Chapter 56

The glass hit the floor and shattered.

The First Imperial Prince Luan Olfolse then shot me a determined glare and spoke. “It’s been a while since we last had a duel, so let’s have one now. Allen Olfolse, my dear younger brother!”

The tone of his voice sounded like a neighbourhood thug about to throw down in a gang fight.

A troubled expression crept up on my face as I anxiously scanned both the Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse and the First Imperial Prince.

Was this the case of, ‘Like grandfather, like grandson’?

I muttered out, “Just who does he resemble to be that hotheaded, I wonder?”

Harman piped up from behind me, “But, your highness. You’re just like his majesty and your older brother.”

I silently shot him a glare and the Paladin sneakily took a step back.

Meanwhile, the Holy Emperor spat out a groan and shook his head. “Luan, what do you think you are doing to your younger brother? A duel? Why do you have the gall to even suggest that in your current condition?”

Luan Olfolse bowed deeply towards his grandfather, the emperor. “Please forgive this one’s impertinence. However, your majesty, I simply cannot overlook the matters this time. This one’s loyal vassal has been insulted greatly.”

“Even so, this is not the correct way. And so, Allen. You return to your quarters immediately. I shall have this commotion investigated thoroughly before handing out your appropriate punishment.”

It was then, Luan spoke up. “Your majesty. I have heard that Allen’s contribution during the vampire incident up north was rather sizeable.”

When those words were spoken, Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse’s eyes shifted back over to the First Imperial Prince.

The latter raised his head and met the former’s gaze before continuing on. “By having a duel with me, we should be able to see Allen’s true face. We’ll see whether he really did hunt the vampire, or he simply lied in order to snatch away someone else’s accomplishment. By allowing this duel to happen, we should be able to see for ourselves, your majesty.”

The Holy Emperor now seemed hesitant. He sighed deeply again before shaking his head.

The First Imperial Prince Luan took his grandfather’s silence as a sign of tacit agreement, then shifted his glare in my direction again. “Now then, let us have a duel! Allen, I shall definitely fix your insolent ways for good!”

“…”

All I could do at this point was tut inwardly.

What a cliched plot development this was. So, so bloody obvious, in fact.

The kind of plot you’d normally see in a dime-a-dozen third-rate novel, was now unfolding right before my eyes.

**

Forget about a banquet, it felt like a martial arts tournament was opening up instead.

All the aristocrats at the party venue had gathered in the training hall. They seemed oddly excited, probably because they must’ve enjoyed spectating on the feuds of other families.

The First Imperial Prince Luan raised a wooden sword while breathing heavily.

“Cough! Cough!”

He covered his mouth but still coughed out some blood. Even though he was staggering about, his frenzied glare was still firmly locked on me.

Was it really okay to let an almost-dead patient do something like this?

Wait, this event wouldn’t be like that ‘Emergency Escape’ episode where he dies of heart attack while walking over here, right? [1]

I stood stiffly in the middle of the training hall and observed the Holy Emperor, Kelt Olfolse.

The Archbishop and Alice were doing their best to change the old man’s mind. But even then, he simply stood there while keeping his mouth firmly shut.

An expression of worry meant for the First Imperial Prince could clearly be seen on his face, yet he didn’t seem to be planning to put an end to this duel at all.

Just what was he expecting to gain from this?

“Please be careful.” Charlotte helped me put on a set of leather armour. She looked deeply worried. “Please don’t force yourself. If you feel it’s getting too dangerous, please surrender immediately.”

“There’s no need to worry about me.”

Seeing that I was about to face off against a wobbly patient, I probably didn’t need to push myself too hard here.

At that moment, I ended up recalling some other fantasy novels I’ve read in the past. Why was I heading down such a cliched development?

An Imperial Prince; the unsolved mystery of whether this being a possession or reincarnation; then, a duel between the said Imperial Prince and his sibling who was in conflict with him.

If I was to point out the difference here, then the leads of those novels would be accomplished martial artists while their opponents were vastly weaker than them. In my case, things had been somewhat reversed.

