Sven passed the preliminaries without difficulty.
Cheers erupted from the group of Liberda citizens.
With a smug expression, Sven pointed at the ones he had defeated.
"Hey, you guys. You're weak."
Watching that, Yuri murmured,
"I want to flick him on the forehead..."
He would soon go and teach him humility with his fists.
Unaware of Yuri's inner thoughts, Sven strutted off the stage.
Since time was limited, the preliminaries proceeded quickly.
"Your sword is not even a stream. It's just ditch water."
"Ugh..."
"But even that ditch water will eventually flow into the sea. Strive to wield a sword as vast as the sea, like mine."
Froin passed as Bursen's representative.
"Too easy."
The Holy Kingdom's Fenek and Sibylla also advanced to the finals with ease.
The duke's son, with his slicked-back hair, won comfortably, and Hasan quietly subdued his opponents without a word.
Though participants came from various nations, most of those who advanced were from the Empire.
"The Empire has some amazing talent."
"Right? Hahahaha..."
At Yuri's words, Ragna burst out laughing. But his expression wasn't entirely bright.
He had just learned that the Imperial Prince was spreading corruption within the Empire. His thoughts must have been complicated.
As evening approached, Laurent appeared on the final stage.
Five men stood on the platform.
Looking at Laurent, Ragna said,
"Laurent's a solid guy. Still, it would've been nice if you had entered, Yuri."
"I wanted to join too, but..."
"But?"
"I've been busy with various matters..."
"Hmm..."
There was weight in Yuri's words. As the prince of Briol, he was struggling to resolve the Empire's issues.
Ragna let out a bitter smile.
"Don't guilt-trip me."
"Then please don't give me reasons to."
"This brat's really guilt-tripping me..."
As they talked, the match began.
"For the final preliminary match, we will select the last two! Begin!"
Laurent moved gracefully, spinning his wooden sword. His light movements drew gasps from the crowd.
"That's Sir Laurent, right?"
"Amazing."
"I heard he dominated sword tournaments when he was a kid."
As Yuri became famous, Laurent's name also spread.
The fact that he had won numerous sword tournaments in his youth drew further attention to him.
Laurent stood composed.
Then suddenly, as if it had been arranged beforehand, the other four contestants charged at him all at once.
"Whoa, what the heck!"
"That's dirty!"
"Are they ganging up on him?"
"Again? Again!"
The crowd hurled curses.
But Laurent did not panic.
He moved as lightly as a feather to slip out of their encirclement, then struck the back of a man standing on the outside. As the opponent collapsed from the pain, Laurent grabbed his nape and hurled him off the stage.
He didn't flaunt overwhelming power, nor did he mock his opponents with flashy speed.
Everything flowed naturally, as if it were no big deal.
Yuri's lips curled upward.
"You've grown stronger, Laurent."
Laurent had been strong in his past life too, but this time, he was growing incredibly fast.
As someone leading him, Yuri felt proud.
"Yuri. Now's not the time to be smiling like that."
"Why not?"
"If Laurent wins..."
Ragna's eyes widened.
"Doesn't that mean he ends up with Ekaterina? Ah, what a shame that would be. Yuri, aren't you already worried?"
"I don't worry about that."
"You'll regret it later. It would be a huge waste."
"Your Highness. I've been meaning to say this..."
Yuri placed a hand on Ragna's back. It could be considered impolite physical contact with royalty, but neither of them minded.
By now, a bond beyond age had formed between them.
"Before you say more, maybe ask the princess how she feels first?"
Of course, Ragna merely meant to introduce them, but the Emperor had already taken it upon himself to decide her marriage.
Yuri gave a wry smile and said,
"Honestly, it doesn't look good."
Ragna turned to face Yuri.
Something warm flickered in his eyes.
"Yuri."
"Yes."
"You're a fine man..."
"..."
"If only I had a daughter..."
"I wouldn't be interested..."
"You really are a great guy."
Ragna slung an arm around Yuri's shoulder.
"Yeah, you're right. That's the right way to see it."
"As long as you understand."
