Chapter 5
Chapter 5
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: Frosty Gaze
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Silence.
For a moment, he wondered if he'd misheard.
'Draw your sword?'
Alberto, the knight captain, grew icy cold.
The crown prince had holed up in the palace for over half a year.
Rumors swirled that his mania had worsened, forcing him into seclusion.
This incident had amplified calls within the palace to reconsider his investiture as crown prince.
It was only natural.
If not for the late empress, if not for the emperor's true love for her, that mad crown prince would have lost his head on the guillotine, let alone been named heir.
A talentless incompetent.
He lacked even a single virtue befitting a ruler.
If the crown prince ever ruled the empire, it was certain to fall.
Even the thirty members of the 'Imperial Dragon Knight Order'—personally appointed by the emperor to serve him—had dwindled to a mere three.
If even his direct knights had abandoned him in disappointment over his lack of qualities, what more was there to say about his abilities?
'He's been spoiled rotten.'
Alberto drew in a deep breath.
A body ravaged by drugs, gaunt and skeletal.
He looked too frail to even swing a sword properly.
Incompetent crown prince or not, he was still the crown prince.
Push too hard, and he'd have no choice but to yield, so the prince thought himself truly strong.
Otherwise, what sane man would point a sword at a knight?
'I'll humor him a bit.'
No matter that Alberto was captain of the Golden Knight Order—this was the imperial palace.
Eyes were watching, so he needed to play along appropriately.
"......Very well. But I won't attack."
"Because I am the crown prince?"
"Yes. And I won't move a single step until Your Highness's 'swordsmanship demonstration' is over."
Not a spar, but a swordsmanship demonstration.
He meant to simply block and watch the crown prince's little dance.
Revenge for being treated like clowns.
"Will you stake your knight's honor on that promise?"
The least honorable man invoking a knight's honor.
He barely suppressed a laugh.
"I will."
What safer bet was there?
Look at that sloppy stance.
Not even proper form—just holding the sword by brute force.
He seemed utterly clueless about swordsmanship.
'Not even the basics. He doesn't come close to the 3rd Prince's toes.'
In contrast, the 3rd Prince he served was a genius among geniuses—save for his youth.
At just eight years old, he'd bested knight candidates.
Inheriting the imperial blood thickly, he'd already reached the 2nd circle in magic—with the rare 'light' affinity, possessed by only one in ten thousand.
'Worse than the rumors.'
He'd clap along mildly and withdraw.
That was his thought—until.
Whoosh.
An overhead chop from above.
He could see it. That sluggish sword—even a child could block it.
He raised his sword to parry, but the crown prince's blade slipped away like water.
Couldn't even grip it properly?
Thud!
Suddenly, Alberto was shoved back.
An unexpected body slam.
Exactly two steps.
"You moved."
Alberto's face flushed red.
"Didn't you say swordsmanship spar?"
"I said draw your sword. Never said fight with them."
"This violates knightly conduct......"
"Do I look like a knight to you?"
Knightly conduct was etiquette and courtesy.
A moral code even non-knights should uphold.
Like the unspoken rule in sword duels: swords only.
Crown Prince Reinhardt. No matter how he thought about it, he lacked imperial qualities.
He needed a lesson in true knighthood.
Alberto's face mottled with rage as he spoke.
"......Draw your sword."
"Insisting on a proper sword duel? How knightly of you."
Deliberately mocking, he slowly picked up the fallen sword with exaggerated slowness.
That arrogance made it hard to contain his fury.
But carelessness was a mistake made once.
The duel began soon after.
The crown prince attacked; Alberto stubbornly defended.
Clang!
Horizontal slash. Blocked.
The next came at an angle. Deflected.
Blocking wasn't hard.
But the prejudice that 'the crown prince knows nothing of swords' was shattering moment by moment.
Relentlessly targeting vitals.
Strikes that would kill if allowed through.
In earnest.
'Not imperial swordsmanship.'
No kingdom taught such bloodthirsty strikes—not even the empire.
If such swordsmanship existed, it was...
'Mercenary. Mercenary swordsmanship.'
Clearly the crude style low-class mercenaries learned.
Where did he learn it?
No mercenaries had entered the palace.
Let alone ones who could contact the crown prince.
And the bigger issue: the crown prince's sword was growing faster, more precise.
'It's changed.'
His aura.
His eyes.
A lion stalking prey. The face of a sovereign crushing foes without emotion.
"Hup......!"
C caught in the atmosphere, Alberto swung without thinking.
Toward the approaching crown prince.
Forgetting his purpose of teaching knighthood.
Clang!
The clashing swords—one flew.
Whose?
"C-Captain......!"
The knights cried out in shock.
