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Chapter 1: The Second Semester of the Third Year
Summer vacation was over.
I let out a heavy sigh. Just what was the meaning of “vacation” again?
My eyes were open, but I couldn’t find the energy to get up. I’d slept for a whole day yesterday, yet I still felt the exhaustion deep inside.
Lynokis and I returned to the dorms two days ago. I didn’t want to remember a single thing about my summer. I barely had any memories to begin with. Gods above... That really had been nothing but recording from start to finish.
It was horrific. That period of time was busy every year, but this year felt especially terrible. Yesterday had been the only day I could consider a break. Usually, that would be a day dedicated to preparing for the next semester, but I had been at a point that I realized there would be consequences if I continued without rest. I thought both my mind and body were going to break. Honestly, I was starting to think they already had cracks.
Еn̄ ǔ m̂ ā . і d̆
This should’ve been the time I decked that Bendelio in the face. I could’ve pretended it was an accident. I was sure they’d overlook a single punch. I was confident I would win in a court trial too. Everyone would definitely argue that it was only inevitable that I punched him! They’d all acknowledge that I had every right to!
Ugh, I should stop being silly and get up.
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I could imagine things all I wanted, but my schedule for the day wouldn’t suddenly free up, and Bendelio’s face wouldn’t suddenly get all bruised. Seriously though, even just a single punch would’ve been so satisfying... I’ll never forgive him. I’ll never let him get away with this.
“Hmm?”
Where was Lynokis? It was already morning. Light was streaming through the window, and I could already hear the sound of students outside my room. It really felt like I was home again. But Lynokis wasn’t getting ready as she usually was by this point.
This is strange. She’s in her chambers, but she’s not moving. “Let’s have a look, shall we?” I figured I might as well check in with her.
Е̂ n̊ u m̌ а
And immediately I discovered why she wasn’t up and about.
“I’m so sorry, Young Mistress...” Lynokis had been fast asleep. She had tried to get up from the bed, but collapsed onto the floor and fell asleep where she lay.
I helped return her to the bed. She was running a fever. It didn’t seem like it was due to illness, so it was likely from overwork.
“It’s okay. I understand.” Lynokis had faithfully remained by my side as I carried out my harsh duties of the summer. Of course she would be just as exhausted. Exhaustion was enough to make anyone feel unwell. She must have been tense all summer until we finally made it back to the dorm. And she would have been doing training for the tournament on top of that.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Our work had continued for over a month and yesterday had been the first rest day we’d had in that whole time. Even I was feeling complete and utter exhaustion. It had been such a rough schedule that I felt it even with mastery of chi.
There was no denying that I was working far too much. But we were at such a critical time.
Е̃ n̊ũm̀á .і̆_d
“Rest. You don’t need to worry about me.”
We just needed to hang in there until the tournament was over. It was just a little bit longer. Honestly, it might have been the case that this summer in particular had been unnatural...
After leaving Lynokis to rest, I did my own morning preparations. I asked Reliared’s personal attendant—who I happened to bump into in the hallway—and Carme to look after Lynokis for me and then left for school.
The second semester started today. I may have been tired, but there were things I had to get done. All for the day I’d get to give Bendelio a good punch in the face!
“Good afternoon, Nia, Relia.” As I was getting lunch with Reliared in the cafeteria, Hildetaura came over to greet us.
I’m glad she’s looking good. Summer vacation had no doubt been just as hellish for the princess.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“Do you have time today?” Reliared asked.
“Yes. I have something I wish to discuss with the two of you. May I?”
Hildetaura sat herself down when we gestured at a seat at our table. The princess was always so busy even during schooltime, so we didn’t get to have lunch together very often. We were lucky to get the chance maybe once a week.
“Summer break was rough.”
“To put it lightly, I was beginning to consider what to write in my will.”
“Our production crew tried to run away many times.”
Ẅ е̂ b̆ n̊о̀v̆е̄ĺ Е n̂ū m a
We spent a bit of time getting out our complaints—there was no end to them. Even Hildetaura didn’t want to talk about work, even though that was likely why she wanted to see us. We were all exhausted, both physically and mentally.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t keep avoiding the topic forever.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“Rikel is actually in the capital right now.”
Halfway through the lunch break, we naturally drifted into the important discussion. It was time for the attempt to escape from our sad reality to come to an end.
“Miss Rikelvita?”
Of the four daughters of the Silver family, Rikelvita was the second. It had already been two years since I met her. I still sometimes bumped into her when I went to the Silver territories for work, but we weren’t that well acquainted. Generally, she holed herself up in her room, so I was surprised to hear that she had come all the way here.
W̌ е bn̆ о̊ v̀ е̄l̆ Е́ ǹǔ m̊ă
“Does she have some errand to do?” I asked. There was no way she came here of her own volition. Her shut-in tendencies were so severe that she hesitated to even enter her own garden. I would give her credit for having pushed herself to come see my stage play in person a while ago, though. I was very grateful for that.
“Yup. The request came from someone she absolutely couldn’t refuse.” Reliared turned to Hildetaura. “Do you know anything about it, Miss Hilde? I wasn’t told very much.”
Work with this timing had to have been related to the tournament, so it would make sense if Hildetaura was at least aware of it.
“This is still an internal matter, but...”
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So she did know.
Lowering her voice, she continued, “We’re planning to have Rikelvita draw posters of the competitors.”
Е̂n̄ ú m а̀
Well... Since she was willing to bring it up in public, it had to have been something that wouldn’t cause a big issue if it leaked. It wasn’t something she could say out loud yet, but it wasn’t that big of a secret either.
“Posters?” Reliared looked a little doubtful. She was likely wondering what would necessitate such an old-fashioned form of advertising when we had the superior magivision.
Hildetaura must have assumed similarly because she smiled. Proudly. Smugly. “Those posters will be merchandise.”
For some reason, this face of Hildetaura’s still managed to irritate me a little. It was still cute! But that didn’t change the fact that it irritated me. I wonder why?
