Chapter 9 - A Famous Hot Spot (3)

Taylor Tailheim was the second son of an unremarkable baron family.

He had no notable talent, nor any impressive connections.

All he possessed was a single ring woven into his chest.

Ordinarily, he would have been a thoroughly ordinary man with no reason to come to The Capital, let alone the royal palace.

That was Taylor Tailheim.

But at present, he was on his way to the royal palace, having actually been invited.

"If only it had been an honorable invitation stamped with His Majesty the King's seal."

Unfortunately, the seal stamped on the invitation was not His Majesty the King's.

The invitation he had received had been sent by the scoundrel known as the disgrace of the Leonberk Royal Family.

「First Prince Adrian Leonberk」

He was a degenerate everyone avoided meeting, yet Taylor's steps toward the royal palace held no hesitation.

He had something he needed to do.

The royal palace came into view.

The heart of the kingdom, so splendid and majestic that it could not even be compared to his family's castle, entered his sight.

That scoundrel is in there...

Steeling himself with grim resolve, he moved his feet.

But his resolve did not last long.

First, the splendor of the palace cowed him, and then the extraordinary air of those who came and went inside it cowed him again.

By the time he arrived at the 1st Prince's Palace, Taylor was completely shrunken in on himself.

"What the hell. This little shrimp is the first one?"

He was standing in a training ground larger than his family's barracks, waiting for the First Prince to appear, when he heard a swaggering voice.

When he turned his head toward the voice, he saw a plump boy looking at him.

"Did we pick wrong? He's a total shrimp."

An arrogant gaze that looked down on his opponent, and a bloated body that even his expensive-looking clothes could not fully hide.

Taylor knew the moment he saw him.

The fat boy before him was the Scoundrel First Prince.

"You stand before the legitimate bloodline of the Royal House of Leonberk! The second son of the Tailheim family will show due respect!"

As Taylor was studying the prince for a moment, a roar rang out.

It was one of the Royal Knights, dressed in dazzling golden armor.

"T-The second son of the Tailheim family, Taylor, greets His Highness First Prince Adrian Leonberk."

Startled, Taylor reflexively offered his greeting.

"Mm. Sure."

The prince accepted the greeting with an attitude that showed not the slightest courtesy toward a guest who had come all this way.

Arrogant, insolent, and vulgar.

The prince was indeed exactly the sort of man the rumors said he was.

Whew.

Taylor drew in a breath.

He straightened his hunched shoulders and gathered his cowed heart.

It was not easy.

Every so often, the gazes of the Royal Knights flew toward him, and the shoulders he had been trying to straighten shrank back down.

Get a hold of yourself.

Taylor collected himself and recalled the bad blood between his family and the scoundrel.

Several years ago, at a banquet, his father and elder brother had encountered the First Prince and suffered an indelible insult.

Because of what happened that day, his family's honor had fallen to the ground, and his father and elder brother had become laughingstocks, still mocked by numerous nobles even now.

He had come here today to repay the insult they had suffered that day.

He had to harden his heart.

"Rein in your spirit. The spar has not even begun yet."

As he glared at the prince and sharpened a blade in his heart, a heavy voice rang out.

It was Count Vale Ballorhard, a knight famed even throughout the kingdom.

"C-Count Ballorhard! The second son of the Tailheim baron family, apprentice knight Taylor, greets Your Excellency Ballorhard, lord of House Ballorhard, Commander of the 3rd Legion, and knight of the Quad Chain! I-It is the honor of a lifetime to meet you!"

"Good to meet you."

It was a brief reply, but it held a weight different from the prince's.

Taylor looked at Count Vale Ballorhard with a flushed face.

"Wow. Look at the difference in sincerity. Anyone watching would think my uncle was the prince."

The prince cut in and stuck out his lip.

Because of that, Taylor's first meeting with the great knight was spoiled.

Taylor's expression twisted on its own.

"You should have behaved properly in the first place."

"Oh, come on. I'm living properly now, and every little thing is about the past with you."

