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Chapter 16: An Unexpected Proposal
A year had passed since the Emperor’s birthday banquet, and Eurius was wracking his brain with a dilemma.
‘What am I missing?’
He had fought countless battles with superhumans.
“Your highness, your progress is truly remarkable!”
Even the stone-faced Count Carlos praised him for mastering the basics of swordsmanship that he had lacked.
But that was not what he wanted.
That was the problem.
He wondered if it was a matter of the amount of force, so he tried taking force stones with high purity.
He sparred with Count Carlos every time as if it were a real fight. But he never managed to break through the Count’s defense.
“You seem anxious. But don’t worry, the moment of enlightenment will come someday.”
‘Ah! That’s easy for you to say! You already know what that enlightenment is!’
He scratched his head nervously again.
His physical aptitude was incomparable to his previous life. He had accumulated experience in real combat with superhumans at a relatively young age.
He should be in a much better condition than his previous life, but he still couldn’t reach the fourth stage.
‘Open Player Help.’
[Force Control-4th Stage is opened.]
[4th Stage-The stage where you can use force according to your own personality. For players, you may also create your own unique skill. To reach this stage, certain conditions must be met.]
[How to reach the 4th Stage-There is no information or you lack achievements to open this information.]
[Enlightenment-According to the dictionary definition, it means to understand something by thinking and pondering. In a religious sense, it means nirvana etc……]
‘No, I need more specific information than that!’
This time, he grabbed his hair as if he wanted to tear it out. How was this vague knowledge supposed to help him?
The most incomprehensible part of his ‘player’ ability was this [help] and [achievement] feature.
‘It’s like they’re mocking me!’
Help was literally help.
It explained the knowledge he wanted to know as if it were obvious. It was not a function that gave him a guideline to solve a problem.
Achievement was also the same. He understood the principle of this a little bit.
‘I have to achieve something that I didn’t in my previous life to go up.’
He had never received a message saying that his achievement had increased since he created the quad-core.
These two functions were something he had to figure out sooner or later. There must be some secret he hadn’t noticed yet.
Eurius had gained unimaginable benefits as a player so far.
In a year, the construction of the northern road would be finished. It was also the year when he would have his coming-of-age ceremony.
‘I don’t have much time left.’
Eurius pondered and pondered, but he couldn’t think of a solution.
‘Maybe I underestimated it too much.’
The fourth stage was a realm that only about ten people in his entire previous life had achieved. It was the dream of superhumans. It might have been too ambitious to aim for it in just four years.
But salvation came from an unexpected place.
“First Prince Your Majesty, His Majesty the Emperor summons you.”
“Father?”
It was rare for the busy Emperor to call him for anything other than regular reports.
Eurius felt curious and visited the palace.
“First Prince Eurius Your Majesty has arrived.”
“Haha, how have you been? I heard you’ve been working hard on your martial arts.”
The Emperor looked at him with gentle eyes, and next to him was a familiar face.
“Your highness! I’m glad to see you again.”
Next to the Emperor was Marius, who had been away in the far north for the construction work.
“Marius! You’re back for a while! You should have told me you were coming.”
Eurius made a disappointed expression. But he was full of questions in his head.
‘Why did Marius come back without telling me? He has a lot of work to do.’
Even though they were far apart, he and Marius had built a solid trust as old accomplices.
If there was something important enough for him to return to the palace, he would have let him know beforehand. But this time, he didn’t hear anything from him.
‘What’s going on?’
Ignoring Eurius’s questions, the Emperor finally got to the point.
“First, read this letter.”
He took the letter and read it.
It was a letter sent directly to the Emperor, so it had a lot of diplomatic formalities, but the summary was like this.
[To the Great Emperor of the Scharnos Empire, I, Marius the Minister of Administration, humbly request your permission. I have heard that the First Prince Your Majesty has shown exceptional talent in martial arts.
…(skipped)…
But soon, the First Prince Your highness will be of age! Before he starts his official activities, he needs proof that he is fit to inherit the throne in both civil and military affairs. That’s why I dare to ask for your permission to educate the First Prince, Your Majesty.]
“So, Father, you want me to go on a short-term study abroad to another country?”
Marius quickly supplemented his words.
“Yes. I think Your highness already knows about the Savior Academy of the Holy Kingdom.”
[Savior Academy.]
He knew well about the reputation of that educational institution where the best talents of the continent gathered.
“But Father, I heard that it’s not easy to get in there with just a simple status or donation?”
Marius spoke for him again.
