Chapter 302: IMPERIAL CAPITAL (1)

All my excitement for Inazuma disappeared when the update on my side went wrong. Everything lagged and loaded so slow. So it took me several days of uninstalling and reinstalling just to make it work properly now. I even had to uninstall programs and move files just to create memory space. I seriously don’t want to go through that ever again.

On another note, here’s a facepalm moment of mine. I previously corrected ‘institutional’ as ‘island’ in the last chapter, right? Turns out the word used there is actually an archaic word for ‘imperial capital.’ So it was actually “Imperial Capital Academy” since it was located in the ‘imperial capital.’ Ahahaha…

Terms used in this episode:

Folding screen – a Korean slang used to describe people who has no presence among a popular group of people, e.g. idol groups. Other similar terms are ‘air’, ‘invisible’, etc.

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EPISODE 292 – IMPERIAL CAPITAL (1)

The helmeted Sarah blinked with a stunned expression.

She couldn’t believe the sight in front of her.

‘Leon…lost?!’

Who is Leon?

Isn’t he a genius and one of the best prospects among the Royal Knights who are composed of talented people from all over the empire?

But Leon had lost.

It was just a spar and not a life-threatening battle, but he was still completely defeated.

Leon was obviously not invincible just because he was a genius.

There was no need to compare Leon to Knight Commander Galahad, the head of the Royal Knights and the pride of the empire, or the senior knights including the Vice Commander as he was still no match for them.

Because they were older and more experienced than Leon.

They were the best veterans among the Royal Knights.

So even if Leon lost to them, it was understandable.

His defeat would not be surprising.

But it was different now.

Leon, that unrivaled Leon, was defeated by a knight from the kingdom. And by a young man – no, a boy, who was six years younger than him!

“I-I lost.”

Leon said, having dropped his sword and fallen to the ground as he breathed heavily.

His expression was more of embarrassment than anger or resentment, perhaps because he was very shocked by the current situation.

And in front of Leon.

The boy was tense as his sword was still pointed at Leon, and he let out a long breath when Leon said that he lost. He slowly withdrew his sword and said with a slightly awkward smile.

“It was a good match.”

The boy.

Lucas Hræsvelgr.

Leon gritted his teeth at the words of the boy who had just turned 17 recently.

Because he painfully remembered again the fact that he had lost to this boy.

‘I was conceited.’

I thought that I had no rivals my age except for Maximilian.

No, can I really consider this boy, Lucas Hræsvelgr, as someone my age? Isn’t this boy six years younger than me?

“Ugh.”

Leon involuntarily groaned.

He didn’t have any injuries from the fight, but he felt like he had been mentally beaten.

He lost to an opponent younger than him.

Moreover, his opponent was a knight from the kingdom and not the empire.

He was a Royal Knight who protected the Imperial family, but lost to a knight who was not yet a proper member of any knight order.

Though he still had an excuse.

Lucas Hræsvelgr was the only son of Count Hræsvelgr, a Sword Master – no, one of the Ten Great Swordmasters in the kingdom, and had inherited his father’s swordsmanship.

“Ugh.”

No. That wasn’t an excuse. Leon himself didn’t have the blood of a Sword Master, but he was taught by Sir Galahad, the Absolute Knight and a Sword Master.

‘Don’t be disgraceful, Leon.’

He lost.

A defeat was a defeat.

So he had to accept it.

Moreover, these people would soon be helping them in their rescue operation to save the Imperial Family.

The stronger they were than himself, the better it would be.

“Fwooo…”

He tried to control his thoughts, but it wasn’t easy. Therefore, Leon’s expression stiffened.

His face turned red from shame and frustration, his breathing grew rough, and he felt dizzy from his uncontrollable thoughts.

Sarah’s surprise deepened when she saw such a Leon for the first time.

And having faced the knight from the empire, Lucas did his best to manage his facial expressions.

‘Don’t smile, don’t smile.’

It’s not polite.

It’s not nice.

Biltwein doesn’t jump from happiness when he won sparring matches.

But the corners of his lips kept trying to rise.

He tried to keep a solemn expression, but it was too hard to suppress his smile.

‘I won.’

I won.

I won.

I defeated the knight from the empire, the Royal Knight, the genius that First Sword had praised!

Lucas clenched his fists and firmed his legs to prevent himself from jumping in place.

Therefore, his body slightly trembled, but he couldn’t help it.

‘I’m strong.’

No, I’ve always been strong.

He was once called the north’s best prospect.

In fact, among his peers in the north, there was no one stronger than Lucas, or rather, he couldn’t find anyone on the same level as him.

Until Jude showed up.

‘My rival.’

Now it was embarrassing to say it out of his mouth.

Because Jude had become too strong.

