Ch.101Chapter 101: Conditional Meeting.

I had only intended to send her flying a few meters, but the energy combining aura and mana was so strong that she was flung like a stone tens of meters away.

If she hadn’t been a 6th-floor Aura user, she would have broken several bones.

But Valt’s friends thought that if he hadn’t held back, Patrick’s neck would have snapped from the first slap, killing him instantly.

After witnessing Patrick being sent flying, Grace grabbed her head and sighed.

“Haah… what an idiot…. Fine. I’ll get straight to the point. I want to see your skills.”

Judging by Grace’s reaction, it seemed the guy wasn’t exactly a trusted attendant.

At her request to see his skills, Valt’s eyes widened, thinking this was an unexpected opportunity.

“Oh? A fight?”

But Valt’s response made Grace hesitate.

“Tch…”

This was the weakness of most royals and nobles.

In truth, what Grace was doing now was no different from thugs gathering around and picking a fight.

But all she needed was a justification.

Grace had come with the pretext that she, a proven strong fighter at the Academy, wanted to verify the abilities of these bold first-years who had managed to wipe out a criminal organization before she could, despite her being a Master.

However, with Patrick’s actions and Valt’s single remark, Grace had been reduced to nothing more than a ruffian looking for a fight.

“N-no, not a fight. It’s merely a procedure to confirm if you have the skills to eliminate criminal organizations…”

“So you did come looking for a fight? I’ll oblige. Where would you like to do this? Right now?”

Even though he agreed to fight, Grace couldn’t easily accept.

If a confrontation unfolded like this, she would be nothing more than someone who came to pick a fight with a first-year.

“W-well, to clarify the reason…”

“You talk too much. Are you saying you didn’t come here wanting to fight?”

“Sigh… manners…”

“Haha, that’s rich coming from someone who addressed a foreign prince as ‘you’ upon first meeting. I’m simply responding in kind.”

At this rate, she would lose her justification and be unable to prevent bad rumors from spreading.

As someone aiming to become king, such rumors were unacceptable.

“…I apologize. Addressing you in that manner was my mistake. I hope you can also understand my subordinate’s error with the magnanimity of a strong person.”

It was truly shameless behavior to cause trouble and then act this way, but this was typical of royalty and nobility.

Actually, Grace could be considered slightly better than most since she at least cared about appearances.

“Do as you please. But are you not going to fight? Your actions are no different from our Gerungtu, yet you’re making a fuss about it. Central Continent people sure live tiresome lives.”

Seeking out the strong and challenging them to duels was a long-standing tradition in Gerungtu.

No Gerungtu would ever explain the reason for this. It was simply: “You look strong, so fight me.”

That was enough.

To Valt, Grace’s behavior wasn’t much different from the Gerungtu.

She simply wanted to fight someone strong, so why add all these unnecessary justifications? Valt had no intention of disrespecting Grace; in fact, he was developing a fondness for her warlike nature, similar to the Gerungtu.

But Grace didn’t seem to share that perspective.

*Grind*

Her small, delicate teeth clenched, and veins bulged on her forehead.

The truth was, everything the Gerungtu said was correct.

She knew how foolish her actions were.

As a crown princess, she had come all this way out of mere curiosity to fight this non-Master race.

This was something a king should never do.

But Grace hadn’t grown strong by avoiding such things.

As Valt sensed, she never shied away from fighting the strong.

Known as the Academy’s troublemaker and weed, she had entered with early Expert-level skills at the 5th floor and, in less than four years, had broken through the 8th floor barrier.

Her enlightenment was based on an unceasing combat desire, wielding spear techniques like a berserker—a very extreme type.

In other words, she was like a barbarian among Central Continent people.

And Valt had seen through her immediately.

‘She’s similar to us. Interesting.’

Though her appearance was unmistakably that of a Central Continent person, Valt recognized at a glance that her eyes and inner nature were different.

A woman like her could adapt well and live comfortably among the Gerungtu in the south.

Actually, since the southern Gerungtu were changing, wouldn’t it be better if a woman with Central Continent culture like her moved to the south?

With that thought, Valt had a brilliant idea.

“Alright, I’ll go along with what you’re saying.”

Surprised by Valt’s unexpected generosity, Grace looked up at him with wide eyes.

“W-what?”

“I mean about you not coming here to pick a fight. Actually, this works better. Let’s say that I, impressed by a senior Academy student who participated in the same criminal organization raid, requested a sparring match with ‘Senior’ Grace. How’s that scenario?”

