Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

"Young man, you did us a lot of favour by taking care of them. Previously no matter how many times I sent a commission to a guild or sent my personal soldiers, those irksome bandits would always hide some corner of the forest making this whole venture a huge headache for me".

Even when a duke approached him, the young man didn't seem fazed and simply nodded his head.

Duke Montford did not mind his lackadaisical attitude and laughed it off. Though the same wasn't true for Lucas who was beside him. It seemed that he didn't like the attitude of the adventurer that didn't respect royalty. After sparing the other party a few more glances, he didn't bother with them anymore.

"That's right, why don't you sit with us Sir Simon, Miss Adalinda. We have plenty of seats vacant here" Cynthia clasped her hands and invited.

Duke Montford nodded, he had no qualms with adventurers sitting beside them. Simon was just about to reject their offer when Adalinda pulled him along and sat on her designated seat. After being pulled along and brought near the seat by her monstrous strength, he had no choice but to comply  and sit with them.

'This little girl, she definitely thinking of some mischief to relieve her boredom' Simon was already used to her antics after travelling with her for a month. Hence he could somewhat guess what the latter was trying to do.

Simon felt a headache coming, How did he end up in this situation? He was just trying to observe how the scene outside looked from the gallery and know more about the air engine. Little did he know that he would be dragged between these two parties.

"So what happened to your convoy when you were attacked by a group of battle bears late at night?" Lucas asked trying to shift the conversation. Even he did not notice that his tone had become a little sour after the two new entrants sat beside them. His eyes constantly gazed at the princess, trying to initiate a conversation with her.

Cynthia looked at Alvara beside her who decided to reply him on her behalf.

"Yes that is right, we camped at the place without knowing it was the nest of the battle bears. No, I guess sir Simon did inform us about that but because we were too tired to search for a different campsite and due to our negligence in determining the gravity of the situation, we got ambushed by the Battle bears and a Battle grizzly that night".

"However, before we incurred any more casualties, Sir Simon defeated the leader of the battle bears, the Battle Grizzly and forced the rest to flee".

She recounted, a small smile appeared at the corner of her lips when she thought about how many times they were saved by the adventurer and his vast knowledge.

"Hoh… to be able to not only recognise the nest of the battle bears with simply a few signs and to defeat even a Battle grizzly, is quite the feat if I must say so… hahaha" Duke Montfort caressed his beard and said.

He then tapped on the table and added with a serious face.

"Young man I hold talents like you in high regard. If you ever think about quitting the adventurer's profession, I would be glad to have you as my soldier and offer you the position of a commander if you want? Anyhow, the doors to my Castledor city will always be open for you".

Simon shook his head and tactfully rejected the offer from the duke. There was no way he was going to work as a soldier after spending his previous life working for someone else. In this life, Simon had decided to do what he wanted and stay true to his desires.

While everybody was having a pleasant conversation and a decent time, there was someone who did not share such sentiments.

Lucas was annoyed by how many times the adventurer's name came up during their conversation. 'Simon this...Simon that' the conversation that he had changed shifted back to the young man once again.

What annoyed him, even more, was that the princess whenever she gazed at the adventurer, would reveal an interested expression which was unlike the indifferent gaze she threw towards him.

'What is so special about this peasant adventurer? If I want to, I can easily incinerate a group of Battle grizzly. Just because he defeated a single battle grizzly, he is allowed to act so haughtily?' Lucas cursed internally.

A seed of emotion called jealousy that he had never felt before sprouted in his heart at this moment. Suddenly, he remembered something and a crafty light flashed in his eyes as he smiled.

"That's right, since adventurer Simon is so strong, then is he participating in the 'Battle of the Finest' tournament that is going to be held in the capital?".

If Simon participated in the tournament, he would be able to show the princess that he was more powerful than the peasant adventurer who had no proper education and mentor and whose bloodline made it questionable if he could become any stronger. 

Simon simply shook his head at those words, he was not going to the capital to participate in the competition and instead he was going there to search for the disciple of this little grandaunt. He had no interest in this tournament called 'Battle of the Finest' whatsoever.

"Ah, is that so? Well, that's a shame because this year many powerful individuals are participating and it will be a good experience to know where exactly your power stands. Other than that there is also the enticement from this year's reward which is rumoured to be a powerful Skill Grimoire amongst the many other rewards" Lucas explained while internally snickering.

Simon processed all the information that was provided by Lucas, he would be lying if he said that his interest wasn't piqued when he heard about the reward and some unfamiliar terms.

Duke Montford laughed loudly before declaring in an excited voice.

"Right, it is as Lucas said, this year's rewards and the people who are participating, are something else. Although a handful of people are privy to it, but the rewards this time was given by the Adventurer's Association, so it cannot be ordinary. According to what I know, many guilds and their guild leaders would be paying a close attention to the winner of this competition".

He then looked at Cynthia and smiled mysteriously "Even the royal family of Ellesmere is sparing no efforts to nurture their members and prodigal young people from their side… isn't that so princess?".

At this moment when all eyes focused on her, Cynthia sighed and replied.

"Indeed it is as you have said, currently royal father and everyone in the palace is quite busy with grooming the third brother for the upcoming competition. I must say that your information network is quite wide, Your Grace".

Duke Montford waved his hands and shook off the remark.

"No such thing your princess... although I was aware that the royal family was doing its best to nurture some people, by buying all of the elixirs and mana crystals they could find all over the region, I couldn't have guessed it was for the prodigal third prince. However, even if it is the third prince, it won't be so easy for him to take the number one spot with how the top five guilds are eyeing the top reward".

"Plus, this year Lucas representing our northern region of the kingdom, would also be participating at the tournament. He is someone who at the mere age of twenty-one, was able to reach level 300 and become the youngest branch manager of the Adventurer's Association.  Haha, I cannot wait to see who comes out as the final victor".

Duke Montford stated positively, his hands patting the young man in red robes beside him.

Lucas smiled "His grace is exaggerating, all of this was more than ten years ago. I'm sure that the third prince's achievement is already far greater than mine".

.

.

After exchanging a few more words, Simon and Adalinda were the first ones to excuse themselves followed by Cynthia and Alvara.

The journey with the air engine was extremely smooth and they had covered a vast expanse of land in two days. Something that would have been previously impossible to cover with wagons. The travel these past few days was unexciting with nothing much happening.

On the third day, a disturbance that worried the passengers of the air engine occurred. Out of the eight crew of the airship two fire mages that were above level 200, collapsed due to overexerting their mana.

"What is happening?! How could something like this occur?" Duke Montford thundered. His face was masked with anger when he was reported of such a crisis in between their journey.

"Y-your grace according to our calculation three fire mages and four wind mages would have been enough to keep the air engine running for four days. However, due to the airship not being used for a while, the engine might have gotten clogged and ate more mana than usual" the pilot who was sweating profusely replied.

At this moment, the other passengers also entered the cockpit drawn by the commotion.

"You idiot I'm not asking for your stupid excuses. I want you to quickly find a solution through this crisis" Duke Montford shouted, his prestige cowered the crew members.

"What is wrong your grace?" Cynthia asked with a frown.

"Haaah… apparently, two out of the three fire mages that were operating the fire engine, collapsed due to over draining their mana. Currently, only a single fire mage and four wind mages are keeping the airship operational" Duke Montford replied with an ashen face.

Simon, Adalinda, Alvara and the others knitted their brows when they heard that. From his words, they could interpret that the journey that they thought would go smoothly wouldn't go as such anymore.