Chapter 7
Chapter 7
Since you don’t seem to want anything, I will grant you an additional reward of ten thousand gold, added on top of your salary as a bonus.”
The Emperor casually decided to reward me with an absurd amount of money, as if it were nothing.
Ten thousand gold…
“Thank you very much, Your Majesty…”
“Think nothing of it.”
With that, the meeting in the Emperor’s office came to an end, and I left.
‘Ten thousand gold… isn’t that like ten years of my salary?’
As an imperial knight, I knew my monthly pay was roughly around 80 to 90 gold.
Even factoring in my mercenary work in the past, I had never once handled this much money at one time.
‘This feels unreal…’
Still, I wasn’t going to refuse it.
With that amount, my family could live comfortably for life.
‘Come to think of it, my sister said she wanted to enter the academy.’
With this money, I could cover her tuition without burdening my parents.
Thinking about how to use the reward, I walked toward Yuria Rosehill’s palace.
Then—
Tap.
My shoulder was bumped.
I had already sensed him and tried to avoid it, but the man deliberately leaned into me.
It was clearly intentional.
“Watch where you’re going.”
He even had the nerve to act like the victim.
‘That badge… Second Empress faction.’
“Are you not going to apologize, junior?”
A rough-looking man smirked at me.
Typical “birds of a feather” type.
“I don’t see why I should apologize, senior.”
“What did you just say?”
“I tried to avoid you. You’re the one who deliberately bumped into me.”
“Deliberately? You’ve got some nerve, brat.”
“Then let’s settle it simply. A spar. If I lose, I’ll apologize properly. But if you lose, you apologize for bumping into me and explain why you did it.”
“You little—!”
“Ahaha~ this junior is funny.”
Another imperial knight approached during the argument.
“Sir Justin?”
‘Justin?’
That name…
I had seen it in the original story.
Justin Calbrium—the male protagonist.
“Are you Justin Calbrium, senior?”
“Yeah. That’s me.”
It was indeed him.
The second son of the Calbrium Marquess family, one of the major southern noble houses.
I knew he was an imperial knight, but I didn’t expect to meet him like this.
“So what’s going on here, Sir Orgue?”
Justin smiled—but his eyes did not.
He looked like he already understood everything.
“He bumped into me and refused to apologize. Then he suggested a spar like it’s nothing, so I got angry…”
“You’re lying, aren’t you, Sir Orgue?”
“What…?”
“I’m stationed here. I patrol this area regularly. Do you think I wouldn’t know what happened?”
Grip.
Justin grabbed Orgue’s collar.
“Don’t try anything funny. The incident with the Third Prince isn’t this junior’s fault, right? He simply did his duty.”
“Ugh…”
“Sir Justin, I’m fine.”
“…Junior Damien, people say you’re very easygoing, don’t they?”
He released Orgue and walked over to me with a smile.
“I’ve heard that sometimes.”
“Then Sir Orgue is lucky. He gets off easy thanks to a junior like you.”
Then—
He casually draped an arm over Orgue’s shoulder.
“…But since Junior Damien was wronged, a spar should still happen, right? The condition is simple: Sir Orgue must properly apologize. Agreed?”
“Th-That…”
“I’ve noticed morale between knights has been slipping lately. This is perfect timing.”
I didn’t feel even a shred of sympathy for Orgue.
He brought this on himself.
“I’ll accept the spar,” I said.
“If I lose, I don’t need an apology. Let’s just forget it ever happened.”
Justin blinked.
“Are you sure? I wasn’t planning to give you any penalty conditions if you lost.”
“Fairness matters. Otherwise, people will say I’m hiding behind you, senior.”
“Fair point.”
He laughed.
“Alright. Six o’clock. Training hall inside the barracks.”
Later that evening
“Wow, you brought Princess Yuria and Lady Cecilia too?”
“Things just turned out that way.”
Yuria Rosehill had insisted on coming after hearing about the duel, and Cecilia Silvestra came as her escort.
Justin scratched his head.
“I didn’t think word would reach the princess…”
“The source of the rumor is…”
“My batch and I.”
Imperial knights were not only selected from academy top students.
Sometimes, promising individuals were recruited in small numbers—anywhere from two to ten at a time.
Justin’s “batch” referred to those who entered with him.
“Sorry about this, junior. I’ll buy you a meal later…”
“It’s fine, senior. You should be worrying about Sir Orgue instead.”
I had nothing to lose.
But Orgue did.
He was a second-year knight—losing to a new recruit would be disastrous for his reputation.
Not to mention he was likely acting under the Second Empress faction.
Which meant failure would cost him dearly.
‘Not my problem.’
Soon, we stood on the sparring platform.
“No lethal strikes, no aura use. Pick a wooden sword.”
I grabbed one similar in weight to my usual blade.
Orgue chose a heavy wooden greatsword.
“Begin~”
Justin stepped back.
Silence.
I moved first.
A simple thrust toward what looked like an opening in his side.
Thud.
“...Huh?”
“Eh…?”
He collapsed instantly.
One hit.
Just like that.
‘Are you insane, human?’
Too weak.
Far too weak.
Was this really an imperial knight?
I looked around.
“What? He’s already down?”
“When did Damien even move?”
Their reactions only confused me more.
Then—
“He’s quite skilled,” someone said.
“Yeah. He might rank pretty high in the knight order.”
At least some of them understood what had happened.
“Winner: Junior Damien.”
Justin clapped lightly.
“He took down assassins earlier, and now this? Not bad at all.”
Then he smiled.
“Alright, spar is over!”