Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Plop.

Having returned to his room, Joshua flopped into his bed, tired as hell. His mental and physical exhaustion mixed together to form a weird, roiling sensation.

“Ah... I’m really tired,” he muttered, finally capitulating to the god of sleep.

The events of earlier danced through his mind.

His own father... The Duke’s words seemed to capture his heart in a jar. It was not a pleasant feeling.

“The Archmage Evergrant, yes... He will be here, along with a member of the royal family. Rest assured that it won’t be the Emperor, but the identity of the royal in question won’t be revealed until just before their arrival—for security reasons, I hear.”

But for some reason, Joshua had an ominous feeling that the incoming royal would be someone that he knew very well.

“If it’s really Evergrant and him—” Joshua gnawed on his lip. Worry pooled into his stomach; he worried if he could control himself if they met face to face. As of now, he couldn’t even touch a hair on Evergrant’s head.

‘Let’s not be hasty.’

It was a battle of time. The revenge he was after wasn’t just inflicting harm on a young, foolish boy who knew nothing. Moreover, he even had Evergrant by his side too.

‘Don’t let your thirst for revenge cloud your judgment, Joshua!’

‘When you stand at the top, drunk with that pitiful euphoria you call 'victory' and 'happiness,' that’s when my spear will find you and strike you down. Just you wait.’

“Haha... Even your name tastes bitter, Kaiser ben Britten.” Joshua muttered under his breath as a murderous glint flashed across his icy gaze.

***

The Imperial Knights of the Avalon Empire could be identified by the roaring golden dragon on their shields. They were hand-picked by the wise Emperor Marcus. He was very particular about their abilities; when it came to the Knights Templar, noble titles were nothing more than words on paper. Their origins did not matter. From the moment one joined the Imperial Knights, they were told to throw their titles out the window. Every new member of the Knights Templar was nothing more than an unpolished gem waiting to be cut in the appropriate shape.

The only thing one needed? Skills. If they were skilled enough, even a knight coming from a baron’s family could outrank the sons of dukes.

Within the Imperial Knights’ headquarters, a clandestine conversation was taking place in the office belonging to the 1st Battalion commander. The owner of this room was second-in-command of the Knights Templar; among the Empire's knights, he was only second in strength to his superior, Knight Commander Rod den Hogg, one of the Empire's five Masters.

“Are the preparations going well?” asked the man sitting at the desk.

The blonde, middle-aged man with a neat mustache and a noble visage was the commander of the 1st Battalion.

“Of course.”

The young man who answered had a shield at his side with the number 9 engraved into the center and the number 2 engraved on the dragon’s head. For whoever understood the Empire's heraldry, this pattern was easy to read: it meant that the young man belonged to the 9th battalion and, furthermore, was the second strongest person in that battalion.

Indeed, the young man was known as "Joker," the second-in-command of the 9th battalion, under Commander Valmont.

“I got a call from him.”

The young man shivered. He adjusted his position and asked, “Is this a mission?”

“Hmm... the purpose of this dispatch is...to ensure that the second young master of the Agnus family will not be able to hold a sword again for the rest of his life.”

“Ah...It’s because of Vanessa. None other than his—” Goosebumps ran up the younger man’s skin and he snapped his mouth shut.

“Remember where you are... Watch your tongue.”

“Sorry.”

Murderous thoughts danced wildly in the 1st Battalion Commander eyes, but they were only there for a mere fraction of a second.

“Rumors have already reached his ears. The rumors that, in the duchy, an undisputed genius has surfaced that can even surpass Babel von Agnus. It would be perfect if we could get him on the side of the Imperial family, but that’s impossible considering he’s an Agnus. He doesn’t want to leave any seeds that could grow into trouble in the future,” the 1st Battalion Commander commented.

“Yes. It would be better to trample such weeds before they grow. I will carry out your orders.” Joker rose from his seat and saluted.

That discussion was by no means something that was supposed to happen.

It went without saying that 1st Battalion’s Commander was highly respected because he commanded the strongest battalion, but the knights only saluted their direct superiors. That meant the Knight Commander, Rod den Hogg, and the commanders of their own battalion. By decree of the Emperor himself, it was taboo to salute a knight from a different battalion, in order to foster a fierce competitive spirit.

However, the 1st battalion commander just accepted the young man's greeting without batting an eye.

“I trust there won’t be any mistakes.”

“Yes!”

Joker gave a brief affirmative and turned to leave the room. Pitiful as it seemed, his face bore a deep and painful scar in the shape of a cross.

***

The next morning, the Duke’s men assembled before the master of the house. Duke Agnus rarely left the building, but now, he was standing at the mansion’s entrance and was flanked on both sides by two of his commanders, one of whom Chiffon.

“He’s coming,” Chiffon muttered as he glanced out the front door.

A troop could be seen in the distance, moving at great speed; the golden dragon and the number 9 emblazoned on their gear clearly displayed their identity.

Staring at the approaching crowd, Chiffon commented, “Given that troop size... it seems that the entire battalion really came, as the Imperial family said... That person in the pure white robe at the front is...”

“Evergrant.”

“Certainly, he seems to have attracted a lot of attention from the Imperial family. After all, he is able to wield mana at the ripe old age of nine.” The middle-aged man to the Duke’s right side opened his mouth this time. He was Armstrong, commander of the Duke’s finest men, the Golden Mane Corps.

“Well...” Duke Agnus chuckled as his gaze landed on the young man beside Evergrant. “Is that really all?”

“Umm...yes?” Armstrong's eyes followed Duke Agnus’s gaze. His eyes widened in astonishment.

“That boy?” n0velusb.c0m

“A Britten—”

“By that, you mean... a prince?” At the Duke’s revelation of the boy’s identity, everyone was agape.

“The Fourth Prince... Kaiser ben Britten.”

“My God. My God.” Armstrong’s jaws twitched.

Only Chiffon maintained his composure.

“This is clearly discrimination! They actually sent a prince to witness the test! How is the Young Master to overcome the pressure caused by a member of the imperial house combined with the entire battalion and the Chief Mage?” Armstrong was the first to come to his senses. “I am concerned that he will be too nervous and he’ll make a mistake in front of the prince.”

Armstrong’s concerns were understandable. Joshua’s mistake could affect the entirety of the Agnus duchy.

“What do you think, Joshua?” Duke Agnus asked out loud.

To Armstrong’s astonishment, Joshua strode out of the ranks of the knights. The shimmer of his deep blue hair under the radiant sun and his well-oiled leather armor were a perfect match.

Joshua took in the gazes of Duke Agnus and his commanders and smirked. Contrary to his own expectations, the boiling rage Joshua normally felt when seeing Kaiser's face had frozen solid.

‘I guess that when anger reaches its peak, there's nowhere higher it can go? I don’t have plans to inflict harm on you now, and neither do I have the power to. But you are not going back just like that, Evergrant and Kaiser.’

Step. Step. Step.

Joshua came up to Duke Agnus’s side.

“The Imperial household...” Joshua basked in the expectations of the crowd. “...will forever remember the Agnus name.”

This was the first step that the future Absolute Master, Joshua, would take for his reputation to spread wide and far.