This Bastard is Too Competent

“Prince!!”

Karan, whose gagged mouth had loosened from struggling desperately, cried out, but Ian paid no heed.

The woman scoffed at the sight. 

“As expected of a descendant of Kaistein. You are so wicked for coveting your own interests before the lives of your subordinates.”

It would be appropriate to say that bloodthirst gushed from her eyes.

No, it wasn't just bloodthirst.

“Kill him. I have nothing more to say to that jerk."

As soon as the woman's words fell, the bartender holding Karan hostage moved. 

Their purpose was not Karan but Ian. 

And now, Ian had neither Galon nor guards to protect him.

Karan panicked and tried to move the chair.

However.

Whoosh!

"Ugh!"

With Ian's gesture, the cloak grew in size and blocked the opponent. 

"Akh!"

The cloak tied the bartender's limbs as if sucking in and entangling them.

While the bartender who was overwhelmed in an instant couldn't move, Ian drew his sword and threw it.

And the sword that escaped from Ian's hand was a massive lump of iron that no one would dare to lift!

Bang!

Getting a direct hit in the head, the bartender passed out. It was fortunate that his head did not crack.

Karan cheered with relief at the sight.

"Prince!"

The woman, stunned at the scene, approached Ian right away.

"This brat!"

Ian invoked <Faith> to activate the physical invigoration function.

But right at that moment.

Woong.

‘!’

As soon as the woman approached, Ian felt strange. 

He was feeling the energy similar to what he felt from the Third Prince.

And the closer the woman got, the more certain he was.

It was because <Faith> was beating hot and talked to him.

[The Seven Virtues. It's one of those fragments.]

“!”

Ian was inwardly surprised. 

Ian's <Faith> was one of the Seven Virtues’ powers.

And the Seven Virtues were the seven legendary vassals who followed the first king of Kaisten.

Sure enough, Faith continued.

[The power of the Seven Virtues was originally subordinate to the Great King, Royal Roader. The same goes for that woman.]

In other words, that woman also had a part of the Seven Virtues’ power like <Faith>.

And the power of the Seven Virtues was the power that Ian was interested in as he could use it in the battle for the throne.

Ian raised his sword while being wary of how she got it, yet the woman's reaction was strange.

‘!’

She stopped just as she was about to pounce on Ian.

Her eyes searched Ian in confusion.

"No, damn it! Why can't I attack?"

She clenched her teeth.

"What have you done to me?"

But Ian wasn't an idiot to answer the woman's question.

Crack!

"Ugh.”

Ian went straight out to the sword she wielded and knocked her out.

The woman then coughed under the table, and Karan looked at Ian in a daze.

"Prince? What did you do just now? What was that power?"

"Well, you don't have to know, Third Young Master Karan."

"Wow, are you really doing this to the end?”

Ian slashed the rope that tied Karan with a knife and looked at the woman underneath him. 

The woman gritted her teeth. No matter how much she tried to attack, she would not be able to attack Ian in response to his <Faith>.

That was why Ian found it weird.

‘Is the Seven Virtues unable to attack each other because they were colleagues?’

If that was the case, he could attack as much as he wanted.

Looking up history books, <Faith> was naturally the leader among the scattered Seven Virtues, so it explained it.

In fact, <Faith> even locked the power of the Seven Virtues in her.

Well, that wasn't important now.

"My power… What the hell did you do?"

"I don't think that's our deal today."

"What?"

"If you want to buy my information, let's get the original deal done and talk."

The woman pursed her lips at Ian's gleaming eyes.

If she didn't accept the deal, she had a hunch he was going to kill her men.

In fact, Karan was pointing a dagger at the neck of the fainted bartender.

"All right. The goods are over there."

Ian followed the woman's gaze and found a small box under the table.

The woman looked at him as if urging him to open it right away, but Ian snorted and turned to Karan.

"Open it."

"Hey! I'm not in cahoots with them!”

Karan opened the box, his dagger kept pointing at the bartender. 

What was inside was almost the same thing as the Third Prince gave.

However, the color of the gem in the middle was different as if signifying a difference in function.

The woman quickly spoke.

"The price is 1,000 gold coins. How will you pay for it?"

One gold coin was enough to buy a building in the city. One thousand gold coins was a huge sum of money, enough to buy a small castle on the outskirts.

Ian had no such amount yet, but he laughed shamelessly.

"Okay, I will buy it. How do you use the necklace?"

The woman gave Ian a variety of information.

And.

"It is said that once you have a talent, you can see the talent by touching the gem of this necklace."

Ian grabbed the necklace in his pocket.

"What about scented candles?"

