The entire courtyard fell silent.

The butlers and maids, the citizens watching from outside the gates, Tyler and Gloria observing from the side—even Ciseg himself—failed to catch a single movement from Rean.

To them, Rean hadn’t done anything at all. He had merely stared at his opponent.

Then Ciseg’s sword and clothes suddenly shattered at the same time, turning into fragments that drifted lazily through the air.

“AAAAAAAHHHHHH—!”

Ciseg was the last to realize that he was standing completely naked before everyone.

He let out a mad scream and ran around, desperately searching for somewhere to hide. Unfortunately, there was nothing in the spacious courtyard that could cover his little brother.

The next second, the spectators also snapped out of their daze and erupted into thunderous laughter.

“I told you to prepare a change of clothes. How did you interpret that as preparing a sword?”

Rean walked to the side and casually tossed the battered sword into the air. Then he kicked the discarded scabbard toward the sky.

The spinning sword fell neatly back into its sheath.

“Wrap yourself up. Don’t go around playing the Birdman.”

He took a long white cloth from a maid who had been preparing to provide emergency assistance—or recover the body—and threw it toward Ciseg, who was close to slamming his head into a wall from humiliation.

The cloth drifted down and covered Ciseg from head to toe.

Ciseg hurriedly wrapped it around himself. His old butler neither dared to help nor leave him alone, so he could only stand nearby and watch.

Still, Rean felt that the old man’s eyes seemed to carry a hint of amusement. It was almost as if he felt a little relieved to see his master being taught a lesson.

Whatever.

“You just wait! Sooner or later, you’ll pay for what you’ve done!”

Clutching the only piece of cloth covering his shame, Ciseg shouted a line straight out of a lackey’s script and glared at Rean with hatred.

“Then you’re welcome to use my clothes-shredding service again.”

With a smile, Rean drew his sword a few inches from its sheath.

Ciseg’s body jerked violently. Under the protection of his old butler, he fled the courtyard as if his life depended on it.

“Make way! Don’t block the road! Close your eyes, and don’t you dare laugh!”

Hearing his furious shouts from outside, Rean found himself smiling despite everything.

After this little incident, Ciseg would probably restrain himself in the future. At the very least, he wouldn’t dare come here looking for trouble again.

“Well, that should keep that man from coming back.”

Rean shook his arm, which had grown sore from not properly wielding a sword for so long. Then he turned to Tyler.

“Lord Tyler, you don’t need to worry about your relationship with the Sherman family either. If their head understands right from wrong, this won’t affect them.”

“And if he doesn’t understand…”

“Then it still won’t affect them.”

Rean had originally possessed the option of cutting Ciseg apart along with his clothes. In that case, what fell like snow would not have been scraps of cloth, but pieces of flesh and blood.

Ciseg’s crime did not warrant death. Spilling blood in front of everyone would have served no purpose.

It might also have frightened Gloria with the sight.

Rean didn’t want to commit meaningless slaughter, nor did he want to leave the girl with a psychological scar. So he had merely humiliated Ciseg in front of all those people and given him a lesson.

But if the two families formally became enemies, that would be another matter.

Yethania City was under Rean’s protection. Anyone who set their sights on Yethania was declaring themselves his enemy.

Even without acting personally, he had more than enough ways to make that upstart noble disappear.

“You’re right,” Tyler said, nodding repeatedly. “If we can make it through this period, we should have a long opportunity to recover.”

“Even if they try to make things difficult for us then, they won’t pose any threat to Yethania.”

“Still, Mr. Rean, you truly are an unparalleled hero. I couldn’t see your movement just now.”

“If you went to the Royal Capital, even Sword Saint Dixus would probably find himself in a bitter struggle against you.”

“You flatter me. I’m still practicing my swordsmanship.”

Rean smiled and humbly brushed aside Tyler’s praise.

But Tyler was right.

Rean had a certain degree of confidence in his swordsmanship. Even against Dixus, the king’s royal guard who had been granted the title of Sword Saint by the Kingdom of Tiyehua, Rean likely wouldn’t fall behind.

Yet Rean’s own words were also true.

Unlike his magic, his swordsmanship had not yet reached its ultimate level.

Many years ago, Rean had received guidance from a wandering swordsman and become his disciple. Under that man’s tutelage, he had learned peerless swordsmanship.

Yet he had never managed to surpass his master.

Then, just as Rean was struggling with that problem, his master suddenly set off on another journey without leaving behind a single word.

So many years had passed, and there had been no news of him since.

Perhaps he was already dead.

Thus, the pinnacle of swordsmanship in Rean’s heart remained that wandering swordsman, as free and untamed as a drifting cloud or wild crane.

Until he truly defeated his master, Rean would never presume to call himself the strongest.

But, well…

Swordsmanship was ultimately a technique for fighting “people.”

When facing an entire “army,” one still had to rely on magic of absolute power.

That left Rean feeling rather helpless.

Even if someone surpassed him in one area, once all his other abilities were taken into account, he remained absolutely invincible.

However, this wasn’t the time to sigh over such things.

“Oh, dear… Looks like that court swordsman didn’t put much effort into training him.”

