Chapter 8 – 02. Kingdom of Ulstro – Martial Arts Tournament (2)

“It’s a bit unfortunate.”

“Yes?”

“No.”

“Chi, everyone says it’s nothing.”

The duel that lasted for about 20 minutes was finally over.

As expected, the glory of winning belonged to Ethylene. I don’t know if Valdes’ last move went in, but as a result it failed and he was defeated. It left me with some kind of regret.

-Finally, the winner was born!! The winner of the 8th warrior prayer contest is Princess Ethylene Propylene!!

“You relieved the resentment of the Marquis of Propylene.”

“Huh? … Huh, that’s right.”

A slow reply.

When I looked at the queen, wondering what was going on, she was looking at Valdez with strange eyes.

‘Yes?’

I could n’t tell in detail, but the queen’s expression of her was intricately intertwined with various emotions, such as nostalgia, surprise, longing, and bewilderment. Even her mother took an interest in Valdez. I was just confused.

“Your Highness the Queen?”

“Ah, yes. We have to go down.”

The proper awards ceremony and article oaths take place the next day. However, it was a tradition, not a tradition, for the king to personally go down to the competition hall to praise and congratulate the winner and runner-up for their hard work.

Mercedes went downstairs with Marie following the Queen.

She glanced at her sister standing next to her. I felt strangely depressed, probably regretting that Valdez did not win. Apparently, she didn’t notice that the queen was interested in Valdez.

‘If that’s the case, I’d be uneasy.’

Just like myself now.

Arriving at the arena was quick. When they went down, Ethylene and Valdes were waiting for them on one knee.

“Both of them worked hard. Both of them must have gone through hard training and hardships until they got to this point. I hope you will protect our Ulstro Kingdom with that strength.”

“”Yes! Her Highness the Queen!””

“Whoops, first of all, ethylene propylene. You already have a knighthood. If so, you have three choices instead: a baronial title, a letter of recommendation, and arms. Which one do you want?”

The queen asked Ethylene, but it was as if the answer had already been decided.

“I want a letter of recommendation.”

The baronial title and good weapons can be obtained through the power of the marquis family. However, the letter of recommendation written by the queen is different.

The kingdom’s three major knights were able to enter with a simple inspection.

“Huh, I seem to remember what happened at the last banquet. You probably hope to join the Knights of Pedro, right? I’ll tell the captain of the knights in advance.”

“The castle is ruined, Your Highness!”

After talking with Ethylene, the Queen looked at Valdes.

“Now then, the runner-up, Valdez. Do you want to stand still?”

It was a formal question.

It was a martial arts competition to gain honor above all else, but non-knights made it to the round of 16 or higher, so there was no reason not to hope to become a knight.

It was only natural that he would be treated much better if he worked as a mercenary as a free knight.

“No, Her Highness the Queen.”

“Huh, that’s right… Huh?”

However, Valdes’ answer was negative.

Everyone around, as well as the audience, began to stir. People who had just been cheering for him started cursing and booing him.

“So, what do you want?”

Valdez paused for a moment before slowly opening his mouth.

“…I was abandoned without knowing which of my parents was a demon because I was of mixed demon race. Growing up as an orphan, I was lucky enough to join a retired mercenary and learn swordsmanship. After my master passed away, I became a mercenary and traveled to many places. I went there, but there was discrimination against mixed races everywhere.”

“…”

It wasn’t that loud. However, his words, which are calm and somehow catchy, spread throughout the arena.

Suddenly, the arena was quiet.

“I participated in this competition to become the vanguard to overcome that discrimination. Some people would hate the fact that a mixed-race like me came second in a martial arts competition honoring the warrior. I will prove it. Even if it is mixed-race, no. Even if you are a demon, if you have a heart that loves this country, you are a Ulstroin.”

“Huh.”

Admiration burst from the Queen’s mouth, and Valdez raised his head.

It was originally a situation where he shouldn’t have been lifted, but no one stopped him or blamed him.

“Please make me a servant of the Knights of Pedro. I will be recognized by everyone with my own strength and become a knight.”

