51 – Rare Duel
It has already been a month since dealing with Barbadoon.
The founding ceremony ended safely.
The engagement ceremony held on that day at the Bayorn Square also ended without incident.
Elaine, dressed in a gown, was dazzlingly beautiful.
Perhaps that’s why the light peck on her lips felt so enchanting.
As I recall the sweetness of that moment, my face turns red again.
Ahem.
Anyway, the masses were truly a funny bunch.
Until the moment I appeared, they had been eagerly criticizing me. But after hearing the Emperor’s grand speech about how he had stopped the war with the elves, they started cheering and chanting my name with laughter-filled faces.
At first, I dismissed it as baseless rumors, but eventually, I couldn’t deny the words of the Emperor, a great conqueror who had no reason to lie.
Infamy was something easily acquired, but I realized that it could also be easily erased.
Of course, that is assuming the Emperor had my back.
The only thing that worried me was the Empress and Duke Schrein, who still remained at large.
Despite a considerable amount of time passing.
The maid who had been poisoned by the Emperor and Glenitino, aside from a few kidnapping and assassination attempts, had shown no signs of movement.
Of course, Astia had been sent to stop the kidnapping attempt, and the Akus in their bodies had easily taken care of the assassination attempt.
Anyway, it was a strange situation.
It didn’t quite fit that there were still no movements, even though my infamy had been greatly diluted.
They were not the type to give up so easily, so their silence was rather suspicious.
That’s why, for now, I was concentrating on monitoring the imperial palace, including the Emperor, by releasing the spirits.
Knock knock-
Then I heard the sound of someone knocking.
It was probably Elaine.
“Come in.”
The first thing I saw as the door slowly opened was, as expected, long golden hair bathed in sunlight.
And next, sparkling blue eyes.
The person who cautiously entered was indeed Elaine.
The elegant dress, which would not be overshadowed even by the Empress herself, accentuated her slightly flushed face even more vividly.
Due to the royal decree, she was currently staying in the Imperial Palace.
At first, I was so surprised when she asked me to share a room because she missed her grandson.
Just thinking about it, my face involuntarily grew warmer again.
“Your Highness, I’m planning to visit my home today… I’ll sleep there for one night with my mother.”
“Sure, have a safe trip.”
As soon as I said that, Elaine’s expression suddenly darkened.
It seemed like she had something else to say, but she seemed to be holding back with clenched fists.
“Yes…”
For some reason, Elaine left with a disappointed look.
I could hear the urgent shouts of the spirits.
The content was that Astia, who was training in the practice field after a long time, had been involved in an argument.
And the target happened to be Service.
I had a strange feeling about this.
The one who had saved the maid who betrayed the Empress and kidnapped Glentino from danger was Astia, who had darkened her hair and wore a mask.
And before, Astia, who had hidden her identity, had tied up Service’s feet by capturing the Pavals.
Perhaps Service suspected that Astia, who was hindering her in every way, was behind all this.
Or maybe she was trying to neutralize my escorts before making a major move against me.
If that’s the case, I can’t just stay still.
Astia is like a childhood friend to me, just like my sister.
It was the right thing for me to help her before she got into danger.
From Noble mtl dot com
***
When Astia arrived at the training ground, she was in the midst of a duel with Cervis, using her magic and her sword.
Astia was drenched in sweat, pushing her mana to the limit, fighting with all her might. But Cervis was overwhelming her without using much mana.
He seemed to be in a much stronger state than she had anticipated, to the point where he could overpower Astia.
“Cervis.”
Although the name was called from a considerable distance, both Cervis and Astia stopped in their tracks.
Cervis, as I expected, smiled as if he knew I would come, but Astia, with an embarrassed expression, lowered her head when she saw me.
It was a sign that Cervis was so strong that I couldn’t even face him.
So, the idea of intervening was out of the question.
Besides, it seemed like the reason for this ridiculous duel in the first place was to test me.
But it didn’t matter.
Protecting my people was the right thing to do.
And after all, I wasn’t the infamous wastrel prince.
If I hid behind my infamous reputation, I could do whatever I wanted without any consequences.
“Have you come, Your Highness?”
A gaze that looked down on the subordinate.
Even when Eos was the crown prince, he always treated me like this.
“Cervis, who do you think you are to dare touch my escort?”
Cervis appeared slightly flustered at the sight, which was completely different from what I had expected.
“You dare to meddle, brother. I am merely trying to impart some lessons to this knight. Even if it means using my precious time.”
“Why do you bother teaching him something so trivial?”
“……”
“Is the position of the Crown Prince so idle? Do you have time to spare?”
I raised the level of provocation.
“So, right now, apologize to the Emperor and step down from the position of Crown Prince. There are more capable people than you who are overflowing with talent.”
“hahahahaha.”
Unable to find the right words, Serbis burst into laughter.
“Can you take responsibility for what you just said, brother?”
“What did I say?”
“You said it was something trivial. Such words can only be spoken when you are stronger than me, right?”
“If I am stronger than you?”
As if finding it hilarious, Serbis’ face brightened.
“Ah! I have also heard that story. That you shamelessly threw dirt in your eyes and subdued a knight who hadn’t even used mana. When I heard that you even grabbed him by the hair like a little girl, I felt even more embarrassed. It seems that even though you dared to shame the royal family, you don’t feel any shame at all, brother.”
