Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 267 - 65: It’s Useless if You Can’t Hit

Chapter 267: Chapter 65: It’s Useless if You Can’t Hit

Weisbach Palace, the top-floor duke’s office.

"Knight fighting involves three matches, and theoretically, winning two matches is enough to secure victory," Ludwig stated soberly. "However, by convention, even if one side wins the first two matches early, they will respectfully carry on with the competition to honor the knight participating in the last match."

"Of course, the victory in knight fighting itself is mostly symbolic and practically useless. The key lies in the military deterrence that the fighting itself brings. Due to the impending war, the participants will inevitably be the most capable warriors that both families can publicly field."

"The lowest acceptable result for us is to win one match and lose two. That way, even if those below us become unsettled, there is still a way to recover. The Wolf Family’s envoy proposed this duel precisely aiming for a clean sweep."

"If Weisbach were to lose all three matches, it would certainly have a demoralizing effect on our knights because it would imply that we are far inferior to the opponent in terms of high-end military power."

"In practice though?" Aske inquired. "Your knights may only see the results of the matches, but the two of you should have a deeper understanding of the Wolf Family’s strength, right?"

Ludwig and Henry exchanged glances and gave a bitter smile:

"We are indeed slightly inferior to them."

"The Wolf Family rose to prominence in the Burgundy Duchy and indirectly controls the Lombardy Territory. Their lands span more than twice the area of my Bavaria and border both the West Frank Kingdom and Church Court territories. Their population and wealth far exceed ours."

"Additionally, since they responded to the call of the Church Court, the Church will inevitably provide them with significant technological and material support. Meanwhile, the stance of the Duchy of Franknia remains unclear, preventing Bavaria from establishing a smooth material transport route with the Emperor. Therefore..."

"Therefore, their equipment is certainly superior," Aske concluded. "You can only try to compensate by finding stronger warriors."

Ludwig and Henry were speechless. Wasn’t that why they sought help from the Richartnal Mercenary Corps Commander? But somehow, that comment sounded slightly off. Was he really just praising himself?

"The equipment gap isn’t necessarily that vast," Ludwig bravely claimed. "Look, they also brought in a prodigious swordsman like Meyer as a mercenary, which shows they also aren’t sure about securing three wins. Hence, they are pulling out all stops to add weight to this fight."

"That’s true," Aske remarked. "As long as they don’t come at me with a nuclear missile launcher, I don’t think the equipment disparity will make much of a difference."

Hey! This guy is outrageously arrogant! He’s implying that the gap in their abilities can only be bridged by a weapon of nuclear missile caliber!

Henry incredulously turned his head, throwing his brother a look that said, "Is this guy serious?" "Are you messing with me?"

"Haha, Lord Aske, you certainly have a way with words. A nuclear missile launcher is obviously out of the question, but who knows—a high-frequency vibration blade might make an appearance," Ludwig indicated to his brother to remain calm.

The so-called high-frequency vibration blade is a high-tech weapon that uses ultra-high frequency vibrations of the blade to disrupt defensive materials. Since such weapons require extremely high material strength, currently only the Church Court possesses the technology to manufacture them.

"Don’t worry," Aske assured. "That gadget is indeed powerful, but it’s useless if it doesn’t hit its target."

"How do you plan to ensure you don’t get hit?" Henry blurted out, his look reeking of disbelief. "It’s a high-frequency vibration blade! One hit and you’re dead, especially since you don’t even have power armor!"

He and Ludwig were different; Henry hadn’t witnessed Aske and Eleanor sparring, so he had no real idea of the skills of this Mercenary Corps Commander in front of him. He merely thought the man was a reckless fool, cluelessly boastful and ignorant about what a high-frequency vibration blade even was.

"Evasion," Aske said simply.

"I know it’s evasion!" Henry snapped irritably. "The question is, how are you going to dodge it!?"

"How to explain this to you..." Aske started, making a helpless gesture. "Let’s say he swings his sword at me, I just jump back..."

Henry almost choked in exasperation. Who doesn’t know about jumping back to dodge? Is he treating this like two kids sparring with wooden swords, where his opponent will yell to remind him to jump back? If he misses just one dodge, he’s dead!

A stream of profanities passed through Henry’s mind, but thanks to the good manners ingrained in him by a lifetime of noble etiquette, he forcibly swallowed the curse words that had reached his throat.

Ludwig, seeing his brother’s face turn from pale to flush, immediately realized that his brother had absolutely no trust in the other’s strength. Before Henry could voice another doubt, Ludwig quickly coughed lightly as a reminder,

"Lord Aske is the Chief of the Richartnal Knights."

"Are you a demigod?" Henry asked tentatively.

"No," Aske said.

"Then are you the illegitimate child of a demigod?" Henry asked bluntly, "Or are you a high-level Transcendent? Level 10 or above?"

"No," Aske honestly replied.

"Then what do you have to be so smug about?" Henry’s face unmistakably showed great disappointment, "Meyer’s level is at least above Level 8!"

"The difference in levels doesn’t necessarily decide the outcome of a fight," Aske said.

"Why?" Henry asked impatiently.

"Because no matter how high the level is, an attack that doesn’t hit its target is useless," Aske explained.

Henry: ......

So now you’re just repeating the same thing over and over?!

"He is your knight, I don’t care," Henry told Ludwig, "I’ll win the second bout. You handle the rest."

His face was ashen as he left, fearing that he might lose his restraint and start a fight with Aske.

Ludwig, smiling bitterly, could only apologize to Aske:

"Lord Aske, I’m sorry, my brother is just naturally blunt..."

"Haha, no problem," Aske responded generously.

"Our plan is for Miss Sigrdrifa from your team to fight the first bout, and my brother will fight the second," Ludwig explained, "For the third bout, they will probably send Meyer himself, so we’ll need your help then."

"Okay," Aske said.

"Um... are you really confident you can beat Meyer?" Ludwig couldn’t help asking again.

Aske was speechless. How many times have you asked that!

"If it were Meyer a few years from now, I wouldn’t dare to guarantee it, but it shouldn’t be a problem handling him now," Aske candidly responded.

"That’s reassuring," Ludwig nodded repeatedly, but his face, full of worry, clearly conveyed his unease.

Aske felt rather helpless about this.