Because Jude might be even stronger than Lucas’ father now.

He honestly found it to be hard.

It was very difficult for him.

He wasn’t referring to the fact that he kicked his blanket in the bed whenever he recalled saying that Jude was his long-aspired rival to Jude himself.

It was something much more essential than that.

Something so natural that was hard to suppress.

He was envious of Jude.

He had tried his best to not be envious of Jude.

Furthermore, Jude wasn’t just strong.

He was the disciple of Landius, a person Lucas admired.

Landius did not accept Lucas as a disciple no matter how much Lucas pleaded, but said that he would make Jude his disciple the moment he saw Jude.

That wasn’t just it.

Jude had Cordelia.

A pretty, kind, and talented fiancée!

‘They’re always flirting these days…’

Lucas was a man too.

He was now 17 years old, his teenage period when his curiosity about the opposite sex was at its peak.

And in front of such a guy, they were always flirting!

They tried to do it in secret, but frankly, it was too noticeable.

‘Me too, I want to do it too!’

I want to have a pretty fiancée too!

To do this and that! Ah!

‘N-no. Calm down. Calm down, Lucas.’

What’s important now isn’t that.

No, of course that’s something very important, but not now.

“Ahem, ahem.”

Lucas coughed and looked at Leon again.

Leon struggled to contain his frustration.

Lucas was not a quick-witted person, but he could tell at a glance that Leon wanted to win.

And that fact pleased Lucas again.

The genius of the empire was looking at Lucas and feeling vexed.

Lucas felt proud.

‘Haa…’

How long has it been since I felt this way?

I feel like I’m the protagonist of this world.

I’ve forgotten this very sweet feeling for a while. This very nice feeling.

I am strong.

I am strong too.

I am a genius too.

I’ve always worked hard.

“Haa…”

But that was it.

After all, Lucas was born with a good and kind personality.

Instead of rejoicing in the defeat of others, he began to be grateful.

‘Lord Jude, thank you.’

Lucas himself had worked hard to be this strong, but Jude had also helped him.

If it weren’t for Jude, would he have worked hard like this now?

Perhaps he might have neglected his training under the pretext that he was already the best prospect in the north.

In addition, there was his recent experience.

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He was able to face a Demon Prince because of Jude.

Lucas had become incredibly strong after that battle.

If that day had not happened, it would have been Leon and not Lucas who had won today.

‘That’s right, so let’s be humble.’

Lucas recovered his composure and turned around after a simple bow to Leon instead of giving him words of consolation.

And Lucas saw Kajsa and Cordelia’s smiles full of meaning.

‘Ayeee, my Lucas. You liked it, right? You were excited, right?’

‘Lucas is cool, kind, amazing, and the best.’

Their expressions were so clear that it felt like he could hear the voices of the two in his mind.

“Ahem, ahem.”

Lucas coughed again, but his face couldn’t avoid turning red.

Because he was embarrassed that they knew his inner thoughts.

“Ayeee.”

Kajsa giggled again and stretched out her hand to ruffle Lucas’ hair despite him being 10 centimeters taller than her. She then hugged his neck and kissed him in the cheek.

“Good job. As expected of my Lucas. Let me praise you a lot.”

As Kajsa nonchalantly showed her affection physically, the pure Lucas was unable to say anything in his embarrassment.

And Kajsa became more excited at Lucas’ appearance, so she teased him more by pushing her body closer.

“Uuuuhh…”

At the time when Lucas groaned and slightly bent forward.

Cordelia had been happy in pairing Lucas and Kajsa in her imagination, but she suddenly turned her gaze to the side.

Because Kirara, the small and cute girl who was less than 150 centimeters tall, was in awe as her eyes sparkled.

“Why? Are you surprised?”

When Cordelia suddenly spoke, the startled Kirara quickly nodded her head.

“It’s surprising.”

I never imagined that Lord Lucas would be this strong.

He was big and handsome, but somehow didn’t have much presence in the group.

Should I say that he feels like a folding screen?

Kajsa always teased him.

But when you see his true self, he was no joke.

‘He beat Leon!’

That Leon Gadreel and not just anyone else!

Although Kirara had only been active in the empire for over a year, the name Leon Gadreel was something she knew well.

The genius swordsman in the imperial capital.

The next generation Sword Master from a famous family of swordsmen!

But Lucas won.

Lucas was not just a folding screen but a very strong folding screen!

“But you know what, Kirara.”

“Yes, Master.”

“My Jude is much stronger than Lucas.”

“HIEE?”

Stronger than that? Much more?

“Much more. He’s really, really a lot stronger. Seriously strong.”

As Cordelia spoke proudly again, Kirara’s eyes sparkled more.

Originally, Kirara had a good impression of him that she flattered and acted cute in front of him, but now, she truly admired him.

