TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 9
“Th-that kind of taste.”
In the meantime, the sound of murmuring spread throughout the area.
It was because those who had seen Kraush’s kick began gathering out of curiosity about the current situation.
The boy showed a flustered expression.
Though he had acted impulsively and aggressively in the heat of the moment…
He knew that what he had done was not the right thing.
“I-I was only following Princess Claudia’s orders!”
Perhaps feeling the pressure of the situation due to his young age, he blurted out the name of the person who had given him the task.
At that moment, the murmuring stopped.
The noble children began retreating as if trying to hush the matter.
Kraush mulled over that name and soon recalled someone.
‘Claudia Starlon.’
It was the name of the second princess of the Starlon Kingdom.
Why would the princess be summoning Bianca?
“Princess Claudia instructed me to bring Miss Bianca to her, and I was trying to carry out her orders. But Miss Bianca kept refusing, so I had no choice but to bring her by force! It’s a royal command!”
Royal command, my foot.
A mere princess does not wield the authority of a royal command.
However, refusing the words of a princess was not favorable for one’s standing as a noble.
Especially among female nobles, such matters were even more severe.
‘But why Bianca, of all people?’
Bianca was indeed the youngest daughter of the northern ruler, Hardenhartz.
However, due to a curse, her reputation among the nobles was low.
In fact, there were many who looked down on Bianca.
And yet, the princess, who enjoyed mingling with her loyal followers, had summoned her?
Honestly, it didn’t make sense.
As Kraush pondered, a memory from the past flashed through his mind.
‘Aniks.’
The eldest son of the Graiza Family, known as the Wooden Bow.
The moment he thought of him, Kraush’s brow furrowed.
It was because Aniks was someone the second princess, Claudia, admired.
In fact, as time passed, Claudia’s fervent courtship led to the two of them even getting married.
However, there was one issue with Aniks.
‘I remember now. That bastard was obsessively fixated on my sister.’
At the Holy Land of Stars, Aniks had faced Charlotte and suffered a crushing defeat.
Despite being hailed as a genius who had always triumphed within the Graiza Family, he was utterly broken by Charlotte.
It was a complete blow to his pride.
The problem was that the damage to his pride took a twisted turn.
Aniks hated and resented Charlotte.
It was only natural since she had shattered his genius.
Yet, at the same time, he admired Charlotte’s strength.
As a fellow genius, he wanted to emulate her.
Over time, this eventually transformed into a feeling of love and hate.
It seemed that this misdirected obsession had somehow spilled over to affect both himself and Bianca.
‘Did he think that if he could bring Bianca, he could bring me too?’
Since he couldn’t touch Charlotte…
He must have thought of targeting her younger sibling instead.
“Ha.”
Kraush let out a scoff and slowly brushed his hair back.
It was an action that surfaced whenever he was angry.
‘And for that, you mess with Bianca?’
As blatant fury emanated from Kraush’s eyes, the noble boy flinched.
Then, as if his pride was hurt by the fact that he had momentarily been intimidated by Kraush’s gaze, he furrowed his brow sharply.
No matter how much of a direct descendant of the Balheim Family Kraush was, he was younger than him.
Moreover, Kraush was known as the Half-Penny of Balheim.
The rumor that Balheim had cast him out was now common knowledge.
Out of consideration for Balheim, he hadn’t been provoked unnecessarily.
But Kraush himself was just a powerless brat.
“Y-you!”
“What?”
“N-never mind.”
The boy had been about to shout but changed his words when Kraush snapped at him.
He instinctively felt intimidated in the face of Kraush’s fierce glare.
“Go ahead.”
At that moment, the boy raised his head upon hearing Kraush say he could go.
If he failed to carry out the princess’s orders, he would surely be expelled from his position as her loyal follower.
So, when he showed a glimmer of hope, what came out of Kraush’s mouth was something unexpected.
“But instead of going to Princess Claudia, you’ll be going to Aniks.”
“W-why to Lord Aniks?”
Kraush clicked his tongue at the self-proclaimed loyal follower.
“You claim to follow the princess, yet you don’t even know who asked her to give such an order? Truly, you have no discernment.”
Well, it made sense. Someone with no discernment would naturally fall for someone like Aniks.
Just as the boy’s face began to flush upon realizing Kraush was mocking him, Kraush took Bianca’s hand.