“Since it appears a lot of famous people will be participating, the government is thinking of trying to make money by selling commemorative goods based on them. Rikelvita’s posters will be part of this. That is still a secret, by the way.”
If it’s a secret, then don’t say it so openly. You didn’t say up front it was a government deal.
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“O-Oh...”
See, you’re just causing trouble for the people you’re telling.
“Are you really going to make anything more than a few coins?” I was perfectly fine, though. “A merch display isn’t going to make enough profits to satisfy the country’s coffers, surely. Or is the situation so dire that such a paltry sum is what they desire? Oh, don’t tell me this is actually a money laundering scheme? Or, Hilde, are you trying to save money in secret? Build up some savings you won’t tell anyone about?”
“Wait, Nia. Are you not being a bit too blunt?” Reliared tried to interrupt.
“The goal is to raise the reputation and awareness of the fighters. After all, if the public do not know anything about them, however will they bet on them?”
“Wait, Miss Hilde. Uh, this...this is legal betting we’re talking about, right?”
W̄ e̊.b̀ nо̊v̄е_l̆ .Èň ü m̆ã
“Ahhh, so this all connects to the idea of gambling. That does change things. Right, since we have so many foreign elites gathered in the country, a lot of money would be changing hands.”
“Nia, hang on!”
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“Precisely. We are essentially ripping off foreign money in as flashy a way as possible. This is the real thrill of the event, a privilege granted only to the hosts.”
“Miss Hilde, please, your wording.”
“And the secret savings?”
“Nia!”
Еn̈ūm̀ а
“No comment.”
“Why are you not denying it?”
I see, I see. That crafty little fox, he’s not hesitating to use this tournament for all that it’s worth. What a reliable man.
This was the exact type of event that there was no point holding back on. It was the same reason that stands at festivals always had their food priced higher than usual. One should always profit when the chance arose. It was natural that everything would be charged at event rates given it was such a special time.
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We finished our lunch and stood up from the table.
“I’ve got something I need to look up, so I’m going to the library,” Reliared said as she went on her way.
Ё ńů m̃а̀ ..і ḋ
Followed by Hildetaura turning to me. “Nia, may we talk for a moment? I have a message from my father.”
A message from the king—this had to be the real reason that Hildetaura came to talk to us today.
“Is it something to do with the tournament?”
“Yes. And it is rather urgent too.”
An urgent matter? I had an after-school recording today, so I didn’t exactly have the time, but... It was an order from the king and certainly took priority, especially right now.
“What does he want?”
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“Let us talk as we walk.”
Now this was something that shouldn’t be heard by those around us. Time for the real secret matter to be discussed.
“I’m sorry for all the trouble, Young Mistress.”
Lynokis sprang back into action two days after she collapsed. I had been doing my morning preparations when Lynokis exited her room in her attendant’s attire.
“Are you all right now? You’re welcome to get more rest if you’d like.” There was nothing I was having trouble with and there had been no problems without her either.
“I’m fine. I apologize for the inconvenience.”
É nüm̊ ӓ . і d̂
“It wasn’t inconvenient at all, though?” My previous self must not have lived a life where being looked after was a given, so I’d...kind of maybe started to think that I didn’t need anyone looking after me, after all... I would never say that out loud, though. Lynokis would definitely blow up at me.
“But you were lonely, weren’t you?”
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“What? Um... Yeah, sure.” Just nod and agree, Nia.
“Young Mistress!”
“Okay, yes, yes, I was very excitedly awaiting your return. Congrats on your full recovery.”
When Lynokis clung to me, I quickly shook her off with a, “Anyway, I have something I need to talk to you about. It’s pretty important, so could you listen to me properly?”
En̈ũ m̆а . іd̆
After calming the girl down, I sat at the table. I had school after this, so we couldn’t chat for too long, but I wanted to let her know as soon as I could.
“The preliminaries for the tournament will be starting soon.”
“The prelims? Oh, then...”
“Yes, Leeno will need to participate.” In other words, Lynokis would have to leave me to go do just that. Not that this was anything new, we’d already decided to do this, so it wasn’t something I needed to remind her of. “But here’s the important part: It turns out the king wishes to consult with Leeno to help decide the matchups.”
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“As in, who will fight against who?”
“Yes. It sounds like a lot of famous people have entered. You don’t want to end up having all of them fighting against each other in the prelims, do you?”
Ӗ n̊ u m̃ а
It had been reported on magivision since before summer that famous adventurers had been swarming to Altoire. Naturally, interviews and special features on specific competitors had been broadcast over the summer as well. But it seemed there were way more potential participants than I thought.
“The king wants the strong fighters to face each other in the main matches to build more hype around the tournament.” That was what Hildetaura was asked to pass on to me.
“I understand.” Lynokis nodded. “Basically, don’t suddenly serve the main dish to someone who isn’t even ready to eat yet.”
Exactly. Suddenly broadcasting a battle between champions would leave nothing for later. It was important to build up to the climax. Strong fighters getting knocked out in the prelims wouldn’t be fun at all for the audience.
You had to start with the appetizer—the preliminaries—so they could truly savor the main dish of the finals. The appetizer had to be good enough to make people think, “If the appetizer tastes this good, then the main dish must be exquisite. I’d love to give it a try.” To do that, you needed to gradually build up the expectations and excitement.
The fighters didn’t have to overthink things, they just needed to fight as hard as they could. Everything else would be handled by the hosts of the tournament. They were the ones who needed to prepare the stage and let the contestants shine as brightly as possible. The moment they would shine brightest would be when they were fighting with all their power against someone about the same strength as them. The perfect stage would be prepared for them, so in return, they were to dazzle all of Altoire with their brilliance.
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If you’re going to give something a beating, you should always give it your best shot.
Especially because I didn’t want our summers from hell to all be for nothing. This was all for the sake of Bendelio, the future sacrifice to my fist, as well!
“And he would like to consult with me for these matchups?”