"So, I'll talk to Ekaterina and set up a proper introduction..."
"Excuse me..."
As they exchanged such trivial banter, Laurent defeated the remaining three.
Though two were supposed to survive, Laurent had knocked them all out before anyone could react. The judge decided to advance the one who fell last to the finals.
With that, the preliminaries came to an end.
The key players for the upcoming tournament were now set.
"The first match will take place the day after tomorrow! See you then!"
With that announcement, the judge concluded the preliminaries.
The crowd began to disperse.
Yuri and Ragna also left the venue.
Citizens they passed occasionally struck up conversations. Yuri responded kindly.
"Why didn't the prince participate?"
"Laurent entered in my stead."
"Is Sir Laurent stronger than the prince?"
"Childish. Don't ask things like that. Of course, I'm stronger."
"How's Gott doing?"
"No idea. Not that close."
"What?"
***
The Imperial capital was in a festive mood.
Naturally so—this tournament had the princess's marriage on the line, and the Empire's renowned knights had made it to the finals.
For the Empire's citizens, it was a thrilling event.
But unlike the excitement around him, Yuri was preoccupied with the drug issue.
"What about Gorio?"
"After that, no one's been seen selling drugs."
"Did they catch wind of the pursuit...?"
What had been mere speculation was starting to be confirmed, and Yuri felt a growing sense of futility.
As if everything he'd done until now was meaningless, the Empire seemed steadily heading toward war.
He felt the urge to storm the palace and cut off the Imperial Prince's head, shouting, This bastard is the evil dark mage!
"Black magic..."
That was the root of the problem.
"I suppose we just have to wait for now..."
Yuri rose from his seat. After so much thinking, he felt like sweating it out. That's when something came to mind.
"Jared."
"Yes."
"How about we take the day off?"
"Sounds good."
"Come with me."
"But you just said we'd rest?"
"I lied."
Before leaving Briol, Bernard had told him to seek out Sparrow of the Swordsmanship Guild if he ever needed help.
Yuri didn't need immediate assistance, but he wanted to meet him at least once.
He took Jared along and began asking around to find the guild's location.
The Swordsmanship Guild was housed in an old building.
A rusty sign hung above, showing only a sword image and the words Swordsmanship Guild.
Inside was a fairly spacious training hall, where several people were swinging wooden swords at each other.
One of the men, wiping off sweat, approached them.
"What brings you here?"
"I'd like to meet Sparrow of the Swordsmanship Guild."
"You mean the master?"
"Yeah."
"May I ask the reason...?"
"Just felt like working up a sweat."
"Are you here for a spar?"
"Maybe."
Lately, Yuri had been feeling a desire to test himself against new opponents.
Perhaps, without realizing it, he was feeling regret over not being able to enter the tournament.
"The master is currently away."
"When will he be back?"
"Not sure..."
The man scratched his head.
"He's quite... unpredictable..."
Just then, the door swung open, and someone entered.
"Yeah, I'm unpredictable!"
"Oh, Master. You're here."
Yuri turned around. A middle-aged man with a mustache stood there.
He was quite large—not muscular, but closer to obese. He was completely different from the image of Sparrow Yuri had imagined.
"And who's this?"
"Well..."
The man leaned in and whispered something to Sparrow.
"Briol?"
"Yes."
"A prince of Briol, huh..."
It seemed the man had recognized Yuri.
Sparrow glared at Yuri and spoke.
"Did you come prepared? I've got a grudge with that place..."
"A grudge?"
"There's this guy named Bernard over there, right?"
"A grudge? First I've heard of it. I thought it was the opposite."
"Yeah, right."
He drew the curved sword hanging at his waist and swung it lightly.
At that, Jared stepped forward and positioned himself between them.
"Do not be disrespectful to His Highness."
"So, you even brought a bodyguard."
Yuri thought it was the first time in ages Jared acted like a proper escort.
"Let's see what this escort can do."
Sparrow strode forward and suddenly swung his sword.
It was incredibly fast.
