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Bratt Lloyd a noble of the Gerbera Kingdom and the eldest son of the Lloyd family.
Although he possessed confidence worthy of his status and ability equal to that, in his childhood he was often told to be arrogant.
It was unavoidable.
Because in the entire kingdom, no one the same age as Bratt could compare to him.
‘Well, I was a frog in the well.’
Two people appeared before him at that time, Ilya Lindsay and Irene Pareira.
They gave Bratt Lloyd a clear idea on what a ‘real genius’ is.
Fortunately, he acknowledged Ilya Lindsay.
She was a member of a prestigious family with a long history, at that she was a descendant of Dion Lindsay, who beheaded the Demon Dragon King 400 years ago.
And it wasn’t a secret how they were unable to rise above the Duke’s position, it was because of the checks of their king.
However, Irene Pareira was a different case.
He wasn’t acknowledged.
Incomprehensible talent.
Will of steel.
Watching him catch up and overtake him at a mysterious speed throughout the year, Bratt felt a deep sense of frustration and deprivation.
Of course, he didn’t have any bad feelings towards him.
Rather, he was grateful for something.
He awakened Bratt’s narrow-mindedness, made him aware of his shortcomings, and made him grow into a solid person suited to be the eldest son of the Lloyd family.
He sincerely cheered for Irene.
May Irene Pareira finish the homework given to him by the schoolmaster and return to Krono.
He hoped to meet him again with smiles on their faces.
However…
‘I didn’t think we would meet here.’
Bratt looked at Irene with unfazed eyes.
No, it wasn’t like he wanted to, but his heart didn’t seem so strong now.
He knew about the letter from the Pareira estate four years ago.
And he understood their reasons. Because he knew how painful it was to be blocked by a wall.
The reason he gave up after sending a couple letters to the estate was because he didn’t want to burden Irene.
But the situation is different now.
It seemed like he was traveling the continent with an expressionless face and a different feel.
‘No, did he always look like this?’
He felt confused.
However, it was obvious that he was doing much better than he thought, which made Bratt angry.
There was slight anger in Bratt’s eyes as he moved closer.
“Irene, what the hell we…”
Bratt Lloyd called out his name, and he moved closer to Irene.
“Stop.”
“…?”
A black cat suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Followed by an Orc with a strong physique.
The two of them moved close to Irene as they narrowed their eyes and looked at Bratt.
They were evaluating Bratt.
“He’s a strong one.”
“Yes. Very strong.”
“From the point of view of a spiritualist, all five elements are in balance. And there seem to be quite a few variables… Lulu, what do you think?”
“I don’t think he’s a bad person. Still, he’s a strong one, so shouldn’t we be careful?”
“… Irene?”
“Wait. Bratt. Just one minute”
Bratt called Irene for the third time.
Now he was trying to ask him to explain what kind of relationship he had with the beings next to him.
Irene Pareira, who cleared his mind, spoke to Lulu and Kuvar.
“No need to be on alert. This is my… friend from swordsmanship school. Bratt Lloyd.”
“Ah, that young man you mentioned a few times?”
“Then I guess this is safe?”
“Huh, and… Bratt. These are people I call teachers. This is Kuvar, a fortune teller and spiritualist, and this is Lulu, a sorcerer.”
“Hehe, teachers… you flatter us too much. Nice to meet you, I’m Kuvar.”
“I’m Lulu. Irene’s sorcery teacher.”
“We had to go through something difficult a month ago, so please forgive me for being on guard. When a strong person appears, I reflexively become alert…”
“… ah, I see.”
Bratt Lloyd nodded. His angry eyes softened lightly.
Kuvar's words cleared a little misunderstanding, but Irene’s words melted his heart.
‘Friend…’
It wasn’t like he forgot Irene either.
At those words, Bratt’s lips almost rose into a smile, but he forced himself to hold his expression.
And organized his thoughts.
There were a lot of things he wanted to say, but not a single thing came out of his mouth.
He shook his head with a sigh.
“There are so many things I want to ask, but I don’t know where to start.”
“I also have a lot of things I want to say.”
“Did you know? I returned to the school again. I’m an official trainee of Krono.”
“Ah, I heard. From the schoolmaster and Lance Peterson.”
“Schoolmaster? Lance Peterson? You went to the main school?”
“Huh. To talk about the homework…”
It was when Irene was trying to tell him about what happened.
A loud voice ran out and he went silent. It was Judith.
Irene and Bratt, who turned their heads at the shout, looked back at each other.
“Let’s solve that first and then talk.”
“… does that happen often?”
“I don’t really have a say, and it doesn’t seem weird to me anymore. Hmm… hey, can I ask you something?”
“Are you talking to me?”
“Exactly, I’d like to hear about the fight, and if you tell me about it objectively, I’ll give you a silver coin.”
“Oh, sure.”
Bratt spoke to one of the onlookers.