“Well, Leeno, actually. In other words, me, actually.” The one who’d used the identity of Leeno as a cover for everything I was doing, actually.
Hildetaura’s message from the king had essentially been that he wanted Leeno to select the fighters who looked like potential champions under the assumption that she would have an eye for the strong and the weak. I approved that request.
“So really, it’s okay if you can’t join me. You were just ill, after all. Why not take it easy for now?” I had already contacted the Liston production crew and asked for them to adjust my schedule.
Е̊ nü m̌ а
I would be leaving tomorrow, first meeting up with the royal production crew before then making my way with them to the floating island where the tournament would be taking place. Hildetaura would be joining us. She had interviews and other recordings to do, so once we arrived, we would be going our separate ways. I would solely be there to scout contestants. They would use any of the information I provided to consider the final matchups, so it was more like I was giving them recommendations. That was why it didn’t matter if Lynokis was there or not—it wasn’t like she would be doing anything.
“But what do you really think? If I’m not there, then...?”
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This woman... She could be so annoying. She was looking at me with such hopeful eyes.
“All right, all right. If you aren’t there, I’ll be so terribly, terribly lost. If you were there, you’d be such a big, big help.”
“Young Mistress! Wait. Is that it?”
Once the discussion was over, I immediately left.
Ẃ е̌b̄ n_о̇v е́ľ Ẽ nǔ m å
Both the preliminaries and the main matches would take place on a floating island near the capital. From the moment the decision was made to hold the event with an initial investment of one billion krams, additional investments poured in from all different directions.
I had to think His Majesty had predicted this. If he could arrange a large sum of money from the start, the people would gather. Once potential investors could be certain of how serious he was being and how large he intended to make it, they would all choose to support it. In other words, the billion krams we had earned would become the catalyst.
And that was exactly what happened. Both the investors and the competitors came in droves, far more than ever imagined.
Thanks to that, there became enough financial leeway to allocate funds to the advertising of the event, encouraging even more competitors to arrive. I’d heard there were those from countries even farther than just our neighbors ready to compete.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“The furthest we have are definitely our competitors from the Kingdom of the Great Blade, Slengradd,” Hildetaura explained. We were having our teatime before work while on the airship to the competition island. Of course, we were making sure to have a work meeting in the process.
“Slengradd, hmm? I only know the name. Is it that far?”
Е ñu ḿ а̇. і̃d
“Yes. It takes over a month to get there even on a direct flight.”
Oh, that certainly was far.
“Good on them for taking the time to come all this way.”
In this world, people crossed borders through flight rather than on foot, so the modes of transport themselves were really quite fast. There were sometimes issues with weather, but generally speaking, there were no obstructions to worry about. An airship could go as fast as it wanted straight to its destination. There were times it was necessary to stop at border checkpoints or to restock, but even then, over a month was still a long time.
“But you should know this, should you not?”
Me?
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“Slengradd was founded by an ancient Hero. The Kingdom of the Great Blade is a title taken from them. The country has an institution specifically for raising Heroes known as the Heroic Star Assembly.”
Really now? I’d certainly heard of the names of Heroes and of the Heroic Star Assembly.
“Was this Alphen Alphon?”
“He was a Holy Knight, so it is a little different. They are both considered Heroes in that sense, though.”
Ah, right, he was the Holy Knight that slew the Demon King, if I recalled correctly.
Heroes, huh... I vaguely felt like they taught us something about that in history class, but I had barely any memory of it. I didn’t think I’d met one before. Oh, and, on the topic, I don’t think I’d ever met Alphen Alphon either.
Ẃ е ḃnö_v̂е l Еn ū mā
“Are those competitors from this Hero country strong?”
“There are two and they are both definitely strong in my opinion. They wish to remain anonymous so we cannot publicly announce them, but their claims of being part of the Heroic Star Assembly appear to be genuine.”
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Wow!
“So they’re like little Hero chicks?”
“Yes.”
I hadn’t seen anyone that impressive on magivision, but this was exciting to hear.
É n ǔm a
The floating island was indeed close to the capital, and we arrived before I knew it. This was where the tournament would be taking place.
Apparently, the island had originally been a wasteland where plants struggled to grow and there were very few animals to be seen. It had been repurposed to use for events a long time ago—the tournament would make use of the lodgings and the stadium that were already there. The island had been used for events from time to time before now, but with a bit of extra modifications, practically the whole land could be used as the backdrop for the tournament.
They opened the lodgings to competitors around the middle of summer break. All the competitors would need to stay there eventually, but registration hadn’t closed yet, so it was likely that there would still be more arriving.
With how little time there was left, though, they wanted to start finding the most promising candidates soon—it would take time to pair the fighters together after all.
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“I will see you again soon, Nia.”
Hildetaura and I said our farewells at the port. We would be working separately from here on out. The princess had her own recordings to worry about.
W̌ е̂ b̆ n̄ov̂ е̌ l̇ Е nǔm.а
I didn’t have much time to waste. I had been given special permission to return home a little later than usual, but the curfew was still in place. Hildetaura and her crew would be back even later than me, so Lynokis and I would be returning before her.
Now then.
“Shall we get going?”
“Yes, Young Mistress.”
It was time to explore the island with Lynokis.
All right, let’s go hunting for the strong fighters! Not that I’m expecting much from them.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
The participants already lodging at the designated accommodations were spending their time in their own ways. From what I’d heard, most were dedicating their time to training, whether that meant swinging their weapons or going on runs. The raised funds, Altoire’s political skill, and the massive prize pool had resulted in a tournament of a scale rarely seen in recent years. Getting the opportunity to participate in such a tournament would pump anyone up. Not only was the prize money a whole five hundred million krams, but the attention on the tournament was immense.
There were ten buildings to accommodate the participants and all of them were big. They were built with a reasonable distance between them, likely for the purposes of segregation—it wouldn’t be good to have them all squished together. Since they’d been built for the purposes of events, it must have been considered for the possibility of international attendance. Multiple buildings would allow multiple countries to have their own space.
