As I hid the crumpled portrait behind my back, Jowick wore a pained expression.

“Please give it back. It’s mine.”

That’s mine!

‘It’s my picture... Wait a moment.’

I furrowed my brow and looked at Jowick.

“You painted it?”

“I had an artist paint it.”

Right, of course.

This guy had peeked into my memories.

‘He asked if I had a blonde sister, so he must have seen the me from my first life.’

But how much did he see?

Did he maybe realize that it was me?

No, he wouldn’t have asked about a sister if he had.

I sighed deeply and glared at Jowick.

“Confiscated.”

“Why...?”

“Are you going to look at a girl’s picture during an important match?”

“Well... yeah, but...”

“Hurry up and get ready.”

Then the participating soldiers stepped forward.

Liam asked,

“Has the order changed?”

“Yes. Luckily, we can change the order each match.”

“Why?”

“The first player of the Central Army who just fought is incompatible with Kazin. He disrupts the opponent’s blessings with interference waves.”

If Kazin tries to change the battlefield to our advantage, they’ll send interference waves.

‘If we mess up, the battlefield could change to our disadvantage instead of being favorable.’

I checked the Central Army’s roster.

“All five are rookies.”

Cork, Mark, Munir, Bruno, Alchid...

As I checked the names, Kazin muttered, “Ah.”

I looked at Kazin.

“Why?”

“I was wondering if this Munir is the one I know.”

“What’s the Munir you know like?”

“He’s a half-breed monster. My hometown is inhabited by immigrants living along a river, and battles were frequent.”

“Because there was only one river, they fought to claim it.”

“Yes. I saw it every time...”

Kazin’s face darkened as he continued.

“Since Munir went to the battlefield, his tribe always controlled the river.”

“...What?”

“His power was terrifying. No blessing or magical tool worked on him. He simply crushed blessings with brute force... a true beast.”

“Could it be that the monster blood Munir carries is...?”

“Yes, there is only one monster that destroys blessings.”

The strongest, most fearsome monster once called a god in some eras.

...A dragon.

“But is that possible?”

“It’s just a rumor, but I believe there’s some credibility to it.”

“Why?”

“I saw the scales sprouting on his skin and the wings cutting through the sky during battle.”

I burst out laughing.

‘He wanted my Ragon so badly, but ended up with a half-dragon?’

I bit my lip.

“If that’s the case, I’ll make Isez number one.”

Isez nodded.

“I’ll spread divine power all over the battlefield from the start. If I release enough divine power into the air, even Munir in the stands will be affected.”

“We’ll make him compete while soaked in divine power... Yes, a dragon would be affected by divine power.”

“Exactly. We weaken him, and then the next player will strike in the real match.”

My soldiers nodded in agreement.

‘The longer he’s soaked in divine power, the more his stamina will drain.’

We have to drag out the match as long as possible before Munir appears.

A player like Munir would be placed late in the order.

‘Let’s stall as much as possible with number two.’

I looked at the man wearing a robe pulled over his head.

“You’re number two again.”

The man nodded.

“After that, it’s Liam, Jowick, then Kazin.”

“Why is Lord Ravio number five in the finals...?”

Liam grumbled, and I smacked his back.

“You used a lot of mana altering the battlefield. You need to rest during the match to keep your condition normal.”

“Y-yes...”

“All right, then let’s go.”

“Yes!”

Our soldiers shouted loudly.

The finals began.

At the battlefield.

The participants from the Central and Western armies faced each other.

Each army’s frontline was led by their Wons (elite commanders).

The Central Wons, Silin Châteaubriand, smiled gently.

“The leadership of the Western Wons is truly amazing. The skill to make a wonderful dish from any ingredient is definitely impressive.”

The expressions of the Western soldiers hardened.

‘So they’re saying we pulled off a decent match with cheap leftover ingredients, and it was just luck.’

That was the meaning.

Erylott smiled widely and looked at Silin.

“Finding and refining rough gems is the Wons’ role. But having a gem as splendid as Central Won from the start is also incredible. Truly a noble person.”

Isn’t raising soldiers the Wons’ role?

You just brought already grown gems and act all high and mighty!

Typical of the daughter of Châteaubriand who can’t stand without the Emperor’s help!

─That was the implication.

Liam from the West couldn’t hide his laughter and chuckled.

Silin glared at Erylott but quickly forced a smile.

“Thanks to the divine blessing, good soldiers have come to me.”

Finding good soldiers is also about luck.

Ah, right. You were born with filthy blood and no luck.

“So it seems the Châteaubriand heiress is truly favored by the gods. They must have kindly regarded her strong faith. It makes my meager faith feel ashamed.”

Yeah, everything was ‘luckily’ done for her by others.

How proud she must be. Her father found her knights, and he’s the one who made the Central Wons...

What have you done?

Everyone from the Imperial Capital knew how to elegantly throw shade.

The nobles chuckled at Erylott’s words, making Silin’s face flush.

Silin clenched her skirt tightly and sharply turned to the referee.

“Let’s start the match.”

“Y-yes! Yes!”

Referee Wolfgang called out.

“Number one players, come forward!”

Western army’s number one, Isez, stepped up.

The Central army’s number one was a thin, small boy.

He wore an extremely thick robe that dragged on the ground because he was so skinny.

Jowick whispered to Erylott.

“He’s the younger brother of the infamous assassin siblings. His name is Cork.”

“Does he have a blessing?”

“Supposedly, but no one knows what kind.”

Cork grinned and said to Isez,

“I’m Cork. Let’s shake hands before the match.”

Isez swiftly swatted his hand away.

“I’m no fool to shake hands with an assassin.”

“Heh, smarter than those Eastern guys.”

Cork’s voice turned chilling.