How could he behave so rudely toward the man who, privately, was his maternal uncle?

The prince was indeed as arrogant and insolent as the rumors said.

"What is the past to you is the present to someone else."

Count Ballorhard scolded the prince in a way that made Taylor feel refreshed, then gestured.

"Do you need separate time to warm up?"

"I warmed up plenty on the way here!"

"Then we can begin at once."

At Count Ballorhard's words, the Royal Knights withdrew to the outside of the training ground.

Without even asking me, the prince grumbled, yet took his place on the opposite side of the training ground.

Taylor also hurriedly took his place across from him.

As he waited quietly, the Royal Knights brought each of them a sword.

They were training longswords with their edges dulled.

Seeing the swords, Taylor smiled to himself.

Even if the edges had been dulled, a real blade was still a real blade.

If struck properly, one would suffer for several months at least.

There was nothing better for resolving his family's grudge.

"I am Taylor, second son of the Tailheim family. I am a Single Chain apprentice knight, and with the sword, I use the swordsmanship of House Tailheim."

"It's not even a duel, so why be so grand about it? Just do it however. However."

Even if it was only a spar, there was such a thing as courtesy between those who studied the sword, yet the prince seemed to have no interest in anything of the sort.

He was arrogance and insolence itself.

"I look forward to your guidance."

Even so, Taylor showed sufficient respect and courtesy, considering his opponent's status.

"Then begin."

But even that formal display of respect and courtesy lasted only until the declaration to begin fell.

"Hup!"

No sooner had Count Ballorhard finished speaking than Taylor rotated the Mana Circuit lodged at the center of his chest.

Vitality surged through his entire body, and his stiff muscles loosened in an instant.

All that remained was a suitable tension and the sense of mission that he had to avenge his family.

Taylor smiled coldly.

"Then I will go first. Please take care."

He spat out a single line that was closer to a notice than a warning, then kicked off the ground.

The distance closed in an instant.

You reckless brat, I'll teach you how frightening the world can be.

"Hah!"

He thrust out his sword.

He put in enough strength that he would have no regrets, as though this were the final blow.

After all, the scoundrel might get scared and forfeit the spar immediately.

The image of the prince soon rolling across the ground formed in his mind.

When he imagined the prince crying and screaming, he felt as though he might fly.

CLANG!

"Huh?"

The moment he heard the unpleasant sound of metal, the feeling of soaring through the sky plummeted.

The prince had received his slash far too easily.

"Is it because it's only one ring?"

The prince spoke from behind the swords crossed vertically.

"It's just a bit of a sting."

Taylor had secretly loaded his sword with the mana flowing out of his ring.

He had swung the sword with enough power that, even if it did not kill, it would make the prince suffer for several months at least.

It was not something an idiotic prince who had only trained with the sword for two months or so should have been able to block.

And yet it had been blocked.

Taylor could not understand it.

"H-How?"

So he asked, and the prince smiled from behind his sword.

"Well."

At that insincere reply, Taylor's face twisted before he realized it, and the prince shook his sword.

HMMMMM.

The prince's sword made a strange sound.

It was unmistakably,

"Sword Resonance?"

It was the song of a sword left behind where mana had flowed.

* * *

"Ah!"

The Royal Knights who saw the strike Taylor Tailheim thrust out sucked in sharp breaths.

Their feet twitched as if they would leap into the middle of the training ground at any moment.

But before they could leap into the training ground, Taylor's sword rushed at the prince.

Everyone expected the prince to roll across the ground.

It was common knowledge that a blow loaded with mana could only be blocked with a sword loaded with mana.

It was a sword strike far too fierce for a prince who had begun training with the sword only three months ago to block.

They had clearly thought so.

CLANG!

But that was not the case.

The prince blocked Taylor's sword without taking a single step back from where he stood.

Had Taylor perhaps withdrawn the mana from his sword at the last moment?

The Royal Knights thought Taylor had gone easy on him, considering his opponent's status.

"H-How?"

