"The winner is... Julien Evenus of the Nurs Ancifa Empire.'

Leon's eyes flashed as the projection came to an end. He stared at the projection which had now turned empty for an unknown period of time before taking a deep breath.

"Hoo."

A bitter smile formed on his face.

"How exactly am I going to deal with his Emotive Magic?"

Following his first match with Julien, and recalling how he had lost, Leon had made heavy preparations in order to protect himself from such attempts again. Not just for Julien, but for when he would encounter another Emotive Mage.

Caius being an example.

Julien wasn't the only Emotive Magic and he needed to be prepared to deal with them at any time.

Who knew when he'd meet another Emotive Mage?

Knowing this, Leon practiced hard. He dedicated a lot of his time in order to find ways to counter Julien's emotive magic.

From perfecting his mind to moving at speeds that would prevent him from using his Emotive Magic on him.

Leon had prepared all sorts of counters, and yet...

"Can I really beat him?"

Thinking back to the projections, he suddenly felt helpless.

Julien's Emotive magic...

It was overwhelming. To the point where he questioned whether he'd even be able to handle his 'voice' transmission.

He was already worried about finding ways to dodge his touch, which would mark almost certain defeat, but he also had to be worried about his voice transmission...?

And it wasn't as though he could replicate what Kealion did by having an artifact help him.

Artifacts of that power... They were expensive, and only those with powerful backgrounds could have access to them.

Leon's background was the same as Julien's.

He truly was helpless.

"....He really is an annoying opponent to face."

Well, it makes sense.

If he wasn't annoying, he wouldn't have made it all the way to the finals.

"Right, he also knows about the forgotten art."

Leon wasn't that bummed out about this. He had meant to reveal it anyway. The reason why he didn't use it often was that it needed time for him to set it up and incomplete.

With Julien knowing this, and also knowing about its openings, using the move was akin to suicide.

Leon knew.

Julien knew.

.... And it was exactly because of this that Leon had to use the move.

'If he thinks I'm bluffing he won't stop me. If he doesn't think I'm bluffing he'll try to stop me for which I'll have a counter.'

This move was going to be the deciding factor of their match.

Carefully deliberating over his tactics, Leon leaned his head back, resting it against the wall behind him.

A thin smile slowly crept up on his face as he thought about the upcoming match.

"Will the family head get angry if I defeat Julien?"

The thought made Leon chuckle as he slowly closed his eyes and started to fall into a meditative state.

Regardless of how strong Julien was, Leon was sure that he could still win.

After all...

In the time Julien had been missing, he hadn't been slacking at all.

***

Evenus Household.

The usually quiet office reserved for the head of the household was now in complete disarray, as servants hurried in one after another.

To Tok-

"Sir, we've got another letter! This one appears to come from the neighboring barony. They have offered their daughter for betrothal."

"Sir! Another letter over here! It's from another noble house."

"Sir...!"

Listening to the servant's frantic voices, Aldric remained calm. His expression never faltered

as he calmly received each letter while dismissing the servants at the same time.

"Oh, wait."

Just as one of the servants was about to leave, Aldric raised his head.

"Yes?"

"Do me a favor. Lock the doors and tell the servants to only come if it's something extremely important. I'll be spending the evening reviewing the offers."

"Ah, understood."

The servants nodded before leaving the room and locking the door behind.

Clank!

For the first time in a very long time, the office space regained its calm. Aldrid sat with his elbows propped up on the table, hands interlocked as he was in deep thought.

Before him were over several dozen letters, each divided into different piles that separated them from 'most' important to 'least' important.

But in all honesty, it didn't really matter.

They were all the same.

From letters of betrothal to poaching letters, demanding Leon's services. The latter was particularly difficult to handle given that several powerful noble houses were pressuring them into giving them Leon.

A lot of them were shameless, giving little monetary contribution for Leon's services while

others were all a little bit more honest.

In the end, it all boiled down to that.

Things would've been difficult had Leon been the only one who had achieved great success in

the Four Empire Summit.

Thankfully, he wasn't as Julien had also made it to the finals.

Right, Julien...

"...."

Aldric's brows furrowed as he thought about Julien.

He had seen all of his matches, and he had no words to describe the current Julien. He was so

different from the Julien of the past.

It was almost as though he had become a completely different person.

He was tall, elegant, and seemed to suck the eyes of all those watching. He was like the

embodiment of a 'noble entity'; the more Aldric looked at the current Julien, the more uncomfortable he felt.

....He just couldn't quite place it into words.

"Hm."

After a while, he realized that there was no point in dwelling on the matter.

The finals were going to be broadcast soon.

Whoever won between the two didn't matter to him. They were both representatives of the

Evenus household.

What was most important was handling the aftermath of the two.

Regarding Julien...

Aldric flicked the letter onto the desk before him and lifted his seal, ready to stamp it.

"I'll figure it out soon enough."

After the Summit was over.

When he came back.

Bam-

***

The next day.

Grimspire was usually crowded, filled with aspiring superhumans who wanted to venture

deep into the Mirror Dimension or visitors from the main capital of Bremmer.

On this day, however, the entire city was quiet.

Not a single sound was heard.

All attention was currently fixed on the Colosseum.

Today was the day of the finals.

The air was tense as everyone quietly entered the Colosseum in an orderly fashion. There were

no discussions, nor were there any whispers.

At this very moment, nobody was in the mood to discuss.

They'd see the results for themselves soon enough.

'They showed up in the end.'

