“Prince Baltian! Enough with your impertinence!” Winley shouted.

“Stay out of this, Princess Winley! This has to do with my honor as a knight!”

“If you were really finding your honor, you would understand the magnitude of your impertinence right now!”

At Winley’s retaliation, Prince Baltian clenched his jaw. Then, he shouted while vigorously shaking his head, “Dammit! Shut up!” After being severely humiliated, it seemed like he was going to stop at nothing.

Someone else who was initially enjoying the banquet agreed with Winley, finding this situation absurd and ridiculous. She decided to take this matter into her own hands. “I think Princess Winley is right.”

It was neither Winley, Davey, or Baris, who was walking towards them with anger, that interrupted the enraged Prince Baltian. Prince Baltian’s face turned pale at the girl’s elegant and pure voice. “Pri… Princess Illyna…”

“Prince Baltian de Boltis.”

“….”

“I will ask again. Do you think you have the right to find your honor?” Princess Illyna’s voice was elegant and beautiful, but as cold as the snowy wind of the north.

Davey, when glancing over at the trembling Baltian who was slowly backing away, saw a petite girl glaring at Baltian indifferently. The girl had waist-length blond hair, which was a brilliant honey-like color. Her beauty was blinding. She looked like a goddess or angel, but Davey could only feel a strangeness from her…

It was the Sword Lord Ares. Princess Illyna looked so similar to the hero who taught Davey about swordsmanship thousands of years ago.

“Ares?” Davey blurted out the name upon looking at Princess Illyna, who heard him and looked up in surprise. Davey strongly felt that he had caused trouble. ‘This damned mouth…’

* * *

The Sword Lord Ares was the creator of the destructive swordsmanship [Heavy Sword]. The attacks using his sword technique became the large mountain and the sea. However, his nickname in the Hall was different from these great names—The Elderly Lazybones.

He had the appearance of a young man, but because he was one of the older heroes in the Hall, he was frequently treated as an old man.

However, he was a man. He was quite pretty, but he definitely wasn’t a woman. In that sense, the girl in front of Davey resembled him but with subtle differences… It felt like Ares would look like this if he became a really beautiful woman.

With wide eyes, Princess Illyna asked, “What…did you just say?”

Davey felt strange as he saw Princess Illyna’s surprised expression, but quickly shook his head. “Never mind. I must have been mistaken.”

“….”

After exchanging strange glances with Davey, Princess Illyna retracted the suspicion in her eyes. She turned back to Prince Baltian with indifference. “I was watching. I will ask again, Prince Baltian.”

“Grunt.”

“Do you think you have the right to talk about honor right now?”

Because of Princess Illyna’s intervention, many people watched the situation while holding their breaths. Those who have gathered were mostly here as the promising representatives of each country.

“Not only did you treat a lady with impertinence, but you also mocked everyone here. And you tried to lay your hands on a lady who declined because she already had a partner.” Princess Illyna seemed to have observed the situation in detail.

Listening to Princess Illyna’s cold voice, Baltian turned pale and frowned. He was panicking, feeling greatly troubled. This was especially true since the princess had quite a great position in her kingdom.

It was somewhat true that everyone at the banquet had come as representatives of their country. However, the person who would probably cause the biggest headache out of everyone if they were rubbed the wrong way was the girl in front of Davey, Princess Illyna. The Pallan Empire was one of the three strongest empires in the continent, and she was the apple of the emperor’s eye. She was the daughter of someone who loved her so much that they supposedly cleared out an entire palace to build a garden just because she said so.

“Hmph. If you really were a knight of honor, I think it would be right for you to sincerely apologize to them.”

Everyone else started to join in. Some nodded, while others began to murmur their opinions. Mob mentality was a scary thing.

Baltian trembled with a red-hot face, as if he was going to run away at any minute. But Davey couldn’t just let him go like this. Once this opportunity was lost, that would be the end of it.

“I will accept the duel.”

“What did…” Winley looked up at Davey with surprise.

Princess Illyna also stared at Davey with a puzzled look, as he was making all her hard work go to waste. Well, she could think that, but Davey was quite firm in his decision. He asked again, “Prince Baltian. Did you say that you challenge me to a duel?”

“Th… That’s right!”

“I’ll accept it.”

“Big brother!”

“Brother!”

Horrified, Winley and Baris shouted at the same time. No wonder they were twins.

“Grunt… Gr… Great! If I win, apologize to me on your knees in front of everyone!”

“Hey Prince Baltian!” Furious, Baris grabbed Baltian by the collar while huffing. Baris shouted sharply with a murderous expression, “You are aware that your absurd actions can become a problem between countries, right?” He looked like he could plant the prince’s face into the ground at any moment if no one was watching.

