Resolution (2)

“By the way… Princess Evangeline, you’re engaged to Prince Oscar, aren’t you?”

During the tea party, suddenly such a conversation started.

The first to bring it up was an unidentified girl.

The problem was that, due to my limited social circle, I didn’t know who most of them were.

No, they all wore similar clothes, had similar hairstyles, and talked about similar things, so how was I supposed to tell them apart?

I noticed Delphina, who had already formed a faction and was leading the conversation, despite not having talked for that long.

She’s a born socialite, that one.

Once the topic came up, everything proceeded rapidly.

“Certainly, the engagement announcement was in Peace Year 32, so…”

“My goodness, a couple of 6 years!”

I didn’t say anything, but the women started chattering among themselves, continuing the conversation.

It’s so exhausting. Even just quietly listening, I feel like all the energy is draining from my body.

“Princess, may I ask you one thing?”

“…Yes.”

“What kind of person is the Prince?”

“Is he considerate?”

“Or is he a cold man?”

“Is he the type who outwardly nags but secretly takes good care of you?”

They have a lot of demands. Can’t they speak one at a time?

“…Well…”

But since it would be rude to ignore them without answering, I racked my brain.

What kind of person is Oscar?

From the first time we met, he was strangely kind.

He seems to cling annoyingly at times, but sometimes he appropriately withdraws as if reading my mind.

If nothing else, I couldn’t help but recognize, whether I liked it or not, that his feelings toward me were genuine.

But precisely because of that, I couldn’t understand.

Why would someone like him like someone like me to that extent?

Suddenly, I muttered blankly.

“…What does he see in me?”

Even before thinking that my ears hurt from their squealing, such a pure question came to mind first.

“…Woman?”

The white woman asked back in a confused voice.

“You mean Princess Knight Evangeline?”

“Obviously.”

Oscar answered quietly.

“That day, in front of a firmly closed old door, I swore. In the name of Valentine, I would become a man who could stand by her side.”

As if hearing incomprehensible words, the white woman frowned.

“That’s quite an impressive devotion…”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

Oscar’s response was sincere. With a pure smile, he opened his mouth again.

“Besides, you must know her.”

At the words continuing in a calm tone, the white woman slowly hardened her expression.

“You just said something along the lines of ‘if I die, it would put you in a difficult position.’ In other words, you people—Cornelio’s backers—are a human community greatly affected by international politics within the Western Continent. Am I wrong?”

“…I see, you seem to have basic insight.”

“Not just that.”

Oscar shook his head and grinned.

“The fact that you recognized the circulation breathing technique from just one exhalation. The circulation breathing technique is exclusive to knights, who are special personnel. Among ordinary citizens, even if they know the term ‘circulation breathing technique,’ most don’t know exactly what it is or how it’s performed.”

“…”

“You are not a group of ordinary commoners, but undoubtedly a group composed of high-level social elites. Whether from the Empire, the Holy Nation, the Republic, or informants within the Kingdom.”

“…Indeed, indeed.”

“Stop keeping your mouth shut and speak. What’s your identity? Do you also have backers or superiors?”

“…You’re still naive.”

At Oscar’s question, the white woman chuckled and answered.

“As if I would say ‘yes, sir’ and tell you just because you asked such a thing.”

“Indeed.”

Oscar nodded.

“Then…”

-Crackle.

Above the Prince’s hands, blue lightning flickered.

“I’ll knock you down and force the answers out of you.”

-Boom!!!

From the white woman’s view, Oscar disappeared in an instant.

Only the vivid blue light drawing lines in the air followed his movement.

-Cracklecracklecrackle!!!

Oscar reappeared before the white woman’s eyes.

The blue light turned white and exploded in mid-air.

The white woman was flung backward, and the shelves filling one corner of the special wing crumpled and shattered.

“…Cough, cough.”

In the rising smoke, the white woman coughed roughly.

“An afterimage… really.”

The white woman muttered in surprise. She thought rapidly in her mind.

‘Beginners who succeed in wielding the circulation breathing technique often can’t control their suddenly increased power and move in obviously visible ways.’

But Oscar was different. Despite not being a pure knight but a magician, she couldn’t even imagine he would show such skilled movement.

‘Not only has he mastered the circulation breathing technique, but to be able to utilize it so skillfully…!’

Toward her, who was frowning and coughing, Oscar slowly approached.

“…Yes, right. Come to think of it, you definitely said so with your own mouth.”

As if suddenly remembering, the Prince muttered.

