Chapter 116: The one who leads the sun of the Holy Kingdom (4)

‘Hey, why are you pulling out your sword?!’

“……”
“……”

Elise quickly changed the expression on her face.

Her gaze was as fierce as blue flames as she looked at Imperial Prince Cédric.

The Imperial Prince did not point the Sword of Wisdom at her but he also didn’t seem to have any intentions of putting his weapon away.

The orange eyes looked at Elise. It was as if he wanted to burn her up.

I urgently looked toward Cardinal Boutier.

She simply sat there with a magical smile that reminded me of the Mona Lisa.

Adding Cardinal Ari Schot next to her made it look like a famous painting.

‘Please don’t enjoy this, the heirs fighting might lead to war!’

“Hmm.”

‘Damn it, I have no choice but to step in.’

Christelle, who always enjoyed a good show, was not helpful in this kind of situation.

The reaction to when I responded just now was not bad so Prince Jesse seemed to speak respectfully to his older sister.

‘Then my tone should be fine like this.’

“That…… Is the divine item, the Sword of Wisdom from the Flaming Star.”

Everybody turned to look at me at that moment. My ears felt hot but I had to deal with this.

Friction between the two nations would only put me, someone with a time limit, at a disadvantage.

“His Royal Highness personally pulled it out during the Great Clearance of Demonic Beasts. It is a fire attribute divine item so it is extremely compatible with its master.”

The audience was quiet. The Imperial Prince squinted while looking at me.

I had no idea why he was acting like he didn’t do anything wrong when he pulled out his sword almost immediately, as if to completely crush the competition.

‘Do you think that I suddenly wanted to become a curator?’

“It is very picky about who touches it as well. Please be careful as touching the handle might burn you, your highness.”
“That is magnificent. I guess you will never have to worry about having it stolen, your Royal Highness.”

The person who broke the silence and responded to me was the woman who was silently protecting the crown princess from behind her.

I smiled brightly toward her. This novel world was still manageable.

“It has been a long time, your highness. I was thinking that the sword’s appearance was very unique. Now that you mention it, I do believe I have seen a picture of it in a book.”

The woman took two steps toward me with a face full of curiosity.

She was on the shorter side but she had a thick frame with bronze skin that was firm with muscles.

She had deep wrinkles by her eyes but her energetic body made it difficult to fathom her age.

“I hope I can test my axe against it once.”
“Maartje.”

Elise finally stopped her subordinate.

Christelle, who was standing behind me, let out a quiet sigh after seeing Elise back down a bit.

I heard some crunching noises behind me, which must have meant that she was eating some snacks as she watched.

I noticed it was not as tense and used the opening to look at the Imperial Prince. We soon made eye contact.

‘Cooperate. Don’t make it obvious you are an annoying twenty four year old.’

“……Let us get the evaluation started.”

He quietly commented before walking toward the center of the training ground.

Senior Ari started laughing out loud.

He said words like, ‘youth’ and ‘the best time,’ one after another as if they were sausage links.

David and the attendants of Romero Palace finally started to move. They looked a bit like zombies.

‘Wow, I thought something bad was going to happen.’

*

“Your Eminence, will it be okay for you to stay here?”

I asked Senior Ari.

He said that he was lacking in strength and chose to stay at our table while Cardinal Boutier and Elise’s group headed to the table on the other side of the training ground.

I had no problem sitting together with him, but I was concerned that it might negatively influence the two main characters’ evaluation.

As the main characters, it is guaranteed that they will be appointed, but wouldn’t it be better if everything went well?

“There is no problem at all, your highness. The two of them are going to be Archbishops anyway.”

The old man answered like that. I blinked my eyes.

“Based on what I heard, that would only be the case if they are lucky. I heard that a Holy Knight’s appointment was significantly swayed by the Cardinals supervising the evaluation.”

To be more specific, that was what Sir Johann Geens had told me. The old man agreed.

“That is true, your highness. Having a terrible Cardinal judge their appointment could force a Holy Knight who should be a bishop to remain as a clergy.”

He lifted up his deep eyes and observed the center of the training ground. I followed his gaze and looked as well.

I could see the Imperial Prince and Elise standing there for a spar.

Cardinal Boutier was explaining the details of the evaluation to them while Christelle listened off to the side.

“However, his Royal Highness already owns a divine item. How can a mere human denigrate the decision of the Almighty God? Furthermore, young lady Sarnez is quite talented. It is rare to show such Divine Power at her age. It is similar to a blessing.”