"There's no such thing. It's harder to get the candle than the necklace. It's a secret drug in the Kingdom of Magician, too. We barely get our hands on it."

Hearing those words, Ian smirked as if he had finally caught on.

"As expected, as Third Young Master Karan said.”

"What?"

In the first place, Ian had a separate reason to come here while taking into account the risks. 

Sure enough, Ian threatened the woman with the sword.

"I'm going to change the terms and conditions of the deal. Forget the necklace. I want to know where the scented candles are airlifted from. Spit it out."

“!!”

As the transaction changed suddenly, the woman stared at Ian and Karan in bewilderment.

However, Karan aimed at her subordinate's neck as if there was no room for sympathy.

Even the merchants in the back alleys could not disclose the source of the goods they sold.

"Fine. I'll tell you other than that."

Then Ian smiled as if he knew it.

He even grinned from ear to ear as if he had created this situation on purpose. 

"Okay, now tell me about the person who bought the scented candles so far. Especially the most recent buyers."

“!”

This time, Karan was also surprised. 

Even so, Ian's eyes were gleaming menacingly.

Because he was looking for the culprit.

‘Those who stole my swordsmanship skills in the past.’

And the person who even prevented him from enjoying his rightful rights of the Kaisten royal family.

Moreover, following his past life, he had to find out who was trying to threaten him in the future.

“I’m sorry, but there are no further conditions. Either die or speak, one of the two.”

When the blade of the sword reached her chin, the woman panicked, but Karan also seemed very surprised. 

He never thought Ian could make that face.

No, it was unthinkable as a child.

"What's your answer?"

"Yes, I'll answer you."

The woman continued, holding her breath, "If you're alive before that."

"What?"

“Do you think I would meet Garcia and Kaistein I loathe without any preparation? Poisonous gas has already flowed into this place.”

At that moment, Karan groaned and stumbled. He seemed to struggle a little hard to breathe.

The woman, who had already drunk the antidote, was triumphant at the sight.

"Shall we close the deal? All right. It's 1,000 gold coins, but with a special discount, I'll get the payment for this item with your life and his life. Now, the suffocating poison is made from snake venom. If you don't hurry…"

"What if I don't hurry?"

“!”

Soon the woman's expression was distorted.

It was inevitable. 

Unlike Karan, who began to suffer, Ian was fine.

And instead of talking, Ian fished out the necklace he received from the Third Prince before the woman's eyes.

The woman was surprised at the familiar necklace. 

"That…! What, you already have it!”

Ian tied the woman and smiled. 

"Oh no. This poison doesn't seem to work for me."

“!!”

Ian had already absorbed one of her talents with this necklace.

And that was the “talent of detoxification.”

It was a talent he confirmed by touching the necklace as the woman said.

‘Well, I didn't expect to test it this way.’

Right then, the woman gritted her teeth and made a strange noise. 

Beep—!

It was obvious to call the minions outside. 

At the same time, when the men's footsteps were heard from above, the woman laughed.

"All right, let's get those two locked up… Ugh!"

Bang!

The basement door was smashed, and men were thrown out like piles of trash toward the woman. 

They are all the woman's subordinates covered in blood.

"Is this what you're looking for?”

The woman's face turned pale. 

It was none other than Galon who turned her subordinates into half corpses.

"A knight…?! How can you be here?"

Ian smiled instead of answering.

“There is no way a royal family can walk around alone without an escort.”

“!”

Galon had come with the half-cut letter paper from Karan.

In the first place, Ian lied in front of the Third Prince and beckoned to Galon for this reason.

It was a sign to follow him quickly. 

There was also the purpose of seeing what the Third Prince was thinking. Of course, it took some time because the hole opened so far away. Despite that, Galon fulfilled his duties faithfully.

Soon Ian ordered Galon to arrest her and told her the purpose of the day.

"You don't want your henchmen to die, do you? Tell me who bought the scented candle.”

"…ugh!"

"Looking at your behavior, it seems to have something to do with aristocrats. If I put my mind to it, I can dig out all of your affiliations, so you’d better not deceive me.”

The woman shuddered. 

Eventually, the woman, tightly bound by Galon, whispered in Ian's ear as she approached him.

“The customer who bought the goods imported from the Kingdom of Magicians through his agent is the Second Prince. And…"

When Ian heard the following name, he laughed with satisfaction. It was because more interesting names poured out than he thought. 

Well, even if it wasn't the correct answer, it was enough just to have a lead.

"Galon, find out all the roots and get the evidence."

"Yes."

If he could catch them, he would be able to deal with the entangled nobles or use them.

"And I will take this necklace in exchange for threatening us. The antidote."

