Chapter Chapter 78: 10. We came, we saw, we won (3) (1/2)
RATH 78
TL: Eevee
10. We came, we saw, we won (3)
#4 Their story: A certain participant’s story.
“It, it can’t be.”
The numbers that were recorded on the scoreboard in front of me couldn’t possibly be real.
But not matter how many times I rubbed my eyes, the numbers on the scoreboard didn’t change.
[Arucia: 0pt]
[Marcis: 0pt]
[Yugrasia: 5pt]
[Mercaria: 0pt]
Over the week that the four academies competed against each other during the imperial festival, there were a total of 30 events.
Depending on the event, there are some that can take the entire day, whereas others could end in just under an hour.
And the majority of the events on the first day were of the type that ended quickly, and likewise, the number of points they offered were not very high, either.
And today’s event in particular, were all individual events that were worth the least amount of points, so each victory was worth only 1 point.
Because the events leading into the final days were worth 5 points, sometimes up to ten, you couldn’t afford to be complacent, so it was always a tight contest all the way to the end. It was too early to give up yet.
But, even so.
On the other hand, if someone began winning overwhelmingly from the beginning, then even if you won on the final day, you still couldn’t win.
Because even if you took 10 points from 0 by winning on the final day, if the opponents already had 11 points then everything was already over.
And let me repeat this, but there were five events today. And they were individual events worth the fewest amount of points.
“Is this illusion magic?”
But no matter how many more times I blinked the [Yugrasia 5pt] did not change.
Very well. I must admit it.
Today, in all five events, Yugrasia, the school deemed the weakest, won everything.
And overwhelmingly so!
“Pres… it’s okay! 5 points today, that’s nothing, right?”
Even as the other members of the student council tried to cheer me and my flabbergasted face up, I still couldn’t say anything.
“We’re Arucia, right?”
“Yeah! Arucia! The strongest of the Four Great Academies!”
Although the female members said with bright expressions.
“But… Rail, the strongest of all of us got destroyed that easily?”
“That’s…” Everyone else fell into silence.
We wouldn’t be so troubled if this was a team event that was unfavourable to Arucia.
We might even have had excuses if we had a draw filled with nothing but the strongest fighters to defeat to proceed.
But, none of these applied to today’s matches.
No, on the contrary, you could say that we were actually quite lucky.
An event that was the most favourable to Arucia, a 1:1 duel in a narrow arena.
And even with our tournament draw, aside from one match, no one else could be thought of as a worthy opponent until we won.
But.
“Reil was defeated in Round 1, and no one else lasted past Round 3.”
“Plus, three of the semifinalists were…”
Each academy sent out a total of ten people.
Even Mercaria sent out people that could fight reasonably well, and I heard the standard of the matches were higher than last year as well.
But, the whole story changed when you looked at the draw for the semifinals.
“Three Yugrasia, one Marcis.”
And even that one Marcis student was defeated in his semifinal, and in the end the finals were fought out between two Yugrasia students.
“Admit it, we were routed.”
These were the results even with our favourite event.
And what about the other events?
All of them could be said to be a one-sided whitewash, no, a slaughter by Yugrasia.
“But, but Lady Aris didn’t use summoning, and she only used her spear!”
“Yeah, Lady Aris who was already talented simply went over to Yugrasia.”
“If only Lady Aris had come to Arucis!”
Do these idiots have any idea what they’re saying.
No, seeing the majority of them were second years in their first time on the student council, they wouldn’t understand.
“Are you all a bunch of idiots? Are you missing your heads?”
The moment I was about to tell them the truth, the one who said something before me was the vice-president Arietta.
“Is losing to a summoner with a spear something to be proud of? And the furthest we managed to get to was just Round 3. But Yugrasia alone sent 3 people to the semifinal, and they fought the final between each other.”
“That’s…”
“If you were an ordinary student, I won’t care if that’s what you think. I wouldn’t care if that was what you would have thought last year! But right now, you are members of Arucia’s student council. We need to understand why we lost, and make it so that our students can win instead.
“Arietta…”
The person that would want to beat Yugrasia the most out of all of us would be Arietta herself.
Did that asshole Nerkia even know just what she was fighting for this imperial festival.
Even though we normally fought each other quite often, when you considered Arietta’s situation that pissed me off even more against Nerkia.
“Are you alright?”
“Mm… For now.”
At Arietta’s shout, the new members of the student council immediately turned their gazes downwards, and the fourth year members who were familiar with this by now began to console the other students.
“You’re still playing the villain as always.”
“Well, it’s what I’ve always been doing after all. It’s a role I’ve inherited from my sunbae after all.”
“What about just telling Nerkia? It’s not a bad deal for him either. He’s the one that’s got the most to gain from all this as well, isn’t he?”
“No… the promise I made with father wasn’t something like that.”
She’s still as stubborn as ever.
And I suppose that was the exact reason why she was a figure of respect for countless Arucis girls, as well as one of fear.
“And besides… Nerkia’s also doing his best to win in the imperial festival. I can’t make him give up just like that.”
Damn it, her completely different appearance to her normal cool personality was so damn cute.
To the point I just didn’t understand why, why the hell was she lovers with someone like Nerkia!
“Nerkia is incredible. Even when he first enrolled, he could have gone to Marcis, but not for the school he was going to attend, but purely for his own education, he chose to go to Yugrasia, and he even created a miracle like this!”
Was this what you called a maiden in love.
I couldn’t see any trace of her normal self as she fervently heaped on the praise, as she showed me a side of her I’d never seen once in the two years we’d been on the student council together.
Although the fact the reason why she was showing me this was because of the Yugrasia student council president Nerkia, was so, so much of a waste.
“Haa… seriously, you girls are really living it the hard way.”
“No, we’re all doing this because we want it. So, it’s alright.”
As I looked at Arietta smile happily I thought of another girl that made that very same smile.
Someone who could in future aim for the title of president, or vice-president.
A girl whose personality was the complete opposite of Arietta’s, a girl who could not earn respect, but was loved instead.
“Alright then… tomorrow, we’ll definitely make a comeback.”
Although the thought of an asshole who monopolised the love of girls like them having a happy end did make me resentful, right now as the student council president of Arucis, I had a duty to ensure that Arucia won the imperial festival.
“Yep, I believe in you, Pres!”
And the next day.
[Arucia: 0pt]
[Marcis: 0pt]
[Yugrasia: 12pt]
[Mercaria: 0pt]
The gap only widened.