His insight was unbelievable.

‘Why yes, it is a blessing. She absorbed the Blessing of the Blue Sea.’

“That’s a relief.”
“Yes, your highness. At least that is the thought of this old man. That is why they will become Archbishops.”

The old man put some milk into his black tea as he spoke. I calmly tried to decipher the meaning in his words.

This senior was already planning on making the two of them Archbishops, and Cardinal Boutier had pulled some strings to become a judge so that she could help them out.

Two of the three Cardinals were on the main characters’ side, so the results were obvious.

Their future was bright, as expected of this munchkin couple.

“Please relax and enjoy. The strength of a Cardinal is not something you get to see very often, your highness.”

I could only smile bitterly at the old man’s comment.

‘He might have a heart attack if I tell him that I got hit by a stigmata about ten days ago.’

At that moment, Elise’s subordinate, Maartje, walked up with a long item on the other side of the training ground.

It was wrapped in silk, so I presumed it was the crown princess’s weapon.

– Piiiiiiiiiiruuuuuuuuu, pipi

Percy flew over and landed on the table.

He had been playing with the red pandas when I left Juliette Palace but he must have come to see this rare occasion.

The old man seemed quite happy.

“Hoho. Is this chimney bird the esteemed air attribute divine beast?”
“Mm, yes he is.”

I had no reason to reveal his true identity.

It was uncomfortable lying to an elder but it was half true since he was of the air attribute, so……

“Wooooooooooow!”

Suddenly, Ganael gasped in admiration from the next table.

We looked toward the training ground wondering what was going on.

The cloth was pulled back and the crown princess’s weapon was revealed.

It was an elegant and marvelous gold spear.

The way it was glowing gold without any accessories or engravings made it look more like an item in a god’s collection than a weapon.

The sharp and beautiful blade made me think I was looking at the tail of a Birds-of-paradise flower.

It took me a while to realize something.

‘Is that perhaps……’

“Hey Percy, is that why you were chirping in the audience room yesterday?”

– Piiiii

“And you came all the way here to look at it?”

– Pipipi!

I urgently whispered and Percy flapped his wings to tell me I was right.

His black bean-like eyes were sparkling. I couldn’t tell whether it was because of curiosity or competitive spirit.

I let Percy, who was rubbing his body on my hand, into my palm as I looked at the crown princess holding the spear.

I recalled something from < Kaboom! Yves’ Great Adventure > that explained the divine items of the Empire and the Holy Kingdom.

Senior Ari’s voice echoed in my ears.

“It is good that we are at a distance. I did hear the rumors about the crown princess recently becoming the master of a divine item, but…… This is definitely a rare sight even in my long years. Yes sir it sure is.”

I gulped.

The item in the fire attribute Holy Knight, the crown princess’s hand was an air attribute divine item from the Holy Kingdom.

“The Vicious Manifestation of the Headwind.

*

“This is not going to be a joke. But you can’t lose too terribly, my fellow student.”

Christelle whispered. Cédric stoically fixed his grip on the Sword of Wisdom.

Elise Venetiaan’s ether, which he felt in that provocation moments ago, was definitely at a level he had yet to reach.

It was fitting of the talent of history’s youngest Cardinal who had awakened her stigmata at the age of twenty six.

Although he knew the reason the young lady was giving him this warning, he was not planning on being easily defeated.

“Then, fighting.”

Christelle, who noticed the crown princess’s spear, said something incomprehensible before withdrawing.

The Imperial Prince turned his head to see where she was headed.

Prince Jesse was looking in his direction with a concerned look on his face.

Christelle approached Prince Jesse and reached out her hand. He became anxious and put some petit fours on her palm.

He let out a short snort. The Prince was terrible at scheming. Prince Jesse was different from all of the rumors that he had heard.

“Are you close to my little brother?”
“……”

The Imperial Prince turned his head after hearing Elise’s voice.

The Cardinal, who was holding a nimble spear, was looking at him. There was no need to answer that question.

His shadow blinked.

– Baaaaang!

Then there was a loud noise as he arrived in front of her.

– Ccccccck, claaaaaang……

The two divine items painfully clashed against each other.

The Imperial Prince’s gaze sank down. It was because she had blocked his attack so easily.

The Vicious Manifestation had created a vacuum, easily suppressing the flames coming out of the Sword of Wisdom.

“I asked if you were Jesse’s friend.”

– Crackle!

A large flame burst out of the sword and threatened Elise.

