Terms used in this chapter:
A tiger who lost their teeth – someone who used to be powerful but became powerless and poor later.
EPISODE 183 – THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM (3)
Five and a half days before the founding anniversary ball.
Lucas had visited the event venue of the conferment ceremony to congratulate Jude and Cordelia, and he softly smiled at some point.
Because he found a familiar face.
“Miss Scarlet?”
“Eh?”
A surprised face returned his call.
She would be like that because she was in the middle of hiding and concealing her presence.
How did he find out?
No, it’s natural for him to find out.
He may be overshadowed by Jude and Cordelia, but he’s also a genius from the north.
Those two are so overwhelming, but Lucas is also one of the best among his peers, and one of the best in the entire continent and not just the Sälen Kingdom.
‘Moreover… it’s because I dressed myself up.’
She was dressed as a young noble lady who attended the event, and not as a maid or butler.
She had been hiding in order to get rid of the men who had been swarming at her like fruit flies, but if it was Lucas with his sharp senses, it was natural for him to find her.
“Did you come to congratulate Mr. Bayer and Lady Cordelia?”
“Well…sort of. Because we know each other.”
Scarlet said that as if she was indifferent, maintaining a haughty expression, and Lucas smiled again.
“Would you like to come with me? I’d like to introduce you to my friends who are nobles from the north.”
“Thank you for your offer, but I have to decline. I’d like some silence for now.”
It was a slightly rude answer, but Lucas nodded with an unbothered expression, closing his mouth and looking straight ahead.
What the hell is going on?
Is he angry that I rejected him?
As Scarlet slightly furrowed her brows and glanced at him, Lucas replied with a bright smile.
“Well… you said you wanted me to be silent.”
“Ah…yes.”
She meant that she wanted to be alone, but he interpreted it differently.
Is he the so-called airhead?
‘Or he’s just not good at reading the room.’
But I don’t hate it because he’s handsome. He’s innocent and cute too.
‘Should I say he’s like a big dog?’
That girl, Pink Bomb, is a dog.
She pretends to be a proud cat, but in reality, she’s a dog.
‘Black Cloak is black-hearted fox.’
It was quite fun to think of them as animals, but Scarlet quickly came to her senses.
Because the music that was playing at the venue had changed.
“I think it’s about to start.”
When Scarlet spoke, Lucas immediately turned to the stage, and she eventually had no choice but to suppress her laughter.
Because Lucas really seemed like a big dog. He had no tail, but she unconsciously looked at his butt.
“Miss Scarlet?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
Scarlet’s haughty yet elegant smile, which was a more honest smile than before, made Lucas’s face slightly turn red, and he soon looked back at the stage.
***
First Sword stood by the window and looked at the stage.
Several women, who admired him for being young, handsome, and a Sword Saint, talked to him, and he responded to them with a friendly face, but he pushed the women away after a few words.
He liked alcohol and women as much as he liked the sword, but today, he wanted to distance himself from worldly pleasures.
“How unusual.”
He wasn’t talking about himself for wanting to stay away from alcohol and women.
He was referring to the people gathered here.
Two people came into First Sword’s sight.
One was Duke Antarius, who was called the Lord Protector.
The other was Count Bayer, the Sword General.
Both of them were masters of the sword who belonged to the Ten Great Swordmasters, just like First Sword himself.
‘They’re still strong.’
Because they were one of the Ten Great Swordmasters.
Because they were those who reached the pinnacle of the many swordsmen in the Sälen Kingdom.
‘However.’
The passage of time was inevitable.
The Lord Protector was old, and Count Bayer was also getting old.
Their skills would inevitably decline due to their aging bodies.
The Lord Protector had become so weak that he could no longer be compared to the time when they were at war with the empire.
‘Well, they’re still great swordmasters though.’
The expression ‘a tiger who lost their teeth’ would be too much to describe them though.
