The young Knight couldn’t help widening his eyes, almost suspecting he was seeing things. He had seen plenty of rural farmers and Travelers from various regions, even some bolder peddlers, but whenever they faced a noble like him, not one of them wasn’t trembling with fear—where had he ever seen such an insolent expression?
In fact, Romantic also had her mouth hanging open, staring blankly at this fellow. Our Miss Merchant’s reaction was a beat slower than everyone else’s; right now she was still trying hard to think it through, having absolutely no idea how the person in front of her had appeared.
If not for having some basic Common Sense, she might well have thought the other party had fallen straight out of the sky.
It had to be said that after such an absurd notion made a round in her little head, she finally asked in all seriousness, "Ah, who are you? Are you looking for Brand?"
"Brand?" Philas finally managed to come back to his senses, but unfortunately, as a noble, he had obviously only heard of the title Count of Tonicel, and had no idea what kind of Existence this name Brand referred to. He thought it over and decided that this country girl in front of him had probably been scared silly by him, so he switched to a gentle smile and went on, "No, I have come for you, beautiful lady. My name is Philas, the future heir of the Balano Family."
Romantic thought for a moment. "You know me?"
"No," Philas heard his Fiancée behind him let out a little snort of laughter, and couldn’t help his face darkening a bit. Ever since he’d left the Empire, this little move of his had never failed, yet today he seemed to have run into a brick wall. "...This should count as our first meeting, beautiful lady."
"Ah, I see," Miss Merchant finally seemed to catch up. "You want to buy my ale, don’t you? You’ve got a good eye—Romantic has the best ale in all of Tonyger—no, in All Erulin—" For the first time she realized that this strapping Knight in front of her might be a potential customer, and immediately launched into an enthusiastic pitch.
"No, hold it," though Philas had finally learned what this girl in front of him was called, he still couldn’t help cutting in quickly, "I’m not here to buy your ale."
"You’re not buying ale—?"
"I’m not."
Romantic narrowed her eyes slightly and finally realized the other party wasn’t here to haggle with her. She thought for a bit, then decided to show the merciless side of a merchant; without so much as an extra word, she simply sidestepped this fellow and walked right past him.
Philas immediately heard an outburst of laughter—not just from those hicks, even the Cruz Knights behind him and Laurena couldn’t help laughing. Our young Knight suddenly felt he was losing face; he reflexively reached out, wanting to grab the signal flag in Romantic’s hand.
"Hey, you, hold on a moment!"
But unfortunately, before he could touch the flagpole in her hand, a streak of silver Light suddenly shot in from the crowd. It was a good thing Philas was at least a formal Knight; at that critical Instant he reacted, instantly pulling his hand back and drawing the Longsword at his waist. With a crisp clang, the two gleaming Longswords crossed together at once.
The tremendous Strength made Philas’s body tilt slightly backward, and only then did he realize that the one who had intercepted his Sword was actually an equally outstanding Female Knight. Frey, clad in a suit of silver White Lion Armor, held the Lion’s Heart Holy Sword aloft as she stared coldly at the Cruz people Knight on horseback. She did not move an inch; with just one hand she braced herself solidly on the ground and blocked Philas’s Attack.
Upper Silver level.
Philas stared at the Female Knight before him, unable to stop a flicker of surprise in his heart. With just a single exchange, he had gauged that her Strength was roughly on par with his own, yet she clearly looked much younger than he was—Frey was barely over twenty now, whereas he was well aware that the time he had spent practicing the Sword alone was probably more than twenty years.
For such a backwater to harbor a talent like this—Philas frowned slightly, estimating that this girl’s natural gifts might be about on the level of his Fiancée. Of course, he had no idea that Frey’s Strength had surged forward after the battle at Ambeser; before setting out for the port city, her progress would likely not even have matched his.
Even so, taken together with the previous rumors, it was more than enough to make him frown. He knew the local Lord was a famed prodigy among the Eruein, but he had not expected that under that Lord’s command there were still such capable figures. Philas might be frivolous, but he was no fool.