For the Princess’s Hand (1)

The next morning, I was walking towards the main arena of the city using my Clark identity.

Different from normal, the city was filled with a festive atmosphere, with men and women talking with excitement in their faces.

The topic of conversation was, of course, Dina's marriage tournament.

With each step I took, I could hear a different person mentioning something about the tournament. Some of them spoke about who was the favorite to win, others about who the princess wanted to marry, and others about this person or that person who was going to participate in the tournament.

The number of participants was much greater than I thought. With just a glance, I could tens of young men walking towards the arena with excitement in their faces.

And it was just in this street. If the other streets were taken into account, the number could probably reach the thousands.

Of course, most of them were people going there just to join the fun or try their luck. Perhaps there was one or another idiot thinking he could be the lucky swan that wins the favor of the princess and becomes her husband despite his weaker strength.

My sister sure is popular.

Unfortunately for you guys, she is mine.

I'm sorry, but you don't have any opportunity.

Laughing at the young men around me in my mind, I arrived at the arena.

And just as expected, there was a huge crowd gathered in front of the arena, waiting for their turn to enter.

The crowd was so huge that I was speechless.

I mean, if all these people needed to be eliminated to win, this tournament will not finish today.

Some Imperial Guards were at the entrance of the arena, writing the information about each one of the challengers before allowing them to enter.

… But judging by the number of people waiting for their turn, I will have to wait at least four hours before it's my turn.

... Sigh, how troublesome.

Should I intimidate them? Or should I use some spell to cut the line without others noticing?

But before I could decide, a commotion happened.

All of sudden, a powerful presence descended on the crowd.

Many young men shivered, and others turned pale. Instinctively, the entire crowd including the Imperial Guards turned to look towards the origin of the pressure.

There, a young man was walking towards the entrance of the arena calmly.

With each step he took, the crowd parted into two, giving him way as though he was a ruler and they were his subjects.

I could not help but raise an eyebrow at the scene.

At that moment, I heard several mutters from the crowd.

"That is young master Louis!"

"So he came for the Princess after all…"

"Of course, duh. Don't you hear the reason he and his master came to the capital was to ask for Princess Dina's hand in marriage…"

"Damn. I heard he is already at the tenth-layer of mana at just twenty-four years of age. Against such a monster, who can compete?"

"… It looks like he will be the one to win the tournament this time."

I see, so this young man is famous, huh.

Now that I think about it, I think I heard about a beyond-twelfth-layer powerhouse bringing his disciple to ask for Dina's hand in marriage recently.

And If I'm not wrong, his disciple's name was Louis, huh.

Looking at the young man's handsome looks and imposing presence, I could not help but think about something.

… As expected, I'm much more handsome.

The young man arrived at the entrance of the arena without interference. Nobody was foolish enough to stop him from cutting the line.

"Y-Young master Louis, you are here." The imperial guard receiving the participants greeted him with a look of respect.

"Mm." He nodded indifferently. "Can I go in?"

"O-Of course. We already registered you beforehand."

Louis nodded and passed the guards to enter the arena.

But suddenly, he stopped.

He then looked back at the huge crowd with a frown.

"Too many people." I heard him whisper.

He then unsheathed his sword and walked towards the crowd.

"Y-Young master Louis, what are you doing?" The same Imperial Guard asked startled.

"Just getting rid of the trash."

With these indifferent words, Louise raised his sword.

Then, he slashed towards the crowd.

A powerful sword slash was unleashed from his sword, rushing towards the crowd!

Instantly, several people paled in fear. Many of them could not help but lift their weapons to defend against such a powerful attack.

I, however, lifted the corners of my lips in interest.

It looks like this kid is not so bad.

The sword slash flew through the crowd. It cut through each one of the participants, ignoring their defenses and weapons.

In that instant, each participant saw the sword slash cutting through their bodies, beheading them or cutting them in half.

"Aaack…!"

"Ugh..."

"N-No...!"

In just an instant, the entire place was filled with screams of pain and despair.

But suddenly, everything returned to normal.

And each participant was still standing up, as though nothing happened.

Each participant looked towards Louis with stunned and terrified expressions. None of them could understand what just happened.

Then–

"Ugh…"

"Ack…"

"M-Mom…"

The participants kneeled on the ground, holding their stomachs and vomiting all over the ground.

The worse ones even had a humid mark on their crotches.

"W-What was that?" One of the participants could not help but ask.

"A warning," Louis said indifferently. "If you don't leave the tournament right now, this warning will turn real."

These words made most of the participants pale in fear.

They could still remember the immense fear of death they felt when that sword slash cut through them.

"Y-You can't do this!" One of the participants gathered his courage and shouted. "W-Who do you think you are to stop us!?"

"I'm stronger than you. That is more than enough. Of course, you are more than welcomed to ignore my warning, but it's under your own risk."

The entire plaza fell silent. Each young man shivered in fear and dread.

Most of them were people that were here just to enjoy a good show, the strongest of them was just a sixth-layer practitioner.

How could they gather their courage to go against a powerful tenth-layer practitioner?

When Louis saw their reactions, his lips curved up slightly.

"Perfect."

But just as he was about to turn around and enter the arena, he heard a set of footsteps.

Startled, he looked in the direction of the footsteps to see who was so courageous to defy him.

There, I was walking calmly towards the entrance, with a smile on my face as though the shivering young men on the floor did not exist.

"You… Who are you?" Louis asked with a frown, but I ignored him. Instead, I walked towards the guard and stated my false name.

"Clark. I'm here to register."

"H-Huh? O-Oh, okay."

The guard hurriedly wrote my name, although his expression when looking at me was a bit strange.

I nodded at him and walked towards the entrance, ignoring the ice-cold look Louis was throwing me.

Mm… Should I rile him a bit?

Chuckling inwardly, I looked at the young prodigy with a playful glint in my eyes.

"You are a very funny guy."

Instantly, a powerful and sharp pressure descended towards me.

I, however, ignored it completely and entered the arena.

I guess it's time to put a good show.