At the top of the platforms, where the delegates usually sat, Gael glanced to his left. Three

seats stood there, each occupied by a figure. They sat in silence, not saying a single word as

they stared at the platform beneath with intense focus.

Gael smiled faintly at the sight of them.

Following what had happened before, and how they had prematurely left following the defeat

of their own participants, he half expected them to not show up.

It was a little surprising to see them present.

'Hmm, I guess they want to see the full extent of our talents.'

As of this moment, the Nurs Ancifa Empire stood above all four Empires. Not only in talent

but in general power.

They had done so with Delilah in the past and they had now done it again with Julien and

Leon.

Geal felt his lips curl at the thought.

But as if he was smiling a little too much, he heard a soft voice coming from beside him.

"What are you smiling at?"

"Hm, I'm just happy." Gael replied without looking at Elysia. She had been the one to speak.

"....Right, I guess you are."

Unlike the other two, she was relatively calm. Almost too calm. And when Gael thought back

to what had happened a day ago, his lips settled back down.

'How could I forget...?'

Leon...

What a troublesome situation. If he were to win, then the glory might not necessarily belong

to them.

That... it was a little problematic.

Thankfully, he had made prior arrangements to make Iso that the situatio wouldn't turn

that way, but it was still a little troublesome to think about.

'I guess I now know who I should root for.'

Gael landed back on his chair while drumming his fingers over the armrest of the chair.

***

"The match is about to start soon."

"Um, I'm looking."

A couple sat by the stand, seamlessly blending with the crowd. Sitting next to them were two

younger figures, their faces different from their actual ones.

They were Amell and Agatha who sat with their backs straight, not daring to say a single word

as the couple next to them pointed at the main platform while talking to each other in soft

whispers.

They stood out quite a bit considering that nobody else was talking.

"Amell." "Yes?"

Suddenly hearing his name being called, Amell's back straightened as he looked toward his

mother who looked nothing like she usually did.

With soft brown hair braided into a long tail and gentle green eyes, she had the appearance of

a kind middle-aged woman. The freckles sprinkled across her nose only reinforced that

impression.

"Leon..."

She half-glanced the stage one more time.

"...How strong do you deem him to be compared to you?"

"Hm?"

Amell was a little surprised by the question.

However, looking into his mother's eyes, his expression soon turned bitter.

"I know you didn't go all out."

"...."

Right...

As expected of her mother. She could see right through him.

"Yes, I didn't."

He nodded his head.

Other things preoccupied his mind more back then. Like confirming if Leon was truly his

brother.

In the end, had he lasted a few more seconds, he would've been the one to come out on top

against Leon.

But..."

"So?"

"I don't know."

Amell replied honestly. He previously thought he was strong, but then the semi-finals

happened and he understood that Leon hadn't gone all out as well. That sword move...

Amell felt his mouth grow dry.

He visualized countless times on ways to counter that sword strike, but each time he tried,

he'd end up dead.

There was...

No countering such move.

And upon discovering this, Amell also came to a realization.

'He also didn't go all out against me.'

But unlike him, what reason could Leon have for not going all out? Why would he...?

"Oh my, it's starting."

His mother's excited voice brought him out of his thoughts. Lifting his head, his eyes turned

toward the right side of the Colosseum as the surroundings turned tense.

As if every breath had been sucked out from the audience's lungs, the atmosphere turned

oppressive as a pair of gray eyes emerged from the right side of the arena.

Tak-

A single step broke the silence as Leon emerged from the other side of the arena, his black hair

fluttering in silence.

Tak-

His steps were met with another one as Julien appeared from the other side, his expression

looking indifferent.

The two met eyes and everyone felt the pressure.

Everyone swallowed dryly.

Their gazes...

They looked so intense.

What they didn't know, however...

'You, did you shave?'

'No, I didn't.'

'You should've, I can see your hair sticking out a little bit. I can't have my knight not looking

perfect while everyone is watching.'

'Hmm, it's too late now.'

'Well, I guess you're right.'

"....But do I really have to?' 'Hm? Why wouldn't you?'

'....Have you seen my face? Does it really matter?'

!....!

Julien's brows furrowed tightly, and the tension around the colosseum grew.

'See?'

Leon's body trembled as he tried to hold back his laugh.

However, to the audience, it seemed as though his body was getting ready to spring into

action. It made the atmosphere become even tenser.

'I guess it's the same for me too, right?'

'....Hm.'

Leon's face froze.

Then, with a frown, he stopped.

'It's a disturbing thought.'

'Probably not as disturbing as what my left eye said to my right eye.'

'Eh?'

Leon blinked in confusion, genuinely confused.

But that was probably his biggest mistake as realization soon dawned on him and his entire

body stiffened.

'No, not he'

'Between me and you, something smells.'

".....!"

Leon's entire body shook, his clothes visibly vibrating as his eyes turned red. The audience

held their breath at the sight as Karl looked at the scene in all seriousness.

"This match is going to be extremely bloody. I can just feel tell. It looks like there's some bad

blood between the two of them."

"...I can see it. It's not unusual for knights to hold a grudge against their masters for

mistreatment."

"Yeah, who would've thought both belonged to the same household? It's some sort of

incredible miracle."

"Yes."

Johanna agreed, her expression as serious as his.

Shortly after, the referee arrived as he raised his hand and looked between the two. Seeing

that there was nothing wrong, he raised his hand.

"Final match, Julien Evenus of the Nurs Ancifa Empire versus Leon Ellert of the Nurs Ancifa

Empire."

His voice boomed throughout.

"Begin!"