NOVEL NEXT chapter 77
77 – Exchange Meeting (4)
I bet money,
All that remains is to wait for the results to come out.
In the meantime, I had my game, so I won’t be bored.
I left the betting area and moved towards the main stage of the Great Hall.
In front of the stage, there is an information desk prepared for this exchange event.
“Ah, Sir Leon!”
“Are you here?”
The staff in charge of the guide noticed me and welcomed me.
“hello. Could you please check the game time?”
“Sure. Here you are.”
I accepted the table presented by the staff.
It contained detailed schedules such as the list of people participating today, the timetable, and which block of the grand gymnasium the sparring would take place.
“Leon’s turn is in thirty minutes.”
“Perhaps you can go into the waiting room from now on.”
“Then you should go right now.”
After briefly greeting the two of them, I passed the information desk and stepped into the ornately decorated entrance of the grand hall.
“How many minutes are left until the preliminaries?”
“Five minutes.”
“Eh? let’s hurry!”
The first thing that caught my eye was the students who came to watch the exchange event.
The uniforms of the students were diverse, probably because they came from academies all over the continent.
After I passed them and entered the center of the gymnasium, I entered the space under the sign that said ＜Participant Waiting Room＞.
It was crowded with students who seemed to be participants, but their eyes changed strangely when they saw me.
“uh? That person… … .”
“A man with red hair and a black sword at his waist… … .”
“There is only one person at the Prüg Academy.”
Students looking at me and muttering.
But they didn’t come to me like the others.
rather limiting,
And just scan my body up and down with a fearful gaze.
Outside, the other groups were already sparring, and it was about twenty minutes until my turn came.
‘Is it the same group as me?’
Perhaps they are students in the same group as me.
And unfortunately, they were also the scapegoats in my qualifiers.
Originally, I didn’t have a big desire to win, but
I decided to win to live up to Sir Ferdinand’s promise to win the championship and Lady Catherine’s expectations.
It’s a bet… … It’s being humble.
I passed them and sat in an empty seat in the corner of the waiting room.
I waited thinking about the events that would happen on the day of the closing ceremony, and after exactly twenty minutes, I heard an announcement calling my group.
ㅡI will call the names of the players participating in the next game. Driwell from the Edgar family, Leon from the Roelheim family, Felt from the Rutherion family… … .
I moved after the students called earlier.
“Ugh… … .”
“If only… … .”
Unlike me, who was calm, the faces of the other 19 were wrapped in tension or despair.
It’s like watching cows being led to the slaughterhouse.
And the one who made them this way was me.
what to say about this
‘Feeling like a wolf in a flock of sheep… … ?’
As we come out of the waiting room with such silly thoughts, we hear the shouts of people pouring down on us.
ㅡWow!
—- Dreewell! cheer up!
ㅡFelt! Fighting!
Spectators cheered enthusiastically.
Perhaps, among them, there are family members or friends of the participants, or acquaintances such as seniors or juniors.
With their support, you may be able to achieve better results than usual.
However, being cheered up and multiplying courage was not a word that applied to our group, or to the group that included the saintess from the Faculty of Magic.
Because there was no special treatment in the exchange meeting tournament.
It means that whether I am a sword master or a grand master, I have to go through the qualifiers and go up to the finals.
‘Because rules are rules.’
The fact that I passed the Intermediate level of the Sword Master should be known to all participants in this exchange meeting.
However, no one knows that the saintess is a monster far beyond the level of a grandmaster.
Her odds written in the betting area prove it.
A number that converges to 100 indefinitely.
Before her victory was predicted, people didn’t even seem to know her name.
Her age, seen through the status window before, was twenty-one, the same as Princess Laura.
In other words, this was the first exchange meeting the saintess participated in.
If people knew how strong she was, her odds would have converged to zero indefinitely, similar to mine.
“Everyone please take your seats.”
Professor in the role of referee. At the request of Al, a middle-aged man wearing large glasses, we climbed up to Block A of the Grand Ballroom and took our seats with some distance apart.
Eventually, the referee lifts the arm that had been put down.
“Stop for a moment.”
At that moment, the tall man who was sitting at the head of the audience stood up.
