Chapter 262: Come to My Side

Chapter 262: Come to My Side

On the Akasha Continent, the award ceremony was a very formal occasion, with everything arranged according to a strict schedule.

As a result, during the award ceremony, except for the main character, Riezel, everyone else was just there to serve as a backdrop, with no role other than to witness the ceremony.

Even so, with so many high-ranking officials and nobles present, it was naturally impossible for them to just show up and then leave right after.

For them, the award ceremony was indeed Riezel's moment, but once it ended, it was their time to shine, especially those who had long had their eyes on him. After the ceremony ended, they finally got their chance to make some connections with him.

However, it wasn't as easy as it seemed.

Even before Riezel revealed his Sword Saint strength, many nobles had tried to get close to him, but all they faced were closed doors. Whether they were major or minor nobles, even from duke families, none of them had managed to meet him, not even once.

Most of the letters they sent disappeared into the void, and the replies they received were nothing but perfunctory responses, clearly not written by Riezel himself but by someone else on his behalf.

Because of this, many nobles who wanted to interact with the youngest and newly appointed Sword Saint were disappointed, including a certain young lady who tried to secretly meet Riezel with Carrera's help.

To make things worse, after Riezel revealed his true strength and was acknowledged as a Sword Saint, he set up an arena right outside the Frenzel residence, where he accepted challengers from morning until dusk, spending all day there without leaving once.

As a result, the nobles had no chance to talk to Riezel at all, leaving them quite frustrated.

However, today, the opportunity had finally arrived.

After the award ceremony ended and Hendrick, surrounded by civil officials and knights, exited the audience room, many high-ranking nobles gathered around Riezel.

"Greetings, Sir Brynhart."

"Greetings, Sir Sword Saint."

"I've heard so much about you, Sir Brynhart."

They greeted Riezel one after another, their faces full of friendly smiles, with some even showing fawning expressions.

"Ah, greetings to you as well."

Riezel knew he couldn't escape socializing at an event like this, so he nodded to the nobles and responded to their greetings.

At this moment, Riezel became the center of attention, surrounded by nobles dressed in luxurious attire and engaging in conversation.

Surprisingly, Yuri joined in, holding Riezel's hand and standing by his side so naturally, helping him deal with the nobles.

However, as everyone in the audience room saw this scene, they had many wild thoughts running through their minds, especially those who had never seen Riezel before or witnessed the interaction between him and Yuri—they were quite shocked.

Although they already knew that the relationship between Riezel and Yuri wasn't simple, seeing how close they were right now made it seem like their relationship was even better than they had imagined.

At the very least, they had never seen the famous Marquis Frenzel stand this close to anyone in public, let alone hold someone's hand, an opposite sex at that.

Ultimately, this inevitably led to all kinds of speculation.

"Could these two be a couple?"

"Judging by Marquis Frenzel's demeanor, she's clearly very close to the Lightning Sword Saint."

"If these two are a couple, that would be something big."

"If their relationship gets out, the entire continent would be shaken."

Seeing the closeness between Riezel and Yuri, the nobles began whispering among themselves.

If the relationship between Riezel and Yuri was really what they imagined, the notion that it would shake the entire continent was not an exaggeration at all.

One was an unprecedented seventeen-year-old Sword Saint and Tactical-Class Magician with limitless potential and a promising future, while the other was a seventeen-year-old Strategic-Class Magician with boundless potential.

If these two, seen as juniors by others but already having achieved the highest honors and accomplishments on the continent, were to come together, it would certainly cause countless countries to tremble.

"A flash of lightning means defeat? Now that's a phrase that really packs a punch!"

As these words came out of Sorren's mouth, they didn't sound like praise at all but more like insults.

At the same time, the surrounding nobles frowned, some displeased with Sorren's attitude, while others looked fearful.

Yuri, on the other hand, stayed silent and coldly watched Sorren.

However, Sorren didn't glance at her anymore but stared at Riezel, who wore a calm expression, his mouth twisted into a grin and his eyes flickering.

In truth, Sorren still couldn't fully accept it.

After all, the man in front of him, the one he had never taken seriously and had even warned once, had actually become a Sword Saint.

He had even doubted the rumor about Riezel being a Sword Master and a Tactical-Class Magician before, so the idea that Riezel was a Sword Saint was even harder to believe.

A seventeen-year-old Sword Saint?

If someone had told him this before, he would have laughed in their face and thought it was the biggest joke, not worth listening to.

However, the rumors that Riezel had instantly defeated Albert, the best swordsman just under Sword Saint, and had fought a thousand matches daily without a single loss, were now completely confirmed.

If he kept doubting it, he would just look like a clueless fool.

Because of this, he had no choice but to take Riezel seriously and view him as a threat, which was why he came to the audience room to meet Riezel today.

Since he was grounded, this was probably his only chance to meet Riezel.

"Riezel Brynhart."

Sorren's eyes met Riezel's directly.

"I admit, I underestimated you before."

Truthfully, getting Sorren to admit something like this was a miracle. With his violent and jealous nature, he never acknowledged that anyone could be better than him.

In Sorren's eyes, even Albert, who was praised as the best swordsman just under Sword Saint, only had the advantage of age. If he had been Albert's age, he would never have lost to him.

Sorren also looked down on his other siblings, looked down on any so-called prodigies his age, and was so arrogant that he thought the throne was already in his grasp.

For this reason, when Sergius, who was close to his age, was seen as the best successor to the throne and considered more talented than him, Sorren reacted so strongly, attacking Sergius like a mad dog.

He refused to admit that he was inferior to Sergius.

He refused to believe that anyone his age deserved his attention.

However, Riezel's appearance shattered his pride more straightforwardly and brutally than Sergius ever could.

Not only was Riezel younger than him, but he was also far stronger, becoming the first person in history to achieve the status of Sword Saint before turning twenty, leaving no room for denial.

When the gap became this wide, it left everyone speechless, just as Sorren felt at this moment.

Luckily, Riezel wasn't part of the royal family and wasn't competing with him for the throne.

In that case—

"Come to my side."

Sorren bluntly threw this offer at Riezel.

"Serve me, and you'll be the greatest figure in this kingdom, second only to me."