The largest building here was the stadium—no, the arena. It was impossible to see inside from here, but that was where the matches would take place.
I could hear the sound of construction and the booming voices of the builders. Their work had to be reaching the end soon.
“There they are.” Surrounding the arena were several tough-looking men and women all training. What a glorious sight. It was so refreshing seeing all these people motivated to train hard. See? It was natural for us humans to want to get stronger. It was natural for us to seek power. The look and obsession of those trying to grasp victory was truly wonderful.
“Do you want to go to them?”
Е̌ n̄ um̌а
“No, viewing them from afar is fine.” There was no need for me to talk to them—I’d rather not interrupt. Besides, no one here really interested me at a glance. There was no one I wanted to get a closer look at.
There were swordsmen, spear users, and bare-handed fighters. Some were fully armored; others were wielding weapons I’d never seen in my life. What even is that? A three-section staff? Wait, no... A five-section staff?! Five whole sections?! Gods does that look like a difficult weapon to wield. Can you even make use of something like that? Is it even possible to master? Is it even possible to swing it? If you’re going to have that many sections, you’d be better off just getting a whip. Are they okay? They look like they’re really struggling.
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Honestly...I was kind of curious, but they didn’t seem that strong, so I decided to leave them.
The more I looked, the more my attention was drawn to contestants who showed promise, and upon further observation, actually did seem relatively strong. But it still wasn’t enough, not enough at all. At this rate, no one would stand up to my students. All of you need to thirst for more power. Be greedy. Be so desperate for power you’d even sell your soul to the devil. Even if you sold it, you’d get strong enough you’d be able to beat the beast up afterward anyway.
Was that Heroic Star Assembly duo Hildetaura mentioned anywhere here? If they were really as strong as she said, then I should be able to tell right away...
“Oh, Young Mistress. Look, over there.”
Е̇ n̂_u mӑ
Over where? When I turned to look where Lynokis was pointing... Oh?
“She looks familiar.”
A girl with red hair accompanied by two women in attendant outfits was staring fixedly at the arena while hiding behind a tree. Even at just a glance, she looked suspicious.
“She should. Isn’t that the second daughter of the Silver family?”
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Probably.
“Oh, she noticed us.”
Ẃ.е̄ḃn̂о́ v̆е l̃ Ѐ ñumа̌
The attendants noticed us and then whispered in the red-haired girl’s ear—and then all three turned to look at us at once. There was no mistaking it now. That girl looking at us like she was about to cry was almost definitely Rikelvita.
For a moment, I wondered why she was here, but then I remembered that Reliared had already said that Rikelvita was in the capital. And then Hildetaura had said something about her being asked to draw posters. That was probably why she was here.
She looked about ready to run away the moment she got the chance, but I was sure she did want to complete her task. Whether she would actually manage was a different story.
“N-Nice to...see you again, N-Nia.”
I decided to go and at least say hello.
Mmm, she really does look pale. Is it because she’s not at home? She’s sweating so much too. I knew she was terrified of strangers and that she was a severe shut-in. It seemed predictable that this would be how she would turn out if she came here.
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“It’s been a while, Miss Rikelvita. I’ve heard a little of what you’re doing here from Relia. You’re drawing posters for the king, yes?”
“Ah, yeah... I haven’t finished a single one yet, though...”
No surprise there. With how she’d been hiding behind the tree until we came up, she hadn’t even tried to talk to any of her models yet. Her nature certainly made things difficult.
“Are you all right?” I could tell she wasn’t, but I asked without thinking.
“Oooh... My stomach hurts... I want to go home... I’ve felt nauseous this whole time...”
Was she really going to manage this?
Е̄ ñ ŭm а̌
No. No, she definitely wasn’t.
“Could you tell me the situation? I’ll help as much as I can.” I turned to look at her attendants—the attendants who were standing behind the clearly-not-okay Rikelvita, most definitely sent from the Silver Estate.
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“I see.”
They briefly told me the state of affairs—not that there was much to explain to begin with. The job parameters were as simple as “just draw as much as you can.” They would leave the method to her, and even how many people she wanted to draw. Even her pace was up to her. They left her with the vague order of drawing lots of competitors’ faces.
Rikelvita arrived at the island two days ago, but, well, it was easy to see the result. She was as much of a mess as the first time we met her.
We could work with that.
Е nu.m а̀ ._і̌ḋ
“Let’s go together.”
“Huh?”
“I came here today to prepare for a recording. I was considering talking to some of the strong competitors, so we could ask if they would be willing to act as a model for you at the same time. I’ll put in a good word for you.”
“A-Are you sure? I’m, y’know... I really don’t think I’ll be able to help...”
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Don’t say that about yourself. Even though you’re probably right.
“Don’t worry, it’ll just be something I do while I’m there.” Those posters of hers would be a big part of making this tournament a hit. I wouldn’t give up the chance to help.
Ẃ è b̄ ñо̄ vе l̄ Е̊n ù m а
“I don’t think you’ll need to draw that many to begin with.” It wasn’t as if she were expected to draw every competitor she came across. There was no point in drawing portraits of those who were likely to drop out in the qualifiers. Narrowing it down to just the potential winners decreased the workload by a lot. At most, she’d be drawing twenty to thirty people. “I’ve actually gotten some recommendations from Leeno in advance.”
“In advance?”
“Yes. She has notified me of the competitors that are most likely to win, so I think you’ll be fine just drawing them. There aren’t that many.”
“O-Oh, really...”
Yes, because Leeno’s evaluations were my evaluations. I had told a slight lie, but it was nestled in truth, so surely it would be fine.
“Shall we go?”
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“Wh-Wh-Wha—”
Knowing that she was almost definitely glued to the spot, I grabbed her hand and forced her to walk. I had a curfew to obey; we had no time to be messing around.
