133. martial arts contest (6)

“It’s really, how can you say it so confidently and then end up like this? What are you embarrassed about?”

Dennis was on the hospital bed, bandaged all over, looking up at Maxim, Christine, and Charlotte. Even while blood continued to ooze from the bandages wrapped around his body, Dennis did not lose his signature relaxed smile. Charlotte looked at Dennis, her face crinkling.

“This idiot is real! Why were you so foolish… I’ll just in case you’re wrong,”

Charlotte hung her head, unable to speak any further. Dennis’ leisurely smile turned bitter. Charlotte put her hand on Dennis’s bedspread, her shoulders trembling slightly. Maxim and Christine sat down to give them a little time apart.

“It’s okay. Even though he looked a bit rough, he is alive and well, and the game hasn’t been decided, right?”

At Dennis’ bold words, Charlotte raised her head and glared at Dennis. Maxim could see her eyes welling up from the side. Dennis sighed.

“You meant to leave me alone? Why did the princess keep telling me to fight like someone who will soon die?”

“… sorry. I was restless.”

Charlotte continued to lash out at Dennis’ expression, distorting his apology.

“Like a real idiot, if you don’t win this martial arts competition, it’s not like there won’t be another.”

“I’m sorry. It just felt like if I didn’t give up until the end, there would be an opportunity. It’s not like the opponent’s aura is infinite.”

“Then, were there one or two knights who died in the martial arts competition?”

When Dennis started to shake Charlotte’s voice, he couldn’t help but stare at Charlotte. Charlotte was still half crying. Dennis gently raised his hand and wiped the tears from his eyes. Charlotte didn’t stop crying, but looked at Dennis with more sunken eyes.

“Don’t leave me.”

“I’m not going. I won’t go.”

A slightly awkward air permeated the room. Dennis looked at Arsene and Christine in the distance. Everyone seemed to be contemplating whether they should leave the room while watching themselves and Charlotte, or should they just pretend they weren’t there. Dennis smiled and opened his mouth again.

“What? Arsene and Christine are there too… , kek.”

Charlotte’s capital hit Dennis in the neck. Dennis coughed and decided to stop spitting out words for fun. At this point, it seemed that Charlotte would kill herself first.

“Well, I don’t think I can go up to the semifinals now. Do you want a rematch?”

“What about the rematch? I suffered miserably at the end like that, but of course I couldn’t go up.”

Dennis turned his head to look at the ceiling. If we fight again, can we win? Dennis eventually felt the weight lean towards ‘can’t win’.

“… I had to stop it.”

Regretful words spilled from Dennis’ lips. The expression was very bitter, like that of a person who had chewed up dirt.

“I thought I couldn’t get out of the memory of that time yet.”

Dennis said that, recalling his junior before Arsene, Hans. Charlotte nodded heavily. He wasn’t the only one who couldn’t get out of the memory of that day. She didn’t say anything, but Charlotte knew that Dennis was still haunted by the loss of Hans.

“Arsene is strong, Dennis.”

That might be comforting, Charlotte said, putting her hand on top of Dennis’s. When Dennis heard that, he let out a bloody laugh.

“yes. probably stronger than me Maybe, I might be as strong as Vice-Captain Aron. Captain… Well, you seem to be out of the human realm, so I don’t want to say anything.”

Dennis slightly turned his gaze to where Arsene was sitting. Maxim felt that Denis’s gaze was on him and sat down near him.

“It’s not like you’re listening to the will of a person who dies soon, so why are you moving so hastily?”

Dennis let out a giggle as he watched Maksim approaching, then grabbed the affected area and groaned. The senior who fought for himself was lying on the bed without even paying attention. Dennis looked at Maxim’s face and frowned.

“What, put that face away. I didn’t fight like this because of you. Also, does the guy who should be preparing for the 4th lecture have time to hang out in the infirmary right now?”

“Oh, didn’t you fight like that because of me?”

“Go away, don’t make me feel bad. I have no desire to hear that from a man.”

Maxim let out a chuckle and a laugh at Dennis’s words.

“Thank you for your hard work in the quarterfinals, senior.”

“My match isn’t even over yet, so you’re saying that you did a good job. They teased me that I could only make it to the quarterfinals in Charlotte, but I can’t imagine how much I will go through with this.”

Dennis grumbled and was laughing. Anxiety still lingered. The memories and regrets of that day remained. There will be no way to free yourself from the memories of that day. But if it’s this guy, wouldn’t it be okay to trust him a little and watch him?

“Get to the finals. I will make sure to win in the finals, so that I can complete the mission that His Majesty has assigned to me as well.”

Maxim nodded. Dennis suddenly couldn’t help thinking about how the match had been stopped. The sword slashed in front of him was clearly a familiar sword somewhere. It must have been the sword of Theodora Benning, who showed off her overwhelming skills.

“By the way, the sword that stopped the match.”

When Dennis opened his mouth, Maxim hardened his face and nodded. Dennis studied Maxim’s expression carefully, then shook his head. Right now, it didn’t seem like something worth sharing.

“no. It would be impossible for him to be disqualified anyway.”

Dennis said that and looked at Maxim again.

“I don’t know what the quarterfinal results will be, but at least I don’t think they will wait until my body is completely healed. Even if we had a rematch, I think I would withdraw.”

Dennis’s eyes met Arsene’s. black eye. Dennis didn’t know what those eyes were hiding, but for now, he closed his eyes as he saw the deepening light, as if telling him to trust himself.

“… I have no choice but to trust you, Arsene.”

“It seems like you didn’t believe it at first, senior?”

“Believe it or not, you have to show me something, bastard.”

