Jobless Reincarnation: Emiya the Great Hero Must Show His True Skills

They are respectively Princess Ariel's guardian knight and guardian sorcerer, who once swore to follow Princess Ariel to the death as her absolute defenders.

Luke is also the second son of Plemon, the current head of the Notos family, making him Shirou's cousin in a certain sense.

Due to the struggle for inheritance, Luke sees Shirou as a thorn in his side.

When he saw his cousin Shirou serving dishes at the banquet like a servant, he frowned and said with displeasure, "Shirou Grellat, you are a member of our Grellat clan. How can you behave so inappropriately? Do you even deserve to be called a nobleman?"

Luke's sudden outburst drew the attention of everyone around him.

Everyone then realized that Shirou, who looked ordinary, was actually a nobleman, and from a prominent family like Grellat, a descendant of the four great lords.

Before Shirou could respond to Luke, Ariel looked at him first and said coldly, "Luke, didn't I just tell you not to let your personal feelings affect your work? Shirou is a blacksmith I approve of, someone I want to recruit. Your attitude is tantamount to rejecting me. Are you sure you want to do this?"

"This...I'm sorry."

Upon hearing Ariel's words, Luke finally realized his slip of the tongue and quickly shrank back.

Shirou looked at Ariel with mixed feelings, not expecting her to come out of the predicament for him.

However, Shirou still couldn't develop feelings for Ariel, and his wariness of the princess reached its peak.

Just as Ariel was about to move closer to Shirou and talk to him, or rather, harass him, the noise suddenly stopped.

A girl with fiery red hair walked over from not far away.

Dressed as a maid, Alice now looks like a princess. She has not only shed her original fierce and arrogant appearance, but also exudes an extraordinary temperament.

In such an setting, a large number of nobles and wealthy merchants were undoubtedly very interested in Alice and wanted to get close to her. Some even brought young or middle-aged men who seemed to be of good background to meet Alice, saying that they wanted to introduce their sons to her.

This situation is undoubtedly the most unacceptable thing for Alice herself.

After a moment of panic, she quickly looked around, and the instant she saw Shirou, she immediately ran away, walking briskly over.

As an intermediate-level swordsman, Alice moved with incredible speed even in formal attire, leaving ordinary nobles unable to keep up with her pace. Furthermore, with Princess Ariel around Shirou, no one dared to approach her, leaving them with no choice but to give up.

Alice breathed a sigh of relief, only to suddenly realize that she was not out of danger.

Because Luke, the young man who was originally standing behind Princess Ariel, suddenly looked at Alice with intense passion and exclaimed, "You are Miss Alice of the Boreas family? I never expected you to be such a beautiful lady. You are so charming. Your eyes, which hold a beautiful will, and your hair that flows in the wind, are simply an angel... no, a beautiful goddess descended to earth! I fell in love with you at first sight!"

Luke's sudden outburst caught everyone off guard.

Even Ariel and Dirich looked at Luke with surprise, seemingly not expecting him to react this way.

Shirou was equally bewildered, wondering if this was just some kind of polite conversation between nobles.

But I can't see that's the case at all.

Alice was even more shocked; it was the first time in her life she had been treated so warmly by a man, and her brain practically shut down on the spot.

“Oh dear, my apologies, I haven’t introduced myself yet. My name is Lukhnotos Grerat, the second son of Notos Grerat, one of the four regional lords of the Kingdom of Asra. Please grant me the honor of kissing those beautiful hands.”

Luke, oblivious to the reactions of those around him, clearly showed his fervor for Alice and even tried to take her hand.

And Alice's reaction to this...

Oh no, this girl is clearly about to go berserk.

Shirou immediately realized that Alice's anger had reached its limit.

If it weren't for Shirou's recent teachings, the old Alice would probably have been so angry that she would have sent Luke flying by now.

However, publicly striking the second son of the Nottos family would likely destroy the reputation of Alice and the Boreas family instantly, making them a laughing stock among the nobles.

Shirou realized he had to stop it.

