Uranium: The Jinxed Prince
The Jinxed Prince 18th

"Damn! Shit!" A glass of freshly-painted beer half was roughly placed onto a round wooden table, venting out the annoyance of the drinker. "And only vice, but it surpasses the chairman!" The burly man's face looked flushed red as it started to be intoxicated by alcohol.

Two other burly men nodded, both frowning furiously. "Well, we're members of Arsenic! Vice, even the head of this little hunt can't treat us at will!" Once again there was the sound of a fist landing on the round wooden table, as if it was just the impingement of three angry drunks.

"From the beginning, women should not be given high positions. Just becoming a representative has already acted, let alone being the chairman!"

Hearing the colleague's words, the orange-haired burly man again drank a few sips of the glass in hand.

Not only from the three burly men's tables, other round wooden tables also called for similar protests, capturing every corner of a small bar not far from the Arsenic Guild's building. The waiters go back and forth serving guests who do not stop adding to the beer order so upset.

Amidst the condemnation aimed at the Herald and Agatha, the navy blue-haired youth walked into the center of the room. His lewd bead observed the atmosphere around the hot—heat will anger that culminates in each of the humans in this place.

"Seek, everyone!" the young man exclaimed as loudly as possible, trying to defeat the sound waves of hundreds of people coming from various directions. But free, it only gets attention for a fraction of a second, then people come back in conversation again. In order to get as much attention as possible, the young man swung the sword that had been in his hand since then, splitting an empty wooden table.

This time, he managed to get the attention of everyone—entah can last for how long.

"I'm sure everyone who was in this place were talented and great people," the young man again began to speak, "even I just don't accept the Vice Chairman treating you like that, especially you!"

One by one the head nodded, agreeing with the young man's words.

But among them, one of the men had a crush on Netra, "What do you know when you yourself were chosen by that 'Vice Chairman? You want to laugh at us?"

Quickly Zein shook his head, tidying up his navy bangs that slightly covered the net. "I want to give you a chance, a chance to avenge the humiliation you received today! Especially to Agatha Mayers!"

***

Bruk!

Just a few swings away, Shawn fell when his body was tired of lifting a very heavy sword. The new practice started no more than 1 hour, but this counted the 9th time the young man had fallen.

"If you knew you were this bad, I shouldn't have offered to teach you," the black-haired girl shook her head in a scowl, concerned about Shawn's ability which she thought was very below average.

Shawn stood up, staring at Margaret. If he had known that behind those red contact lenses, there was a pair of middle blue eyeballs analyzing the most effective attack that the young man could launch on him.

Margaret took a few steps closer to Shawn, showing off a cynical smile accompanied by a condescending look. "Perhaps according to the advice of the Chairman, you should have—" Margaret's lips suddenly complained, her legs suddenly stopped. His chest moved up and down rapidly as his heart felt pierced by the cold, sharp gaze that the young man had thrown before him.

Margaret felt dejavu. He gulped, looking at Shawn who suddenly walked towards him while dragging the sword. The sound of iron rubbing against the dry ground where the two stood was clearly heard between the roar of his own breath. "Margareth," said Shawn, "please don't play with me."

Deg.

Margaret's heart was beating wildly until she could hear it herself. Slowly, the corner of his lips was forced up. "Alright, but please don't suddenly use formal language. That's a little out of line with our condition, right?"

Shawn blinked, staring straight into the jet netra. Then without saying anything, Shawn walked a few steps back, mounted the horses, then swung the sword back as per Margaret's instructions.

Without the young man and the girl noticing, there was someone observing their training from afar, precisely from behind the window on the 2nd floor of the Arsenic Guild building. A tall figure with a red mask that covered his entire face. Just a pair of green beads from the gap of the mask he was using.

***

The sword swing in the grasp of the black-haired young man danced gently in a gust of wind, but the gentleness instantly dissipated the moment it touched his opponent's sword.

Srews!

Srews!

Many times Margaret tried to target Shawn's neck, but many times Shawn dodged as if he knew where he was going to attack.

The two swords met again, fending off each other's attacks. But no matter how good the young man was, the strength that was gushed on his sword remained weaker. However, he tried to survive as hard as possible. A pair of red and black beads could not distract from each other, as if they were both entangled by a pair of round crystals bewitching the two.