No, come to think of it, it didn't pay off.

Not only did they take away his talent, but Ian also couldn't forgive those who made him lose his pride as a royal family.

"Did you say you come from the Kingdom of Magicians? I think you can get something more powerful than this candle. So? Is there such a thing?"

The woman kept her mouth shut, but to save her subordinates, she soon showed signs of surrender and held out an antidote. 

"Alright, I'll give you that, too."

"Don't worry, as a royal, I'll pay a fair price.”

Karan, having swallowed the antidote, looked surprised.

"You're not going to borrow money from my father, are you? Regardless of how much you spend…"

"No, why would you pay? I have a brother who will pay for me."

"Bro, brother?"

Grinning, Ian pointed to the antidote bottle instead of answering.

“By the way, Third Young Master Karan owes me the price of his life today.”

"What? But—!"

“Also, I will charge you for introducing such a dangerous person.”

Leaving behind Karan with a tearful expression, Ian turned to go outside.

The woman, tightly held by Galon, kept staring at Ian, still frustrated about why she couldn't use her power.

Reading her gaze, Ian looked at his hand curiously. 

‘Could it possibly be absorbed by me?’

Well, it didn't matter.

As he wondered where she had obtained the power of the Seven Virtues, Ian approached the woman and whispered a lie.

"If you want to know about that power, come to me. You know where I would be, don't you?"

“!”

Ian’s eyes flashed and he turned around.

It was time to go back to the palace.

***

"How long are you going to keep me waiting?"

The Second Prince was sitting in the drawing room of the First Knight Order headquarters, his eyes glaring.

It wasn't for any other reason. 

‘How dare you not come to my call?’

In fact, the Second Prince called for Duke Lavaltor because he was a patient who was now unable to move.

In the first place, he didn't want to go out of the palace and stand out without one arm. 

And Lavaltor would normally have sent a knight from the First Order. 

‘Nobody came.’

Therefore, the Second Prince came to see the duke himself.

But upon arriving, the Second Prince had to wait for a long time in the drawing room.

Furthermore, he was furious at the various gazes headed toward his cut arm.

‘Even though Lavaltor's power is so great, he dares keep the royal family waiting.’

Eventually, the angry Second Prince stood to leave the drawing room and directly enter the First Knight Order.

Clank!

The soldiers guarding the entrance of the First Knight Order stopped him.

The Second Prince glared at them as if it were ridiculous.

"Do you even know whose path you're blocking?"

"I'm sorry, Your Highness, but we were ordered not to let outsiders in."

"Who are you calling an outsider? I'm here to see the duke."

"The duke asked you to wait."

"So, how much longer does he intend to keep me waiting!"

But the knights kept silent.

The Second Prince was so dumbfounded that he couldn't even laugh.

"All right, then bring the deputy commander. Sir Fiosen, maybe?"

"Sir Fiosen is currently leading the training on behalf of the commander."

The Second Prince's eyes sank in impatience.

No matter how much he thought about it, he felt like they were trying to avoid him.

‘That's strange. I heard that the nobles are united under my work. There's no way Lavaltor is falling out.’

Of course, inside the First Knight Order headquarters, he could see the knights moving around hectically.

It was as if they were doing a secret operation.

Perhaps Lavaltor was preparing to face Duke Garcia. 

Thus, the Second Prince scoffed at it.

"Very well, I will not forget this humiliation. I will remember your faces clearly."

Finally, the Second Prince returned to the drawing room in a rage and picked up the sword he had been carrying.

And it was none other than the Sword of Domination, the symbol of the Second Prince. 

‘I tried to save it because there were conditions and limits to the number of uses, but they forced me to use this sword.’

He was angry that he had lost contact with the assassin he had attached to the youngest. 

And now that this happened, he was going to come forward himself.

‘I let my guard down then, but this time I'll kill you with the power of Lavaltor.’

Lavaltor, one of the two suns, was his father-in-law anyway. His personality didn’t click well with him, but he was not a man who would break the marriage law that had been decided since his predecessor’s era.

But right then.

"Yo, Your Highness…!"

The door of the drawing room opened and a familiar face entered. 

He was not Duke Lavaltor but instead the king’s direct chamberlain. He was relatively close to him.

But his expression was a little strange.

Sensing something ominous, the surprised Second Prince was about to ask, yet before he could do that.

The chamberlain relayed the king's message with a stiff face.

"Duke Lavaltor is in private conversation with His Majesty, and he has summoned the nobles. And the king ordered you to come to the palace with the Seventh Prince right now."

"What?"

The Second Prince flinched.

Why all of a sudden?