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Chapter 1: A Second Year, a Second Semester
“Hey, did you hear the news? There’s gonna be a martial arts tournament!”
Voices excitedly discussing the rumors surrounded me.
Today was the first day of the second semester, the classroom filled with classmates I hadn’t seen in a while. Some of them had gotten tans or changed their hairstyles, but for the most part, everyone was the same as they had been before the summer. Summer vacation only lasted about a month; children were quick to grow, but even they wouldn’t drastically change after such a small length of time.
One topic in particular dominated conversation: the national martial arts tournament. The mission for the billion krams was finally bearing fruit. Apparently, rumors of it had begun spreading while I had been away from the capital. I couldn’t say where they’d heard it from, but many of the students were already aware of it, and they passed the information around without hesitation. The tournament was well-known in all corners of the school well before the end of the day.
I had let slip to Cedony Trading what I intended to use the billion krams for before I left to return home—but that likely had little influence on the spread of the rumors now. A big-name merchant wouldn’t so easily let slip such profitable information until they’d made all the necessary preparations to get ahead of the curve.
W̆ѐ b̆ n о̊ v̈ e l̂ Еn ŭ m̌ а
In which case, His Majesty must have made his own move. The information must have leaked from the castle... Or more likely, he had ordered for the rumors to be spread.
This was a national tournament that had been officially recognized by the royal family and would also be held by them. A tournament to determine the strongest fighter of Altoire that I had voiced my dreams of the previous summer—we’d finally reached a point where that dream was coming to life.
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“Welcome back, Nia.”
When I returned to the dorm after school, Hildetaura was there waiting for me. Lynokis was still in the middle of preparing the tea, so she hadn’t been waiting long at least.
“It’s certainly been a while, Hilde.”
Hildetaura Altoire, third princess of Altoire, was a born and bred member of the royal family, but she was also a fellow magivision star alongside me and Reliared. Worded differently, she was my comrade but also my rival.
W е̌b n оv е l Е n ũ.m̌ а
I hadn’t seen her even once over the summer. Last year, we’d done recordings together and then had a getaway on one of her family’s privately owned islands. The image of the king going wild taking control of the barbecue was seared into my mind. No one had had more fun than he had that day.
“Very true. It is honestly a shame. The vacation we went on with Relia last year was so fun.”
It turned out we were thinking the same thing. Hildetaura was aware of the reason I was busy though, so there was no need for me to try and make excuses.
“Congratulations on the success of your big special,” I congratulated her.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“Thank you. Wait, no, that is not why I am here.”
I placed down my bag and sat across from her. “Did my brother do a good job? He didn’t make any big mistakes, did he?”
Ě n̂ŭḿа̃
“But of course not. Neal Liston arrived proclaiming he had come in place of you and carried out his job wonderf— Wait, no, like I said, that is not why I am here.”
“Relia ended up joining in too, didn’t she? I wish I could’ve been there. It looked like a lot of fun, and the food looked delicious. You should make that seafood pot for me one day.”
“I would not mind, but there is the issue of preparing the ingredients and location, and free time is quite scarce at the mome— I just said that is not why I am here! I will chat with you about it afterward; just let me speak first!”
Oh, well, that was a shame. The most frequent topic of discussion at school right now after the tournament was Cooking Princess Fishing Festival Feast: Brother Liston Here to Save the Day! The special program that Hildetaura had carried out over the summer had been a massive success. As proof of that, it had already been rebroadcast numerous times.
I really want to ask about it, but I suppose I should be patient. If she came all the way here, she must have had something important to discuss.
“What did you want to talk to me about, then?”
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
The moment I turned the conversation back to her, Hildetaura immediately jumped into her questions. “Did you manage to raise the billion krams? The castle has been abuzz with talk about the tournament.”
“Really? Even more than your fishing festival special?”
“Well, I will not deny that that is also a topic of much discussion...”
That wasn’t a surprise whatsoever. It looked incredible even on the other side of the screen. Reliared fell into the ocean, Hildetaura was mobbed by the local residents, and Neal was always surrounded by girls both young and old. It made me realize just how crazy things would get when such an approachable member of the royal family went all the way to a fishing village out in the countryside.
