I Am The Madman Of This Family

Chapter 16: Battle on a Bridge (2)

“After observing Lord Keter, I got the impression that he is quite feisty and hot-blooded.”

Panir immediately frowned at Prosciutto’s words.

“Are you suggesting that we use Katherine to seduce Keter?”

“How could I use Katherine for such a vulgar scheme? I raised her like my daughter. I mentioned it because I think that Lord Keter would feel an even greater sense of humiliation if he is defeated by Katherine,” Prosciutto said.

“Hmm. It would indeed be a tremendous humiliation for a feisty man to be defeated by a woman. However, to humiliate him, one must first win, and win very decisively at that,” Panir replied.

“That’s right.”

“I heard Anis was taken down by Keter. Are you confident that Katherine can beat him?”

Panir did not care that Anis was not in good condition or that it was a surprise attack. The only thing that mattered was the result: Anis lost and Keter won. Prosciutto thought the same way. Keter had defeated Anis, so to win against him, Katherine had to have also beaten Anis as a prerequisite to stand a chance against Keter.

“Wouldn’t it be enough that Katherine is a two-star knight?” Prosciutto said.

Panir rarely showed surprise, but his eyes widened when he heard Prosciutto.

“Katherine became a two-star knight? In just three years since becoming a one-star knight?!”

The gap between an apprentice knight and a one-star knight wasn’t significant. However, the gap between one-star and two-star was enormous.

It was a given that an apprentice knight would become a one-star knight, but it was different after that. More than sixty percent died of old age without being promoted to two-star. Becoming a two-star knight was not something that could be achieved by luck alone; the preparation period to take the two-star test took over ten years.

For Katherine, a woman, to become a two-star knight in just three years was an achievement that would go down in the kingdom’s history.

“Amazing. I knew that Katherine was extremely talented, but becoming a two-star knight faster than Anis…” Panir said.

“All of that is thanks to your keen eye for talent, my lord,” Prosciutto replied.

“Haha, that’s also true.”

It was Panir who recognized Katherine’s talent early on and brought her into the Sefira family. Although she wasn’t formally adopted, everyone in the family knew he cared for her like a daughter.

Panir, who was initially skeptical of Prosciutto’s choice, was convinced when he heard that Katherine had become a two-star knight.

“So this will be Katherine’s first mission as a two-star knight?” Panir asked.

“It will be, if you allow it, my lord,” Prosciutto replied.

“There is no doubt about Katherine’s skills. However, I don’t know if she can carry out the mission well. I will send Katherine if you guarantee it, Prosciutto.”

“I guarantee it, my lord. You know that Katherine is not like other women. She is a model for other knights, and I think she is entirely capable of handling everything about this mission.”

“I trust you, Prosciutto. Send Katherine in my name.”

Panir put down the bow and arrows he was holding.

“I’ll trust Katherine and wait, but she must deliver results before tonight is over. Nothing good will come from delaying this,” Panir said.

“I will keep that in mind, my lord.”

“Go ahead.”

With Panir’s approval, Prosciutto went to find Katherine at once.

* * *

There was no need to

Katherine grew up in an orphanage supported by the Sefira family. While other children were busy living their own lives once they came of age, she was different. She wanted to repay the orphanage that took her in and cared for her with love—a goal she set as her life’s mission.

When the head of the orphanage learned of her intentions, they said the orphanage was able to operate thanks to the support of the Sefira family. So, they advised her to repay the Sefira family instead of the orphanage.

Katherine then went straight to the Sefira family and spoke to the butler.

At the time, the butler gave her the opportunity to work as a maid. Katherine thought that she wouldn’t mind spending her life as a maid if it meant being of help to the Sefira family.

She worked diligently as a maid for about a year, but she happened to overhear that the Sefira family was short on knights. It was around the time when the Sefira family began to suffer from external pressures, resulting in a sharp decline in the number of external cadets.

Unable to ignore Sefira’s crisis, Katherine went to the butler and expressed her desire to become a knight. Although she had always been dedicated to her work as a maid, that alone wasn’t enough to become a knight.

The butler coldly rejected her request, but it wasn’t because she was a woman. Women could become knights, but the standard for female knights was four times higher than male knights. There are over five thousand knights in the Lillian Kingdom, but only two hundred twenty of them were women.

Even women born and raised in master families couldn’t endure knight training and would give up. As such, the butler thought Katherine, who came from an orphanage, wouldn’t be able to succeed. The resources and costs required for knight training were significant, so the butler firmly told Katherine that she couldn’t be trained as a knight.

That was when Panir, who happened to be passing by, intervened.

When everyone else said it was impossible, Panir was the only one who believed and supported Katherine.

To her, Panir was not just a sponsor; he was like the father she had long dreamed of since her time at the orphanage. Even though she couldn’t call him “Father,” she thought of him as one and followed him. As such, she could not afford to fail the mission.

After careful consideration, Katherine stood up. Following Prosciutto’s advice to think deeply and act swiftly, she gathered the soldiers under her command and headed to the Second Shooting Range.

Usually, the Second Shooting Range was a deserted place. Katherine judged that now, when Keter was there, was the right time and decided to settle things quickly and decisively.