Chapter 11: Karina

“Young Master!!! Young Master Muno!!”

Clatter clatter.

“Oh my!”

“Be careful!”

“S, sorry! I’m in a hurry……. No, this is no time for that. Young Master!!”

Esna sprinted down the corridor of the Inner Castle as boisterously as ever.

No, she was a little more frantic than usual.

Even knowing she would be scolded by the young master she was looking for, she couldn't stop her feet.

And soon, upon spotting her target staggering down the hallway, she yelled even louder.

“Young Master Muno! Big news! Big news……!!”

Muno stared at Esna, who couldn't continue speaking as she gasped for breath, with hollow eyes.

“What, is it now……?”

A pale face that looked half-dead, with dark circles reaching down to his nose.

Startled for a moment, Esna quickly forced a cheerful smile.

“Y, you look even worse. But this news will really, give you strength……. I think. Maybe.”

“So. What is……?”

Her confidence dwindled under the corpse-like gaze staring intently at her.

Still, she mustered up her courage, wanting to give some strength to the young master who had been so listless lately.

However.

“The Flower of Trian! The Grand Princess of the County has arrived! You won’t believe how pretty she is…….”

“Hmph. Is that so…….”

Before she could even finish her sentence, the zombie-like young master turned away.

“Ah, no, Young Master! I’m telling you, the most beautiful woman in the northern part of the kingdom has come!?

The one they said might or might not come because of ‘that incident’, she came to see you, Young Master…….”

“I said I heard you.”

A reply came without even a glance back.

The zombie's listless voice as he trudged away made it clear to anyone that he had no interest whatsoever in the news just delivered.

In that moment, Esna couldn't help but recall a conversation she had with the Madam a while ago.

- It’s a problem that Muno doesn’t seem interested in parties or engagements.

- Yes?

- If Lian inherits Drasen, Muno’s position will become ambiguous.

Even if Lian or we want him to live with us, Father or my eldest brother won’t leave Muno alone.

- Th, then what?

- We have to get Muno connected with a daughter from the best possible family and have him marry into her family as a live-in son-in-law.

That’s what’s best for him. Trian would be even better.

- W, will that happen?

- Of course. Muno’s weakness is gone now.

Plus, awakening before his coming-of-age is an achievement that even Father will take note of.

I’ve spread a lot of rumors, so the possibility is high enough. Of course, that’s only if Muno wants it.

- ……Why, why do you think he’s refusing?

- I wonder……. I suppose, it’s because he’s still young.

Hmm……. Esna, you try to put some ideas into his head.

- Yees!? Me!?

- You are Muno’s personal servant, so the better the family Muno connects with, the better your own fate will be. Keep that in mind.

Honestly, Esna hadn't understood much of what the Madam had said before, so the last part was the most shocking to her.

‘I have to leave with Young Master Muno.’

Hoo.

She had never even imagined herself leaving Drasen.

‘If the Madam says so, then it must be so.

Because she’s a smart person.’

And in truth, she didn’t dislike the idea.

Esna knew. A noble like Muno, who was tolerant of a servant like her who was noisy and made frequent mistakes, was almost nonexistent.

Besides that.

- Wi, winter, is a hungry, season.

Your family, is it okay?

She didn't want to be separated from the kind young master who even took care of his servants' families' food supply during winter or famine.

‘Come to think of it, it was just his slow speech, he was always smart.’

A better master did not exist.

If that was the case, then for the sake of her own future, and for the young master's sake.

‘I have to get him to meet a wonderful lady, no matter what.’

Esna clenched her fists and once again followed behind Muno.

However.

“Th, the Grand Princess is so pretty, you know.

Her face is like the full moon, her skin is milky white…….”

It was just a pity that the only effort she could make right now was to describe the pretty lady's appearance.

‘Why are you being like this too…….’

I sighed inwardly over and over, glancing resentfully at the chattering Esna.

“The most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life…….”

Ugh.

Her freckled face was flushed and her red hair bounced as if in excitement, which almost felt like she was teasing me.

But I knew she was saying it for my sake, so I couldn't get angry.