The recording had been filled with incidents and they’d almost run out of time, yet they’d still managed to put together a complete program—the efforts of the three were commendable. Most of the program was filled with chaos, disorder, and mayhem, yet incredibly, they managed to end with a meal that looked delicious. Had the food not been successful, I imagined they would’ve shelved the whole thing, but given how many people had been allowed to participate, that would’ve been a big blow. They had to have used a fair bit of money to produce the special as well.
There was so much I wanted to ask. It had been broadcast around the end of summer vacation so I’d been able to watch it back at the dorm, and I’d caught rebroadcasts as well. It was hard to deny it was an incredible program. I wanted to watch it two or three more times. I wanted to engrave in my memories the girls’ valiant figures, their endearing efforts, and the hard work and dedication to the project that only those in the industry could understand.
Е̂ ñ úḿ а́
Naturally, my brother was cute too. Actually, he might have been even cuter than the girls. I had little doubt he had seen a sharp increase in fans from all of this.
“The martial arts tournament is what you discussed with my father last year, correct?”
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“Yes. Remember I received a message from you just before the summer that four million krams would be enough for it to go ahead?”
“And did you really raise a whole billion krams for it? That is a lot of money, you know.”
“We did, yes. Because she put so much work in.” I turned my gaze to where Lynokis was stationed by the wall—where Leeno the adventurer stood.
I had already revealed Leeno’s true identity to Hildetaura, and the fact that Lynokis hadn’t had her cover blown by those around us had to mean that Hildetaura hadn’t let it slip. She might have been a child, but she was still a member of royalty; she knew full well the importance of keeping secrets.
W_êb̆_n̆ о̄ v̀е̂ l̀ Е n ŭm а
“What incredible skill... I did not realize adventurers earned so much money...”
Well, there were definitely many adventurers who wanted to pull that one big lottery ticket commission even at the risk of their own lives, but in Leeno’s case, she’d been pulling in those moneymakers consistently for a whole year. It was only natural that rumors of her would spread when she’d left such a record. Though more accurately, we’d raised around eight hundred million krams, not the whole billion.
“I suppose this means that the tournament is confirmed, then.”
“Why did you not ask your father?” That would’ve been quicker and much more certain than asking me.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“I struggle to catch him these days. He must be busy with all the preparations.”
He would have all of his duties in addition to setting up the tournament as well. Being a king sounded tough.
En̂ǔmă
“I assume it’ll be announced officially and as dramatically as possible on magivision. Since the kingdom itself will be holding it, you’ll probably be the one to do it, Hilde.” Right now, the tournament was still at the rumor stage, with no official announcement. Its announcement on magivision would be the moment it was deemed official, and it only made sense for the royal family to be the ones taking that role in order to emphasize the scale of the tournament.
“Would you be fine with that? Your attendant raised all the money, right? Then should the Liston Channel not be the one to announce it?”
“Oh, it’s fine. This is really a very selfish desire of mine; my family has nothing to do with it. I just want to know who is the strongest in Altoire while also further promoting magivision. I’m not in this for the money, so whoever gets the prize is fine by me.” Well, it actually seemed like it was going to become an international tournament at this rate, so it was more like I was seeing who was the strongest in Altoire and its surrounding countries.
“You would be willing to so easily hand over one billion krams for something like that? How bold...” Though the words sounded like a compliment, Hildetaura’s face was one of pure disbelief.
“Enough of that though. I want to hear about the fishing festival.”
“Personally, that is nowhere near as important as the billion krams, but...if you insist.” Hildetaura sighed, her expression far too serious for a child. Despite her reluctance, she told me all about what had gone on behind the scenes during the recording of Cooking Princess Fishing Festival Feast: Brother Liston Here to Save the Day!
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“Hey, Esuella told me that Miss Hilde was here— She is! It’s so nice to see you again, Miss Hilde!”
Reliared suddenly arrived in the middle of our discussion, which led to our first tea party together in a while.
The official announcement of the martial arts tournament came at the start of fall. The rumors had managed to spread all across the school by then, with the stronger students of the academy like Sanowil, Gazell, and Ririmi all training with the tournament as their goal. They had started the work before it was even confirmed, but now that it was, they could be sure that their training hadn’t been wasted.
The king himself appeared on magivision to make the announcement. With it now known that the royal family was leading the event, it quickly became the talk of the whole country.
