134. martial arts contest (7)

Upon receiving the answer of acceptance, the receptionist’s lips curled up. Christine didn’t miss the moment and protested again with a twisted mouth.

“I don’t know if it’s an open review, but why does it become a review where only the organizers participate?”

“So you said that. If you think the screening is difficult, you can abstain.”

The receptionist shamelessly shrugged. Maxim stopped Christine from further protesting and looked at the hostess and asked a question.

“When? When is it going?”

“Sure, today, now. The faster you go, the better, to avoid disrupting the schedule for the finals. The review itself won’t take long, but isn’t there a case of emergency?”

Maxim was silent, and the receptionist urged him with his gaze, asking for a quick answer. Maxim nodded calmly. There was no option to withdraw anyway. Even if Benning puts a board against him and tells him to come in, he has no choice but to go in and destroy the board. Maxim pressed Christine’s shoulder gently and looked at her. Christine seemed to understand what Maxim’s hand gesture meant, and she slipped her hand over it.

The light of mana shone for a moment, avoiding the eyes of the host.

“Please guide me.”

“As expected, it is a chivalrous aspiration that has risen to the semifinals. Then, let me guide you.”

The receptionist motioned for Maxim to follow, and Maxim turned to Christine and left the room. Christine could clearly read Maxim’s request as he left the room, tricking the host’s eyes.

Report to the escort knights.

Maxim, who confirmed that Christine understood her words by nodding her head, followed immediately after the receptionist. Christine looked at Maxim’s back with a worried look, then left the open waiting room door. I put tracking magic on it to avoid the eyes of the staff. In Christine’s mind, the path Maxim was walking was clearly visible.

‘I have to go quickly.’

Before Beninga’s scheming attacked Maxim, he had to rescue him while he was still alive. Mana wrapped Christine’s body as she ran.

footsteps recede

Maxim confirmed that Christine’s tracking magic remained on the back of her hand, shining and warm. The hostess took Maxim out of the arena without noticing the secret plans of the two.

“What will happen to all the spectators waiting for the semi-finals?”

“A notice will go. The second match of the semifinals was canceled due to Javier Franco’s sudden withdrawal. Of course, there are plenty of people in the royal capital who can please the spectators’ eyes besides sword fights, so there shouldn’t be any problem in dispelling complaints.”

The hostess smiled smirkingly. Maxim’s footsteps stopped following the hostess, and when the hostess couldn’t hear Maxim’s footsteps, he looked back at Maxim and smiled as if asking what was going on.

“Is Count Leon Benning going to participate in this review?”

“I don’t know why you think that only the organizers of this martial arts competition are participating in the review.”

The interior of the wagon, which was left wide open by the staff, was plastered in bright red, as if it were the jaws of a demon beast with its mouth wide open.

“Come on, let’s get inside. Shouldn’t we hurry up and confirm the final?”

I wonder if this is what it felt like to be told to jump into a fire with firewood. Maxim stood still for a while, stroking Baek-ah, then hardened his expression and climbed into the carriage. The companion did not exist. After Maxim climbed into the carriage, the carriage started without any warning or word from the coachman. Maxim’s nerves were sharp. I expected it to be a rough journey to the finals, but I didn’t expect it to directly interfere in this way.

‘Was the count aware of my identity?’

Maxim gritted his teeth. The fact that the Count had doubts about his identity was already evident in the conversation they had after calling him alone. Had the Count really been convinced that the knight named Arsene Berne was Maxime Appard, he would have found a way to avoid running into Theodora somehow.

‘Absolutely not.’

The Count probably didn’t need just the courage of being the winner of the martial arts competition. The Count really wanted to kill Dennis. If the Count’s plan had succeeded, would he have been able to play the semi-finals normally?

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No matter how things went, he was destined not to make it to the finals smoothly.

Heart rate jumped high. Maxim suppressed the murderous intent and hostility that was about to spill out, and squeezed Baek-ah even tighter. Baek Ah’s sword rang in a low, calming sound as if to appease Maxim.

