Chapter 95: Assignment Failure

International Individual Tournament

A friendly match between academies founded by heroes, held to ensure that the past is never forgotten.
The match takes place at the sacred site of the Great Hero Wolfram.
It is meant to honor Wolfram’s heroic deeds and to show that the academies continue to uphold the world.

“Wow, so this is Wolfram’s sacred site!”
Seron stuck her head out of the carriage, her face filled with curiosity.
Beside her, Card sat with an unusually serious expression, gazing out the window.

It was understandable.
The person who had once sent Card as a spy was coming to this very event today.

Then, as our eyes met, he suddenly grinned as if nothing was wrong.

“What’s wrong, Prince? Nervous? Don’t worry. First place is mine.”

Same as ever.

Hania and Iris were traveling separately in another carriage for the first time in a while.

「In the individual tournament, we’re enemies. What happened in the team match won’t happen again.」

I had led my team to victory against Iris’ team in the group battle.
Because of that, Hania was prioritizing victory this time over our contractual relationship.

Iris looked at me with regret, but she still agreed with Hania’s decision.
The same went for Isabel.

「This is just a continuation of what you started last time. Look forward to it.」

During the boycott incident, I had abandoned my fight with Isabel midway and walked away.
She was saying that this individual tournament would be a continuation of that unfinished battle.

‘I’m looking forward to it.’

I was curious about how much Isabel had grown.
Her role in the upcoming scenarios would only continue to grow.
I hoped she had achieved significant progress.

With that, the people surrounding me gradually dispersed, leaving just the three of us—our old troublemaking trio—together again.

“Prince Sweet Potato, what rank do you think you’ll get?”
Seron asked about the rankings for the international tournament.

That’s something you only know after competing, but I simply smiled.

“I’ll make it into the top six.”

The prestige of the six stars.
I planned to carve my name among them.

* * *

The arena prepared for the international individual tournament was massive, resembling a colosseum.
Since students from all six academies would be competing, it was only natural for the arena to be this grand.

But even with its size, the sheer number of participants was overwhelming.
Even with such a large arena, it couldn’t possibly accommodate everyone at once.

Thus, the international individual tournament began with preliminary rounds, mixing students from all six academies.
The students were all fiercely determined to make it through the preliminaries.

Starting from the main tournament, key figures from various kingdoms and empires would come to watch in person.
To gain recognition there, passing the preliminaries was essential.

Everyone was soon assigned to their preliminary groups.

“Our groups got split.”
Seron sounded disappointed as she looked at me.

Just as she said, we were placed in different preliminary groups.

“Hehe, jealous? I’m in the same group as Prince.”

Meanwhile, Card, who ended up in my group, teased Seron.

Seron responded by punching Card in the side before turning to me.

“Prince Sweet Potato, you’re sad that I’m not in your group, right? I know you are.”

“Yeah, I was planning to eliminate you first. Now I’m disappointed.”

“At least pretend you want to be with me!”

“I’m too honest for that.”

And with that, Seron punched me in the ribs.
She then grabbed my collar tightly and declared—

“If you don’t say you want to be with me, I-I’ll give you a kiss!”

What kind of crazy threat is that?

I looked at Seron in disbelief, and she turned bright red, realizing what she had just said.
She gripped the hem of her skirt tightly, her whole body trembling.

If she was going to react like that, she shouldn’t have said it in the first place.

“I kind of expected things to turn out like this, but from my perspective, it’s an amusing sight.”

Card chuckled as he watched us.
Even after taking a hit to the ribs from Seron, he looked perfectly fine—his endurance was impressive.

“Zeryon Academy.”

At that moment, Professor Beganon’s voice rang out.
The students of Zeryon Academy, who had been gathered together, turned their attention to her.

She looked at everyone and spoke.
Usually, she’d say something unnecessary, but this time…

“This is your chance to shine. Don’t come back in defeat.”

It was encouragement.
At moments like this, she always knew how to support us.

“If you lose and bring down the academy’s reputation, my salary gets cut.”

Of course, she couldn’t forget to add a remark like that at the end.

“Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if Professor Beganon’s salary took a hit.”
“Heh, yeah, maybe.”

As the students whispered among themselves, Beganon shot them a glare, eyes blazing.

“Stop talking nonsense and do your best.”

With that, the students gave a spirited response and dispersed to their respective groups for the preliminary matches.

Seron was assigned to Group 1.
Card and I were in Group 2.

As we parted ways with Seron, Card and I headed toward our designated area.

On the way, I spotted a few familiar faces here and there.

“Hmm, Prince, looks like most of the people you’re close to got placed in different groups.”

“Yeah.”

Most of the students I usually associated with weren’t in my group.

The preliminary round worked by gathering students in one area, where only those who survived would advance to the main tournament.
Given this structure, forming teams wasn’t exactly against the rules, but it wasn’t easy either.

Not having many familiar faces in this kind of situation was definitely a disadvantage.

Then, at that moment, I spotted someone.
A natural smile formed on my lips.

Not everyone was missing after all.

“Grantoni.”

“Huh?”

Hearing me call his name, he turned around.

Inside the stark white skull of his face, his glowing red eyes flashed.

A small ossuary.

Grantoni, a second-year student from the Special Studies department.
He specialized in unique arts—spiritualism and necromancy.

I had teamed up with him during a previous group battle, so seeing him again was a pleasant surprise.

“Oh, heheheh, Hanon, you’re in Group 2 too?”

