Chapter 150 (2/2)

“It is easier to give up,” he advised her.

“I told you not to bother me. If you’re bored, don’t go around bothering people and go dance.”

“Then, how about we dance together?” Philip asked.

Philip extended his hand to Anna.

Anna, who had a rather unpleased expression, seeing her scary instructor ask for her hand, blushed and grabbed his hand.

“Don’t, don’t get the wrong idea. I’m only agreeing because I’m bored,” she clarified to Philip.

“Okay, I understand.”

The band continued to play, and the banquet rang with entertaining music.

By the time the Emperor made his presence, Luke was already having fun with Reina. However, the people around him didn’t leave him.

“Greetings to the Viscount. I am the descendant of the knight Rolex, who had once fought alongside the warrior Rakan…”

“My nephew is serving under you at the Torlot Fortress. I can’t help but feel proud for being his uncle.”

“I have come from Toledo. Aren’t you aware of Toledo? The legendary Rakan had trained his sword skills there.”

When Luke turned determined that he would socialize to form a network…

Luke’s primary target was the lower nobles, who were somehow desperately trying to form a network with senior nobles.

And those who didn’t have the opportunity to talk to Luke were speaking to his partner, Princess Reina.

“My wife is from Volga.”

“I was acquainted with a rich man long ago. At that time, the man had a kid who was as pretty as you…”

“Our 5th grandmother was a Volga Princess. Princess and I could be distant relatives, we never know.”

Luke tried very hard to smile moderately at their words, but he was treating their attempt rather offensive.

Eventually, he became tired. He took Reina’s hand and went to an empty terrace.

“Oh my, the ability to make people sick is great too. Do they really want to get to know me so much?”

“They are blinded by power. You don’t really have to pay any attention to their words,” said Reina.

After talking, the two looked at each other. Their faces were closing in the distance between them.

That was when someone suddenly entered the terrace.

“This! They had come before me. I’ll keep doing what I do, huh?”

The identity of the intruder was Count Ferrero, the Vice-captain of the Knight’s of Guard.

He was one of the Sword Masters of the Empire, and he had met Luke once before in the Imperial Palace.

With a wine glass in his hand, he approached Luke the moment he recognized Luke’s face.

“Who could this be?! The war hero who broke down 60,000 enemies and took down 7 of their Fortresses! Though not right, I wanted to feel your sword the other time. Have a match with me right now.”

The Count had still not given up on Luke. No, after knowing that he had gained merit in the war with the Volga Republic, he felt even more frustrated and wanted to fight.

“This is a banquet hall,” Luke responded.

“What does a place have to do for a man to go against another. If you want to, we can move to a place that I know,” he said to Luke.

Luke had just managed to run away from the newly-rich noble tiger and hyenas in the banquet.

Annoyed, Luke flatly refused his offer.

“I don’t want to. I will never duel with you.”

“Can’t you just do it, just once? I can ask…”

Trying to convince Luke, he looked over at Reina.

With thoughts running in his mind, he looked at her thoroughly and released the radon gas.

The idea that Ferrero had was rather simple. If he put Reina in a difficult situation, then Luke would have no choice but to fight him. However, what happened instead was rather surprising.

“This man!”

Reina, who was struck by the radon gas, became lightheaded and fell to the ground. Luke shouted and stepped forward.

The moment he took a step, terrible energy poured out from his body.

The energy Luke released neutralized the magic radon gas which was released by Count Ferrero. However, the Count was taken aback.

‘Look at this now!’ Thought the Count.

Count Ferrero was surprised at Luke, who stepped ahead strong. His skin tingled upon seeing what Luke did.

Luke turned out to be better than he had imagined.

‘How dare he release radon to another person?! I need to take this guy down!’

Luke was thinking that he could beat Count Ferrero without using his dark magic.

An Expert Swordsmanship and 6th circle white magic could never beat a Sword Master.

However, Luke had a lot of experience in dealing with a strong opponent. If Luke used the right mix of swordsmanship and magic, he might not win, but he might not lose either.

However, Luke had no desire to reveal his skills in the Imperial Palace.

If the words reached the Emperor’s ears, he would surely raise his caution.

“Huhu, don’t you want to protect your beloved woman? To do that, you’ll have to fight me.”

Luke was still hesitating, and the Count kept on intimidating him.

If Philip saw this situation and Luke’s hesitation, he was bound to feel disappointed. Luke was hesitating because he was going against a strong man.

As the radon grew from Count Ferrero, Luke was forced to make a decision.

Pak!

A firework blew up in the sky.

“This is the last warning. If you don’t pull back the radon gas, you will regret it later,” warned Luke.

“Can’t I meet that regret right now?”

When his last warning had no effect on Ferrero, Luke made a decision—he was going to face him.

‘Oh, I just don’t want to look sick.’

After making up his mind, he reached for his sword which was around his waist. Right when he was about to pull his sword.

“Lord Majesty has come?!”

At the loud cry from the banquet speaker, Count Ferrero took back the radon.

“Oh, Majesty… You could have come a little later.”

No matter how strong Ferrero was, the top knight of the Empire was still no match for the Emperor.

As Ferrero went back, Luke sighed.

It was the first time that he felt grateful for the damn descendant of the enemy.