Chapter 420: Visitors from the Empire

After leaving the Buztout mansion, Shien originally planned to go to the royal palace to see Lucy.

But as soon as he left the house, before he could even activate [Concealment], Shien noticed something unusual happening at his doorstep.

Yesterday, those noble young masters from various countries were clamoring at his gate, claiming to want to duel him, not even retreating despite Yulin guarding the place.

Shien thought they would definitely come again today.

They did come, but they were gathered at a distance, not clamoring like yesterday, but pointing and whispering.

“What’s this…?”

Shien couldn’t help but feel surprised.

But the next moment, Shien noticed something else.

A group of people was standing in front of the Buztout mansion’s main gate, right in front of the noble young masters.

They wore uniform knight attire, each with a sword at their waist, looking like capable knights, yet lined up neatly like an army, exuding a肅殺aura.

Shien glanced over and found that none of these soldier-like knights were below level seventy.

In other words, this knight order’s strength was on par with the Kingdom’s Royal Knights.

Of course, compared to the Royal Knights, the number of these high-level soldiers wasn’t large, only twelve, but each of them was capable of being a knight captain in any territory. Now, they were gathered together, led by three people.

Shien glanced at the three people, then his gaze lingered.

He found that these three were even more extraordinary than the knights.

At the forefront was a young man who was obviously either rich or noble, handsome, and exuding a noble aura, like a prince charming from a girl’s dream.

The young man had blond hair and blue eyes, his hair tied back and hanging down his back. He wasn’t wearing the luxurious clothes nobles usually wore, but a formal ceremonial attire.

Beside this young man were another young man of similar age with a rebellious look, and a sturdy, older man with graying hair.

Shien knew at a glance that these three weren’t ordinary people.

Especially the older man, just standing there, his aura was so sharp that even Shien couldn’t help but notice him.

His level was also very high, a full ninety-seven.

Such a level, such an aura, yet acting like a guard for the prince-like figure, even the rebellious young man occasionally looked at him with respect. This showed how extraordinary these three people were. ȑ𝓪ＮỐ𝐛Ê§

Perhaps the reason those noble young masters didn’t dare to approach was because of these people?

Shien narrowed his eyes slightly.

“This is getting interesting.”

Shien murmured, then after pondering for a moment, abandoned the idea of using [Concealment] and walked out of the main gate openly.

“—”

In that instant, everyone fell silent, their gazes focusing on Shien.

The group of newcomers did the same, as if noticing Shien’s appearance faster than anyone else, their eyes fixed on him.

And then…

“Shien Buztout!”

“Shien Buztout has finally appeared!”

A clamor erupted.

The noble young masters’ eyes flashed fiercely, and the commoners in the outer circle also shouted, making the scene noisy.

However, the noise quickly subsided.

“Are you Viscount Shien Buztout?”

A gentle voice, like a spring breeze, echoed throughout the area, carrying an incredible power that instantly suppressed all other sounds.

The prince-like young man smiled with interest and, with the old and young guards beside him, came to Shien.

“You’re Shien Buztout?” The rebellious young man sized up Shien, then sneered. “You don’t seem that special.”

The older man also glanced at Shien, then silently looked away, seemingly not paying much attention to him.

Trying to act cool?

Shien’s expression was playful.

“And you are?”

Shien ignored the old and young men and looked directly at the leading young man.

He had a guess about his identity.

Someone with a guard squad comparable to the Royal Knights, and a legendary-level expert as protection, such a person was rare in the entire human world.

And there was one such person close to the Kingdom of Mitra.

“I am Harvis Ragna, the first prince of the Ragna royal family, and the first in line to the throne of the Ragna Empire.”

With a straightforward self-introduction, the prince who called himself Harvis had a sunny smile on his face, as warm as his voice.

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

“As expected…”

Shien wasn’t surprised at all, clearly having already guessed.

The rebellious young man beside the prince, however, seemed unwilling to let the atmosphere be too harmonious and sneered slyly.

“Hearing the prince’s name, you still dare not to salute?”

The rebellious young man seemed to be provoking Shien.

