Lady Ashley asked in a sharp, clipped tone.

“The knights chosen for the duel have vanished? What do you mean by that? Explain.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Walpole hurriedly explained.

The moment she heard it, Lady Ashley dashed out of the room.

“Damn it all!”

“……”

I stared at the door she had just stormed out of and pieced together what I’d heard.

“So basically……”

Walpole had explained the rules of the match before.

Each side would field ten knights.

On the First Prince’s side, it was a long list of names I’d never heard before. I didn’t bother remembering them—more than twenty names were mentioned, which only meant he had no shortage of talent.

On the Crown Prince’s side, there was the Red-Eyed Devil, Lady Ashley of the Stavanger Knights, the wandering knight Sir Fluffy, Sir Smith of the Black Tiger Knights, Sir Max, and five other knights.

Those five were reputable and skilled knights the Crown Prince had recruited beforehand. They were said to have already arrived here, waiting in preparation for the duel.

But now, those five had vanished without a trace.

No clues, no signs—gone as if they had turned to dust.

The hostages held under the pretext of security, the elaborate safety measures I didn’t even fully know about—all of the Crown Prince’s painstaking work, which had left dark circles under his eyes, had come to nothing.

All that effort, sacrificing sleep and sanity for tomorrow’s duel.

And now, the day before the match that required ten knights, half his lineup had disappeared.

Bang! Bang!

“Damn it! Damn it! That snake of a bastard! What the hell did he do? What trick did he pull to make all my knights vanish?!”

……It was no wonder the Crown Prince was losing his mind.

Unable to contain his fury, he kicked a chair beside him.

“That was my chair……” Walpole muttered weakly.

But even that didn’t vent his anger. The Crown Prince looked around for something else to throw, found nothing, and instead hurled his fists at the wall.

Which is to say, he started punching the innocent wall over and over.

“Uaaaah!”

The black knights watching hurried to stop him.

“M-My lord…!”

“Don’t touch me! That’s an order!”

The knights froze at his furious roar.

Then their eyes darted to me, filled with desperate pleading.

The same knights who once glared at me like they’d kill me for laying a hand on their master were now silently begging me for help.

Because I was the only one allowed to lay hands on him.

“……Tch.”

Even without their looks, I couldn’t stand watching this tantrum any longer. I strode up to the Crown Prince, who was pounding the wall like a mad beast, and caught his fist.

Clack.

“Did I not tell you not to touch me!”

He spun around in rage—then flinched when he saw me.

“Whoa! When did you get here?”

I looked at him with all the contempt I could muster.

“Our prince. Throwing a fit, are we? What kind of disgrace is this in front of your men?”

He gritted his teeth.

“……Damn hick. You’ve got one hell of a glare.”

“What was that?”

He slapped my hand away and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the blood dripping from his knuckles.

I clicked my tongue.

“Pathetic. Honestly, it makes me want to beat you myself. Why hit the wall? What does that change?”

“Shut up.”

But of course, I wasn’t going to shut up.

“Pitiful. Your fists aren’t meant to waste themselves on a wall. They’re supposed to fight for you, not suffer because of you.”

“……”

“You think you’re the only one rattled? Imagine me, coming back from a pleasant stroll with a beauty only to find you throwing this tantrum. If you must hit someone, hit me instead.”

No sooner had the words left my mouth than his fist smashed into my face.

Thud!

I blinked, wide-eyed.

“…Wait. You actually hit me?”

Sure, I had told him to.

But still—losing was not an option. So I drove my boot into his stomach.

“Guh!”

He crashed back into the wall with a loud thud.

Sir Smith, the big knight who never left his side, panicked and rushed over.

“Devil! What are you doing!”

I ignored him, keeping my eyes fixed on the Crown Prince, now slumped against the wall.

It felt like I had just tamed a raging beast.

The Crown Prince lowered his head, shoulders shaking with laughter.

“Heh…heh heh…”

I watched him chuckle like an idiot, then asked,

“Feel better now?”

“…Yes.”

I offered him my hand. He grabbed my arm and hauled himself up.

“You’ve shown enough of your pathetic side. Time to show some dignity. No one can be an idiot all the time.”

The Crown Prince nodded heavily.

“…You’re right. The ‘why’ doesn’t matter anymore.”

I finished his thought for him.

“Now it’s about the ‘how.’”

He paused mid-breath and glared at me.

“The smell of blood is thick on you. What have you done this time?”

“I’m innocent.”

“Innocent of what?”

“This time it was self-defense.”

He shook his head and muttered bitterly.

“Fine. After all this, what does a little chaos from you matter? Thanks for coming back in one piece, country bumpkin! Hahaha! Hahahaha!”

He laughed like a lunatic.

‘……This bastard is insane.’

The Heavenly Demon snickered.

[No wonder you two get along.]

The Crown Prince’s laughter stopped as abruptly as it had started.

“Haa……”

He exhaled slowly, eyes closed in thought.

While he brooded, I pieced things together in my own mind.

It all felt connected.

The assassins trained to eliminate a single powerful target.

The royal knight who showed up at just the right time.

The assassins who surrendered too easily.

‘……Could it be those bastards?’

The Crown Prince suddenly opened his eyes and called out.

“Sir Harry. Sir Manderson. Sir Kensington.”

“Yes, my lord!”

The named knights stepped forward.

“You three will take their place.”

