The old pope asked Alex anxiously,
"But Saint… you are directly chosen by the oracle of our god… This… you don't need to accept his challenge… also, Jake Schild is a powerful warrior… how-"
Alex smiled at the pope's words as he kept staring right into Jake's eyes while looking down at him.
"Don't worry about the saint title; we can hold the medallion ceremony later… hmm, how about this: we will hold the duel the day after tomorrow… the ceremony will proceed as usual right after that…"
"After all, I will be the one to win… don't make any excuses later Little Jake; if you didn't arrive on time, you will be considered a loser and a coward, you know…"
Jake, who was calm and collected until now, couldn't help but frown and feel angry at Alex's words.
He knew that Alex was just a fragile, weak prince who was good for nothing and didn't even know about combat arts in the slightest.
Jake, on the other hand, had been training his entire life!
He's a seasoned warrior who's already become the strongest among the younger generation of warriors in the entire city of Ilma!
Ethan, who's one of the strongest people in the city, has trained him since he was five years old, and he's very experienced in types of combat skills and techniques!
Alex calling him a coward and loser while himself being a weak person was a big insult to his pride as a warrior.
If it was anyone else, Jake would have already beat the sh*t out of them for insulting him like that, but he can't lay a finger on Alex right now.
He can only confront Alex in a duel; if he tries to do anything outside of it, his own reputation will take a hit.
"Hmph! I will be there the day after tomorrow at noon! Be ready!"
After saying those words, Jake walked away and left the hall immediately.
Seeing the angry look on his retreating face, Alex shook his head.
'I won… it was much easier than I expected…'
Alex had already made up an entire plan in his mind the moment Jake challenged him, and taunting Jake with trash talk was also a part of his plan, and Jake fell for it.
"Don't mind the inconvenience, everyone; you can continue your regular prayers. I hope to have a pleasant relationship with you all in the future…"
Hearing Alex's words, everyone who was still focused on the previous fight snapped out of their daze and started their prayers.
The rest of the ceremony went peacefully.
Ethan introduced Alex to everyone, and then everyone told their names to Alex in return.
The rumors about Alex being an immature brat were already known to all of them, so they didn't get too involved with Alex and only greeted him as a formality.
Most of them were curious about the duel that will happen soon, and they were in a hurry to go home and tell their friends about it so that everyone could watch it together.
After most of the people left, Alex went over to the pope's side and asked him for a spare key to the grand library of the God of Wisdom church.
As Alex wanted to know more about this world and its history, he needed to access that grand library and gather a lot of knowledge from it.
The pope was concerned about Alex and spoke.
"Your holiness, you are a precious saint of our church. I couldn't stop you from accepting that fool Jake's duel challenge, but I will not allow you to be reckless…"
"If things take a turn for the worse, I will personally stop the duel; please take care of your safety more…"
While saying that, the pope handed a spare key to the grand library to Alex with his weak and trembling hands.
He was quite old and weak, so he couldn't stay standing there too long and left right after.
Alex then looked at Ethan and ordered,
"Ethan, we are going to the library… by the way, what's the name of this other disciple of yours?"
Ethan seemed to want to say something to Alex but seemed to be hesitating; he sighed and looked at the fully armoured girl paladin before saying,
"Yes, this is my other disciple, Rosemary. She's an orphan the church accepted… she's very diligent and hardworking…"
"Rose, go ask the cooks to arrange Lord Saint's breakfast; I will take him to the library…"
The young girl, who was hiding her face and eager to leave as if she wanted to go to Jake's side, nodded her head at Ethan's order and dashed away in a hurry as if escaping.
"Why is that girl avoiding me like that?... Am I really that scary looking?"
Hearing Alex's words, Ethan smiled a bit and said,
"What are you saying, Lord Saint? You are obviously the most handsome man of the empire; it's just that she's had some bad past memories that make her fearful of strangers…"
Ethan and Alex started heading towards the grand library while talking to each other.
"Lord Saint… your holiness if you might forgive me, I want to say something that might seem a bit rude…"
Alex tilted his head in confusion and spoke.
"Hoh, that's rare. What could be so rude to speak about that you need my permission for it? Tell me…"
While walking through the spacious corridors of the church, Ethan took a deep sigh and said,
"Your holiness… why did you accept that fool's duel… that kid… I mean, Jake might seem young but… he's actually quite strong. I don't think it was a right choice to accept his challenge-"
Before Ethan could finish his sentence, Alex interjected with a smile on his face.
"You want to say that I am too weak to defeat him and I don't stand a chance against him, right?"
"Well, of course I know that much too! He's your son, Ethan! I have seen you brush off gigantic boulders without a problem; a dragon's kid will obviously be a dragon too!"
Ethan was confused how Alex could remain so calm and still smile even when he already knew that Jake was a very strong opponent.
"T-then, how-"
Before Ethan could say anything, Alex spoke out with a teasing voice.
"You will see it when the time comes… hehe… the challenger has just appeared, but I expected this much... and obviously, I will win!"
While saying those words, a villain-like grin appeared on Alex's handsome face, causing Ethan to feel a chill run down his spine.