episode_0077

The surroundings were noisy, as if the martial arts festival was about to begin. People who appeared to be nobles were walking through the hallways, and countless people were sitting in the stands and screaming. Well, the most interesting thing in this world is watching a fight, and it is true that if it is a fight using magic, there is even more to enjoy.

It appears that the Swordsmanship Martial Arts Festival will not be held this time, so there was no such story. I’ve always wanted to see prosecutors fight, but I’m thinking that someday I’ll get the chance. A large platform was created through magic in the middle of the stadium. It may have been using teleportation magic, but since I didn’t know that magic yet, I naturally applauded the sight. Isabel and Erica would naturally use something like that, but they had never shown anything like moving an object.

As I was just quietly looking at the podium, a nobleman who appeared to be the host came up to the podium and started talking about various things. It was a familiar flow, like a typical opening speech. As the host continued to say thank you for coming and that it was okay to look forward to it, the host carefully raised his hand in a direction and looked towards that direction, and the most luxurious seat at the highest of the stands in the stadium caught his eye. The King of Araelia was waving his hand towards the stadium from a seat that was large enough to fit more than 10 people, and next to him, the royal family members were all standing up and waving at us.

I could see Ceresria, and I could see that her eyes were on me. I bowed my head slightly in response to the gaze directed at me, as if I was going to watch, and looked at the stadium. Next, Lord Shurn and the vice-captain of the Magic Knights attended the referee introduced by the host, and the host began to reveal the bracket.

And at the end, as they said it was a special game after the finals, I carefully moved from my seat to the railing, and the moment the host’s eyes and hands turned towards me, I heard a loud shout.

“The winner is scheduled to duel with the hero of Ignolia, Astan of the Academy! Please give everyone a big round of applause for the hero of Ignolia!”

Hero of Ignolia.

I thought it was a title that senior Erika would have scoffed at and made fun of if she had heard it. I wonder how many people have received the title of hero, it is such an undeserved title and such a title that does not suit them, so I tried to think of other people who had received the title of hero in my head, but there was no one who received the title of hero at the academy.

There were people who achieved hero-like feats, but no one was called a hero.

Therefore, I bowed my head towards the stadium, carefully covering my left breast with my right hand.

Although the martial arts system had begun, the early games did not attract that much interest. Although there was a person who could use ice magic, I thought that his skills would be in the middle of the 1st grade level at best. Therefore, I once again felt the strength of the Academy with my whole body. Are there many strong students among this year’s students, or are those who enter the academy simply strong?

Admission was not as difficult as I thought. Someone just suddenly appeared, handed me the academy’s admission form, and disappeared. There must have been quite a few first-year students at the academy who received the admission letter like me, but everyone else must have taken a different entrance exam, but in a way, it was funny.

I knew that those without talent would ultimately not survive in the academy. No matter how much I wanted to hold on, I knew that the position was too much for me, so I decided to quit the academy. Otherwise, there were also stories of people losing their lives due to magic.

While I was watching the game while thinking about this and drinking from the cup I was holding in my right hand, someone opened my door and came in, making me turn around.

“You seemed bored, so I came to give you some company.”

Prince Chartreau entered the room, so I put down my cup and bowed to him.

“May the light of Araelia reach you, Astan, see you, Prince Chartro.”

“You don’t have to be so polite, but please stand up.”

Chartreau took my hand and lifted me up, and I looked at Chartreau. As I was facing the handsome man with black hair and red eyes, so cold that my whole body felt numb just by looking into his eyes, I felt like my hands were naturally sweating.

“The owner of the room is Astan. May I dare to sit down?”

“If you wish.”

And at the gesture, Chartro smiled slightly and sat down, and I also sat down. The sound of magic and the stadium colliding could be heard as if a game was in progress nearby.

“I stopped by for a moment because I thought you might not be satisfied with the level of the game, but I don’t know if I was being rude.”

“I was just bored, so I thought about going to a street vendor.”

“I was lucky. In your opinion, Astan, what do you think of the players’ skills? In my eyes, I have yet to see such a strong wizard.”

“Since you attended the academy, you know what I want to say.”

“At best, there is not much difference from the first year students at the academy, although a few may be similar to the lower level second year students… … Well, if you ask me whether there are strong magicians who are not from the Academy, I think it would be difficult unless they are blessed by Fair.”

“You may have gathered these people on purpose. The winner has already been decided.”

Then Chartreau’s eyes became a little sharper. They said he was that younger brother, and those eyes felt like a symbol of the family. The queen, who seemed to be Ceresria’s mother, was also a very cold person. The king didn’t feel that way, though.

Truly, I thought it was an amazing family.

“You are more suspicious than I thought.”

“After talking with Ceresria, I understand a little bit that this fighter may not be the true fighter. I think the winner will be someone whose skills are reasonably similar to mine, or whose skills are lower than mine.”

Then I turned my head and looked at the stadium. Among the wizards who have appeared so far, there was no one with great skill. There may be a small number of magicians aiming for the title of nobleman, but it made no sense that there was no one who wanted to raise their name in a martial arts festival like this. Above all, the wizards outside the academy may be weaker than the wizards inside the academy, but I never thought there would be this much of a difference.

“Can I tell you something?”

“If I answer correctly.”

“Well, then maybe there’s no reason to tell you. The person who will fight Astan is not the winner of this martial arts competition.”

“Yes?”

“Can’t you guess who will be fighting Astan?”

And Chartro smiled at me.

“There is a petition to God Cerethria, the Absolute of Araelia, the Kingdom of Light.”

At Celestria’s words, the King of Araelia looked at Celestria with a smile. When I saw my daughter calling me like that, I knew without even looking that she was going to ask for something. It was obviously a nonsensical request, so as I was thinking about how to refuse it, Celestria cautiously opened her mouth.

“I would like to participate in Mutuje’s special match.”

“There’s nothing I can’t do if I want to participate in a special game, but I’d like to hear the reason, Celesria.”

“As you can see from my father, this martial arts festival was held in a hurry, so not many strong players showed up. However, since it is a martial arts festival hosted in the name of Araelia, I think it should be shown to the level it deserves.”

“So you are saying that you will go out and show your worth?”

“Although my skills are low.”

At Celestria’s words, the king stroked his chin and was lost in thought for a moment, and Chartreau burst out laughing at the sight.

“If that’s the case, it would be right for me to leave, little brother.”

“Brother, you can do it, but there is a wizard from Araelia at the academy right now, and they are in the same grade. Can’t you tell me?”

“That’s true, father, aren’t you okay? There is a separate prize for the winner, and the winner will not be able to show their best performance since they have already used their mana. Since Araelia’s name is at stake, I think it is right to show our best performance for the people of Araelia.”

“You’re talking as if you’ve been waiting, Chartro.”

The king laughed out loud at the conversation between the two, then turned to look at Princess Louise standing next to him and opened his mouth.

“What do you think, Louise?”

“I don’t think there’s any reason to stop it, as Chartreau and Ceresria said, this Mutuje will be of interest to other countries as well. If it were known that the wizards of Araelia were only as good as this, other countries might ignore Araelia.”

“I guess I opened the martial arts festival too hastily. I didn’t set any restrictions, but I said only people similar to Astan’s age would be allowed to participate, so I should have considered that his skills might not be good.”

“Among the wizards similar to Astan’s age, there are only a few with good skills, father.”

Celestria smiled slowly, and the king looked at Celestria and opened his mouth.

“Is there no one?”

At the king’s words, a servant immediately ran over and knelt in front of the king, and the king began to give orders to the servant.