Grace couldn’t help but be tempted by Valt’s proposal, which preserved her dignity even better than what she had planned.

If she weren’t a crown princess, she would have rejected such a proposal outright, but in her position as royalty who needed to care about justification and appearances, Valt’s offer was irresistible.

However, having received a solid education as a crown princess, Grace didn’t immediately accept Valt’s proposal.

“You must have conditions. Let’s hear them.”

“I like how quickly you get to the point. This is a service. If you agree to the duel terms, I’ll throw in the previous condition as a bonus.”

“Let’s hear it.”

Without hesitation, Valt went straight to the point.

“The condition is a meeting.”

“What?”

Grace didn’t understand his brief explanation, so Valt clarified.

“Meet one of my brothers from Gerungtu for a matchmaking session.”

At this outrageous statement that no one had anticipated, everyone present opened their eyes and mouths wider than they ever had before.

“WHAAAAT!?”

Only Lati was rolling on the ground, having fallen from Arias’s shoulder, laughing hysterically at Valt’s shocking proposal.

“W-what are you thinking, Valt!?”

‘We need to increase our allies now. This woman is a Master. She’ll definitely be helpful in the future.’

What could have become a situation where pride led to enmity, Valt had cleverly devised a plan to bring Crown Princess Grace to his side in that single moment.

‘Yes, my sixth brother would be good. If I remember correctly, he always sang about wanting to marry a Central Continent woman.’

As for appearance, well, he’s about the size of a slightly smaller Valt.

The crown princess’s face reddened at the unexpected proposal.

“W-what nonsense are you spouting!?”

But Valt’s expression remained unchanged.

“I’m being completely serious. Oh? Perhaps you already have a promised fiancé?”

Grace bristled at Valt’s words.

“As if I would! I have no intention of taking anyone weaker than me as my consort!”

“Then you’ll have a hard time getting married.”

That comment seemed to please her.

“Hmph, I suppose so. There aren’t many as strong as me among my peers.”

Lati was now laughing so hard she seemed about to die.

“Kehehehe!! She’s not normal either! She’s taking that as a compliment. Oh, it’s too funny.”

Valt continued to engage with her seriously.

“Well, I’ll acknowledge that. So, what do you say? Will you do it or not? Just to be clear, it’s just a meeting. I’m not saying you have to get engaged or married forcibly. I’m simply asking you to meet my brother and visit Gerungtu once.”

For a prince of one country to invite a crown princess of another to his homeland was actually a major diplomatic event.

Such things usually happened between friendly nations.

Yet Valt was accomplishing this with just a few words in a training ground.

Crown Princess Grace crossed her arms and cupped her chin, beginning to think.

“Hmm… what should I do? What do you all think?”

The opinions of the crown princess’s attendants were divided.

“Take your time and discuss it thoroughly.”

Though they whispered among themselves, Valt’s keen ears caught everything. Concentrating his aura on his ears enhanced his hearing even further.

The crown princess’s attendants were split between those who wanted to accept the condition for immediate benefit and those who believed such promises shouldn’t be made lightly.

But the faction favoring acceptance had a slight advantage.

Gerungtu was now at the center of attention across the continent. Its popularity was tremendous.

In fact, there were currently several months’ worth of delegations from various kingdoms waiting to meet Kwan of Gerungtu.

After about five more minutes of deliberation, Grace finally made her decision and gave Valt an affirmative answer.

“Very well, I accept your condition. But you must also keep your promise.”

Nodding emphatically, Valt called out a name.

“Lisa.”

Lisa had been perking up her ears, not missing a single word of the conversation, and had even used magical tools to eavesdrop on the discussions between Grace and her attendants.

“Y-yes!?”

“You just need to keep quiet about this. Can you do that?”

“Urgh…! I-I can…”

“If you can’t, you’re out as my adjutant.”

This was essentially Valt declaring that he recognized Lisa as his adjutant to some extent.

With wide, excited eyes, Lisa quickly nodded and firmly promised Valt.

“O-of course! Absolutely! How could I, Valt’s adjutant, fail to keep confidential information? Hahaha, right? Right, everyone? Adjutant Lisa will keep her mouth tightly shut!”

Smiling slightly, Valt finally looked at Grace and showed his white teeth in his characteristic expression.

“Well then, shall we begin?”

With all the troublesome preconditions resolved, all that remained was to verify the skills of this large barbarian.

Suddenly filled with excitement, Crown Princess Grace also revealed her teeth in a grin similar to Valt’s.

“Hahaha, excellent! Let’s have a match!”