The second chance of the uncrowned king - (Isekai)

"When I arrived to meet Brendu, I felt something strange at the edge of my ability—something unnatural forcing the very space to feel natural. I pushed myself a bit and sensed them—three people waiting from two positions. I noticed a faint killing intent as soon as I arrived, so I acted without thinking…" I continued telling the whole story until Susan's arrival.

"That was reckless! You could've died, one of them was a Ruby rank!" Brendu scolded me after hearing the full story. I was surprised she managed to hold back from yelling until the end; her face twisted several times along the way.

"I'd rather risk my life. If I were in the same situation a hundred more times, I'd do the same every single time." I answered calmly, with a serious look. I wanted her to understand my point of view.

"I trust my strength, and a Ruby rank couldn't kill me easily. I have a higher chance of surviving—or killing him—than any other Sapphire rank." Brendu was about to say something, but Susan's hand stopped her.

"Calm down, both of you. Neither of you is wrong or right. Maki, you must understand that Brendu just worries about you. And Brendu, you have to understand that Maki's right—he's one of the few Sapphires capable of defeating a Ruby rank." Susan sighed. "You made the right decision, but I still don't like seeing you take such risks." She looked straight into my eyes.

"You had other options. Why did you decide to attack so rashly?" Her question made me think. She was right—we could have tried to escape together. With my constructions, I could've delayed them long enough for help to arrive.

I raised my eyes to meet the gaze of the Obsidian-ranked woman. "I wanted to capture one of them alive to interrogate him. At that moment, I hated with every fiber of my being the idea of someone I care about being in danger." It had been the quickest solution my mind could find.

"I didn't have much time to think of a better plan, Susan." I clenched my hands tightly, angry at myself for not coming up with something better in the heat of the moment.

"In the end, they escaped. That plan didn't work." Susan pointed out my mistake. My plan, though bold, had only failed at the very end.

She softened her expression and smiled faintly. "I'm not angry at your decision, Maki—only worried about your lack of self-preservation. You risked too much by fighting a Ruby rank alone." I nodded slightly, understanding her words.

"But if you had endangered Brendu or anyone else just to protect yourself, then I would've been disappointed. The strong must show their strength when it's needed. You made the right choice in the end; you just had bad luck that he escaped. Think of it this way—you made someone a rank above you run away." I relaxed, realizing Susan wasn't angry.

"Aunt Susan… he could've died because of me." Brendu still couldn't accept my reckless plan.

"That was his decision, Brendu. You didn't force him. You have to trust him a bit more—Maki trains every day to overcome situations like this." Brendu lowered her head, looking sad and thoughtful.

"Now, let's focus on the real issue—was Brendu the target?" Susan raised a valid question. If not her, then who?

"Brendu has ways to escape even from a Diamond rank on her own. Every dark organization should know that. No Obsidian rank would dare to touch her inside my city." That was true. We had already talked about it before—her father had given her two devices meant to save her life in an emergency.

"Maybe a small group chasing the big prize? Perhaps they wanted to try their luck seeing her sitting alone." There were always idiots who didn't care about consequences. If the kingdom learned someone tried to kidnap their princess, the king would hunt them down until none were left.

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"I don't think so. This is my fourth year living here, and no one's ever tried to kidnap me." Now I was even more confused, and Brendu seemed to be thinking deeply as well.

"We can't dismiss the possibility that you were the target, Maki." Susan pointed directly at me.

"Me? I'm just the son of a baronet—there are far better targets in this school." There were plenty of nobles and wealthy heirs studying here.

"Maybe they weren't seeking a ransom for you. Maybe they'd already been paid, which is why they took such a stupid risk in my school. You felt that killing intent when you arrived—it might've been directed at you. Brendu had been waiting over five minutes; they could've acted during that time." Brendu and I exchanged looks. Susan's reasoning made sense.

"That would also explain why there was only one Ruby rank among them—they probably saw you as an easy prey." Her hypothesis grew stronger by the second.

"If they'd done some research, they would've discovered how close we are. Seeing me alone might've made them think I was waiting for you. I never felt any killing intent." The puzzle pieces started to fall into place.

"Then it's also possible I was the target… but why?" Now the odds were fifty-fifty between us.

"Revenge? Hatred? Those are the most common reasons for kidnapping." I stayed silent after hearing her words, thinking about who might hate me or want revenge.

"There's no way to know for now. I'll have the corpse examined—we might identify him or find some clue. We can't rule anything out yet; it could've been you or Brendu." Susan had already contacted someone to pick up the body and the weapon.

I let myself fall back onto the couch. "Am I popular now? I didn't think I'd make enemies this soon." I joked to lighten the mood. Susan laughed, but Brendu punched my shoulder.

"Idiot, don't say that." She complained. I grabbed the hand she used to hit me and intertwined our fingers.

"You two look adorable together. I can't wait to hear your father's opinion, Brendu." Susan covered her mouth to hide her smile. Brendu froze like a statue—that didn't sound like good news.

"He's probably already heard rumors. He shouldn't be too upset when I tell him… I hope." That last part sounded more like self-convincing than confidence.

"I'll help you a bit today too. Your father will have fewer reasons to oppose after the announcement before the match." Both of us looked at Susan, who couldn't hide her excitement.

"It's the day I'll officially announce that I have a protégé. That'll also stop any future kidnapping or assassination attempts in the city. No one would be stupid enough to mess with someone under my protection." That was good news—if Susan made it public, far fewer people would dare to mess with me.

We decided to drop the topic for now—without evidence, there was nothing else to do. We chatted about lighter things. Brendu blushed like a tomato when Susan shared an embarrassing story from her first year at the academy.

Back then, she had a hard time making friends because of her status. She always tried to act dignified, which only made things worse. Every day she'd return frustrated and sad, talking to Susan about her lack of social tact. That was when her friendship with Shawu and Areci began.

A few minutes later, my group of friends arrived, all of them happy to see us. "I thought you'd be at Brendu's balcony. Did something happen?" Areci asked with a smile.

"Well… this happened." I told them everything. Their faces changed instantly—everyone was furious about the attempted kidnapping. The anger was visible and intense. That made me happy inside; they truly cared about us.

"I bet five thousand Int on Areci!" Shawu shouted in the middle of the room.

"I'll bet the same on Maki." Humyr placed his own wager.

"Maki." Bruk bet again on my victory.

"Areci." His twin sister, Brak, bet on Areci.

Everyone turned to look at Ogine. "I can't bet that much, and I don't like gambling." She refused. In the end, the two guys bet on me, and the two girls on Areci.

Then they turned to Brendu, who had a sandwich in her mouth. She swallowed quickly. "Obviously, I'm betting on Maki." She leaned close and whispered, "If you don't win, I'll hit you."

"I'll go with my daughter, but only if the losers pay for the victory party." Everyone agreed with Susan's condition.

I locked eyes with Areci for a second. She shrugged and smiled, and I smiled back. "I don't want to hear any excuses when I beat you," I teased.

"It's a shame you'll cry before the celebration." Areci replied, her eyes shining with competitiveness.

"It's time to announce the duel. Go prepare." Susan vanished in an instant. I stood up, and so did Areci. She wrapped her arm around my neck playfully.

"Let's give them a good show, little brother." Areci looked thrilled.

"Let's give the audience a fight they'll never forget." I replied as we left together.