“Ha… What is there to be afraid of if it is a fair duel? Ha! Right! I’ve heard it before… Prince Davey. God-given talent, but the half-cripple who can’t even hold a sword!”

“You!!!”

Davey stopped the furious Baris who raised his fist. “It’s fine, Baris.”

“Big brother!” As Davey brightly smiled and patted his head, Baris grit his teeth and lowered his head. “It hasn’t been long since you woke up…”

“It’s okay.” Davey looked at Prince Baltian while speaking calmly, “One must judge the weight of their words themselves.”

“Sure. It won’t happen, but if I lose, I will apologize on my knees in front of everyone!”

“Okay.”

At Davey’s response, Baltian’s insidious smile deepened. He probably thought that he could never lose. It was natural, since they were all boys and girls in their mid-teens. Everyone gathered here were skilled enough to be selected as the nation’s future leaders, since reaching the ‘Expert’ realm during early and mid-teenage years was difficult unless they were very talented. And Baltian was one of them too.

Davey turned his gaze while walking toward the center of the ball, spotting the worried looks on both his younger siblings. They looked like they wanted to stop him, and they didn’t understand why Davey was being obstinate.

The crowd also looked at Davey, some with curiosity and others with worry. Then, there was a single person staring at him with a cold expression that suggested she had different thoughts on the matter.

Prince Baltian, who confidently raised his wooden sword toward Davey, shouted, “Raise your sword! I will engrave the depth of swordsmanship here today!”

Davey also picked up a wooden sword and smiled with ease. “It’s been a while, this kind of thing.”

* * *

The banquet, which was held for the building of friendship and harmony, instantly turned into a battle. The crowd was mostly made up of young rising stars representing their countries, so there probably were some battles of pride among them. And for some reason, the nobility, who should be preventing conflict between countries, were keeping quiet and observing the situation.

‘They probably just want to avoid the trouble that might arise if they interfere.’

The Duchy of Felicity wasn’t really intervening either. They were just watching from afar, so everyone who came to enjoy the banquet was soon silently watching the battle.

“A master yields the first attack to the novice!” Prince Baltian shouted arrogantly toward Davey, who was swinging his sword to see if maybe there was an iron rod in it. Baltian had a wooden sword with a sturdy bastard sword design. He stood arrogantly and bobbed the end of his sword while pointing it at Davey.

Enraged by Baltian’s actions, Baris shouted, “That rude guy!”

There were many who looked strangely annoyed other than Baris, even though they were not showing it. Being impertinent, and being young and feisty, were completely different. Besides, they all knew just who was the rude and brazen one in this situation.

The one giving Prince Baltian the coldest expression possible was none other than the Imperial Princess Illyna, the apple of the Pallan Empire’s emperor’s eye. Glaring at Baltian with a strangely irritated face, she soon turned her gaze to Davey and shook her head, as if she couldn’t understand him.

After mumbling nonsense, Davey took a look at his thin wooden sword and looked at Baltian, who was a greenhorn in his eyes. “Really, I don’t know what to do with your kindness.”

Davey was yet to transform, but he had done some things during his recovery. ‘For someone who has just stepped foot in the ‘Expert’ realm to challenge me… I’m experienced in crushing assassins of intermediate and advanced levels…’

Normally, Davey would completely destroy his enemy so that he could never hold a sword again. However, Davey was still supposed to be a weak prince who had only left his sickbed less than a year ago. ‘Is there a good way… There is. Just one.’

“You’re not coming at me? Ha, as expected. It’s natural that you are scared.” As if he had already won, Baltian coldly sneered. “However, the duel has already begun! What are you doing? Come at me already!”

With Baltian’s demeaning shouts and ridiculing sneer, Davey was reminded that the relation between the Boltis Kingdom and the Rowane Kingdom was really quite bad.

“Well, how could I refuse such a considerate gesture?” There were many thoughts that went through Davey’s head, but he simply ignored them. There was one way to beat the opponent while completely hiding his skills, and still lead to his enemy having a meltdown.

Davey could faintly hear Winley’s worrying voice. “Brother…”

“Well then, I’ll go in.” With a mumble, Davey held up his hefty wooden sword before slowly advancing towards Baltian. One step at a time, he approached, then rushed forwards upon crossing a certain distance.

Whoosh!! With a heavy piercing sound, Davey pushed his wooden sword forward and rushed towards Baltian.

Baltian easily dodged Davey’s sword with just a light step backwards, as if he already predicted that. “Ohhh?”

Thud!! As the sword missed its target, it hit the ground. At the same time, it twisted Davey’s center of gravity and he wobbled.

“Stupi…”

Thwack!!

It was right then.