Belmont lost and had lost to Riezel at his own hand in the most humiliating way possible.
No one knew whether he had fainted because he was too ashamed to remain in front of everyone, or because the destruction of his precious magic equipment had dealt him such a devastating blow that he collapsed on the spot.
People only knew that after today, a rumor would spread throughout Jinas’s noble circles that during his duel with Riezel, Belmont had not only lost, but had also been stripped naked in front of every noble, member of the royal family, and expert present.
"I-I didn’t expect Marquis Muraguet’s thing to be that small..."
"I-Is that really considered small?"
"I think it’s okay..."
"Hmph, that’s only because you haven’t seen much."
Seeing the naked Belmont, the young noble ladies all wore blushing expressions on the surface, letting out one comment after another, yet their private conversations were so bold that if even a tiny portion of them leaked out, he would probably never want to show his face again.
As for the other noblemen present, they unconsciously put even more distance between themselves and Riezel, looking at him as though he were a devil.
Magic that could destroy clothing and equipment—what kind of brute-force magic was that?
Didn’t that mean fighting Riezel meant that if they lost, they might not only die, but might also die from social humiliation?
A few moments later, as soon as the barrier was lifted, Orto rushed out like a gust of wind and immediately carried Belmont away.
"You really went too far this time."
As everyone began discussing what had happened, Yuri returned to Riezel’s side with Lizbeth and the others, rolling her eyes as she complained.
"Master..."
Lizbeth’s face was still red as she felt as though she had suffered severe mental pollution. If a certain someone had not recently shown her something even more spectacular, she might have fainted on the spot.
"Hmph, that two-legged sheep got off easy."
Lilith, on the other hand, found it immensely satisfying, even thinking Riezel could have gone even further—preferably in a much bloodier fashion—and crushed that arrogant insect into a puddle of flesh.
"?"
Euryale simply tilted her head with a curious expression before openly shifting her gaze toward Riezel’s lower body, making him feel rather awkward.
"Alright, don’t look at me like that. Who told him to wear such a flashy set of magic gear?" Riezel said, rubbing his nose. "I just happened to have magic that destroys magic items, and he came at me dressed like that. Wasn’t he practically asking for it?"
"Well, that may be true, but if you keep winning like this, what magician will ever dare stand in front of you again?" Yuri replied helplessly. "From now on, nobody’s going to dare wear magic items around you. Your magic is just... way too shameless."
Hearing that, Riezel raised his brows.
Recalling that wand, Riezel could not help but let out a silent sigh.
He had never intended to spare the wand and had planned to destroy it as well to teach Belmont a proper lesson. Unfortunately, the wand was, at the very least, a Divine-Class Item, and his was not yet powerful enough to destroy Divine-Class Items directly.
As a result, the wand became the only piece of magic equipment that survived, offering Belmont the slightest bit of consolation.
===
Riezel’s victory over Belmont also seemed to give everyone present a chance to reevaluate him.
After the duel, people realized that this unbelievably young man before them was not only an incomparably powerful swordsman but also an exceptionally talented magician.
Even though whether he had truly mastered magic beyond the Strategic-Class remained open to debate, at the very least, even if he relied solely on magic in battle, he probably would not lose to anyone.
It should be noted that, just as Ferras had said, Belmont’s mastery of Combat-Class Magic was far from weak. Conservatively speaking, he ranked among the top five magicians in the entire Jinas, and perhaps even among the top three.
Yet such a fully equipped magician—someone capable of giving even a Sword Saint trouble—had failed to last more than a few exchanges against Riezel. He had been unable to inflict even the slightest injury on Riezel before ending up in complete disgrace, unable to ever hold his head high in front of others again.
Needless to say, that alone was enough to prove that, as a magician, Riezel possessed talent that others likewise found impossible to match.
"Even I can’t guarantee that I’m stronger than Sir Brynhart if he only uses magic."
Nibald had even admitted as much with a sigh in front of everyone.
As a result, the rumor that Riezel could match—or even surpass—an ordinary Sword Saint using nothing but magic gradually spread throughout the kingdom.
Because of that, the claim that he was a Strategic-Class Magician also became far more convincing.
Even when some people brought up the fact that Spriller Academy had only detected 5th-grade compatibility with the Interference System in him, arguing that he should not have been able to become a Strategic-Class Magician, most people began wondering whether the academy’s assessment had simply been wrong.
It couldn’t be helped.
If they insisted on believing those old records, how could they explain the rumors that Riezel had previously used Tactical-Class Magic of the Transformation System while he was still with the Frenzel residence?
Not to mention the various magic spells he had demonstrated during the duel just now—very few of them had anything to do with the Interference System.