I had supplied eight hundred million krams, and then Cedony Trading had supplied two hundred million more as an investment in the tournament. As the plan had been developed on the budget of that billion krams, the aristocrats and merchants continued vying for supremacy over the spot of leading sponsor, eventually resulting in a whopping four billion krams of funding.
Thanks to the entirely unexpected mass of money, the tournament was able to reach an even bigger scale than anticipated. Instead of having to go the cheap route of holding the tournament in the capital’s stadium, they’d managed to buy out a whole floating island purely to hold the event. Development of the facilities, accommodations, and battle grounds had already begun; many ships from neighboring countries had arrived with workers from abroad willing to assist.
Е̄ ňú mа
The logistics of everything were constantly changing; food was required in large quantities. All territories, aristocrats, and countries were driven by the power of money—including the vital participants. Just as the king had planned, the moment those confident of their strength heard of the rumors, they all traveled to Altoire.
The prize money was a whole five hundred million krams; that sort of money would allow anyone to rest easy for the rest of their life, and rather luxuriously too. Both skilled combatants and civilians began fervently training with their eyes on the prize.
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With the tournament now officially announced, however, there was one more thing left for us to do.
The bounty hunter that had suddenly started taking down massive monsters was still the talk of the town. Debuting in Altoire, she had raised around five hundred million krams in only a year. She was a beast who devoured all the high-paying bounties on the outskirts of Altoire, an already legendary adventurer who had racked up spectacular achievement after spectacular achievement for a year before then suddenly disappearing completely. She had such a notable record and overflowing charisma that she was practically revered as a god by the local adventurers.
Her name was Leeno, and the time had finally come for her to be in the public eye once more. Leeno the adventurer was a character we had carefully crafted over that year. The whole reason we had built her reputation, her image, and her skill was all for this day.
It was time to announce her to the wider world. Leeno the adventurer would be participating in the martial arts tournament. The day such an announcement was made on magivision, it caused a great stir—so great, it was as if the Kingdom of Altoire itself had let out a roar.
W̃ѐb n̂ o v̂ ӗ l Еňu m̈а
Leeno had grown. She had grown far beyond my expectations.
Before all of that though, there was the matter of what happened shortly before, a month after the martial arts tournament was announced.
“The question now is when would be best to announce your participation,” I said.
The beginning of winter could already be felt. I had finished my homework, and Reliared had already returned to her room for the night. It was around the time I started to get sleepy. But I—who had just turned eight a few days earlier, by the way—had a dilemma.
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When should Leeno’s participation be announced, and how should we do it?
“I don’t really know myself, but wouldn’t it be better to announce it later?” Lynokis suggested, as she prepared me milk tea instead of black tea—my preference before bed.
Wе b̂ n̄ o_v еĺ Е nûm̌ ǎ
“It’s a difficult one. There will definitely be those who enter because of you, but I imagine there would be those who would also refrain for the same reason. Depending on when we announce it, we could end up causing a great decrease in participants.”
Leeno was an identity I had helped build specifically so that we could attract more participants to the tournament. We had done much so that she would become popular, so that she would be spoken about, so that she would become famous. But it seemed like I had gone a little too far in cultivating her. When I asked students what they thought about Leeno, they had nothing to say but shining praise and admiration, all of them certain that she would be participating. I’d been a little taken aback when they started saying she was legendary or that she was the next coming of a great hero; it was all a bit of an exaggeration.
Actually, no, perhaps this was inevitable. It might have been that I had been thinking too small myself.
“The sooner we announce it, the better it will be for Anzel and Fressa, I imagine,” I continued.
Anzel ran a bar that we had been using as our base of operations to allow Lynokis to slip away after her adventures. Up until now, they’d managed to handle the influx in nosy patrons, but with the announcement of the tournament, the mob of customers had become so massive it was starting to have a noticeable effect on their business.
Leeno’s name had become too well-known—she had become too popular. The number of people visiting the Shifty Shadow Rat had dramatically increased because they knew that Leeno had some sort of association with the bar. If we made the announcement that Leeno would be participating sooner rather than later, the crowd would likely shrink since they could all guarantee that they could meet her at the tournament.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Many people went to the bar because they’d heard the rumors about Leeno, but most ended their day with a few drinks but not even a glimpse of the adventurer. What that meant was that the bar was at least making a profit from it.
