I Want To Die One Day Before You - Chapter 44
Rufus, now part of the subjugation army, stood before his unit members.
“I am Rufus, your new lieutenant.”
The members of the unit merely nodded in response to Rufus’s introduction. The reaction was not surprising; it was the same in his past life.
The reason was simple.
‘How can this greenhorn who hasn’t even properly killed a demon be a lieutenant!’
‘Becoming a lieutenant just because he’s a noble, how absurd!’
All of Rufus’s squadron members resented him.
They were right. Rufus was an inexperienced and incompetent commander. His appointment as the lieutenant of a subjugation squadron was solely due to his lineage and the king’s orders.
As Rufus could barely wield a sword and had nearly inexistent control over his magic, his incompetence cost the lives of many squadron members. Therefore, Rufus understood the discontented glares of his subordinates.
But understanding does not mean acceptance.
“Is everyone here?”
“Yes.”
Rufus surveyed the squadron members assembled before him.
Originally, twenty members were assigned to Rufus’s squadron. None of them survived to return in the end.
There was one who survived longer than the others.
“How old are you, lieutenant?”
It was this man.
The man leaned casually against a tree, sizing up Rufus.
“Iruel.”
Rufus remembered him well, chewing jerky with a defiant attitude.
The bastard son of Viscount Eustice, and known as the shame of the Viscount’s family. The last of Rufus’s squadron members to survive, ultimately killed by Rufus himself.
Iruel spat out the jerky he was chewing.
“Wow, you even remember my name? Impressive.”
“How old do I look to you?”
“Well, maybe seven? You don’t seem to have grown any hair down there yet, huh?”
Iruel’s crude joke elicited laughter from the other squadron members.
Even though Rufus was a young lieutenant, being a noble meant that no one could speak to him disrespectfully. It was Iruel who broke this tension with his irreverent attitude.
Despite being a bastard, Iruel was also a noble, from a Viscount family slightly more prestigious than Rufus’s Barony. Therefore, Iruel brazenly treated his superior, Rufus, with disregard.
Rufus stared at Iruel with a stern face.
“Scary, scary. Why are you glaring at me like that? You’ll hurt your eyes.”
Iruel laughed mockingly, making a fuss.
Rufus, without saying a word, strode towards Iruel.
“What? Going to hit me?”
Iruel smirked, looking down at Rufus.
Iruel was older than Rufus. Naturally, he was also physically larger. In a physical fight, Rufus would be at a distinct disadvantage.
But that didn’t matter.
“Draw your sword.”
Rufus commanded Iruel.
“What?”
“It’s an order. Draw your sword.”
At Rufus’s words, the gathered squadron members began to murmur. Some sneered, thinking Rufus was trying to assert his authority with a trivial show of force.
Iruel looked at Rufus incredulously.
“Are you picking a fight with me, lieutenant?”
“Stop talking and draw your sword.”
“Why should I? I don’t want to.”
“If you defeat me, you’ll be the lieutenant.”
At Rufus’s statement, the squadron members suddenly fell silent, as if doused with cold water.
Iruel narrowed his eyes.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
“Ha, I’m fine with that. No backing out later.”
Iruel chuckled and stood up straight.
“But,”
As Iruel reached for his sheath, Rufus spoke.
“If I win, you’re going to have a proper conversation with me.”
“A conversation? What, you want to nag me? Even my dead mother never did that.”
Iruel smirked and drew his sword. The iron blade gleamed sharply. Rufus inwardly cursed at the sight.
Using an iron sword for demon subjugation? He should have realized it from this moment.
He was frustrated with himself for not noticing sooner. If it weren’t for this man, he could have killed the Demon King much earlier. The three years wasted, being toyed with by Iruel, seemed all the more regrettable.
“Wow, lieutenant, your sword is silver. Quite expensive for a lowly Baron’s son.”
“And you think that you, a bastard of a Viscount, are any better?”
Rufus retorted coldly.
“Our lieutenant really knows how to talk!” Iruel said sarcastically.