“You said you spread a four-stage noise cancellation formula.”

“Urgh…”

Toward the white, or rather formerly white, woman who was staggering to her feet with smoke rising from her body, Oscar said,

“I know that formula well too. Despite its powerful and useful effects, the difficulty of the formula’s construction itself is extremely simple.”

“…”

“Literally, even if I beat you to a pulp… people won’t come rushing here.”

When the woman didn’t answer, Oscar nodded.

“Seems I hit the mark. How does it feel to be caught in your own formula?”

Oscar raised his head and looked around the spacious special wing as he spoke.

“Go ahead, struggle as much as you can with all your might.”

“…Damn it, Golem!!”

-Rumble!!

Simultaneously with the white woman’s shout, a large shadow abruptly rose behind Oscar.

In front of the Prince who hastily turned his head, a grotesque boulder wearing torn leather raised both arms high.

“I know that with the circulation breathing technique mastered, you won’t die from this! Given the situation, you’ll have to accept some minor injuries!!”

The white woman shouted desperately.

“…Formula, activate.”

At the same time, Oscar muttered softly.

Four layers of blue circular formulas overlapped on his right wrist.

The recoil transmitted from the four formulas being chanted simultaneously is calculated as a square, not a sum.

Oscar’s right arm, which was receiving 16 times the recoil simultaneously, began to tremble.

A skill that would be impossible without physical enhancement through the circulation breathing technique, perhaps only possible for him in the entire Western Continent.

Four formulas were inscribed.

Physical protection, Surface hardening, Pain control, Hyper-acceleration.

Three formulas to withstand physical recoil, and two formulas that solely contribute to enhancing destructive power overlap.

A formula he hadn’t even named yet, devised on the spot at this moment.

If he were to name it, it would be:

“…Strong Strike.”

-Crash!!!!

The blue strike drew a straight line in the air.

A blow delivered at the shortest distance at the fastest speed.

The body of the golem, which received the formidable destructive power concentrated at a single point, shattered like powder.

Turning his gaze from the scattered stones, Oscar said,

“Well, your last resort is also blocked. What will you do now…”

-Swoosh!!

Simultaneously, the white woman rushed toward him.

A dagger held in her hand was thrust toward Oscar.

-Thud.

The blade deeply embedded into Oscar’s forearm, which he had reflexively raised with a physical protection formula.

Horror frosted over Oscar’s pupils, and at the same time, a faint blue light glimmered on the dagger embedded in his forearm.

“…Aura?”

“Correct, indeed…!”

Breathing roughly, the formerly white woman pulled out the dagger.

Only then could Oscar see her face.

The white cloth that had been covering her face was torn and stained red, with the inside clearly visible, and through that gap, her eyes were… Oscar couldn’t help but wonder how best to describe them.

They were pitch black.

Both the pupils and the whites, everything. As if there was no special distinction between the two.

“…Are you really human?”

“I’ve told you many times that I have no obligation to answer you!!”

-Bang!!

The woman—the Cuckoo—kicked the ground again. Against the barrage of dagger strikes rushing like a torrent at close range, Oscar was barely able to block them by simultaneously placing physical and magical protection on his left forearm.

‘Damn it, my right arm…!’

To think that not the golem, but her dagger was the real deal.

‘To think that lack of experience would trip me up like this.’

Oscar clicked his tongue in his heart. At this rate, the day he would become a man worthy of standing by her side still seemed far off.

‘…But!’

-Thud!!

Oscar raised his foot and rolled on the ground. A circular formula that had somehow encircled his ankle spread outward in a circle along his footsteps.

“Kuhuk…?!”

The Cuckoo’s posture greatly crumbled for a moment.

‘No doubt. She too is using the circulation breathing technique.’

The circulation breathing technique is a special breathing method that breathes in and circulates the magical power in the air that should be filtered out along with carbon dioxide, etc. during the process of breathing.

The formula he just activated by rolling his foot is a technique that artificially induces simple particle resonance.

Although it’s only for a moment, it should be possible to disrupt the movement of the magical particles that circulate inside the body and greatly increase physical abilities.

In other words, he temporarily neutralized both sides’ circulation breathing techniques.

Of course, Oscar was also aware of the virtues of being a gentleman.

Such as, it’s unseemly for a man to beat a woman without showing mercy in his hands.

However, Oscar swung his fist without mercy.

Because there was only one woman he had decided to love for his entire life.

-Thwack!!!

The dull sound of a punch echoed quietly in the special wing.