A lucky few would sometimes bump into Leeno at the bar after a day’s work, but no matter who it was that wanted to meet her, she would always ignore them and flee. Anzel and Fressa would then handle anyone who tried to follow after her.
We were both very grateful for all they had done for us.
“Did you not hear out a single one of them?”
“There was no need to. People are usually looking for me for one of three reasons: They want me to join their party, they want to have a match with me, or they serve someone who wants to meet me.”
She was probably right.
Én̊ ǔ m a.і d̆
“More importantly, the regulars over there are still very easy to handle. All I had to do was treat them to a drink and they all kept quiet about me. That’s the only reason my cover hasn’t been blown.”
As simple as that, eh?
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“You’re very crafty with your money, aren’t you?” I was a little impressed. That was exactly how you manipulated someone’s impression of you for the better. The value of managing one’s identity ultimately far surpassed the money spent. It was common for the rich to be hated, but using one’s finances well helped reverse that negative perception.
“As much as I hate to say it...I got the idea from Anzel.”
Now that made a lot of sense. Though perhaps a little different, using one’s money in such a fashion was a form of bribery. Given his underworld roots, it was a very Anzel-like method.
However, I’d heard that since the tournament was officially announced, things had changed greatly. It wasn’t as simple as a case of increased business; adventurers and martial artists coming to the bar wanting to meet Leeno was not new, but there were many more new faces popping up. Anzel surmised they were fighters from foreign lands.
Ѐ_ń ū ḿ ӓ
Anzel had sent me a message saying “Any idiots who didn’t heed our warnings got their asses beat.” I imagined it was partly to reassure us that these newcomers weren’t that strong. But even though he wasn’t admitting it, they were likely going through great pains to keep them off our backs. I hoped I’d be able to pay them back one day.
“The prize pool is very big. While I do think many of them are foreign customers, I wouldn’t be surprised if those that had been lurking in the shadows of Altoire have finally started showing themselves.”
“I agree.” There were many martial artists who didn’t care about money, but at the same time, there was much they couldn’t do without the finances. Usually, a martial artist only had this realization after reaching a certain level of strength. If you worked a job, your time to train decreased. If you prioritized your training, you had no time to make money. When you got as strong as me, you could make so much money that you ended up begging others to use it, but I’d never met someone as strong as me to begin with. And I had let go of the expectation that I ever would.
“They mentioned foreign people in power have been showing up as well, yes?” I continued.
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“Yes, though they admitted they were largely judging based on their instinct.”
Apparently, Anzel and Fressa had been catching sight of aristocratic emissaries recently too. Just looking at them, they appeared to be shabbily dressed, but then they had elaborate accessories that made their disguises all too apparent. There were even those who blatantly said whom they were the emissary of and immediately tried to use that as an excuse to forcefully enter the back of the bar.
Е n u m ā . і.d
Anyone who clearly looked like someone of authority was politely chased out. “What use is status in this day and age?” they would say. They were right though. Times were changing. A well-respected princess had cooked for a small countryside fishing village not long ago, after all.
At the very least, it seemed this was within expectations for the staff of the Shadow Rat. When martial artists hear there is a strong foe nearby, their instinct is to go test their skills against them. It was also an obvious fact that powerful figures would come searching for a money tree of an adventurer the moment they heard how quickly she’d earned a massive amount of money. Cases like this happened all the time.
But there was one more unexpected factor: the passionate fans who idolized Leeno. According to Anzel, they were the toughest customers to deal with.
“Being popular is tough, huh?” Even my brother was already having a tough time at his age. He would probably have a tough time for the rest of his life.
“I only want to be popular with you though, Young Mistress.”
“It’s not my style to let someone I hate remain by my side.”
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“Oh? Is this a declaration of love?”
“You’re too close. Step back even just a little, please. Don’t hug me either.” After peeling Lynokis off of me, I stopped to consider the circumstances again.
If Leeno’s fans heard anyone say a bad word about her, they would immediately get into a fight with them. If they heard someone was looking for Leeno, they would immediately interrogate them. If anyone was talking about an adventurer, they would immediately try to change the topic to Leeno. As a result, there had been a lot more conflicts within the bar recently, and many of them would escalate into full-on fistfights. It didn’t help that the clientele of the Shifty Shadow Rat was often filled with the rough types to begin with.
