Chapter 95

“International Solo Exhibition!”

The friendly competition is being held between the academies founded by heroes to ensure that the past isn’t forgotten.

The friendly matches take place at the holy site of the great hero, Olfram.

This event is to commemorate Olfram’s heroic deeds and show that the academies still uphold the world.

“Wow, so this is Olfram’s holy place!”

Seron peeked out of the cart, showing his excitement.

Beside him, Card was looking outside with a face that was more subdued than usual.

It was no surprise.

Today, the person who had sent Card as a spy was also here.

But when our eyes met, he gave me an effortless grin.

“Hey, Wang Non, are you nervous? Don’t worry. I’ll be the one to win!”

Consistently, he’s the same.

Hania and Iris were traveling in a different cart after a long time.

“In a solo competition, it’s a different story. There won’t be any team incidents like last time.”

I had led our team to defeat Iris’s team during the last team competition.

Hania was conscious of this and prioritized victory over a contracted romance this time.

Iris looked at me with sad eyes, but she agreed with Hania’s opinion.

Isabel felt the same way.

“What you’re planning is just a continuation of what happened last time. Look forward to it.”

During the Boycott Incident, I had calmly slipped away in the middle of the fight with Isabel.

This solo competition was intended as a continuation of that time.

‘I’m looking forward to it.’

I was curious about how much Isabel had grown.

Her significance in the upcoming scenarios was about to increase.

I hoped she had made great progress.

The crowd surrounding me dispersed, and for the first time in a while, the troublesome trio gathered again.

“Prince Sweet Potato, what do you think your rank will be?”

Seron asked about the rankings for the international solo competition.

Such things can only be found out through experience, but I simply smiled calmly.

“I’ll be in the top six.”

The reputation of the six stars.

I was determined to stake my claim to it.

＊＊＊

The arena prepared for the international solo competition resembled a massive coliseum.

Of course, since every student from six academies would be competing, the arena had to be grand.

But with so many people, there was no way to accommodate everyone.

So, the international solo competition would first mix the six academies and start with preliminary rounds.

Children were passionately expressing their determination not to fail in these preliminaries.

Once the main event started, important figures from each kingdom and empire would come to watch.

To make a name for oneself, passing the preliminaries was essential.

As such, everyone was assigned to their preliminary groups.

“Oh no, our groups are split!”

Seron revealed her disappointment as she looked at me.

Just as Seron said, she and I were placed in different preliminary groups.

“Hehe, are you jealous? I’m in the same group as Wang Non.”

On the other hand, Card was teasing Seron from the same preliminary group as me.

Seron punched Card in the ribs and then looked back at me.

“Aww, you must be sad without me, huh? I know it!”

“Actually, I was planning to eliminate you first. Now I’m a bit disappointed.”

“Even if it’s just idle chatter, you should say you want to be with me!”

“I’m too honest for that kind of nonsense.”

Then I took a jab at Seron in return.

Seron had a firm grip on my collar, looking serious.

“If you don’t say you want to be together, I’ll give you a kiss!”

What kind of madness is this?

As I stared at Seron incredulously, her face turned bright red after spouting that line.

Seron was gripping her skirt tightly, her body trembling.

If you’re going to say something like that, at least say it with confidence.

“I expected some level of this, but it’s quite an amusing sight to see.”

Then Card let out a chuckle as he watched us.

To still be in one piece after being poked by Seron, he’s got quite the resilience.

“Jerion Academy.”

At that moment, the voice of Professor Veganon resonated.

The eyes of the students gathered from Jerion Academy turned toward Professor Veganon.

She looked at everyone and said, “This is your opportunity to shine. Don’t come back defeated.”

But what she conveyed was encouragement.

This was just the kind of supportive moment she was known for.

“If you lose and the academy’s reputation drops, my salary will be cut.”

She didn’t forget to add her last remark.

“Dropping Professor Veganon’s salary might not be so bad, huh?”

“Haha, that’s true.”

As the kids whispered to each other, Veganon shot them a fiery glare.

“Stop chitchatting and get ready!”

With that, the kids dispersed with energetic replies to prepare for their tests.

Seron was in Group 1.

Card and I were in Group 2.

As such, we parted ways with Seron and headed toward Group 2.

Along the way, I spotted some familiar faces here and there.

“Hmm, Wang Non, it seems most of your close friends are in other groups?”

“Yeah, it seems so.”

Most of the kids I used to hang out with were not in the same group.

The structure of the preliminaries was to gather students in one place to let only the survivors move on to the finals.

Given this nature, forming teams wasn’t particularly unfair.

A lack of familiar faces in this situation was quite disappointing.

At that moment, I spotted someone.

A smile naturally crept up on my face.

“Grantoni!”

“Huh?”

The person called turned to me.

Inside his white skeletal face, red eyes sparkled.

It was Grantoni from the second-year Special Studies department.

He was known for handling unique techniques like Soul Magic and Necromancy.

Having teamed up in the previous competition, it was a face I was quite glad to see.

“Oh, haha, Hanon, you’re in Group 2 too?”

“Yep, and there’s a vacancy for healing. How about we team up this time?”