“Actually, you know that I graduated from that academy. And… ahem!”
He cleared his throat and explained the reason with a sheepish expression.
“The person who is in charge of that academy is actually an old friend of mine. I suggested it to him. He said that if I recommend you, he will make an exception and let you graduate from the academy with just a short-term study abroad.”
Eurius understood and clicked his tongue.
‘I’m screwed.’
The Savior Academy of the Holy Kingdom was a kind of civil service exam where the best talents of the continent gathered and were tested. Not only Marius, but also many famous people such as sages, politicians, and powerful nobles from various places had graduated from there.
Going there for a short-term study abroad was an intention to make him build up his career in the ‘civil’ part of civil and military affairs, which he lacked the most!
He probably felt sorry for making this decision without consulting him beforehand. That’s why he looked embarrassed.
‘I didn’t know Marius had such a connection.’
This was something he didn’t know in his previous life either. It was an unexpected move by Marius, but Eurius wasn’t angry.
He always cared about him even from afar. Wasn’t this proof of that?
Going to study abroad would definitely help him establish his position.
‘But there’s nothing I can do about bad timing.’
“Sir Marius, and Father. I’m truly grateful for your consideration of this unworthy son. But!”
Eurius was determined to reject their offer. His urgent priority was to break through the wall of superhuman as soon as possible. He had no time to spare for academic pursuits.
“I heard that place is the hall of knowledge where the best talents of the continent gather.”
Indeed.
The status of Savior Academy in the continent was literally the holy land of knowledge!
Even if he was the emperor, his current evaluation of academics was not very good.
If he went there and failed to behave well, he would tarnish the reputation of the imperial family.
Of course, Mareus knew that he had no problem with academic knowledge. But the emperor did not, so he had to appeal that point well and he might be able to get away with it.
But even after hearing Eurius’s excuse, the emperor and Marius exchanged secret glances.
‘He won’t bite at once, huh?’
‘It’s fortunate that we have a second plan ready.’
The emperor smiled slyly and called his attendant.
“Bring them in!”
“!?”
Eurius looked at the attendant and the emperor with a puzzled expression.
“I greet the first prince of the empire.”
A group of people entered the hall.
They quickly bowed to Eurius and greeted him.
“……!?”
When he showed a bewildered expression, the envoy who was at the front opened his mouth.
“Your Highness, we are the envoys from the Dios ducal house of the Holy Kingdom.”
“What?”
Eurius was too shocked to respond.
The Dios ducal house was Beatrix’s family, wasn’t it? Why were they looking for him?
Seeing his surprised reaction, the envoy also looked slightly flustered.
“…….”
But at this point, Eurius had no connection with Duke Dios. Realizing that he overreacted, he quickly pretended that nothing happened.
“Haha, the Dios ducal house is the guardian family of the Holy Kingdom that is famous in the continent, right? As a person who learns swordsmanship, I have always admired Duke Dios, who is a superhuman.”
He laughed and brushed it off, and the envoy sighed in relief.
‘Phew, at least he has a good impression of the ducal house. That’s a relief.’
Then the emperor spoke again.
“Actually, I received a proposal from Duke Dios regarding your study abroad, and I wanted to hear your opinion.”
“A proposal for me?”
The emperor nodded at the envoy, and the envoy began to explain.
“The Holy Kingdom may be a foreign country, but your Highness’s amazing swordsmanship has already spread widely……”
“Ah, just get to the point. I don’t like beating around the bush.”
If he let him go on, he would have to spend at least ten minutes listening to awkward praises before getting to the main issue.
Eurius cut him off sharply and looked at him. The envoy told him the main point.
“Actually, Duke Dios likes young people who have outstanding swordsmanship. He heard about your Highness’s feat last year and wanted to meet you in person.”
“So you’re inviting me to the Holy Kingdom?”
The envoy quickly answered.
“That’s not all. I also heard that your Highness wanted to learn from a superhuman who has reached that realm.”
“So what?”
“Duke Dios said that if your Highness wishes, he can personally guide you during your study abroad period.”
Eurius stared at him incredulously.
“You want me to believe that?”
Duke Dios was one of the top martial artists in the continent.
Why would he bother to teach a foreign prince?
“I assure you. Here is an official letter from His Grace.”
“I didn’t believe it at first either, but it seems to be true.”
The emperor also nodded at him. He couldn’t help but believe it.
“I’ll go.”
“Hehe, I know it’s a sudden proposal, but… what?”
“I said I’ll go.”
And so Eurius’s trip to the Holy Kingdom was decided in an instant.