Stranger's Handbook Chapter 22

Chapter 22: As Her Fiancé (Latter Part)

In the middle of these loud cheers I readied my sword in a stance.

With this pitch black metallic armor that I’m wearing, I look like a dark knight….no, more like a devil king? Anyway, it’s very embarrassing.

The pig wearing some decent clothes wiped the sweat off his face and started talking with a broad grin on his face.

“Ha ha. Very well, I’ll be your opponent! To have the guts to challenge the no. 3 Imperial Mage, you sure are a stupid fellow!”

And he started cladding his body in magical power.

A…Are you serious!? This magical power! So you’re the 3rd Imperial Mage counting from the top…..!?

I was too shocked to speak.

How can this be!? There’s a limit to how much one can miscalculate, right? Who would’ve thought ……

The square fell silent, a complete change compared to a few moments ago.

“What’s that magical power?”    “Can….Can Zest-sama win this?”    “An Imperial Mage……”

These were the voices of nobles and soldiers.

You’re right……Those were not only mere words, this pig is actually displaying a considerably large amount of magical power.

“Oh!……I didn’t expect this…….”
“Yes, I haven’t seen this coming either, Your Excellency……”

His Excellency the Frontier Count and my master were showing some rather bitter faces……But that’s understandable.

A stupid noble made a pass at the young lady.

And because of that, this battle now is taking place, but he turned out to be an Imperial Mage of the 3rd rank.
And this magical power……It’s perfectly understandable if people get surprised.

“Ha ha, you’re so shocked to see my magical power that you fell silent! You should curse at yourself for making light of the hair of a priest noble!”

The pig said that and started gesturing. He created a gigantic magical formation.

Is this fire magic? The temperature in my surroundings has already started to rise, and the soldiers started to assemble a magical barrier in front of the nobles.

“Esteemed nobles, please step back behind the barrier! Hey you! What are you doing, put some more strength in it!”

The angry voice of the commanding officer.
So this idiot is preparing such a dangerous flame magic spell.

And he’s approaching its completion.

It was a huge white flames sphere controlled by a great number of magical formations…….This sphere had a 2 meters diameter and it floated above the pig’s head.

“Well, if you start begging for your life, I might spare you! Since it’s a duel, no one would complain if you die, but I’m a very merciful person. Ha ha ha”

The merciful pig showed a very repulsive smile and started sweating again.
Hmm, you won’t let me off anyway……

“……………”

“Buhahahaha, you’re too frightened to speak, aren’t you? But feel at ease, you’ll vanish before even starting to feel the pain!…….Time’s out. Be reduced to ashes!!”

With his words, the fire ball started to fly straight towards me.
When it hit me, a fire pillar higher that the castle’s gates rose towards the sky.

“The barrier casting group, stay strong! These are truly some outrageously powerful flames!”

Hearing the commander’s yelling, the magic division soldiers desperately put all their magical power into the barrier.
The stone paving under my feet was boiling up; these were indeed some rather powerful flames.

The people standing there who have seen a great spell cast by an Imperial Mage for the first time, because of the shock, all the colors drained from their faces.

That damn pig was breathing rather heavily.

The pig was dripping with sweat, and despite he had such an unsightly appearance, he looked more arrogant than ever.

“Buhahahaha, there’s no way a knight could win against me! You were such a fool!”

The damn pig was so proud of himself and laughed loudly…..Those three were staring at that disgusting idiot.

“I didn’t expect this…..”

“Yes, it was completely unforeseen.”

“It really surprised me.”

Those three were muttering the (almost) same words.

“ “ “Who would’ve thought he was this weak……” “ “

Hearing those words, the damn pig showed a full-face smile.
Even now the fire was rising up towards the sky, and the only ones who clearly heard those words were the nobles and the soldiers on the side.

“Ha ha ha, I am amazed too! I never thought he would turn out to be such a weak opponent!”

The soldiers frowned at that bastard’s remark, but as one would expect, the nobles weren’t showing anything on their faces.
The nobles could ruin themselves only by saying a few wrong words. Of course they won’t react.

In this square, where the damn pig’s loud laughter was resounding, the fire pillar used up all its magical power and vanished.

And who came in sight? Me, standing on the boiling stone paving, being completely unharmed.

“It was quite an amusing performance. Are you done now, Imperial Mage-dono?”

With one swing of my blade I returned the stone pavement to its normal state and temperature.
I slowly approached the damn pig.

“I was looking forward to some trick behind that fire pillar, you know? Was that really all you could muster?”

The damn pig’s mouth was constantly opening and closing without saying a word. What are you doing, imitating a goldfish?

“You were preparing your incantation for such a long time and I’m asking: WAS THAT ALL?”

I was already in front of the bastard.

“If that’s the case, all right then. Farewell!”

I decapitated the damn pig with my sword.
His decapitated head tumbled to the ground similarly to a ball, while the rest of his body crumbled down on the spot.

I killed a man….But I was surprised to discover I wasn’t having any unpleasant feelings.
It was like killing a random insect invading my space, so I felt strangely calm.

“I am the winner of this duel! Is there someone else!? Does someone else dare to propose to Beatrice-sama? Is there someone here who wants to fight against me!?”

I readied my sword again and glanced all around me.
My magical power was at full throttle and I was putting up an intimidating air as I looked all around me.

And then, I wonder who started it?
Everyone started to kneel on the ground.

Some of them were trembling……some of them were looking at me with veneration in their eyes like I was some sort of a hero.

I looked up at the young lady.

“Beatrice-sama, I, Zest, the heir of the Gaiyus Household, am asking you to marry me! Will you give me the honor to accept this marriage proposal!?”

I put my sword back in its sheath and knelt down.
The young lady’s answer was already decided…..However……

“There is no one else in this world who could control such a beast like person as you, but me. I will look after you. I accept your marriage proposal!”
‘Zest-sama, Zest-sama, Zest-sama, Zest-sama, Zest-sama, Zest-sama, Zest-sama, Zest-sama……‘

In the middle of all these wild cheers blessing the two of us, no one knew that I, who have risen a death flag, being scared I might get killed by thisyandere young lady, wet myself a little…….

Chapter end