Future Knight [EN]: Chapter 31

퓨쳐나이트 31화

“Princess! You mustn’t wander around like this.”

“Shut up! It’s my business if I want to walk around! What’s it to you?”

“Your Highness is here to represent Helainer Dean Frompel III, the Emperor of our Debisman Empire. Please, remain in the conference hall.”

“Hmph! Politics and war are for nobles anyway. What am I supposed to do in that stuffy conference hall? If you keep bothering me, you can disappear from my sight too!”

The boy, silenced by the princess’s words, lowered his head. His plate mail bore the distinct emblem of the Helainer Knights, the Bisman Empire’s Royal Guard.

“Now, choose. Will you stay by my side and guard me, or remain in the conference hall with them?”

“I, I will stay with you…”

“What was that? I can’t hear you!”

“I said, I will stay with you.”

“Ohohoho! Very well, very well. I commend your loyalty and shall allow you to accompany me.”

“……”

If things went wrong, the princess would surely sell him out.

The boy knew this all too well, and his expression was twisted as if he had bitten into something foul.

It was the boy’s miserable fate, consistent for two years since he first met the vile Edeline.

She had shattered the fantasy of a princess he had cherished deeply since childhood, and now he was a boy who wanted to sever the bitter ties with her.

“Wow! This isn’t just a village, it’s a complete native settlement. Surely, the toilets here are those legendary outhouses… The bathhouse won’t have a tub, and there won’t be a swimming pool, a ballroom, a clothing store, or a jewelry shop, will there? I might go crazy living in a place like this.”

‘I’ll go crazy before you do.’

The boy swallowed the words he couldn’t bring himself to say.

To her, the elven village where they gathered fruits and vegetables and lived among the trees looked exactly like the native settlements she had only seen in book illustrations.

But, damn it, the appearance of the occasional female elf was so outstanding that it could never be easily seen even in the palace ballroom.

Jealous, Edeline scowled.

“Hmph! A native from a native village. Zaijen!”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Who is prettier?”

“Pardon?”

Zaijen looked up at Edeline with a bewildered expression.

“I’m asking, who is prettier, that native or me?”

“Of course, Your Highness is far more beautiful.”

Zaijen’s tone was far from sincere, but Edeline didn’t seem to care as she laughed in a high-pitched voice, delighted.

“Ohohoho! Of course. I am the princess of the Bisman Empire, after all. Let’s go, Zaijen.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The curious Princess Edeline, accompanied by the sour-faced Zaijen, wandered around, looking here and there.

However, no matter which direction she looked, it was all dense forest, and soon losing interest, Edeline began to vent her frustration on the innocent Zaijen.

“What is this? Nothing but this tiresome forest?”

“I heard that the village where the elves live is only a part of the forest, Your Highness.”

“I don’t want to hear that! This is not what I came to see!”

“……”

She didn’t need to come, but she stubbornly insisted on coming with the delegation. What was she expecting to see? The boy named Zaijen, who had also embarked on this path of hardship, simply looked up at the sky in silence and sighed.

It was then.

With a roar, something plummeted from the sky above.

Vroom!

“Gasp!”

Thanks to the wind-like speed of its descent, the trees in the forest swayed violently, and leaves fell in all directions.

“Yahoo! Awesome!”

“Can’t you ride a little quieter?”

“Let’s go around one more time, huh?”

“No! I’ve already given you three rides. Get off quickly.”

“Don’t be like that, just one more time, huh? Just one more time?”

“I said no! How many times do I have to tell you? Aren’t you getting off?”

“No! I won’t get off!”

When Zikyon whined for one more ride, Kang Chan flared up and struggled to get Zikyon off the air bike.

Edeline and Zaijen watched their antics with dumbfounded expressions.

“Zaijen.”

“Yes?”

“What is that?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

A wicked smile spread across Edeline’s face as she looked at the strange flying vehicle.

“I want to ride what they’re riding.”

“Well, wouldn’t you need the owner’s permission for that?”

“They don’t seem to be elves.”

“Yes, judging by their round ears, they both seem to be human.”

“Oh? Is that so?”

Edeline, grinning wickedly, confidently walked towards Kang Chan and Zikyon.

“Hey! Get off while I’m asking nicely.”

“No! Give me one more ride!”

“Ugh, I’m gonna smack you!”

As Kang Chan was about to hit Zikyon, Edeline’s voice came from behind them.

“Hey, you there.”

Startled by the sudden voice of a strange girl behind him, Kang Chan stopped pulling Zikyon and turned around.

Behind him stood a cute girl in a very fancy dress and a fair-skinned boy in shiny armor, both staring intently at him.

Since they were complete strangers, Kang Chan asked Zikyon,

“Who are they? Do you know them?”

“No idea.”

When Zikyon said he didn’t know either, Kang Chan spoke to the strange girl.