“Well, there was such a time. Lupus Erdante. I distinctly remember crushing the face of that pathetic excuse for a knight who didn’t even know what a battlefield was. What about you? Can you defeat me without using mana? In my opinion, you seem like a useless fool who can’t do anything without mana.”
“Fine. I won’t use mana either. Why don’t you give it a try?”
“Astia, give me the sword.”
Swish!
Perhaps because of the power of Wiblia, the Astia longsword, which had felt quite heavy, no longer had any weight.
Because of that, I didn’t budge an inch as I exchanged blows with Serbis.
Clang! Bang!
Without much movement, I calmly blocked his attack, and the guy’s expression began to rapidly deteriorate.
But if things continued like this, eventually my abilities would be exposed.
In that case, the Empress and Duke Schlein would surely come at me with all their might.
Winning, as befitting of their notorious reputation.
Until I solidified my foundation, I had to make sure the enemies let their guard down.
Intentionally, I took a deep breath and pretended to sway my body as if I were drunk.
Slowly, I slowed down my movements and pretended to block his sword, then discreetly let go of my own knife.
Next, I pretended to lose my balance and fell to the ground.
“Oh, my, did you fall, brother?”
Finally, the guy laughed as if it was only natural.
With my buttocks in pain, I clenched my fistful of dirt right in front of him.
“You wouldn’t think of throwing this at me, would you?”
“Well, I just held onto it out of anger.”
Right after saying that, I threw the dirt all at once.
“You crazy bastard!”
I had never heard Serbis use such rough language before, but immediately after, he summoned Wint and Rakk to stir up a dense sandstorm.
A tremendous amount of sand wrapped around Serbis, rushing towards him with his eyes as the only target.
Of course, he closed his eyes and dodged backwards in an instant, but I rushed in and grabbed him by the hair.
Thinking that I could never endure the disgrace like Rufus, he tried to gather mana all at once.
But it was already too late.
The time spirit, Aitas, in the form of a rooster, was hiding in the wind of the earth, glaring at him fiercely.
In an instant, as time reversed, Cervis’ mana subsided, but he didn’t even realize that time was reversing.
It was because a considerable amount of sand had already entered his nostrils.
Thud!
And I grabbed him by the hair and slammed my knee into his face.
“Ugh!”
“You shouldn’t have let your guard down like that.”
Thud!
“Ugh!”
“No matter how skilled you are, if dirt gets in your eyes, there’s nothing you can do.”
Despite the immense pain, he tried to raise his mana, but every time, I reversed time and pulled the mana out again.
I kept kicking him in the face without rest until he passed out.
The enhanced body strengthened by Wiblia’s power showed an extraordinary performance.
Even the physical abilities of the strongest villain, Cervis, were reduced to nothing but being knocked out by a few kicks.
Of course, if he had been raising his mana from the beginning, the situation might have been different, but that was none of my concern anyway.
As the sandstorm that had obscured my vision disappeared for a moment, my figure holding the unconscious Cervis by the hair was revealed.
Seeing me like that, the knights sent me contemptuous glances, filled with a strange sense of unease.
Of course, after defeating them once again in a duel and grabbing victory by spreading dirt and holding them by the hair, it was a fitting treatment for me.
Thanks to that.
The Empress would once again let her guard down, thinking of me as nothing more than a lucky piece of trash.
Perhaps she was too embarrassed to spread the rumors herself.
Besides, since the service has already been erased from memory, it shouldn’t be much of a problem.
***
The Empress of the Mersen Empire, Herpina, was having a conversation with Duke Schlein.
“Why on earth do these barbarians still not keep their promises!”
Of course, the conversation that had been going on for several days was a bit of a stretch to call a conversation.
But Duke Schlein had nothing to say.
Barbarian King Barbarun.
He suddenly cut off contact unilaterally, and there were no sightings of him anywhere on the continent.
Furthermore, there were even ridiculous rumors circulating that the barbarian king and his army had been wiped out overnight.
And then, a maid suddenly rushed in.
“Your Majesty, something terrible has happened!”
Smack!
The Empress immediately stood up and slapped the maid’s cheek.
“Ugh….”
Of course, right after slapping her cheek, she looked at her father.
It was as if she was implying that she was taking out her anger on him, caused by him.
The maid, already accustomed to such things, could only let out a small whimper instead of screaming.
“Tell me, or I’ll rip out your tongue for four years if it’s not a big deal.”
“That, His Highness the Crown Prince has been injured and collapsed during the duel…”
Crack!
The Empress slapped again.
“To whom?”
“That, it was Prince Eos, Your Majesty…”
Smack! Smack! Smack!
The Empress, as if she couldn’t contain her anger any longer, started slapping relentlessly.
“Look here, drag that woman right away and pull out her tongue!”
Eventually, in a bold manner, she punished the maid without any reason.
“Empress Mother, why are you doing this! Please, please spare me! Your Excellency Duke! Please, please save me!”
But even as she said that, the maid, who had witnessed countless cases of her predecessors, knew very well.
The series of failures that occurred one after another to the Empress, who had never experienced failure before, were enough to paralyze her reason.