“We accept, my lord!”

Three of the five missing slots were filled just like that.

I asked him, “What about the other two?”

The Crown Prince turned to the long table used for meetings, where someone was quietly reading a book.

“Count.”

The Count lifted his head.

“You called for me?”

This man was something else.

While his lord had been throwing things, then finally even throwing his fists at the wall in a frenzy, he had been calmly reading a book.

It was as if he had absolute faith that, no matter what happened, we would still win tomorrow’s duel.

Where did such confidence come from?

……Was it me?

The Crown Prince spoke to the Count.

“I ask you to take the field.”

“……”

The Count stared at him for a moment, then closed his book.

“I have long since retired.”

The Crown Prince’s voice softened with earnestness.

“…Count.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Please help me.”

“……”

The Count looked at him for a long moment, then let out a sigh.

“…Very well. Since you ask so, I cannot refuse.”

“Thank you. The last empty slot will be yours.”

The Count glanced around the wrecked room, then let his gaze rest on one man.

“Sir Walpole.”

“Yes?”

“You will fight with me.”

“…Me?”

The Count smiled gently.

“Do you object?”

Walpole answered with a sour look.

“…No, sir.”

And so, the ten knights who would stand in the duel were finally assembled.

“Haa……”

“……”

“Huu… ahh……”

“You’re sighing so much, you’ll dig a hole in the floor.”

I was walking down the corridor with the newly chosen member of the ‘glorious ten,’ the ever-sighing Sir Walpole.

Our destination was the dining hall.

Chicken skewers alone hadn’t been enough.

Walpole sighed again as he guided me there.

“Lord Ashuban, I fear I may die tomorrow.”

“Don’t whine.”

It was true he fell short compared to Lady Ashley, the Knight Commander, or the royal knight I’d met today.

But I had never once thought Walpole was weak.

At his age, to handle aura with such skill—how could he be called weak?

The praises of him as the ‘hope of the Stavanger Knights’ had never been empty words.

Still, he now carried himself like a prisoner being dragged to his execution.

Since the hope of our order was momentarily in despair, I spoke in my most solemn, inspiring tone.

“The shining star of the Stavanger Knights, the rising rookie, the genius among geniuses, idol of the squires, the unrivaled master of directions, a man born with an extraordinary gift for finding his way—that is none other than Sir Walpole of Stavanger.”

“……”

“Sir Walpole, gallant and proud. You can do this. Tomorrow, let’s crush the First Prince together. If you must die, take one down with you. Or aim for mutual destruction, if you like.”

Walpole glanced at me once… then sighed even deeper.

“Ahh……”

‘Huh? That didn’t work?’

[Of course it didn’t.]

If anything, he was sighing more than before.

To distract him, I asked, “Sir Walpole.”

“…Yes.”

“Is there any good news?”

“There is. It’s just that the bad news overshadows it.”

“What is it?”

By then, we had arrived at the dining hall.

Walpole opened the door and explained.

“Linda and the Phantom Thief managed to sneak into the First Prince’s lodgings and poison the knights’ food. Three knights who were set to fight tomorrow were poisoned.”

Inside the hall, Shushruta and Linda were seated, stuffing their mouths with food.

So this was where they had disappeared to. Eating their fill.

Linda spotted me and, with her mouth full, shouted, “Devil! I did everything you told me! Wasn’t I great?!”

Bits of food sprayed out as she spoke.

Across from her, Shushruta grimaced and scolded her.

“Disgusting! Chew with your mouth closed! If you want to talk, swallow first.”

“Mmh.”

Chastened, Linda clamped both hands over her mouth and chewed furiously, trying to swallow everything quickly so she could speak to me again.

Shushruta, after scolding her, folded his arms and glanced at me.

“As Walpole said, the mission was a success. Linda detected the tainted meal, then exposed the spy who had slipped into this place. From him we learned where the First Prince was lodged. We infiltrated, poisoned their food, and confirmed that three knights were afflicted before returning. And we were not discovered.”

“Oh.”

That was better than I’d expected.

While I had been strolling about the festival, they had actually accomplished something useful.

“Since they caught on, there likely won’t be more cases of poisoning. But the three already afflicted won’t be able to fight tomorrow.”

So we weren’t entirely without results.

Yes, the blow we’d suffered was great.

But in the deadly game of intrigue, the Crown Prince’s side had managed to cut down three, while the First Prince’s had lost five.

Seeing two princes who would be king one day resort to such petty tricks made my heart swell with wonder.

I nodded, acknowledging their work.

“Well done.”

“Well done indeed. While you were leisurely enjoying the festival, we were… wait a moment. Is that blood I smell? Did you get into another fight?”

“It was self-defense.”

“Of course it was. Truly excellent. Fighting even at a festival. Was this a festival of fighting?”

“……”

As I ate, I endured Shushruta’s endless nagging.

“Devil! Listen, listen. Earlier, you see…”

Linda, having finally swallowed her food, chattered on about everything that had happened today.

Nagging from one side, chatter from the other.

It was impossible to concentrate on my meal.

‘……I’m going to get indigestion.’

Still, I was too hungry to stop, so I shoved the food down anyway.

“Can you even taste what you’re eating? You really are…”

“Devil, I invented a new poison today, and guess what—”

……Dinner was loud, distracting, and oh so delightful.

(End of Chapter)

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