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Critical Situation
“So, can I talk to the princess now? It’s a pain having to use you as a intermediary.”
“You could first start by fixing your own tone or else.”
“That’s enough Gautier, you can stand back now………….I have yet to introduce myself haven’t I? I am this country’s—–Meldrake Kingdom’s 3rd princess, Charlotte Victoria Meldrake.” (T/N: yes this middle name is different to the one in the side story 5. I have no idea why either)
Her attire was clearly more valuable than even Gautier’s armour, although a bit dirty right now. Every ornament, every piece of cloth on her body was gorgeous yet her own beauty could easily overshadow all of those.
Furthermore, as she elegantly made her introduction………..even though we were in a dirty back alley, when the princess made the gesture, it was as if the back alley suddenly became a lot more prettier as well for a second.
That said her gaze from before, like she was looking at trash was still in my head, and so was her bad attitude afterwards.
Yet, the fact that she was able to make even me be taken aback like that was proof that this princess lived in a world completely different than my own.
“I know you’ve already heard it, but once again, I’m Chris. Nice to meet you.”
That doesn’t mean I’ll bend my back over for her.
I will talk to her like we are equals, nothing more.
She frowned for a second seeing me not change my attitude even one bit , but quickly returned back to her serious face.
But behind her, the knight Gautier was already seemingly pulling his word out but the princess quickly gestured to make him stop.
“Your attitude alone is proof enough, you are indeed that Klaus’ older brother………I can look over a little bit of rudeness but, if you overstep your boundaries, I will kill you so be prepared.”
“I’m not the type to change my attitude regardless of who I’m talking to so don’t expect much. Also, if you do try to kill me, I’m not gonna show mercy either just because you’re some princess, so YOU be prepared okay?”
Against the princess who spoke with killing intent, I retorted back with killing intent as well.
——-in that instant, the knight called Guatier who had been restrained once, and had stopped his hands, this time fully pulled out his sword and slashed his sword towards me.
Thanks to [Perception Enhancement] I wasn’t surprised by it, and blocked his attack with my own sword.
[Flesh Enhancement][Fortification][Iron Wall] were instantly activated, and I had blocked him with perfect timing but——-it was like when I had blocked the bear-like monster’s attack in Peixa forest.
I had gained so many skills and gotten incomparably stronger since then, yet I was unable to completely kill the force and my legs slid back a few meters.
My hands felt numb, and the force of the attack had reverberated to my core.
But because of this Gautier’s sudden attack, something snapped inside my head too.
Almost unconsciously, I activated [War Dance][Physical Ability boost][Ability Unleashed], then I activated [Leg Strength Enhancement][Gale] to cover the distance back and then further used [Strong Arm] and [Hard Hit]——–and then unleashed a slash at Gautier with the intent to kill.
But right before my sword made an impact with Gautier, I returned to  my senses. And remembered, that things would get really messy if I actually killed him, regardless of how I felt about him.
I quickly tried to cancel my skills but, before my sword hit, the only ones I managed to cancel were [Ability unleashed] and [Hard Hit].
This intense counter attack from me assaulted Gautier but, Gautier quickly used the greatshield in his right arm to enter a guard stance.
“[Shield of the Guardian][Dragon Light Wall].”
A yell that seemed to make the ground rumble, Gautier activated two skills.
The greatshield shone brightly with light, and the dark back alley seemed to turn bright like it was midday.
It was a pressure only chosen ones could use just like Klaus’ [Sacred Slash].
I was regretting only deactivating [Ability Unleashed] and [Hard hit] but, now I was regretting the fact that I deactivated even those two———as I swung my sword down with full strength.
The impact was clean.
A normal adventurer would have been cut into two alongside the shield itself but Gautier, like me, simply slid back a few meters from the impact and had managed to block my attack.
From just this little exchange I knew, that this guy was much stronger than I had imagined.
Not just in terms of raw strength, but I could tell he had trained and honed his body to the utmost limit.
‘Against him, I could really go all out.’
I could feel the fire in his eyes as he looked at me from behind his shield, and in the same breath both of us readied to lunge at each other again when——-
“Cease this!”
“Please stop!”
The two to get in our way were, the Princess and Esta.
And instantly, with the same timing, both me and Gautier stopped our attacks.
I lost my cool when I got attacked, regained it back during the attack, lost it again when I sensed Gautier’s strength, and then now finally returned back to my senses from Esta’s intervention.
Gautier as well, stopped the moment the Princess stood in his path, and instantly sheathed his sword.
“Charlotte-sama, I humbly ask for your forgiveness. I lost myself in rage.”
“Gautier, no need to apologize. If you hadn’t, I probably would have attacked instead a second later……..But, I stopped you because I feel that this Klaus’ older brother who was able to stop your attack was valuable, that’s all.”
In a volume that I could also hear, the princess spoke so.
I probably shouldn’t be talking but, seriously, this princess and her knight were too hotheaded.
“Esta, thanks for stopping me, I almost killed him.”
“Chris-san, please be careful, you are already being pursued by the [Sword God] himself, killing the princess’ close associate would make you a wanted man in Edestor—-no, the entire country.”
As a response, I also spoke that in a loud enough volume to instigate the princess and Gautier and Esta totally went along with it to further flame them.
‘if it had continued, I would have killed Gautier’——-in response to my words, I could see the veins pop on Gautier’s temples again and his body was trembling like he could launch another attack at any moment.
“Gautier, calm down. I will talk to Klaus’ older brother alongside Mielle, so go and take a breather away from us………there, why not go talk to that poor looking boy or something?”
She pointed towards Ralf who was watching our battle with shining eyes, and venomously spoke as she ordered Gautier.
“If you intend to talk to him, it is too dangerous without me by your side.”
“Gautier, this is an order. If you cannot even follow my orders………”
“Very well. Forgive my rudeness.”
Before she could finish the sentence, Gautier gave a deep bow and walked away from the princess and moved past me.
As he crossed by me, he openly glared at me and loudly clicked his tongue.
“Forgive the rudeness of my escort. Now then, let’s call Mielle back and have a chat towards forming a hopefully nice partnership.”
“Yeah, sure, I’m in your care.”
With Mielle who looked genuinely displeased from being called back, me and the Princess began our talks about building a partnership to overthrow, if not outright kill, our common enemy, Klaus.
(T/N: PSA we’re almost caught up with JP Raws with the advance chapters if you’re interested)