With his sword still pointed, ready to strike at any moment, Kyrat watched the man before him slowly turn around. 

He was taking his own pace, as if three knights weren’t ready to strike him at any moment. 

Facing them fully now, he adjusted his cuffs once more before dusting off the dust from his immaculate suit. His expression was calm, gentle, and welcoming.

“Ah, Duke Sareid!” he said, voice smooth and warm, like a warm tea. “I was wondering when you would come. So glad to finally meet you!”

He smiled brightly, like a man meeting his long-time friend, or a merchant trying to swindle you out of your funds.

Kyrat’s grip tightened, his eyes narrowed. The nerve of this man to show such an expression after what he had done…

“You’ve got some gall to speak so casually, Sebastian…” Kyrat took a step forward. “Or should I call you Sir Nicholas?”

“My, my, you’ve come across some of my names, haven’t you? Though I must say, I didn’t expect you would barge in without a knock. You even broke my precious door. The dust ruined the tea I was about to prepare for you.”

The man was about to step forward.

Kyrat’s blade was up in an instant, pointed directly at the man’s still-smiling face, stopping him mid-motion.

“Stop right there, before I cut off your legs myself.”

“Woah! Such hostility!” he recoiled back, still smiling. “I was merely trying to welcome you in.”

The room fell into silence. The knights flanking Kyrat tensed, ready to strike at the instant of a command.

Still, the man didn’t flinch, and that rubbed Kyrat the wrong way.

Kyrat watched closely to see if he had some secret tricks up his sleeve. His [Spatial Awareness] hadn’t revealed any sort of trap or hidden assailant, but he didn’t want to let his guard down. Not again.

He also didn’t sense any sort of weapon on him, nor anything of the sort hidden in the room. Of course, there was a chance that his fists alone served as enough of a weapon.

But from his attitude alone, it was like he’d been waiting to be arrested at his leisure. As if everything was always under his control.

“Gentlemen, please. There’s no need for violence. Let’s just talk this out, shall we? I’ll be fully cooperative!”

Kyrat knew better not to trust whatever the man said or did. “Save your petty tricks. You’re coming with us.”

The man’s smile didn’t fade. “Come with you? I’m sorry, but if there’s been a misunderstanding. I’d be more than happy to clear it up.” His tone was warm as it was before. “I believe this is about Lady Carine, am I right?”

Kyrat and his knights tensed. The bastard was practically admitting to everything.

“I assure you, Your Grace,” the man continued. “I simply did what I had to do. Like I said to the Duchess, it’s all—”

“—Enough,” Kyrat interrupted. “Save it for the court.”

The man paused, blinking once, as if genuinely confused. “I only offered my assistance when I noticed something was—”

“—I said enough!”

The way the man kept insisting on yapping. It was as if he wanted, no, needed to get some word in. Kyrat wondered if this was just how he talks or if there was some underlying motive. But whatever his reasons were, Kyrat had had enough of him.

“Seize him. Hold firm.”

““Yes, Sir!”” the two knights answered in unison.

They sheathed their blades and didn’t waste a single second. One knight grabbed his left arm, the other the right, wrenching them behind the man’s back through force.

The man offered little resistance, just standing still as the knights did their work.

“Come now. Is all this really necessary?”

Kyrat didn’t blink. His sword was still drawn, and he could tell the man was eyeing the glistening blade as he was handled by the knights. Kyrat could only imagine what the bastard would do once he put his blade down.

“Walk,” one knight commanded.

The knights shoved the man forward, causing him to nearly stumble onto a wooden table.

“That’s the inn’s property, you know? Best not to damage that.”

“Just move!”

The man’s smile widened slightly. “You may apprehend me, but please be gentle on my suit.”

One of the knights sneered. “You’ll be lucky to have clothes by the time we’re done.”

The other knight tightened his grip on the man’s arm. He extended his free gauntlet hands towards the man’s bearded jaw.

“Let’s see your smug smile now,” he said, gripping the man’s jaw.

That was when the man’s smile finally dropped. Kyrat sensed a motion, but he didn’t have enough time to warn his knights.

The knight was lifted off his feet by a sudden punch to the gut, sent crashing towards the wooden wardrobe, destroying it and creating a crater of cracked wood and plaster on the wall behind it.

“So I was right!” Kyrat barked, lunging forward with his blade raised.

The remaining knight tried to restrain him, but the man twisted low and slid his other hand free, slamming an elbow into the knight’s ribs, pushing him back with a loud blow and a notable dent on his chest armor.

Kyrat’s blade arced down for a sharp slash, but the man stepped away with surprising speed. The sword reached nothing but the table, and Kyrat immediately sensed a blow coming for him.

Without needing to look, Kyrat shifted low enough to barely avoid the attack. He tilted his blade to slash against the man, but before the blade could reach him, he flew back.

Once distanced, the man ran a finger through his jaw, as if fixing his beard. His eyes narrowed, his lips tightening before an audible, annoyed tongue click.

“Being rough with my suit is fine,” the man said, shifting to fix his collar. “But you just went a step too far.”

Kyrat balanced himself, tightening the grip on his sword even more. He couldn’t lunge forward like before; the man could see through his moves. For now, he needed to gather what Talents he had.

“Don’t like people touching your face, huh?” Kyrat mocked. “Let me guess, delicate skin?”

“Ah, you’re precisely right!” the man nodded, his smile returning from nowhere. “It would seem we think very much alike. Tell me, care to share a bottle of wine after this all blows over?”

The gall this bastard has…

The room fell into silence until the man chuckled.

“I can tell, you know. You’re trying to feel out my Talents.”

Kyrat didn’t flinch or tense. He couldn’t afford to. From what he had gathered so far, it seemed that this man had troublesome Talent combinations, ones he couldn’t afford to underestimate.

A punch that decimated two of his knights, along with being able to see his attack and move fast enough to react to it…

“If I may spoil your little deduction game,” the man continued lightly, “you’ll be pleased, or perhaps disappointed, to know that most of my Talents are what you’d call ‘Basic.’”

Basic Talents…

“Of course, I’m not blessed enough to have [Enhanced Endurance], so, as you said, I have quite the precious skin.”

Kyrat pieced everything together.

[Enhanced Strength].

[Enhanced Perception].

[Enhanced Agility].

Those were basic Talents that anyone could be born with, even Kyrat himself was born with [Enhanced Agility]. 

But combined…

Along with the possibility of a Mastery-Type Talent involving his fists…

Kyrat couldn’t help but crack a grin. The man noticed the change, his eyes widening, but his smile didn’t falter.

All this told Kyrat everything he needed to know.

Against this bastard.

Against such a capable opponent.

He didn’t need to hold back.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep