Ch.6161. Lion King Parade

Upon seeing the poster for the Lion King’s Birthday Celebration, Ian unconsciously crumpled it in his hand. The poster announced that Gilbert Lion Heart would be taking on the role of the Lion King this year.

Ian had always considered Gilbert beneath him. He believed that whenever he, who had been hiding his true abilities, would stretch and rise up, their positions would instantly reverse. After all, it was only natural for the protagonist of the story to win.

But when he finally unleashed his full power during the competition, the result was a crushing defeat. Despite giving it his all, he couldn’t reach Gilbert’s level. Even with his characteristic skill at maximum output and drawing upon vast magical power, it was impossible to defeat Gilbert’s giant mech.

In the end, as he conceded the championship to Gilbert, he finally acknowledged what he had been reluctant to admit: he had been completely defeated by Gilbert, the rival he had chosen.

This was a rare development in thought for Ian, who was proud and lived trapped in his own world. Experiencing his first complete defeat had become the catalyst that shattered his arrogant mindset.

“Respected, yet detestable enemy…”

Thinking of Gilbert in his room, Ian wrote down another phrase he liked in his collection of quotes. The collection was already several volumes thick, but he thought even this wasn’t enough for the future.

Although many more famous sayings came to mind, he postponed writing them down. There was something else he needed to do now.

Setting aside his quote-writing, he began to review his final match with Gilbert repeatedly. Though he had cleanly admitted defeat, he wanted to identify if there was anything he had overlooked at the time.

But no matter how he changed his combat approach, he couldn’t defeat Gilbert even in his imagination. Keeping up with Gilbert’s movements, which exceeded the limits of reaction speed, was like a nightmare.

Ian’s expression twisted.

He had always thought of himself as the protagonist of this world. It wasn’t just a thought; there were valid reasons.

His noble birth, his innate talent, his striking appearance.

All these things confirmed that Ian was the protagonist of the world.

Yet this same person had lost to Gilbert without being able to do anything. He had been helplessly defeated in giant mech piloting, the skill he prided himself on mastering better than anyone else.

This was something Ian couldn’t easily accept. He had innate talent in piloting and a characteristic skill that had awakened as if God had given him wings. It made no sense to lose with these two advantages.

Of course, considering his still-developing magical power, he had thought he might be overwhelmed in terms of magical quantity. Among the academy cadets, Seraphina fell into that category.

But not Gilbert. Gilbert’s magical power was absolutely inferior compared to Ian’s. That’s why he thought he could never lose, but the result was different. Ian couldn’t defeat Gilbert.

This meant only one thing.

Gilbert’s talent surpassed Ian’s enough to overcome the absence of a characteristic skill. That was all there was to it.

The protagonist of the world is inferior to Gilbert?

Ian gritted his teeth. His pride, as tall and solid as a tower stretching to the sky, came crashing down.

No matter how strong Ian’s ego was, he acknowledged that he couldn’t excel at everything. There were certainly things that even he couldn’t do skillfully.

But when it came to giant mechs, that was absolutely not the case. He couldn’t accept that his piloting skills were inferior to Gilbert’s.

“No way. That can’t be. My rival has just taken one step ahead of me. In the end, I’ll be the one who reaches the finish line.”

Though his heart was still burning, he closed his eyes and calmed himself down. He had no intention of being crushed by this defeat like a petty person.

After some time passed, he opened his eyes from his meditation. Perhaps this defeat could be a good trial for him, he thought. Until now, he had been complacent because there had been no wall blocking his path. This led him to settle for his current state, resulting in a bitter defeat to his rival.

He opened the very first page of his quote collection that he had set aside. And for the first time in a long while, he spoke the first sentence aloud.

“Heroes bloom in adversity.”

Never lose your initial determination.

Never fear hardship.

Never settle for the status quo.

It was a sentence he had written with those three wishes in mind. But somewhere along the way, he had lost his initial determination, devoured by the monster of arrogance.

Slap!

Setting down his quote book, he struck his face hard with both hands. He hit himself so hard that his cheeks turned red, and a stinging pain spread across them.

“I will not forget this pain. This is my reflection on myself and my determination to move forward.”

