….
The guy tried to grab at me, and tried to jump at me until he was overpowered by his friends, but he was suddenly weak and slumped down with a stunned look on his face.
His companions grabbed him from behind, pushing his head to the ground and bringing him back to a kneeling position once again.
"What did you do?"
Brother Henry asked, guessing that I had done that last minute slump, too.
"Well, Pardon me,"
I didn't say a word to him, but I did the same thing to my brother that I did to the man.
An intimidation that only partly unleashed Leviathan's power, and that's how I managed to make that man go slump.
Of course, the one I directed at my brother was far weaker than that.
Brother seemed to understand that as well.
"That's…amazing how well you're able to use it."
He was more impressed than when I had first succumbed down the demon sword.
Riding in the carriage, we were swayed for a few minutes.
Halfway across the imperial capital, we arrived at our destination mansion.
The carriage bore the thirteenth prince's crest, so there was no mistreatment by anyone, but rather, we were welcomed enough to be able to see it from inside the carriage.
When the carriage stopped and I jumped down, the doors of the mansion were fully open and an old man was standing in front of it.
He was a rather dandy first-timer, not my cup of tea, with a beard trimmed in the current fashion.
The 3rd Vizier, Jean Ray Reydouk.
He comes from a distinguished and venerable family with two names.
Reydouk waited to see if I'd landed well before he approached me with his big stride, kneeling in front of me and bowing.
"Welcome, Your Highness Lucas,"
"Thank you for having me. Looks like it's a pleasant evening, doesn't it?"
"I'll do my best to entertain you, sir. Please, come in."
Reydouk stood up and, despite being the vizier, followed a step behind me like a servant.
He walked out with me in the lead and entered the mansion.
I continued down the path made up of a procession of servants and stood in front of the door of the party room, which was a part of every mansion like this one.
Reydouk looked around, and the servants opened the heavy-looking doors to the left and right – and then.
A whirlwind of applause erupted.
Roughly hundreds of people, men and women in formal attire and dresses, were gathered in the party room.
All of them are clapping at me.
I was a little surprised, but I soon realized it was Raydouk's cue.
This is the way they formulate the idea of welcoming me, well, like a preemptive punch.
Well, but I don't feel bad about it.
I follow Reydouk down the flowery path of applause.
"That's His Highness the Thirteenth Prince."
" Such an interesting person at such a young age."
"Not only is he not afraid of the occasion, he is at ease and undisturbed. That's His Majesty's son, indeed."
We made our way through the voices coming from all over the place.
As we advanced to the center, they all swarmed in.
Not in a disorderly fashion, though.
The party was hosted by the Third Vizier, and the guest of honor was me, the Thirteenth Prince, and all of the guests were of the upper class.
That's why there seems to be a hierarchy and the order in which they address me has been decided in advance.
Even though they look like a bunch of people, they speak to me in a very orderly manner.
"By the way, Your Highness. As for your waistcoat….you didn't have it on when we last met."
After the greetings from one of them, and before the next one could speak, Reydouk asked.
"This, yes, this was given to me by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. It's called Leviathan."
A moment later, they all gulp in unison and then start buzzing.
Probably all of them are wondering, and hence the buzzing.
As if to represent everyone's doubts, the host, Reydouk, asks further.
"When you say Leviathan, you mean?"
"Yes, that."
I responded with only a hint of affirmation, since everyone here was surprised to hear that.
"Oh, I didn't think it was going to be that–the national treasure."
As I thought, Reydouk knew about the Demon Sword.
"And it came straight from the Crown Prince."
"As I recall, His Highness the Thirteenth's estate is in Almeria."
"Ooh, I see, it's a connection!"
The voices around me were of one color, so even the sudden mumbling of something different was noticeable.
"Heh, such a toy. It's a fake anyway."
He may have felt that he only mumbled a little, but in that instant, the place fell silent as if it had been struck by water.
All of us at once turned our attention to the person who spoke.
It was a young man in his early twenties, dressed in formal wear.
The young man flinched for a moment, but as if he could no longer back down, he made an annoying smile while his face was drawn up.
Hmmm, what should I do?.
Instantly, the air in the place changed even more.
All of them turned pale in unison.
The women in dresses even slumped down.
They all reacted as if they had seen something terrible.
" Wait."
I muttered softly.
Maybe "sit" would have been more fitting, but I figured "wait" would be fine.
Then the air relaxed.
The Demon Sword Leviathan was pissed.
The mad dog that had become a loyal dog, once again turned into a mad dog.
Thus, he reacted violently to the insult to his Lord.
The killing intent unleashed by the demon sword Leviathan, which overwhelmed those around it just by being present, overwhelmed everyone here.
That was fine, but it could be called overkill.
Many of them were relieved to be free of the killing intent, but many of them were still pale.
That's how much killing energy was released by Leviathan.
Just as I was wondering what to do, Reydouk sent out a ship of help.
"Oh my goodness, that's quite a feat, Your Highness."
" Huh?"
"For a moment now, all of us here must have felt the same thing, 'death'. That's the power of a national treasure . And it was,"
He turned to the others but held his hand out to me in an act of introduction.
"It is the greatness of Your Highness the Thirteenth, that you are capable of using such overwhelming power."
A forceful summary, but it was effective.
The response was heartfelt because of the death they faced.
The applause was even louder than when I entered, and everyone praised me for taming the demon sword.