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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Ruby
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I had bought clothes, so the next step was to fill my stomach.
That’s why I entered a reasonably crowded restaurant.
It probably meant the food was decent at least.
A girl wearing a suspiciously obvious robe stared at me, but I didn’t pay much attention.
My only goal was to eat.
“Why do you keep eating?”
But then a large man with red hair picked a fight.
And when I advised him to mind his own business, he suddenly shot a red sphere at me.
The number floating above his head was quite intimidating.
However, I felt I could easily deflect that red sphere.
So I just parried it.
“They’re the Empire’s swords.”
Apparently, I had killed one of the ten strongest people in the Empire.
I was dumbfounded.
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“Move aside.”
A gentle voice came from behind the knights who were shouting in shock with their eyes wide open.
“Y-Your Highness, the Prince!”
The First Prince of the Astes Empire, Schwarze von Astes, pushed the knights aside and stepped forward.
However, he didn’t enter the restaurant.
He stared at Yuma from the doorway.
“I heard directly from the people outside. According to them, you killed Imperial Seat 8, Lord Keingal. Is that true?”
Schwarze’s seemingly good-quality blonde hair swayed.
And his squinting eyes were noticeable.
“Your lordship.”
Yuma, addressed as such, slowly nodded.
“I killed him.”
Schwarze glanced at the black-haired girl sitting at the table next to Yuma.
If this man sided with the girl, things would get complicated.
Schwarze looked back at Yuma.
“May I ask why you killed him?”
Yuma gestured with his chin towards the empty bowl on the table.
“He interrupted my meal.”
Schwarze’s brow furrowed.
“He… interrupted your meal?”
He thought any reason would do as long as it wasn’t to protect the girl.
But wasn’t this reason too absurd?
It wasn’t just Prince Schwarze who was stunned.
The 30 knights who heard Yuma’s words trembled in shock.
Schwarze calmed his trembling heart and continued speaking.
“So you killed one of the Empire’s swords, one of the Imperial Ten Seats, for that?”
Yuma’s blue eyes stared directly at Schwarze.
“Is any other reason necessary?”
Schwarze swallowed hard.
Cold sweat ran down his spine.
‘Without any fierce aura.’
He was overwhelming people.
That’s why it was more terrifying.
Schwarze couldn’t even gauge what kind of monster was standing before him.
Confidence that he could manipulate any situation to his liking no matter who the opponent was.
That’s how Schwarze perceived Yuma’s actions and words.
Schwarze looked at those standing on either side of him.
His usually reliable personal guards.
On his left was a knight in full red armor holding a spear.
Like Keingal, he was one of the Imperial Ten Seats, the 9th Seat, Spear Demon Roark.
And on his right was his personal guard knight, Leonard.
“Can you kill him? Are you sure?”
Spear Demon Roark slowly shook his head.
“I can’t be certain.”
“What if you two attack together?”
Leonard’s gaze turned to Keingal’s corpse.
The body with its upper half literally blown away had quite an impact.
Especially for Leonard, who knew how strong Keingal was.
“Even then, I can’t guarantee it.”
Schwarze also looked at Keingal’s corpse once more.
The body was cooling miserably.
It was clear that the skills backing up that arrogant behavior were real.
If so, he couldn’t give the order.
Not all of the Imperial Ten Seats obediently followed his orders anyway.
He couldn’t risk losing the ones who did follow him on a gamble.
Schwarze stared at Yuma again.
“…I won’t charge you with any crime. My business is with the woman next to you. May I attend to my business and then you can leave?”
It was a clear declaration of defeat.
The prince, who should protect the Empire’s safety, was saying he would forgive someone who killed one of the Empire’s swords in the middle of the capital.
But despite the prince’s ridiculous and pathetic appearance, the knights couldn’t say anything.
They had long been consumed by fear themselves.
Yuma stared intently at Schwarze.
A moment of standoff.
During this standoff, someone else appeared in front of the restaurant.
“Brother Schwarze.”
It was a woman with snow-white hair.
With navy blue eyes.
Schwarze turned his head with a stiff face to look directly at the woman.
“…Brigitte.”
Brigitte von Astes, the First Princess.
“That child is my guest. I should have gone to greet her, but I was late.”
Schwarze’s brow furrowed deeply.
His squinting eyes suddenly opened wide.
‘Damn it.’
He had mobilized even Keingal, the 8th Imperial Seat, just to prevent this moment.
Unlike his fiery temperament, he was very meticulous as a hunter seeking those who needed to be killed.
‘Because of that guy.’
Because of this man who suddenly fell from the sky, now wearing a languid expression.
Everything had gone wrong.
Schwarze decided to make one last desperate attempt.
Schwarze looked at Brigitte with a kind-looking squinting smile.
“But Brigitte, she’s the seed of a witch. No matter how magically talented the child is, we don’t know what dark clouds might loom over the Empire if we take in such a thing.”
Brigitte shook her head without any change in expression.
“The daughter of a witch, you say. You should know too, brother, that there’s no evidence that children follow their parents’ nature.”
And without hesitation, she stepped into the restaurant.
A knight in full shining white armor followed her in.
It was Michael, Brigitte’s personal knight.