“I don’t even know how to use a sword, though.”

Sure, I had the prior experience of hunting down zombies by swinging my shovel in every which way. However, the thing was, I never really learned how to wield a sword, nor did I even swing one around properly before.

“…Ah, right. There was that one time, wasn’t there?”

Back in the monastery, didn’t I try to train in the swordsmanship only to kiss the ground with my ass?

My physical abilities weren’t that much different from a regular person who exercised often, that was about it. Although, I could still cast a ‘Blessing’ on myself by using divinity and temporarily enhance my physical attributes for a bit.

“For the reasons of safety, the usage of divinity will be prohibited during this duel.” The archbishop wielding a crosier, the one I identified as Raphael Astoria through [Mind’s Eye], made his announcement. “If you really managed to hunt the vampire down, your highness, then you surely didn’t just rely on your divinity to succeed. We suspect that you’re talented in some kind of martial arts, or at least, quick with improvising. That should be quite obvious if you had really killed a Progenitor Vampire.”

Well, sh*t, even my divinity got sealed now.

Raphael was glaring at me with sharp, critical eyes. It looked as if he was forcibly suppressing his urge to swing that crosier in my face.

Holy cow. Enemies were literally everywhere under heaven and earth, weren’t there?!

The archbishop who I wanted to meet so badly hated my guts, which I found rather ironic to behold.

Hey, dear Seventh Imperial Prince, I really acknowledge your accomplishments in life, man! I really gotta hand it to you for being an undeniable mangnani!

While inwardly ‘praising’ the Seventh Imperial Prince, I addressed Harman next to me, “Hey, Harman.”

“Yes, your highness.”

“Don’t worry about me. Just focus on the preparations.”

“Understood.”

Harman bowed slightly and left the training hall.

The Holy Emperor, Kelt Olfolse, studied both me and Harman for a bit before opening his mouth, “Let the duel begin. Fighters, do not forget to uphold the courtesy of…”

The old man began saying some things. While listening to him, I began thinking of some other things instead.

Ah, right.

This was supposed to be a duel, wasn’t it?

“Therefore, you must not forget the courtesy between the brothers. And now…”

The Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse raised his hand.

“Allen Olfolse, my immature little brother,” Luan said as he glared at me. He staggered before stabbing the wooden sword on the ground to steady himself while gritting his teeth. “I shall properly fix that insolent streak of yours today.”

Kelt Olfolse lowered his hand. “Begin.”

The First Imperial Prince Luan sucked in a deep breath. He then forced his rotting body to move.

He let out a spirited yell and kicked the ground.

Blood splattered everywhere.

The bandages danced wildly from his rough, harsh movements.

That probably hurt quite a lot. Well, he was forcing his rotting muscles to move, after all. The only reason why he managed to move this much was probably due to his tough mental fortitude.

“Allen Olfolse!!!”

He leapt up and raised his wooden sword.

While watching him, I discarded my own wooden sword on the ground. Then, I placed my hand on my chest and bowed my head in a dignified manner.

“I surrender.”

With those words, his wooden sword stopped mid-way.

I sneakily raised my head a little, and confirmed that the falling weapon had stopped somewhere right above my noggin. I then stealthily took a glance at the opponent before me.

His face was wrapped up in bandages, but seeing how wide his eyes were, I figured that he still hadn’t comprehended what kind of a situation this was.

Just to make sure, I decided to continue on with my words. “This cowardly Allen Olfolse is so utterly scared of his older brother, and that’s why I’m surrendering immediately.”

Winning or losing didn’t matter to me one bit.

Besides, there was only one First Imperial Prince in this world, who also happened to be my older brother, too. Seeing that his physical condition was poor, wouldn’t it be the duty of a younger brother to hand over the moral victory here, at the very least?

I stared at Luan and smiled brightly. “This is the victory of my noble older brother. I congratulate you! Well, everyone! A round of applause, please!”

I quickly started clapping away.

It was at this point that Luan’s once-dazed expression crumpled in an unsightly manner.

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