Finally, the one who broke the silence, was me...

"Crown Prince of The Wise Kingdom "ATHENA", I, Toru, silver-rank adventurer affiliated with the guild, express my grat.i.tude to you for attending this humble gathering of ours. I may not be the most suitable person to welcome you, but allow me to do so, with a gla.s.s of wine."

I said so in a loud and emotionless voice, loud enough so that it would be audible to every person present in the hall.

My voice reverberated in the motionless hall.

Even when my voice stopped reverberating in the hall, none moved, the fideting and trembling Sylvia was also frozen in place.

What did happen though, was a wall of wind was conjured around me. It was thin, but seemingly unpenterable. The source of the wall was the Crown Prince, he was indifferent, but was obviously planning something.

The only people enclosed within this wall of wind, were the Crown Prince, his beast, and me.

Not even Sylvia, who was sitting on the throne which was two metres away was included in this s.p.a.ce.

This was clearly conjured by the Crown Prince so that we could have a "secret conversation".

Contrary to my expectations , what followed the creation of this wall was a dense killing intent.

It was a harsh killing intent, full of malice and hatred, and it was exclusively directed at me.

Although, for someone who was showered with dense killing intent from the four strongest dragons, this was a breeze in comparison, and I treated it like one.

The beast beside the Crown Prince remained unaffected, it seemed as though it was resistant to this level of killing intent. After realizing this fact, I came to a conclusion as to its ident.i.ty.

The killing intent was so harsh that the gla.s.ses which were arranged on the tray in my hand began trembling. One of them escaped the boundary of the tray and fell victim to gravity.

However, before it reached the ground, it was gently caught by my other hand, not even one drop of the wine was scattered on the carpet, it was a perfect catch.

Looking at me calmly extending my left hand with the wine gla.s.s in it towards himself, the corner of the Crown Prince"s lips rose slightly, but he didn"t accept the gla.s.s.

"You warded it off, huh."

He said so with the minimum lip movements, the wind barrier was still up, so anyone looking at us from outside would only see me clasping a gla.s.s of wine in my hand and offering it to the Crown Prince.

"It was a breeze."

I replied calmly, in the same indifferent and emotionless voice as the Crown Prince.

"I can"t consider that statement as a joke, you aren"t even sweating."

"It is just you say Your Highness."

The corners of my mouth slightly rose, it was time for a little fun.

"Do you want to witness "real killing intent"?"

It was me who asked that in a slightly provocative tone.

The Crown Prince, after examining my kneeling figure, spoke in a low but excited voice.

"Show me."

"I"d recommend you reinforce the wind barrier, Your Highness."

As if antic.i.p.ating what is to come, he reinforced the wind barrier with more wind magic, and gripped the armrest with both of his hands.

Looking at his excited smile deepening, only one thought came to my mind.

This man is a total battle-maniac. He doesn"t care about anything but strength.

After sighing in my mind after thinking about the relationship that Sylvia and this guy have, I release my killing intent slowly.

The temperature remains the same, but it feels like the surroundings are gradually losing heat.

I gradually raise my killing intent, and in about ten seconds, it easily pa.s.ses that of the Crown Prince, the gla.s.s in my left hand bursts, but it fails to hurt my hand, as I had already released it.

The Crown Price could be seen breathing heavily and dripping sweat, and it was undoubtabedly the cold sweat one sheds when he recognizes the danger to his life.

As the killing intent deepens, the beast beside the Crown Prince becomes alert and stands on its four feet.

While I slowly release my killing intent, I contact one of the members of my bodyguard squad.

"Hey Yuna, you are of the star-wolf race, right?"

"Yes, Master, I am the current leader of the star-wolves."

"Tell me, is somebody else from your race, except you, serving a human?"

"Yes Master, my little sister, Benki, happens to be serving the Crown Prince of this Kingdom. I met her an hour ago and informed her that I was given a name, and was chosen to be a part of Master"s personal bodyguard unit, she was extremely overjoyed, I love her very dearly."

"Is that so... That"ll be enough Yuna."

"Understood."

