The Strongest in Our Neighborhood - Chapter 99

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Our Neighborhood’s Strongest (99)
At the sudden duel challenge, Jang Gain wore a bewildered expression.
“A duel? All of a sudden?”
“I think I just got punched in the jaw and lost consciousness…… but I can’t remember how it landed.”
“Ah! So you want to get punched again?”
“No, no, that’s not what I mean. I want to properly test my actual strength through a duel.”
“That’s the same as wanting to get punched. First time I’ve ever met someone who enjoys getting hit, honestly. Well, if that’s what you want, I’ll be happy to oblige.”
In that instant, the veins at Fura Noid’s temples visibly twitched.
“This bastard! Are you that dense? How do you interpret a duel challenge like that?”
“That’s all it sounds like to me. I’ll give you a proper beating, so get ready to be hit.”
“This goddamned fool must’ve drowned his manners in soup!”
As Fura Noid cursed, he watched Jang Gain draw a Gauntlet from his Sub-space and slip it onto both hands. The duke gripped his sword tightly and concentrated his focus.
Step.
As Jang Gain closed the five-meter distance in a single stride, Fura Noid thrust his blade at the young man’s throat—an attempt to exploit a gap with the shortest-range stab.
This time he’d mentally prepared himself, hoping to find an opening.
Clang!
Jang Gain flicked the sword away with the back of his Gauntlet, then swung his fist toward the duke’s face. Fura Noid hastily snapped his head back.
Thud.
In that instant, a pain like his intestines were being torn erupted through his abdomen.
“Kgh—ahhh…….”
‘I, I didn’t even see that one!’
Thud.
Another punch crashed into his jaw, and consciousness slipped away.
‘Damn it…….’
Noxcasarsis gazed down at the sprawled form of Fura Noid with a look of contempt.
“Gain, doesn’t it look like the old duke’s finally coming to?”
“Yeah, looks like he just regained consciousness.”
“If he’s awake, shouldn’t he get up? Why’s he still lying there like that?”
“Probably playing dead because he’s embarrassed. Or maybe he’s realized he got beaten harder than he wanted and decided he doesn’t want any more of this.”
“Ah, true enough. Back in Granzunor, he’d be the only Sword Master and a duke—plenty of people to beat, but not many to get beaten by. And the second punch landed from a fist wrapped in a Gauntlet, so it must have been absolutely excruciating.”
“I doubt he’ll be wanting another round with my fists anytime soon.”
“Look down there—the knights attending the duke are gathering.”
“If we stay much longer, this could get annoying. Let’s go.”
The moment Jang Gain and the dragon leaped down from the ramparts and vanished, Fura Noid—who had regained consciousness but continued feigning unconsciousness—opened his eyes.
Stream…….
The moment his eyes opened, tears that had been pooling spilled down his cheeks.
“Damn it…….”
The overwhelming devastation left him incapable of controlling his emotions.
His abdomen felt as though his intestines had been shredded, and his jaw felt like the bone had crumbled.
When he spat, he saw three teeth mixed in with the crimson blood.
Part of him wanted to cry aloud, but the sight of his retainers and knights rushing toward him from below made that impossible.
‘Twenty years since I became a Sword Master, training without rest every single day. I thought there was no Sword Master in this world stronger than me.’
If the opponent had drawn his blade, his head would’ve been severed.
“Duke Fura. Why did you suddenly come up here…… Gasp! Y-Your Grace!”
The retainer who’d rushed ahead froze in shock at the sight of the duke sitting slumped on the ground.
“Stop making a racket and close that mouth of yours.”
“Yes? Oh, yes.”
“What are you doing, dragging all this entourage along? How embarrassing.”
“W-What happened here, my lord?”
“Can’t you tell what happened just by looking?”
…….
“I charged at Viscount Gain and got soundly thrashed.”
“V-Viscount Gain? Is he stronger than you, my lord?”
“Yeah, incredibly strong!”
Fura Noid drew a High-Grade Potion from his Sub-space and drank it. The searing pain in his abdomen and the throbbing ache in his jaw gradually began to subside.
“Ahh, they say the world is wide and masters are many—and now I know it’s no exaggeration!”
“Did you really lose to Viscount Gain? Or… did the dragon do this to you?”
“I provoked the dragon at first, but Viscount Gain stepped in and left me like this.”
“If you’d brought us along, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“Whether you were there or not, the outcome would’ve been the same. Sigh! I came all this way to boost my granddaughter’s spirits, and all I’ve managed is utter humiliation!”
“Shall I support you?”
“I’m not wounded badly enough to need propping up. Move your hand.”
Duke Fura Noid brushed away the attendant’s steadying hand and shuffled forward with uneven steps.
* * *
“You’ve traveled a long road and must be weary, Duke Fura Noid…… My goodness! What on earth happened to your face……?”
“G-Grandfather! How did your face get so badly hurt?”
Queen Olivia, who had been receiving the diplomatic delegation that arrived with the king from abroad, started at the sight of her grandfather Duke Fura Noid’s left jaw grotesquely swollen and bruised.
Surely among his attendants there were mages and healers, and they must have brought High-Grade Potions—how could his face have ended up like this?
“Ahem. On behalf of the delegation, Duke Fura Noid of Granzunor respectfully offers greetings to the radiant sun of Smed.”
“Yes. Duke Fura Noid. You’ve journeyed far and must be fatigued. But however did your face come to be in such a state?”
“Grandfather, didn’t you use any potions?”
“I used potions and received treatment.”
“But…how is your face still so swollen and bruised?”
“The injury was severe. My jaw shattered and I sustained serious internal damage.”