While Shirou's thoughts were racing, Luke had already tried to take Alice's hand.

This hand-kissing gesture was very popular among nobles, let alone someone of Luke's status and position. Usually, when he took the initiative to do this, women would be overjoyed.

So Luke had no idea what kind of beast he was provoking with his actions at that moment.

"Snapped!"

Fortunately, just before Luke was about to completely enrage Alice and be beaten up by her, Shirou suddenly stepped between the two.

Seeing Luke's bewildered expression, Shirou said helplessly, "Could you please not touch Alice?"

"What did you say? Who are you to Miss Alice?"

Luke was extremely dissatisfied; his dislike for Shirou had already reached its peak.

Shirou hesitated for a long time before finally speaking quietly, "I am Alice's swordsmanship teacher."

"A swordsmanship teacher?"

Luke frowned. "You're so young, what makes you think you can be Miss Alice's swordsmanship teacher? And even if you are a swordsmanship teacher, you don't have the right to interfere in my affairs with Miss Alice, do you?"

"This……"

Shirou couldn't refute Luke's words.

Because that is indeed the case.

While Shirou was speechless, Luke had completely regarded Shirou as the one who was causing trouble. He believed that Shirou must be greedy for the position of the Notos family and wanted to compete for the position of head of the Notos family, which was why he came to cause trouble for him.

So even though Ariel had clearly told him not to cause trouble for Shirou, he couldn't control his emotions at all and declared in public, "I understand, you really are my enemy! Shirou Grellard, I challenge you to a duel!"

Luke's sudden outburst shocked everyone.

"This……"

Shirou was quite hesitant at the moment, completely unsure how to handle the current situation.

Princess Ariel was not alarmed by this. The blonde girl smiled knowingly and even deliberately stirred things up by saying, "I think this is a good suggestion. If we could see a wonderful duel between swordsmen, it would add to the splendor of this banquet."

Ariel's political acumen is undoubtedly quite high; with just a few words, she provided a way out for the conflict between Luke and Shirou.

The confrontation between the two was no longer an outburst of conflict, but rather added fun to the banquet.

These words immediately garnered the support of the nobles.

Shirou was undoubtedly unable to accept this situation. He did not practice swordsmanship to show off or compete, nor would he use his swordsmanship to bully the weak.

Even though Princess Ariel had given him a good excuse to back down, Shirou had no intention of resorting to violence and refused without hesitation, saying, "Sorry, I will not duel with Luke."

Chapter 148. Don't worry about what others think.

Luke challenged Shirou to a duel.

This incident, occurring at the banquet, undoubtedly surprised all the guests, and even the members of the Boreas family.

After all, duels are extremely rare even among nobles; they are a rare occurrence that only happens under extreme circumstances.

To everyone's surprise, Shirou, who was challenged to a duel, not only refused but also flatly rejected the challenge.

While there is no rule in the world that duels must be accepted, directly refusing a duel will undoubtedly leave a bad impression on others.

At least apart from the noble ladies who were very interested in Shirou, most of the nobles and wealthy merchants were looking at Shirou with indifference, thinking that the boy was too unambitious.

With everyone else already reacting this way, Luke, as the one who initiated the duel, was thrown into a state of confusion, staring wide-eyed at Shirou: "What did you say? You're refusing my duel?"

"Yes, I have no interest in dueling with people."

Shirou nodded silently; his principles had never changed.

For him, power was meant to protect himself and his family, not to flaunt his strength or bully the weak.

Although Luke looked taller than him, Shirou could sense that Luke's strength was at most that of a mid-level swordsman, or even a very ordinary mid-level swordsman.

If Alice were to come, as a fellow intermediate swordsman, she would instantly kill him.

Shirou had no interest in attacking such a weak opponent, much less drawing his sword for no reason simply to show off his strength.

That's something Shirou would never do.

However, all of this was merely Shirou's own internal thought.

To outsiders, Shirou's refusal of Luke's duel was simply because he was too afraid to fight Luke and had given up out of sheer fear.

