In order to prevent such a fate, he set himself the goal of personally unifying the region under his rule. That objective was in part personal ambition, but it also came from the grand duke's genuine concern for the best interests of the southern region.
Given that dream, he would have liked nothing better than to witness the power of the newest generation of Amsberg hero.
"Hmm. But you see, we have no warriors who could match you in a one-on-one fight. So, Prince Arnold, would a party of several opponents be permissible?"
"If Lady Von Amsberg agrees, then it is fine by me."
"I don't mind."
"All right. Then while we're at it, how about ten of our men? Surely that would be too—"
"Ten. Very well," Elna replied, nonchalantly accepting the grand duke's terms.
He hadn't expected her to agree so readily and without argument, but knowing he couldn't go back and amend his suggestion, he summoned ten skilled knights from within the castle.
A space was then cleared right before the grand duke's throne, and the ten-against-one battle began.
"Aaaaargh!"
The first to make a move was a large, heavy-set knight. He made a pass with his mock sword, but to Elna it was an attack that left him wide open. If he were under my command, I'd have him back to basics. Elna casually swung her own mock blade. It was enough to see the heavy-set knight's mock sword snapped in two.
"Huh...?"
The knight paled as he stared at the half left in his hands, cleaved as cleanly as if by a sharp blade.
Elna ignored him and looked at the remaining nine combatants.
"I would recommend you all try attacking me at the same time."
Initially, the knights all shrank back from Elna's gaze. Then they remembered that the grand duke was watching and drew up the courage to attack.
First, three of the knights attacked simultaneously from three different directions.
To Elna, their efforts were enough to make her yawn and in a sweeping motion, she sliced off all three swords through the middle. The sight of a mock sword slicing through three others, one after another, was enough to send the remaining knights retreating.
Seeing that, Elna chided them with a roar. "If you want to call yourselves knights, then stop retreating in front of your master! Otherwise Rondine will be mocked as a nation without any knights!"
"Y-yes, ma'am!"
Leo watched the scene unfolding before him with awe. It was almost as if the knights had suddenly become her pupils.
The castigated knights unhesitatingly launched themselves at Elna. And for the first time, one of their blows landed. That alone was enough to draw cheers from the Rondine spectators.
But it had all been a part of Elna's act. The only ones who realized it were Elna's own knights and Leo.
It was a technique used often by the imperial knights when fighting against opponents such as nobility. First you purposefully demonstrate your superior ability, then you back off slightly in order to let the opponent save face.
Fortunately, no one from Rondine noticed what was happening. Although relieved, Leo let out a weary sigh as he wondered how long the act was going to continue.
"I wonder if Arn's having a hard time, too," he whispered quietly so that no one would hear.
To Leo, Arn had always been the amazing big brother who could do all the things that he couldn't. When they were kids, there used to be a tree that no one could climb. There was constant talk among their group of friends about who would be the first to climb it. Leo fervently practiced climbing trees, but in the end, neither he nor any of the others succeeded, and the excitement about the tree eventually passed.
But then, one day, Leo spotted an injured baby bird up in that tree. He couldn't climb it though, so there was nothing he could do. At that moment, Arn happened to walk by. After Leo told him about the baby bird, Arn told him to hang on a minute, and then disappeared. A few minutes later, Arn came back and safely returned the baby bird to its nest.
He'd snuck into the emperor's room to borrow a precious magic tool that allowed people to levitate and thereby resolved the crisis.
Arn had always been that person—the brother who could fix situations in ways that never even occurred to Leo. Surely he was out there at that very moment, easily and flawlessly pretending to be his twin. Having reassured himself, Leo went back to concentrating on his own situation and vowed to be as lazy as he could possibly be.
7
The following day, at long last, the grand duke of Albatro asked for my help extending an olive branch to Rondine.
I was glad for the extra time, but as a country, Albatro had been extremely slow to act. I realized it was symptomatic of the ill will between the two countries, but still, it would be all over for Albatro if tragedy struck them in the meantime.
"I appreciate this, Prince Leonard. Good luck."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
"I have to ask...are you really planning to go by sea?"
The grand duke looked out at the ocean with a hint of trepidation.
We were standing at the water's edge along the harbor. After receiving the grand duke's request, I had ordered the ship to be prepared for departure.
The citizens of Albatro were staring at me in disbelief. They had expected me to travel by land and seemed shocked by my decision.