“Did your carriage perhaps overturn on a mountain pass? Or were you attacked by a high-ranking demonic being?”
“On the way, I encountered Jang Gain and became overconfident, so I challenged him to a duel. He beat me senseless.”
In that instant, the king’s and Queen Olivia’s eyes flew wide open.
“Y-You were beaten by Jang Gain? You, Grandfather?”
“Yes. I drew my sword while he wore a Gauntlet, and he struck me twice so hard I lost consciousness.”
“T-That’s impossible. Your blade has no rival in the Kingdom of Granzunor.”
“The world is vast and masters are many. Jang Gain is one such master. And my blade couldn’t cut even a strand of his hair.”
As she listened to her grandfather, Queen Olivia’s pupils trembled as though the earth itself were shaking.
“N-Not even a single strand of hair? The skill gap is truly that vast?”
“Yes. He was truly formidable.”
“H-How? I had such faith in you.”
“I’m sorry to disappoint your expectations, but if he hadn’t shown restraint, I would be dead.”
The queen’s face went blank with shock, while her grandfather’s expression darkened with gloom—but the king’s lips twitched upward.
“I’m rather tired. Is there a place where I might rest?”
“I-I shall show you to my quarters, Your Majesty. I need to speak with Grandfather for a while.”
“Very well, Queen. Duke Fura Noid, you must be exhausted from your travels. Do rest, and we shall meet again at the evening banquet.”
“Yes, until this evening. Ah, by the way—will Jang Gain be attending the banquet?”
“Of course. This gathering welcomes all the delegations who have come to celebrate his marriage.”
“I understand.”
As the queen soon departed with the delegation from Granzunor, the king’s suppressed grin finally broke free, his lips stretching to his ears.
“That man—when I married the queen, he was the illustrious commanding general who intimidated me with his authority…… Hehehehe…… Seeing him bruised black and blue, it’s as if a decade of indigestion has finally passed!”
* * *
“Who holds a wedding banquet four days before the ceremony? I don’t understand it at all.”
As Jang Gain grumbled on his way to the banquet hall, Princess Angelina offered a wry smile.
“I’m sorry. It’s because I’m marrying you…… But truthfully, I didn’t expect Mother to host such a grand banquet either. I have three older sisters who married before me, and all of them had modest weddings. They only held one day of banqueting, at that.”
“It must be because of me that she’s holding festivities for four whole days.”
As they entered the banquet hall, the king, Orphiena, and the concubines greeted them first. Following them came delegations and nobles from various lands, and Jang Gain went about greeting each one individually.
After exchanging pleasantries, he walked to the central table and sat, whereupon the king and Orphiena also took their seats.
“I don’t see the queen anywhere?”
Jang Gain suppressed a slight smile as he noticed that the one seated beside the king was not the queen, but Orphiena.
“It’s more fitting for Orphiena, Angelina’s mother, to exchange greetings with the nobles and envoys than the queen herself.”
“The delegation from Granzunor isn’t visible either?”
“You probably know better than anyone why they’re not showing themselves. I saw earlier that Duke Fura Noid had quite a bruise on his face.”
“Ah! Since Duke Fura Noid enjoys a good beating, I gave him one.”
“Would the leader of a delegation really want to attend an event looking like that?”
“It was the duke who provoked me first.”
“Even if he provoked you first, no Sword Master would show his face with bruises if he could help it—the shame would keep him away.”
“You have a point there.”
At the king’s table, as they enjoyed wine and food, the nobles and delegation representatives they had greeted earlier would return to exchange various pleasantries before retiring to their own tables, a pattern that repeated throughout the evening.
They had apparently learned of Duke Fura Noid’s encounter and began flattering Jang Gain, while subtly probing the extent of his connection to dragons.
As the banquet was in full swing, Noxcasarsis flew through the air and entered the hall.
“Well, Noxcasarsis. You wouldn’t wake up earlier—what brings you here now?”
“Jang Gain. There’s trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?”
At Noxcasarsis’s appearance, the eyes of the delegation members gleamed with interest.
“Word has come that a Gate connected to the Demonic Realm has opened on the Quardo Coast.”
“What! But Virus set up a Mist Barrier there to prevent full-scale war!”
“Virus must have slept deeply after we left, trusting in the reef belt and the Mist Barrier. While he was asleep, the humans figured out some way to part the barrier and carve a passage through the reefs. Looks like they launched a major offensive.”
“But aren’t there no humans skilled enough to dispel a dragon’s magic?”
“That’s true, but when multiple mages and spirit summoners gather, they can breach parts of it. If Virus hadn’t been asleep, he’d have noticed and reinforced his defenses. But it seems he slept quite soundly after we departed.”
“If a Gate connected to the Demon Realm opened, higher-ranked demons would pour out?”
“Strong demons and demonic beasts are emerging—Virus contacted me urgently about it. He probably reached out to the other dragons as well.”
“Then we should hurry and seal the Gate. Go on.”
Jang Gain showed no signs of rising to follow, and Noxcasarsis wore a puzzled expression.
“Hm? You’re not going?”
“I have my wedding in four days. Sort this out among yourselves, dragons.”
“Hmm! Well, humans do place considerable importance on weddings… Very well. I’ll handle it alone.”
As Noxcasarsis vanished hastily, Jang Gain’s lips curled in a faint smile before he caught himself.
“High-ranked demons are walking treasure chests, and I’m missing out on this…”
A moment later, the king posed a question delicately.
“Duke Gain.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“That dragon looked quite urgent. Are you certain you needn’t go?”
“Since Virus has summoned several dragons, it should be resolved without my aid.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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