Chapter 220:

Chapter 220:

Chapter 220 Good.

The moment Louis stepped into the arena.

“Ah, wait a minute. This isn’t right.”

The Capital Knight, Clotte, raised one palm. It was a gesture to stop Louis from stepping into the arena.

Clotte’s appearance was quite unusual. In one of his pupils, instead of an iris, a second and minute hand were spinning, and his sword was also shaped like a long second hand.

...It was as if a clock had been shaped into a human.

Clotte brushed his hair back and spoke.

“I came all the way here to face Flan, but Louis... was it? This isn’t right, no matter how you think about it.”

Clotte seemed to have no interest in Louis at all. He looked past Louis’s shoulder to the center of the magic department representatives, where Flan stood.

“Hey, Flan. Shouldn’t you be stepping in yourself? From what I’ve heard, if even one person from the magic department loses, you’re eliminated.”

“...”

The other representatives of the magic department also looked at Flan in silence. Their expressions seemed to be seeking an answer. Clotte crossed his arms, indifferent.

After a moment, Flan opened his mouth.

“I.”

In contrast to everyone else’s anxiety, Flan’s face was remarkably calm, as if any trace of unease had been erased.

“I judged that Louis is sufficient.”

“Ha ha, ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha!”

At that, Clotte’s second hand ticked for a moment. He placed a finger on his eye and returned the rotating second hand to its original position.

It was an action that ordinary people couldn’t even imagine or imitate. Clotte spoke.

“I’ve just recorded that statement in my time. It’s quite amusing; I’ll have to revisit it whenever I’m bored.”

Clotte burst into laughter, genuinely finding it funny. His escort knights and the spectators were watching the situation attentively for now.

Of course, most of the knights couldn’t contain their anger and expressed it openly.

Capital Knight, Clotte.

A figure known for his art of cutting through time. He was sufficiently mentioned as a candidate for a hero.

Clotte tilted his head at Flan’s statement.

“Louis?”

In fact, Clotte had never heard the name Louis before. He generally had no interest in worldly affairs, but even if he did, he wouldn’t bother to remember the name of a representative other than Flan.

Putting everything else aside.

How could an obscure magician dare to step up and face Clotte?

“No, well. It’s all good.”

Clotte’s gaze finally turned towards Louis.

“You said your name is Louis?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you think you can face me?”

A blunt and straightforward question shot towards Louis. He quietly met Clotte’s gaze.

Louis quietly met Clotte’s gaze. Surprisingly, there wasn’t a hint of hesitation or fear in the boy’s eyes as he faced the Capital Knight.

“...”

Clotte tried to understand the meaning of that gaze for a moment.

The looks directed at him were always the same.

There was some confusion on both sides due to the whims of Clotte and Louis, but it was an imperial official who first broke the silence.

“Watching the tension between both sides is always a delight. As a neutral party, let me summarize the situation.”

The official unfolded the terms from both sides and began to revise them simultaneously.

“Both sides have decided to send out representatives, and if the representative loses, it will be considered a forfeit, and they must leave this place. Is that correct?”

The official looked back and forth between Clotte and Louis, and both nodded. Louis calmly molded mana into a small ball, tossing and catching it.

“Yes. I have no intention of retracting.”

“Good. What about you, Clotte?”

“Let’s do it.”

Clotte immediately turned and approached his escort knight, handing over the long, second-hand-like sword to him.

“Brine.”

Brine was the name of Clotte’s escort knight.

“Yes, I am Brine.”

“Do your best. You understand?”

“I will never take this lightly.”

After receiving the sword with both hands, Brine stepped onto the arena with a determined expression. Even though it was the escort knight and not the main contestant stepping up, the reaction was significant.

“Clotte handed over his sword!”

“A fight between an escort knight and the magic department... This is intriguing.”

The audience’s reaction became much more intense, likely because they deemed the outcome harder to predict than before.

Facing Louis, Brine spoke.

“What if Flan had lost to Sir Clotte? It would have been a somewhat honorable defeat. Did you really have to drag it out to this point?”

“That’s the scenario you wanted, isn’t it? What I want is this. Stepping forward and facing it directly.”

“Good. I’ll show you whether that’s courage or arrogance.”

As Clotte adjusted his grip on the sword, Louis also surrounded himself with light, preparing for battle.

“Prove it with your sword, not your words.”

“Arrogant.”

As Brine lightly swung his sword.

‘...?’

Brine involuntarily hesitated. Louis’s light began to take on a golden hue.

He thought Louis was merely putting on airs to gain the upper hand, but there was a genuine purity to Louis’s light.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

“...”

They stood in silence for a while, but with each passing second, Brine’s gaze towards Louis changed slightly.

Finally.

Brine adjusted his grip on the sword.

“Good.”

He nodded.

“I’ll face you with full strength.”