Chapter 7 – 02. Kingdom of Ulstro – Martial Arts Tournament (1)
[Ulstro Kingdom – Martial Arts Tournament]
The martial arts competition to pray for warriors is held for a total of 4 days.
The first day is the qualifier. The second and third days are the finals. And on the fourth day, from the round of 16 to the finals.
And today was the last day.
“Hmm.”
“Why is that, mother?”
“I thought there were n’t many decent talents this year. By the way, I would have told you to call me His Highness in his in a public setting, right?”
Hehe, I’m sorry. Her Highness the Queen.”
Marie Ulstro put a pervasive smile on her face despite her mother’s scolding her.
‘Isn’t there a nice knight somewhere?’
The Kingdom of Ulstro had a strong tendency to revere knights above all else.
It has been recovered now, but after losing more than half of its territory to the Demon King’s army 18 years ago, that tendency has become stronger.
All of these were policies led by the current queen, Beatrice de Ulstro.
After the war ended 18 years ago, the party of warriors became heroes and most returned to their respective countries. However, the only hero from Ulstro Kingdom is dead.
The aftermath of the long war and the sadness of the death of a hero made the whole nation immersed in grief. The country had to be restored, but the people were not motivated as one. Many of the nobles who were supposed to be the king’s limbs also died, leaving empty seats in government posts.
At that time, the queen held a martial arts contest to pray for her warriors and it was successful.
After that, she used the dead warrior as a business.
Statues of warriors were erected in the plaza of the capital, and statues for various gifts were sold like hot cakes. There were dozens of different types of statues made with a single figure, the warrior, in various poses. In addition, various souvenirs were made.
A royal order of knights was created after the hero’s name, and the order became the queen’s loyal sword.
A novel with a hero as the main character was written, and numerous heroic stories, knightly literature, fairy tales, and romance novels derived from it were popular.
As a result, the young people living in the kingdom hoped to become a knight with a single sword, and a dream of meeting such a knight grew in the hearts of the beautiful girls.
It was the same with Marie, the country’s second princess.
She is eighteen.
It was the age of dreaming of love.
Three years ago, I was at an age where I would prefer other things than knights and fights. 6 years ago she was unable to watch martial arts competitions because she had an epidemic. That’s why her eyes were burning hot right now.
Marie’s eyes went down again to the arena where the martial arts competition was taking place.
At the arena, the round of 16 was over and the round of 8 was starting. 16 martial artists selected from among thousands of young people. Among them, 8 people fell, and 8 people remained.
The heat of the arena was ripening further.
“Sister. Unnie, who do you think is okay?”
“Are you okay?”
At the counterquestion of her first princess her, Mercedes Woolstrow, Marie was flustered and hurriedly made an excuse.
“Oh, so… I meant who do you think she would win! She’s a knight, so she knows better than me, right?”
“Winning. The blue-haired female knight who is fighting right now is probably the young lady of the Marquess of Propylene? The giant mercenary who showed strength by using a halberd with that friend, and…”
Mercedes looked at the boy who was watching the game outside, instead of resting in the waiting room, which was the final match of the Round of 16.
A boy who looked like the youngest of the remaining players until the end of the day, about 15. I didn’t look at the roster to watch the match coolly, but I seemed to fit the age.
However, the skills he shows are hard to see for a 15-year-old. It was at least 30 years old, and it was a swordsmanship with a profound atmosphere. She did n’t know if it was a characteristic of the swordsmanship she had learned or the influence of her teacher her, but she personally liked him.
The problem was that the boy’s hair was dark red.
On this continent, black hair appeared only in the demons and barbarians in the northernmost part of the continent.
However, barbarians have brown or bronze skin and only have pure black hair with no other colors mixed.
The mixed hair like that was a characteristic of the mixed race with the demons.
‘Tsk, that’s a bit unfortunate.’
Mercedes clicked his tongue in regret.
Originally, if you are among the last 16 of the martial arts tournament, you can become a knight as long as there are no problems. If you are already a knight, you may receive other rewards.