-… The last to settle in the quarterfinals is Valdez, the boy mercenary!!

Wow!!!
Woo woo woo!!!

‘It’s so annoying.’

He thought about that as he walked down the pitch.

It was unavoidable.

He had to play a boy mercenary now in his mid-teens. It was difficult to control his strength against his youngsters who would die in one blow if he showed his true skills. Even a little bit of this skill came out and it ended up being a major accident.

No, to be precise, it wasn’t strength, it was difficult to refrain from swordsmanship.

It’s like strength and stamina. Up to a certain limit, magic could be used to lower it. But swordsmanship is not like that. The same is true of this Pioneer Eye, where the gaps of the children are clearly visible.

It was like that just a moment ago.

Fighting fiercely while wasting time against an idiot who seemed like he would collapse if he only swept his sword. If he had seen the demons who died at his hands his during his time his as a hero, it would have been a sight that he would have grabbed them by the back of their necks in astonishment.

‘I should be more careful today.’

The first three days were better. He just had to take the time and knock him down with a single hit.

However, the round of 16 was played one game at a time, so all the spectators’ eyes were focused.

Instead of returning to the call room, Valdez watched the other contestants outside the arena.

‘Ethylene propylene. A Marquis of Propylene… He must have been a count in the past.’

He was remembered as a young man who looked quite succulent.

He was only a year older than him, but he was a man who looked at me with respect as a warrior. The daughter of that young knight.

‘Yes?’

Come to think of it, she remembered being told that she had a child back then as well. She must have said 2 years old.

‘Wow, so you’re 20 years old? That’s interesting.’

I felt the passage of time all over again.

While he went back to being a baby and grew up again for 18 years, the warrior Pedro’s peers all became middle-aged, and now he, Valdes, has become the same age as their children his.

‘And that would be the same on this side.’

Queen Beatrice de Ulstro.

1 Princess Mercedes Ulstro.

2nd Princess Marie Ulstro.

A young married woman became a mature beauty, and a small child and newborn baby became a mature virgin.

‘Somehow the feeling is strange.’

At that time, I felt something intense gaze. It was not for ordinary spectators.

‘This way….’

He raised his head.

I knew it.

Private balcony for the royal family. There, Mercedes and Marie were staring at him.

All three mothers and daughters have their own schedules because they are greeting the royal family. So, the Queen and Mercedes watched only on the last day, and Marie watched for two days until yesterday, perhaps because she had a little more time.

‘It’s an opportunity.’

He didn’t know why he was looking at him, but he wasn’t a fool to miss this great opportunity.

He immediately casts some enchantment spells on himself. It was a magic that made the viewer look attractive with a smile and confuse the mind.

If you use something that is too powerful, you may feel a sense of difference, and you may get caught by another wizard. This was just about right.

Smiled.

The viewer can feel that it is the boy’s bright smile. It wasn’t difficult because I’ve practiced it a few times.

The faces of the two princesses turned red.

“Laugh…”

I couldn’t hear it because of the limitations of my physical ability, but I wondered if I might have let out a moan like this.

He quickly erased his smile and turned his gaze back to the arena.

I shouldn’t have looked at it for too long. It could be considered a crime of disrespect, and a smile had to be shown once in a while to have a great effect. The same goes for enchantment magic.

There was one more reason.

‘Crazy bitch….’

Aww

The queen of this country sitting in front of them.

Beatrice.

It was because she didn’t want to look at her. No, she couldn’t exactly look.

If I kept staring at her, I felt like I would run out of her and blow her with one fist.

‘I’m sure he was involved in that year as well. No, that bitch must be one of the ringleaders.’

I could guess.

Because Beatrice and him had a love-hate relationship. The love could only be for Beatrice, though.

In conclusion, Beatrice likes him. No, to be precise, the hero Pedro.

When someone hears this story, they can’t help but feel strange.

Because Beatrice was a married woman at the time.

So he always called her her mad bitch when she wasn’t around.

“Pedro, I love you. Please make me happy.”