While this is not something unforgivable—people always choose to seek advantage and avoid harm—the fact that he lacked even the courage to duel in such a situation left most of the nobles attending the banquet utterly disappointed in Shirou.

Princess Ariel's expression towards Shirou remained unchanged. Although she was equally surprised that Shirou refused to duel Luke, she did not look down on him. On the contrary, she felt that the boy in front of her was even more unfathomable.

After all, how could an ordinary person possibly control their temper in public?

Even if I am not strong enough, I will definitely accept the duel with Luke.

However, Shirou did not act rashly, which shows that his temperament is far beyond that of his peers, making Princess Ariel more and more interested in Shirou.

"You guy..."

Luke was utterly disappointed in Shirou.

He glared at Shirou fiercely, wanting to lash out, but he couldn't possibly attack Shirou in public.

With Ariel's help, Luke had no choice but to leave. His resentment towards Shirou not only did not lessen, but instead grew stronger.

"Who is that guy? What's he doing? They've started a duel..."

Alice stood next to Shirou, looking at Luke with disdain.

As Shirou's disciple and with Kyrie Irwin as her protector, she had witnessed countless battles between powerful individuals. Therefore, although her own swordsmanship was only at the intermediate level, her perspective far surpassed that of an intermediate swordsman.

In Alice's eyes, Luke's actions just now were like those of a clown.

It's like ants challenging an elephant.

For Shirou, refusing the duel was the best outcome.

Otherwise, Luke might have experienced the darkest day of his life.

Of course, only a swordsman of Alice's caliber could see this; ordinary people couldn't perceive the vast difference between Shirou and Luke.

Even Princess Ariel could only vaguely sense Shirou's uniqueness, without truly realizing the power disparity between Shirou and Luke.

After all, Luke is so young to have become an intermediate swordsman, he can be considered a little genius.

The other person is probably often praised in the noble circles of the capital and is considered to be the most talented swordsman among the younger generation of nobles.

However, this so-called swordsmanship talent is best accompanied by too many prefixes.

Leaving aside Shirou, even Izuru from the Suijin-ryu Dojo could easily crush Luke.

However, Isoru is not a noblewoman after all.

……

Even after the duel ended, Alice's birthday party still had to go on.

Because Shirou had just refused Luke's challenge to a duel, most of the nobles and wealthy merchants present already regarded him as an incompetent and cowardly young nobleman.

So much so that after the banquet officially began, almost no one was willing to approach him.

Alice, on the other hand, was constantly surrounded by people asking her to dance.

As the hostess and the person in charge of this birthday party, Alice undoubtedly had to accept the guests' invitations to go on stage and dance.

But Alice had an overwhelming, albeit reverse, confidence in her dancing skills; she knew very well that she would embarrass herself if she actually went up to dance.

Caught in a dilemma, Alice almost instinctively looked at Shirou, her eyes filled with a pleading look.

Shirou hesitated for a moment when he heard Alice's attitude.

Because for a fleeting moment, he saw a resemblance to Miyu on the other person's face.

Shirou immediately shook his head, trying to restore his normal view of Alice and stop treating her as a substitute for Miyu. He then quietly said, "If you don't have the courage, how about we dance first?"

"Will you dance with Shirou?"

Alice was stunned.

She didn't remember Shirou ever studying dance, let alone that he had ever shown any talent in that area.

Shirou, on the other hand, remained quite calm. Although he had never studied anything about dancing in his life, he knew very well that the essence of dancing was nothing more than steps and movements.

Take the right steps and make the right actions in the right practice.

Essentially, it's almost no different from swordsmanship.

In addition, Shirou often taught Alice swordsmanship, so leading Alice in dance practice on the spot wasn't a difficult task.

"Why, don't you want to?"

At Shirou's invitation, Alice hesitated for a moment, but finally gritted her teeth and shouted, "Okay, okay, I'll dance with you!"

Alice was clearly determined to go all out.

She knew she was terrible at dancing, so rather than embarrass herself by dancing with strangers, she figured she might as well drag Shirou down with her.