“Too careful to be cute. What’s with the barriers on his hands?”

Isez’s expression hardened.

‘That guy can sense divine waves.’

Divine power and mana are opposing forces.

Mana twists nature’s energy to ‘create illusions.’

Divine power absorbs nature’s energy to ‘strengthen reality.’

Their mechanics oppose each other, so it’s hard for them to understand one another.

That guy’s unpleasant aura is definitely mana.

‘But he read my divine power flow?’

That meant he was a formidable expert.

The first strong opponent since the Crimson Ghoul.

Sweat trickled down my tense brow.

“Isez!”

Isez flinched and glanced behind him.

Erylott frowned, staring at him.

“Don’t stop him. It’s expected you made the barrier to swat that hand away.”

Isez’s eyes widened.

He looked back at Cork.

Cork looked at Erylott with a strange expression.

Smiling, but somehow irritated.

‘It was a bluff.’

Isez’s mouth twitched crookedly.

Boom─, boom─, boom─!

The drum sounded.

“The match begins!”

With the referee’s declaration, the first round of the finals started.

Cork tossed his dagger up and caught it repeatedly while speaking.

“How about exchanging hits? The one who can’t endure loses.”

“I don’t trust you. I think you’ll use dirty tricks.”

“No way.”

“You lie well.”

He lied about reading divine power when he clearly couldn’t.

Cork lowered his head and chuckled.

“Ah, the world is truly unfair.”

“...”

“My ancestor was a noble centuries ago with blessings, but was so poor he was sold off─”

“...”

“Then there’s someone like you who grew up under parents and joined the imperial army.”

“...”

“And is handsome and smart─”

Cork suddenly closed the distance, putting his face close to Isez.

“...!”

“Gah...!”

The crowd all held their breath.

“It felt like he folded the ground.”

“Is the blessing of that Central army’s number one?”

“I think it’s not actually folding the ground but some sort of movement technique...”

Isez’s face stiffened.

Cork grinned and flicked Isez’s cheek with his jet-black fingernail.

“─Such a pretty girl cheering for me.”

Isez swung his sword at Cork.

But Cork twisted his body flexibly and easily dodged the blade.

“Oh dear, scary.”

“Not a pretty girl.”

“But pretty.”

Then—

Guuuuuung─!

The ground trembled and divine waves of power flooded the battlefield.

Sensing danger, Cork tried to retreat quickly, but something invisible blocked his way.

Cork noticed Isez’s sword.

‘It’s coming from a 45-degree angle.’

When he turned his head to dodge,

Bbaaaak─!!

With a dull thud, Cork’s head snapped back.

The sword was a feint.

The real attack was a fist.

Blood poured from Cork’s nose, stained bright red by Isez’s punch.

Isez said,

“We are Wons.”

“If a handsome guy’s voice sounds nice too, that’s just really unlucky.”

Muttering low, Cork quickly slipped under Isez’s arm.

But wherever he moved, a barrier sprung up from the ground with thuds.

Dodge right, and it comes from the right floor.

Dodge left, and from the left floor.

Eventually, Cork was cornered and started to pout.

“I hate divine power users! It’s cheating─ Ugh!!”

Isez’s fist slammed into Cork’s abdomen again.

“Argh! Damn bastard. You act like you’re going to use your sword, but you use your fists!!”

“When you sense an attack, your body moves before your mind?”

“What nonsense─ Agh!”

Thinking it was another punch, Cork tried to dodge, but this time a sword came flying.

Cork cried out, clutching his sliced left arm.

Isez’s suspicion was correct.

He had been trained since infancy for reflexes.

“If you ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ get hit, there’s no one to heal people like us. Whether metal poison or venom kills you, you die. Avoid at all costs.”

“But brother...”

“Here I go.”

“Waaah─!”

Cork snorted and grumbled.

But he couldn’t block Isez’s attacks.

Just when he expected a sword strike, a punch came; when a punch was expected, a sword came.

Or a divine barrier.

Cork slowly retreated, his face pale.

“What’s with the seriousness? This is a festival. Nobles are watching a circus. Let them enjoy more, huh?”

“...”

“If you end this easily... Aaaagh─!!”

This time, Cork’s calf was sliced.

He whimpered and shouted,

“I’ll never surrender. I was trained not to faint for my job. If you want to beat me here, you’ll have to kill me!”

“...”

“Kill me?! For this stupid show?!”

“...”

“Wait, gurgle! Wait...!”

Isez’s fists and sword mercilessly flew.

His face was expressionless.

“Sorry, but I’m betting more than my life on this.”

“What could be more important than life...!”

The first person to acknowledge him was watching.

Believed in him, protected him.

The child who fulfilled all his wishes stood behind him.

That child gave me everything I longed for, but all I could give was victory.

Being commoners didn’t mean they didn’t know the nobles’ world.

‘Erylott Astra has too much to lose to be underestimated.’

If underestimated, there would be hands trying to take what the child had.

So I could never lose.

Then suddenly—

“How long do you plan to mess around, Cork!”

Mark, the older of the assassin brothers, shouted loudly.

Then...

“...He’s impatient. The longer you wait, the more fun it gets.”

What?

Isez’s eyes widened.

The Isez who had been pushing Cork suddenly faltered, stepped back, and covered his mouth.

“Isez?”

Erylott asked.

He looked strange.

He was bent over, his shoulders trembling faintly.

As Erylott stood up and approached, Isez slowly turned around.

“Isez? What’s wrong...?”

“...”

“Isez...?”

“...Anger.”

At that moment, Isez collapsed with a sob.

“Isez─!!”

His face was pale blue, the skin under his eyes bloodshot, and veins bulged on his forehead.

And dark black blood dripped steadily from under his hand.