However, discrimination against demons and mixed races was still widespread on the continent. The same goes for Ulstro Kingdom, which suffered severe damage. There was no history of becoming a knight, not even of demons, even of mixed blood with demons.
‘If I win, I’ll try to make it a knight somehow….’
If you were the winner of the martial arts competition, you had no choice but to appoint a knight at least for the sake of formality.
But to be honest, it seemed difficult.
The mixed-race boy had excellent swordsmanship, but instead, his stamina his seemed very weak. He had only played one match today, but his whole body was covered in sweat and he was gasping for breath.
“Sister, sister?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Probably those two.”
“I see…”
Marie, who said that, looked at the same place she was just before, feeling very sorry.
Mercedes, realizing that her sister’s eyes were on the black-haired boy.
Suddenly, she remembered that the most recent novel Marie had read was about a boy hero.
‘Guy.’
A smile came out at the sight of her cute little brother.
It wasn’t love at first sight for her, but there was an obvious fondness in her sister’s eyes. It seemed that it was because of the boy’s handsome appearance and the ability to fight against opponents bigger than himself.
At that time, the boy looked this way as if he noticed the gaze of the two.
They are on a private balcony for the royal family. There were only the queen, the two princesses, and a few maids serving them.
Of course, the boy could only look at them.
The boy smiled broadly as soon as he realized that their eyes met.
“Laugh…”
She almost exclaimed involuntarily.
A tall young man and a bright boy, it was a smile somewhere between them.
Marie seemed to feel the same way, and her face was blushing as she held one of her hands her to her chest her. Seeing her sister her she somehow seemed to be blushing as she herself also did her sister her.
‘Wow, he’s definitely handsome.’
On the one hand, it was sad.
The hardships that the boy with the bright smile must have experienced in his life up until now, and the hardships of life he will go through in the future.
Maybe that’s why, compared to the first time, it seemed that he was paying more attention and attention to the boy.
As I watched the boy like that, it wasn’t long before his match approached.
-The final match of the quarterfinals is between Nadmla, Jinjaru, the 3rd Prince of Viscount Nadmla, and Valdes, a mercenary of mixed demon race!
When the boy, Valdés, was called, cheers and booing erupted from the crowd.
‘My name was Valdes.’
The moderator must have continued to call out the names of the participants, but since there were no characters or matches that I liked more than I thought, I was just passing it over. And now, for the first time, I took an interest in him and remembered his name.
However, there was one peculiar thing.
“It’s a mixed race demon… It’s amazing.”
“Huh? What is it?”
When Marie overheard the Queen’s self-talk, she answered Mercedes instead.
“Usually, mixed demons hide their identity by dyeing their hair even if it costs a lot of money.
The titles in front of the names were given by the participants themselves, except for special cases.
The majority of noble participants preferred the same method as Jinjaru Nadmla just before to know the family’s prestige. If there was no affiliation, I used my own nickname or origin.
But for some reason, Valdes revealed that he was a mercenary of mixed demon race, and also a commoner.
“Ah, that’s what I see. Umm…”
Marie wrinkled her brow and let out her moan. She didn’t like the booing and hateful stars of not a few boys she liked. But all she could do was cheer in her heart.
However, she wonders if her prayers her worked.
Valdez easily defeated his opponent.
The next match, the semi-final, was the same. She defeated a giant with a giant halberd, whom her older sister Mercedes had chosen as a candidate for the championship.
Although she struggled to win after a close fight unlike in the quarterfinals, it made her even more supportive of him.
So did the audience. Until now, all the cheers that had come out when his name was called had been created by the boy himself. It wasn’t that there were still people booing, but now the cheers had grown even louder.
“Hehe, maybe Valdez will win.”
“Haha. That must be difficult. Look at the sweat flowing all over that body. Compared to that, the woman from the Marquis of Propylene seems to still have room.”
“Umm…Then let’s bet!”
“Betting?”
“Yes.”
Mercedes readily agreed without the slightest hesitation. It was a simple bet between the sisters anyway.
The prize was an extremely trivial thing, asking for a favor later.