A thin line of blood appeared on the crown prince's face.
No matter how unqualified, this was the palace.
Injuring the crown prince's face warranted execution.
But Alberto's mind wasn't sound.
'My sword......'
It had flown from his hand, landing in the flowerbed's center.
Impossible.
He had superior physique and sword knowledge.
Why did he lose?
No—why did he attack?
That fleeting predator's face.
Hallucination or real? He couldn't tell.
"You didn't keep your word—not on not moving a step, not on only defending. Even dropped your sword?"
A curled lip.
Mocking him.
But Alberto had no ground to speak—two mouths wouldn't help.
As the prince said, he'd broken every promise.
He'd dropped his sword against a novice-like foe.
Humiliation upon humiliation.
And he'd even scratched the prince's face.
Humoring an unqualified crown prince was one thing; actual injury was worlds apart.
In the palace, no less.
Dismissal would be the least—his life might hang by a thread, depending on the prince's whim.
Grind!
"......Forgive me, Your Highness."
In the end, Alberto knelt of his own accord.
***
What to do?
In the past, I'd have killed him in rage.
But my mind now was astonishingly calm.
'My body feels light.'
Not just a feeling.
[Nano Machine Zero]'s healing had restored my health.
Even a ceremonial order handpicked for the 3rd Prince and Empress Josephine—knights were knights.
I'd triumphed over one while still recovering.
'Good thing I studied the Mercenary King's swordsmanship.'
Frail as I was, my other senses had sharpened.
Especially my eyes.
With these exceptionally keen eyes, I'd watched countless battlefields.
Including famed swordsmen—even Sword Masters and the Mercenary King.
Today's etiquette-heavy swordsmanship couldn't match the Mercenary King Karbal's battle-honed style.
No matter the disdain, on the battlefield, it was the formless mercenary blades that prevailed over stuffy knightly ones.
And moreover.
'The world slowed for a moment.'
Something beyond just sharp eyes.
Thanks to it, I'd overwhelmed Alberto briefly.
That thrill, that excitement, lingered.
[Instantaneous simultaneous brain region activation: 12.2%]
[Brain activation functions have expanded.]
Brain activation functions?
It had mentioned brain activation when I first awoke.
What was it, and why expanded?
As if sensing my curiosity, [Nano Machine] continued.
[Ordinary humans use only 10% of their brains. But [Nano Machine Zero] was developed to expand and utilize brain functions.]
[Expanded brain functions enhance self-healing, break physical limits, and grant ultimate immunity to radiation and all contaminants.]
So that's why I brimmed with vitality beyond the lightness.
A sudden curiosity struck.
If 12.2% instantaneous activation yielded this, what about more?
Over 20%, over 30%—what worlds awaited?
'No explanation for the time-slowing phenomenon.'
But [Nano Machine] offered none for what I'd just experienced.
Whether overlooked or unknown even to it, I'd learn in time.
"Rise."
More importantly, I had to decide Alberto's fate.
"B-But......"
Alberto sweated profusely.
Of course, I couldn't just let him go.
I wasn't one to take beatings lying down, mania or not.
Besides, with the 3rd Prince and Empress Josephine watching.
I couldn't reveal my mania fully cured.
I knelt to meet Alberto's eyes.
"Hm, fine. If your conscience troubles you, I'll mete out punishment."
Terror flashed in Alberto's eyes.
The mad crown prince. He probably thought death imminent.
And I still had to pretend 'madness' moderately.
"Decide for yourself. What punishment suits a knight who lost his honor?"
"Th-That......"
Choose his own punishment?
Impossible.
Too light, and it'd be deemed insufficient; too harsh, overly so.
Alberto bit his lip.
Was this really the old incompetent crown prince? Doubt gnawed.
Especially those eyes. Not the gaze of a mere madman.
Battle-hardened veteran eyes. But a crown prince who'd never left the palace? Unlikely.
Must be an illusion.
"Everything about you is frustrating."
Sighing, I drew my sword.
This empire, bloated on peace, frustrated even me.
A halfwit knight captain who didn't grasp consequences of his actions—one of the imperial orders' leaders.
Crunch!
"Guh......!"
I stabbed down, severing his right pinky.
Alberto grimaced in pain but stifled his groan.
"Take it."
I handed him the dripping finger; he clenched his teeth and stood.
Then bowed.
"Th-Thank you......"
"Get out."
Alberto, clutching the severed finger, left with his knights.
The show was over.
Tsking and shaking my head, I turned—
"......"
The Versailles countess's daughter.
Isabella stared with eyes colder than frost.
A voice whispered in my ear.
—Even in death, I'll curse you, Reinhardt.
[Frosty Gaze] End