We wandered around the different buildings, observing those who were training outside. Given how out of place we looked, we drew the attention of some of the contestants, but the majority were entirely focused on themselves. At most, they spared us a glance and then ignored us.
This was natural. The preliminaries were about to begin. They had no time for distractions.
Plus, there were staff allocated as security around the premises. With so many professionally violent people in one place, there was always the chance a fight could break out. Anyone who initiated a fight would immediately be disqualified. I’d heard they were being quite strict about enforcing that rule. No one would want to be sent home for such a foolish reason after having journeyed all this way, especially not those seriously aiming for the title of champion.
“E-Eek, there’s...there’s n-naked bodies e-everywhere...” Buff men wiping off their sweat, slender men training half naked, women baring their midriffs as they ran... Rikelvita was terrified—or maybe not? She looked embarrassed, but also...happy? She was watching them with great interest. Well, so long as she wasn’t scared, that was fine.
Ёn ûm а̌
It was fine, right?
Anyway, I continued observing the contestants. A lot of them were just short of the mark. Others had clearly trained well, and were right on the threshold of utilizing chi.
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The contestants surprisingly were not that bad. To be fair, the fact they were here at all had to mean they had some confidence in their abilities—and I could certainly see why. But it still wasn’t enough. I could defeat any of them while filing my nails.
Just as I was thinking that to myself...
“Hey, you! I’ve seen you before!”
“Oh, it’s her! The white kid!”
Enû m а̊
Two giant men came lumbering toward us with raised voices.
“Eek!” Rikelvita shrieked as she immediately crouched behind me. This girl was supposed to be over twenty years old and she was using a child as a shield... Well, whatever.
I’ve seen you two before, as well. They were the tiger beastkin Kikirira had interviewed on magivision back in the first semester. Their bodies were just as big as they had been back then, but they were still so, so weak. Get in more and more training! Do some deep meditation! Surely this isn’t all the innate talent the beastkin have to offer.
Dammit, any time I saw incredible potential in someone, I immediately felt the desire to train them. They were so close to greatness.
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“Hello. I’ve come to take a look at the island in preparation for a recording,” I explained. “You’re both very big, aren’t you?” And yet despite their size, they were still so weak! They needed to stop wasting their time talking to us and go train!
There were a lot of large-bodied participants, but these two were especially big. Being bigger than Gandolph was an impressive feat. Beastkin also had a natural litheness and flexibility to their muscles and tendons, and they had such sturdy bones to boot... Seeing them up close really drove home just what ideal bodies they’d been blessed with. It was so unbelievably tragic. Polish that treasure you have, don’t let it rot. I can see the dust clinging to you already.
W̄ӗb̈ n ovе̂l Ên u m̆ а̄.
“You’re preparing for a recording? Then get a good look at us! We’ll absolutely win!”
“Indeed! We, the new conquerors of this land, are called—”
Yes, yes, how wonderful. Amazing. I said anything to pretend I was listening. I didn’t need their names, I needed them to train. They’d be knocked out in the qualifiers at this rate.
There were a few more competitors who called out to us, but relatively speaking, not that many. There was a great tension in the air with how close the preliminaries were. Everyone was on edge to some degree. The capital itself may have been full of excitement, but that wasn’t quite the case for the fighters.
Perfect. They needed to be taking something like this seriously—those who couldn’t determine when it was time to lock in would have problems well before the preliminaries. Drive forward. It’s time for the last push. But don’t push yourselves too hard. It would be terrible if you made yourself ill.
The fighters who were managing to maintain their usual routines were definitely the ones that felt strong, but there were always differences in how that presented itself in people, so it was hard to say what one should do. Regardless, they needed to train. They needed to push themselves further.
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“Ah.” Lynokis let out a noise. She’d recognized someone: Sitting underneath a tree was a swordsman dressed in Eastern garb, a very familiar face from the Umbral Arena.
Asuma Hinoki, the Sword Demon, was it? He was someone Lynokis had a bone to pick with after he cut her arm clean off.
Hmm, I thought he was just lounging, but he’s actually meditating, isn’t he? He must be fighting someone in his mind, or perhaps even fighting himself.
It looked like he’d gotten stronger. But he still fell a bit short. With the right impetus, I was sure even he could begin to grasp chi, but he wasn’t quite there yet.
“What do you think, Young Mistress?” Lynokis whispered into my ear.
“He’s the strongest of the middling competitors, at least.” He’d probably make it past the prelims, but he was on the weaker end of the potential champions. Lynokis had been caught completely off guard last time they fought, but now, such a gap had been made in their strengths that it would be a surprise if she lost. My other students wouldn’t lose to him either.
E num ă.і̌d̈
See, this is another case of a good teacher definitely being able to turn someone into a gem given the chance. He is so close to greatness...
“I-Is that man...a possible champion...?” We’d been staring at him for so long that Rikelvita had made the assumption.
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“Yes.” The chances were low, but he was a fighter that had at least a bit of a chance. Besides, that Eastern garb? That Eastern blade? His title of the Kenki? Being a famous adventurer? That would easily pull interest.
“Shall we go?”
“O-Ooogh...” The girl didn’t nod, but she knew she couldn’t refuse. Taking that troubled noise as a yes, we walked up to the Kenki.
“What do you want?” he asked, eyes remaining closed.
W̊ e b n̆ о̌ v е̌l̃ Е́ n̈ u m̊ а̌
“You’re Asuma, the Kenki, aren’t you? We have something we’d like to ask you.”
His black eyes opened and looked straight at us.
Oh...? Hang on now. Oh my. I see, I see. I’d been a little disappointed because I thought he had barely improved, but it seemed I was wrong—he had actually reached a new domain in his martial arts. In which case, he was much stronger than I had originally assumed.
I take back everything I said. He must have been blessed with a good teacher after all. He was certainly at a level where he could take the title of champion so long as he was lucky with his matchups.
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“What questions? I’m not particularly in the mood for such chatter. Ask someone else.”
