Chapter 34

Chapter 34

A colorful carpet appeared before Max’s eyes. The material was a specialty of the Kessen Empire. It was so expensive that he felt sorry to be wearing shoes on it. He lowered his head as if to let his nose touch the red carpet.

“I see Your Highness The Crown Prince.”

The heads of the Commanders, including Max, were all lowered. In front of them, a handsome black-haired man was yawning. Wet hair, a loose gown. No matter how much they looked at him sitting on a large bed drinking wine, he was not ready to receive guests.

Max was not satisfied, but he had no choice but to tighten his head. It was because this man inherited the noblest lineage in the Empire.

Elnos von Berba. The Crown Prince of the Harknon Empire, and a madman. Contrary to his soft appearance, he was full of tricks.

Prince Elnos had been well-known for his cruelty since childhood. Max was familiar with the anecdotes. He cleverly assassinated his rivals in the imperial sphere, aiming for the throne. As a result of his greed, he was taken hostage by the enemy Utran Empire until recently and had barely returned home.

However, even in Utran, where he was taken hostage, Prince Elnos’ reputation was famous. He became friend with the prince of the enemy country with all kinds of clever tricks. The story of some kind of transactions between the two had already spread to high-ranking nobles. He had the political power and a strong power to capture even the prince of an enemy country. He was literally the owner of the next imperial power in public.

Elnos emptied a glass of wine and glanced at the Commanders, including Max. All the imperial Commanders, except for Hizen, were bowing their heads. Elnos murmured with a drowsy face. It was a voice full of disappointment.

“The Commander of the Imperial Elite Knights is not here. Count Dratius is so busy.”

Then you would not be free. Max grumbled inwardly. Elnos grinned at him.

“So. What kind of mission is he doing?”

“I’m sorry. I can’t tell you about a first-class mission.”

“Hmm.”

The Commander of the 1st Division of Imperial Knights raised his head at their conversation. Schwalnon Tenbert, who had been humiliated while trying to punish Leasis the other day. Schwalnon did not miss the small gap. Through this opportunity, his desire to push Hizen away and gain the upper hand was raised to his neck.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, how can you care about such an disrespectful man?”

“Why is Count Dratius disrespectful?”

Elnos tilted his head. Schwalnon looked loyalist to anyone seeing him. Then, as if he was really angry, he screamed.

“He’s a man who doesn’t even come to see His Majesty the Crown Prince under the pretext of a mission!”

That crazy guy. If you’re out of your mind, you go to the temple for psychiatric treatment. Max murmured inwardly. Fortunately, Elnos reacted fairly well.

“Well, though, the Vice Commander came instead.”

“May Goddess Freya, touched by the generosity of Your Highness the Crown Prince, bless you! This lowly Schwalnon Tenbert will risk his life for you! You will be a holy man who will remain in the history of the Harknon Empire!”

Quick change of attitude. Schwalnon even cried out in tears. The crazy appearance also embarrassed the other Commanders. Max kept sighing. He spoke shorter than Schwalnon.

“Thank you for your consideration.”

The reactions of the two were extremely different. Elnos smirked as if he was having fun. Black eyes as beautiful as the night sky headed toward Max. From his brown hair to his stiff physique and his black shoes, he scanned everything.

He felt an overwhelming force in the gaze. Max trembled without realizing it. He had heard rumors that he was a crazy prince, but he never imagined he had such an overwhelming spirit. But he did not have to be intimidated, so he gave strength to his body.

In Elnos’ eyes, Max looked cute like this. He was generous to the strong and the smart. Elnos spoke in a friendly voice.

“There’s a reason why I called you. I just wanted to make a good suggestion for the progress of the gladiator tournament.”

Unlike his light words, a heavy atmosphere filled the room. It was an unspoken pressure not to refuse. Schwalnon gave strength to his trembling body. He did not stop flattering while he was scared.

“I-if you order anything to this lowly Schwalnon Tenbert, I will obey Your Highness’ commands at the risk of my life!”

That’s amazing. Even in such a situation, he’s still doing this. Max was truly impressed. It was questionable how Schwalnon, with ordinary skills, managed to climb to that position. But the secret was this kind of trickery.

“Please believe in me!”

“Okay.”

When he slightly raised his eyes, he saw Elnos smiling happily. He said, licking slightly his lips wet with wine.

“Just put all of them in.”

“…Yes?”

His subjects all looked puzzled. Elnos spoke in a light voice.

“There is no need for the participants to fight one against another. Put all the cerberus in the gladiator arena with the fighters.”

“Ha, but…”

“Whoa. You doubt the cerberus? They’re pretty useful because I’ve tamed them.”

That was not the problem! The subjects’ faces turned white. Elnos smiled as he looked at them.

“Time is precious for the Imperial Palace staff. Isn’t that a good idea?”