Unfortunately, Shien still ignored him.

“My apologies for the poor reception, Prince Harvis.” Shien smiled at Harvis, feigning surprise. “I didn’t expect such an important figure like you to grace us with your presence. Why don’t you come in and have a seat?”

Shien acted hospitable.

“No, thank you.” Harvis looked deeply at Shien, then said with a smirk, “Your dragon seems a bit unfriendly, and very hostile towards uninvited guests like us. We wouldn’t dare to barge into a dragon’s lair.”

Hearing this, the rebellious young man curled his lip.

“That big oaf is no match for Master Rockto. What’s there to be afraid of?”

The rebellious young man’s undisguised words made Shien realize that he was definitely a spoiled brat.

However…

“Rockto… huh?”

Shien couldn’t help but look at the legendary-level old man.

Shien had a guess about Rockto’s identity.

In the Ragna Empire, there was a knight family similar in status to the Elvenbein family in the Kingdom. They were the Empire’s number one knight family, their head the strongest person in the country, commanding hundreds of thousands of cavalry, the Empire’s sole strongest knight commander.

The knight family’s name was—Bigusler.

And the Empire’s strongest knight was the legendary expert, second only to Aldia of the Kingdom—Rockto Bigusler.

“Is it him?”

Shien’s gaze was filled with inquiry.

Rockto seemed to sense it and met Shien’s gaze, his eyes flashing like sharp swords, piercing Shien.

Ordinary people, upon meeting that sharp gaze, would even feel a burning pain as if their eyes were being pierced.

Shien, however, met his gaze head-on.

“Oh?”

This time, Rockto was surprised.

Shien, however, looked away, as if he had lost interest, and looked at Harvis again.

“I wonder what brings Your Highness here?” Shien said nonchalantly. “You’re not here to challenge me like those people around you, are you?”

“What?” The rebellious young man immediately retorted, “Doesn’t His Highness have the right to do so?”

Shien still ignored the rebellious guy and looked at Harvis with a smile.

“You…”

The rebellious young man’s expression darkened, and he was about to say something when he was finally stopped.

“Alright, Wolram, this is my business. Don’t interrupt.”

Harvis said calmly to the rebellious young man.

“Tsk…”

The rebellious young man named Wolram clicked his tongue and turned his head away, but a dagger had appeared in his hand at some point, spinning and twirling, creating flashes of cold light. It looked quite cool.

“My apologies, my attendant was a bit rude.” Harvis smiled at Shien. “But I only have one purpose for coming here, and I believe you can guess it, right?”

After all, at this time, those who would come looking for Shien were either his acquaintances or his enemies.

He was here to issue a challenge to Shien, the top candidate.

“I didn’t expect the Empire would also want to marry a princess of the Kingdom.”

Shien’s words were quite meaningful.

But it was the truth.

The relationship between the Kingdom and the Empire wasn’t good, but the Empire’s prince actually came to participate in the husband selection, intending to marry the Kingdom’s princess. Wasn’t this intriguing?

The other party only had one thing to say to this.

“She is special.” Harvis looked directly at Shien and said without any disguise, “I believe not only Viscount Buztout, but everyone who came here today understands this.”

Shien raised an eyebrow.

He hadn’t expected this prince to be so straightforward.

“Our Ragna Empire’s royal family is also descended from the Hero. If we can unite with the Kingdom’s descendant of the Hero, and she even has the potential to become a Hero, then no matter how you look at it, we have to pursue this, right?”

Harvis’s frankness made Shien look at him with a new perspective.

It seemed this prince of the Empire was quite capable, not someone easy to fool.

However, Shien didn’t intend to be too polite to him either.

After all, this prince had his eyes on his wife. Shien couldn’t just do nothing.

As for the other small fry, Shien didn’t have time to play with them.

But if it was the prince of the Ragna Empire, it should provide some entertainment, right?

“Tell me, how do you want to compete?”

Shien said without hesitation.

This made Harvis raise an eyebrow as well, then without wasting any time, he said,

“Let’s go to the stage.”