The day of the duel finally arrived.
The week of practice with the Pegasus was really hard.
It's like riding a motorcycle that only accelerates, but never brakes.
Really scary.
We had been left practicing at the academy training ground where the duel was to be.
The strange thing is that it won't take place there.
The reason is because of these rumors I was told.
"Hey, did you hear that the third prince and the fourth prince will have a duel?"
"Yes. Is that really true, I mean. A feud between members of the imperial family?"
"It was all over Duke Rosenberg's daughter.I heard rumors that her family fell into ruin and that her fiancé, His Highness Regulux, wanted to undo their engagement, but the fourth prince intervened along with some nobody guy."
"Hey, that sounds interesting, I want to see that duel!"
That was how rumors about the duel were spreading throughout the capital.
Neither the academy nor the palace liked that. Mostly because a feud between members of the imperial family is very bad for their image.
The palace for allowing it and the academy for not intervening.
So the duel will take place elsewhere.
Apparently, the location of the new meeting place is a hidden place, only people authorized by the palace, including teachers and students of the academy can go there.
I don't really understand why they do it, but ok.
To get there you have to take a boat.
No, it's not crossing the sea or anything like that, it's even crazier.
Apparently, the meeting place is in a place called [Magic Zone], they are places where the density of the magic element is so high, it affects the environment.
It's something like if a heat wave set a forest on fire.
To reach this place we use a flying boat.
It uses a magic stone which is its engine.
It seems that the game developers really liked the element they used in that rpg game. They liked it so much, that they wanted to introduce a bit of that world into this one too.
Well, according to what I read, in that world the islands float and they use ships to get to each island as if it was a warship game.
Honestly, it sounds crazy to me.
Was that game really popular?
Anyway, back to why I can see trees from the sky.
The ships are normal ships, it has hot air balloons and airplane like wings to glide and help the pilots better.
At the top there are airships, which is where the magic stone is. It is placed there so that the magic power fills the balloon and it can fly.
I had heard that they also used boats to cross the desert, but this method is better and cheaper.
The surroundings were full of trees and small fractions of floating rocks.
The place was located northwest of the capital, near the Luinberg duchy.
Eli's mother said she didn't want to come, I understood her, but I approached her, took her beautiful hands and from the bottom of my heart I shouted.
"Don't worry Duchess, we will definitely win and by the end of the day your house will receive apologies from that idiot!"
For some reason, everyone thought that my desire to regain the honor of the duke's house was greater than my safety.
"Finally we arrived."
In the distance I could see something resembling a stadium divided into four parts.
The rocks were reshaped to appear to be a stadium.
Many flying boats were anchored, well, anchored sounds like a lie, they were at rest.
Through a boat they sent the people who would be the audience.
In this boat that the academy lent us we were on board several teachers, among them who drove was Professor Lloyd who told us.
"Boys, get your things ready, we will be disembarking soon."
He offered to be our captain as few teachers knew how to handle a ship.
The other important crew members were Cid who had his things ready and the girls, who, for some reason are together.
No doubt Lily has been a great support for Eli, but you know Lily, no, forget it.
Screw it.
◇◇◇
The audience seats were exclaiming in surprise.
"It's amazing that people like us could have the opportunity to witness something like this."
"I never expected to see the day where two members of the imperial family would fight each other."
"And more for the sake of a girl. Hey, don't you think it's a lover's fight?"
"Kyah! Something as romantic as that! Two brothers fighting for a girl's hand, sounds like from a TV drama."
Strangely enough, the dialogues are not that far from the event.
Things like that were said at the event.
Of course, everything that happened in the game and in the current situation is totally different.
"It seems that many are ignorant or unaware of the reason for this duel."
Said a mysterious hooded figure.
She was sitting in the middle.
At her side she had fries and water.
Even if it wasn't a spectacle, starving is bad, was what the figure thought.
Her hood and cloak were green.
He was biting into a salty fry without emotion.
Then a person approached and greeted her.
"Yoh!"
He made a strange, friendly greeting.