They were great swordmasters who represented the Sälen Kingdom, so they still had some considerable skills.
‘Count Bayer, the Sword General.’
Although he was in his late 40s, he looked much younger than someone who had reached the peak.
He was a very handsome man in the first place.
As for his sword.
Count Bayer’s sword, which First Sword had seen through Gaël, was literally like the wind.
It was unrestrained and free, so one couldn’t hold it even if they reached out their hand.
‘Hmm, I knew it. I like the sword best.’
He liked alcohol and women, but he still preferred the sword.
In some way, it was natural since he was someone who became known as First Sword because he was the best in the Sword School.
He had seen swords since he was born, and up to now, he had wielded a sword every day.
‘I don’t even get tired of it.’
He wanted to compete whenever he met someone strong, and he wanted to reach a higher level, so he sharpened and polished his own sword.
He wanted to go a bit higher.
He wanted to be a bit stronger.
‘I want to compete with Landius and Kamael at least once.’
The Iron Man and the Ghostblade.
Both were heroes of the Paragon Kingdom and were also called the world’s strongest swordsmen.
He wanted to know what swordsmanship they used.
He wanted to know how strong he was compared to them.
No, he wanted to know if they were really stronger than he himself.
‘Ah, it’s starting.’
First Sword who had been imagining then smiled and straightened his posture.
And he directed his gaze towards the stage.
The music changed.
The audience turned silent.
‘And.’
The main character appeared.
The moment Princess Daphne appeared in a golden dress, applause erupted, and First Sword also clapped lightly and looked down the stage.
He saw Cordelia in a white dress, smiling with an excited face, and Jude was next to her, pretending to be calm.
“How cute.”
First Sword spoke in a small voice, and the event began as if his words were the signal.
***
“It’s too early. For them to become barons at that age. They need to gain more experience.”
“So you don’t like it?”
Count Bayer casually asked Count Chase, who responded like always.
“Hmph.”
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“You really say the opposite of how you feel.”
Count Bayer quietly smiled and looked at the stage.
Princess Daphne, the jewel of the royal capital, was conferring knighthood to a young woman.
“It’ll be soon.”
“Hmph, they’ll only be barons. They should at least get a viscount title.”
“You just said that becoming a baron was too early.”
“It means I’m not satisfied with the current situation.”
“You really have a difficult personality. But you’re actually happy.”
“Hmph, not a chance.”
Count Chase scoffed, but his hands were the ones being honest. He was holding in his hand a mana orb for video recording.
“Does that record the sound?”
“Of course. So be quiet. Because you’re noisy.”
Count Bayer smiled and was silent at Count Chase’s grumbling, and Count Chase then used his magic.
Jude and Cordelia were on the stage.
The two of them finally appeared.
‘I’m deeply moved.’
Just a year ago, Jude was a guy who couldn’t even go outside that much.
He couldn’t believe that Jude was so healthy now that he even performed such a huge meritorious deed.
Count Bayer unconsciously became tearful, and he looked back at Count Chase and smiled calmly.
His friend had always not been honest, but at this moment, he was acting differently.
‘This man.’
How nice would it be if he always smiled like that.
A bright smile was on Count Chase’s face.
Count Bayer looked back the stage, pretending to not have seen it, while Count Chase continued to focus on his video recording.
***
“Jude Bayer, Cordelia Chase. On account of the great contributions you have made for the Sälen Kingdom, I confer the baron titles on you two. From now on, you two are barons of the Sälen Kingdom.”
Although she was still a crown princess, it was no exaggeration to say that her dignity was that of a queen.
As she solemnly proclaimed and lifted the sword, Jude and Cordelia knelt in front of her and bowed their heads silently, and soon after, Princess Daphne’s sword lightly tapped on their shoulders.
Baron Bayer and Baroness Chase.
The first barons who attained the baron titles by themselves, and not through inheritance.
Cordelia bit her lips and tried to hold back her smile, but she soon decided to just smile.
