Became The Son Of The Final Boss [EN]: Chapter 47

47.

David decided to stay.

He hadn’t sworn allegiance to me yet.

I didn’t force David to swear allegiance either.

He asked to observe me from the sidelines, and I allowed it.

I still didn’t fully grasp the emotion of loyalty, but I knew one thing.

It couldn’t be forced, and it wasn’t an emotion that arose quickly.

I had certainly given David a shock, but it stopped there—a shock.

‘In the novel, Karen turned everyone she met into a loyal follower, but in reality… Karen must be using a magic-like charm or ability to create companions.’

Anyway, Karen was Karen, and I was me.

The fact that I met David first and that we were together now was what mattered.

“Concentrate.”

David’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

The best thing about him joining me was that I had a sparring partner I couldn’t beat.

If Gale had been here, I would have sparred with him often, but he was missing.

I felt a brief pang of melancholy thinking about Gale.

I had already done my best for Gale, so I quickly pushed the thought aside and glared at David.

Gooooooo-!

As mana surged, all the spirits I had contracted with were summoned.

Following Soris’s advice, I had additionally contracted with two Sylphs [air spirits], one Undine [water spirit], one Gnome [earth spirit], and one Salamander [fire spirit].

Unfortunately, I failed to contract with the intermediate fire spirit, Phoenix. Feeling apologetic, Phoenix even advised me to get closer to the intermediate spirits and try again later.

Even though I had an affinity with all four elemental spirits, there was definitely an order, as Soris said.

I had the highest affinity with wind spirits, followed by water spirits, earth spirits, and finally fire spirits.

So, I was considering trying to contract with an intermediate earth spirit, but I decided to take Phoenix’s advice and contract with additional lower spirits until I reached the Expert stage.

‘Moving from Beginner to Expert isn’t about the size of the mana pool, but about the proficiency of working with spirits.’

I organized my thoughts and surrounded David with the lower spirits.

David was a powerhouse on a different level from Ken.

There was only one stage difference between an intermediate Expert and a high-level Sword Expert, but there was a huge gap in power.

In particular, David’s movements were so fast that I couldn’t follow them with my eyes, so tying him down was the most important part of the match.

The Sylphs and Undine attacked simultaneously, and the Gnome enhanced my movements.

Using different elemental spirit techniques at the same time was something I tried for the first time while sparring with David, and the mana often got more tangled than I anticipated.

David’s body disappeared.

The wind chains cut through the air, but I immediately deployed a barrier of fire with the Salamander.

If I couldn’t follow his movements, I would try to bind David by controlling the space.

The fire barrier split in half. David’s sword shone white.

When you reach the high-level Sword Expert, you can overlay aura on the sword, and David’s aura was so intense that it was comparable to a top-level Sword Expert.

I bit my lip.

‘The moment I give him distance, it’s over.’

If I couldn’t win against David, winning the spring evaluation competition was a distant dream, so I gave it my all.

‘I don’t know if David will participate or not, but…’

I hadn’t talked deeply about the spring evaluation competition, but it was right to think of David as a competitor for now.

I summoned Sylphere and continuously manipulated the flow of wind and earth.

David left afterimages as he chased my figure.

His speed was incredible.

I urgently summoned Undairon.

As all the spirits I had contracted with were summoned, mana consumption increased dramatically.

Undairon created a water barrier and blocked David’s sword.

Kwaaaang-!

While the water barrier was shaking, I sent the Sylph flying.

The goal was to disrupt David’s sword even once with continuous wind chains.

David slashed his sword horizontally.

Bang-!

The two Sylphs were reverse summoned as they were, and my mana pool shook violently.

I barely held back a groan.

I moved Undairon back and set Sylphere in front. At the same time, I deployed a barrier of fire again with two Salamanders.

The surroundings were engulfed in flames, but David’s expression remained unchanged.

“Sylph!”

The last remaining Sylph dove vertically over David’s head.

Wind chain.

David’s footwork was light.

He avoided the wind chain and accurately targeted the weak spot in the fire barrier.

I shouted loudly.

“Now!”

Undairon, who had been preparing a water storm, dissipated into a whirlwind.

It was a place without a single drop of water, but Undairon itself was a spirit made of water.

David’s expression hardened for the first time as the giant whirlpool flew towards him.

‘Sylph… stick behind Undairon.’

A brilliant light poured out from David’s sword.

Kwaaaaaang-!

David faced the inevitable water storm head-on.

And the Sylph was quietly aiming for the tip of David’s chin.

“Good move.”

David slightly twisted his body and avoided the Sylph’s wind chain.

Kwaaaang-!

As the water storm disappeared, I couldn’t stop David’s movements in the end.

It was another defeat.

* * *

“Are you alright?”

I nodded at Ken’s words.

“What’s wrong with me?”

“The evaluation is just around the corner.”

Only three days were left.

“Time flies faster than I thought.”

“Your skills have improved rapidly thanks to the blunt sword.”

I shook my head.

“I’m still at the Beginner level. This is not enough. David didn’t apply to participate in the evaluation competition, did he?”

“No.”

“There are probably a few strong people like David.”

Ken had reported to me a few days ago about the participant information he had identified, and there were a few that stood out.

“You can narrow it down to about three people. If you have good luck with the matchups, you may not meet all three until the finals.”

I chuckled at Ken’s words.

“That’s relying on luck. I have to compete with skill. Still, I’ve almost escaped the Beginner level, so I need to concentrate more during the remaining time.”

