"How amusing. Don't you think?"
The Crown Prince tilted his head slightly.
His languid gaze came to rest on Andro Croll, who had become lost in thought.
Fixing him with crescent-moon eyes, the Crown Prince parted his lips.
"Then, what should we wager?"
Andro's shoulders twitched at those words.
Something was amiss.
He felt an instinctive premonition and hastily tried to call off the bet.
"Wa, wait-"
"Very well."
The Crown Prince's gaze returned to Andro Croll.
His grey-blue eyes were filled with cruel playfulness, like a child about to crush an insect he had been toying with.
"Let us wager that which you hold most dear."
Andro's complexion turned ashen, like a corpse.
"Hyah!"
Vancis shook the reins vigorously, gradually increasing his speed.
"L, Lord. Please slow down a bit..."
The knight riding alongside him cautiously advised, but Vancis paid no heed.
'I must capture more magical beasts, and faster, than that wench!'
Vancis's violet eyes burned with a fierce competitive spirit.
'And among all of you, I hate Vancis the most. Abhorrently so.'
Lucia's words from the dinner kept swirling in his mind.
Vancis's jaw tightened as he recalled the conversation they had.
'That damned girl! I was concerned for her, and she throws those words back at me.'
That day, Vancis had been constantly watching Lucia.
She hadn't been eating properly and seemed to look unwell.
So, in his own way, he had been worried and had reached out to her.
But that was what she said...!
'Nasty girl.'
Not just today, but ever since that night.
Vancis felt so resentful towards Lucia.
'Does she think everyone adores her?'
He was simply dumbfounded by the look in her eyes, filled with genuine loathing.
'I dislike you too!'
He had managed to forget about it, but seeing Lucia again today brought back those memories one by one.
His gaze kept drifting towards Lucia.
But Lucia didn't glance at him even once.
For some reason, that fact made him feel incredibly resentful.
'She doesn't know her place.'
Vancis was convinced that it was all because Lucia had forgotten her place.
What her position was, and how significant he was.
Therefore.
'I'll make sure she knows this time! How significant I am.'
Then he would laugh heartily in front of Lucia, who would realize her position and be humbled.
To do that, capturing as many magical beasts as possible was crucial.
Just then.
Swish-
Something rapidly passed before his eyes.
Upon spotting it, Vancis immediately turned his horse to pursue.
"Ah, Lord!"
The knight, caught off guard by the sudden change of direction, belatedly followed.
Regardless.
Swish-
"Hyah!"
Hee-ing!
Vancis's pursuit of it was relentless and fierce.
Finally drawing alongside it, Vancis immediately drew his sword from his waist.
Holding the reins tightly with one hand and leaning almost off his horse, he slashed downwards.
Squelch!
A gruesome death cry echoed through the forest.
Clatter...
The horse came to a stop.
Vancis jumped off his horse, shook the blood off his sword, and slid it back into its scabbard.
Then, he moved forward.
A magical beast resembling a boar lay dead.
"Lord...!"
The knight who arrived belatedly widened his eyes at the sight of the magical beast's corpse.
He had never imagined that Vancis would slay a magical beast in such a short time.
"Filthy. Take care of it."
After saying gruffly, Vancis turned back towards his horse.
As he tended to the magical beast's corpse, the knight was even more impressed.
'So clean and precise.'
To hunt a moving target from a galloping horse in one go, without a single mistake, was a feat difficult even for skilled knights.
The knight looked at Vancis with renewed interest.
"Magical beasts are nothing."
Arrogant and haughty enough to pierce the sky, but it didn't seem like mere bluster because he possessed the skills to back it up.
'He's only 11 years old.'
Moreover, Vancis was rather slow to develop.
But considering that all the male members of the Lordebel family throughout history had been tall, Vancis would likely grow taller at some point.
If he was this impressive now, how much more amazing would he be when he grew up?
The knight was filled with a strange excitement.
Both Estio and Vancis. The future of Lordebel was truly as bright as the sun.
It was then.
Hee-ing!
"Kyaa!"
A horse's cry and a frail scream echoed from nearby.
Vancis turned his head towards the sound.
Miracle, riding a white horse, had encountered a magical beast.
She fumbled with her sword, eventually dropping it.
'That idiot.'
Although there was a guard knight nearby, Miracle was so flustered that the guard was also at a loss.
'I'll have to catch that one too.'
It was the moment Vancis was about to head over there.
"D-don't come near me!"
As the magical beast approached, Miracle swung a staff she had somehow managed to grab.
Then.
Whoosh!
Flames erupted from the staff.
The flames struck the magical beast.
Screech!
Engulfed in flames, the magical beast leaped around before finally dying.
"Good heavens..."
The knight who had been watching the scene with Vancis exclaimed in admiration.
"I had heard that Miss Miracle had a talent for magic, but to be able to use it to that extent already... it's simply astonishing."
"Well. Miracle is naturally gifted with magic."
Vancis nodded casually.
Ligrin, having recognized Miracle's exceptional magical talent early on, had her focus on magic instead of swordsmanship, for which she had no aptitude.
Ligrin's judgment was excellent.
Miracle was blessed with such remarkable talent in magic that it more than compensated for her lack of swordsmanship ability.
'Miracle seems to be fine.'
Vancis turned his head in the opposite direction, where he sensed another presence.
He could see the figure of a knight passing through the bushes and trees.
Immediately recognizing him as Lucia's guard knight, Vancis scanned the area around him and frowned.
Lucia, who should have been by the guard knight's side, was nowhere to be seen.
'What? Where is she?'
"Lord, shall we-"
"Shh. Be quiet."
"Hup!"
Covering the guard knight's mouth with his hand, Vancis watched Lucia's guard knight.
Soon, the guard knight turned around and looked annoyed.
Following his gaze, Vancis finally spotted Lucia far behind.
'Huh?'
The guard knight didn't seem to care about the person he was supposed to be protecting, and Lucia was taking it in stride.
"What are those two doing?"
Vancis muttered in disbelief.
He was especially dumbfounded by Lucia's behavior.
'She wouldn't back down an inch with me...!'
Seeing her unbothered by the guard knight's annoyance made him furious.
"Do you know the name of the guy who just passed by?"
Vancis took his hand off the guard knight's mouth and asked, and the guard knight nodded and replied.
"Yes. He is Sir Levil Weed of the Third Order of Knights."
After answering, the guard knight paused for a moment before cautiously adding.
"He doesn't have a very good reputation. He acts dutiful and upright in front of the captains, but behind their backs, he shows a poor attitude, so he's called a freeloader among his fellow knights."
"...Is that so?"
"Yes. He was especially close to the former captain of the Second Order of Knights, Zelark..."
The guard knight couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence.
It was because he had recently been disgracefully expelled from Lordebel.
Even mentioning the incident was cautious.
Vancis's expression grew even colder upon hearing his words.
The guard knight couldn't understand why Vancis was angry.
After racking his brain, he assumed that Vancis was furious at the fact that such a knight was ruining the qualification exam with his poor attitude, and he said.
"If you'd like, I can go and warn him."
"What would you say?"
"Yes?"
"...Never mind."
Realizing that he had reacted too strongly, Vancis slowly shook his head.
He thought about why he felt so uncomfortable in the first place.
'It's uncomfortable because a guy like that is muddying the waters of the exam.'
Hearing his words, he was even more of a piece of trash than he had thought.
'That's why.'
He could take issue with the knight's attitude and have him kicked out, as the guard knight suggested.
'...But then I'd have to face that wench too.'
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