Chapter 20
Chapter 20
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Birthday Party (6)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"How did the sparring match turn out?"
Leah asked, furrowing her brow.
"It's still too smoky to see clearly."
The other escorts looked equally baffled.
All they could make out through the hazy view was...
Just the silhouettes of three figures.
Only the two knights facing off up close could recognize my face.
"You... you're that arrogant punk from earlier!"
Batsu flicked away the sheath with a strike of his spear.
He confirmed my face and twisted his expression in fury.
"What's this? You know him?"
Allen scowled, irritation clear in his furrowed brows.
I picked up one of Allen's fallen scabbards from the ground.
I raised it into the air and focused my mana into it.
The dust that had billowed up earlier when Batsu swung his spear down at the floor.
Recalling that, I swung the scabbard down with all my strength.
―――.
Soon, a cloud of mana-infused white smoke surged upward.
The smoke formed a curtain, completely separating the stage from the VIP seats.
Thanks to that, the guests could no longer see us.
"As you can see, I'm a Capital Defense Knight."
The escorts stared at me with stunned expressions.
Looks like they already knew I was from the Capital Guard.
Batsu soon snorted derisively.
He had been quite enraged by Allen's provocations, but now he turned to me with a serious warning.
"Don't butt in, rookie. You think being a defense knight lets you meddle in Imperial affairs?"
He had a point.
Any knight hungry for promotion couldn't afford to upset the royals.
But...
Someone like me, with no attachment to ranks, was different.
"It's allowed by the rules. Your fight nearly got the VIPs hurt."
A reprimand from the Capital Guard would be more hassle than a blocked promotion path.
"So let's end this nicely for everyone? If I can't mediate, I'll get disciplined too."
I explained my position as earnestly as I could.
But far from being persuaded, they scowled even harder.
"A Capital Defense Knight?"
Especially the rascal Allen showed no intention of cooperating.
"Ah—don't tell me. You're the one the Second Imperial Princess tried to recruit as her captain?"
"That's why you were so cocky at the entrance."
I didn't react much to their words.
My goal was simply to avoid a Capital Guard reprimand.
"I'll apologize for what happened at the entrance. So let's call it here."
I just planned to defuse the spar and be done.
But...
Allen's temperament was even worse than I'd thought.
"What if we don't want to?"
He shoved my chest hard.
Then he pressed his blade to my throat.
"Will our esteemed 'Knight Captain' step in personally to stop us?"
His eyes twitched beneath them.
As expected of a rascal... tough to handle.
No wonder he'd gotten Batsu so riled up.
I glanced toward the Imperial seats while pondering how to deal with them.
Lydia, who had risen at the intrusion and come down to the railing.
Irina, clasping her hands tightly with a tense expression as she stared at the smoke curtain.
Everyone was worried about their own escorts.
"..."
I turned back to the rascal and Batsu.
Compared to the princesses, they were still intent only on tearing into each other.
"Allen, do you plan to stop only when one of you falls?"
I aimed the scabbard at the two knights.
The rascal stared fixedly at the scabbard.
"Of course. That's the only way I'll feel any better."
Soon, he glared at me with beast-like eyes.
He pointed his sharp twin blades at my throat.
"So first, I'll teach you a lesson, you arrogant punk!"
He charged at me with blinding speed.
I watched Allen's rushing form carefully.
A simple strike aimed at my throat.
I twisted my body to dodge it lightly.
Then I whipped the scabbard into his waist.
Allen, whose balance crumbled.
He staggered about in an unsightly manner.
But he didn't go down easily.
Instead, as he fell, he targeted my arm.
"You idiot, you think you can block a sword with your arm?"
The timing where I couldn't dodge while countering.
He shouted triumphantly, convinced of victory.
"I'll slice you both at once...!"
But the rascal couldn't cut my arm.
Not a drop of blood—just blue mana sparked on impact.
"...!"
After sparring with Richard.
I'd grown quite accustomed to this body from the past.
The endless hoeing and shoveling in the fields.
I'd trained my body to its limits through that labor.
Thanks to that, I deflected his sword purely with arm strength.
Then I grabbed his wrist and channeled my mana into him.
"Wha... what is this?!"
My mana began tangling with Allen's in his arm.
Soon, he lost control of it entirely.
