## Chapter 1120 – Royal Palace

But first, I need to greet her.

“Greetings, Swordmaster. It’s been a while since the Martial Arts Tournament and the Valkyrie battle reward ceremony.”

I bowed my head in greeting, quickly scanning the Swordmaster before me. As expected, she hasn’t changed much since the Martial Arts Tournament.

Her brown bangs are neatly cut straight across, and the long strands of hair on either side have a slight wave at the ends. She seems to take good care of it. She’s about 175cm tall.

“…”

Then, I raised my head again and looked at her face.

—Strong.

Kim Kat, who had reached the level of a superhuman, realized that the person before him was incredibly strong. There’s no denying it. She definitely seems stronger than I am now.

There’s a reason Karin evaluated her that way.

However, she doesn’t seem as transcendent as she did when I saw her before. The Martial Arts Tournament was about a year ago, and I’ve become much stronger since then. My perspective is completely different from then.

This Kim Kat will be able to surpass her soon.

That’s what I was thinking as I looked at the Swordmaster.

“You have quite the eyes.”

After looking at her for a moment, she chuckled and said.

“Eyes full of fighting spirit and violence. Many nomadic warriors had eyes like that. Many of my old comrades had eyes like that too.”
“…”
“Most of them are dead, though.”

What the hell?

“You have the eyes a warrior should have. Don’t tell me you were thinking of fighting and defeating me?”

It seems that this woman, having lived a blood-soaked life for so long, has cultivated the ability to maliciously distort people’s intentions. I’m not some bloodthirsty maniac; why would I think like that when looking at someone?

“Of course not.”
“Is that so?”

She grinned at my answer.

This woman… even at the Martial Arts Tournament award ceremony, she proudly reminisced about her past, slaughtering the Mirkeshines in front of me.

As expected, at this point, she has a mental state that’s on a completely different plane from normal people like me.

“Anyway, it’s been a while. Let’s just say… Paladin, I guess. As you said, it’s been a while since the Valkyrie battle reward.”
“Indeed. It’s very nice to see you again.”
“Don’t worry about what I said just now. I was just talking.”

Was that “just talking”?

“Hehehe, I don’t mind at all. But I am interested in those warriors you mentioned.”
“Oh, really? Well, of course, a warrior would be interested. Especially since it’s about their ancestors.”

Her face seemed to brighten up.

Is mentioning ancestors here considered a diss or not?

It’s strangely difficult to judge.

But she’s probably not trying to pick a fight. She genuinely seemed to highly value the Mirkesha warriors and believed that killing them was a perfectly natural and honorable thing to do.

“The Mirkeshines are a fiercely savage race. They may be in decline now, but the warriors of that time were all filled with fighting spirit and were incredibly beautiful. Paladin’s eyes look similar to those warriors’ eyes.”

She poured out her story with the tension unique to the mentally unstable.

“It reminds me of my old comrades… By the way, the previous Swordmaster, that old man, also had eyes like that.”
“The previous Swordmaster?”
“He’s an old man who’s retired now. He’s already over a hundred years old.”

Judging from the context, he seems older than Claudia.

“He’s retired, so his skills have rusted, but I often wonder how to deal with him when he has a dementia-induced rampage. Haha. It’s quite an amusing thought.”

A demented Swordmaster is terrifying.

“Anyway, I learned swordsmanship from that old man back in the day… Those were the days.”
“Oh, so he was your teacher, Swordmaster?”
“You could say that.”

This was interesting information.

But is this woman just naturally friendly, or is she just striking up a conversation so easily after just exchanging greetings? Is it because of her age? It’s like seeing a division commander suddenly come to the unit and chat amiably with the soldiers.

“Ah, I’ve been talking too much. I always end up telling old stories when I’m with young people.”
“It hasn’t been too long.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Anyway, Paladin will be speaking with our princess today. I should let you know that.”

Princess.

So she’s coming out herself.

“Is the princess personally giving me the reward?”
“It’s worth it. Well, that’s the story. I volunteered to escort you. I wanted to have a conversation with Paladin like this.”

She wanted to have a conversation with me.

—*Swish.*

Having said that, the Swordmaster turned her body and slowly started walking.

Is she going to guide me now?

I immediately positioned myself next to her, slightly behind, and followed.

“You’re a young and talented warrior fighting on the front lines. I can’t miss the opportunity to talk to someone like that.”

She’s evaluating me properly.
As expected of a Swordmaster, she has a keen eye.

In fact, the royal family also considers me a hero of the age, so the Swordmaster must know that. The Karga Kingdom’s intelligence is quite substantial.

“Hehehe, I’m incredibly grateful for your high praise.”
“It’s a fair assessment. I heard you defeated a Great Demon this time?”
“Yes, I did.”

So that’s what she’s curious about.

“Having lived this long and gained this much experience, I can say that killing a Great Demon at your age makes you a truly capable new generation talent.”
“I’m overwhelmed with praise.”
“So, what kind of being was the Great Demon? I couldn’t resist asking.”

I immediately gave her a brief explanation of Andromalius.

He’s strong and fast.

Of course, not all Great Demons share the same characteristics. Andromalius was a mage specialized in destroying armies and cities.

I fought a fierce battle with him while receiving backup from them and won, and I told her everything.