This would be more fun, and Elnos hummed and filled his glass with a blood-colored wine. On the other hand, the subjects’ faces became increasingly darker. They had heard rumors that he was a madman, but he was a real madman. Putting the fighters and the cerberus in a huge sword fight would be a disaster. Perhaps all the participants would lose their lives. Even the safety of the spectators was not guaranteed if the cerberus lost their mind and ran wild.

Max bit his lips. Someone had to stop this devil, but everyone was silent.

Yes, no one is crazy to stand up to the next Emperor. Then should I be the crazy one? Max opened his mouth with a feeling of biting a knife.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince. I’m sorry, but for the sake of the safety of the contestants, I’m afraid we’ll be unable to carry out what you’ve asked.”

“Why should it be safe?”

Elnos looked at Max with a surprised face. Max was a little embarrassed because there were no guilt or malice at all visible on his face. Elnos asked, fiddling with a glass of wine.

“They’re gambling with their life to become imperial knights, why should I care about that?”

“Your Highness the Crown Prince. The safety of the imperial people is more important than the efficient progress of the competition.”

“The imperial family has to refrain from doing what they want?”

“I would appreciate it if you could consider it a natural procedure for the safety of the imperial people rather than refraining…”

Max’s brown eyes darkened. Even if he was kicked out of the Vice Commander’s post, he had to say it. Those who dreamed of holding a sword were precious talents. Such a lunatic could not make the participants lose their lives.

Elnos stared at Max. He was said to be the Vice Commander of the Imperial Elite Knights, and his eyes were definitely lively. His warm brown eyes were full of conviction and will. He was a strong man whose convictions could not be defeated even if he was killed.

“Too bad…”

Elnos clicked his tongue. The Commanders were relieved to see the scene. They were worried about who was going to say the right thing because Hizen was not there, and they were glad that the stupid Vice Commander had stepped up.

But Max did not let go of the tension easily. There was no reason or warning when a crazy man was about to do crazy things. Elnos emptied half of his glass and said.

“Okay. Don’t look at the inconvenient people, including Sir Max.”

“…What?”

“Go ahead with what I said.”

Elnos smiled brazenly. Max’s neck, holding back his anger, was full of tendons. He could not believe he was losing his precious life because of this one crazy bastard.

Max squeezed his molars to hold back the swear words that were about to come out of his mouth. If the prince could not be persuaded, he had to use another method.

*

Leasis and Setchen escaped to a deserted place. They went next to a hard wall. Leasis bent down and grabbed Setchen by the shoulders.

“Setchen. Do you know how worried Grien-nim is right now?”

“Sorry…”

Setchen mumbled, avoiding her gaze. His shoulders were trembling as if he was surprised by what had happened earlier. She could not get angry anymore because she was heartbroken by the sight. She gave him a big hug.

“Let’s go back now.”

“…No.”

Setchen forced himself out of Leasis’ arms. He hid two swords behind his back.

Leasis was frustrated. She felt like she had to take him by force. She clenched her fists, and Setchen crept back.

Then, some fuss arose behind her. As the buzz grew louder, Leasis turned her head. The participants were screaming.

What could it be? Leasis took Setchen’s hand and approached the entrance. The hosts were saying something with cold faces.

“The rules of the competition have changed, His Highness the Crown Prince…”

Did the rules change? Leasis squeezed through the gap. The hosts shouted out loud.

“Anyway! In exactly one day, the tournament will be held as a team competition, not an individual tournament!”

It did not matter whether it was a individual confrontation or not. She had to get out of here as soon as possible. Leasis hurriedly grabbed one of the hosts by the arm.

“I’d like to give up my participation.”

“No.”

“Then maybe my little brother…”

The host pulled out a sword and pointed it at Leasis. He spoke in a cold voice.

“Don’t look at a serious competition like it’s a joke.”

“He’s still a child. Please let my brother go.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Just once…”

Leasis had no choice but to stop talking. The sword aimed at her slightly cut her neck. Blood droplets that flowed out formed on the sword.

“If you say anything more, I’ll kill you for imperial blasphemy.”

Leasis clenched her fists. No matter how much she said, they would not listen. Then should she use force?

Leasis swallowed dry saliva. The two men in front of her seemed to be able to handle enough. She and the hosts stared at each other and created a tense atmosphere.

In that bloody atmosphere, someone approached with a smile. It was the green-haired boy.

“Yes, good Hyung-nim. It’s better to die fighting than to die for imperial blasphemy.”

It was not his business! Leasis forgot to argue and the green-haired boy stared at her. He patted her on the shoulder.

“Let’s make good memories together with your younger brother.”

“Isn’t that too much? What do you mean, good memories?”

“Huh? You don’t want to?”

As the two quarreled, the sword aimed at Leasis was pulled back. The hosts glanced at them and left the gladiator arena.

