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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: A Bet with the Marquis
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A Bet with the Marquis
"Who are you?"
"Ack."
This guy...
I had come to the Marquis's office at his summons. Yet the one who called for me was spouting such nonsense.
"Are you really Yuren? To change so much in such a short time..."
The Marquis looked me up and down, repeatedly exclaiming in admiration.
"You really are my son. The spitting image of my younger self."
"What? Like you, Marquis?"
"You may call me Father when we're alone."
"Yes..."
The Marquis, seemingly in a good mood, was being uncomfortably friendly.
"You've truly changed a great deal. It must have been difficult, but you endured it well."
"It's all thanks to your concern, Marquis."
Like any good professional, I offered a line to lift his spirits.
"My, my. When I tell you to call me Marquis, you call me Father, and when I tell you to call me Father, you call me Marquis. You're quite the contrarian."
"Haha."
I laughed awkwardly. To be honest, the word "Father" just wouldn't come out. Calling him Marquis was the best I could do.
"Has Ilia left?"
"Yes."
"That child is still the same. She hasn't changed a bit."
"Is that so."
I didn't know Ilia from her childhood, so I just nodded.
"She said she has no intention of canceling her engagement to you."
Having heard my vow, her eyes had been filled with determination, so I had expected as much.
"I thought she would bring up breaking the engagement, and I was prepared to accept it. It was truly a surprise."
The Marquis's expression and tone were calm, but he looked pleased.
"You were always a surprising boy. Usually in a bad way. But for the first time, it's a surprise in a good direction."
The Marquis gave me a warm smile.
"Do you know why I called for you?"
"Is it to begin my knight training?"
There was only one reason the Marquis would call for me: to learn the sword.
"Haha, that's right. You've gotten quick-witted, I see."
The Marquis was still in high spirits, a smile never leaving his face.
"The time has come for you to learn the sword of Lox."
The Marquis, who had been smiling just a moment ago, suddenly turned serious.
"Marquis. There is something I wish to tell you."
"Surely you're not thinking of something else?"
Does he already know?
"Do you wish to learn throwing techniques?"
"You knew?"
Did Arin tell him?
"I saw you throwing daggers in the training yard."
I thought Arin might have said something, but it seemed the Marquis had been watching me in secret.
If he was watching from hiding, there's no way I would have known.
"I don't know where you saw such throwing techniques to imitate them, but they are nothing but cheap tricks."
"Cheap tricks?"
"Yes. Throwing techniques are cheap tricks used by petty thieves. Such daggers cannot pierce a knight's armor, let alone the hides and scales of monsters."
Did the Marquis see me before I unlocked the Sichuan Tang Clan's arts? I should test the waters.
"If I continue to practice diligently, I believe I can achieve good results..."
"Weren't you unable to even throw them properly?"
It seemed the Marquis had indeed seen me before the Sichuan Tang Clan's arts were unlocked. In that case, I could proceed with my original plan.
This makes things easier.
"You are a son of Willington Lox. You must have a talent for the sword."
No, I don't. Why does everyone around me have such high expectations?
"You called them cheap tricks, but with training, they can become a formidable skill."
"Hah, what useless stubbornness. A warrior without Aura is no different from a sword without an edge. Even if you train those throwing techniques for a hundred years, you won't be able to pierce the scales of a Volak."
As expected of the south, the conversation turns to Volaks.
"Then how about this?"
"What do you mean?"
"If I can subdue a Volak by throwing daggers, then I'll be in charge of my own training. If I lose, I will follow your orders, Marquis."
"Are you suggesting a bet that's a foregone conclusion? You can't even hit a target yet, can you?"
"Then since you're guaranteed to win, you should accept the bet."
The Marquis stared at me intently, as if trying to figure out what I was thinking.
"Very well. When will you do it?"
The Marquis nodded, having made up his mind.
Good. It's going exactly according to my plan.
"I am ready to do it right now."
"I am not. We need to call a summoning mage and use the training yard. How about tomorrow?"
"Understood."
I suppressed the smile that threatened to break out and maintained a serious expression.
"You'd best be prepared for hellish training as soon as the bet is over tomorrow."
"After I win tomorrow, I'm just going to get some sleep."
"Khahaha! I'll let you know the time and place once they're decided. You may leave."
"Understood."
"Ah, and your punishment is lifted as of today."
The Marquis said it as if in passing as I bowed to take my leave.
Come to think of it, I was being punished. I'd forgotten.
"You've been so focused on training, you didn't even notice the punishment?"
"That's right."
"A good attitude. But if you revert to being a scoundrel now that your punishment is lifted, it will truly be the end."
"I understand. I will not disappoint you."
"Good. You may go."
I bowed politely again and went outside. The moment I was out, the laughter I'd been holding back burst forth.
"Tomorrow's going to be fun."
**
It was an awkward time to go to the training yard, so I trained the Myriad Poisons Magnetic Divine Qi in my room. As I was circulating my internal energy, I felt Arin walking toward my room.
Now that the Myriad Poisons Magnetic Divine Qi is at the third star, I can sense external energies even while circulating my technique. This is becoming more and more of a cheat.
*Knock, knock.*
"Come in."
I returned my internal energy to my dantian and called to Arin outside.
"I've brought your dinner."
"Thank you."