The black blade slashed horizontally the moment she moved back.

– Baaaaaaaang!

Red flames burst out in all directions.

Although a normal knight would not have been able to dodge this attack…

– Tat, tat, tatat!

The crown princess instantly stepped through the air. It was thanks to her air attribute spear.

– Ooooooong!

– Baaaaaaaang!

The air roared and her figure struck down.

The blade of the Sword of Wisdom barely managed to stop the tip of the Vicious Manifestation right before it touched Cédric’s Adam’s apple.

The young man’s feet sank about two inches and the muscles in his arms were tense.

Elise asked in a disinterested tone.

“Or maybe he is your partner?”
“That is none of your business.”

The blue eyes lit up at that moment.

– Craaaackle!

The Vicious Manifestation released bright yellow flames from its blade.

– Snap!

Crown princess snapped his right hand just before the crown princess’s flame reached him.

– Baaaaang!

There was an explosion. An orange orb that resembled the sun burst out and got in between the two of them.

Cédric was blasted back but he flipped in the air to land back on his feet.

Elise supported her body with a gust of wind as she was flung back to stand in the air.

She whispered, almost as if she was making a Divine Oracle or maybe cursing him.

“It doesn’t matter. I will receive that child back.”
“It sounds like you are saying that you will murder your father.”

– Shhhhhhhhhhhh!

The golden spear shot forward almost immediately after the Imperial Prince said that.

– Booboboboooooooooom!

“Ugh!”

Cédric’s sturdy body rolled on the ground. The impact was huge despite him dodging it right away.

The air added to the flame and increased the attack speed, creating a strong aftershock.

Once he stood up, dirt fell from his ebony hair.

He could feel his godmother’s pitying gaze.

He knew how she was feeling but he did not want to receive such a gaze any longer.

A small flame burst out of the Imperial Prince’s fingertip.

“If you consider Jesse to be an ether storage facility-”

– Swoooooooosh!

There was a fierce noise as the spear that was stabbed into a hole in the ground pulled out and wrapped itself around the crown princess’s right hand.

The Imperial Prince looked up at the woman who was floating up, looking like a solar eclipse.

“You will definitely regret it.”
“The prince wanted a title of nobility from here.”

He responded back.

There was no way that the crown princess, who had walked into the training ground with him, had not heard what he said earlier.

Her pupils were now glowing white.

Cédric did not kneel despite the immense amount of pressure he was feeling.

He could feel ether leaking out of the widened gap in his soul.

“That is why he will remain in the Empire.”
“……”

The crown princess was scarily silent.

She must be planning on paying the Riester Imperial family a hefty sum after taking the throne in the future and having the prince return home.

However, Cédric was not the type of person who would relinquish something in his hand, especially for the heir of an enemy nation’s throne.

He didn’t need treasures. To a dangerous land where the Prince Consort and his lackeys existed……

“You won’t be able to handle a celestial covenant with that weak plate.”

The crown princess’s proclamation snapped the Imperial Prince out of his thoughts.

He firmly grabbed the handle of the Sword of Wisdom and got up.

The red jewel at the tip sparkled as if to respond to the young man’s will.

Elise mumbled.

“Realize your limit.”

– Roooooooooooar……

The earth, air, water, and fire all started to shake.

Elise’s braided hair fluttered ominously.

A bundle of light the size of a fist soon appeared in the sky above her head.

The orb soon grew to the size of a human head before becoming even bigger to the size of a chandelier.

The air instantly turned cold as well.

It was as if all of the heat in the area was being absorbed by it.

Cédric could see his breath despite it being a warm day in July.

His instincts were telling him something. She was opening her stigmata.

“Your Royal Highness!”

He heard someone shouting from somewhere.

Cédric placed the sword in front of him.

Although he may not be able to slice through it, he should be able to defend against it because he had this divine sword…

If he used all of the ether in his body.

– Booboboboooooooooom!

The orb made of flame and heat was now large enough to cover half of the training ground.

Elise slightly raised her left hand.

The sun rose even in the Almighty God’s territory that was called the Kingdom of the Moon. There was someone who conducted the movement of this ball of fire.

The one who leads the sun of the Holy Kingdom.

[Exorien……] (TL Note: No clue. Maybe some sort of incantation?)

It was at that moment.

– Paaaaat!

[One moment please!]

There was a radiant flash and a circle was opened.

Elise saw a pair of purple eyes get in front of her through the bright burst of ether that made it difficult to see.