〈 Chapter 120 〉 Graduation Tournament (5）
*
‘Did I win?’
The gap in skill was so absurd that it shouldn’t have even been a competition.
Yet, the result was the opposite.
At the last moment, Elsie had seen through her opponent’s attack.
“You’ve grown a lot.”
Gwen said with a hint of satisfaction.
Yet her expression still seemed emotionless.
“That brat’s attitude appears to be the same, though.”
Elsie casually spat out her opponent’s blood.
Seeing her like that, Ludmilla asked,
“What exactly did you cultivate?”
But Gwen shook her head.
“All I taught that girl was my swordsmanship. She was always like that.”
“She was always like that?”
“It seems she might have been influenced by someone else too.”
At that moment.
Elsie’s gaze, standing in the tournament arena, shifted toward a section of the audience seats.
Ludmilla’s gaze naturally followed hers.
“Huh?”
At that moment, her shoulders tensed up.
Someone had caught her eye.
‘Allen Pleuk?’
Dishwater blonde hair.
His face, though slim, looked quite mature.
A little different from the face she had seen when escorting him with Hailen, but she recognized him immediately.
‘He came here?’
But that felt strange.
Sung Yoo-rang was a contestant in the tournament…
‘Wait a moment.’
Thinking about it, the one being strange was herself.
Why was she so casually suspecting that Sung Yoo-rang was Allen Pleuk?
The two of them were totally different, starting with their appearances. Furthermore, they didn’t even wield the same weapons.
‘But still…’
It wasn’t impossible.
If one had disguise capabilities, that could work, and remembering how Sung Yoo-rang initially struggled with the bow, it made it possible.
But the crucial question was why did she feel Allen Pleuk’s aura coming from Sung Yoo-rang?
‘It’s just the atmosphere.’
Some kind of aura naturally emanating from Sung Yoo-rang.
It was similar to what had flowed from Allen Pleuk.
That was the reason.
‘Then maybe an opportunity might come soon.’
Sung Yoo-rang’s turn in the tournament was approaching.
When that moment came, she could definitively clarify their relationship.
Two characters couldn’t simultaneously exist.
At that moment, Allen Pleuk’s gaze shifted.
A brief glance over, but her instinct told her he had noticed her stare.
And right after, Allen Pleuk stood up.
‘Is it starting?’
She began to gain confidence in her instincts.
*
“Wilhelm.”
A deep voice called out to him.
Wilhelm turned his head.
“It’s been a while.”
There stood his father.
“Father.”
“Indeed, it’s been a long time.”
He was born into the prestigious Rosemond family, known for archery prowess.
His father, a high-ranking hero, rarely returned to the mansion due to his duties and Wilhelm trained archery with his teachers at the mansion.
He hadn’t seen his father since leaving for the Hero Academy, so this was their first meeting in almost three years.
“You must have been quite busy.”
“You know well. To maintain a high-ranking hero status with just bow skills, one has to be more diligent than anyone else.”
“Yes, I understand.”
He felt that keenly while attending the Hero Academy.
The position of archer wasn’t that influential.
There was no scenario where one archer could turn the tide on their own.
‘Unless you exclude one oddball.’
Sung Yoo-rang.
He showed strategies well outside the norm for an archer.
Even as an archer, joining forces with a magician and facing knights up close.
And now, he would be going head-to-head with such a character in this tournament.
“What do you think? Your opponent this time.”
But honestly, Sung Yoo-rang was…
“Weak.”
Weak.
That was an undeniable, objective fact.
‘No matter how much he’s improved, his archery skills are still far below mine. His physical abilities, unless you consider that strange acceleration ability, are only slightly above that of an average person.’
Of course, he couldn’t overlook the eccentric exploits he had shown while working under such poor conditions.
Like facing three knights by himself.
‘But would such exploits really work in a one-on-one?’
Exploits were still just exploits.
He mainly existed as a small piece within tactics most of the time.
Could a character like that truly pull off shenanigans in front of a proper archer like him?
‘That would be tough.’
He himself wouldn’t let his guard down either.
Just as he had been observing and analyzing Sung Yoo-rang while training in the archery range, he had also been keeping track of all the antics of that guy.
“Therefore, there’s no way I could lose.”
“That’s right. You are the archer of the Rosemond family. It’s absolutely impossible for you to lose to someone with a bow.”
Wilhelm thought the same.
“Then I’ll win and come back.”
Just as he was about to leave, his father spoke.
“Lastly, I want to confirm one thing.”
“Go ahead.”
“If Ludmilla were to choose you as her successor, which would you choose?”
That was quite an important question from his father’s perspective.
While Ludmilla held the 75th rank among heroes, his rank as head of the Rosemond family was only 81.
So to him, Ludmilla’s existence was a significant source of anxiety.
“That is…”
In that moment, Wilhelm responded.
“I’d like to think about it after the tournament.”
That wasn’t a subtle way of refusing.
He genuinely wanted to think about that issue only after the tournament.
‘Why am I feeling anxious?’
He should have absolutely been confident he would win.
And yet there was an unease residing somewhere within him.
‘Speaking of which, had I agreed to consult if I lost?’
Perhaps it had been that point onward that his feelings had begun to twist.
At the same time, he envied something that that guy had which he did not.