“We won’t take much of your time.”
W̄ e b̃ nǒ v̄_ё ĺ Е́ n u ḿа
At my insistence, the man frowned as he relented. “Then speak.” He looked a little uncomfortable, but at least he was willing to listen. He wasn’t the most amicable last time we met given the circumstances, but it seemed he was surprisingly friendly.
“We would like to draw a portrait of you to advertise the tournament.”
“You wish to draw me? Well...what do you require me to do?”
“Um...” I turned to Rikelvita.
“U-Uh, sorry, if you could...could just s-stay where you are.”
“O-Okay...” Even the Kenki seemed to waver when confronted by a woman who looked far from okay.
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Right? She looks to be in a terrible state, doesn’t she? You can’t help but worry, can you?
With everyone around her watching, wondering if she was all right, Rikelvita crouched down in front of the Kenki and prepared her pen and sketchbook.
“Uh, um, s-s-so, uh, if you could just...just l-look a little to the left...and k-keep your gaze fixed there... Yes, yes... That’s perfect, thank you very much...”
So fast.
I was completely clueless when it came to art, with most of my experience coming from art class at school, but Rikelvita’s hand was moving at an insane speed, entirely different from her usual self. It was as if her arm were possessed by someone else entirely. The pen moved without stopping, and suddenly, the sketch was complete. The lines were rough, but you could still tell exactly who it was.
Having finished her work at unbelievable speed, Rikelvita just as swiftly closed her sketchbook and returned to her hiding place behind me. I didn’t personally mind, but I had to hope she wouldn’t use any other children as a shield—that would just be mean.
Ѐň u m̃â_
“Is that all?”
“Y-Yes. I just n-need to clean it up later. Th-Thank you, for, y’know...using your precious time on s-someone like me...”
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With that done, we left the Kenki to his meditation.
For me, personally, my expectations had been kicked up a notch. I’ll make sure to closely watch what precipice you have reached in your martial arts.
When I thought about it later, it occurred to me that Rikelvita was working on the paper play program. That show changed series and themes all the time, with five to ten new pictures being broadcast every day. If she was able to draw that many pictures with that level of polish consistently in such a short span of time, then she had to have insane skill. It only made sense that she could do a sketch with such speed.
What a wonderful ability.
Еn̂ũṁа́ . ïd
Incidentally, while she had been doing the pictures for the paper plays by herself at first, she now had a team to help. She would do the storyboarding and sketches while other artists would clean it all up.
“At your pace, I imagine we could finish these all today.” The potential champions did not number many. Even looking around where we were at the moment, none of them caught my eye. At this rate, there would be considerably fewer than I initially assumed. Though there were a lot of people to look through.
“R-Really? Phew...” Though I was only making assumptions, Rikelvita already looked relieved.
Personally, I was disappointed. Strong fighters from all the nearby countries were supposed to be gathered here, yet this just made it even more apparent to me that it wasn’t just Altoire that was weak—the whole world was weak.
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Whatever. There was nothing you couldn’t find if you just looked hard enough. Take how I found the Kenki, for example.
If it turned out there wasn’t anyone stronger than my students, then they would win, simple as that. I wasn’t upset by that possibility, just a little disappointed. Though I’d been disappointed for years, so I was used to it.
Wе b n̄ о̇ v̀е̃ l̆ Ѐ n ů ḿā.
All right, let’s pick ourselves back up and go looking for the next one!
We continued wandering around. All the contestants were milling about, so we went on a casual stroll as we observed. Occasionally, someone would challenge me to a race since they knew me from my dog racing program, but I ignored them.
No one here is standing out at all... Ah, never mind. She’s standing out for a different reason.
A group of three people were standing around chatting—they were all wearing white coats and bands that identified them as staff. There was a woman among them who looked very familiar.
“Lynokis, the lady over there.”
“Yes? She looks like staff. Is she a doctor? Do...you know her?”
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What? Oh, of course. Lynokis was unconscious at the time.
That woman had been the magic physician in the Umbral Arena. She treated Lynokis after her arm had been cut off. We’d only met once, but she’d left a strong impression on me.
So she’d be participating as a member of the tournament staff, hmm? I didn’t know anything about her personal life or why she would be at the Umbral Arena one minute and then here the next, but her skill was undeniable. Even potentially lethal injuries wouldn’t result in death with her around. So long as they didn’t die immediately, she’d be able to pull them back from the brink.
“Shall we go say hello?”
“No, let’s not.” That doctor had been sharp. It seemed likely she would immediately discern who Lynokis and I were. It would be inconvenient for all involved if anyone learned we’d met in an underground arena, and I had no reason to interact with the medical staff anyway. There was no need for us to meet—time to move on.
Oh, there she is. This time, I spotted two women, one of which I knew.
Е̊ n̊ ûm̂ä .і.d̂.
As in, she was my student.
“Ah, that’s Fressa, isn’t it?” Lynokis had noticed too.
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Right now, she was in disguise. She’d dyed her hair, tied it up, and was wearing a chic dress that made her look ready to go to some sort of social function. She almost passed for an aristocrat like this—you could feel a real elegance to her.
I knew women could easily transform, but I didn’t think they could change that much. I almost doubted I was looking at Fressa at all. Lynokis’s transformation into Leeno with just a bit of makeup was already astounding to me, but this was a different level.
So this was an assassin’s disguise. She was certainly a professional.
The woman next to Fressa looked like the wife of an aristocrat, graceful and regal. She appeared high-class and looked entirely out of place because of it. Was she a competitor too? Honestly, what were the two of them wearing? Those outfits felt like they were wrong for both the place and the time. At least as a disguise, it worked. I’d barely been able to identify her as Fressa just from appearance after all.
Е̊n̂u̇m̌а̄
“Young Mistress, that is Scarlet.” Noticing my confusion, Lynokis gave me the answer I was looking for.
“Huh? Who?” I assumed she was talking about the woman next to Fressa, but the name rang no bells for me.
