"Look! That's Princess Onean! The one on the white horse!"

"Wait, isn't that Master Piro? Why is he back? Hasn't he been staying in Fort Glans all this time?"

"I didn't expect to see him here, either. Then again, Prince Lazaar came back as well, so I'm not surprised that Master Piro is back."

"Look at the princess's beauty and poise! I don't think you'll find anyone able to match her in the entire kingdom."

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that. I've heard that Prince Lazaar's daughter is no less of a beauty than the princess."

"That's bullshit! No matter how you think about it, the princess is the kingdom's number one beauty! Who's with me on this one?"

"I fully agree! However, I heard that the princess is back this time to participate in the Pillow Sword Tournament. I also heard that Prince Lazaar's daughter is also quite a powerful magician herself. It'll be a really interesting affair if the two of them go up against each other during the tournament."

"I don't think it'll be much of a contest at all. The princess has been studying under Master Piro for many years. There's no way she would be beaten by Prince Lazaar's daughter."

"You don't know anything! I heard that Prince Lazaar's daughter is being taught by Mistress Faye. She's no lesser a magician than Master Piro."

"I heard that Mistress Faye once managed to kill an Azure Scale Dragon on her own in the Terarody Mountain Ranges!"

"Mistress Faye may be powerful, but she's still a junior compared with Master Piro. If you think about it that way, the princess should still be superior..."

Everyone was locked in a heated argument over who was more beautiful and who was more powerful between Princess Onean and Lana.

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As the princess's carriage disappeared into the distance, all of the officials and nobles of the welcoming party began to depart.

"You know, that Master Piro really did look quite old," Erwin said as a sly grin appeared on his face.

"I didn't think that Master Piro would return to the capital with Princess Onean," Larwood mused with a contemplative expression.

"By the way, how are your preparations for the Pillow Sword Tournament coming along?" Larwood asked as he turned to Erwin.

"How are your preparations going?" Erwin's brain was completely fried from thinking about the laws of space and time the past few days, and he didn't want to think about anything, so he simply repeated Larwood's question and directed it back at him.

"What preparations can I possibly make? I'm just there for a participation award," Larwood replied with a wry smile.

"Has the list for the matchups been released yet?" Kaiba asked as he turned to the two of them.

"It should be released soon. Hopefully, the two of you get some easy matchups," Chase said with a smile. "Once the list is released, the odds for the matchups should also be released soon. I'm gonna place a few bets and make a killing out of the tournament!"

"That sounds like a good idea," Kaiba chuckled.

"What you're saying is that you'll be betting all your money against Erwin and me, right?" Larwood asked, and Chase immediately burst into laughter upon hearing this.

"That's not necessarily true. Maybe you'll be able to progress through a round or two. It all depends on the odds," Chase explained.

Larwood nodded in response with a smile, openly accepting Chase's mockery, and Erwin was also quite amused by his greedy friends.

Just as they were conversing with one another, a gorgeous figure made their way toward them in an elegant manner.

"Erwin!" A seductive voice rang out, accompanied by an instant-release lightning paralysis spell that was aimed directly at Erwin's waist.

Erwin immediately swung around before conjuring up a magic shield to protect himself. In the instant that the lightning spell struck the magic shield, the former was stopped cold in its tracks, but lightning was spreading in all directions from the resulting magic turbulence, trying to snake its way around the magic shield to attack Erwin.

Erwin's brows furrowed slightly as he increased his magic power output, and only then was he able to keep the lightning spell completely at bay.

He then looked up with a stunned expression at the person who had cast the instant-release spell.

"Are you insane?" Erwin asked with an appalled expression, while Larwood and the others eagerly looked on to see what happened next.

"I'm just making sure that you never drop your guard," Lana said with an innocent pout, following which a curious look appeared in her eyes as she asked, "How did that instant-release arcane spell feel?"

Erwin was rather taken aback to hear this. He wasn't aware that arcane spells could be instantly released. It seemed that Lana had already picked up some new tricks after reading "The Origins of Arcane Spells".

"Did you finish the book? If so, then hurry up and return it to me!" Erwin grumbled.

"I can't finish it that quickly," Lana said with a smile, and Erwin could clearly sense that she had no intention of returning the book to him.

Lana pouted as she said, "Come have some breakfast with me. I've been standing the entire morning, and I'm so hungry I can barely walk."

Erwin naturally wasn't going to refuse an invitation from such a stunning beauty, even though the beauty in question seemed more interested in his value as a guinea pig for her spells than his company.

However, Erwin wasn't the type of person to learn from past mistakes, and he had already forgotten about the few days he had spent in bed, recovering from his near-fatal injuries.