Though it was nearly invisible, Jared instinctively raised his sword to block it. It was thanks to his beast-like reflexes.
Sparrow let out a whistle.
"Ho, not bad."
"Drawing your sword? You really want to do this?"
"Want to? If I were serious, you'd already be on the floor."
As the two clashed swords, the man who had guided Yuri tried to stop Sparrow.
"Master, what are you doing? This man is a prince."
"He's friends with that Bernard punk."
"Still, this is too much."
"Tch..."
Yuri asked,
"What in the world happened that made you grind your teeth like this?"
"What happened?"
Sparrow lifted his shirt. His plump belly and handlebar mustache were exposed.
Yuri and Jared grimaced.
"My eyes..."
"My poor eyes..."
Sparrow chuckled and lifted his shirt even higher.
"No, not this part, higher up..."
There, on the right side of his chest, was a long scar.
"That sword demon bastard suddenly lunged at me, saying he wanted to test my swordsmanship. That's how I got this scar. He didn't even warn me—just appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the night and charged in like a madman!"
Yuri shook his head.
Bernard back then really had no brakes. Thankfully, after meeting his father, it seemed some manners had been drilled into him.
"Terrible guy, huh."
"Exactly!"
"But that's his problem, so why are you picking a fight with me?"
"You're his student, aren't you?"
"I am, but blaming the student for the teacher's sins is a bit much."
"The teacher's sin is the student's sin."
"How old-fashioned."
"It's just fair calculation."
"Alright, let's do this."
Yuri stepped forward with a smile.
"So then..."
He trailed off as if suggesting something, then suddenly grabbed the man next to Sparrow and threw him to the ground.
Startled, Sparrow reached for his sword, but Yuri was faster. He had already drawn Guilty.
The cold blade was at the man's neck.
"Then I'll do the same. For daring to raise a sword against the Third Prince of Briol, I'll blame your student. How about that?"
"That's cowardly..."
"It's fair calculation when you do it, but cowardice when I do?"
"This is different. In my case, Bernard's not here, but in yours, I'm right here!"
"What kind of twisted logic is that?"
"Fine, fine, just let him go first."
Yuri gave a dry laugh and pushed the man forward.
"Hey, sorry. This is all your master's fault, so blame him."
"Y-yes..."
Sparrow scrunched his nose and approached Yuri.
"Alright, fine. Since you came to see me, I assume you have a favor to ask. What is it?"
"What?"
"If you're Bernard's student, then you must have come with a favor to ask."
"Well, yeah, but didn't you say he was your enemy?"
"He is, but I'll grant one favor."
"That's some twisted logic you got there."
Sparrow lifted his shirt again. Yuri and Jared turned their heads in disgust.
"Why are you looking away! Look!"
"Ugh, fine."
"Right here, after I got stabbed in the chest!"
He said,
"I begged him to spare my life, and he said he'd let me live if I agreed to grant one favor in the future. I said fine, and barely got out alive. Whew."
Sparrow was unabashed.
Even with members of the Swordsmanship Guild watching, he openly admitted he had once begged for his life.
To Yuri, who had suffered guilt from similar experiences in his past life, it was a refreshing shock.
"Aren't you embarrassed?"
"Why? You can lose a fight. If I were invincible, would I be hanging around here?"
"Fair enough."
"But things are different now. I've completed my family's secret technique, Single Point Thrust!"
"What?"
"Single Point Thrust. It pierces through everything. Next time I see Bernard, I'll skewer him in one strike."
"What family are you from, anyway?"
"A prestigious swordsmanship family that once produced a Swordmaster."
"Wait, Sparrow Apache...?"
"Oh, you've heard of it?"
Yuri had seen the name 'Apache' listed as the author of a book called Single Point Thrust in the royal library.
Could Sparrow really be a descendant of that author?
"Was the Swordmaster named Jackson Apache?"
"That's right. So even the prince has heard of his legacy!"
"Both the ancestor and the descendant really know how to get under my skin..."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Alright. I do have a favor to ask."
Yuri looked Sparrow in the eye.
"Teach me the Single Point Thrust."