Blonde hair that shines through thorough management.
A man almost three meters tall, like a living giant.
One of the three deans of Prüch Academy, and the one who manages all students in the Faculty of Engineering.
Sir Ferdinand, Count of the Empire and one of the Hundred Sword Masters, was looking straight ahead.
“Leon. You get down from the arena and come this way.”
Spectators and participants looking this way in a sudden situation.
However, I tilted my head in place as I looked at Sir Ferdinand, who beckoned me without a change in expression.
‘… … What’s the matter?’
***
A private room at a cafe near the Grand Ballroom.
“Yes? I beg your pardon?”
At the embarrassing voice of the red-haired young man, the middle-aged man who was tidying up his golden sideburns with a small comb opened his mouth.
“So, you’ve been promoted to judge.”
“… … It’s too sudden.”
“Because it hasn’t been long since the conclusion has been made. I’ve been looking for news to tell you, but I can’t find it? So I sat in the bleachers and waited for your turn to come.”
“I was in the betting area.”
“… … Hey, if I had to give you one piece of advice as a senior in my life, one of the things people should be most careful about is gambling.”
“a. I am not a gambler addict. It’s just that there’s one person who’s certain.”
“Are you sure?”
Ferdinand, who was about to give a speech, pierced his ears.
‘Well, this man was the count.’
Leon stared at him, then muttered to himself.
Even this man who looks like a knight dean has a family to feed.
The knight dean’s salary is not low, but isn’t the more money the better?
“Do you know the name Excelion Ruthfield?”
“I don’t think I’ve heard of it… … .”
“This is the name of the saintess of the Holy Church. He is definitely the one who will make it to the finals, so trust me and bet big.”
“A saint… … . I’ll get it right now.”
As if he was about to get to the point, he held out a piece of paper from his bosom.
“It’s a notice about your promotion to the judges.”
“It’s not that I don’t understand why you excluded me from the contest.”
After reading the notice, the young man understood what the existing judges intended to promote him.
The only sword master among the contestants.
Even there were few Knights of the Superior class right below the Sword Master, or similar Class 5 Wizards.
‘Well, if there is, that’s strange.’
Duke Kaisel, who was called a sword genius, was a superior-class knight at the age of 20.
Of course, high school students in their mid-twenties to late twenties could participate in this exchange event, but even with them, there were few geniuses who reached the superior level.
That’s why Leon, who had passed the Sword Master Intermediate level by prescription, was promoted as a judge instead of a participant.
The first exception in the history of the academy exchange meeting.
It wasn’t that I didn’t understand that feeling, so the young man nodded while handing the notice back to the middle-aged man.
“I understand the situation. So, what should I do from now on?”
“All you have to do is sit in the judges’ seat with me.”
“… … I know there are deans from other academies there too, right?”
“It’s okay. You and I, as well as the deans of other academies, are also sword masters.”
“… … .”
Leon, who blatantly dislikes it.
However, as soon as he heard that it had already been announced by the management of the exchange meeting, he reluctantly accepted the offer.
“All right. But, since you are the deans, you must be gentle.”
‘I hope he won’t bother me.’
“Well… … .”
The Dean of Knights didn’t answer properly, and Leon soon learned the reason.
The two of them head to the jury’s seat at the grand banquet hall.
The deans of other academies greeted them, and they bombarded the young man with questions full of curiosity.
“You are Leon! How could you become a sword master at that age?”
“What is your style? You probably prefer a fast sword, right?”
“Do you have a girlfriend? Who is your fiancée?”
“Whenever you have a chance, come to our academy.”
“How did you get that sword… … .”
“… … .”
They didn’t judge to do it, but only threw a question to the young man.
“Wait, I’m going somewhere… … .”
As the man tried to stand up, Ferdinand, who was sitting next to him, grabbed him by the collar.
“Hey, where are you going?”
“… … I have something urgent to see.”
“Heh heh heh. You can’t run away.”
“… … Didn’t you tell me that this would happen?”
“Do you know how much I struggled to be asked questions instead of you when you were gone?”
“… … .”
A middle-aged man who answers with a grin.
‘No, but isn’t the water ghost operation a bit too much?’
Leon grumbled lightly.