At that moment Harden became frightened. This was absurd. He was going too far.
Cedo refused to budge and remained silent.
The prince remarked that nevertheless, his power was too valuable. If he decided to serve him, he would probably be willing to turn a blind eye. He smiled and said that if he refused — well, there was nothing to be done, was there?
Argus lowered his gaze. The man had only recently arrived in this city and could not possibly have been involved. He had already told them he had entrusted him with an investigation at the academy. So he had been deceived, and he should have known better from the way the guards had been posted. The captains of the third and fourth squads were fanatics, blindly loyal to the first prince, and they would carry out any order, however insane, just to please him. So the prince had been planning to get rid of him the moment he refused, branding him a distorted one.
Tales blurted out that this was the very man who had removed the great distorted one. Leaving him at liberty was too dangerous. But he was merciful, and he was giving him another chance. Let him swear allegiance, and then everything would be fine.
Cedo remained silent, and after a moment replied that he did not understand.
The prince asked again, frowning, "What?"
"What's the point of a verbal oath in a situation like this?" Cedo asked. "Even if I said it now, I could escape later, and then the oath wouldn't be worth a dime."
Argus considered that there might be some truth in that.
And Cedo continued. It seemed to him that the prince simply wanted to hear him say it. That was why he was curious. Did he simply want to satisfy his lust for power over people? Or was there something more to it?
When the prince heard this he became angry. And at that moment a blade was right at Cedo's throat. One of the guards shouted at him to watch his tongue.
"How dare you? Do you even realize who you're talking to right now? What an insolent creature."
At that moment Cedo caught the blade in his bare hands, and the guard felt her spear shaking. Cedo lifted it and turned it over right in front of her, saying, "Now."
When the woman hit the floor, he added, "Actually, this is what I was talking about."
The prince was dumbfounded by what he saw, and Argus clutched his head.
The female knight pulled her hand back and screamed, suddenly unable to use her spiritual techniques. They simply were not working. She shouted for the others to seize him immediately.
All the knights rushed to attack Cedo, who easily put down one knight after another, avoiding their traps.
Tales stood up and shouted, "What are you doing, Argus? Help them, now. He has dared to go against the royal family, so let him pay for it."
Argus grew angry and, gritting his teeth, rose from his seat. Then he said, "Nothing personal," and raised his sword at Cedo.
The prince laughed loudly and shouted, "Fine. I don't care whether he's alive or dead, but take him now."
At that moment Cedo used his power, and all the knights rushing towards him froze in terror.
"You were right," he said. "Leaving someone like me unattended is too dangerous. If I wanted to, this city would already have been razed to the ground. But I didn't do it, because I want to be on the side of the people. My goal is to protect those who live here and now. However — there is an exception."
He found himself standing right behind the prince, who was frightened, and whispered to him that scum whose shadow falls across people's lives should not expect mercy. Was he one of them?
When Cedo asked the prince this question, he was terrified and did not know what to do. His mouth dropped open in shock.
And at that moment a knight screamed, "Do you even understand what you're doing?"
Cedo replied that he understood everything. He was simply fighting back against someone who was trying to do him an injustice.
The woman's face twisted in anger, and the guard screamed, "So does that mean you're going to set yourself against the entire kingdom?"
He replied that he was not the one who was going to be their enemy. If a person is of the royal family, he will show them due respect and abide by the laws of this kingdom, and he will help them if their demands are reasonable. But he is not so cheap as to silently tolerate utter nonsense.
And if they continued in this vein, he wanted to know something first. Was this a common fool who thinks everything in the world should be as he wishes — or some other kind of fool?
When Cedo asked him this question, he looked him straight in the eye — and suddenly a beautiful girl came into the office and announced that she had heard everything. If they did not mind, she would like to join their conversation.
When the lady entered, the knights bowed. "Lady Charlotte."
Argus breathed a sigh of relief. She had arrived. He would leave everything to her — the second princess.
She smiled and said that they seemed to be having fun in here, dear brother.
Tales was angered by her arrival, and looked into Argus' eyes. Argus calmed down and understood. So that was what it was.
Charlotte said that he was putting her in an awkward position. Since he had invited the hero to the kingdom, it was worth inviting her as well. After all, at present he was not even qualified to stand in for their father.
He grew angry and said that unfortunately the man in front of her was not a hero at all, but a criminal who dared to sneer at the royal family.
"Is that so?" Charlotte asked in surprise.
The knights began to confirm it. "Yes, my lady. This insolent man attacked the captain of the fourth division of the Holy Knights, Vas."
She asked again. Perhaps they had misinterpreted his actions.
Vas did not understand how she could say something like that. Let her simply look at him. He was threatening the first prince of this kingdom right now.
Charlotte replied that what she saw was a man standing behind him. Tales was simply dumbfounded by this, and Charlotte asked again, "Isn't that right, Master Jin?"
Cedo smiled and replied that it was exactly so, and bowed to her. He had simply stood behind him and asked a question. Nothing more.
"You heard him, brother," Charlotte said. "You weren't going to call him a criminal just because he stood behind you, were you?"
Tales became very angry and clenched his fists.
Charlotte said that she would repeat herself. "Jin Cedo. I will not ask you to serve this kingdom. But if this kingdom were in trouble, would you agree to come to our aid as a friend?"
Cedo smiled and replied that he would gladly do so.
Charlotte thanked him for that. And in that case, continuing the conversation here was not the best idea. She clapped her hands and decided to change the scenery at once. She would show her new friend everything there was to see, so they should give way and observe the proper decorum.
The knights exhaled in horror, and the prince became very angry with his sister.
After a while they rode home in a carriage, and Argus said that Cedo had really frightened him back there.