Because she was very happy.
‘It’s not just because we became barons.’
It was not just because everyone recognized their meritorious deeds in the wild lands.
The identity of the overwhelming emotions that filled her heart.
The reason why she was delighted.
‘I changed it.’
Cordelia herself and Jude.
Originally, the barbarians’ invasion of the north should have started by now.
Count Bayer and Count Chase would have hurried back to the north, and Duke Spencer would have still been sick and unable to get up.
First Sword would not have been here.
Gaël and Adelia would not have been in a relationship.
And Scarlet and Lucas.
Even Cordelia herself.
‘I’m going to change it more.’
So that everyone can be happy.
And to have a perfect happy ending.
Cordelia glanced at Jude, and Jude also glanced at Cordelia.
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The moment their eyes met, they smiled at the same time.
Because they could understand what the other was thinking.
‘For a perfect happy ending.’
Jude said with a glance, and Cordelia nodded. The two simultaneously raised their heads to face Princess Daphne.
“Congratulations, Baron Bayer and Baroness Chase.”
Princess Daphne spoke with a friendly smile, and applause broke out once again from everywhere.
No one could deny that they were the most applauded that day.
***
Four days before the founding anniversary ball.
Blue Moon and the other small guilds attacked the Black Moon in earnest.
The Black Moon, which had been divided in half due to the attack of the Royal Guards, failed to actively fight back against the wave offensive, and the war situation eventually became the Blue Moon one-sidedly hitting them, and the Black Moon one-sidedly getting beaten.
“Aren’t we lucky that we bet on Pink Bomb?”
“It’s not like we bet on them, but rather, we made a choice.”
“Haha, whatever. Anyway, what’s important is that we’re winning. So when will you get me a ring?”
“When this fight is over?”
“Oh, really?”
The Blue Moon guild master, Suppé, grinned, and Janifer had a small smile instead of her usual poker face.
***
Three days before the founding anniversary ball.
Saluzia stood beside Koros and looked at him.
The Devil’s Hand’s northern and central branches.
The maximum number of troops they could mobilize.
“Let’s do it, Sannie.”
Koros said, and Saluzia slowly nodded.
The founding anniversary celebration.
The day when the fate of Saluzia and Koros would be decided.
And the names of the two people that came to her mind at that moment.
‘Jude Bayer.’
And Cordelia Chase.
Saluzia bit her lips. As she turned towards the royal capital, she fiercely glared.
***
Two days before the founding anniversary ball.
The Lord Protector stood by the wall and gazed at the palace.
First Sword stood on the training ground and looked at his sword.
Princess Daphne turned her attention while talking with Prince Dion. She stared at Princess Darianne who was learning horseback riding with a bright face.
Lucas and Scarlet met on the street.
In their series of repeated encounters, Lucas recalled the three accidental encounters between the main character, Biltwein, and the heroine, Elena, in Biltwein the Hero, while Scarlet recalled the chance encounter between the first Rogue Master and her lover, Vanessa.
Count Bayer gazed at his sword.
He quietly stared at it, before closing his eyes and feeling the wind.
Count Chase watched the video over and over again, and suddenly thought that Jude’s shoes were a bit lacking.
‘Shoes with a darker color and better leather… memo.’
Count Chase focused on the video again after adding a line to his notebook that was filled with stuff about Jude and Gaël.
And a day passed.
One day before the founding anniversary ball.
“This is the royal capital of the Sälen Kingdom.”
A young man with long blonde hair like the sun stood on the hill and beheld the royal capital.
He was tall and handsome like a man from a painting.
He had blue jewel-like eyes and a fair complexion.
The young man’s name was Maximilian de Avis.
The man who was called the main character of Legend of Heroes 2.
The monster from the empire who First Sword had recognized.
Maximilian took a deep breath and gently touched the sword on his waist.
Feeling his heart pounding, he took a step forward towards the royal capital.