Chapter 158: Yurirl (2/2)

Emma's anger decreased as she chuckled. She then began to mimic his words in a gruff and manly voice. As the two laughed, another person walked over.

”Your highness, Princess Nera.” Emma stopped fooling around and bowed to the young princess. ”I'm glad that you are well.”

”Same to you, Sister Emma.” The way princess Nera addressed Emma reminded Arthur that his friend was engaged to Caleb, the degenerate prince. ”Hello, Arthur.” Nera smiled warmly at Arthur, making him uncomfortable.

”Hello, your highness.” He didn't call her as intimately she called him, but he didn't care. Nera might be a good person, but she was still someone who would try to use him.

”Have you guys heard?” Nera continued. ”The divine swordsman is here.”

”Yurirl?” Arthur asked with shock. After all, he was reading about this person a few days ago when he was mentioned in the articles writing about Extrasort.

”Yes,” Nera nodded. ”He's not here as an audience, but a partner, even!” She said with a bit of excitement.

”This is the first time he shows up in the competition, right?” Emma asked with a frown. It was far too bizarre that he was here.

”Yes, but it's not as odd as you think.” Nera read her mind. ”It's know to all that he has a sudden interest in runes.”

”Do you know why?” Arthur asked with interest. After all, Yurirl was someone that was at the peak of their generation. At the tender age of 22, he was already a Vetus ranker. This achievement allowed him to be recognized by every major power in the world in addition to the public.

”Well, it happened after his latest guild exploration of the Ruins of Immortal Sage.” Nera shrugged. ”Nothing other than that. Maybe he was amazed by the runes there, who knows?”

Arthur nodded and went silent. Maybe he was being paranoid, but he feared it had something to do with him. After all, everyone was after the outsider. With his face known to Erin Voldor, it might not be a long stretch that other powers know of him by now.

However, there was still no activity whatsoever. Arthur found that it was weird, but he didn't know what else to do. Should he run away and live in hiding for the rest of his life? There was no guarantee that they wouldn't find him.

As the three chatted, the host that Arthur had met near the calamity spider came into the hall. He called for their attention and the hall went quieter.

”You'll be taken to the arena in a short moment. Please prepare yourselves. Everyone is entering together, please don't rush and hurt other people.”

After those words by a few minutes, the announcement came in. The hundred participants started walking through the corridors until the bright sun revealed itself at the end of on door. The cheers of the crowd got louder until the earth was shaking beneath them.

Arthur walked alongside Emma, who smiled at him and nodded, as they walked into the sunlight. When they stepped out of the door, it was like a different world. The air was humid and a fever stuck to the air as the hundreds of thousands of people cheered. The noise was deafening and the sunlight took a few moments to adjust to.

When Arthur was able to see the arena, a blue sky mottled with white clouds revealed itself. With a circular stand around it, an arena was in the middle with a single figure flying above it.

”QUIET.” The flying figure roared. It was a woman wearing a loose robe with waist-length flaming hair. Her hair was in curls with the tips dyed blue, making her appearance both beautiful and wild. Her green eyes were a shade that resembled the greenish forests with canines so prominent that she looked like a cat.

”Ahem.” She coughed when she saw the noise disappear. With a grin, she placed her hands on her waist as she addressed the audience. ”Welcome, everyone!” There was no mic, but her voice reached everyone equally. ”Today, we'll be choosing a champion for the 101st Runes Apprentice's Cup!”

The crowds cheered. Arthur was speechless at her disorganized speech, but she seemed so pleased with herself that Arthur wondered if he was hearing a different speech.

”Uh,” She paused to think. ”Well, there is the thing about partners and whatever. We'll be choosing them randomly, so there's nothing we can do about any complaints you might have. That's why take your complaints and stick them in your… pockets.” She coughed at the last word.

'This woman is a gangster.' Arthur almost burst out laughing. He saw her wave her hand as if the crowd was cheering, but they weren't.

”Anyway,” She looked for staff before spotting someone. ”Turn the big screen on. Let's do~o~o this!”

The staff was helpless but the big screen that hung from the stands was turned on, revealing the names of the participants with a blank in front of them.

”Let the randomness or something begins!” She declared and the blanks were filled with changing names that the crowd tried to gleam off. After a short minute, the names of the partners were revealed.

Every participant looked for the name of their partners, and so did Arthur. As he scanned the list, he finally found his name. In front of it was a single name with no surname. Everyone that saw the result was shocked.

Yurirl.