As soon as he clenched his fist, the black smoke swirling around his body disappeared.
Gabriel, who had returned to his usual mysterious and faithful appearance, asked the priest.
"How are things going in the abandoned land?"
"Ah! The priest Renober, who went to investigate, found out an amazing fact! A strange energy is emanating from various places in the abandoned land, and it is very similar to the power that the High Priest uses."
"Oh really?"
Gabriel, who had speculated that there might be something related to black magic in the abandoned land after hearing the story of the priest he had sent to the Iglam tribe last time, had sent the Golden Bough priest, who was protected by a black magic barrier, to the abandoned land.
If he had been possessed by another power and gone mad, he had intended to kill him, but he had sent even more welcome news than Gabriel had expected.
"Hmm.... I guess I'll have to go there sometime. I might as well stop by Pervaz too...."
Gabriel smiled and stroked the pendant of the Tree of Wisdom hanging on his chest.
He firmly believed that God had shown him the way once again.
* * *
The month-long schedule in Zyro passed quickly.
Jiles asked if it would be better to stay for another month since the atmosphere of the aristocratic society was flowing in Carlyle's favor, but Carlyle refused.
"Humans have to feel a little bit sorry for themselves to be more desperate."
"But Your Majesty, there are things that need to be done when the tide is in."
"I'm not taking Sir Raphelt's opinion lightly. But when it comes to attracting attention and gaining popularity, I'm one step ahead of my teacher. Trust me for once."
He believed in his own intuition.
He was born in the midst of greed, evil, and power, and he had instinctively learned how to survive there.
'If you want to survive in this world, you have to stand out.'
If your presence is weak, you will be eliminated without anyone knowing.
That's why Carlyle had been creating his own image and capturing people's attention since he was a child. Sometimes he bought sympathy, and sometimes he bought trust and expectation.
He had never failed in his life, so he believed that his judgment would be right this time as well.
"And more than anything, I'm finding it harder and harder to stand my father. I feel like I'm going to strangle him without even realizing it."
"Your Highness! Just a little bit! Just be patient! All your hard work will be for nothing if you do this."
"Then tell me how to shut that human's noisy mouth instead of strangling him."
Since he pointed out the danger of designating the Day of the Martyrs as a national holiday, the emperor has been calling Carlyle every chance he gets to ask him this and that.
The emperor, who had been manipulated by Beatrice and Gabriel, was finally coming to his senses. Although this was a welcome development, his attitude was problematic.
[Matthias is doing this much too. He listens to me only for the sake of fairness, not because he intends to accept your opinion.]
It was clear who was the one who was feeling sorry, but he seemed to believe that he was the one holding the Carlyle and shaking it, whether he knew my situation or not.
Carlyle was beginning to feel the limits of his 'good son' act.
"Sigh, I guess there's nothing I can do about it."
Knowing that Carlyle was a man who could overturn even a month's work on a whim, Giles eventually withdrew his opinion to stay in the capital longer.
"Then let's get ready to go back to Pervaz. Lionel must be waiting eagerly."
In fact, he was curious about Asha, but Carlyle was not a man who would be careless enough to reveal such feelings.
Giles gathered the documents he had brought to report to Carlyle and stood up.
"Then I will leave for Pervaz in three days, as originally scheduled."
He then glanced at Decker, who was silently standing guard behind Carlyle, and left the room.
Carlyle yawned, stretching his stiff body.
"Did that Gabriel bastard put some evil spell on the palace? Why is it so uncomfortable?"
Then Decker, who had been as silent as a statue when Giles was there, replied lightly, as if it were nothing.
"To maintain a body like Your Highness', you need to train regularly, but since you've been in Zyro, you've only been going to places that serve snacks. It's about time you got some exercise."
Carlyle smiled at that.
"Yes, you're right."
He jumped up from his seat and headed straight to the training ground with Decker. Then he took out a wooden sword for practice and threw it to Decker.
"I think you'll be willing to take responsibility for what you said."
"Th, that's not what I meant… …"
Decker belatedly regretted his words, but Carlyle was already shrugging off his outer clothes and stretching his body.
It might be disrespectful to be so excited, as if he had been waiting for this moment.
But on the other hand, he was also curious.
