Chapter 90: Do you think the Empress is just an ordinary woman?

Balu was momentarily stunned when Hall agreed so readily.

After all, he was the captain of the fifth squad of the Black Knights’ Saint Louis headquarters.

Position-wise, he was currently Hall’s equal.

He was twenty-three this year, and his strength was not to be underestimated; he was level 73.

In any country outside the Papal State, level 73 could secure the rank of a lieutenant colonel.

This strength, greater even than Dylan’s, stemmed from his designated role.

If the Howard family was about internal competition—several brothers vying, with the winner becoming the head of the house and leading the others—then the Atute family was about finding a precise role for each child.

After being selected for the Black Knights as a child, Balu underwent specialized training.

Afterward, unlike Dylan, he didn’t stay in Saint Louis to attend Holy Light University to expand his network and credentials.

He was sent directly to the ancient Kingdom of Elan to gain experience as an adventurer.

Hall was aware of all this because the Black Knights presented a huge, long, and tedious stumbling block of a dungeon in the later stages of the game.

As for Balu, he was just an elite mob within the Black Knights.

Hall considered him quite tanky with decent output, but unfortunately, compared to Ye Wangxue when she barely managed to defeat the Black Knights, a monster of his caliber was basically no threat given her speed and weapon characteristics.

His profile seemed to mention a talent for swordsmanship, and also for constitution.

Hall hadn’t paid much attention to him, but now that Balu introduced himself as “the captain of the fifth squad,” Hall knew that even if he ignored him now, this guy would cause trouble for himself in the future.

According to the timeline, the current Black Knights were not at their full strength.

Their true potential would only be realized when the Papal State’s secret Black Knight branches in other countries were brought together, forming a true assembly of elites.

Becoming the captain of the Black Knights would indeed grant immense power.

As long as one’s own quality was not limited, one could do whatever one wanted to whomever one disliked.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have a death wish.

He knew the difference between a moment of pleasure and lasting satisfaction.

“Hall, are you sure?”

“I’m sure. Is there anything else? When does the swordsmanship competition start?”

“Seven in the evening. It’ll be a quick battle. The blessing ceremony will begin at eight. I hope you can have dinner with Her Majesty of Cateline and Saintess Candidate Christine before nine.”

Balu said with a hint of deeper meaning.

Then he and the other young masters with him left.

Hall replied with a faint smile, “I will. The opportunity to dine with Her Majesty of Cateline is rare. You don’t need to worry about it.”

“Hall, you’re going up first?” Himan asked after Balu was a good distance away.

She felt it was inappropriate, but she wouldn’t do anything to boost the enemy’s morale while dampening their own.

“Mm.”

“What if you lose?”

“If I lose, I’ll go down and rest, and rely on you and the Seventh Princess.”

“Huh?”

Himan still remembered the scene when Hall killed the Wolf King.

Hall was indeed very skilled.

But she had intended to remind him not to be too arrogant and suggest he go second.

However, Hall’s laid-back tone left her stunned.

“It’s normal, right? If I win, I keep fighting. If I lose, I get off the stage. Aren’t those the rules? Of course, if I’m lucky like Tarasha and manage a one-on-three, that would be great too. Maybe Her Majesty of Cateline will see me in a new light.”

“?????????”

The more Himan listened, the more something felt off.

‘Well, well, so Hall is going up first to gain the Empress’s favor.’

No wonder he agreed so readily.

Indeed, if Hall performed exceptionally well later…

“You… you just wait. If you lose in the first round, it’s debatable whether the Empress of Cateline will still invite you to dinner.”

Himan felt a little panicked.

Because she had already spoken with the Empress before Hall arrived.

She was a very beautiful white-haired young woman.

To say she was cold wasn’t quite right; there was just a faint chill about her face, which was a little different from her impression.

But on second thought, it made sense.

The bloodline of the Winter Saintess represented purity and bravery.

The first Winter Saintess was also said to have obtained the Winter Sacred Sword in her youth.

This bloodline, like the woman who inherits the title of Saintess, is said to never age until death.

Otherwise, why would the Saintess be called a miracle, worshipped by billions in the Western Continent?

In the eyes of countless people, she was God’s representative on earth, and the Empress of Cateline was no different.

And the position of Saintess would naturally be coveted by many girls.

Perhaps many Saintess Candidates or high-ranking nuns did not have pure intentions when they first joined the Church.

After all, there have been reports in history of nuns or Saintess Candidates who bathed in holy water every day to nourish their bodies and had affairs with men.

At the same time, holy water was a rare commodity that noble ladies from all countries tried to buy by any means necessary.

