Once he was fully dressed, Damon had transformed into a completely different person. He was now a noble young lord with looks that were in no way inferior to the expensive clothes draped over his body.
"Here you go."
Damon paid the bill silently and stepped out. Even so, half the money in his pocket remained. While walking, Damon suddenly burst into a snort of laughter.
"Quite the gaudy finery for my age, isn't it?"
In truth, his true identity was that of an old man over five hundred years old. But his outward appearance was entirely different. Dressed in a silk shirt that only nobles would wear, with top-class attire layered over it, he looked like a noble young lord one might see only in the imperial palace. In that state, Damon began to stride through the streets of Peiryute.
"Oh my. Look at that."
"Good heavens... To think such a handsome man existed."
The eyes of the women he passed on the street grew hazy in an instant. They were beholding the most handsome man they could unquestionably call the finest they had ever seen in their lives.
Damon's features were so impeccably refined that one could lose their soul with a single glance. Indeed, there were even women who cruelly shook off their boyfriends' hands and cast subtle glances toward Damon... Damon flashed a slight smile at all those women and walked up the avenue.
"Oh my. He smiled at me."
"If only I could hold his hand just once..."
The women who received Damon's smile stamped their feet in flustered excitement, at a complete loss. His clothing, his looks, and even his captivating smile made him quite literally a perfect man. Of course, it was an unavoidable truth that the more this was so, the more ferocious the men's gazes became. Unable to compete in appearance, their heads turned in other directions.
One man who had been cruelly shaken off by his girlfriend ended up harboring a grudge against Damon. As if having resolved to put his thoughts into action, he deliberately blocked Damon's path.
"Is something the matter?"
The man confronted him wordlessly and rammed his shoulder into him.
Thud.
Though Damon had hardly put any strength into it, the opponent staggered back as if pushed. He swiftly drew the sword at his waist and shouted. It was a considerably fine sword, radiating dense killing intent.
"You bastard! How dare you push me... Having been insulted, I cannot remain still. Draw your sword."
The man growled with a fairly fierce menace. Of course, there was abundant intention to humiliate Damon in this. Though his stance suggested he had held a sword a fair amount, in Damon's eyes he was undeniably a mere novice. So dumbfounded was he that Damon couldn't help but let out a scoff.
"It's so funny I can't even speak."
"And now you mock me too? You bastard! If you do not kneel and beg for forgiveness, you will not leave this place alive today."
He shouted with great vigor, but to Damon, who watched on, nothing came to mind but scorn. Damon knew all too well that the only cure for such a bragging blowhard was a good clubbing.
"Ah, what should I do? I'm sorry, but I don't have a sword."
"..."
"It seems you wish to duel; wouldn't you lend me a sword?"
At his opponent's audacious attitude, the man wore an exceedingly disgruntled expression. Seeing him come forward so boldly suggested he had something to rely on. But having come this far, he could not back down, so with an air of resignation, he tossed a sword at Damon's feet.
"This is a duel. Since this is a duel carried out by mutual agreement, I trust you know that neither side will be punished even if one dies?"
"Was there such a provision?"
Damon tilted his head and picked up the sword.
His surroundings were already packed with onlookers. What was peculiar was that their attitudes showed stark differences depending on gender. The women's eyes were filled with worry for Damon, while in contrast, the men seemed to be hoping Damon would get beaten. Their common knowledge of the man played a large part in this. The man picking the fight was a fairly famous swordsman (劍士) in these parts.
Seeing Damon pick up the sword, the man gritted his teeth.
'A pretty-faced brat like him couldn't possibly have trained with the sword. Even if he did, he couldn't possibly stand against someone who attended the Knight Academy.'
In truth, he had not fully completed the Knight Academy. Because he had a wealthy father, enrollment had not been difficult, but his talent was so lacking that he eventually had no choice but to give up on graduating. However, the people here all believed he had become a formal knight. After all, entering the central Knight Academy from Peiryute, which could be called a remote region, was truly like plucking a star from the sky....
"Then I shall attack."
Just as the man was trying to take a stance, his eyes suddenly bulged out. It was after he saw the dazzling bluish light radiating from his opponent's sword.
"A-Aura Blade. G-good heavens..."
He couldn't even finish his sentence and began to tremble violently. Regret for having picked the wrong opponent flooded in like a tidal wave. Judging by the circumstances, his opponent was almost certainly a Paladin.
