The rumored gourmet (3)
Taylor Tailheim was a baron’s youngest son.
He had no great talent nor great connections. All he had was a single mana ring on his chest. He was not someone that would normally come to the royal road.
However, at present, he was invited to the royal palace.
“It would have been nice if it had been an honorable invitation with the seal of His Majesty the King,” he said to himself.
Unfortunately, the seal imprinted on the invitation was not of His Majesty.
The invitation he received was sent by a prince called ‘the shame of the royal court.’
The First Prince Idrienne Leonberger.
There was no hesitation in Taylor’s footsteps toward the palace.
He had a job to do.
The royal palace is now visible. The family’s achievements are incomparable, and the heart of their magnificent kingdom amazed him.
That idiot in there, though…
He walked faster, more determined.
But the resolution did not last long.
Within the great halls of the gorgeous palace, strangers walking in get humbled and awed. So, by the time he arrived at the First Palace, Taylor was completely enchanted.
What is this, this is just the First Prince’s palace?
He was standing in a training room larger than his family’s entire barracks.
As he waited for the First Prince’s appearance, he heard voices echoing behind him. He turned and saw a boy with a fleshy face staring at him.
He does not look the part. He looks really squishy.
The person had an arrogant face and a bloated body that cannot be masked by his expensive clothes. He knew at first glance that this fat boy is the prince of disgrace.
“Talheim’s youngest son, pay your respect to the First Prince!” a court knight dressed in golden armor announced rather loudly, startling him.
“Taylor, the youngest son of Tailhaim, greets Your Highness Idrenne Leonberger,” he bowed, feigning respect he didn’t feel.
“Huh. Okay,” the prince replied bluntly and did not even respond with courtesy.
What an arrogant, insolent, vulgar boy! Whoo!
Taylor took a breath. He started to stretch out his tired arms and shoulders to relax his mind, but it wasn’t easy to move around the First Prince. He could feel the court knights’ gazes burning into him, and he was forced to retract his movement.
Be mindful.
Taylor shook his head and recalled the bad blood between his family and this unruly prince.
A few years ago, at a banquet, the First Prince insulted his father and elder brother. There was absolutely no reason for him to do so, they have just met!
On that day, the family’s fame fell to the ground, and his father and elder brother became laughingstocks and were still being mocked by nobles until now.
He came here today to repay the insults his family had received that day.
Taylor swallowed hard.
He stared at the prince as he imagined stabbing a knife in his squishy heart, but a heavy voice boomed in the training room.
“Calm down; the sparring hasn’t even started yet.”
It was the kingdom’s most famous knight, Count Bale Balahard.
He immediately bowed to the great man.
“Greetings, Lord Balahard! Baron Tailheim’s youngest son, an apprentice knight Taylor greets Sir Balahard, ruler of the Balahard family, commander of the 3rd Legion, and Knight of the Quad Chain! It’s a lifetime honor to meet you!”
“Nice to meet you.”
It was a brief response, but he felt a huge difference between the respectable knight’s greeting and that of the prince.
Taylor stared at Count Bale Balahard. He looked up to him as one of his heroes.
Suddenly, the prince intervened and shot a remark. “Hey, look at that. You look at him as a maid looks at a king.”
At that instant, Taylor’s moment of meeting a great knight was ruined.
Count Balahard greeted the prince coolly and turned once more to Taylor. “Do you need time to relax?”
He shook his head. “I warmed up while walking here!”
“Then, can we start right away?”
At the end of Count Balahard’s words, the court knights started to take their positions on the training room’s walls, opening up space in the middle.
“Don’t ask me,” the prince grumbled and went to the one side of the room. Taylor took the opposite side.
The court knights brought them their swords.
As Taylor saw the prince’s training sword, he laughed inwardly.
He cannot defeat me with that wooden sword! If I do it right, my family’s honor would be avenged!
Taylor took a deep breath and announced himself. It is the normal courtesy for those who wield the sword.
“Taylor, the youngest son of the Tailheim family. I am a single chain apprentice knight, using the sword of the Tailheim family.”
“It’s not a duel, but you’re talking grandly. It’s killing me, haha.”
The prince seemed to have nothing to do with respect and courtesy.
Even if Taylor is annoyed, he had to follow the courtesy with respect to his opponent’s position. “Please take good care of me.”
“So, let’s get started,” the prince said, standing idly on his side.
The formal declaration was made by Count Balahard.
“Begin!”
At the end of Count Balahard’s words, Taylor immediately spun a mana ring in the middle of his chest. He felt vitality spreading all over his body, and the tension on his stiff muscles was quickly released.
All that was left was a sense of duty to repay the family’s resentment.
Taylor smirked.
“Then I will go first. Please be careful,” he warned and rushed in. The distance narrowed in an instant.
