I couldn’t understand the purpose for which the knights had brought me here.
I wasn’t even sure if there was a purpose at all.
They just stood there, scanning me with their eyes, and the captain of the guards, who stood beside me, didn’t seem to have any intention of doing anything either. He only explained about the knights.
As time passed, the captain seemed to run out of things to say and began talking about how important it was to take good care of a sword.
How much time passed, I wonder? I saw Seria running from beyond, and the captain, as if waiting for her, reacted dramatically and rushed to meet her.
“Princess! What brings you here?”
“What else would I be here for? I came to take Rudion back! Stop bothering him and let him go already.”
“Haha. Bothering him? What are you talking about? We were simply trying to see if this man is suitable to stand by Your Highness’s side…”
“No more excuses. My father called for him, so let him go now.”
Thanks to Seria pulling me by the hand, I was able to escape. I didn’t look back since I could feel the unsettling stares from behind, but I assumed they were all thinking the same thing.
“I wish the princess would grab me and drag me around.”
“You idiot. Keep those thoughts to yourself.”
Yeah, thoughts like that.
By this point, I wondered if I should change my title in the Imperial Knights to “Seria’s Follower.”
It seemed that Seria wasn’t lying when she said her father had called, as she immediately led me to where the Emperor was.
Two knights stood guarding the magnificent door, and when they saw Seria, they immediately stepped aside without saying a word and began to open it.
Creeeak—
What is this chill I feel through the crack of the door? Is it murderous intent?
The door finally opened wide, revealing the Imperial Throne at the far end of the long room.
Of course, the Emperor was seated there, and we moved toward him.
As we approached, the eyes of the many knights guarding the interior turned to me, but having just experienced the gaze of so many knights earlier, I didn’t feel much of a reaction.
We reached the Emperor’s throne, and… I guess I should greet him first.
“I greet the Sun of the Empire.”
I didn’t know much about royal etiquette, but I did what I could, offering a polite greeting.
Seria looked at me with a slightly surprised expression.
Well, why? I know how to show respect too.
However, it seemed that the great Emperor didn’t appreciate my greeting very much.
No, to be exact, he probably just didn’t like me.
“Lift your head.”
I raised my head as I was, maintaining my respectful posture, and met the Emperor’s gaze.
With his blonde hair and gold eyes, it was obvious he was Seria’s father.
Not only was he Seria’s father, but he was also the Emperor of the Lubetia Empire. He had a surprisingly youthful appearance for his age.
Though, it was just his looks. His actions were no different from an old man’s.
But I shouldn’t disrespect him just because of that.
His strength wasn’t at the top tier when considering the entire world, but he was strong enough to be considered in the upper ranks.
He could probably survive being thrown into the middle of a battlefield and come back alive.
Apart from that, he had many other talents.
Despite his image as a doting father, he certainly lived up to the name of Emperor.
It was only natural that he would dote on Seria, his late-born daughter.
Having only three sons before her, and then a long gap before Seria was born, she must be incredibly precious to him.
Because of that, I was prepared to accept anything the Emperor said.
Although I had never been in love, I could understand the feelings of a father cherishing his late-born daughter.
The Emperor slowly looked me over and asked,
“I’ve heard. You’re always together, aren’t you?”
“…Yes, that’s correct.”
I honestly answered, figuring lying wouldn’t work.
At that, the Emperor furrowed his brow and…
“Execution. Take him away and prepare for the execution right away.”
“Pardon?”
He immediately sentenced me to death.
With a snap, a group of knights surrounded me in perfect order as soon as the Emperor’s words were spoken.
Through the knights, I saw the faces of the Imperial Guard Captain and the Knight Commander.
No wonder they weren’t seen earlier when I was dragged to the knights. They must have been waiting here.
The atmosphere wasn’t particularly heavy, so I didn’t think they were really going to execute me.
That said, I didn’t want to be dragged away from here, so I quickly called for help from Seria…
“I promised my father I wouldn’t interfere. Please just play along for a bit. Sorry?”
What came back was nothing but a cold betrayal.
The Captain of the Guards must have been bought time by the Emperor to negotiate with Seria.
Whatever the case, Seria’s betrayal was shocking.
…Though, not that shocking. I think I’ll pretend to be shocked and tease her for a while. Just imagining it already feels fun.
Anyway, with no one to help me, I was dragged away helplessly.
I had underestimated the love he had for his daughter. I was thinking such foolish thoughts.