A Paladin was a high-ranking knight, numbering less than ten percent even among those who had graduated from the Knight Academy normally and devoted over ten years to swordsmanship. Since not even the instructors who had taught him at the Knight Academy could manifest such a brilliant Aura Blade, his courage vanished as if washed away by water.
"Y-you were a Paladin?"
"A Paladin? Well? Rather than that, wouldn't it be more correct to call me a Sword Master?"
To Damon, who knew nothing of Arcadia's circumstances, it was a natural answer.
"S-Sw..."
Stopping mid-word, the man turned his body and began to run for his life. Prestige and such no longer mattered at all. If his opponent were a Paladin, there would be no chance of victory to begin with, and now he was said to be a Sword Master—reputed to be far stronger, and whom he had never once laid eyes on until now... The only path left to him was to flee. To preserve his life. He heard shouting from behind, but he had no leisure to listen to it.
"Hey! You should take your sword."
Watching the man run away with his tail between his legs, Damon smiled bitterly. He had only tried to give him a slight scolding, but the effect was far too great.
Damon quietly dispelled the Aura Blade from the sword. Of course, it was not real. He had merely cast an illusion magic surreptitiously along with a flash to make it look convincing. Of course, had a real Sword Master seen it, they would have pointed out the difference immediately, but regrettably, there was no one here with the eye to discern that.
"The fool. If he drew his sword, he should have at least cut through the air."
Damon sheathed the sword again and walked over to the woman presumed to be the man's girlfriend.
"Was that man earlier your boyfriend?"
Contrary to expectation, the woman flatly denied it. Seeing as she possessed considerable beauty, it was understandable why the man had drawn his sword.
"No. I've never seen him before? I don't have a boyfriend."
"Ah, is that so? How troubling. I need to return this sword... May I ask one thing of you?"
The woman smiled as beautifully as she could and bowed her head.
"If it's something I can do, anything..."
"If by chance you meet that man, please give him this sword. Goodness. Picking a fight only to run away—utterly absurd."
After handing the sword to the woman, Damon turned around. He felt countless gazes piercing into his back. First, the women's gazes were filled with fervent adoration, while the men's contained jealousy and awe toward a powerful being they dared not touch. Amidst those contrasting gazes crossing over him, Damon slowly walked on.
It wasn't long before Damon grew weary of the people's new reactions. After that, challenges from several other men continued, so each time Damon had to use magic to create a fake Aura Blade.
Of course, the results were all exactly the same without fail. But because of that, his journey was greatly delayed, and the women's reactions, which had seemed fresh at first, slowly began to bore him.
"This isn't worth doing either."
Watching the fifth man run away with his tail between his legs, Damon shook his head. What had started as amusement was now slowly giving rise to disgust. Rather, the contemptuous gazes of old seemed more comfortable to him. He had grown accustomed to them over the decades. From then on, Damon's interest due to his new appearance began to wither.
"I should stop now."
Damon finally steeled his resolve to return to an unremarkable appearance. But since women followed him wherever he went, that too was no easy task. In the end, Damon ducked into a nearby inn, and only then was he able to evade their persistent pursuit.
Upon entering the room, Damon first called for a servant. A bellboy who looked to be about thirteen or fourteen approached timidly. At a glance, it was obvious he was thoroughly intimidated by Damon's looks.
"You called, sir?"
Damon handed the servant a few coins.
"Go to the clothing shop down this street and buy a robe with a hood."
"Yes, sir."
A short while later, Damon left the inn in a completely different appearance. In front of the inn, women wishing to catch even a single glimpse of Damon had formed a bustling crowd, but none of them recognized him. Thanks to the hood pulled deeply over his head, Damon was able to reclaim his freedom for the first time in a while. Glancing at the women making a clamor in front of the inn, he made an expression of utter revulsion.
"I will never dress like that again."
Through the recent events, Damon had even come to feel disillusionment toward women. The discernment of women who were enchanted by mere outward appearance was pathetic no matter when he saw it. None of them tried to see his true nature.
"The only woman who truly cherishes me is Daphne. Only she knows my true self."
Damon's heart had already hardened like earth after a rain. He had no intention whatsoever of loving any woman other than Daphne. Damon believed that resolve would never change for eternity.
"My heart is directed only toward Daphne. Wait for me, Daphne. Uncle will surely rescue you."
Muttering this vow softly, Damon parted the crowd of women and walked on.