This was how the Papal State’s influence, from queens to commoners, could last for a thousand years and continue to expand.

But recently, the Papal State’s finances had been rather tight.

Holy water could not be sold at a loss, and the railways and infrastructure for the war with the East also needed to be built.

Furthermore, heretical sects, as defined by the Church, also seemed to be selling something similar to holy water.

Unlike the Church, when these people were poor, they sold it in unlimited quantities, selling as much as they had.

“It doesn’t matter, I’m not short of one woman.”

“?”

This time, Himan was truly furious.

In Hall’s eyes, the Empress of Cateline was just a woman he “wasn’t short of.”

She stared at the black-haired youth and then flung her hand away.

“I don’t care about you anymore! I tried to advise you out of kindness, but you have this attitude. But whether you win the first match or not, the Princess and I will definitely do our best. I hope you don’t drag us down and tarnish the reputation you’ve just started to restore.”

“I know, it’s my reputation anyway.”

Himan was very angry.

Hall was very strange.

But after she threw out those words, Hall fell silent, standing aside, lost in thought.

But standing there in the half-shadow, he really looked like…

Like the him from their childhood.

That pensive expression made Himan inexplicably fascinated.

“…What am I looking at him for? I have important things to do.”

When she realized she had been staring at Hall, she left in a huff.

“Yo, still looking, my dear?”

Ye Wangxue hadn’t planned on coming.

She only came at the last minute after receiving a letter from the Atute and Howard families about a demonstration match before the blessing ceremony.

Although she didn’t have to give the Empress face, she couldn’t be accused of cowardice while bearing the title of a princess of the Xia Kingdom.

Since the opponents were all children of powerful nobles of the Papal State, she had to show proper etiquette and display the strength of a great eastern nation.

“Mm, it’ll start in a bit.”

Hall’s reply was rather plain.

Ye Wangxue got angry and pinched his cheek.

Hall didn’t dodge.

Because he never expected Ye Wangxue to come over and pinch his face.

When the crowd gathered there saw this scene, it caused a wave of cheers.

Although they didn’t like eastern women, an eastern princess flirting with a young master of the Papal State in public also showed the charm of western men.

The reporters, on the other hand, frantically pressed their shutter buttons, capturing this moment.

‘Hey, it’s quite soft, comfortable.’

Ye Wangxue commented on the feel of it; she was deliberately teasing him.

He followed suit and replied.

“Your hand is also quite soft, it feels especially comfortable to the touch.”

“Heh, as long as you know.”

Ye Wangxue’s face first turned red, then she pouted, thinking, ‘You know this princess’s core is soft, yet you don’t cherish this princess?’

‘When your fiancé runs off, let’s see where you’ll go crying.’

“I’ve always known, it’s an obvious thing.”

Hall said casually.

Ye Wangxue was starting to feel elated, but then the black-haired youth changed the subject.

“Girls your age are all…”

“Hall, you!”

Ye Wangxue was about to get angry, but then she remembered she was in public.

So, she changed the topic, “I saw the competition rules. Who’s first?”

“I’m first,” Hall replied coolly.

“Do you have a weapon?”

Ye Wangxue tilted her head in confusion.

Her Knight’s Rite sword was gone, and she hadn’t seen Hall buy any new weapons recently.

Furthermore, the three opponents they had to face were all children of great noble families, so their weapons were bound to be of Adventurer or Heritage quality, maybe even Master or Legendary.

And she had learned about the weapon quality classification in the Western Continent.

It was basically divided into ten tiers: Novice, Common, Advanced, Rare, Adventurer, Heritage, Master, Legendary, Epic, and Mythic.

But because weapons like the Hero’s Sword and the Winter Sacred Sword were called God-given weapons and were all from the Demon God War a thousand years ago, there were basically no new ones now.

So most rating agencies usually only had nine indicator tiers.

Among them, Advanced weapons were basically standard for elite armies, and a country like the Papal State could mass-produce them.

Whether one possessed an Adventurer-grade weapon was a good indicator of an adventurer’s strength.

Possessing a Master-grade weapon meant an adventurer’s absolute strength was on the rise, and one had to have exceptional luck or rely on family heritage to obtain one.

And Ye Wangxue was confident she could dominate, of course, because she had [Moon Chase].

“I have one, don’t worry. I got a new weapon recently.”

“Oh, you have a new weapon?”

Ye Wangxue was very curious, “Take it out and let me see.”

“Later.”

Hall didn’t plan to show it to Ye Wangxue because, besides blinding a large area of enemies and enhancing one attribute, the Rainbow Sky Sword had another characteristic.