Rean handed his sword to a nearby butler. Then he turned and tilted his head toward Gloria, who was still standing there in a daze.

He mocked her with a frivolous smile.

Besides Bysain, who had lost without even fighting, Gloria had witnessed the entire scene from an extremely close VIP seat.

She had also seen that thing flailing wildly as Ciseg ran around.

It wasn’t impossible for a young girl like her to stop thinking for a moment.

“N-no, that’s purely because you’re freakishly strong, okay?!”

Gloria finally came to herself when Rean spoke to her. She took two steps back and angrily pointed at his nose.

Her cheeks had turned bright red.

“And why did you have to shred all his clothes? You made me see his J—his… that thing!”

“Can’t be helped. You looked so terribly nervous earlier. I had to show off a little.”

The corners of Rean’s lips lifted slightly. His gaze toward Gloria was as gentle as water.

“Hmph… You only made me worry for nothing.”

Gloria’s cherry-colored lips curved into a slight pout as she complained under her breath. She turned her face away awkwardly.

“But… as long as you’re all right…”

There was no way Rean could have been in trouble.

Not in this lifetime.

Especially when his opponent was only some young noble heir.

“But still… I didn’t know the young lady would get so shy over something that small.”

“How cute.”

“You—Father! Did you hear what this man said to me? He’s saying such lewd—huh?”

Gloria turned around, intending to complain to her father.

Only then did she realize that the courtyard had somehow been left with just her and Rean.

Tyler and the attendants who had been there moments ago had all departed to attend to their own affairs.

“Tch. They’re never around when they should be…”

Gloria pouted and turned her face away in annoyance.

“Well, compared to getting angry, today clearly brought us more good news, didn’t it?”

Rean leisurely laced his hands behind his head and looked up at the clear sky. He smiled at Gloria with satisfaction.

“After losing such a huge amount of face today, Ciseg definitely won’t dare spread this around. He won’t dare harass you again either.”

“Only Ciseg won’t come back. The other nobles in the surrounding area may not be so easy to deal with.”

Gloria’s expression fell slightly.

“If someone truly capable of deciding this city’s fate appears, I’ll also be prepared to sacrifice myself.”

…

Someone capable of deciding this city’s fate.

Yethania was about to face its greatest crisis.

If Demon King Mammon fought with all his might, Yethania alone wouldn’t stand a chance. Even if Ciseg’s family in Albany and several surrounding cities joined forces to resist him, they probably wouldn’t last half a month.

And the person conducting research to give Yethania the power to fight Mammon, while making victory his ultimate goal…

“Wouldn’t that be me?”

Rean blinked blankly.

If he protected Yethania without relying on support from the other cities, would Gloria sacrifice herself?

How interesting…

The pressure is killing me. Instant answer!

“What are you talking about?! Who would sacrifice herself for someone like you?!”

“Don’t hit my face!”

Gloria fiercely pinched Rean’s cheek. She was so rough that she nearly pulled it down to his chin.

“I was only joking. Don’t just start attacking people whenever you disagree.”

“You deserved it. You need to understand that some jokes can’t be made!”

Rean rubbed his swollen, aching cheek and mumbled.

Then he looked at Gloria, who had buried her face against her chest in embarrassment, heat almost rising from the top of her head.

Suddenly, he smiled.

“A joke is still a joke. But if you decide to marry someone for any reason other than falling in love with him, I’ll do everything I can to stop you.”

“Why…? If you don’t explain, I’ll get angry.”

Gloria raised her flushed face and looked at Rean in confusion.

“Because you should marry someone you love. That’s only natural, isn’t it?”

Using marriage to bind two young people’s futures together for the sake of profit was an act that deserved to be condemned and despised.

It deserved the hatred of every living thing in the world.

Yes, that included those bastards in the Celestial Realm!

“Besides, I’m the young lady’s knight. Anyone who makes you unhappy—yourself included—is my enemy.”

Rean tilted his head and chuckled as he gazed into Gloria’s increasingly shaken eyes.

“What knight…? You said it was only for today.”

“But you can hire me again whenever you want.”

Gloria stared at Rean’s smiling face for a long time.

Throughout the day, she had found this man impossible to predict. She couldn’t tell which of his words were true and which were lies.

He was entertaining, but difficult to trust completely.

Yet at this moment, his eyes were serious.

“What an impossible man to figure out…”

She suddenly shook her head with a bitter smile.

“But I’m satisfied with your performance.”

Gloria reached into the holster at her waist and took out the pistol and a box of bullets. Then she held them out to Rean.

“Take them if you need them.”

Hmm…

An unexpected windfall?

“Thank you for your generosity, young lady.”

Rean accepted the pistol and bullets Gloria had given him and thanked her softly.

He had already stopped hoping for them. Since she was willing to lend them to him, it meant he had probably cleared up her misunderstanding.

“Hmm… Don’t call me ‘young lady’ anymore. It feels awkward.”

Gloria shyly scratched her cheek with one finger.

“From now on, just call me by my name. Gloria. In return, I’ll call you Rean. It’s a promise!”

Her smile shone brilliantly beneath the midday sun.