“Who are you?”

“I am the princess of the Debisman Empire. Show respect to royalty at once.”

Kang Chan clicked his tongue at the girl introducing herself with an arrogant expression.

“A princess is telling me to show respect, what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Ugh… calling such an ignorant guy my friend. She’s telling you to greet her, greet her!”

“Greet? Why do I have to greet her? Especially to someone I don’t even know.”

“She’s a princess, you know.”

“Do I have to greet princesses no matter what?”

“I don’t have to, but you probably do? Maybe?”

“Why don’t you have to?”

“Because I’m not human.”

“No way, if I do it, you do it too.”

“Are you crazy? Why would I greet a human?”

As they bickered again, Edeline’s expression, ignored by Kang Chan and Zikyon, hardened severely.

“T, this is an insult.”

Zaijen stepped forward in front of Edeline, trembling with humiliation.

“How dare you! How dare you act so rudely in front of the imperial family of the Empire!”

Kang Chan, dumbfounded by the sudden scolding from a seemingly young kid, looked at Zikyon and asked.

“Who’s this guy?”

“Why do you keep asking me? I told you, I don’t know!”

Kang Chan turned his gaze away from Zikyon and glared at Zaijen, who was talking down to him, with a less than pleasant expression.

“Hey kid, you’ll get in trouble if you talk informally to your elders.”

Zaijen’s eyes blazed with fury at being called a kid after seeing the emblem of the Bisman Empire’s Helainer Knights on his chest.

“Ki, kid?! You! I can’t forgive this!”

Zaijen took off his leather glove and threw it at Kang Chan.

“Draw your sword!”

“……?”

Puzzled, Kang Chan picked up the leather glove thrown in front of him and threw it back at Zaijen.

“Why are you suddenly throwing gloves at people?”

Thud!

Zaijen’s face turned ashen as he was struck by the glove he had thrown, and Zikyon, who was next to Kang Chan, was momentarily startled by his sudden action.

“Why does he look like that?”

“Hey, you just messed up.”

Kang Chan asked back when Zikyon told him he messed up.

“I just returned the glove?”

“As far as I know, when a human takes off a glove and throws it, it means they’re challenging you to a duel to the death, and throwing that glove back means you don’t even consider them worth fighting, right?”

“A duel? To the death?”

While Kang Chan was surprised by Zaijen’s words, Zaijen, who had slowly drawn his sword, exuded a thick murderous aura that didn’t match his innocent-looking face as he walked towards Kang Chan.

“Draw your sword immediately. If you don’t, I’ll cut you down in one strike.”

Kang Chan’s playful expression turned serious as he sensed an incredible aura from an unexpected opponent.

“Huh, this guy’s not ordinary.”

Kang Chan never expected to be fighting a snot-nosed human like this, but the murderous intent emanating from his opponent was no joke, so he drew the two daggers attached to his upper buttocks on both sides.

They were high-frequency blade daggers, standard equipment for space infantry that he used to enjoy.

Zaijen, unaware of the true value of those daggers, scoffed at Kang Chan’s daggers, just like the elves.

“Daring to mock me, the Bisman Empire’s Imperial Guard, with mere daggers, I shall take your life as the price.”

The Imperial Guard Helainer Knights of the Bisman Empire, ranked among the top three in the entire continent.

Being affiliated with such a place meant that he was already a knight who had transcended the realm of humans.

Also, knights belonging to such famous knight orders had tremendous pride and cherished the honor of their order as much as their own lives.

But to call such a knight a kid, and even throw his glove back, insulting him as not even worth fighting, Zaijen was now willing to give up his life to regain his tarnished honor.

Unfortunately, Kang Chan was also slightly annoyed.

He had been eager to go to Jeina all day.

Not only had Zikyon been annoyingly clinging to him since morning, but now some impudent kids had popped out of nowhere to pick a fight, and his patience was slowly reaching its limit.

Moreover, Kang Chan was about to blow his top at Zaijen’s words, scoffing at his daggers.

“I’ll forgive you now, so just go.”

“As a knight, I’ll give you a chance. Come at me.”

Kang Chan’s eyes truly flipped when a young kid dared to offer him a chance, even though he was already angry.

“A chance? Alright, go ahead and give me all the chances you want!”

Kang Chan decided to quickly teach the kid a lesson and go see Jeina, so he went on the offensive from the start.

Kang Chan, who rushed at the boy with tremendous speed, instantly slashed his dagger.

Even though he hadn’t activated combat mode, Kang Chan’s attack was a Sword Expert-level, or higher, powerful attack.

However, unexpectedly, the boy blocked his fierce attack, which he thought would incapacitate him in one blow, without much difficulty.

Clang!

‘Huh? Look at this guy?’

The moment Kang Chan was taken aback, a blue aura sword momentarily erupted from the boy’s longsword.