Chapter 77 Ring of the king

The noble who stepped forward was slowly nearing the sword, as he closed in he was getting a bit nervous. He looked at the direction of Valdel to see if he was going to do something. Yet Valdel simply stood beside the principal and as he said he was simply observing the situation.

Still the noble who stepped forward didn't feel relieved by this. It made him even more suspicious, it might actually be possible that what Valdel said was the truth. Once that idea stuck into the noble's head, the courage he had gathered a while ago suddenly disappeared.

He stood there motionless, his hand only a few centimeters away from the two handed sword. The other nobles watching this scene, were getting impatient. They also didn't want to be the one to try and get the sword. Since they knew there was a possibility that the sword will really attack them. As if the other nobles could read each others minds, they all had the same thought. They needed to push the one in front to do it for them. It was obvious he was already hesitating and was about to give up, and they needed to push him forward.

"Come on, pull it already!"

"Are you going to pull it, or are you just a coward?!"

"How about you move aside so someone else can try, you coward!"

The other nobles then started jeering. This made the noble in front unable to back down anymore. If he backs down after all this, the insults will continue and he will forever be called a coward. His reputation would fall if he backs out now.

The noble then strengthened his resolve and held onto the sword. The moment he touched the sword nothing happened, he and the others thought that it really was just Valdel trying to scare them, but the moment they thought this the sword was suddenly covered in flames. Unable to handle the heat, the noble was forced to let go of the sword.

"What the hell have you done, Valdel! How dare someone like you attack a noble!" The noble who got his hand burn shouted in anger. Valdel simply shrugged his shoulders in response.

"What the hell! You attacked someone and that's how you act!" The other nobles started chiming in. Sepchel who was watching from the side, knew that Valdel did nothing. He was watching Valdel all this while and knew that Valdel neither gathered mana or chanted any spell words. He was simply standing there. The sword on the other hand, suddenly concentrated mana, and then expelled the mana using a flame spell. This proved to Sepchel that the sword does choose a master, he could tell the other nobles the truth, but he already said he wasn't interested in this event. So in the end he decided not to do anything about it. The Principal on the other hand had something to say on behalf of his student.

"Valdel never used any spell, he did nothing to cause the sword to flame up. Asked the mages that you brought and you will have your answer. I'm sure that they noticed the truth of the matter."

The nobles were already aware about the truth, since even before the Principal spoke, their mages already told them what happened. Yet they couldn't admit this, since this will prove that the sword really was given to Valdel. It was also because of that demonstration, of the sword flaming up that their greed multiplied, since they were now sure that the weapon really was a magic weapon.

"Our mages haven't noticed anything. I understand that you want to defend your student Sir Galius, but helping a thief isn't an honorable thing a knight such as you should do."

"Heh, it is you bunch that aren't acting with any honor." Once the Principal said this, both he and the nobles gathered once again started arguing.

As they were arguing, Valdel was thinking ever so deeply. It doesn't seem like anything he did will work on these nobles. They will keep on insisting that he was doing something wrong.

'Even if they fail to get Zwei right now, they might start to take even more drastic measures later on. It's alright if I'm the only one, they would bother, but the moment they start messing with Ren, they would all die. I don't really like the idea that Ren would kill them, but if Ren does that he might become an enemy of the kingdom. Also even if they don't bother Ren, they might actually do something with my family. I guess I really do have no choice.'

Today Valdel stood up for himself, thinking he could end this commotion with his own abilities, but in the end he still needed to use the ring the king has given him. His strength and prestige were still weak, for him to be able to do anything significant, but that's only for now.

"I didn't wish to use this but you people have given me no choice." Valdel lifted his hand and showed everyone the ring the king gave him. Sepchel who saw the ring was amazed, even in this distance he could see that the ring was authentic. It even has that distinct mana flow that only the royal family's items had.

The nobles gathered also knew the significance of the ring Valdel held. That was something only given to friends of the royal family. It was an item that wasn't something any of them could contest with.

"That must be a fake!" One of the nobles shouted, which made the others say the same thing. Valdel took out Zwei from the ground and slowly walked towards the nobles. When they saw Valdel moving towards them, with a weapon at hand the nobles told their guards to protect them. Sepchel was also going to stop Valdel if he resorted to violence.

"No need to panic, I'm just going to show you people that this ring is authentic." Even though Valdel said this, the nobles were still wary of him. Now that he was near them, the nobles started to look at the ring, and were now even more sure that the ring was truly authentic. Still they can't just give up here.

"Hmph, who are you trying to fool? That's obviously a fake." The noblemen gathered still kept on insisting it was a fake. As long as they acquired the magic weapon, if the king questions them, they could say that Valdel never showed the ring to them. Even if Sepchel and the Principal tell otherwise, they had numbers on their side, and the king cannot simply dismiss their claims. They can just plan further after they claim the prize. Even with the chance of the king's anger being directed at them, the nobles present decided to still gamble with the chance of acquiring the sword, that's how much Valdel's magic weapon was worth to them.

"The king also said this, To him who mischief seeks, shall mischief fall. There comes an hour that recompenses all." The moment they heard this saying, most of the nobles got tense and weren't able to speak anymore. What Valdel said was something the king says when he was about to execute traitors.

If they keep on persisting, they would be killed. If they keep on bothering Valdel for the sword, they will be treated as traitors of the kingdom. That was the hidden meaning behind what Valdel said. Still some of the nobles present really didn't want to stop, they really wanted to gain that weapon of Valdel's, but after they heard what Valdel said, they knew they can never take it upfront, especially since Sepchel a loyal servant of the royals was present. The moment they acted out after hearing what Valdel said, Sepchel would kill them without hesitation.

It was then most of them decided to back off for now. They thought that making a move in the open is no longer possible, but there were other ways they could use to acquire the sword.