“I’m down for that. I wasn’t too worried about the preliminaries anyway!”

Grantoni was only interested in the realm of the dead.

So when asked to participate in the international solo competition, he just tagged along.

He wasn’t particularly driven to do so.

After all, Grantoni’s real objective lay elsewhere.

But if someone is there to guide him, things look different.

Grantoni can be quite dedicated when he wants to be.

“That’s great. With you around, it’ll be a lot easier.”

The chances of passing the preliminaries shot up significantly.

“Ah.”

At that moment, Card let out a sigh.

“…Wang Non, this might get pretty tough.”

I followed Card’s gaze.

Soon, I spotted the ash-gray wolf-cut hairstyle.

At once, I recognized who it was by that distinct hair.

‘Solvas Umbra.’

The Vice President of the Illusion Kingdom’s Aquilin Academy.

One of the six stars.

‘Looks like I’m in the same group as him.’

I understood why Card reacted this way.

After all, Solvas was his superior.

The Umbra family had consistently provided Ministers of Foreign Affairs to the Illusion Kingdom.

Part of the foreign minister’s job involved extracting advantageous information from other countries, engaging in what could be called blackmail.

Because of this, the Umbra family is a figure of fear in the Illusion Kingdom.

Their infamous reputation even spread widely to other nations.

Card was a spy used by the foreign ministry.

So it was no surprise that Solvas, the son of the current Minister, was his superior.

Solvas was engaging in conversation with those around him skillfully.

Having the foreign ministry title, he was also a very eloquent speaker.

And I knew well about the kids who would soon fall victim to those eloquent words.

“Card.”

Card looked over at me.

“What do you think will happen if one of the six stars gets eliminated in the preliminaries?”

A sly smile crept onto my lips.

Seeing me, Card slowly rolled his eyes.

“…Are you feeling confident?”

There’s a universal truth in this world.

Bosses who over-expect often become disliked.

The reason Card had been experiencing extreme fatigue recently was due to the foreign ministry squeezing him dry.

Jerion Academy had been through a rough patch recently.

There would be heaps of information to extract amidst that turmoil.

This was likely why the foreign ministry had been shaking Card down.

For Card, the incidents happening at Jerion Academy were like disasters.

Above all, there were too many risky affairs to get involved in.

The most important rule of espionage is staying undercover.

If one’s identity is discovered, being caught as a spy would be a disaster.

Card had been meticulously following this rule while fulfilling his tasks.

But the foreign ministry disregarded Card’s positions entirely.

And now the son of the foreign minister, who is also his superior, showed up.

“When have you seen me lack confidence?”

Card chuckled.

“Never.”

I’m someone whose words always come to fruition.

And Card, who has lived with me, knows this best.

“Sounds good. If one of the six stars gets eliminated in the preliminaries, it’ll make quite a stir.”

A sly grin spread across Card’s face as he followed along with my tune.

“Hehe.”

Meanwhile, Grantoni, blissfully unaware, was just following along and chuckling.

What a good guy.

“Group 2, the preliminaries will commence now!”

A professor from another academy conducted the test for us in Group 2.

Soon, his assistants began distributing bracelets to the students swiftly.

“From now on, you’ll be moving to the locations indicated on your bracelets for the preliminaries.”

At that moment, lights emanated from the bracelets, indicating the direction.

“The light will turn off once you arrive at the location.”

“You must all arrive for the preliminaries to begin, so make sure to check your spots.”

The direction pointed toward a vast magical circle set up in the forest.

It was a massive magic circle created to prevent outside intrusions.

And that forest would be the venue for the preliminaries.

“We are monitoring your biophysical signals, so the light will turn off if you become incapacitated.”

“There are a total of 300 participants, and the preliminaries will continue until only 16 remain.”

The preliminaries were divided into four groups.

If they are selecting 16 from one group, it means the finals would consist of 64 competitors.

“16 out of 300? That seems a bit low.”

“Yeah, it’s too few.”

Whispers of concern arose among the kids.

It was no surprise as most were hinting at getting eliminated.

“Additionally, there will be defense magic activated if there’s a significant threat to life.”

This was just a friendly competition; should anyone harm another, they’d be immediately disqualified and face legal repercussions.

“Don’t forget, we’re just here for friendly games. The real enemies are at Magung Academy. Don’t stake your life in this match.”

The professor repeatedly warned the kids.

They emphasized this due to the accidents happening regularly during international solo competitions.

Fortunately, no one had ever died in the international solo competitions until now.

‘Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for this international solo competition.’

Just one person.

In this international solo competition scenario, there would be one person who dies.

And I know who that is.

This is one of the bad endings that I must prevent.

“All right, students, please move to the preliminaries now.”

After glancing at Card and Grantoni, I took confident steps forward.

I was really curious about where I would be assigned at the beginning.

Depending on the assigned location, what I would have to do would change.

With such anticipation, the moment I arrived at my assigned location, I spotted a familiar face from a distance.

“Huh?”

Oh damn.

“Oh, hello there, the one who was confessed to by the Blue Flame.”

He smiled brightly at me, as if he already knew my name.

It was the Son of Shadows.

Solvas Umbra.

The starting placements took a turn for the worst.