Chapter 98 Figuring Out The Emperor’s Plan

As soon as the guild master left, Evan turned back to Sir Walsh and voiced out a question.

"So, when are you going to tell me the true reason someone under the Emperor's direct command is masquerading as one of the Princess' knights?"

His question caused the eyes of Sir Walsh to turn sharp as his hand gradually went towards the hilt of his sword.

◇　◇　◇

During the few weeks before the funeral that Evan had been awake, he had been informed by Eliza about how she came to be present in Geto on the day of that attack and why she had arrived with Royal knights in tow.

The blonde had met with Laurene while the latter was dungeon diving and the two of them seemed to hit off with each other.

Once, Laurene walked in on Eliza contacting Evan and was surprised that the blonde-haired girl she had met randomly was familiar with the missing Duke's son.

It was then she revealed her true identity to Eliza and asked her for information about Evan's whereabouts.

After a lengthy conversation that Eliza would rather not disclose the details of, she left her original party and began dungeon diving with Laurene, much to Evan's surprise.

During this time, the two managed to find common ground and establish a form of friendship and camaraderie between each other.

Not long after the official search for Evan was called off, the two girls caught onto his trail in one of the cities he visited on his way to Geto and were surprised to find out that he was quite close.

Eliza then confirmed from Evan that he was really in Geto and suggested that the two meet up with him, however, Laurene was summoned back to the capital by her father.

As such, Eliza was the only one who continued the journey to Geto, a few of the knights accompanying Laurene being sent along with her.

These few knights, all coincidentally happened to be knights that were newly transferred to Laurene's security detail by the Emperor a few days before she set off on her dungeon diving journey.

They were actually sent by the Emperor who had wanted to utilize Eliza's connection to Evan to locate where the 'eleven-year-old' was.

Eliza had inadvertently told Ralphie that she had a means of contacting Evan; with his guild card, and that had been promptly reported back to the emperor.

So, when he discovered that Laurene had made friends with this same girl, he could only call it a stroke of fortune.

As such he had assigned these knights to Laurene to follow her and Eliza and see if they could get Evan's location from the blonde girl without Laurene's knowledge.

They did not know why the emperor instructed them to not let Laurene know but they obeyed his order without question.

Before they left, the Emperor personally summoned Sir Walsh and gave him orders to bring Evan back to the capital in the event that they had encountered him.

So, when the group arrived and saw the scene of Evan's battle against Xakon, hey had joined in to prevent the demon from killing their target and hand succeeded in buying enough time for the boy to return and overpower the demon.

Now that that chapter was closed, they decided to accomplish their original mission.

As for how Evan knew Sir Walsh was a knight under the emperor's command, it was simple.

The Marquis House Walsh and the Marquis House Thompson are quite close, and Finley had offhandedly mentioned something about the fourth son of the house Walsh joining the knight corps under the emperor's direct command when training Evan.

It was due to that random statement that Evan understood that Sir Walsh must have been sent by the emperor as not even the empress had the authority to command these knights, much less the princess.

Even if they were among the weaker members of the knight corps, it did not change the fact that they were members.

As such, their presence meant the Emperor had willed it.

◇　◇　◇

As Evan narrated his theory, Eliza's sapphire eyes couldn't help but in shock. She alternated her gaze between Sir Walsh and Evan multiple times until Evan's voice snapped her out of her surprise.

"Your acting earlier when you pretended you didn't know who I was, it was quite good."

As Evan spoke, Sir Walsh who was studying his every move, heaved a sigh of exasperation as he spoke.

"It seems you would not come quietly. Thankfully, I was authorized to use force if necessary."

He gripped his sword and was about to unsheathe it when Evan suddenly questioned him.

"Do you really think you can beat me? Don't forget that I killed the 'unidentified creature' that lays at your feet."

"It was very obviously a temporary power boost, I am confident I can overpower you normally."

As he spoke, Evan's gray eyes flashed lightly, signifying the appearance of his 'Full Appraisal'.

|Name- Brice Walsh

Race- Human

Level- 130

Existence Level - Master

Titles- Knight of the Great Western Empire, Member of the First Knight Corps.

Class - Royal Blade master

Health – C-

Energy - C-

Strength – C

Agility – C-

Durability – C-

Intelligence - D+

Condition- Wary

Magic Tiers- Ice Tier 2;

Skills- Royal Knights Bladework, Gnawing Frost, Swordsmanship (High).

Unique Skills- Frozen Waltz. |

Seeing his status, Evan instantly figured out the reason for his confidence, he was quite strong. Strong enough to give a base Xakon a bit of a though time.

But that was it, Evan was still confident in defeating him if it ever came to a fight.

The reason was simple, the presence of Pride and Eliza.

There was no way that Pride would allow her contractor whom she was bound to, to be captured so easily.

This was evidenced by the fact that her gaze on Sir Walsh had turned sharp the moment his hand touched his sword.

Wirth a flick of a finger, her prized weapon, Vanitas would be in her hand and she would instantly turn hostile.

As for Eliza, he had faith that she would not side with the knights if it came to blows. It was a gamble he was confident in winning, and his confidence was not misplaced as in the next moment, Sir Walsh swung his sword towards Evan's torso at a speed that would have seemed like a blur to the previous Evan.

**CLANGGG!!

But before he could fully react, a golden coloured translucent barrier appeared in between him and Evan, blocking his sword and preventing it from reaching the young hero.

Although he was much stronger than the barrier's caster, his attack was not one meant to be fatal so it did not carry as much strength as it had appeared to, as such, it was relatively easy for a hastily made barrier to block it.

He turned his gaze to the barrier's caster and heaved a sigh of exasperation.

"I should have known you would not stay put.

Oh well, that only means me putting more effort into this."

As he spoke, his sword began to glow with the blue light of aura. The other also knights unsheathed their weapons and got into battle ready stances.

Upon appraising them, Evan discovered that they were all above level 95 with two of them being level 100 already.

'Nevertheless, they aren't masters. Since they aren't, dealing with them would be easy."

The moment he thought this he flexed his fingers and summoned the unforged, kicking off the ground simultaneously as Eliza disabled her barrier to let him pass.

**SWOOOSH!!!

The magic power infused sword clashed with the knight's aura infused weapon, sending sparks flying in the air.

The other knights turned to assist Sir Walsh but it was impossible for them to do so when Pride was present.

"You dare attempt to capture this one's contractor!"

As she spoke, a black wave of aura poured out of her body, startling the knights facing her and Sir Walsh who was a bit further away.

"What kind of Aura?!"

While he expected Pride to at least be able to use and aura, he did not expect her aura to be so dark and sinister that it gave him chills even though he was not facing her directly.

He didn't have the time to think about that as Evan suddenly appeared behind him and thrusted forward the unforged, making Sir Walsh to twist his body awkwardly in an attempt to dodge.

But as expected of a master, he did not loose his balance and was even able to toss in a small counter attack.

A thin layer of gold light that covered Evan's body deflected Sir Walsh's conjured ice blade making the young hero send his thanks to Eliza mentally.

Evan and Sir Walsh continued clashing, their swords slicking through the air and meeting with each other and causing sparks to fly out.

**CLANGG!!

The two's blades clashed once more, before sliding off each other as Evan blinked away from Sir Walsh.

"Now the warmup is done.

Let's get real, shall we?"