The figure was of a young man, he was between his 20-25 years old.
He wore light armor that only covered his chest, shoulders and a bit of his arms and legs.
His clothing was black, as if he were a futuristic ninja.
His hair was a mix between yellow at the roots and like a flame, it changed color to red.
His eyebrows were the same.
His eyes were orange.
He had a big smile from cheek to cheek, strange, floating stars appeared near his face.
"It's weird seeing you around, Dolph."
"Hahaha, that's right, instructor."
"Don't call me that. I'm not your teacher anymore."
The man with the cheerful smile wasn't just anyone, the surroundings began to murmur.
"H-hey, isn't that him?"
"Yes. There must be no mistake."
"It's unbelievable that a legend is among us."
As the surroundings said, this person is one of the four strongest knights in the empire.
Those who are called to fight when no one else is available.
And this person was...
"Goredolph Aintree. The sun saint."
One of the four saints of the sword.
"Hahaha, it's weird that you call me that instructor, or should I also call her that. Christina, the sword princess."
Removing her hood, the face of a beautiful woman was visible.
Her hair was bright blonde like the sun.
It was neatly combed, revealing her forehead.
Reaching almost to the end of her long braided hair, the color changed radically from yellow to green.
To everyone's surprise, they stared at such a beauty.
Her facial features made her look like a woman in her late twenties, but the long ears that identified her as an elf made her look younger.
Perhaps she was in her 30's in human years, elves live longer than humans and at a certain point in their age, they stop aging.
The only ones who possessed that special characteristic were the high elves.
But, the most striking detail of her face was not the tiara of white flowers that covered her forehead, nor her large and sensual red lips. It was her eyes.
Her eyes for some reason were closed. As if she could see everything by having them closed, the woman said.
"What are you doing here?"
Christina asked.
Goredolph was answering her.
"The adventurers guild asked me to exterminate different hidden spider queen nests. It was really annoying to deal with them, hahaha."
Laughed the man as if it was a joke, though he didn't blink to laugh.
Christina watched him with her eyes closed, just sighing.
"You haven't changed at all, you still look like that kid who laughed despite not having his front teeth anymore."
"Hahaha, is that so?"
Without asking, Goredolph sat down next to him.
They were both sword saints.
Swordsmen who overcame master swordsmen and acquired a sword skill that could cut through buildings if they set their minds to it.
In fact, that happened in the past and they were forbidden to try to do so.
Goredolph was a non-playable character in the game, but at the same time he was an extra capture character. You could unlock his story only if you bought him.
The reason for this was because in the game, during the holy war, all four sword saints lost their lives.
The main reason was to make Lambert stand out.
Instead, to Christina... she was just hated by women.
On the forums, offensive and denigrating comments towards her were written.
Developers wondered why this was happening.
The answer was something only a woman knew.
"Now tell me really, what are you doing here?" asked Christina very interested in her answer.
"The prime minister told me to come, I asked him why, he just said just in case 'something' happened."
"That 'something' doesn't convince me."
"What about you as an instructor?"
"I can't imagine her at events or things to do with humans or the palace unless it's necessary. Or, is there perhaps something else?"
Christina looked straight ahead before answering.
"I just want to know who will win."
"Really?"
Now Goredolph was directing his gaze straight ahead.
A small circular floating rock was the place where the starting line for the duel would be held.
"I don't know what His Highness Regulux is thinking, but I think something very bad will happen in the palace after the duel."
"Really?"
"Yes. I say that because in case the fourth prince were to win. That would create a problem for the ministers."
"Hahaha."
Laughed Goredolph, but Christina answered him.
"What's so funny about it?"
"It's just, you're supposed to hate the palace, aren't you? So many years serving the empire, becoming a sword saint and they still refuse to grant you the title of true citizen and a surname. It's funny how those geezers hate you so much they don't want to see you climb."
For the half-humans who worked in the palace, such cruel and heartless treatment was normal.
Many people loved the half-humans, but that number was less than those who despised them.
