Chapter 42: Two Birds with One Stone

I took a deep breath to make myself look calm. It wouldn't do me any good if I approached him with anger or hate.

Duke Bluerose was already on my target list, alongside some other nobles. I was about to prepare a reason to take them down but to think that it would show up this fast.

Even if I was a Paladin, I needed reasons to take down many nobles, or the King would make a move against me. The spies' confession wouldn't be enough.

It wasn't like I would be in a big problem, but that would hinder my peaceful life. I didn't want that.

And the reason I needed to fight one of those nobles showed up. So I needed to bait this Alexander to be hostile against me. So I could bait the father to make an obvious move against me.

Of course, all reasons would leave me if he did something to Eliza. 'Touch her, and he will beg to die, motherfucking bastard.'

I calmed down a little bit and approached Eliza with a smile on my face. They didn't notice me yet. Eliza still looked away, looking uncomfortable as Alexander kept talking with an annoying smile, talking about how he was greater than the others.

And surprisingly, as I got closer, he began talking down about me and changed Eliza's expression considerably. She looked angry and rose from her seat. Her hand was flying toward Alexander's face, much to his happiness.

If Eliza's hand reached Alexander's face, it would put Eliza in trouble. And I wouldn't let that happen.

<Flash>

I immediately used my skill and appeared beside her with a flash, holding her hand. Eliza was surprised when her hand suddenly got caught by someone.

She turned around and shouted, "Who is-" only to stop and widen her eyes when she saw me.

"That would put you in trouble, you know?" I said with a calming voice as I slowly lowered her hand.

Alexander's expression worsened. He scowled, trying to intimidate me. That expression didn't scare me at all. I mean, many people knew that they shouldn't mess with me. Even Adam knew how to back up, no matter how stupid he was.

But this guy here... Why should the villain in the eroge be so stupid? He knew that I was close to Eliza. Just because he thought he had a chance, he kept on harassing her. I began to think he did this intentionally to hurt my reputation on his father's order.

Something like this was something I had to deal with daily back when I just rose to fame in Horizon Online to the point I was getting bored.

'Let's just finish this quickly. This should be easy.'

"Calm down, okay? Let me deal with this one." I calmed Eliza down with a smile, releasing her hand as she nodded.

Then I looked at Alexander with cold gazes devoid of any emotion. "And you. What do you think you're doing to Eliza?"

"What? I was just talking to her. Don't you think you're overreacting?" Alexander shrugged his shoulders as he leaned against the chair's backrest, smirking.

"Overreacting?" I smirked back. "It seems you didn't know how to use words properly. If I was overreacting, you would already be in the church right now."

To deal with someone like him, you should deal with him calmly and show your superiority. The one who lost their calm first lost.

And as the son of a highest-ranking noble and a person from Class 1 who loved to brag about his ability, Alexander Bluerose hated to be looked down upon. Such a child.

"You think you can do that?!" He gritted his teeth as his smile fell from his face. "Even if you're a Paladin, you have no authority to command me! Did you forget your origin, scum?!"

"Oh, I do remember my origin," I replied without getting angry. I did know Arthur's origin as I had read the description from the result of my 'Requirement Appraisal' on Rania.

Arthur came from an orphanage. An orphan who lived from the kindness of others, especially Baron Rose.

There was only one reason why this guy said that, to rouse my anger. But I wasn't really Arthur from this world. I was Arthur, the strongest player in Horizon Online.

Only a few things could really make me angry.

"But, Alexander. Let me answer your question." I flashed a grin and narrowed my eyes at him, letting out the bloodlust I had trained in that death game.

Suddenly, sweat poured out from his body. His face paled as he gazed at his hands, unable to understand what was going on.

This world was at peace. Even if there was war, there was no death. They would just be revived, so no one actually feared the term 'Death' and couldn't understand it either.

"You asked for my origin, right?"

What I showed him was the fear of death. The true 'death' where you couldn't be revived in the church. The end that made even the group of strong players scared.

While Alexander couldn't understand what was going on, his instinct should've worked to perceive my bloodlust.

From the other's perspective, it only looked like I glared at him without doing anything, so they were confused. Even Eliza was confused when Alexander suddenly sweated profusely.

"This is my origin." I tapped Eliza's shoulder to show what I implied. "So if you mess with her any longer, understand that you're dealing with me. You better just go straight at me if you want something. I will welcome you anytime."

After saying what I wanted to say, I retracted my bloodlust and showed a friendly smile.

"Can you do me a favor and fuck off this place? After clearing a mystery with teacher Emilia earlier, my mood is a bit good. So, just quietly go to your friends that have been watching from that place. Got it?" I pointed at three boys who were watching us with confused expressions at the corner of the cafeteria.

Their bodies stiffened when I pointed at them and averted their gazes quickly. Cowards.

Alexander nodded stiffly, like a robot, and stood up.

No matter how arrogant and how great his pride was, he should've understood that he wasn't at my level. I expected at least this much from the students of the Royal Academy.

He quietly walked away, wobbling because his body turned weak from fear. If his friends didn't approach him and help him to walk toward their seats, he would fall and make fun of himself.

The bait had been spread; now I just needed to wait for the bigger fish to take it. It was so easy to guess how these arrogant people would move. With his personality, he wouldn't be satisfied with this result. He would come back to me again in the future, with the help of his father.

"Now then..." I muttered and used <Purification> on the chair Alexander used earlier before sitting down. His trace on the chair was cleaned out nicely.

Now that the intruder had left our space, I smiled at the smiling Eliza.

"Shall we have lunch?"

She literally beamed in a smile as she nodded vigorously.

"Yes. Thank you, Arthur."

"No problem." I replied to her as I used 'Requirement Appraisal.'

That requirement should be marked with (Done) by now.

4. Save her from danger once. (Done)

Yup, completed nicely. I managed to get two birds with one stone.