Thud.

The sound of the iron door closing rang. As the hosts’ footsteps moved away, participants were agitated. Her ears hurt with all the complaints about the unannounced changed rules, mixed with shouts of courage.

Setchen held Leasis’ hand tightly. She dropped her gaze, and Setchen smiled brightly. This young master did not even know the meaning of death or injury.

“Hyung, don’t worry. I’ll protect you.”

“…Setchen.”

What should she do with him? Leasis was about to cry. She sighed and headed to the corner, holding Setchen’s hand. However, the two swords in his hands were strange. They were too big for a child to use, and it was hard to get this kind of swords in a regular blacksmith’s shop.

“Where did you get them?”

“They’re my swordsmanship teacher’s…”

His blurred words felt somewhat uneasy. When Leasis glanced at him, Sethen smiled awkwardly.

“I bought them from my teacher.”

“You bought them?”

They looked expensive at a glance. They looked like famous swords made by the legendary blacksmith, Wolfgang, and the tip of the swords had a mysterious curve. No matter how much pocket money he saved up, he would not be able to afford them. After her continuous questions, Leasis remained silent. Setchen was whispering like an excuse because he knew how scary she was when she was angry.

“Well, that’s… I decided to pay back 20 times if I become an knight later.”

“Sigh…”

“T-that’s… Whatever I do, I can give them back! He said that I can have them for only a tenth of the original price if I rent them.”

Even a tenth of it would be well over 30 gold. Leasis blamed the swordsmanship teacher for not knowing his place. What else was that teacher doing? Scamming a rich boy who did not know much about the world.

Setchen looked at her face. He acted cute, saying he would lend Leasis a sword.

“But why did you bring two?”

“Well, I wanted to copy the Count-nim.”

“Count Dratius-nim?”

“Yes. He uses two swords. Before I came here, I learned a little bit of double swordsmanship from my teacher.”

Setchen’s eyes were full of passion. She could not say anything more because she understood his mind more than anyone else in the world. Instead, she stretched Setchen’s cheek.

“Promise me. Don’t ever get away from me.”

“Ahhhh… it hurts. I got it. Okay, let me go.”

“Whoa. You still seem to be on good terms.”

The green-haired boy approached them and laughed. Setchen thanked him for what happened earlier, but Leasis could not say anything.

She took a deep breath. She had not felt this boy coming. It was because he had not made any sound, not even footsteps. Just like Veryoros, the legendary thief.

Leasis observed him carefully. His speech and behavior were a little sloppy, but he seemed like a talented person. He had a sword tied to his waist, and its handle was very worn out.

The green-haired boy yawned and did some gymnastics. His postures of stretching were also unusual. It was the first time she saw such gymnastics, stretching out to the sky.

But the small jewelry earring on his left ear was pretty. Our Count-nim would look cooler if he had something like that. As Leasis was looking closely, the boy tilted his head.

“Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Oh… I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. Hmm. Were you looking because you found my gymnastics amazing?”

Leasis affirmed, because she could not think of any other excuses. The boy said that he knew it.

“But there’s no way the people here would know about it. Do you want me to teach you?”

The people here? His accent and pronunciation were strange, and he seemed to come from a different place. Still, he said he was quite active in teaching gymnastics, and although he was playful, he seemed to have a good personality.

Leasis became more curious about him. She knew it was not good to talk too much, but she wanted to know about him. She asked with a low voice.

“Where are you from?”

The green-haired boy lowered his hand, which was reaching for the ceiling. He gently approached her and lifted his tiptoes. Then he whispered like a secret.

“Utran.”

Utran. The word made Leasis’ eyes bigger. It was an enemy country that competed against the Kessen Empire. A country where the war never ended until Prince Elnos was taken hostage.

But she could not believe people of the Utran Empire were participating in the Harknon gladiator tournament. It would not have been easy. The boy held her shoulder lightly when Leasis lost her words in surprise.

“I’m just like you. I’m here for my little brother.”

“Is your brother also in the competition?”

“No. I just lost my bet with him.”

He seemed happy to say he had lost. He said he usually liked fun bets, and that his younger brother was always the one losing. Then he winked at her, asking to keep the secret.

Leasis nodded slightly. The boy patted her on the shoulder. Leasis was a little relaxed thanks to him. He seemed like a unique but good person. The boy looked at her and Setchen and asked.

“My name is Blix. What about you?”

“My name is… Hellhard. And this is Setchen.”

Leasis hesitated, and lied. She was a little sorry, but could not help it. Surprised, Setchen looked up at her, who was lying. She patted him on the head. It was slower than usual, with a stronger touch.

‘Stay still.’

Under the silent pressure, Setchen nodded. Blix looked at the two people and said affectionately.

“Nice to meet you.”