Brigitte stood next to the girl.
“I’m sorry, Cloney. I called you to the capital but couldn’t come to greet you.”
The black-haired, golden-eyed girl, Cloney, shook her head vigorously and prostrated herself on the floor.
“No, Your Highness! I was able to stay safe thanks to the person next to me.”
Cloney’s brilliantly shining golden eyes turned to Yuma.
At Cloney’s words, Princess Brigitte also looked at the ash-gray haired man, Yuma, sitting with a bored expression.
‘This person.’
The man who had killed Imperial Seat 8 Keingal in one blow.
Brigitte approached Yuma.
“Thank you for saving my guest.”
“I didn’t intend to save her. I just took care of someone who interrupted my meal.”
Brigitte couldn’t even question why Yuma didn’t use honorifics with her, a member of the imperial family.
She felt the same aura from the man before her as her own innately great imperial bloodline.
A loftiness that couldn’t place anyone above oneself.
“Still, thank you. As a reward for saving my guest, I’d like to treat you as an honored guest, what do you think?”
Yuma fell into a very brief moment of contemplation at Brigitte’s words.
He had been thinking about how to leave this place anyway.
Honestly, if he just walked out right now, it didn’t seem like anyone would try to stop him.
Even at a glance, he could feel that they were terrified of him.
That was natural.
After all, he had killed one of the ten strongest in this Astes Empire in one blow.
‘But avoiding the situation isn’t always the best move.’
The destination he needed to reach was the clearing of this game, in other words, the ending.
To achieve that, he needed to know about this world.
And who would know more details about it than the prince or princess right in front of him?
There probably weren’t many.
If he had to choose between the two, the conclusion was simple.
The disposition of the dead Imperial Seat 8 Keingal was evil.
Prince Schwarze’s disposition was neutral.
Princess Brigitte and Cloney’s dispositions were good.
“Can I look forward to it? This treatment you speak of.”
At Yuma’s words, Brigitte smiled brightly.
“Of course.”
“Then, let’s go.”
Yuma stood up.
Very gracefully.
The girl, Cloney, got up with a bright smile.
The fact that Yuma was coming along made her very happy.
Step─
As Yuma stood at the doorway, the knights surrounding them simultaneously stepped back as if by agreement.
The same was true for First Prince Schwarze.
“Brigitte.”
Ignoring Yuma’s bored gaze while gritting his teeth, Schwarze stopped Brigitte’s footsteps behind Yuma.
“Yes, brother.”
“It’s fine to make your own people, but you’ll have to bear the responsibility for the consequences.”
Brigitte faced Schwarze.
“Let me give you some advice too.”
Their gazes crossed coldly.
“Please, don’t cross the line of humanity.”
Schwarze gnashed his teeth as he watched Brigitte’s group move away.
Brigitte guided Yuma and Cloney to an antique red carriage.
Clop clop─
Yuma briefly stared out the window, then, unable to bear the piercing gaze from beside him, looked at the person staring at him.
“Do you have something to ask me?”
It was the fifteen-year-old black-haired, golden-eyed girl, Cloney.
‘Seems she thinks I saved her.’
Well, thinking rationally, that was correct.
It was more convincing that he killed one of the Imperial Ten for saving a girl in trouble rather than for interrupting his meal.
Yuma had no intention of correcting Cloney’s misunderstanding.
“M-May I ask your name?”
She’s asking something so simple in such a difficult way.
“Yuma.”
“Thank you…!”
Cloney smiled brightly.
Yuma thought she was grateful for such a trivial thing.
‘Lord Yuma.’
Cloney engraved Yuma’s name in her mind.
“Yuma.”
The one calling Yuma wasn’t Cloney, but Brigitte sitting in the front seat.
“Aren’t you curious about what just happened?”
“Tell me.”
Brigitte chuckled at the tone that could never come from a commoner in front of a princess.
“Yuma, are you a noble?”
“I’m a commoner.”
It wasn’t Brigitte, the person in question, who became uncomfortable with Yuma’s brazenness, but Michael, Brigitte’s personal guard knight.
Seeing anger rising in Michael’s eyes, Brigitte shook her head to calm him down.
“Michael, it’s not like you could win anyway.”
Michael bowed his head deeply at Brigitte’s words.
Those words were correct.
Killing Imperial Seat 8, Red Star Keingal, without sustaining a single injury.
It was something he could never achieve.
Even if he had confidence to match Keingal, he couldn’t guarantee victory.
A strong one.
This impolite commoner before his eyes,
Yuma, must be a supreme being who had transcended even Master level.
That was the only possible conclusion.
“I’ll explain the situation to you.”
Brigitte returned to the main topic and continued speaking.
“My father, the Emperor Agares, who is the core of this empire, is on the verge of eternal rest.”
It meant he was on the brink of death.
“He’s been unconscious for half a year. We still can’t gauge when he might wake up.”
Yuma could predict what would come next from Brigitte’s mouth.
“So you need to determine the next emperor.”
Brigitte nodded.
“Yes, that’s right.”
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What’s going on with the first three paragraphs? They don’t make much sense.
Jumping between paragraphs, it’s too fast, but I’m still reading it, literally took me 4 minutes.