Christina turned several years ago, the 100 years that was required for her to become a real noble and a full citizen of the empire.
But the ministers denied her that by making meaningless excuses.
Deep down, she understood why they did it, she didn't hate them. She knew they were useless old men with complexes.
While they were getting old, she would look young.
Christina just waited patiently for a non-trash minister to grant her title and retire.
"Even it's like you say, I just hope this doesn't mean trouble. We already have enough of that mysterious guy named Licht who goes around murdering nobles and temple members."
"Hahaha, I... oh, it looks like the show will finally start."
◇◇◇
In the center, there were a group of young people who came.
They all wore suits resembling bikers.
The color was black combined with the color of their hair.
Greeting the audience was Prince Regulux.
He was smiling innocently, next to him was Lambert.
He was carrying his sword, this time it was not made of wood, it was a real sword.
"Your Highness, stop greeting the audience, I say so because you will lose your concentration."
"Hahaha, you are very stiff Lambert. Just checking how popular I am."
"Good heavens. Take this seriously will you, I'm about to fight your half-brother."
"Wait a minute, what do you mean you're going out fighting?"
Who was asking Lambert in annoyance, was a boy with wavy red hair, bright blue eyes with a sharp gaze.
It was Jake von Fitzclarence, son of the duke, a capture target.
"Yeah, what about it?"
Lambert exclaimed in a disinterested manner to Jake.
He was very annoyed by her tone and responded.
"Hah, you're kidding me, it will be me, the splendid Jake-sama who will defeat those two! This is a way for me to show off in front of my father and demonstrate to him the power of my magical weapons."
"Why do you suppose it's you who will defeat them?"
This time, Jake turned to look at the boy who told him that.
His hair was pink, with several white locks, fluffy and straight as silk, it also covered his right eye, which was visible showing its indigo iris.
He was another target for capture, Oscar von Pleven, son of a marquis and grandson of the first seat of the 10 holy wizards.
"I don't want to fight Prince Cidfert, but His Highness Regulux guaranteed me that he would take responsibility for raising my hand against him. So, I can show off all my skills so my grandmother can see how much I've grown."
"Hey, hey, am I painted on the wall or what? It will be me, who defeats those two. It's my chance for Fraser Household to gain influence."
Showing off his exaggerated muscles for a teenager was the latest capture character, a tanned-skinned boy, slicked back and with lots of hair gel.
He had the ends of his hair up, some of it showing a golden sheen, and his brown eyes showed how wild he looked.
He was Bellange von Fraser, son of a border count.
They were all gathered for an important romantic event of the game, it was to fight for their beloved, but that beloved was not there and instead they were going to fight against the villain's representatives.
The game no longer makes sense.
The world and its saviors, are on the wrong side of the board.
"More importantly, what time are they coming?"
Jake said looking at a floating clock.
"We should have started five minutes ago."
"Have they given up?"
"Hey, hey, don't be serious, I'll have prepared for nothing if they did!"
Bellange replied in fright to Oscar. While Lambert replied to both of them.
"For their sake, it's better this way. The embarrassment they will go through is surely unimaginable."
"You speak too fast it seems."
Regulux pointed to the front of them.
The other four noticed two people coming in a small boat.
"Looks like they're not chickens."
Jake said smiling.
"Hmph, I was getting impatient."
Added Oscar as he combed his hair a little.
"Alright, I want some action!"
Bellange exclaimed pumping his fists.
"...It would have been better for you guys not to come."
Lambert indicated as he tapped his sword and glanced furtively at those two.
While the main capture target, the kind and righteous prince of Regulux was thinking.
(Sorry Cid, but this is your fault, no one asked you to get involved with the villain, well, in the game you got an even more gruesome fate, so it's not like you really mattered).
(And for you worm, I'll make sure you see the end of the villain with your own eyes, hahaha. No one can or will be able to beat the future white knight. No one!)
Things the kind and righteous prince of the game would never say.
Now, the duel would begin, and at the end of the day. A surprise would take the whole capital, including the participants and spectators themselves.