And the information she chattered on about wasn't entirely useless to me.

‘The Flower of Trian or whatever, so she came after all? She said she might not.’

That was the most concerning part.

There were a total of nine official nobles under the Trian County. Three Viscounts and six Barons.

Although a Baron was a lower rank than a Viscount, Drasen, as a noble house that strictly possessed its own territory, had no need to unconditionally bow its head to other Viscount families.

In other words, it was fine to deal with the delegations from other noble houses appropriately and send them on their way.

But it was a different story if it was the princess of the Trian County.

The granddaughter of Count Enoch Trian, who was nominally my father's father-in-law, but before that, his lord.

‘It’ll be a problem if the Grand Princess happens to pick me.’

Of course, I'd never received much favor from women in my past or present life, so it wouldn't feel bad.

But right now, I was basically on display as a sort of product.

A genius who awakened before his sixteenth birthday.

The owner of a martial prowess that subdued a 2-Star knight right after awakening.

An adopted son with no ties to Drasen.

‘Meaning, I’m perfect material for a live-in son-in-law.’

I could guess how the words spread to cover up the rumor that a magician had committed a terrorist act would have appeared to the surrounding nobles.

If the Grand Princess was considering staying in Trian instead of marrying out, I couldn't completely ignore the possibility that I might be chosen.

‘I’ll just have to hope the Grand Princess of Trian has no interest in a mere adopted son of no account.’

Even as I thought that, I couldn't help but be bothered by the fact that she had come all the way to Drasen again.

“Sigh…….”

A sigh escaped me on its own.

Perhaps noticing it, Esna suddenly changed the subject.

“Oh, right, knights came with the nobles too! From a giant-like person with a huge build, to even a female knight…….”

She had brought up a topic that would definitely pique my interest.

‘Ah, right. Of course.’

If nobles came, their escort knights would have come with them.

“……Tell me in detail.”

After I subdued Eli and beat up Rodney, the knights of the territory began to avoid sparring with me to a strange degree.

‘Well, I get it.’

The six common knights were no match for me even before I awakened, and now that I had shown a performance that proved I could definitively subdue even 2-Star knights, it was understandable.

So, the only people left who could spar with me were my father and Sir Gunter, a 3-Star knight who was the captain of the knights.

Lately, both of them were so busy preparing for the coming-of-age ceremony and the monster wave that they were living buried in documents, let alone having time for sparring.

In other words, my stress was about to pierce the sky from learning party etiquette I had no interest in from my mother, but there had been no outlet for it.

But, now there was.

“If they’re knights from other territories, they’d be curious about my skills, right?”

As I looked at Esna with a pounding heart, I saw her face turn pale in real time.

The thought, ‘Oops, mistake!’ was written all over her face.

A chuckle escaped me again at Esna’s innocence, but she frantically waved her hands in denial.

“The Madam strictly warned me that you are not to cause any trouble! Absolutely!”

“I know, I know. I’m not that unreasonable.”

“It looks like you’re going to cause trouble!?”

“Nah, no way.”

“Yo, Young Master! Really!? You really can't cause any trouble……!”

Letting Esna’s words go in one ear and out the other, my feet naturally turned towards the guest quarters.

‘Now, I wonder what the skills of the knights from other territories are like.’

Just thinking about an exhilarating spar seemed to relieve some of the stress from the etiquette lessons.

However, even before I left the residence.

Two figures, one large and one small, blocked my path.

“Black hair, unusual greaves and bracers……. Looks like him.”

“Hieeek!”

As Esna took a step back in fright upon seeing the heavy armored knight of enormous build scanning me up and down.

The stunningly beautiful female knight next to him spoke to me.

“Are you Young Master Muno Drasen?”

“Uh, yes…… I am?”

I couldn't confirm the other person's identity, and a stunning beauty, the likes of which I had never seen in this life, was suddenly speaking to me politely, so I ended up stuttering a little.

The moment I was staring blankly at the female knight.

“A pleasure to meet you. We are the knights of the Trian County, Rokam, and Karina.”