He yanked his body back in a panic.
He hurriedly focused to sort out his mana.
But his mana had long since turned muddy like silted water.
"You bastard, what the hell did you do...?"
As his mana refused to gather, his eyes darted like a frightened animal.
"A knight using dirty tricks like a coward...!"
"If it's a technique you don't know, does that make it all cowardly?"
I impassively raised the scabbard.
Then I smashed it into his head like cracking a watermelon.
Thwack—!!
With that sound, red blood burst from Allen's nose.
He collapsed onto the stage with a single groan.
'He won't be getting up for a while.'
Catching one rascal already settled my nerves.
A mad dog needs the stick, after all.
But it wasn't over yet.
While confirming he'd passed out.
A massive shadow loomed behind me.
"Don't get distracted!"
The spear-wielding knight.
He slammed the stage floor viciously.
But it was all power, no speed—a sluggish move.
A guy trained only in brute strength couldn't keep up with me.
"A lowly commoner knight dares interfere in our spar?"
He spun his spear relentlessly, pressing me.
It was so fast that even the smoke curtain I'd created began to waver.
"Today, I'll straighten out your attitude!"
I charged straight into his whirling spear.
I slotted the scabbard precisely onto his moving spear blade.
He strained to pull it free.
But the spear tip I gripped didn't even twitch.
To think this skill was hailed as imperial genius.
He'd fall in seconds against the crown prince's knights.
"If anyone's attitude needs fixing, it's yours."
At my firm words, Batsu's dark skin flushed red.
Unable to shake free despite all his effort, he abandoned the spear again.
Just like with Allen.
Just like in five years, against the crown prince's knight.
He lunged at me in a surprise attack.
That instant.
I yanked the scabbard free from the spear.
And struck his vital points, just as the crown prince had done.
Left knee.
Right hip.
I crushed every mana-flowing nerve.
"Grraaah...!!"
His massive charging legs twisted.
Batsu collapsed to his knees.
"M-my... legs...!!"
His face paled at the unfamiliar pain.
His legs swelled like they'd been stung by a hornet.
I approached Batsu, who clutched his legs.
I picked up his spear and stabbed it into the ground beside him.
"You filthy bastard..."
He glared at me murderously.
But his legs wouldn't even twitch.
Just like back then, when he was crippled.
'That about settles it.'
I'd used violence, but I stopped the spar.
Satisfied with the outcome, I started to leave.
Then a ragged breath from behind halted my steps.
"Haa..."
The rascal, Allen.
He'd purged the mana I'd injected and risen again.
"You thought some dirty spell could take me down?"
He raised his sword.
A vivid blue sword aura.
Darker and more intense than at the start of the spar.
At that sight, I curled my lip.
He'd tempered himself filtering out my mana, huh.
'Not just famous for his rage, after all.'
Overflowing tenacity.
Exceptional talent.
It reminded me of my younger self, craving success.
Now I understood a bit why Irina had picked him.
And it confirmed my certainty.
To subdue a tenacious bastard like this, I needed to change tactics.
'I'll just destroy the stage.'
No stage, no spar—and no risk to the VIPs.
I picked up Allen's sword from the floor.
Raised it skyward, focusing my mind.
Soon, my blue mana enveloped the blade.
Allen stared blankly at the light.
The pure blue hue began shifting colors.
He dropped the sword he'd barely held, limply to the floor.
He could only gape at the radiant golden mana.
"Sword Aura..."
He looked up at me in disbelief.
A rookie Capital Defense Knight like me had used captain-level technique.
"How can a mere Capital Guard trash...!"
To such an Allen, I replied flatly.
"Tell me about it. Why'd I pick Capital Guard and go through all this trouble."
I raised the golden-infused sword toward the sky.
Then swung it down at him with full force.
"So settle down and stay quiet."
Boom――!!
The compressed golden sword aura smashed the stage.
The pristine floor began crumbling away.
Enough to make the next spar the First Imperial Princess prepared impossible.
"So I don't have to step in again."
At that sight, the two princesses' escorts went pale.
Wondering if they could handle this mess.
"You... you think you can pull this in the palace and live?"
A surprisingly apt question from a rascal.
"It's fine."
I grinned back.
"I'll pin it all on you guys."