He was the one who stubbornly insisted on going with her, saying the same thing over and over again, even though he said only to do verse 1.

“Alright.”

Without saying a word, Cryer chuckled and nodded his head.

“What do you mean, alright?”

“I was the one who insisted on going together. But.”

He added, tapping on the hilt of his sword.

“I didn’t tell you to say the same thing over and over, did I?”

Olivia thumped his arm, not the hilt of his sword.

“You’re the one who said you might not be able to control your strength.”

She hit his arm as hard as she could, but to Cryer, her fist was like a cotton swab, and he only shrugged his shoulders.

“I’ve never faced the empire’s swords before. Whether I can suppress them without a scratch, I’ll have to try….”

“And if by chance, you kill during that trial….”

Cryer didn’t bring up the possibility of losing in his story, and Olivia didn’t even imagine it either.

Because she knew that no matter who his opponent was, he couldn’t be defeated.

For a while, both of them stubbornly argued about killing or saving, cutting off arms and legs, in a manner that was far from cute.

They arrived at a place where the overall atmosphere had become heavy.

“This way.”

She headed naturally towards somewhere other than the main gate.

Soon, Olivia, standing in front of a door covered with ivy like a ghost, gestured.

“Let’s go here.”

It was an ambiguous door that was too hidden to be a passage used by servants, and could be easily found by anyone with a little sharpness to be a secret door.

Olivia, who had opened the door and entered first, looked back at Cryer and shrugged her shoulders.

“Having experienced the continental war four times, I ended up memorizing all the passages of the imperial palace.”

Through that door, they arrived at their destination in an instant.

Knock, knock.

“Come in.”

At the stiff permission from inside, Olivia pulled the doorknob.

In front of Olivia, who squinted her eyes at the sun pouring in straight ahead, a shadow quickly cast over.

“I pay my respects to Your Highness.”

Olivia nodded lightly at the man with glasses who had taken an extremely brief and polite bow.

“I came unexpectedly, but General, please spare some time.”

“Command me.”

“One match.”

She, too, rushed into the main issue without preamble.

And to her abrupt words, he immediately nodded his head.

“You know who the opponent is, right?”

At the end of Olivia’s question that was not a question, Cryer stepped forward and the man with glasses’ eyebrows shot up.

The rumored knight.

Isn’t he the one who’s been talked about among the commanders of the Imperial Knights?

‘I passed by him once, but he’s not just a huge guy.’

The evaluation of the commander who had seen him from afar, as he never stepped out of the princess’s palace.

Indeed. He’s different from the smoothfaced guys gathered in the princess’s palace.

He openly scanned Cryer from head to toe and jerked his chin.

“Go out to the match arena. Your Highness.”

Before his words were finished, Olivia cut in.

“Don’t tell me to stay here because it’s dangerous. I can make sure nothing even as small as a chick’s tear happens.”

With her firm words, the commander scrutinized Cryer even more.

He sighed shortly as he examined Cryer so closely that he seemed to disassemble him.

“It seems fitting that Your Highness would say so.”

The commander of the Imperial Knights. He is one of the strongest in the empire, no, on the continent.

Being such a person, he was able to vaguely gauge Cryer’s level from his skeletal structure, momentum, and Olivia’s words without directly crossing swords with Cryer.

That’s how Cryer and the commander with glasses confronted each other.

A signal or voice to start wasn’t needed.

Right after Olivia took both of them in her sight.

Clang!

Clink, clank!

The spar hit and a brief spark flew up, and as Olivia blinked once, suddenly the two stood in their initial positions with their swords drawn.

“I apologize, Your Highness.”

A few minutes, no, seconds after crossing swords with Cryer, the captain who had drawn his sword bowed his head towards Olivia.

At that, Olivia opened her mouth blinking her eyes rapidly.

“Is it over?”

“Yes. I lost.”

“What?”

When exactly did he lose? It had only been a few seconds since Cryer and he stood facing each other on the dueling field.

Of course, Olivia, who was not as strong as them, does not know what exchange had taken place between them.

Moreover, as it is a ‘duel’ after all, those at their level of strength could have determined the winner as soon as they gauged each other’s abilities.

But even so.

“So quickly?”

“Yes. I apologize.”

The captain bowed his head without wavering, and Olivia, unable to hide her dumbfoundment, looked at Cryer, but he too silently bowed his head.

Since it was not a situation involving just the two of them, his attitude must have been quite natural.

But Olivia, unable to suppress her frustration, quickly approached him.

She first looked him up and down to see if there were any scratches, and just as she was about to open her mouth, Cryer was quick.

“There’s no need to worry.”

And with that single phrase, Olivia realized.

The fact that Cryer was strong enough to subdue a knight captain, one of the top in the continent, without a single injury.

One, concluding a test of strength that she herself did not know, with a single duel, is absurd.

Olivia turned to the captain wearing glasses.

“Captain.”

“Yes.”

“Tell all the captains.”

So, on a sunny day with not much left for the unarmed martial arts competition.

The knight captains, the swords and shields of the empire, all bowed their heads towards Olivia, apologizing without exception.