I noticed it was already dinnertime; the shadow of the setting sun was visible outside my window.
"And..."
"Yes?"
"Tomorrow's time is 12 o'clock, at the second training yard."
"Did the Marquis have you deliver the message?"
Arin informed me of the time and place for the bet, presumably from the Marquis.
"Yes."
"Do you happen to know the terms of the bet as well?"
"Yes, I do. Not just me, but the entire marquisate knows."
"Huh?"
What? How does everyone know?
"Thanks to you, the entire estate is currently blooming with laughter over your story, Grand Prince."
"Blooming with laughter?"
"Everyone is having a good time making bets on whether you'll wet yourself in fear or cry when you see the Volak. You're still the public enemy, after all."
Those bastards...
"So are those people coming to watch, too?"
"The Marquis hasn't specifically forbidden it. I expect the training yard will be packed."
"Wow, I'm popular."
"Yes. They are all going to see you get mauled by the Volak."
I suddenly became curious about Arin's thoughts.
"What do you think?"
Arin said nothing. But I saw the slightest change at the corners of her mouth.
**
"It is time, Grand Prince."
"Right."
"Are you prepared?"
"I am."
I replied to Arin, tossing a dagger up and catching it as if playing with it.
"Is that a special dagger?"
"No, they're just the ones from the training yard you see every day."
"I see."
Arin didn't seem particularly worried. She was probably the only person in the entire House of Lox who was betting on my victory.
If Arin bet on me to win, she'd clean up, wouldn't she? Should I tell her to?
I was about to tell Arin to place a bet but held my tongue, worried it might lower her opinion of me.
"Just as I thought. Quite a crowd."
As we neared the second training yard, I could already hear the voices of the people gathered there.
"There are so many."
"An incredible number. I don't think even the Lox tactical drills draw a crowd this large..."
The training yard was filled with hundreds of people, from knights and their squires to servants.
A crowd this size would be hard to gather unless someone deliberately called for them...
"You've arrived."
"Yes."
As I walked to the center of the training yard, the Marquis, who was already there, spoke as if he'd been waiting.
"Are you ready?"
"Of course. But..."
"Quite a lot of people, aren't there?"
"Why did it come to this?"
"Well, I was talking to the mage, and word somehow got out to others. Haha."
He made it sound like a mistake, but I was sure he had spread the rumor on purpose.
"Be careful not to embarrass yourself."
"Don't you worry."
"Summon it."
Hearing my cold reply, the Marquis issued a command to the mage standing beside him.
"Ularod..."
The mage raised his staff and chanted an unintelligible spell. As the incantation progressed, the magic circle in the center of the training yard grew brighter and clearer.
"Summon."
*Poof!*
As the mage's spell ended, something materialized in the center of the magic circle.
To think I'd see that in person.
[The Creator's Eye is activating.]
[Volak]
A 150cm tall marine monster, with the face of a rockfish and human arms and legs. It wields a rusty sword in its right hand and a large seashell shield in its left. It has hard scales and can emit a cry that fills its opponents with fear. All its abilities are enhanced 1.5 times in water.
Skills: Charge (Physical), Cry (Confusion)
The Volak was a monster I came up with on a whim while eating sashimi at a restaurant. You could just think of it as a humanized rockfish.
The Volak received its orders from the mage who summoned it, so it just stared into space with vacant eyes.
"Khahaha!"
"Woooah!"
"So that's a Volak!"
"It's disgusting!"
I could hear the voices of the people around me. The knights were laughing in amusement, while the servants who had never seen a Volak before covered their mouths in disgust.
Their reactions were all different, but one thing was the same. They were all hoping to see me humiliated.
Sorry to disappoint you, but you'll never see the sight you're hoping for.
"Let us begin."
The Marquis glanced at the mage, who began to chant another spell.
"Krrk."
Light filled the fish-like eyes of the Volak, which had been vacant until now.
"Krarak!"
When the mage pointed his staff at me, the Volak recognized me as its enemy and began to approach.
"Hmm?"
It was the moment I was about to throw a dagger at the Volak. Suddenly, three targets appeared on its body.
One was between its eyes, another on its lips, and the last was on its right side where a scale was missing.
Could it be? Are these its weak points?
The targets were openly showing me where the Volak's weaknesses were, as if telling me to aim there.
This ability is no different from a cheat code.
"Kaaaaak!"
The approaching Volak let out a terrifying cry meant to intimidate me.
The spectators, thinking they were about to witness my humiliation, focused all their attention on me with eyes full of anticipation.
"Kiik!"
Having let out its cry, the Volak must have thought I was frozen in fear, as it used its charge skill.
*Step.*
I scoffed at the Volak and every single person here, and took just one step.
With a single step of the Little Dragon, the Volak's charge was rendered useless, and I was now positioned on the opposite side of it.
"What?!"
"He took the full force of that cry!"
"He's not even a knight! How did he withstand that?"
"And what was that step?!"
"He moved in an instant!"
The spectators, who had been preparing to laugh at my pathetic state, shot up from their seats in shock. Their eyes trembled as if an earthquake had struck, having witnessed something unbelievable.
"Kieek!"
The Volak, having found me behind it, swung its sword down with great speed.
*Step.*
With another single step, I dodged the Volak's sword, moved to its right, and gripped my dagger.
"You've had your fun. Now it's my turn, isn't it?"