Erwin turned to look at his friends, only to discover that they had no intention of getting involved, and they all smiled and shook their heads, indicating that they had no interest in joining them. Of course, Lana had no intention of inviting Larwood and the others, either.

Thus, Erwin and Lana made their way toward the inner city to get some breakfast.

"He's not going to end up getting almost killed again just from having breakfast with her, is he?" Kaiba mused with a concerned expression as he watched the two of them slowly disappear into the distance.

"I don't think it'll be that serious, but there's definitely a chance that he'll cop a serious beating," Larwood chuckled.

The three of them exchanged a few glances, then burst into raucous laughter once again.

"I was looking at you just now, and you were staring at the princess like a mega pervert," Lana said in a disdainful voice. "Is she really that good-looking?"

"I think so, and her figure is quite nice as well," Erwin replied with a serious expression.

"I also think she's quite beautiful," Lana said with a smile as she released a bolt of paralyzing lightning at Erwin's waist.

Erwin immediately yelped with pain as the lightning struck him, and he hurriedly patted his own waist to snuff out the bolt of lightning.

"What happened to you? You need to be more careful," Lana said as she turned to him with a concerned look in her eyes.

Erwin glared at her and remained silent.

Lana was completely unfazed as she asked with a smile, "Let me ask you again: is the princess really that good-looking?"

"I don't know. I was blinded by the sun and I couldn't see anything," Erwin replied with a dark expression.

Lana was very amused to hear his response.

After entering the city, the two of them took a turn on Phoenix Street, making their way directly toward the eastern section of the outer city.

"What do you want to eat?" Erwin suddenly recalled that she had invited him for breakfast.

"Just follow me and you'll see. It's not like I'm going to sell you or anything," Lana replied with a roll of her eyes.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Erwin jeered. Having said that, Erwin was confident that he was more familiar with the city of Sarus than she was. After all, Prince Lazaar had been stationed in Burmen for many years already, so she had most likely grown up there and spent more time in Burmen than in Sarus.

Even though Sarus was the lavish capital city of the kingdom, the outer city was still quite a chaotic area. Aside from the streets inhabited by the common people, there were many dens where thieves, thugs, and pimps were gathered. Thus, if one were to accidentally take the wrong turn, they could end up dead.

Lana led Erwin through several chaotic streets and alleys, and Erwin was quite bewildered, wondering how she was so familiar with this area.

Occasionally, they would encounter some people along the paths in the alleys, all of whom were quite wary of Erwin and Lana as it was clear from their attire that they were nobles. The children playing on the streets were also quite curious to see them, and there were some drunkards standing on the eaves of nearby buildings, wolf-whistling at Lana as she passed by. Lana paid no heed to them as she continued walking along while facing directly forward, but a short while later, a string of dull thumps rang out, and the drunkards fell down onto the street from the second floor, having been struck by different types of instant-release spells. Erwin turned around to take a glance at them, upon which he discovered that the drunkards were lying on the street with smoke rising up from their bodies, and cold sweat began to bead up on his forehead. Thankfully for the drunkards, Lana had already held back. Otherwise, they would've been in far worse condition.

Erwin then took a moment to inspect his surroundings. They had passed through several winding alleys, and if it weren't for Lana's navigation, he would've truly been completely lost. Thinking back to what Lana had said earlier, he couldn't help but feel as if she really were going to sell him.

"You're such a little coward! Why are you so scared?" Lana turned to Erwin with an amused expression. "Are you seriously scared that I'll sell you?"

"I ain't scared, I'm just wondering how you're so familiar with this place," Erwin protested.

"Back when I was a child, I lived in this city for a while. Didn't you know that?" Lana asked.

Erwin shook his head in response. Even so, this still didn't make sense as there was no way that Lana would've lived in the outer city even if she had stayed in Sarus as a child.

"At the time, my father still wasn't a prince or a governor yet. He was only a legion commander, and we had bought a mansion in the inner city, but it was quite an old mansion that had to be renovated," Lana explained. "The renovations took several months to complete, and before we even had a chance to move in, my father was deployed to Burmen, and our entire family went with him."

The two of them finally returned to a main street, and Lana pointed at a courtyard on the side of the road as she said, "See that property there? That's where I used to live as a child."

Erwin took a look at the elegant courtyard, and he was quite surprised that such beautiful properties existed in the outer city.

"There's a breakfast shop on the corner of the street there, and my stomach growls whenever I think of it. Let's pick up the pace! If we get there too late, then their breakfast will all be sold out," Lana urged as she pointed into the distance, snapping Erwin out of his train of thought.