“The Mystic Butterfly of the Night. The whip-user.”
“That isn’t helping.”
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“You know, the woman I fought against in the Umbral Arena. The one I knocked out with one hit.”
“Oh!” Scarlet, the Mystic Butterfly of the Night! I...had completely forgotten about her, honestly, but I did have the vague recollection of wondering who the hell decided to pit her against Lynokis. Thinking back now, she’d had quite the outfit then too, so maybe this was just her regular attire. Well, you know, everyone has their own sense of style.
W еb̂ n̄ о̊ v е́l Ё n u m а̃
She and Fressa were friends, though? I imagined it had to be an underworld connection.
“Th-Those two, as well?”
“Yes. She is also a potential champion.” Given she was in disguise, I could only assume that Fressa was participating anonymously and with a fake name. I wasn’t sure about the Mystic Butterfly, though. “Lynokis, could you go ask them? Ask for their entry names while you’re there.”
“Yes, Young Mistress.”
The women had already noticed us.
After Lynokis went to talk to them, they came back with her.
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“Young Mistress, this is Freeze and Scarlet.”
So Scarlet was keeping her name—though really, that in and of itself was probably a fake name. She would’ve likely used a fake name for the Umbral Arena and then decided to keep it for the tournament. Fressa was now Freeze. All right, got it memorized.
“Nice to meet you, Freeze. Scarlet.” When I greeted them, the two responded in kind.
Good, Fressa did always have a very good instinct. I shouldn’t need to worry about how she’ll interact with me. It would be bad for both of us if people knew we were acquainted.
After we made our introductions as if it were our first time meeting, we asked them about the portraits.
“Why, I don’t mind at all! Please draw every last bit of my beauty!” Scarlet was certainly enthusiastic about it. Honestly, hers wasn’t one we really needed... But it was fine. Her appearance made her stand out, and it would certainly attract fans of a certain kind as well.
Е̄ ṅ ǔ m а́
Besides, getting a closer look at her, I started to realize that even if she wasn’t strong, she was perfect for the screen. She had a good voice, she was attractive, and if she was willing to enter the Umbral Arena, then she had to be confident too. What an interesting talent. She might be quite suited for magivision. I should let Bendelio know the next time I see him. If he thinks she’d be useful, we should grab her before someone else does.
“Th-Th-Thank you...very much...”
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Rikelvita swiftly sketched Scarlet first.
“Let me see.”
“Ah, w-wait—” Rikelvita panicked as Scarlet snatched the sketchbook from her.
Scarlet paused. After staring at the rough drawing for a while, she nodded deeply.
Ĕ n_ŭ mа . і́ d̂
“Not bad at all. What do you think, Freeze?”
“She made you look three times cuter.”
“Huh? Uh, no, you mean it’s as cute as the real thing.”
“Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night.”
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Scarlet seemed to like it at least and that was enough to give the artist relief.
Next up was Fressa. This was who I was really here for—she was undoubtedly one of the potential winners. Honestly, if these were deathmatches, I was sure she would win. But, of course, given it was intended to be a friendly tournament, killing was not allowed. How much that restriction held her back and chained her down would likely be the deciding factor for her matches.
Ӗn̂ú m̂а
“You should totally cut your hair. You look like you could be so cute, it’s such a waste of your looks. We women have gotta be confident in ourselves.”
“Ah, ha, eh heh... Eh heh heh, sorry... Hee hee hee...” Rikelvita giggled as she was sketching Fressa’s portrait and Scarlet continued talking to her.
She really does whatever she wants with no hesitation. The longer I watch her the more suited she is to magivision.
We had more to do after this, so we parted ways the second the sketches were done.
I never exchanged a single word with Fressa that whole time. She truly was a professional, maintaining the guise of not knowing who Lynokis or I were right to the end.
After splitting with Fressa and Scarlet, we resumed our walk around the island. Now that we’d drawn Scarlet, I decided to lower my standards for which competitors could get posters. At this rate, Scarlet would stand out as the only competitor to immediately lose—there would be a random weakling mixed in among a crowd of strong fighters, and that would come across like a mean-spirited jab.
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And so, my solution was to change my approach. I chose ten or so fighters who might struggle to win, but could probably put up a good fight and had Rikelvita draw them too. There were a lot of people who were at least strong enough to have already made a name for themselves, like adventurers or martial arts instructors.
In hindsight, this was probably the best choice I could’ve made—the range of people this would attract had immediately increased.
Wait, I’d better remember my rankings for who I think is strongest, just in case. Even if they were all possible winners, their difference in ability was still noticeable. I split them into three categories: favorite, has a chance, dark horse. I’d heard such estimates would be useful for betting advice, so that would be good enough, I’d think. Later, I’d write down their names and my evaluation of them and send it away.
Though we’d done a circuit of the whole island, I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Anzel or Gandolph. They were in my favorites category, so I really wanted to get posters of them drawn.
I’d heard that Gandolph still hadn’t checked in to his room yet, though. Since he worked at the academy, he’d be arriving at the last minute. Anzel, I had no idea about. I should’ve asked Fressa when we bumped into her.
I didn’t find those Heroic Star Assembly people Hildetaura mentioned either. She’d said there were two of them, hadn’t she? They were supposed to be Hero candidates, so surely I would know who they were the second I saw them. I was so curious, but maybe they hadn’t checked in yet either...
Ŵ е ḃ n ӧ ṽ е ĺ Ѐn.u ṁ а_
The sun was starting to set. This was enough for today. We needed to report back to Hildetaura for now. Since Rikelvita’s work just happened to overlap with mine, we could report back about that as well. I wanted to give the princess my rankings memo while I was there. If it seemed like I hadn’t listed enough people, I could just come again on a different day. From what I could tell, there were quite a lot of participants. The ones I saw today had to only be one part of them.
“Miss Rikelvita, I must leave soon.”
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We’d circled the island and were now back at the docks. I had my curfew to consider, so this seemed like a good time to wrap things up.