'Is His Highness Carlyle the best knight in the empire?'
A genius who had shown without a doubt that he had been blessed by the God of War Aguiles since childhood.
A man he would never have dared to face with a sword if he had not been involved with Asha.
'How strong is he?'
Decker's grip on the wooden sword tightened.
Decker approached him and bowed his head.
"Your Highness, I humbly ask for your guidance, even though my skills are insignificant."
"You have a good eye. Come forth."
Decker clenched his teeth and adjusted his grip on the wooden sword as Carlyle gestured for him to approach.
He might get beaten up pretty badly.
But even in the midst of being beaten, he would surely learn something.
"Haat!"
Decker swung his wooden sword with a short shout.
It was a blow that aimed for the vital point without any intention of testing the waters.
Clang!
The wooden swords clashed with a clear sound.
"It seems that it is a characteristic of the Pervaz warriors to not hold back even on their first attack."
"The people of Pervaz know very well that there may be 'no second chance'."
"That is a wise thought."
Carlyle, who had leisurely blocked the first attack, pushed his sword out.
Decker, who was holding the sword with both hands, was pushed back even though Carlyle only pushed it out with one hand.
'What incredible strength…!'
Decker knew that Carlyle had the ideal muscles of a warrior hidden under his thin shirt, but he didn't expect his strength to be this much.
Decker was also known as someone who was unrivaled in terms of strength in Pervaz, but Carlyle pushed him back with one hand without even showing any signs of exertion.
"Your strength is good, but you need to work on your speed. Your swordsmanship is too obvious."
"Understood. Then…"
Decker gritted his teeth again and attacked Carlyle's abdomen with his wooden sword.
It was a thrusting attack, not a horizontal slash, so it wouldn't be easy to block.
However, Carlyle simply blocked it by swinging his sword with one hand and knocking Decker's sword away.
"I said you're slow."
"Ugh!"
From the shock that ran up his hand, Decker realized once again how strong Carlyle's strength was.
At the same time, he also realized that he could never win against Carlyle, even though it had only been two exchanges.
Decker's main weapons were the sword and the axe, and his specialty was to knock down his opponent with a single blow, albeit with slow speed.
But Carlyle was an opponent who could not be defeated by strength or speed.
'There are such monsters in the world…!'
He had never felt such a sense of defeat, even after fighting countless Lure warriors.
However, Decker was a Pervaz warrior who had to fight every day, even in the face of overwhelming odds.
There were many warriors among the Lures who were stronger than him, but he had never once cowered in fear.
"Hya!"
Decker attacked, swinging his sword up from the ground.
It took much more strength than swinging down, but the enemies also did not expect this attack, so the success rate was very high.
However, Carlyle once again easily pushed down his sword.
"Why do you use such inefficient attacks? Don't you know it takes less strength to block by pushing down from above?"
"I, I know. That's why most of them didn't even think of attacking this way."
Decker, who had been holding out against Carlyle, twisted his sword and pulled away to create some distance.
"That could be a surprise attack, I suppose. On the assumption that your opponent is weaker than you."
"Ha, ha!"
It was only the third match now.
But already, his ragged breath was coming out.
'He'll laugh at me for being pathetic. Am I disgracing Pervaz?'
Decker gulped at the thought that he might be making Pervaz and Asha look ridiculous because of him.
He had never been so nervous before any battle.
"I'll take this one."
Carlyle kindly announced his attack and charged in.
"Ugh!"
It was simply a sword swung from left to right, a perfectly predictable attack, and Decker managed to block it.
But a groan escaped his lips.
'What kind of sword is this heavy!'
This was not an attack that could be done simply by being strong.
It required a deep understanding of the sword and swordsmanship, no, an insight into the human being itself.
Otherwise, the attacks that followed would not have been so well-timed and deadly.
Clang, clang! Clank!
'Could someone really die from a wooden sword?'
It was the first time the blunt tip of the wooden sword felt so creepy to Decker.
A couple of times, he even mentally yelled, 'I'm going to die!'
However, Decker, who had survived many wars, wasn't easily overpowered.
The sound of their two wooden swords clashing continued repeatedly.
"Impressive."
Carlyle, who was keeping up the attack, muttered with a slight smile.