“Get off.”

Maxim followed the path the coachman guided him to. It was a building prepared for public executions, and it looked like an executioner leading Maxim. Tension? no. Maxim’s heart wasn’t beating so fast. Willingness to survive Bening’s demonic hand. Maxim entered the building with the intention of reaching the finals and repaying him with a victory.

“Arsene Bern.”

The organizers and court aristocrats sat on a high platform as if they were a judge, looking down at Maxim. Maxim met their gaze with a calm attitude. don’t lose Before meeting Theodora in the finals, I could never have dropped out.

“I’m here to be judged by the organizers.”

The head of the organizers, who was sitting in the middle, coughed and opened his mouth in a mechanical voice. All of them were wearing their hoods, as if they were watching a scene from the Inquisition.

“The screening will be simple. There will be a competition to determine whether or not the sword of Gyeong is suitable for passing the quarterfinals.”

Maxim let out a snort.

“If we were going to compete, we would have had to drag myself all the way here and proceed in the arena without judging.”

“That won’t work.”

The Finance Minister denied it in a voice filled with fishy laughter. It was a voice openly ridiculing Maxim, as if he had no intention of hiding that this stage was a device to remove Maxim.

“Because you shouldn’t stand out more than the main character of this martial arts competition. And, by any chance, if you really win, what are we going to do with it?”

Maxim sighed in despair. Now that he has been driven to this stage, has his elimination been confirmed? It was as if Maxim would not be allowed to step on the final stage even if he passed the judges. Maxim looked at the knight standing across from him. Perhaps Benning’s puppet, Maxim faced a knight with extraordinary skills.

“Now then, shall we proceed with the ‘evaluation’?”

Maxim’s expression changed slightly. That voice, and that sarcastic tone. A feeling that is familiar to Maxim’s ears, yet it touches with a disgusting resonance. Maxim seemed to know who the organizers he was dealing with were.

“Sheep knight, ready.”

I heard the voice of Emile Bordain. Maxim picked up Baek-ah. The other knight trembled at the sharp sword ringing of Baekah.

‘… I think the standard for screening is lower than I thought.’

“Contest, start.”

At the declaration of falling, Maxim jumped.

—

“What do you mean? Can’t come to help… .”

Christine was facing Hugo, the escort knight commander. When Hugo heard Christine say that Arsene Bern was in danger, he just shook his head, saying he couldn’t help.

“Unless His Majesty directly intervenes, it is impossible to reverse the decision that has already been made. But His Majesty seems to think that the time is not yet.”

Christine crumpled her face. It was because Hugo’s attitude was thought to be the same as saying that he would give up Maxim.

“Are you saying you’re giving up on Arsene? I remember that His Majesty said that winning this martial arts competition was essential to gain an advantage in the upcoming war.”

Christine risked blasphemy to speak, and Hugo squinted in discomfort. However, as if he had no intention of accelerating her, he did not emit a threatening force. Hugo pointed out the truth in a stern but soothing voice.

“It is true that we have to put in all our efforts in this martial arts competition. But, you haven’t forgotten the case where the knights of the Marquis were killed on the way to the capital from the east, no man’s land, for this martial arts competition?”

Christine bit her lip. It was an incident in which a picture drawn by the king was completely overturned at a martial arts competition, and an incident in which the relationship between the Margrave and the king almost fell apart.

“It is important to immediately produce results in the martial arts competition, but the urgent priority is to reduce the antipathy that could erupt in the no-man’s-land. That’s why the royal family can’t get involved in the martial arts competition. If you forcefully move to participate in the martial arts competition, you will face a backlash.”

Hugo looked around, then lowered his voice.

“His Highness, Prince 1, is scheduled to depart for no-man’s land as soon as the martial arts competition is over. Some of the leading members of the 1st Guards are already on their way to the east.”

