Published: January 4, 2026
“Alright, what is this man’s deal? Make him tell us why he attacked.”
Oscar ordered his coachman.
I also leaned in to look at the face of the thug being restrained—then,
“It’s you.”
“You know him, Noah?”
“Yeah. A little.”
The attacker was none other than that debt collector.
Looking around, the group who had been kneeling in front of Prince Thirteen's Residence was nowhere to be seen.
I recounted the whole series of events starting with Alice.
“I see, so it’s a complete grudge.”
“Don’t mess with me! Let me go, damn it!”
“That’s unpleasant to hear, dislocate his jaw.”
“Yes, sir.”
Following Oscar’s command, the coachman expertly dislocated the debt collector’s jaw.
Efficient—he’s not just a simple coachman.
Well, I didn’t really care about him.
What mattered more was the armor linked to Leviathan.
Oscar was impressed, saying he was mastering it, but I wasn’t sure if that was truly the case.
I wanted to test it a bit more.
I looked up at Oscar.
“Brother, may I ask you a favor?”
“What is it? Speak.”
“I want to test just how well I can use this armor. Could you lend me one of the mages under your command?”
“That’s no problem. What do you want to do?”
“Well…”
I explained my thoughts to Oscar.
He listened quietly until the end, then grinned broadly.
“If that’s the case, I’ll do it myself.”
“Is that alright, brother?”
“Yeah. I want to see how it really works for myself. It’s better to feel it firsthand, right?”
“I see. Then, at my residence.”
“Alright.”
Nodding, I entered the mansion with Oscar.
Just before leaving the spot, Oscar signaled the coachman, and the debt collector was taken away somewhere.
Attacking a prince warrants a fitting punishment.
We didn’t enter the building but went out to the garden.
Then we faced each other, keeping about ten meters apart.
“Here we go.”
“Yeah.”
Oscar nodded and began chanting a spell.
A magic circle expanded beneath his feet, and his clothes fluttered with the rising magical power.
Immediately, many flaming arrows shot out simultaneously.
One, two, three—seventeen in total.
Seventeen flaming arrows flew, scattering simultaneously several meters in front of me, then attacking from all directions.
I didn’t move, standing calmly.
The flaming arrows were blocked by the shields formed from the Leviathan-linked ring’s transformation.
Seventeen arrows, seventeen shields surrounding me.
I perfectly blocked all seventeen arrows Oscar fired.
“Hah... amazing. You’re the first to block all of these shields of mine so perfectly, Noah.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I keep training, but wow, Noah, you’re incredible. I definitely want to show this to Your Majesty.”
Oscar, excited, smiled, and I nodded.
“I want to get a better grasp of it first.”
“Why?”
“If I show it to Your Majesty, he’ll definitely ask, ‘What’s going on?’ I have to be able to explain my own power at that time, right?”
“I see. You’re smart, Noah. To think you’d consider that.”
I smiled back at Oscar.
I thought about various ways to make this ability truly my own.
☆
The next day, to clear my mind, I went out to the shop where Alice was.
That debt collector was probably beyond recovery now, and if Alice was still worried, I wanted to tell her so she could feel at ease.
That’s what I thought as I went to the shop.
Alice was singing just as I arrived.
I didn’t want to disturb her performance, so I handed ten Lireen, including a tip, to the staff and listened from the best seat.
Yeah, just as I thought.
If she keeps singing, she’ll improve. No doubt she will.
I quietly listened to Alice’s song, thinking about how promising her future was.
The song ended, and Alice took a breath.
Several customers threw tips during the intermission.
Among them, one customer stumbled toward the stage.
“Hey, sister, that was a great song. Here, this is a reward.”
“Thank you.”
“Come here for a bit, pour me a drink.”
“Sorry, I can’t do that—”
Alice, apparently used to this kind of drunkard, tried to refuse without changing her expression.