already enough to explain certain issues.

Yet some people did not wish for the royal family to align with Wushan Castle.

Because of this, it not only increased King Bruno's political weight but also brought no small benefit to Wushan Castle and Ronin himself.

If this marriage alliance could be destroyed, on one hand, it could keep Blanche unmarried, thereby causing the outside world to believe the king had issues in managing royal affairs, raising greater public opinion pressure in society to affect the king's authority, status, and even his decisions and actions;

On the other hand, it also weakened the political standing of Wushan Castle and Ronin, making it less convenient for Bruno to interfere in the affairs of the Wushan territory.

As for the methods to destroy a marriage alliance, they were nothing more than diplomatic means, economic temptations, lobbying and persuasion, force threats, and negative rumors.

Regarding Bruno's desire to marry off the overaged princess, the former methods were almost completely ineffective.

Only the final method stood a chance of success—

Utilizing negative information to damage Ronin's reputation and standing, thereby forcing the princess or the king to change their minds.

Moreover, this method did not require much thought; they did not even need to fabricate rumors, needing only to bring up the things Ronin had done in his earlier days.

If nothing else, merely hounding Selena to suicide by forcing a relationship with her was a massive, indelible black mark that Ronin could never erase.

For Ronin, most of the things that happened in the past were unalterable facts, and there was absolutely no need to argue with them.

All he could do was use his present self to cover up those stains committed by his predecessor.

The best way was to display his own strength, allowing the outside world to know him through a new lens and events, rather than through the preconceived negative impressions brought by these rumors.

Having a grand, life-and-death duel with this bunch of troublemakers who did not seem particularly strong was clearly a good choice.

However, as his words were spoken, the expressions on the faces of the crowd opposite him changed.

They indeed did not think highly of Ronin, and even held skeptical attitudes toward the rumors that he possessed silver-level strength.

But this did not mean they would risk their own lives, wagering their safety on a duel arena over a minor dispute.

What a joke, once a life-and-death duel was agreed upon, being killed on the duel arena was a legal matter.

By that time, even if they had families backing them, they could not use it as an excuse to make trouble for the victor's family.

Are you mad? (End of chapter)