Chapter 86 | Reincarnated as a Duke's Son, I Walk the Sword God's Path

“Me? A Baron?”

If Hyde had felt pleasantly surprised just moments ago, he was now completely dumbfounded.

Just moments ago, he had not only staged a massive turnaround to become the commander of Caslant's City Defense Knight Order, but he had also leapt across social classes to become a noble in one fell swoop.

In contrast, Elys's face had darkened completely.

In truth, just as Hyde had previously suspected, Elys had originally planned to deal with Hyde slowly after Tyr and his group departed.

Caslant was still his uncle's fief; how hard could it be to deal with a commoner-born commander of the City Defense Knight Order?

But now that Hyde was a Baron, everything was different.

Nobles had the right to petition the Grand Duke directly. If his uncle tried to make things difficult for Hyde, Hyde could easily submit a formal petition to Grand Duke Callis.

In that case, this young master of House Callis would also find out what they had done, and it would be far too easy for a young master of House Callis to deal with a mere Viscount.

Furthermore, Elys's own father was only a Baron.

Now that Hyde had also become a Baron, did that not mean Elys's current standing was actually a step below Hyde's?

To have someone he had once oppressed and bullied at will climb over his head made Elys feel like he was going mad.

Damn it, why did he agree to Hyde's request to go to the abandoned cathedral that day?

Right, it was because he hadn't wanted to completely offend this young master of House Callis over Bishop Coos, so sending Hyde was just to save face.

Had he known it would turn out like this, he wouldn't have bothered with such a superfluous gesture. Since he was going to offend him anyway, he might as well have done so thoroughly.

That bishop from the Aglaia family was also a useless piece of trash. Just yesterday, he was promising all sorts of benefits, only to be dragged to the execution grounds today.

Elys didn't dare harbor any resentment toward Tyr, so he directed all of his hatred toward Hyde and Bishop Coos.

“Since you are taking over this position, you must shoulder the responsibility that comes with it. If you neglect your duties like the previous commander, what awaits you will be far more than just the revocation of your noble title.”

Hyde understood Tyr's meaning almost instantly. If it wasn't just the revocation of his title, wouldn't his life be revoked along with it?

“Your humble servant will surely keep your orders in mind, Young Master. I will unwaveringly follow the directives of House Callis and strive to protect Caslant.”

Hyde placed his right hand over his chest in a gesture of submission.

At the same time, he changed his form of address for Tyr to “Young Master,” which he had learned from Elys earlier.

As a commoner before, his understanding of the nobility system had been far too limited.

But since Elys had called Tyr “Young Master,” he knew he couldn't go wrong by calling him the same.

“Since you are now the lord of Caslant, your first task is to execute those Black Mages this afternoon.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Perform well. I hope you won't make me feel like I made the wrong decision.”

After saying this, Tyr stood up and walked out of the office.

Hyde and the others followed behind, escorting Tyr all the way to his carriage. Only when Tyr's carriage disappeared at the end of the road did Hyde lead his subordinates back into the building.

Sitting down in the office of the commander of the City Defense Knight Order, Hyde still felt a sense of surreality.

In just one morning, he had not only become the commander of Caslant's City Defense Knight Order but had also become a noble.

A noble! How many commoners dreamed of obtaining a title?

But the opportunities for commoners to obtain a title were far too scarce. Generally speaking, the only way to earn a title was through military merit.

Yet, in reality, when commoners went to the battlefield, they would be integrated into the squads of nobles, and the merits they achieved would basically be credited to the nobles leading them.

So while such a path to a title existed, unless one possessed the strength to tear through the entire battlefield and catch the eye of a high-ranking noble to be bestowed a title, this regulation was practically useless.

Currently, the way most commoners obtained titles was by buying them—spending vast sums of money to find a desperate noble and purchase their title.

But in truth, this opportunity had odds similar to winning the lottery.

Setting aside whether one could even encounter a noble whose family was bankrupt and who was desperate enough to sell their title, even if one did, not all nobles were willing to sell. Many would rather starve to death than sell their noble title.

Therefore, in the current Kester Empire, the social classes were extremely rigid.

“Boss, you're a noble now!”

The knight who had been speaking up for Hyde earlier said with an excited look on his face.

It wasn't just Hyde; for them, what had happened this morning felt exactly like a dream.

“Why are you still calling him boss? You should call him Lord Baron Beck now.”

Behind this knight, an older knight spoke up.

“Right, right, Lord Baron Beck.”

The young knight also reacted immediately, correcting himself at once.

“Phew... Shook, give me a slap.”

With such a massive stroke of luck suddenly landing on him, Hyde still felt like everything was surreal. He wanted to use physical pain to stimulate himself.

However, upon hearing these words, Shook's face instantly filled with terror.

“My Lord Baron, if I did something wrong, please tell me and I will definitely change! I swear I'll never speak out of turn again!”

“Asking me to slap you... aren't you just asking for my life?”

If a commoner struck a noble, they would be sent to the gallows.

Hearing Shook's words, Hyde also realized he was being foolish. He waved his hand at the men.

“All of you, go on down. Go guard the Black Mages in the dungeon well. This afternoon is the first task the young master has given us; we absolutely cannot mess it up.”

“Shook, go out and spread the word that the Black Mages are going to be hanged. It would be best if we can get as many citizens as possible to come and watch at the execution grounds.”

As for himself... oh, Lord, he desperately needed to be alone to calm down.

“Yes, Lord Baron.”

The older knight responded and led several subordinates toward the dungeon.

“I'll get right on it, Lord Baron.”

Shook also complied, turning and running out of the City Defense Knight Order building.

Hyde felt incredibly pleased being addressed as “Lord Baron” over and over again, to the point where he was starting to feel a bit lightheaded with vanity.

Slap!

The moment this thought arose, Hyde gave himself a harsh slap across the face.

“The young master made you a Baron because he trusted you. How can you let this get to your head? If you betray the young master's trust, you deserve to take your own life!”