Thump.

The giant, who looked well over 2 meters tall, and the blonde beauty struck the armor over their hearts with their right hands and bowed their heads slightly in a show of respect.

And at the same time.

“By order of Princess Roanna Trian, we have come to confirm the Young Master’s skills.”

They said something completely unexpected.

“So it turned out like this…….”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Ah, I mean that it’s what I was hoping for.”

I replied with a grin to the female knight, Karina’s, words.

“Are you serious?”

“Of course. I was just on my way to the guest quarters.”

At those words, a peculiar light flickered in Rokam and Karina’s eyes.

Honestly, their request was, from an objective standpoint, a rude one.

- Seeing how he reacts to a rude proposal would be a good way to check his character.

Recalling Lady Roanna's order, Karina gave an awkward smile.

She hadn't expected her opponent to actually welcome the request for a spar.

‘Well, I guess it doesn't matter?’

In any case, their main objective today wasn't to observe Muno Drasen's character.

If the other party wanted it, then it was a relief.

“……I heard it hasn't been long since you awakened. And yet you subdued a 2-Star knight.”

“Well, it was thanks to a good matchup.”

Seeing Muno shrug, Karina offered a similar smile.

“That incident caught Lady Roanna’s attention.

Enough for her to make the journey here despite the opposition of her father, the Grand Prince.”

“……That’s an honor.”

Muno said, frowning slightly.

‘Has he not heard the rumors about the lady?’

Karina tilted her head at him, then continued nonchalantly.

“If the Young Master’s skills are not as great as the rumors say, the lady plans to return to her family as is. The honor held by the Flower of Trian…….”

“Hey. I don’t like a lot of pointless talk, let’s just have a bout. Isn’t that why you came?”

The moment Muno cut her off with a fierce smile, the giant knight Rokam, who had been standing behind him, also stepped forward with a fierce smile.

Thump.

“Common knight of the Trian Knightly Order, Rokam. I request a spar with the Grand Prince of Drasen.”

Rokam, planting a greatsword as enormous as his build into the ground as he introduced himself.

A common knight from the Trian Knightly Order, which was top-tier even in the kingdom, would be a 2-Star, and judging by the aura emanating from that massive frame and a face that looked to be in his 20s at best, he was clearly a promising talent among them.

But Muno’s gaze was not on him, but on Karina.

“I want to fight you.”

At those words, both Rokam and Karina’s expressions soured slightly.

“If you are underestimating Sir Karina because she is a woman, you are mistaken…….”

“No, it’s because you look stronger. Aren’t you at least a 3-Star?”

“Ha…….”

Karina let out a slight smile at Muno’s reply, which cut off Rokam’s words.

“You have good intuition. But do you know that you are being just as reckless?”

Her words were an admission that she was a superhuman who had undergone three evolutions.

The reality was that the majority of people remained at 1-Star or 2-Star their whole lives, unable to grow any further.

To be a 3-Star at an age that appeared to be in her mid-20s meant she was a genius of practically unheard-of proportions, so her confidence was understandable.

However, for Muno, that was no reason not to spar.

“Reckless? It’s wise.

What a great opportunity it is to be able to fight a strong person without worrying about my life.

Ah, if by any chance there’s no limit to the number of bouts, I’d like to fight Sir Rokam there too.”

At those words, smiles appeared on both Rokam and Karina’s faces simultaneously.

Although there were differences depending on the Evolution Factor one received, Corporeal Arts was fundamentally about pushing the body to its limits and surpassing them.

As superhumans who had evolved their bodies beyond the limits of ordinary people, Corporeal Arts users naturally tended to have a strong fighting spirit.

That was why they couldn't help but feel a sense of kinship in Muno’s reaction.

However.

“Besides, it’s an honor to be able to compete with such a beauty.”

It was Muno's attempt to lighten the mood, half-joking and half-serious.

But the moment she heard those words, Karina’s expression hardened noticeably.

“A knight does not tolerate insults, Prince.”

Clang.

The rapier she drew in an instant was already emanating a palpable killing intent.

……Why?

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