“Indeed. A normal army couldn’t stop something like that. Knights with insufficient skills are the same, so you’d need to mobilize mages and true warriors.”
“That’s my judgment as well.”
“I’m also a bit interested in those other companions, but let’s skip that. By the way, humans these days are weak. It’s ridiculous that demons like that are causing such a commotion.”

Has she ever killed a demon?

“But an even bigger commotion is coming. In my opinion, this incident is nothing more than the vanguard of the demons.”
“I suppose so.”
“…”
“I’m really looking forward to it.”

Her hostility is palpable.

—*Thud, thud.*

I followed the Swordmaster like that. Her pace was frustratingly slow. The corridors of the royal palace are huge and wide, but she’s walking too leisurely.

Does she have a lot of questions she wants to ask me?

Or is she trying to figure me out as we move?

That’s a reasonable assumption. I’m about to have a private audience with royalty, so she should prepare that much. Especially since we’re inside the royal palace.

“The ancient humans were said to be stronger than they are now. That’s why they were able to overcome such wars. They probably had a larger population and higher technology.”

I listen to her story as we walk through the corridors of the royal palace.

“But… don’t you think that humans are too weak compared to that?”

She asked that as she walked… I could sense from that question that she was still thirsty for battle. Why is such a monster quietly living under the royal family? With this much belligerence, she’s certainly capable of it.

“Depending on your perspective, that may be the case. But weren’t the enemies of humanity also weakened and suffered damage from that war? I think it’s the same.”

Anyway, to answer her question, even the Great Demons of Pandemonium were said to have died in droves back then. I’m telling you, the current Great Demons are second-generation Great Demons.

Demons after the Idol War.

Overall, other forces besides humans have also weakened, so the social structure and appearance have simply taken a form that suits that.

“I suppose you could think that way… But it’s true that we’re weaker compared to other races.”
“I agree.”
“But you.”

—*Halt.*

As we were walking, she suddenly stopped and turned to look at me.

“Yes?”
“How should I put it, your attitude is quite different from back then. I thought you lacked a lot of boldness during the Martial Arts Tournament.”

Boldness, huh.

“Didn’t you feel a great deal of fear in front of me back then and treat me with excessive politeness? I thought it was a bit strange. You were so wild in the arena, but your attitude changed immediately.”

This is a bit embarrassing.

“Hehehe, is that so? Well, I couldn’t help it. Isn’t the Swordmaster the strongest person in the kingdom? So I was a bit too nervous back then.”

I was a bit of a pushover back then.

“And people are naturally more wary of those they meet for the first time, aren’t they? The Swordmaster is clearly a fearsome presence to everyone.”

Back then, I was quite intimidated in front of her and sweating profusely, but I don’t feel that way now. I’ve become stronger compared to then.

I’m not afraid.

I’ve already forgotten fear.

“Haha, is that so? Well, come to think of it, your attitude is very different from when you’re on stage. It seems Paladin has a different attitude when standing in front of the public and when standing in front of the strong.”
“Hehehe, that’s right. Wow, you saw right through me.”

The reason for that is that this is inside the royal palace.

I don’t have a sword in my hand.

And most of all, I’m not exactly an enemy of this person.

People naturally change their attitude depending on the other person.

“I see.”

What do you see?

“Then how should I interpret your current attitude? Does it mean you’re not afraid anymore, and you’re not nervous either?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, why?”
“Why would I have a reason to fear the Swordmaster? We’re not enemies, so there’s no need for that.”
“Not enemies… I see. Well, I like you better than before. Yes, a warrior should have this kind of flavor. You should take after your ancestors.”

No. Why do you keep bringing up my ancestors whom you personally slaughtered?

They’re not really my ancestors, but still.

Anyway, is she saying that she likes me a bit more now? In my opinion, there’s clearly no good that can come from receiving the attention of such a psychopath.

“During the Martial Arts Tournament, I just thought you were a promising kid with some skill and talent. You’re definitely better now.”
“I was a seriously immature kid back then.”

In any case, I walked while having such conversations with the Swordmaster.

We also talked about various things happening in the world, but there was nothing particularly memorable.

“So, from the perspective of a young Paladin, what do you think of the world these days?”
“The world, you say?”
“I know that there are signs of a great war.”

The Swordmaster seemed to be looking forward to it. If a second Idol War were to break out, would she consider fighting as an active duty soldier? With this much belligerence, she’s certainly capable of it.

“It’s precarious. If you think about Great Demons attacking from all over the place, the lords defending each region won’t be able to stop them on their own.”
“So you think so too… Young people all think the same.”
“Is that so?”

Anyway, as we walked diligently like that.

—*Thud.*

We stopped in front of a large door.

“This is it.”
“…”

Is Princess Karga beyond this door?

“You only need to show a moderate amount of courtesy. Then.”

—*Creak.*

She opened the door, and I slowly entered. The inside was very spacious. And like the corridor, it was pure white. Various luxurious pieces of furniture were placed in that pure white space.

And in front of that.

“…”

Princess Einphel, with her long platinum blonde hair and a rather languid expression, was sitting there.

She smiled gently as she looked at me.

What I saw in her curving eyes… was a kind of decadent impression.