When Beatrice confessed to him, she was pregnant with Marie. Confessing to another man while pregnant with her husband’s child, he wondered if Beatrice had gone mad because she had injured her head her during her war.

“I’m sorry, princess. I can’t make you happy. Besides, isn’t the princess with her husband her?”

“You don’t have to worry about that. It will be fixed in no time.”

“…Yes?”

It was two days later that she received the news that her husband had been killed in action. And the next day she found out that her husband’s family had been annihilated.

I got goosebumps.

Since then, she has personally investigated Beatrice and her husband. Knowing the outcome, it was not difficult to figure out what happened ahead.

In the first place, the two who had an arranged marriage did not have much love.

I don’t know if that’s why or if she had other thoughts, but Beatrice deliberately drove her husband and the duke to death. I checked again to see if there was something wrong in the middle, but I couldn’t come to that conclusion.

After that, Beatrice confessed to Pedro several more times, but he refused each time.

And when he rejected her final confession of her, Beatrice said to him,

“…You’ll regret it, warrior. Don’t you know how much jealousy you’re receiving? Holding my hand was your last chance… Let’s meet as a couple in our next life. Goodbye, my love. “

He ignored her.

I knew very well that I was getting a lot of jealousy, and I prepared a lot just in case.

… Of course, in the end, he did.

‘Tsk. It’s even more annoying when I recall the old days.’

She hates the queen herself, but she deserves recognition for her looks. And the two princesses who have such a beauty as their mothers. To be honest, if I had been ugly, I would have thought about it a little, but since they were beautiful women, I had no intention of canceling my plans.

While he was thinking of subduing all three mothers and daughters, the three games were over and his match his came again.

-The final match of the quarterfinals is between Nadmla, Jinjaru, the 3rd Prince of Viscount Nadmla, and Valdes, a mercenary of mixed demon race!

“Nice to meet you! My name is Jinjaru Nadmla! The man who will win the glory!”

“…Nice to meet you.”

‘What is this idiot?’

To be honest, he was a strange man how he got to this point. Maybe Daejin luck was good. He knocked it down after a decent two-minute delay.

“Damn it, I misadjusted it a little bit.”

He murmured as he wiped the sweat, or rather the water, running down his cheeks.

Swordsmanship has limits to self-control. So, through magic, he placed restrictions on his physical abilities his. Even so, stamina did not seriously drop.

However, he showed a fierce competition and had to go only to the runner-up.

The idea for that was to camouflage sweat through water magic. He was confident that he would be able to do even the least of making water droplets on his body without him being noticed. Probably no one would have guessed that this sweat was actually water.

He sat down on the outside floor.

There are now 4 players left including him.

Because they are all talented players, they could fight right away and go against fairness, so a short break was given, and the semi-finals took place.

The opponent this time is a mercenary who uses a halberd. He was a talented player on a different level from the aristocrats who fought in the quarterfinals. Thanks to that, I consumed quite a bit of energy to make a close match.

-Everyone has been waiting for a long time!! Finally, the finals of the martial arts competition will begin!! First, let me introduce the two players who came up to the finals!!

After a short break, the long-awaited finals began.

After the moderator’s introduction to both sides, they slowly went upstairs.

‘Yes?’

Why?

Ethylene was glaring at him with her fierce eyes.

‘Does he have a grudge against the demons?’

The moment I had a question that I couldn’t figure out the reason. She opened her mouth

“You dare to make eye contact with Princess Mercedes and smile… You look like a vulgar mercenary.”

“…Yes?”

Apparently, I saw what happened when I looked at the balcony. She must have been in a match, but she was strange.

“Why is Princess Mercedes watching such a mixed race of demons, tsk.

She gave her own words and put on her helmet.

‘Under.’

I understand why she hates him so much.

Ethylene seemed to have a lot of respect for Mercedes. How could she say it by name and title? I thought she was very sincere.

‘Should I eat this year again?’

Apparently, it would take some time to attack the three royal mothers and daughters, so it wouldn’t be bad to touch the people around them to kill time.

Given her personality now, she will definitely apply for the Knights of Pedro.

A grin spread across his face as the dirty thoughts raced through his head.