‘I don’t know.’
His mind grew complicated.
He thought it shouldn’t be like this, so he stepped into the tournament arena.
Then, his mind instantly settled down.
‘First, I must win, and then think.’
Like the training he had done up to this point, his mind was cold and suited for archery.
*
Wilhelm stepped out from the western side of the arena.
He had been a student who taught archery to Ludmilla for a year and a comrade who had fought alongside his father, Lord Rosemond, as high-ranking heroes in the same era.
So, for Ludmilla, Wilhelm was undoubtedly a person of significant ties.
However, still, Ludmilla’s attention lay elsewhere.
‘Sung Yoo-rang…!’
Sung Yoo-rang emerged from the eastern side of the arena.
He had black hair as always.
His face did not resemble Allen Pleuk at all.
Yet still…
‘The vibe is indeed similar.’
For some reason, the aura he exuded was akin to that.
What that exactly was, she couldn’t pinpoint, but now there was another element present to confirm it.
‘Could it be that Allen Pleuk hasn’t returned?’
Allen Pleuk had left, and Sung Yoo-rang had appeared.
And Allen Pleuk had not come back.
That clearly had a meaning.
‘So…’
At that moment.
A figure appeared in the audience seats’ corridor across from her.
A man with dishwater blonde hair.
‘…Allen Pleuk?’
There were two Allen Pleuks.
No, that couldn’t be possible.
‘Which means…’
It was her misunderstanding.
Originally, Allen Pleuk and Sung Yoo-rang were different individuals.
‘And the atmosphere felt similar to Allen Pleuk is still present.’
Certainly, that atmosphere was still felt from Sung Yoo-rang as well.
The reason she had mistaken them was simply that the vibes from both of them happened to be similar.
‘So the interest I felt in Sung Yoo-rang was all because of that?’
Did she feel that way simply because she mistook Sung Yoo-rang for Allen Pleuk?
There was no way to know that now.
After all, it was best to keep an eye on the tournament for the time being.
‘But can he really defeat Wilhelm, though?’
As someone who had taught both of them, she couldn’t think of many scenarios where that would be the case.
*
‘Allen, did this succeed?’
In the middle of the audience seats, Elsie was seated.
To be precise, she wasn’t just sitting; she had transformed into Allen through optical modulation.
And besides that, she was following the request to slightly release the atmosphere of a princess she’d normally kept hidden.
‘I’m not quite sure about that…’
For now, she was going along with that request as well.
After all, if Allen had attempted to deceive her, she would have caught on quickly, and there hadn’t been any indication of that in his current request.
‘And now, Allen and I are true allies.’
They needed to trust each other.
That’s why Elsie willingly complied with Allen’s plan.
But…
‘This is scarier than I expected.’
The moment she altered her appearance and entered the audience seats.
Gazes began to pour in from all directions.
It was far beyond just a level of general interest.
‘This is nothing compared to the attention I received during my tournament.’
It didn’t even compare in intensity.
She felt as though everyone present was looking at her.
Consequently, the necessity for a disguise became all the more evident.
‘This is where the real deal begins.’
Her own tournament wasn’t what mattered much.
What was important was the mission that had now begun.
The Leim Kingdom operation was already underway.
‘From now on, failure is not tolerated.’
Simply not giving up wouldn’t be enough.
Having demonstrated her worth as a companion by not giving up, now she had to genuinely perform her duties as a comrade.
‘From now on, I am Allen.’
Amid the overwhelming gazes, she began to hypnotize herself.
‘No, wait… I am Allen Pleuk.’
*
‘Oh.’
Entering the arena, I gazed at the audience seats and couldn’t help but gasp internally.
Because there was another me present there.
‘I was worried I wouldn’t be able to withstand the gazes.’
It seems that was needless worry after all.
Considering what I observed during her tournament, she’s a formidable character with immense willpower.
Aside from the first few seconds, she appeared completely steady.
‘No, not just steady…’
That was simply me.
How could she be executing such flawless acting?
It made me think that perhaps this was why Elsie wasn’t easily deceived by me.
‘Watching her might help me learn a bit more about acting.’
Having only ever displayed exaggerated confidence, I sometimes felt the limits of that approach, so having a guide was refreshing.
‘But, well, setting that aside.’
For now, I needed to focus on the tournament before me.
I turned my gaze back to Wilhelm.
‘A battle between Allen Pleuk and Wilhelm…’
Those familiar with the game “Hundred Braves” would know how nonsensical that statement sounded.
Regardless of how dull Wilhelm may be in performance, he was among the top-tier characters in the archer category, while my own performance was pitifully lacking.
‘But…’
I had no intention of simply losing.
I recognized that most here were skilled enough to have purposefully thrown matches.
Even if that weren’t the case, Wilhelm would surely catch on.
‘Especially since I made a bet with Wilhelm.’
Wilhelm was always serious but wore an even more earnest expression now.
In this tournament, which held our bet, if I were to lose without a fight, he wouldn’t be satisfied either.
From my perspective, I wouldn’t have nothing to gain either way.
‘After all, my chances of winning are nearly nonexistent…’
However, it would become a valuable experience for me as an archer.
’When else would I get a shot at battling with Wilhelm?’
As the tournament’s start time approached, I nocked an arrow.
*
