Chapter 84. It's My First Time With Royalty (2)

That's right.

No matter how recklessly Patrick had lived since his days as the Radiant Dragon Great Master Jin Cheon, he had never beaten up royalty.

Not in his past life, and this was his first time dealing with royalty directly in this life too.

So he couldn't quite get a feel for it.

‘Beating her up… wouldn't be okay, right?’

Patrick, the legitimate heir of a feudal noble who had sworn allegiance to the royal family, beating up a royal?

That would be treason.

If he committed treason, the state would try to exterminate his nine generations, and then Patrick would wage war against the state, and if a war broke out like that, the Kingdom of Atronia would be ruined.

So…

“For the future of the kingdom, could you please keep it a secret?”

“What does that mean?”

“It's a long story to explain…. Ugh.”

Long or short, why would a sane person understand the logic of a madman?

If a compromise couldn't be reached through conversation, what was he supposed to do?

‘Should I just beat her up? If she gets amnesia, it might be resolved cleanly, right?’

Just then, what caught Patrick's eye was the sword Isabella was holding in one hand.

‘Ah, right. That would work.’

A woman who came out alone at this late hour to swing her sword.

If so, her disposition was obvious.

The solution seemed to be in sight as well.

“Princess, would you like to have a duel with me?”

“…Suddenly?”

“Ahem, when a swordsman discusses the sword, how can place and time be an issue?”

“……”

What was this? The words seemed to make sense, but the problem was this situation where the person saying them inspired absolutely no trust.

Receiving Isabella's suspicious gaze, Patrick continued.

“You seem to be around the end of the 3-star level, but I'll go easy on you. A duel with a master will be a hundred times more helpful than swinging a sword alone under the moonlight.”

“Hah…. You?”

Isabella looked at Patrick with an incredulous laugh.

For the first time, a smile appeared on her cold face.

Even though that smile was one of ridicule, it was true that it was beautiful.

Come to think of it, she felt like she knew who this first-year student was.

“Patrick Schneider. Right?”

“Yes. That's right. It seems you know me.”

“Because you're famous.”

“Me?”

Patrick didn't know it, but he was already a famous figure in the Academy's Knight Faculty.

He had caused a series of incidents as soon as he enrolled, and one of those two incidents was beating Zordic Panola, a third-year student, to a pulp.

Thanks to that, Patrick's name became widely known not only among the first-years but also among the second and third-years.

“You're the first-year who beat Zordic Panola, right?”

“That's right, but is beating him up a bit something to become famous for?”

To Patrick's words, Isabella said.

“Zordic was the second-best among the third-years.”

“Ahh…. I see. Then is the top student the Princess?”

“That's right.”

“Well, you do seem more competent than that brat.”

At Patrick's words, Isabella seemed to be on the verge of flaring up.

Ever since she realized she had a talent for the sword, she had dedicated her entire life solely to the sword.

As a reward for her efforts, she had even secured the position of the top student among the third-years at the Academy, and now a first-year junior was speaking to her as if evaluating her…

“Insolent.”

“Ehem.”

“Why are you acting proud?”

“Wasn't that a compliment?”

“……?”

Looking at Patrick, who was asking with genuine curiosity, Princess Isabella thought.

He's not normal.

That's what she thought.

Receiving such a look, Patrick puffed out his chest and said.

“Insolence backed by skill is something to be proud of.”

“Isn't that usually called arrogance?”

“I don't think so. So what, are you going to do it? Or not?”

“……”

To the hesitant her, Patrick said with a face that would get on anyone's nerves, in a slightly provoking tone.

“Of course, if you're scared, you don't have to. I'll go easy on you, but if the Princess is still afraid…”

“A knight knows no fear.”

“Hoh? Is that so?”

The corners of Patrick's mouth curled up.

“Then shall we prove it with a duel?”

“Fine.”

“If I defeat you, Princess, you must keep what happened today a secret. And if I lose…”

Patrick thought for a moment.

What could he do for the princess?

After thinking deeply, Patrick…

“Well, I'll just do whatever the Princess says. I'm not going to lose anyway.”

“……”

Princess Isabella's beautiful forehead wrinkled.

She felt a strong displeasure at Patrick's demeanor, which spoke with the conviction that he would never lose.

“Will you really do anything I want?”

“Of course.”

“Will you die if I tell you to?”

“Of course. Didn't I say ‘an-y-thing’?”

At Patrick's attitude, which showed his conviction that there was no chance of him losing even if the heavens and earth were to be overturned, Isabella aimed her sword and said.

“Fine. But if you lose, you really have to do whatever I tell you to.”

At her words, Patrick gave a deep smile.

“Understood.”

‘Of course. I knew it would be like this.’

He had experienced types like this many times in his past life.

Talented individuals who combined talent and effort to achieve a certain level of success, and possessed both literary and martial skills, as well as talent and beauty.

These kinds of people were easier to hook than a goldfish if you just gently scratched their pride.

“Now, shall we begin?”

At Patrick's words, Isabella's eyes twitched.

“Your sword?”

“Sword…. Ah, I don't have one right now.”

Come to think of it, he was currently unarmed.

But Patrick just chuckled and said.

“I'll use this.”