"Alright, enough," said Margaret as soon as her sword managed to make Shawn's sword come off a few steps from them. The twilight rays of the sun moved away from the two, replacing the dark that prepared for the arrival of the moon for a while longer.

Shawn managed to catch his breath, feeling all ten of his fingers sore from not carrying such a heavy and big sword for a long time.

"For a beginner size, you're pretty good, your base is good enough," Shawn, who had lowered his head, looked up, looking at the black-haired girl walking towards him. "At first your movement was stiff and slow, but over time it improved. Did you ever learn from someone?"

Again the pair of red beads just blinked, not giving a meaningful response to Margaret's question. If I can be honest, the answer is yes. The fourth prince had once had the opportunity to learn to sword directly from his expert family, precisely the daughter of the Plutonium Family.

But it's just an old story, when Shawn can still set aside all his suspicions on the girl. He was still living in the Marquess's house.

"Don't get cocky just because I'm praising you a little bit, either you wouldn't be able to join this hunt if it wasn't for me, would you?" margareth said a little offended at being ignored. In response to the girl before him, Shawn displayed a slanted smile, "Really?"

Shawn's words suddenly invited a sharp look from the girl, but he did not care, casually shrugged and then turned into the building. It's come this far, but you're still following me.

"Hello," said a very distinctive soft voice, successfully making Shawn's step stopped. Although he did not turn his head, Shawn was able to guess who the owner of the voice was greeting.

"Somehow do you remember, my name is Vio" said the girl whose entire body was hidden under a cloak as she walked down the stairs, then turned right in front of Shawn. "You didn't have time to introduce yourself because the Chairman told you to practice once you agreed to Margaret's proposal. If you don't mind, you want to get acquainted?" Vio extended a hand. Apparently under the cloak, hidden figure with pale skin—not as pale as Shawn of course.

"Shawn," the young man replied, hesitatingly accepting the girl's hand. Shawn can faintly catch a small laugh from under the cloak. "It seems that you are not at all afraid of my power" said Vio as soon as their hands were severed.

Shawn frowned, not really understanding what Vio was talking about. As if reluctant to explain, the girl turned around and walked ahead of Shawn. "Come, the Chairman and Vice Chairman asked me to take you to them."

Vio turned up the stairs where he had come. Inevitably, Shawn followed.

"To be honest I'm still curious, what is your ability to decide to register for the hunt? It can't be just because of the money you signed up for when you didn't have any skills?" Vio started the conversation, glancing at Shawn at a glance from behind the hood of the robe. "Especially from the way you dodged the Vice-Chairman's attack, it's clear you're not at all unable to fight."

The sound of the footsteps of the young man and the girl was clearly heard along the deserted passageway. Shawn blinked, weighing what kind of answer should come out of his mouth.

"Well, it's okay not to answer," Vio suddenly said, looking at Shawn, "but if you don't mind one day, let's say that moment."

The frown on Shawn's forehead grew more and more, the more he could not understand the sentence that the soft voice spoke.

***

"Posted 'your new lover'?" Margaret turned her head, looking intently at Zein who had just arrived at the field behind the Arsenic building. "You yourself how? Are you doing your job well?" Contrary to Margaret's expression, Zein carved out a triumphant smile while giving a thumbs up, making the girl's face grow grim.

"Honestly, I don't understand the way you choose men. What do you like about that weak young man?"

The right corner of Margaret's lips lifted up, "That's why I don't like you," she answered briefly, then walked to the magnificent building near them.

The sound of an owl slowly sounded. The sky grew darker as the moon became more visible. The wind played the tip of Zein's bangs left alone on the field, staring at Margaret's back as if it would have been lost in her view if she hadn't looked at it now. "Actually, why do you hate me so much?" The young man's tongue was bitter after saying so, his clenched hands held back the sense of not accepting the fate he had.

On the other hand, Margaret was already on the 2nd floor, walking towards the hunting chief's room to report on her training results with Shawn this day. Said the Herald, a person who does have sword talent will certainly be immediately visible from his first day.

Margaret's black eyeballs stared at the wooden floor she passed by. He was still thinking about the sharp gaze that the pair of red beads had thrown. A gaze that he had never seen, both before and when the young man had been exiled to the forest. A new 'kill' gaze was in place after the young man stepped his foot out of the Roldwix Forest.

In just a few days, you've changed a lot.

Well, actually it wasn't a bad thing for the young man. But for Margaret, it was a disaster.