11: Chapter 6.2 Look here, Minister!
11: Chapter 6.2 Look here, Minister!
“Uh…
does that mean I don’t need a Circle?” “No.
The more Circles you have, the amount of mana you can handle will increase.
What I am talking about is your incredible Mana Affinity.
At this level, it might be better to call it Dominance rather than affinity.” ‘No wonder magic barely worked when I fought that Crown Prince guy.
He just had an overpowered body.’ Grandfather checked the watch on his wrist, smiled contentedly, and stood up.
“I’d love to teach you all night, but it’s almost evening.
I should get going before Her Majesty the Empress expresses her dissatisfaction.” *** After eating dinner, in my room, I lay down and blankly stared at the objects floating around me.
My heart pounded as Grandfather’s words kept replaying in my head.
‘In my Past Life, I was always lying on a sickbed, but in this life, I’m a Magic Genius?’ I grinned while having such silly thoughts, but when I thought about my future, the smile vanished.
The future Protagonist’s Party’s intrusion of the Imperial Castle, my father’s cryptic words—everything pointed to the secret hidden in the Imperial Castle.
‘I must become the Crown Prince, no matter what.
I’m the only one who knows the future, even if it’s just fragments.’ At first, I resented the unseen god for the burdensome position of an Imperial Prince, the unfamiliar environment of reincarnation, and the Imperial Family’s cryptic secret, but not anymore.
The citizens’ fervent cheers, a body overflowing with talent, and the love of my family.
There were too many things I wanted to hold in my hands and protect.
If my hands are small, I won’t be able to hold everything and will surely drop things as I move forward.
I want to become strong.
I want to make it so that no one can even dare to look at my position.
And so, in the room, the Imperial Prince, whose eyes were dyed a golden color, fiercely rotated his newly made Circle.
*** A few days later, at the Imperial Training Ground.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Imperial Prince.
I am Maxim Verstappen, Commander of the Imperial Royal Guard Knights.
Starting today, I will be teaching you swordsmanship in the mornings.” This man before me, with red hair and strong features, is the Commander of the Imperial Royal Guard Knights.
The freaking Minister of Defense!
I figured I should start polishing my swordsmanship, so I asked my father, and he assigned me this ridiculous private tutor.
The power of authority is always new and thrilling.
And so, receiving a private lesson from the Minister of Defense, I replied with anticipation.
“Alright, Lord Maxim.
I’ll be in your care.” “Haha!
Seeing your gaze, the rumors of you being intelligent were true.
It is a Blessing of the Empire.
Now, shall we begin?
First, for today, let’s just lightly run five laps around the training field!
Ah, and for your reference, I heard you’ve created a Circle.
Mana usage is forbidden.” ‘Hmm?
That’s kind of an ambiguous number.
Well, based on my many years of cultural life, running laps around the training field is the common practice for a first lesson, but not 10 or 100 laps, just 5?’ As I stared at Maxim, he smiled and answered.
“Hahaha!
Imperial Prince, to handle a sword, stamina is essential.
Only when your lower body is firmly rooted to the ground can you truly use swordsmanship.” I corrected Maxim’s misunderstanding and asked.
“No, that’s not it.
Why specifically five laps?” “Hmm?
Ah, since it is the first lesson, you will also be swinging a sword today, Imperial Prince.
It is to gauge your talent.” Hmm, it seems he intends to leave me with enough strength to at least lift a sword.
And so, I started running around the training field.
The cool dawn air brushes against my face.
Perhaps because I’m young and full of energy, my stride is still narrow, but when I put strength into my legs, they stretch out powerfully.
It’s been a long time since I’ve run like this.
I surrendered my body to the refreshing sense of liberation and quickly completed the five laps.
“Imperial Prince, you run better than I thought.
Now, please pick up your sword and try to follow my movements.” The sword I’m finally handling for the first time!
I took out the wooden sword, imagining that this overpowered body would handle a sword well too.
Then, imagining myself becoming the Youngest Sword Master, I followed Maxim’s lead.
“First, try striking the sword downwards from above.
It’s the basics of swordsmanship; it allows you to put the most weight into it.
Like this.” “Hup!” “…
Next is the Horizontal Slash.” “Hut!” “N…
Next is the thrust!
You step forward and thrust fiercely.” “Hah!” “…
Please repeat these three movements.” In response, I repeated the three movements continuously.
The more I repeated them, the more ambiguous Maxim’s expression became, and after looking at me with eyes full of contemplation, he spoke.
“…
Imperial Prince, it seems your talent lies more in the field of magic.” Like a public official who can’t bring himself to say ‘You have no talent’ in front of the President’s son, it seemed to have taken a lot of courage for Maxim to say this.
It seems I’m a clumsy person.