Chapter 61
Chapter 61
The atmosphere of the training ground rose once more.
Arthur’s words about fighting in earnest did not seem like empty bravado; from his sword, a chilling crimson aura poured out in thick streams.
He was merely using aura, yet it felt as though a completely different person was standing before me compared to just moments ago.
Wooooong-
I did not remain idle either.
As I tightened my grip on Excalibur, an auspicious light began to settle over it.
Originally, the color of my aura had been a deep blue like the sea, but under Excalibur’s influence, a pure white, milky aura surged forth.
Crimson and pure white in opposition.
In that razor-sharp clash, where each tried to dye the other in its own color, cracks spread across the training ground floor, which let out a groaning wail.
“Drake’s Hymn.”
Arthur laid his greatsword horizontally, and the aura layered over it swelled in size.
At the same time, faced with a technique that seemed like it belonged in volumes two or three, I broke into a cold sweat down my back while still tightening my grip on my sword.
‘If I block that wrong, it won’t end with just getting hurt.’
I never imagined he would use here the very technique that, in the original story, had shattered a demonic realm executive to pieces.
Seeing the surging crimson energy, it did not look like he planned to hold back at all, so I let out a small breath and tensed my entire body.
I took the opening stance of the swordsmanship I had grown most accustomed to.
At that, Arthur’s eyes shone brightly with interest.
The way the corners of his mouth thinned overlapped with the image of a mischievous brat playing a cruel prank, to the point that my own resolve almost felt laughable.
Paaaaat-!
The greatsword, engulfed in a torrent of deep red aura, swung down.
In the illusion that the world itself was being cleaved in two, I fiercely deflected it, like a single salmon swimming upstream against the sea.
Sword Saint Style Secret Art Star Cluster.
The sword that had once cut through the body of the demon Rammas unfolded in my grasp.
Trajectories of pure white light sliced through the air, illuminating the darkness, and blocked the destruction of a world that had been splitting apart.
Kooong-!
A violent shock traveled up through my sword.
I had blocked his downward strike head-on, just like at the start of the spar, but both of our faces were incomparably more serious now.
Giiiiiik-
Arthur’s eyes, staring back at me over our crossed blades, were covered in blazing flames.
That intense fighting spirit, flaring up with vivid clarity, was almost tiresome, yet it suited him so well that it felt like the best possible expression of the man called Arthur.
‘In that case.’
There was no way I could lose either.
When it came to the amount of mana, I had no intention of losing to someone at the same level.
As the Grand Duke of Britain, Arthur must have been well supplied with fine things, but I too had taken advantage of my position as an imperial prince to consume many elixirs over the years.
And that—
Wooooong-!
“……!”
The pure white aura enveloping Excalibur began to gradually take on a definite form.
Once aura surpassed a certain critical point, its form and nature changed.
That was an insight I had gained through several previous battles.
The sight of another sword layered over my blade looked very much like an aura blade, a technique considered the exclusive domain of sword masters.
‘Of course, it’s a knockoff.’
“Hk!”
Even so, not only Arthur but also the knights watching nearby let out startled cries.
Barely suppressing the twitch at the corner of my mouth brought on by a quiet sense of exhilaration, I pushed my sword forward even more.
Gik- giiiiiik-
The pure white aura blade began to cleave through the crimson aura.
This was a difference in concentration and density.
Of course, this alone would not be enough to defeat Arthur, but it should at least earn recognition of my skill.
“Hup!”
Perhaps sensing the danger, the muscles that had been resting on Arthur’s arms rippled in an instant.
At the same time, the tremendous brute force transmitted through our crossed swords made me gasp uselessly.
In terms of aura, I held the advantage, but when it came to sheer power exerted at full strength, Arthur was ahead.
That strange balance made my entire body scream, yet just as I was gritting my teeth to endure it, Arthur withdrew his sword first and stepped back.
“…….”
As I stayed on full alert, thinking this might be preparation for something else, he instead planted his greatsword into the floor and burst out in a hearty laugh.
“Indeed, impressive. You have skill worthy of being called the Sword Saint’s successor!”
Caught slightly off guard by the sudden change in attitude, I hesitated for a moment.
Arthur then strode up to me and extended his hand.
I reflexively took it, and his rough grip seized my hand and shook it vigorously up and down.
“Let’s end the sparring here and have a serious talk for a bit.”
We changed locations and returned once more to Arthur’s office.
When I sat in the seat opposite him at his gesture, the knights who had observed the spar lightly bowed their heads to me and stood at attention behind their master.
‘That’s cool.’
Would I ever be able to command knights like that myself? Under the title of imperial prince, I did have a knight order assigned to me as well.
But they were nothing more than deadweight even within the Imperial Palace—those pushed into sinecures due to low rank or lack of skill compared to other knights.
Naturally, there was no way they would be satisfied serving under me, a man rumored to be a scoundrel.
They must have been full of discontent.
The attitude of the three guys who had come to my room back when a brief commotion broke out over August was proof enough.
“Jealous?”
Noticing my gaze, Arthur spoke with a grin.
I felt slightly pricked at having my thoughts seen through, but I answered him with a calm smile of my own.
“Unfortunately, there aren’t many people around me that I can trust and rely on.”
“You build those things little by little.You’re still young, aren’t you?”
While sipping the tea prepared by the attendant, we exchanged light conversation.
The topics were mainly about life at the Academy, and about how Elysia had been doing lately.
There was nothing particularly special to say on that front.
Her Academy life was flawless beyond reproach.
“…By the way, about that talk of being the Sword Saint’s successor.”
When the atmosphere had mellowed just enough, I casually brought it up.
It was something I had been curious about since earlier.
Everyone present there could be considered close aides of the emperor.
With that in mind, I had thought rumors would not spread carelessly, yet the story had circulated faster than expected, which puzzled me.