But Taylor's face, asking with strong disbelief, was by no means the face of one who had deliberately gone easy.

HMMMM.

And in that instant, Sword Resonance rang out.

At the very least, there was no one present so inexperienced as to be shocked by hearing Sword Resonance.

And yet, despite that, they ended up shocked.

The Sword Resonance was flowing from the prince's sword.

"Ha."

The Royal Knights let out a sound that might have been a sigh or a groan.

Sword Resonance was far too high a realm for a prince who had only begun learning the sword three months ago to reach.

"To think His Highness was hiding such talent."

"How could the world have failed to recognize His Highness?"

The Royal Knights lamented.

If only the world had recognized the prince's true worth a little earlier, he would not have learned such an absurd technique with such talent.

It was a shame.

"Hah!"

At that moment, the second son of the Tailheim baron family sent his sword flashing.

It was a sharp chained attack that targeted vital points in sequence.

Even as the Royal Knights admired the prince's astonishing achievement, they did not think the prince would be able to fully receive even that attack.

And this time as well, their expectations were wrong.

The prince's sword struck the incoming blade in sequence.

Each time, Taylor's sword lost its path and cut through empty air or struck the ground.

It was a completely unexpected struggle.

But it seemed the prince's excellent showing ended there.

As if his pride had been wounded, Taylor began pouring out a fierce assault.

The prince's hands and feet grew disordered, and he quickly looked to be in danger.

The Royal Knights prepared to intervene this time for certain.

"Stop."

The one who held them back was Count Vale Ballorhard.

"Look not at the swords, but at your master."

At those words, the Royal Knights looked at the prince.

"Even now, does your master look to be in danger to your eyes?"

The Royal Knights did not answer.

The prince was smiling.

Though his face was twisted into a complete mess, the prince was clearly smiling.

* * *

It was true that the mana of a ring and the mana of the heart were diametrically opposed.

Ugh.

I feel sick.

At first, the sword strikes had merely stung, but now, every time I met them head-on, they were churning my insides.

Already, there were signs that the flow of mana would be severed strand by strand.

My stomach, turned upside down as if I were about to vomit, and the seething mana were typical signs of Mana Backflow.

At this rate, I would probably collapse before long while vomiting blood.

Even so, I smiled.

I saw the man's face twisted like a demon.

The sense of shame that came from being unable to deal with an idiotic prince.

The grudge and hostility he had hidden at first, but which now began to show openly.

Seeing his expression as if he were looking at a mortal enemy, I opened my mouth.

"You said you were the second son of the Tailheim baron family?"

Instead of answering, my opponent thrust his sword at me.

At first, he seemed to be controlling himself a little, but now he was openly thrusting at my vital points.

"You need to cool your head a little."

Perhaps my words no longer reached him.

Looking at my opponent, who had become nothing but offense, I released something that had lain dormant within me.

One of the countless 「me」 called a Demonic sword, a divine sword, or something else entirely,

and a part of my soul that I had been unable to reveal because this weak body could not accept it.

『Your Mana Heart has accepted a vast will.』

『A single color is overlaid upon the colorless Mana Heart.』

『The dormant Will to Slay Dragons has awakened.』

『The Dragon Slayer's heart has been activated.』

It was the memory of the sword that had been active most recently, and the essence of the heart I had engineered to slaughter dragons.

『The energy flowing from the Dragon Slayer's heart has merged with Dragon Slayer.』

The sword that had been forged to slay dragons, only to be abandoned by its master and have its edge dulled, met its mate for the first time in centuries and howled.

KEEEEEEN.

A cry clearly different from Sword Resonance rang out,

"Hah!"

and between it, my opponent's shout cut in.

Seeing the sword flying in, I swept my sword out in a flurry.

My sword stretched forth.

The two swords collided in midair.

The meager mana of the ring shattered before the vast will.

Solid metal broke with a sharp sound.

CRUNCH!

The greedy sword devoured the poor apprentice knight's sword without leaving a scrap behind.

KEEEEEEN.