“Th-Th-Thank you so much, Nia! I managed to get so much done!”
Yes, yes, no need to cry. With how grateful she was, she must have been stuck for a while. I was glad I could help.
Hmm?
Ẽ n u m̃а̃ .і̃d
Suddenly feeling someone’s gaze on me, I turned to look. A group of six were coming out of the port. All of them were in well-tailored Wu Haitong garb and were clearly not regular people. Were they nobles or wealthy?
These people were definitely not normal... They were all decently strong, but especially the small elderly man at the front. And the large old man just behind him. My eyes met with the smaller man’s.
Those two old men were fairly strong. They definitely knew how to use chi. There was no mistake. No, wait, all six of them could use it. Their gait, their complete lack of openings... They were truly used to battle. Too used to battle. The kind of battle where killing others was guaranteed. They were specialized in killing people. All of them were.
What assassin’s organization were they part of? They didn’t look as if they were here out of greed.
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Hmph, interesting. I was curious about their goal, so I decided I may as well have a talk with them. That man had locked eyes with me after all.
“Miss Rikelvita, let’s finish your sketches off with this group here.”
Ē numа
“What? Th-Those people over there? Huh?!” The moment Rikelvita caught sight of who I meant, the sweat started pouring off of her. She’d been sweating this whole time, yet she could still sweat more? She really needed to make sure she was staying hydrated. “N-Nia, we shouldn’t. W-We really, really, definitely shouldn’t.”
Rikelvita was trembling and frantically shaking her head at me. Her instincts must have told her just how dangerous that group was. I suppose it must have been her survival instinct. That or it was the instinct of the weak, of the prey.
“Then remain here if you must. Can you draw from a distance?”
“Listen to me, don’t!” She desperately tried to stop me despite her usually more reserved nature, but she was already too late...
“You must be Nia Liston.”
...because they’d already made their approach.
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“Yes, I am Nia Liston. Nice to meet you, mister.”
When I turned around, they were already right beside me.
“Well now.” The small old man gave a gentle smile as if hiding his true nature. That smile was so kind, as if he were a simple, harmless old man. “You’re a strong one.”
That’s my line. He’d recognized my strength from my posture alone. Or perhaps he’d already come to that conclusion after seeing me on magivision.
“Whatever could you mean?”
Both our attitudes and our tones of voice were calm and peaceful. The tension in the air was palpable. It was even noticeable to the poor passersby who hurried away in fear.
Е n̂ ü mа
Everyone apart from me and this old man were ready to jump at the slightest wrong move. Lynokis was ready to attack if necessary and so was the group of assassins. Rikelvita and her attendants, bless their hearts, were so overwhelmed by our presences that they could barely breathe.
They really didn’t need to worry that much. This was nothing. If I wanted to, I could have very easily beheaded every single assassin in the blink of an eye. That was how little “fairly strong” meant to me.
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“What’s your name, mister?”
“Ku Yunxie.”
“In that case, Mr. Ku, I have a request.”
“And what would that be?”
Е n u̇m а̌
“We want to make posters for the tournament and we’d love it if we could draw you and your group. Would that be all right?”
“Portraits of us?”
“Yes.”
Ku’s smile deepened. “You are asking this knowing full well who I am, aren’t you? You’re too strong for me to let you deny it.”
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I know. You’re professional killers from Wu Haitong, aren’t you? But that doesn’t matter to me.
“The fact you’re here means that you are entering the tournament, no? I’m asking for you to let us draw you because the chances of you winning are so high. Does that offend you in some way? Or is having your face so readily viewable by the public an inconvenience to you?”
Е n̆ u m̂ а̀. i d̆
Ku went silent.
“You aren’t so weak that a little attention would cause you problems, are you? Or do you truly think so little of yourselves? Are you afraid of one or two little scuffles while you’re sleeping soundly in your bed?”
My provocations were enough to have the five men behind Ku radiate their hostility.
As for the man himself...
“Heh heh... Ha ha ha ha! Wonderful, wonderful.” He laughed like it was the funniest thing he’d ever heard. “If it’s just me, then go ahead. Make sure you make me look ten years younger, though. It’ll be a nice souvenir. I’d love to have something like that in my coffin with me when I die.”
When Rikelvita wobbled forward, she looked so pale that even that frightening old man was asking her if she was all right, but she still managed to finish the job.
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Rikelvita was unmistakably a pro herself.
“It appears quite the troublesome group has joined the lineup,” Lynokis said, face grim.
After we said goodbye to Rikelvita, we boarded the flight home and holed ourselves up in our room.
“To you, yes.” The strength of those Wu Haitong assassins was unmistakable, especially Ku Yunxie. That old man had to have been the strongest candidate for champion among those I had seen today. His skill was on a completely different level. “I think he’ll make a good opponent for you.”
From my estimations, his strength was about equal to Lynokis. Either of them could win when pitted against each other. If it were a deathmatch, then Lynokis would almost certainly lose. I think even Fressa would struggle against a monster like that.
That old man was strong, but so were the men he had with him; they weren’t to be underestimated either. Honestly, I’d have loved if all of them could’ve been made into posters, though I wouldn’t deny that I could easily beat them even if I was so exhausted from my recordings that I came down with a fever.
E.n̄ǔm̄ ӓ . іd̈
“I suppose... Honestly, I had thought that there was no one there with the chance to beat me other than Gandolph and the others.”
Oh, so even Lynokis had noticed. Yes, that group was strong. If Lynokis wasn’t careful, she would easily lose.
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“Do you think you can win?”
“I’m...starting to doubt my chances now, I won’t lie.”
Hey, hey, why are you losing confidence now? Don’t look so hopeless. You’re my first disciple; I need you to do your best. You’re not going to drop out in the prelims, are you?
...
Е̄ ǹ úm а
Hey! I’ve literally told the king that Leeno is a shoo-in to win! I’m counting on you! I’m seriously counting on you, you know?!
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