"Yukimura Senju!"
The young man, whose face had gone completely pale at Lu Jana's words, took a step back. Lu Jana stopped torturing him and took a step forward. The fat soldier next to them was better than Gallac because he faced powerful experts more often, but he wasn't performing very well either. They were both drenched in sweat.
Lu Jana narrowed his eyes. A light of surprise appeared in his eyes. A slight surprise.
"He exceeded my expectations. He's only 32 years old, but he's so strong. Maybe he really is close to 'that woman.'"
Gallac looked at Lu Jana in surprise. At that moment, Yukimura noticed him. Gallac was surprised that the powerful man in front of them—the man who had created such chaos in the capital of the Forgotten Kingdom—was only mentioned as being close to someone. Yukimura was already incredible. And the moment you saw him, you thought to compare him to someone?
'That woman?'
She should have been an expert. But why compare an old expert to a young one?
"I heard they were here. Seeing you here, they can't be far away."
Yukimura had a hoarse voice. It sounded as if his vocal cords had been burned. A faint smile appeared on his face. It was forced.
"It's been a long time, Lu Jana."
At that moment, all the surrounding pressure was directed toward Lu Jana. However, Yukimura's strength couldn't make Lu Jana break a sweat. Gallac was no more affected by the pressure behind Lu Jana than before.
Yukimura frowned.
"Where are the boy and his father, Jana?"
Some figures began to emerge from the surrounding ruins. Compared to Yukimura, they looked like mere extras, yet even the weakest of them exuded an aura of the Sage Realm. Their noble clothes and robes were covered in dirt and blood. They were badly injured and bleeding from various parts of their bodies. They could only watch helplessly as the experts faced off.
"I'm not sure that I want you to find out. You don't look like you can force it out of me," said Lu Jana. Even though no aura seemed to rise from his body, his presence alone was strong enough to make Yukimura back down.
Yukimura was no fool. Lu Jana didn't belong to the younger generation, and he was competent. He couldn't fight Lu Jana yet.
"They can't run away from me forever. I won't let her go, nor will I let her family go," Yukimura growled. While the kingdom's powerful geniuses looked at him with anger and despair, Lu Jana smacked his own ass and laughed out loud.
"HAHA! Why didn't you attack the royal family from which that woman originally came? Haha! Yukimura, your impatience gives you away."
Yukimura clenched his fists and looked Lu Jana in the eye, sizing him up, but he didn't dare face him, no matter how stupid he was. Lu Jana snickered, and suddenly, another voice entered the conversation.
"Indeed." With the sound of footsteps, a blond-haired man from the inner city approached Yukimura. He avoided the dirty parts of the road, keeping his hands behind his back. His hair was tied behind his head with a thin stick. His jet-black eyes stared fearlessly at Yukimura as he turned his head slightly and looked into Lu Jana's eyes without the slightest hint of fear. A puzzled expression appeared on his face. Lu Jana's expression instantly turned into a frown.
"Wow! Looks like you've made progress, old man. Congratulations," he said with fake excitement. Lu Jana's joy was crushed at that moment, and Yukimura's eyebrows furrowed nervously as he took a step back.
"17th Caesar!"
This young man was a monster who fought in the Star Path Tournament two generations ago. Though he was young and weak compared to his opponents, he was still better than Yukimura. Given his background, it was only natural that he wouldn't target a mercenary like Lu Jana. Lu Jana was also hesitant to show off against him.
Those around him, mostly young people, got a bit better, but they were still quite uncomfortable. 17. Caesar noticed their discomfort. He shouted.
"What a pity! Was it really necessary to trample on the pride of these great geniuses of the kingdom? They may find it hard to recover."
"Do you think I care about that? A bunch of trash tried to meddle in my business, so I taught them a lesson. They should thank me for showing them that there's always a higher mountain beyond every one."
As Gallac cowered in fear behind Lu Jana, he realized how true these words were. Everyone was showing off their strength! Gallac could no longer tell who was stronger.
"Shall we fight?" Lu Jana asked. He was far superior to these youngsters and wouldn't have hesitated to slap them. He didn't even care about the 17th Caesar's crazy mother.
Sometimes... Sometimes, he didn't care.
17. Caesar shook his head from side to side. There was false regret on his face.
"Unfortunately, I still have work to do. Yukimura, why don't you come with me to assess the damage here? Or, you can throw me a few coins."
Yukimura frowned again and, after glancing at Lu Jana, reached for his ring. Then a blue stone, very similar to Mais's, appeared in his hand. He threw it at the 17th Caesar, turned around, and disappeared.
A crystal like the low-level energy crystal that Mais sold for so much was given here by a member of the younger generation as payment for the destruction of a few shops in the capital. Although the low-energy crystal was worth much more, Yukimura didn't care about its value.
Moreover, no one except Gallac seemed surprised. He didn't even know what the stone was. He thought Yukimura was going to give him gold.
"Oh, the crown prince is really not going to like this."
After the 17th Caesar left, the young men on the ground slowly recovered. They didn't say much. It was obvious that they weren't feeling well. One of them picked up Gallac and soon disappeared. Apparently, he was the young master of the clan to which the young man had applied. Gallac hadn't treated him with much respect when he thought about the experts he had met, but this man was a much more powerful sage! However, the young man was in no mood to think about Gallac's lack of respect due to his recent defeat. He had been humiliated by a random guy who was going to participate in the Star Path Tournament. His pride was shattered. Now, he understood how terrible it was for experts under 50 to participate in the tournament.
Lu Jana also returned to the merchants, lamenting bitterly on his horse.
"Young people cultivate too fast."