What was worse, while it was okay to resolve incidents with violence when it came to the back-alley dwellers, it was a whole different matter when it came to those who were clearly civilians. The staff of the Shadow Rat were members of the underworld, but surprisingly that crew made sure they didn’t lay a hand on regular civilians. The only time they would was if they had a very good reason.
That was exactly why I had felt no hesitation at the thought of training them; I was confident that even if I gave them access to more power, they would never use it against regular people. Back when I first met Anzel, his instinct had been to simply intimidate me. If I’d apologized, he likely wouldn’t have fought me. He’d fully believed that I was a regular child.
This was the case with Fressa too. She was a professional assassin, and a professional wouldn’t kill unless it was part of a job. At worst, she would leave them half dead.
Еňu m̈ а̊.ĩ d
“Personally, I don’t care how much Anzel and Fressa suffer though.”
I raised an eyebrow at Lynokis. “You say that, but don’t you actually get along with them quite well?”
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I haven’t forgotten how you all went off without me to go drinking!
“Ha ha ha, don’t be silly, Young Mistress. To be honest, I’ve always felt disdain for them. To be honest, it makes me angry that I am your first official student, and yet they go off acting like they’re your students too. To be honest, it makes me very, very angry. I’ll beat them black and blue in the tournament, just watch. To be honest, I want to go even further than that.”
Really now? Well, rivals who didn’t get along were fun to watch too. I’d just leave it at that.
“Okay, I’ve decided. Let’s announce it early.”
Е̊ n ùm̊а.і̊ d
It was still a little too soon—the tournament was next winter, so we still had a whole year to go. Thinking of it that way, it seemed like it would be fine to wait it out for a little longer and observe how things were developing to see the numbers before making a move. There was no way to predict what the outcome would actually be, but it was already widely assumed that Leeno would be participating. In which case, it was worth lightening Anzel and Fressa’s load.
Besides, there was one very easy solution: tell them that Leeno would be training abroad for the next year to prepare for the tournament. If we used magivision to announce it to a wider audience, then it would give a reason for her to be absent from the country, and that would then decrease the number of people looking for her.
I couldn’t predict what her passionate fans would do, but they should at least stop camping out at the bar in the hopes of seeing her.
Now that I’d come to a decision, I intended to go to sleep. But then I thought of something else.
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“Do you want to do it yourself?”
“What?”
W ё b nо̇v̇ ėl̄ E̊ ǹ uma
“Do you want to appear on magivision as Leeno the adventurer? It’ll get everyone way more excited if they hear it from your own mouth.” Plus, Lynokis was a magivision fan anyway. She likely wouldn’t get another chance to appear in a recording if she didn’t take the opportunity now. “Oh, and you should appear on Relia’s program too. You’re aware that they want you to appear on One-Day Camp,right?”
Lynokis blinked. “I’d be the one to appear on magivision...?”
She looked troubled by the idea. To be fair, it was a very abrupt suggestion that had come out of nowhere.
It felt like it had happened so long ago now, but the only time Lynokis had appeared on magivision was back when Nia Liston reported that she had fully recovered from her illness. All of the Liston family and the staff of the estate had been recorded for it.
Back then, Lynokis had simply been one among many, but for this, she would be the main focus as Leeno. Having your first proper appearance be focused on you as the star would be nerve-racking for sure.
“Give it a little think. I won’t need an answer until winter vacation anyway. Your participation will be announced regardless; it’s just a matter of if you want to be the one to do it. Same goes for if you want to appear on Relia’s program or not.”
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“What about the Liston Channel?”
“We don’t have any programs that would make sense to have an adventurer appear on, so there’s no need for that, is there? Actually, wait... You might be onto something.” Instead of racing with a dog, what if I raced Leeno? What if I had Leeno be the one to finally beat me? We could set it up like this: The legendary adventurer who made several hundred million krams in just a year challenges the unbeaten Nia Liston to a race! It sounded perfect, no? It would certainly get people talking.
It would increase Leeno’s reputation, and besides, I was getting sick of racing dogs all the time. I was pretty sure the audience was getting sick of it too. Plus, as of late, the Liston Channel was getting completely drowned out by Cooking Princess and the Silver Channel’s paper plays, so it would be good for us to have something to generate excitement as well. We could even label it as a winter special.
This sounds like it could work!
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