As I concluded my telepathic conversation with my twenty-or-so looking, purple-haired servant, I realised that I had gone a little too far, and the Crown Prince and his beast were on the verge of fainting,

I immediately retracted my killing intent, and the wind wall which the Crown Prince created was saved from being dissipated.

"Looks like I went too far. Should"ve held back more."

This was a lie, but, I couldn"t possibly tell him that I had completely forgotten about his existence.

"Y-You, w-who are you?"

The Crown Prince asked me while regaining his composure so that the people who are looking upon us don"t get suspicious.

"As I said, I am Toru."

I said in an imposing voice, clearly conveying my intentions that this topic was never to be discussed again.

"Is that so... My name is Vernyx Silbinas Athena. The Crown Prince of the Wise Kingdom of Athena, also, I am an adamant.i.te-rank adventurer affiliated with the guild."

"Why did His Highness introduce himself to me?"

"Because you didn"t even know my name, did you?"

My eyes widen for an instant, but I reply in the same, calm and indifferent tone.

"It is as you say Your Highness. I apologize for my ignorance."

The Crown Prince sneers as if finding my reply amusing.

I turn my head in the direction where Benki had already regained her posture and was now looking at me with an inquisitive gaze.

"Greetings to you as well, Benki. Its an honor to meet you."

"How dare you, a human plebian address me directly? Do you wish to be eradicated right here and now?"

Benki said in a womanly voice while releasing some of her killing intent.

"Oh my! If Yuna were to hear her sister insult her master, she would be pretty angry at you, you know?"

Benki"s eyes widen after hearing my sarcastic comment.

She, as if finally realizing my ident.i.ty, retracts her killing intent in a panicked state, and after doing so, looks at me with eyes filled with terror and fear.

"No way! No! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. This can"t be real. You can"t possibly be him. You can"t be the m-"

"Benki~ It"s rude to reveal someone"s secret like this, right?"

Vernyx"s face was covered in doubt and confusion after witnessing this dreadful state of his fearless and prideful servant.

At this point, the hall finally broke through their standstill and started raising voices filled with doubt and confusion.

They must be wondering what I was doing with Vernyx for more than five minutes, why was his face covered in doubt and puzzlement, why was his majestic servant in such a pitiful state, why were Sylvia and her partner in such confusion, and why was I, a commoner who was simply greeting the chief guest, faced with such emotions from the strongest person in the nation.

I could hear the words "What"s happening?" "What is that commoner boy doing?" "Why is that beast so afraid of him?" "Why is the Crown Prince looking so confused?" "Why is the Princess"s cheeks red?" and so on moving around the hall.

"Benki, what is happening? Why are you so afraid of him? Do you know him?"

"Your Highness, I believe that asking this question may be a little problematic, so let"s just leave that topic alone. Also, your servant won"t be able to answer that question, so let me apologize in her stead."

"What do you mean? Hey, Benki, who is this commoner? Your master"s command should be the highest priority, shouldn"t it?"

"Master, I apologize, I won"t be telling you, for your own good. But, believe me Master, you would not want to fight him."

Benki said in a very grim voice, as if she had already accepted her fate.

"Eh... Is that so, huh? I understand Benki, but you must also understand what kind of a person I am..."

Saying so, he stood up, grabbed the only wine gla.s.s remaining on my tray, and dissolved the wind barrier.

He urged me to stand up.

I stood up and held the tray under my arm, Benki remained where she was with a fearful and grim look on her face.

Sylvia and her partner also joined us, Sylvia tried to snuggle close to me from the side with her partner in tow, but before she could say anything, Vernyx spoke.

"Ladies and Gentleman, today, we are all gathered here as fellow compet.i.tors who will be competing in the Athena festival battle tournament. You could say that all of us here are rivals. I speak as the current champion of battle tournament and the strongest man in the kingdom, may this year"s battle tournament be more exhilerating and entertaining than the ones held before. Having said that, I present to you one more rival to keep an eye on. I, Crown Prince of Athena, personally nominate Toru-kun to be part of the battle tournament, and fight against us on the big stage. Does anyone have any objections?"

So this is how it is, huh? Well, whatever, it may turn out to be fun, and it is more convinient as well.