Seeing Christine still frowning in disapproval, Hugo let out a sigh.

“And, we did not abandon Arsene. I said I couldn’t go help Arsene myself, I never said I wouldn’t help him.”

Christine’s expression changed from an urgent frown to a blank expression.

“What is that… ?”

“If the organizers supervise the judging, Arsene will probably be fine.”

Hugo said that as if he was not happy with it. Christine twitched the corners of her mouth in amazement.

“The organizers must all be Benningers, so how can you be sure that you will get out of the den they are infesting safely? Do you simply believe in your senior’s skills?”

“Arsene’s skills are definitely amazing. But do you think I’m saying this simply because of my skill?”

Hugo glared at Christine as if to test it.

“Please refrain from asking further questions. Christine, I fully understand your concern for Arsene, but the royal family cares about him more than you think.”

Christine stood tall, looking like a lost child.

“… How can you be so sure?”

“You will find out sooner or later. Of course, one condition must be met.”

Hugo took out a reagent bottle from his inside pocket and shook it. A blue liquid, which Christine had never seen before, was splashing around in the bottle.

“To satisfy that condition, there is one thing you must help me with.”

Christine accepted the vial with a bewildered expression. It was probably a medicine made using alchemy, but Christine didn’t know what kind of medicine it was made from.

“… It is an elixir of human transformation. It’s the kind Arsene is taking.”

Christine opened her eyes wide and looked down at the vial.

“Why did you give me this important elixir… .”

“Based on that drug, can you create a drug that can restore scars?”

At Hugo’s words, someone’s face flashed through Christine’s mind.

—

bang!

The roar of sword blades colliding rang the building. One was an aura, the other was an ordinary swordsman with no aura. The fact that two swords that are so different can compete with each other evenly is beyond common sense, but

bang! bang!

The scene unfolding in front of the present organizers went beyond the realm of equal competition. Arsene’s sword strike with no aura was overwhelming the knight’s sword. The difference in skill with the sword was too great. The organizers, that is to say, the court aristocrats of the Ministry of Finance, were shocked to see Arsene swinging her sword around with the momentum to break the opponent’s sword.

“That… , Is it common sense?”

“To overwhelm mature Aura users so easily?”

A small murmur, inaudible to Maxim’s ears, gradually spread among them. Maxim was just concentrating on the enemy in front of him.

‘I don’t know what ulterior motive he’s hiding.’

Even if he won like this, he didn’t know if he would be able to get through the semifinals and face Theodora. So, I have no choice but to do my best to overwhelm the opponent.

bang-! bang-!

At first, the expression of the knight who dealt with Maxim with a confident smile went beyond bewilderment and took on a painful light. Every time the swords collided, it seemed as if his stomach was throbbing, and he was only forcibly blocking Maxim’s sword path with his complexion bluish.

‘More, more, stronger must be overpowered.’

With a feeling like an obsession, Maxim swung his sword. faster, stronger. With a more overwhelming appearance, to the point where you can’t even catch a fault.

The knight who was dealing with Maxim raised his sword high as if he couldn’t stand it any longer. Maxim did not dodge. Between the straight trajectories drawn by the aura, Maxim’s sword obliquely squeezed through the gap.

Brilliant-!

A disparate sound that is different from the pagong sound of the past. After feeling a bit of resistance, Maxim was able to confirm that his sword had drawn the path to the end without being hindered. And on the road that Baek Ah had drawn, he also confirmed that the shattered sword of the opposing knight was round.

The judges were tinged with silence. Maxim, breathless, looked up at the organizers with cold eyes. Emile Bordain, who was seated in the middle, corrected his posture in an unfazed manner.

“… Judging is over.”

A twisted voice echoed through the silent judge. Maxim could sense that there was no embarrassment in his voice. Before handing down the verdict, Maxime saw the corners of Emile Bordain’s mouth twist up. His mouth opened again, declaring the end of this one-sided trap.

“Arsene Bern, you… .”