“Did you know that my Jude defeated a dragon? It’s even an Ancient Dragon. It’s a monster that’s 150 meters long.”

“HIEEEE?!”

Come to think of it, I heard rumors that the dragon in the southern region of the kingdom had been defeated.

But the one who killed it was my master’s husband, Jude?

“Hehe, isn’t my Jude amazing?”

“He’s amazing. He’s really, really amazing.”

“That’s right, my Jude is amazing.”

Kajsa, who was in the middle of teasing Lucas, snickered when she saw Cordelia boasting.

“Hey, Kirara.”

“Yes?”

“She defeated it too.”

Kirara blinked at Kajsa’s words. Because she did not immediately understand what the latter said.

So Kajsa said it again.

“Cordelia along with Jude defeated Malekith who is known as the Ancient Black Dragon. Those two became dragon slayers. I saw it with my own two eyes the moment she summoned the Spirit King’s fist and struck the dragon.”

It was a much better and more detailed explanation than before, but Kirara could still not properly respond to it.

Because it was such an unimaginable story.

Ancient Black Dragon?

Dragon Slayer?

Spirit King?

Is this a story from a hero novel?

Kirara unconsciously turned to Cordelia who was blushing and trying to hold back her smile before slightly nodding her head.

A sign of affirmation.

That the story Kajsa told was all true.

“Wow, wooooow!”

Kirara jumped from her spot in her astonishment. She was so surprised that her tail almost stood upright.

She was originally skeptical.

She was the kind of person who ignored other’s stories or looked at them with suspicion.

But she believed what Cordelia had said.

It had only been a few days since they had met, but she trusted 100% of what Cordelia said.

So Kirara couldn’t help but continue to jump in place.

She had a good, pretty, rich, and good-natured master.

But she was actually strong.

‘O-oh my god!’

My master is a god!

When Kirara seemed to be worshipping Cordelia, Kajsa wanted to urge Cordelia to quickly transform into an angel, but she held back.

Because she thought that Kirara would become a fanatic if Cordelia really transformed into an angel here.

And as for the two people who watched everything.

The young knights from the Royal Knights were tasked to meet the two people of destiny, but they didn’t know much about them yet.

So Leon and Sarah blinked their eyes in confusion.

***

At the time when Leon and Lucas were sparring in the garden, which served a double purpose of testing the other’s skills.

Jude was left alone on the second floor of the house as he was trying to contact Kamael, but it was still impossible.

To begin with, contact with Kamael was more of a one-way communication rather than a two-way one, which meant that only Kamael could contact Jude.

‘Sending a signal is the limit, huh?’

But it was not easy to contact Kamael because they were both constantly moving.

‘I think the key to this situation is the Guardians of the Holy Cross.’

It was unlikely for the branches of the Guardians of the Holy Cross in the empire to be destroyed.

As Kamael had speculated while in the kingdom, it was highly likely that only their communication network had been destroyed.

But that was still not reassuring.

Since the demon followers had gathered and united, they could have been in the midst of destroying the Guardians of the Holy Cross’ branches somewhere at this moment.

‘Master.’

Landius and Lena.

The two had left for the empire earlier on a different route than Kamael.

Their purpose was to track down Archbishop Manuela, but now that they were in a place where the demon follower groups had united, it seemed like it would have been better for Jude’s group to work together with Landius than act separately.

‘We should join forces with them.’

Though the problem was when and how they would join forces.

“Haa…”

Jude stopped thinking and exhaled before looking down at the empire’s map again.

Leon and Sarah had said that they were planning to ask the elves for help after rescuing the Imperial Family, and even Jude agreed that it was the best thing to do for now.

The Imperial Family and the elves would unite to prevent the Chancellor from causing chaos.

‘War between the kingdom and the empire.’

The Great Tribulation of the continent that the demon followers wished for.

And the Great Summons that would happen as a result.

So if they prevented the war and the Great Tribulation, they could stop the Great Summons from happening.

‘Then all that remains is the 7 major calamities.’

They had already dealt with two, so there were only five left.

It was a formidable number, but he didn’t think that it was unstoppable.

Just like in the kingdom, they would stop it one by one.

And move towards a perfect happy ending.

‘Let’s rescue the Imperial Family for now.’

The demon followers were not aware of their group’s actions.

They would have never thought that Jude and Cordelia had infiltrated the empire, nor imagine the fact that Jude’s group had already conspired with the Royal Knights to rescue the Imperial Family.

So Jude’s group would penetrate at that gap.

Objectively, it would be hard to rescue the Imperial Family who would be escorted by a Sword Master and Imperial Knights.

But Jude looked away.

He gazed at the east where the imperial capital was located.

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It’s okay, Lucas. Harem route exists.

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