I recalled the quest and asked Ken.

“What about the assassination?”

“We are intensively monitoring the Seventh Prince’s palace, but we are not catching anything. The Riverhill family is connected to the snake’s poison, but it is almost impossible to dig into them with our current power.”

Ken continued with a serious expression.

“We can pressure the Aetran family and the former Deputy Director because the Deputy Director is in our hands, but we can only pressure the Riverhill family with the atmosphere.”

“Are you saying a show-off investigation style that shows, ‘We already know you are the culprit’?”

Ken nodded at my words.

“That’s right.”

I leaned back in my chair and said,

“As the evaluation competition was suddenly brought forward, their plans must have changed as well. Three days… we must pay special attention.”

Chen was not discouraged by the failed attack last time. Duke Austin in Daejeon was too confident to be behind the assassination.

‘I can’t show it… but anyway, the silence is strange.’

The quest was still not over, and there was time until the spring evaluation competition.

Three days was enough time for something to happen.

“We will do our best so that Your Highness can focus only on the spring evaluation competition.”

Once the evaluation competition was over, the right to investigate the assassination attempt I had received in Daejeon was likely to end as well.

Because the work in the West would begin in earnest.

Today, the lords of the West were still reporting to the Imperial Palace about the Orc legions, expressing concern that their power was growing stronger day by day.

“Still no news about Gale?”

Ken answered heavily.

“That’s right.”

Talking about Gale only hurt, so I left it at that. If he wasn’t dead, he was someone who would definitely come back to me.

And I believed that Gale was not dead.

I gently changed the subject.

“Is Susan adapting well to palace life?”

A smile spread across Ken’s face.

“Yes. I’m planning to send her to the academy soon. It’s all thanks to Your Highness’s grace.”

Feeling a little embarrassed, I cleared my throat and said,

“Is there any grace? She’s your younger sister, so I should take better care of her.”

“Thank you again, Your Highness.”

I shook my head.

“No. Take good care of her in the future.”

I was going to hire her for the Crown Prince’s Palace, but I recommended her to enter the academy.

This was because I speculated that Ken’s younger sister would either have a talent for swords or a brilliant mind.

‘I don’t know much because she hardly appears in the novel.’

After finishing the conversation with Ken to this extent, I moved to the indoor training ground.

“By the way, the effects of the Polysia flower seem to appear right before the competition.”

I replied with regret at Ken’s words.

“The competition was suddenly brought forward, so it’s too close. Still, it’s a rare flower that increases the mana pool immediately without side effects, so I have to be satisfied with the fact that it will be completed anyway.”

Ken also agreed.

“That’s right. You will see the effects immediately just by drinking it in potion form right before the match.”

The last three days were focused on breathing exercises and meditation, and the final preparation was to double the mana pool with the Polysia flower right before the match with Chen.

‘If the mana pool doubles from its current state, the absolute amount of mana itself will be no different from an intermediate spirit master.’

* * *

The three days passed in a flash.

The evaluation competition began.

The evaluation competition traditionally had no opening ceremony and did not hold any separate events.

It was a competition without a festival after it ended.

From the start, the competition proceeded, literally focusing only on the evaluation itself.

The reason why this event was noteworthy was that my father watched all the matches.

The Emperor watches every game without missing a single one!

That fact was very significant to the participants.

If they caught the Emperor’s eye and entered the direct organization, it would be a reversal of life, and even if they were not in the Emperor’s direct organization, it was an opportunity to make a definite impression on various nobles.

The competition was held at the competition venue located in the west of the Imperial Palace.

The stands, which could easily accommodate hundreds of people, were already occupied by nobles and their servants.

And on the top platform, a throne was placed.

With the Emperor’s entrance, the commander of the Imperial Knights, who was in charge of the competition without any events, called the participants onto the stage.

I, too, was waiting under the stage with the other participants as one of the participants.

The first match was between Leoden, who was considered the strongest contender in this competition, and an unknown mercenary.

Leoden confidently entered first, and the mercenary, with a somewhat nervous expression, went up on the stage.

“It starts with my signal. Victory or defeat is determined by injuries that prevent them from continuing the battle, death, or surrender.”

The two nodded at the words of the commander of the Imperial Knights.

I glanced at my father.

I couldn’t discern anything from his gaze, which was looking down at the stage with a bored expression and his chin resting on his hand.

Leoden was a likely winner, but it seemed that my father was not very impressed.

“Are you nervous?”

It was Chen’s voice.

I turned my head.

I smiled faintly as I watched Chen approach me with two knights.

“Don’t tell me.”

Chen moved on without waiting for my answer and concluded,

“There is no concept of brotherhood on the evaluation stage.”

Instead of answering, I turned my gaze to the stage.

There was no need to engage in a war of nerves with Chen.

“Your Highness.”

Then I heard a voice from behind again.

“What’s going on?”

It was a servant belonging to the Crown Prince’s Palace.

“Steward Ken sent this. He said to take it before the game.”

I narrowed my eyes.

“He said it was the last potion with the Polysia flower. He said it took some time because it was the final concentrate.”

I nodded.

The quest was not over yet, but it was difficult to see this as an assassination attempt.

The Polysia flower was only known to me and Ken, and if he sent it through a servant, it could be said that he really made the potion until the very end.

‘He barely made it.’

I took the potion from the servant and drank it lightly.

Instantly, the servant disappeared.

‘T, this!’

Not even a scream escaped from the extreme pain.