Then, he began walking away with Bianca.
It was an unintentional act, prompted by the thought that leaving her alone would only attract more pests.
Then, suddenly, Kraush remembered something.
“Bianca.”
“Yes?”
“Even so, it was the princess’s order. Why didn’t you go?”
No matter how clever Bianca was for her age, she was still only twelve years old.
As for him, he could grasp the situation because he was a regressor who knew all the circumstances.
Bianca had no knowledge of the relationship between Kraush and Aniks.
Yet, why had she deliberately disobeyed the princess’s order?
“Because Mr. Kraush told me to wait here.”
Kraush blinked once.
Did that mean she prioritized his words over the princess’s command?
Kraush stared at the expressionless Bianca for a moment before raising his other hand to pat her head.
“Well done.”
If she followed instructions well, she deserved praise.
Due to her small head, Bianca’s head swayed back and forth as Kraush patted it.
For some reason, Kraush felt a chuckle escape him and withdrew his hand.
The unpleasant feelings he had just moments ago seemed to have subsided a little.
Now that his mood had improved somewhat…
It was time to settle things with that bastard Aniks in advance.
* * *
Aniks was not far from the main party hall.
By now, as the party had progressed for quite some time, the noble children were mostly enjoying their own leisure.
As such, the place where Aniks was located was none other than a terrace with a view of the outdoor scenery.
The moment Kraush arrived at the terrace, he encountered a familiar face.
A boy whose skin bore markings resembling those of a tiger.
Balak Hogma.
His subordinate, Balak, was standing in front of the entrance leading to the terrace.
The moment he saw Kraush, his cat-like pupils sparkled.
“Hello, hello! Nice to see you!”
Seeing him greet so abruptly, Kraush stared at him impassively.
Balak was a swordsman who wielded two swords with ease.
While he lacked nothing in skill, he had a few personality issues.
To describe him, it would be like this:
An unpredictable explosive.
He was an exceptionally difficult type of person to handle.
Balak, who bounced around so much that it was impossible to guess what he was thinking.
It was because he was truly an oddball.
“I came to see Aniks.”
For that reason, Kraush wanted to pass by without any conflict.
Because dealing with Balak was a headache.
“Yep! Aniks told me to let you in if you came!”
Fortunately, it seemed Aniks had already given prior instructions.
“Alright, then.”
“But no!”
Just as Kraush was about to place his hand on the doorknob of the terrace, Balak blocked his way.
Being only a year apart in age, Balak’s eye level was no different from Kraush’s.
Thus, Balak’s face, clearly visible, was beaming with a wide grin.
“I’m interested in you too, Kraush!”
“I’m not interested in men.”
“Huh? Does it have to be a woman?”
Balak tilted his head, unable to understand the words.
Kraush felt a throbbing pain in his forehead.
“So?”
“Let’s have a match!”
For some reason, he had expected this to happen.
Balak was a battle maniac who had fearlessly charged at Charlotte when she arrived at the Holy Land of Stars.
Of course, he was utterly defeated, but unlike Aniks, he wasn’t particularly hung up on losing.
He was someone who simply enjoyed the act of fighting itself.
Therefore, it was only natural that his fighting spirit flared up when facing Kraush, another member of Balheim like Charlotte.
“This is the Holy Land of Stars. Fighting is forbidden here.”
“But I fought Charlotte! I want to fight you too! Though you seem weaker than Charlotte.”
Comparing himself to the star standing atop Starlon, was he?
Kraush deliberated briefly.
He thought about simply ignoring Balak and opening the terrace door.
But knowing Balak’s personality, it didn’t seem like he would step aside so easily.
That didn’t mean Balak was weak either.
That wasn’t the case at all.
‘He’s on the same Expert level as me.’
In terms of rank, Balak was slightly above him.
However, Balak’s real issue was his innate combat sense.
His unpredictable nature was fully reflected in battle, and thanks to that sense, he was also the one who lasted the longest against Charlotte.
Though it was only about three seconds longer than Aniks.
‘I need to meet Aniks, and I don’t want to get into a fight with this guy.’
Looking into Balak’s eyes, it seemed he wouldn’t let him go.
“Alright.”
Thus, Kraush eventually accepted.
“Wow, thanks!”
Whoosh!
And immediately, Kraush threw a punch at the grateful Balak.