Having regained his initial determination, he first picked up his pen. The words he had just spoken were too cool not to record.

Ian wrote in his quote collection, carefully penning each character.

***

The day of the Lion King’s Birthday Celebration arrived. Demeia Academy, which had been busy preparing for the event, now became busy in a different sense.

People from all over the empire flocked to see the celebration, one of the empire’s major festivals. Not only were famous noble families present, but also merchants hoping to capitalize on the seasonal business and commoners who came purely to enjoy the festival.

Unlike usual, the lively atmosphere inside the academy made the cadets unable to hide their excitement. This was true for cadets from both noble and common backgrounds. Festivals were joyous occasions regardless of social status.

The cadets were especially excited because all academy lectures were canceled during the three days of the celebration. It was a sweet respite in the brutal academy where every moment was filled with evaluation and competition.

The cadets were enjoying the celebration in their own ways, using this break to buy food from temporary shops set up inside the academy or watch performances by jesters. The cadets, who were always training themselves, were making the most of this brief freedom.

Of course, there were always exceptions.

Gilbert was on edge due to the impending academy raid. He was cutting into his sleep time to prepare for the Lion King parade tomorrow while also preparing for the raid that could happen at any moment.

In Tactical Combat, the academy raid occurred on the last day of the celebration, but he couldn’t be certain. The raid could happen today, or it could happen tomorrow.

Currently, Gilbert was checking various places to see if there were any issues with the academy’s security magic formations, thinking there might be an insider. Since he couldn’t share this information with anyone, it was taking too much time to inspect the entire vast academy.

Even though he had started before the festival began, it seemed impossible to check everything in time.

This isn’t easy.

Gilbert sighed deeply as he looked at the academy crowded with people. With so many people, it was becoming difficult to examine things thoroughly.

At that point, he stopped checking the security formations. It was unreasonable to expect to find vulnerabilities by looking further. He had been trusting the system and looking for anomalies, but due to his low magical aptitude, he couldn’t find any problems with the security formations.

Perhaps it was unreasonable for him to find tampering done by someone capable of interfering with Demeia Academy’s security formations in the first place.

His mind became complicated. He hadn’t expected to find anything easily, but in the end, there was nothing he could do to prepare for the raid before it happened.

Back to square one.

Gilbert roughly ran his fingers through his hair. He had literally come full circle. Knowing in advance that a raid would occur was advantageous information, but there was a limit to what he could do with this knowledge alone.

No one would believe him if he told them, and explaining how he obtained this information would be troublesome. Moreover, with an insider present, publicly discussing the raid might cause the plan to be postponed.

If that happened, Gilbert’s reputation would plummet further, and the timing of the raid would become uncertain. Not to mention, suspicion toward Gilbert would inevitably increase.

For these reasons, revealing the details of the raid would be a bad move.

In the end, recalling the academy raid part of Tactical Combat was the best he could do now. Although events wouldn’t unfold exactly the same way, he might at least gain some clues.

His thoughts continued to spiral, but he soon shook his head. From now on, he needed to prepare for tomorrow’s parade.

The place where the parade preparations were being made was a large building where major events at Demeia Academy were held. It was the same place where the academy entrance ceremony had been held, and currently, it was bustling with professors and cadets preparing for the parade.

Skilled maids were creating costumes and items needed for the parade according to their requirements, and a large blackboard listed candidate music for the parade, the order of the procession, and movement methods.

“Have you arrived, Sir Gilbert?”

“Hmm…”

He nodded slightly to the maid who greeted him at the entrance. Normally, he would have to participate and help with the parade composition, but as the one taking on the role of the Lion King, he was specially exempted from the work. However, he had to participate in the parade rehearsals.

“Sir Gilbert, your costume has been completed.”

“Is that so.”

“Yes. Shall I prepare the costume?”

“Is it finished? Selene, prepare it quickly!”

“Yes, Lady Camilla.”

At the sudden voice, he looked over to see a female cadet looking at him with her hands on her hips.

Gilbert somehow felt like sighing at the sight. He couldn’t shake the feeling that she was going to be troublesome again.