If it wasn’t used for a certain period, the moment it was used again, it would definitely blind all enemies in range.

Its name was Rainbow Sky Sword; the moment it was unsheathed, a dazzling rainbow light would obscure the world.

“Hmph, stop being mysterious. It’s just a piece of junk. Can it compare to this princess’s [Moon Chase]?”

Ye Wangxue started to belittle it.

‘Let’s just say it’s a tie.’

They were both Legendary-grade weapons, and in the game, it was really hard to say which was better.

But relatively speaking, [Moon Chase] was suitable for a one-handed swordsman in sustained combat, applying a slow debuff to the enemy.

The Rainbow Sky Sword was more suitable for a fragile assassin dealing burst damage, taking out the enemy in one combo after blinding them.

“I don’t believe you.”

She really didn’t believe it.

Hall could get a Legendary-grade weapon?

She remembered that Hall’s father, the Duke of Faxtius, only used a Legendary-grade weapon.

But before she could say anything, Himan, who had already changed into her knightly attire, hurried over.

“Hall, Seventh Princess, it’s about to start!”

“Your Majesty, why are you looking at Hall Faxtius? I heard he plans to be the first to go on stage.”

Seven in the evening.

The December season had completely fallen into night.

A new, light blue magical platform had appeared on the stage.

It was about twenty thousand square meters.

This was the masterpiece of a master magician, and indeed, many level 70 or 80 magicians were present as distinguished guests today.

Of course, the old fellow who could instantly generate this physical magic platform was definitely over level 90.

And on the third-floor balcony of the Hero’s Cathedral.

From here, one could overlook the entire square and the many streets beyond.

The night view of District Ten was now all in the eyes of the white-haired young woman sitting in the mahogany chair.

The person speaking was the old man beside her.

Hall was quite familiar with him; it was the Marquis Yisde Chekov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

“The Marquis doesn’t have much of an opinion. It’s fine for him to go on stage first. I’m not interested in these things.”

The white-haired girl’s deep blue eyes, like a frozen sea, held a hint of coldness.

She crossed her beautiful right leg over her left, lifting her snow-white foot in its ice-jade colored sandal, and picked up the red wine Tarasha had just poured for her from the small table beside her.

She took a light sip.

Indeed, Elizabeth Cateline, the current Empress of the Northern Kingdom of Cateline, did not care about these things.

Why would she care about the strength of a nineteen or twenty-year-old youth?

She didn’t care; he wasn’t as powerful as her, who had inherited the bloodline of the Winter Saintess anyway.

Although she had approved this swordsmanship competition, she had no interest in it.

The only thing she really wanted to observe was Hall himself, or rather, his appearance.

If he was so highly regarded by Mandosha Flower, then was he that guy…

“Your Majesty is right. Why be so interested in this Hall? Your Majesty must be trying to get closer to the Child family and the Roan Cardinal through this Hall, right?”

Tarasha said from the side.

‘Anyway, Hall is very annoying. After all, this guy resented her and played her for a fool.’

Marquis Chekov did not refute Tarasha.

He was different from Tarasha; he never tried to guess the Empress’s thoughts.

When the Empress gave an order, he would just do his own thing.

And Elizabeth neither confirmed nor denied Tarasha’s words.

She really didn’t want to pay too much attention to Hall Faxtius.

But because of what happened three years ago, she had to.

Her frustrated mood made Elizabeth unconsciously gulp down a few mouthfuls of red wine.

The bloodline of the Winter Saintess made her an extremely good drinker.

But in the past, before her bloodline awakened, she couldn’t hold her liquor.

She also didn’t like the taste of alcohol, but as the Empress of Cateline, she had to.

“Your Majesty, look, that man is on stage now. That’s him, Hall Faxtius.”

The crowd in the square below began to grow noisy, and Tarasha also hurriedly reminded her Empress.

Only then did Elizabeth finally put down her wine glass.

Her strength was formidable, and her eyesight was also very good.

After confirming the other person’s face, she quickly took out a photo that looked a bit creased.

The photo was of the back of a white-haired girl with a figure very similar to Elizabeth’s and a black-haired boy.

They were leaning their heads and shoulders against each other, sitting on the snowy ground of a mountain, huddled around a bonfire, seemingly warming each other, but their faces were not visible.

‘It looks very similar…’

But before Elizabeth Cateline could continue to confirm the young man’s face.

With a command from Archbishop Malik, who was acting as the referee below.

In an instant, a seven-colored rainbow light filled everyone’s vision.

And when the rainbow light disappeared a moment later, the only person standing on the magical platform was…

Hall Faxtius.