-Everyone has been waiting for a long time!! Finally, the finals of the martial arts competition will begin!! First, let me introduce the two players who came up to the finals!!
After a short break, the long-awaited finals began.
-I made it this far while taunting numerous strong enemies with a splendid speed sword!! Will she be the first woman to win the martial arts competition?! The daughter of the Marquess of Propylene, Princess Ethylene Propylene!!
Aaaaa!!!
The loudest cheers ever were heard.
As befits a writer after propylene, for which her quicksword is her specialty her, Ethylene wore greaves that valued her movement her and carried a thin rapier.
Contrary to her cold look her, her eyes her were filled with hot fighting.
“When I saw Princess Ethylene before, I didn’t know she was such a hot person, but it’s amazing.”
Ethylene, as Mercedes knew, was as distant from her maidens as he was, and closer to swords and knights. To the extent that she looked awkward in her dress when we met her at a party. Ethylene was withdrawn, of course, to the point that it was quicker to find out the difference between her and her other than that.
“Huh, there’s a reason for everything.”
The Queen relived her memories of her and told her old stories of her.
Ethylene’s father, the current Marquis of Propylene, was the runner-up in the first martial arts competition. At that time, he was 23 years old. Since the martial arts competition was to honor a warrior who died at the age of 24, there was an age limit.
Perhaps Ethylene is trying to win her championship for her father, said the queen.
‘Indeed.’
If so, I could understand what she was showing me now.
– The opponent against him is a boy!! Came from the bottom to here!! A boy mercenary who does n’t even know his exact age, who confidently reveals that he has mixed blood with demons!! Valdes!!
Boo!
Wow!!
With cheers mixed with boos, Valdes, wearing leather armor, came up the arena.
The two seemed to be having a conversation, but it was hard to hear because of the cheering. As if the conversation was over, Ethylene donned her helmet from her side of her. As her blue hair her, tied back in a ponytail, was hidden, what was visible was not a woman or a nobleman, but a single knight.
In comparison, Valdez seems to have taken good care of it, but it’s just leather armor and a long sword that look a little worn out. Differences appeared in the equipment.
The final match soon began with the announcer’s call to start the match.
Shhh-
At the same time as the signal, the tip of Ethylene aimed at Valdes’ shoulder. It was a thrust of formidable speed, but Valdez surprisingly narrowly avoided it.
‘Are you avoiding that? … Indeed. I wonder if the reason why I was outside the waiting room without a break was to observe the other person.’
Ethylene always showed off a quick thrust as the first attack.
If you had eyes to see and kept an eye on ethylene, you would have seen it countless times.
She liked Valdes even more.
A knight should not only excel in swordsmanship. He has to do everything he can to stay within bounds. That was Ulstro’s chivalry, and Mercedes thought it was a knight.
Even while thinking that, the game between the two continued.
All in all, Ethylene was unstoppably brandishing her rapier her, unleashing an overwhelming barrage. Valdez’s clothes his, which had been attacked here and there, were torn and blood was flowing.
But there were few effective hits. Valdez avoided or blocked all attacks that could cause significant damage.
‘You’re more skilled than I thought. It’s a rough yet delicate movement.’
“… Pedro?”
“Yes? Oh my… No, what did Her Highness say?”
“Oh, nothing.”
Marie didn’t seem to hear, but Mercedes could hear.
That the queen called the hero’s name.
‘Come to think of it….’
It reminded me of what the knight commander had told me about the warrior’s fighting style. A swordsmanship that resembles a wild beast, yet possesses delicacy. He had never seen a hero fight, but it was probably something like that.
Her heart started pounding.
What if I could teach that boy? Perhaps a knight who can succeed the hero appears.
But my heart soon calmed down. Regardless of whether Valdez truly had great talent or whether she could teach him well, it was next to impossible for him to join the Order.
She belongs to the Royal Knights of Pedro.
She said It is one of the three knights in the kingdom. The admission test was strict, and members were not accepted unless it was a set time. There didn’t seem to be many people who would agree to have mixed demons join the knights with the name of a hero.
“It’s a bit unfortunate.”