“Yeah. There’s an open spot in the support team. How about teaming up again?”

“I’m in. I wasn’t too concerned about winning the preliminaries anyway!”

Grantoni was only interested in the Otherworld.
He had joined the international individual tournament simply because he was told to.
He didn’t have any particular ambition for it.

His real objective lay elsewhere.

But if someone pulled him in the right direction, it would be a different story.

Grantoni was the type to perform when it mattered.

“This is great. Having you around will make things a lot easier.”

The chances of passing the preliminaries had significantly increased.

“Ah.”

At that moment, a sigh escaped from Card’s mouth.

“…Prince, this won’t be easy.”

Following his gaze, my eyes landed on someone.

A distinct ash-gray wolf-cut hairstyle.

The moment I saw it, I immediately knew who it was.

‘Solvas Umbra.’

The vice president of Aquiline Academy from the Kingdom of Illusions.
One of the Six Stars.

‘So he’s in our group, huh.’

Now I understood why Card reacted this way.

It was only natural—Solvas was Card’s superior.

The Umbra Count family had traditionally held the position of Foreign Minister in the Kingdom of Illusions for generations.
Their main duty was extracting valuable information from other nations and using it for leverage—more coercion than negotiation.

Because of this, the Umbra family was feared within the Kingdom of Illusions.
Their notorious reputation extended far beyond their own borders.

Card was a spy working for that very Foreign Ministry.
Which meant that Solvas, the son of the current Foreign Minister and its future successor, was his direct superior.

Solvas was skillfully engaging in conversation with those around him.
Given his diplomatic background, he was exceptionally well-spoken.

And I knew exactly who would soon fall victim to his silver tongue.

“Card.”

He turned his gaze toward me.

“What do you think would happen if one of the Six Stars got eliminated in the preliminaries?”

A sly smile spread across my lips.

Card, watching me, slowly shifted his gaze.

“…Are you confident?”

There’s a universal truth in the world—
People always resent a boss who overworks them.

Lately, Card had been complaining about extreme exhaustion.
The reason?
The Foreign Ministry had wrung him dry.

Zeryon Academy had been hit by back-to-back crises.
There must have been an overwhelming amount of valuable intelligence to extract from those incidents.

The Foreign Ministry had completely drained Card, blaming him for failing to catch everything.

For Card, the disasters at Zeryon Academy were nothing short of a nightmare.
More than anything, the incidents were far too dangerous for him to meddle in.

A spy’s most important rule is to never be exposed.
If your identity is discovered and you’re captured, there’s no situation worse than that.

Card had always adhered to this principle.
But the Foreign Ministry had disregarded his position entirely and pushed him to the breaking point.

And now, the son of the Foreign Minister—his superior—had appeared before him.

“Have you ever seen me talk about something I wasn’t confident in?”

Card scoffed.

“Not even once.”

He knew me well.
He had lived alongside me long enough to see that I always followed through on my words.

“Perfect. If one of the Six Stars falls in the preliminaries, the rumors will spread beautifully.”

A wicked grin curled onto Card’s lips, mirroring mine.

“Heh, heheheh.”

Grantoni, completely clueless about what we were scheming, simply clacked his teeth together and laughed along.
He was a good guy.

“Group 2, the preliminaries will now begin.”

The professor from another academy, overseeing this test, began calling out the names of Group 2 students.

His assistants quickly distributed bracelets to each of the students.

“From this point on, you will proceed to the location marked on your bracelet to begin the preliminaries.”

At that moment, a soft glow emanated from the bracelets, pointing in a specific direction.

“Once you reach your designated spot, the light will turn off. The preliminaries will not begin until all participants have arrived, so please make sure to check your location carefully.”

The direction pointed toward a vast forest, surrounded by powerful barrier magic.
It was a large-scale magical formation designed to prevent external interference.

And that forest—
That was where the preliminaries would take place.

“The bracelet monitors your vital signs. If you become unable to continue, the light will turn off. There are currently 300 participants, and the preliminaries will continue until only 16 remain.”

There were a total of four preliminary groups.
Selecting 16 students per group meant that the main tournament would begin with a round of 64.

“Only 16 out of 300?”
“That’s way too few.”

The students murmured anxiously.
It was only natural—most of them were bound to be eliminated.

“Additionally, a defensive spell will activate if your life is in significant danger. This is a friendly tournament. If you attempt to take another participant’s life, you will be disqualified immediately and face legal consequences. Remember, this is a friendly match. The real enemy is the Demonic Palace. Do not risk your life in this competition.”

The professor repeated his warning several times.
Accidents occurred in every international individual tournament, so he was emphasizing this more than usual.

Fortunately, no one had ever died in these tournaments—
At least, not until now.

‘Unfortunately, that won’t be the case for this international individual tournament.’

One person.

In this tournament’s scenario, someone was destined to die.

And I knew exactly who it was.

This was one of the bad endings I had to prevent.

“Now, all students, please proceed to your designated locations.”

After exchanging glances with Card and Grantoni, I took a firm step forward.

I was genuinely curious—where would I be assigned first?

Depending on my starting position, my strategy would change.

With anticipation, I arrived at my designated spot—

And then, I saw a familiar face standing a short distance away.

“…Huh?”

Damn it.

“Oh, hello. The one who was confessed to by the Azure Flame.”

He greeted me with a bright smile.

Despite already knowing my name, his voice was as calm as ever.

The Son of Shadows.

Solvas Umbra.

My plan was already off to a terrible start.