Dennis raised his eyebrows, saying that the time for sentimentality was over. he can’t go any higher The knights sent by Count Agon were eliminated, and the knights of the 1st prince and 1st princess were also eliminated due to Benning’s knights. Only Arsene remains.

“The hospital visit is over, Arsene. Take Christine back. Go back and prepare for the 4th. If I look at your face any more, I think the scars will get worse.”

Maxim laughed at Dennis waving his hand and stood up. Christine hurriedly stood up from her seat. Christine glanced at Charlotte and nodded before closing the door to the room where Maxim had left.

“It will be less cluttered now. Charlotte, why don’t you go back to rest… .”

Before Charlotte could hear Dennis’s words, he covered his mouth with his hand. Seeing those determined hands and eyes, Dennis opened his eyes wide for a moment, then closed them as if he couldn’t help it and sighed.

—

Leon Benning was looking at someone chained to a pole in the basement. Beside her, the witch, Lilia Bergman, stood with her arms crossed with a meaningful smile.

“I told you. Unless you’re going to use it for a one-time use, it’s better not to remodel it as ordered.”

The one chained up was Javier Franco. Those eyes lost the human reason. Even otherwise, his skinny body was so damaged that it could be described as having skin completely attached to his bones by the magic that converted life force into mana. The body, which had moved beyond its limits, was broken here and there, and joints were missing.

Looking down at Javier, who smelled like a rotting body in a gutter, the Count muttered emotionlessly.

“I can’t use it any more here, that’s what I mean.”

“I can turn you into a zombie if you want. It would be like not being able to hold an aura or even a sword, and only spit out the sound of a beast from your mouth.”

Interference in the quarterfinals came as a bigger loss than expected. As if the curse of subordination was still working, Javier stopped crying and looked up at the Count when Leon Bening approached.

“I’ll have to dispose of it here.”

Leon Benning said so and threw the lantern he was holding at Javier. The lantern shattered, and the flames engulfed Javier. There was the sound of flesh burning. A terrible scream erupted from Javier.

“Shut up.”

At Leon Benning’s words, Javier’s screams stopped. All that was left was a crackling, burning sound, as if burning dry wood. Exhaling acrid smoke, Javier burned to death tied to a pole as it was. Leon Benning summoned the one standing on the other side of Lillia.

“Bernardo.”

“Yes, Count.”

“Dispose of the body.”

Leon Benning said so and left the basement of the mansion. The time to move is coming. Perfect preparation cannot exist in the first place.

“The lukewarm peace is over, Georges Loire.”

In the count’s inorganic eyes as he said that, there was a will to kill.

—

The verdict proceeded suspiciously quickly. The third match of the quarter-finals fizzled out as if it hadn’t happened. The entire process, from the question of who threw the sword and why, to the question of why the referee hadn’t finished the match earlier, was dismissed by a paragraph of official statement from the organizers.

“It is a ruling that this incident will be treated as a mere spectator disturbance, not an intervention during the game. Even though everyone already knows who did it, it’s really shameless to say that they won’t hunt down the culprit.”

Christine frowned in disapproval. The organizers canceled the progress of the 3 games and tried to play again, but Dennis Amber, who was seriously injured in the replay, expressed his intention to withdraw and the match was canceled. The events of the 3 games, which briefly emerged as a hot potato, were quickly buried as the 4 games unfolded in a fierce manner that went down in the history of martial arts competitions.

“I’ll try to make it a winner no matter what, that’s what I mean.”

And, the first game of the semi-finals that followed. Theodora defeated her opponent without incident and advanced to the final. Now it’s Maxim’s turn to play. However, even though the game time was running out, Maxim did not see the host coming in and out, telling him to prepare for the game.

“… Anyway, it’s late. progress.”

Christine looked at the door nervously, and then at Maxim, as if feeling him too.

“What the hell are you trying to do… .”

Then, the door to the waiting room was thrown open. Maxim and Christine both opened the door in amazement at the same time and looked at the attendant entering. The receptionist looked at the conversation between Maxim and Christine with a friendly expression, and then began to speak in an authoritative voice.

“Sir Arsene Bern, Sir Javier Franco, who was tentatively appointed as the opponent for the semi-final, has withdrawn.”

Maxim looked bewildered and turned his head.

“What do you mean?”

“That’s right, Lord Verne. Sir Javier Franco of the Knights of the Crescent withdrew and the second match of the semi-final was not played.”

The host cleared his throat and spoke again.

“So, considering equity, we decided that it was not fair for the organizers to simply reach the finals, so we decided to do a simple ‘judging’.”

“Wait, a review? Who, where, and what is judging?”

Christine interjected and asked. The receptionist responded to Christine’s words by revealing her displeasure on her face.

“Of course, it’s a test to see if Sir Arsene Bern deserves to go to the finals. Since we have decided that there is no need to disclose even this screening, only Sir Arsene Bern and the organizers will participate in the screening.”

“What the hell is that… .”

When Christine tried to protest again, saying that she couldn’t understand, the receptionist interrupted Christine.

“affection! If you have any complaints, you also have the option to just abstain. In that case, the only finalist, Sir Theodora Benning, would take the win.”

“Doesn’t the person who made it to the finals need that qualification?”

“It would be a situation where only one person had advanced to the final, Sir Theodora, so what kind of judging would be necessary?”

The receptionist dismissed Christine’s question, then looked at Maxim and asked in a provocative tone.

“How are you? Would you like to be subject to the ‘judgement’ of the organizers?”

Maxim met the host’s gaze head-on. There was nothing to do, worry, sleep.

“Of course, I will accept it.”