Especially those three massive fireballs that rivaled —no matter how anyone looked at them, they were clearly magic of the Transformation System.
People were always more willing to believe what they had witnessed with their own eyes, so not only unrelated observers, but even Ferras, the director of Spriller Academy, began questioning whether his academy had made a mistake when testing Riezel’s magic compatibility.
If Riezel truly was a Strategic-Class Magician, then he should have possessed 7th-grade compatibility with the Transformation System, not 5th-grade compatibility with the Interference System.
Of course, there were also rumors claiming that Riezel had mastered a method completely different from the modern magic system, allowing him to become proficient in magic from other systems as well.
As for why those rumors appeared, it was because of several rumors from the past claiming that Riezel could use Yuri’s exclusive , which belonged to the Control System.
Even though itself was neither particularly rare nor especially difficult to learn, Yuri had elevated it to an entirely different level. As a result, people believed that anyone without talent in the Control System should not have been capable of using such a unique version of it.
Because of that, most people concluded that the old records regarding Riezel’s magic compatibility could no longer be trusted, and that he definitely still had secrets.
However, no one dared to dig into those secrets anymore.
Riezel was already extremely powerful. Now it had also been proven that his ability with magic was in no way inferior to his swordsmanship, and he had even personally claimed that his magic surpassed his swordsmanship.
In the end, yet another halo had been added to his reputation.
Ultimately, that understanding became deeply engraved in the minds of everyone present. It was even deliberately spread by certain individuals to foreign nations, where people from other countries gradually came to learn of it as well.
A young man whose strength surpassed even that of the legendary Old Sword Saint, and whose magical ability likewise stood above all others. Such an unbelievable existence was destined to be recorded in the history of the Akasha Continent.
As for what kind of butterfly effect this would bring about, only heaven knew.
===
Not long after the duel concluded, the banquet resumed as though nothing had happened and proceeded according to schedule.
Once Isis appeared as the host, she introduced every participant in the royal succession contest to everyone present.
Only then did Riezel finally meet all of the people who would be competing for the throne.
Crown Prince Reinhard was a young man with an unmistakably scholarly air. He looked more like a university professor than a prince, and the gentle smile that remained on his face at all times made him considerably more approachable and likable.
Seventh Prince Benedict, on the other hand, was a rather frail-looking young man only slightly older than Riezel. Even though his overall demeanor was somewhat timid, powerful magical energy quietly radiated from him.
Like the two of them, the remaining members of the royal family who possessed succession rights each had their own distinctive characteristics. Overall, however, none of them stood out as much as the first two, leaving little of an impression on Riezel.
One thing worth mentioning was that every participant eligible to compete for the throne was a prince, with no princesses among them.
In other words, there were no women.
Yes, having no female rulers on the throne had always been Jinas’s tradition because only males could become king, just like in the neighboring kingdom of Reiburg.
Theresis was the complete opposite, as it had only queens and no male rulers, which was one of the reasons it had fallen into civil unrest.
Volcarion was the only relatively progressive nation, where the throne belonged to the most competent person regardless of gender, and the current ruler happened to be a queen.
It was said that once the next king of Jinas was decided, all members of the royal family would receive appointments. Some would become honorary nobles and remain in the royal capital, while others would be assigned to the frontier as local nobles.
Meanwhile, those with exceptional ability would receive territories of their own and become dukes, establishing their own noble families like the Cordelion family or the Letryss family, while others would become professors, government officials, and the like, just as Reinhard had.
Needless to say, not everyone would become a duke.
If the next king turned out to be Sergius, then the Cordelion family would be inherited by Serena, allowing the ducal title to continue through her.
Unfortunately, the privileges mentioned above applied only to the male members of the royal family. As for the female members, such as the princesses, they would mostly become political marriage partners.
It had to be said that this was extremely unfair.
However, what could anyone do about it?
If this world were truly fair, then it would not still be stuck in the Middle Ages after 11,000 years, nor would Lizbeth and Marilyn have resented their status as princesses so much in the past.
Whether within the royal family or among the nobility, women who managed to rise to prominence were, in the end, only a minority.
Under such circumstances, Jinas’s royal succession contest officially began.
Just as expected beforehand, like Yuri, Riezel also received the maximum allocation of ten votes.
Unfortunately, despite also being Sword Saints, Euryale and Lilith did not receive voting rights because they were already considered part of Riezel’s group, and their influence had already been counted toward his own voting power.
Over the next week, everyone with voting rights could cast their votes for any member of the royal family with succession rights, and after one week, all of the votes would be counted, and the next king would be chosen.
With that, the banquet officially came to an end.
During the following week, Riezel soon found himself dealing with a moderate number of troublesome matters.