Since he couldn’t jump right into it, he decided to figure out whose fault it was.
Judith was bound to claim her innocence, whether or not she started it.
It was much more accurate to listen to a third party’s words.
The man was that, but he was a bit different…
“You see that red-haired girl, I was looking at her, so I can explain it very well. Her eyebrows were slightly raised and her fluttering red hair was so attractive that it caught my eye. Oh! Are you colleagues? Sorry. I mean, it wasn’t that I was staring or… ah, okay? Thank you, thank you. Anyways, what was I saying! Ah! The woman quietly ordered a meal by herself and sat down, ah, she ordered a beer in the meantime? So…”
“… can we just skip to where the fight started?”
“Ah, sorry. I’m a very talkative person…”
The man spoke the truth after Bratt urged him.
Shockingly, the fault wasn’t with Judith but the other side.
Judith was sitting and drinking her beer waiting for her meal, when three men including some rich man asked her to join them.
Of course, she refused but somehow an argument broke out and in the process Judith showed her silver card mercenary badge.
That was the real problem, the men started to say that she forged the badge.
“They are bad ones.”
“So rude!”
Lulu and Kuvar seemed annoyed.
However, the emotions Irene felt were different from theirs.
With a shocked expression, he asked Bratt.
“… is she actually controlling herself?”
“Hm?”
“She isn’t hitting the opponents but arguing. The Judith I know is…”
“Ah, about that. It’s because of my hard training on her. You can call me a ‘Judith training expert’.”
“…”
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Nothing.”
Irene shook his head and thought. Not just Judith but even Bratt seemed to have changed.
He had the same noble air around him, but there seemed to be a bit of leeway added to him.
‘He seems to be enjoyi…’
While he was in thought, Bratt nodded and plunged into the quarrel.
Irene, who was with Lulu and Kuvar, also followed him.
Whatever the situation was, he didn’t want to delay meeting Judith.
“These bastards, let me show you! It will be very nice. I think I should stab you in your belly and then you can brag that a silver card mercenary hit you!”
“Oh-oh, look at your rough mouth. If not, are you that kind of woman? Not bad. Quite attractive.”
“Right. Exactly our master’s taste.”
“No shit, where did you learn to act like a dog…”
“Judith.”
“Ah, Bratt! How long was your bathroom break? Are you constipated?”
“…”
“Don’t answer, I need to deal with these men. No, you are good with these kinds of people. Words don’t seem to work on them. Or maybe we should be prepared to get dragged out after… uh? Uhuh?”
Judith, who was swearing at them and praising Bratt at the same time, looked behind him.
Irene Pareira!
She screamed inside and walked towards him. One of the three men stopped her.
“We aren’t done talking, but… euk!”
Judith grabbed the arm of the man and threw him away in an instant.
Seeing the man crumpled on the floor, the one who was called master, was startled.
‘N-No my escort…’
The person she threw was shy, stinky and a little tough, but how could a woman subdue him like that?
As he was thinking, someone stood in front of him.
A man with blue hair stood ahead.
It was Bratt Lloyd.
“Did you argue with my colleague?”
“… ah, no.”
The master, Cora Murray gulped.
It was weird.
An unknown sense of intimidation emanated from the young man.
Rather than intimidation from a swordsman, it was the kind of air which only revolved around powerful nobles.
‘No, why is such a person here?’
Cora Murray bit his lower lip.
He was the lovable son of the Murray family. Feeling that intimidation, he said.
“It was because that woman over there said something unbelievable…”
“What did she say?”
“… she said she has a silver rank…”
It was really weird.
He is Cora Murray, the son of the Murray family, who doesn’t have to care about anything… still, meeting the eyes of the blue-haired man was difficult.
But thanks to his arrogance, he finished what he wanted to say.
“I see. That was what you were wondering. Then let me show it to you.”
“Huh?”
Cora Murray, who looked at him, frowned.
Is the man going to pull out his sword?
Was he threatening him?
Fortunately that wasn’t the case.
Bratt Lloyd.
“If you are the son of the Murray family, then you can fight, right?”
“Sure, but with whom…”
“One of us has to answer, but of course the red-haired one and the other could be…”
The blue-haired man pointed to Irene Pareira.
“The blonde one?”
“… Bratt?
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“Prepare a stage for you and Irene to compete against each other.” ⁽¹⁾
“Oh-oh! What! Sounds nice!”
Judith smiled despite being angry.
Seeing that, Bratt laughed too, and Lulu, Kuvar, and Cora who didn’t understand, looked blank.
Even Irene was a little confused.
But then, like Bratt and Judith, he smiled.
‘Lance Peterson, these guys too. They’re all the same.’
They were more like swordsmen than others, Irene nodded.
“I like the offer.”
He, too, seemed to understand the emotions of swordsmen to some extent.
Editor’s Note
⁽¹⁾ “You and Irene” meaning Judith and Irene, he switched to talking to Judith.