No one could possibly dare to oppose the decision of the next ruler of the whole Kingdom, so they remained silent, but I could hear giggles originating from many spots in the crows, and also from a spot right beside me.

"So that is how it is. I urge all of you to enjoy the party to your heart"s content. My sisters and I will be joining the party hall as well."

Saying so, he descended from the stage and joined the crowd.The guests snapped out of their daze and immidiately surrounded Vernyx.

As the aftermath of his sudden descend, I was left on the stage with Sylvia, her partner and Benki.

Sylvia and her partner turned towards me and showed me their angelic faces full of excitement.

"Toru~ Toru~, meet my best friend and sister, Celice."

She said so in an excited voice and it seemed like she was about to grow wings on her back. Looking at this state of hers, both her partner and I had a troubled look on our faces.

"Sylvia, calm down..."

I said so to Sylvia who was ready to skip on the spot.

"...I am sorry for this. My name is Toru, a pleasure to meet you, Celice-sama."

"Hey, don"t you dare do call me "Celice-sama", Sylvia"s crush."

"Your Highness, it is."

"Sylvia, mind if I kill him?"

Sylvia was so pre-occupied with her happiness that she didn"t even notice that her sister just called me her crush.

"Then it is Toru, not "Sylvia"s crush"."

"You didn"t even flinch when I called you that, you are as calm and composed as Sylvia said you"d be, Toru."

"Well... I don"t know about that. I feel like Sylvia is just too unstable."

"I completely agree."

""Kukuku""

We both chuckle as we find a common ground.

"So, this is the person, who Sylvia"s been obsessed with for the past week? I think I get how she feels."

"I think we should get her to snap out of it first, if the people see me talking to both you "G.o.dly beauties", I"m sure my standing in society would be destroyed."

"You say "G.o.dly beauties", but you aren"t even blushing."

"But you are, Celice, am I that attractive?"

Hearing my words, the red on her face deepens, and she could be seen clasping her gown with her hands, as to supress her embarrasment.

"That was a really dirty move. Anyways, Sylvia! Snap out of it!"

She clearly changed the topic. But, whatever.

She grabs Sylvia"s shoulders and shakes her violently, to which, she reacts and comes back to her senses.

"Ah, sorry, I was in a daze, so, what were you guys talking about?"

Hehe.

"Celice just told me that you are hopelessly in love with me, is that true?"

"Hey, you, I never said "hopeless", but that"s true."

""Celice", "love", "hopeless"... !!!!"

She crouches down and hides her red face behind her hands, tears could be seen forming in her eyes.

Celice crouches down as well and tries to comfort Sylvia by stroking her back, I think she avoided her hair because they were done very beautifully.

"Hey, you did this intentionally right? By the way, I am sixteen and unengaged."

She changed the tone of her voice from an angry one, to an embarrased one in the middle of her sentence.

"Meh, it"s fun to see her like that, and, I am sixteen and unengaged as well."

"Is that so?"

"Hey, let"s move to the hall, everybody is looking at me with bloodshot eyes, feels like I am looking at a pack of hungry wolves."

"Well, you are conversing with the two "G.o.desses"."

"You guys go ahead, I"ll join you in a minute."

"Fine. Hey, Sylvia, let"s go, otherwise the snacks will be eaten."

Hearing this, Sylvia stood up instantly and started walking down the stairs with her majestic and superior aura restored.

"Toru, come fast, I"ll be waiting."

Sylvia said so as she finally landed on the floor.

"Understood."

I replied, and after giving me an affectionate smile, she started walking towards the party.

"You can handle her well."

"Well... Practice."

"Is she a pet?"

This was the parting conversation between me and Celice.

After parting with her, I telepathically contacted Yuna, and asked her get dressed and come to the party hall.

"Hey, your sister is coming. Keep her company."

"Understood, Master."

Benki said so in an extremely grim voice, she had already accepted the fact that her Master was going to die. So she addressed me as "Master".

"Don"t worry, I won"t kill him, he seems interesting."

Hearing me say that, her mood kind of livens up and she says in an excited voice.

"So, where is big sister?"

"She"s coming."

"Understood."

Saying so, I parted with Benki and descended down the stairs as well.