Fat kid, I’ll teach you to be afraid.
As he charged, he filled his blow with mana, with enough power to cause a grave injury. In any case, the frightened prince may immediately give up.
He imagined the prince crying and shouting for help, and he can’t help but grin at the thought.
He struck.
Pssss…
“Huh?” Taylor was confused as soon as he heard a hissing sound. Did I get him that easily?
“Is that the power of a single ring? Seems a little sloppy,” he heard the annoying voice.
The prince was standing before him, behind a vertically raised sword, blocking his attack.
Taylor stepped back, unable to comprehend what happened.
He put a lot of mana and made it flow from the ring to the sword. He also swung the sword with enough power to cause an injury. It should have been enough to defeat the prince, who had only practiced with the sword a couple of months ago.
But it was blocked easily.
With a wooden sword, even.
Taylor could not understand.
“Uh, how?” he asked aloud, and the prince laughed.
“Well…” the prince spun his wooden sword with a face full of the usual ignorance.
Woo woo woo.
The prince’s sword made a strange sound.
It was the sound of a sword covered in mana.
* * *
“Oh!”
The court knights who saw Taylor Tailheim’s attack were worried. They almost jumped in to prevent it from hitting the prince.
But before they can do so, the attack landed.
Everyone expected the prince to come crashing to the floor.
Only a mana sword could block another mana sword’s attack. There was no way the prince could have stopped it, having only two months of sword training under his belt.
Pssss…
But it was not what they expected.
The prince didn’t even step back. He stood still and blocked Taylor’s sword easily.
Did Taylor remove his mana at the last instant?
The court knights looked at each other in confusion.
“Uh, how?”
However, they saw Taylor’s face filled with strong disbelief and confusion. He definitely didn’t withdraw his mana.
Woo woo woo.
Upon hearing the sound, the court knights realized what happened.
Mana was flowing from the prince’s sword.
The room echoed with collective sighs of understanding and surprise.
It was a technique too high for the prince to achieve, given the time he had been practicing.
The court knights began to whisper to each other.
“His Highness must have been hiding those qualities.”
“Why did the world never know of His Highness skill?”
The court knights lamented.
If the world had recognized the true nature of the prince earlier, he would have gotten a little respect.
It was a pity.
“Hiyaa!”
Baron Tailheim’s youngest son recovered, and continued to slash away with his sharp sword.
Court knights admired the prince’s marvelous achievement, but they did not think that the prince could take this onslaught.
Again, their expectations were wrong.
Every time Taylor swung the sword, it was only hitting the floor or the air.
The baron’s son continued to pour his anger as if his pride was hurt.
The prince’s hand shook as if he is tired of avoiding and blocking the attacks.
The court knights were prepared to intervene but –
“Stop!”
Count Balahard restrained them with a word. “Stay on your positions. Look at his face.”
The court knights all turned to look.
Count Balahard continued.
“Do you still see a crisis before you?”
They couldn’t answer.
The prince was smiling.
His face was distorted, but he was smiling.
* * *
Wow, it’s wheezing.
Whenever his sword hits mine, I could feel my stomach shake. I feel bloated. It is a sign that I’ve taken too much mana, and it was stranded on my stomach.
If the stomach can’t take it anymore, I’ll soon vomit it out – typical mana regurgitation. Sooner or later, I’ll vomit blood too.
But nevertheless, I laughed.
My opponent’s face was distorted like a demon. It was the face of helplessness, of self-destruction, resentment, and hostility that was hidden at first but was no openly revealed.
“Did you say Baron Tailheim’s youngest?” I asked, between blows.
Instead, the opponent stabbed his sword.
“You have to cool down your head,” I laughed.
He seemed beyond hearing right now.
As I looked at his desperate face, I decided to liberate something that was asleep in me.
A part of my soul that I have never revealed because this weak body couldn’t take it before.
“Mana heart accepted a huge will.”
“One color is overlaid on the colorless mana heart.”
“The will of the sleeping dragon was awakened.”
“The heart of the dragon slayer was activated.”
I recalled the dragon battle and infused the memory with my mana heart, activating an essence powerful enough to slay a dragon.
“The energy from the dragon slayer’s heart has been merged with the dragon’s sword.”
The sword, which was forged for a dragon, but dulled by misuse, cried out after sleeping for hundreds of years.
Kirr.
It sounded clearly different from a training sword.
“What-
My opponent’s spirit was interrupted as soon as he saw it.
I swung.
The two swords collide in the air.
The poor mana ring is shattered, helpless against the huge will it faced.
My dragon slayer sword ate the sword of the apprentice knight.
Kwajik!
The hard blade broke in half with a metallic sound.
Kirr.
My sword was still hungry.
I went forward.
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