The place I was dragged to was once again the Imperial Knights.
To be more specific, it was the training grounds of the Imperial Knights, which was a very large area from what I could tell.
“Go stand in the center.”
The Knight Commander, who had been guarding my side, said that, so I obediently followed.
I shouldn’t act arrogantly around him. Right now, there are only a handful of people who could defeat the Knight Commander.
I had a rough idea of what they were planning, so I wasn’t anxious or questioning anything.
“Draw the sword at your waist. Ah, don’t worry. We’ll be using wooden practice swords, so just think of it as loosening up your body.”
From the Knight Commander’s words, I could tell my guess had been right.
To explain a bit, within this Imperial Knights, there exists a document titled “The Conditions of a Man Fit for the Princess.” I won’t go into how to find it because it’s a bit long-winded, but one of the conditions was, of course, a strong fighting ability.
Of course, they wouldn’t expect too much from a first-year student at the academy, but perhaps they created this situation just to remind me of my place.
In short, if I couldn’t even handle something like this, they probably wanted me to just drop out of the competition.
“Well then, as previously decided, you will be the one to face him.”
“Are you sure I have to do it? After all, I’m just a first-year student.”
“That’s exactly why you should step forward.”
“I won’t be held responsible if I get hurt.”
As I drew my sword, one of the knights holding a wooden practice sword stepped forward.
They must have prepared for this because, unlike the others, he wasn’t in full armor but in casual clothes. This confidence must come from the belief that my attacks wouldn’t land on them.
If it were just to loosen up, no one would be foolish enough to wear armor that would make them slow.
There were more than just a few knights, and since I hadn’t seen everyone in the game individually, I didn’t know exactly who my opponent was.
However, since this person had been selected by the Knight Commander, he was surely highly skilled.
At the very least, he must be on the level of the missing vice president, right?
Hmm… When an academy student faces off against an active knight, it does seem a bit one-sided, but that’s not because the knights are weak. It’s just that the student council is amazing.
In a world with talent-based power inflation, it can’t be helped.
Honestly, excluding the commanders and vice commanders, our student council president, Alkine, would probably be enough to handle this.
I digress, but with that level of skill, they shouldn’t fail at controlling their strength, even if it’s a mistake.
That’s probably why they brought me to this point.
“Now, I hear you’re quite skilled. Show me what you can do.”
Although I was dragged here by force, it didn’t seem like they had any intention of bullying me.
…Well, they probably had some intent to bully me, but I guessed they wanted to check my skills first. Maybe.
“Please, go easy on me.”
There was no way to avoid this. I just had to go with the flow.
Thinking that, I subtly raised my sword and took my stance… when suddenly, a familiar face popped out from among the knights.
“Rudion! I’m here to watch!”
“Seria?”
“Your Highness?!”
The knights who had brought me here were taken completely by surprise by Seria’s sudden appearance.
I guess so. They had secretly brought me here to test my skills, planning to subtly criticize me, saying things like I wasn’t fit for the princess.
But if she showed up like this, they couldn’t do any of that.
The Knight Commander, too, hadn’t expected Seria to show up, so he hurriedly approached her and began explaining the current situation.
But whatever he said, Seria’s response was completely unexpected.
“Huh? There’s no need for that. It’s fine, just go all out!”
…Seria? I’m grateful that you trust me, but isn’t that a bit too much to say?
These knights are part of the Imperial Knights, and they have a certain pride in their skills.
Hearing such a statement would surely hurt their pride.
“Hahaha! Well, since the princess said so, I suppose there’s no reason to hold back. Did you hear that! Go all out!”
“I was planning to do that anyway.”
After hearing Seria’s words, the knights, who had been perfectly composed just moments before, suddenly lost their rationality.
The truly absurd part was that they didn’t seem angry—they seemed to have lost their reason.
If their pride had been wounded and they were angry, they might have reacted differently, but losing their reason meant…
“I never thought the princess, who’s so intelligent, rational, and always speaks the truth, would say something like that.”
“It seems like the princess has fallen under his spell. It’s time to remove that delusion.”
It was all because of Seria.
“How dare you trample on Her Highness’s pure insight. Prepare yourself!”
One of the knights, having lost his reason, muttered such nonsense and rushed at me.
The wooden practice sword now surrounded by magical energy, they no longer even pretended to hold back.
I’m losing my mind! These guys are out of their minds!!