Arthur replied as though it were nothing.
“This trip to the Empire happened because I received an invitation from the Sword Saint. Otherwise, I would have had no reason to go there.”
“…I see.”
Arthur and the Sword Saint’s relationship.
Since this was something even I hadn’t known, it felt a little fresh to hear.
That meant he must have heard about me from the Sword Saint.
“He was boasting that you’d become the youngest sword master.”
“I’m still very lacking.”
That was the truth.
Even though it felt like I was just about to grasp the clue to becoming a sword master, the path ahead was nothing but daunting.
In martial arts novels, you often see masters like Sword Saints casually toss out an insight and someone ascends just like that, so I asked whether he could help me.
The Sword Saint looked at me with an absurd expression and scolded me, saying that if that were the case, then every dog and cow would all become sword masters, so why would anyone ever despair.
‘That picky old man.’
Chuckling at my answer, he clasped his hands together and asked me while looking at me with sunken eyes.
“Are you aiming for the imperial throne?”
It was an exceedingly blunt question.
I hesitated slightly.
Arthur’s question was asking about my future course.
Becoming emperor.
Honestly, early in the story it wasn’t a direction I’d given much thought to, but now it had become quite an attractive card.
If I were to face trials while commanding countless strong individuals, I could overcome them much more easily.
However, if I did that, the original plot would be twisted out of shape.
Was there enough merit to proceed while ruining the future story I knew?
The Arthur of the original work was, like Delke, one of the very few people I could trust.
Above all, he valued loyalty and faith, and even when the protagonist became an enemy of the Empire and was hunted down, Arthur risked himself to extend a helping hand.
After a bit more time passed, I finally made my decision.
“…Soon, the Empire will split into four or five factions.”
At those words, a faint ripple passed over Arthur’s previously calm eyes.
He must not have expected an imperial prince to openly deny the Empire.
“If that happens, the current imperial family will lose its authority, and countless forces seeking to seize the throne will rise up all across the Empire.”
“And what are you implying?”
There was no need to deliberately step into the authority of an imperial family whose fall was already predetermined.
Once my Academy life ended, people within the Empire would begin to rebel, and they would receive support from other nations that desired the Empire’s fragmentation for their own greed, walking down a path of self-destruction.
In the original story, Carius too possessed nothing more than the hollow bloodline of legitimacy and was no different from the others, yet solely because he was the protagonist’s companion, he barely managed to ascend to the emperor’s seat.
That future was a predetermined fact unless there was a major turning point.
And so, I told him calmly.
“I have no intention of ascending the throne. At least, not right now.”
“I see.”
I ended my words with the nuance that I could change that decision at any time if necessary, and Arthur nodded as though he understood something.
He was clearly evaluating me favorably.
Part of that was likely due to the Sword Saint’s influence, but it wasn’t something that would harm me.
“You really have grown a lot.”
It was an unexpected remark.
But judging by his gaze, I could tell he wasn’t saying it to me.
“…Please take good care of my daughter.”
Regarding that, I nodded without hesitation.
Time flew by.
After Arthur returned, Elysia also had more breathing room, so we toured various attractions and enjoyed ourselves to our hearts’ content, without any regrets.
And three days before the Academy semester began, since it was time to return to the capital, we all let out reluctant sighs.
“Ah, I really want us all to hang out together like this again next vacation.”
Werner smacked his lips as though he truly regretted it.
At that, Leysias glanced at me cautiously and spoke.
“…In that case, it’d be fine to invite everyone to our Sheffield family next vacation.”
“That sounds like a good idea.”
At her words, Elysia nodded.
The territory of the Sheffield family, the heart of magicians, was also one of the most developed places within the Empire.
As everyone agreed and began looking forward to the next vacation, Leysias beamed brightly with a radiant smile.
Once all schedules were finished, everyone else except me returned to the capital first.
Alice grumbled about leaving me behind again, but when I said I would stop by the Imperial Palace briefly, she reluctantly nodded.
After finishing my farewells to Arthur and Elain, I too teleported to the Imperial Palace.
Arriving there amid the familiar déjà vu I had experienced countless times, I ignored the mages bowing their heads and headed straight for the Imperial Palace magic tower.
“It’s been a while, Your Highness. What brings you here again…?”
Aracen, whom I was seeing again after several weeks, greeted me with a pleased expression.
I offered him a light greeting and handed him a gift I had brought from Britain as I spoke.
“I wanted to deliver this, and there’s something I want to ask as well.”
“What might that be?”
“When using the Imperial Palace teleport gate, can a mage arbitrarily change the coordinates?”
“…That would constitute a grave crime.”
The teleport gates used in the Imperial Palace worked on a simple principle: mana was injected into an artifact with pre-input coordinates.
Therefore, unless a mage made a confusing mistake, the kind of error I described should never occur, he said.
“So that’s how it is.”
The destination hadn’t changed, and I had fallen from midair.
That meant it must have been deliberately manipulated with a clear purpose.
“…Did something happen?”
Aracen looked at me with an uneasy expression.
In response, I twisted the corner of my mouth and asked him to accompany me.
The Imperial Palace teleport gate.
As soon as I stepped back into it, the mages who had been waiting hurriedly bowed their heads.
“A chair.”
At my words, they hastily brought over a chair and set it down behind me.
I perched myself on it and drew the sword that had been hanging at my waist.
Clang-!
“……!”
The mages’ faces turned deathly pale in an instant.
Aracen too looked at me with a flustered expression.
“Y-Your Highness, what on earth is going on…?”
“I’ll give you ten minutes.”
“…Pardon?”
“I’ll give you ten minutes, so find the one who teleported me into the sky above the Harald Mountain Range in Britain territory, and bring him here.”
If you can’t bring him, you’ll die.