As he said that, what Patrick held up was the liquor bottle in his hand.

At that sight, sparks flew from Isabella's eyes.

“Are you trying to be funny right now?”

“Ah, whatever, just come at me. If we agreed to do it, we just do it. Why are you talking so much… yo.”

Patrick still added the polite suffix ‘yo’ at the end, considering she was royalty.

“Don't regret this.”

“I told you to just come at me… yo.”

As soon as Patrick's words ended, Isabella rushed towards him.

Closing the distance quickly, she aimed a sharp attack at Patrick's waist.

Patrick took a step back to avoid the attack that cut sharply through the wind.

Her attack then cut through the empty air.

But…

“Hup!”

This was where it really began.

The moment she forced her opponent to retreat, Isabella, with a short breath, began to relentlessly press Patrick with a series of continuous attacks.

Whooosh! Shiiik!

Sometimes heavy, sometimes sharp.

While constantly moving forward to pursue the retreating opponent, her posture never broke.

She maintained a solid center of balance as she unleashed controlled attacks.

‘Her basics are solid.’

Even though she was swinging her sword driven by emotion, her form was accurate.

That was proof that she usually didn't neglect her basics.

However…

“Too predictable.”

“What did you say?”

The moment Princess Isabella's eyes widened and she was about to shout, Patrick's body vanished like a ghost.

Then, having already taken her flank, he lightly tripped Princess Isabella's advancing pivot foot.

At that, Princess Isabella…

“Huh?”

lost her balance and fell forward.

She scrambled to her feet, but her face was extremely red when she got up.

“You…”

“What about me?”

“You cowardly tripped me.”

“Oh, for crying out loud.”

Patrick let out a sigh.

Then he spoke to Isabella.

“Yes. I cowardly tripped you. Why?”

“Aren't you ashamed as a knight?”

“Not at all.”

“…Th-…”

“Is there a rule in the knight's code that says you can't trip someone?”

“……”

There wasn't.

There wasn't, but…

Still, wasn't this somehow wrong?

“If you consider the honor and dignity of a knight, you shouldn't use such a petty trick.”

“Coming from the person who fell for that petty trick, it's not very convincing, is it?”

“You…!”

Isabella's face turned red.

And Patrick beckoned with his fingers and said.

“I see what your problem is, Princess. I'll correct it for you a bit, so let's continue.”

At Patrick's words, Isabella gritted her teeth, glared fiercely, and said.

“You…. be prepared.”

“Prepared?”

“……”

“For what… yo?”

It was an annoying expression that would tick off any human being… any person with a normal sense of aesthetics.

At such a Patrick, Isabella shouted sharply and charged.

“Die!”

Princess Isabella Black Atronia.

She had learned the sword from the royal knights since she was a child, and after that, she enrolled in the Academy and trained diligently and faithfully.

The sword she forged through that process was faithful to the basics, and with her talent added to her efforts, she had reached the end of the 3-star level despite her young age.

An orthodox swordsmanship faithful to the basics.

This was good.

Just as a great tree must first have solid roots, the basics for a swordsman are something that cannot be emphasized enough.

However…

‘The problem is that those roots were grown in a greenhouse.’

She was too purely cultivated.

Let alone real combat experience, it seemed she had never even had a particularly rough sparring match.

She may have had duels where she faced opponents honestly and where victory and defeat were decided honestly, but she had no experience of displaying a tenacious obsession for victory and squeezing out everything she could.

A flower in a greenhouse, purely cultivated.

‘In Jianghu, kids like this died particularly quickly.’

This was also the biggest weakness of the prestigious orthodox sects.

It actually happened quite often that young people who were noted as promising talents of a large sect would leave for the Jianghu and then meet their end at the hands of some second-rate unorthodox martial artist.

Whenever that happened, if one considered the circumstances, there were always excuses.

The opponent used a cowardly trick.

They attacked when he was tired.

Several people attacked at once.

They used poison.

The excuses were quite varied.

But what did it matter?

The dead don't come back to life.

“The basics are important, yes. But that's not everything.”

“What do you mean?”

“To believe that you will become strong by diligently training only the basics without considering real combat is not something that should be called diligence, but rather negligence… yo.”

And Patrick lightly swung the liquor bottle towards Isabella's face.

At that…

Splaaash!

“Ugh?”

The thrown liquor went onto her face.

It went right into her eyes, and Isabella, who momentarily lost her sight, lost her target and floundered.

And Patrick closed the distance, entering Isabella's personal space, and said.

“See? You panic and flounder, don't you?”

“What…. Ack!”

BOOOOM!

A sound like a cannon firing echoed.

A one-inch punch exploded at point-blank range with no gap.

From the physical shock, a different type of impact from a strike, Princess Isabella arched her back like a shrimp and flew backward.

“Kuh… ugh…”

To Princess Isabella, who was groaning on the ground, Patrick said.

“Duel's over. Keep your promise.”

With Patrick's last word, she lost consciousness.

“Well, this type will keep their promise even if it kills them, so I don't have to worry, right?”

Patrick left the collapsed Princess Isabella, took a sip of liquor from the bottle, and said.

With this, the problem was solved.

That's what Patrick thought at this time.

At this time.

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