The fist, imbued with aura, reached right in front of Balak’s nose, but Balak leaned his head back with astonishing reflexes.
Balak’s flexibility, bending his waist so far back that his head nearly touched the ground, was impressive enough to draw admiration.
However, before Balak could spring back with a triumphant grin, Kraush struck his leg.
Thud!
Balak, hit in the leg, lightly floated into the air.
Following that, Kraush’s elbow slammed into Balak’s abdomen.
Bang!
Balak, struck by Kraush, sprawled onto the floor.
As Kraush silently looked down at him, Balak suddenly sprang up with a backflip.
Having shielded his abdomen with his arms in the meantime, Balak’s eyes began to gleam again.
“You’re ruthless, huh?”
“You’re the one who wanted to fight.”
Kraush cracked his neck from side to side.
Kraush was a half-penny.
Compared to the Skyborne Generation, who wielded curses as if it were second nature, his skills were pitiful.
Yet, even so, he had survived until the end.
The reason Kraush managed to survive until the end wasn’t just because he avoided the frontlines.
It was also because he had desperately clawed his way to survival, barely attaining some martial prowess.
At the very least, he wasn’t someone who would get beaten up by kids.
Of course, by the time he reached adulthood, he would inevitably be overshadowed by their talents.
But that meant, for now, he wouldn’t lose.
“Alright! Great! Let’s keep going! I even want to grab my weapons!”
“Oh? But I don’t think there’s any need to continue.”
Just as Balak excitedly shouted, Kraush spoke coldly.
Before Balak could grasp the meaning of those words, blood suddenly dripped from his nose.
“Huh?”
At that moment of confusion, Balak rolled his eyes back and collapsed onto the floor.
Watching Balak like that, Kraush dusted off his hands as Bianca tilted her head.
“What did you do?”
“A secret technique.”
The name of the secret technique was.
Inch Strength.
A secret technique devised by the former half-penny of Balheim, capable of delivering the greatest destructive power at the shortest distance.
It was also a secret technique Kraush had learned from a single book he found in the secret library of the burned-down Green Pine Mansion.
Thanks to this secret technique, Kraush had survived countless life-or-death situations.
Thus, it was the technique he wielded best.
“It’s a technique that comes with quite a few conditions to use.”
But if those conditions were met, it could pierce through armor and deliver internal damage, even if the opponent was armored.
When Kraush’s elbow struck Balak, he had already used Inch Strength.
As a result, even though Balak had blocked with his arms, the impact had directly shaken his insides.
“Ugh, ugh.”
Balak, trembling from the effects of Inch Strength, tried a few times to get up but ultimately couldn’t.
Unless he had defended himself internally with aura, taking Inch Strength bare-bodied led to an inevitable outcome.
Leaving Balak behind, Kraush grabbed the terrace door and opened it.
There, standing by the terrace railing, were a man and a tall woman.
The man was none other than Wooden Bow Aniks Graiza.
And the woman was Elfin Emilia, Balak’s subordinate.
Elphin glanced at Kraush and then walked past him.
It seemed she was heading toward Balak, who had been defeated by Kraush.
When Kraush willingly stepped aside, Aniks gave a faint smile with his drooping eyes.
“To think you could take down Balak like that. I’m impressed.”
This guy had also known that Balak would pick a fight, yet he had stationed him at the entrance anyway.
Thinking how devious he was, Kraush glared at him.
“I figured you invited Bianca through Princess Claudia to lure me here. So, I came to you directly.”
“You figured that out?”
Aniks showed a genuinely surprised reaction.
Then, with a puzzled expression, he stroked his chin.
“You’re so different from the rumors. It’s fascinating. Could the rumors have been wrong?”
“If you’re talking about the rumor that I’m a Half-Penny, that’s true.”
Kraush had no intention of denying the rumors from the past.
He hadn’t cared about those kinds of rumors from the start.
The world’s destruction was approaching, a world that couldn’t even protect the Skyborne Generation.
Rather than worrying about rumors, he needed to grow stronger, even if just a little.
“However, if I beat you up today, those rumors might change a bit.”
Kraush knew better than anyone that if he became stronger, the rumors would naturally change.
And Aniks was the perfect person to help change those rumors.
‘I’m planning to steal that guy’s Skill.’
He, too, was part of the Skyborne Generation.
He was one of Kraush’s targets.