Chapter 48 - Protagonist: I wanted to do this a long time ago. (1/2)
Chapter 48.1 – Protagonist: I wanted to do this a long time ago.
“Let me take care of this. The Prime Minister will not trouble you.” Jack winked at Xiu and Du Ze. “It’s payment for helping me get Vie back.”
Jack gave some instructions to Enoch, who then took a bottle from Vieruodis and sprinkled a liquid on the white flowers and blood. The ghastly assembly dissolved in a blink of an eye, leaving no trace of evidence for the two bodyguards.
Chapter 48.2 – Protagonist: I wanted to do this a long time ago.
Xiu and Du Ze went to the weapon contest registration area and Xiu filled out the form. Du Ze was a little concerned, for the Moe Master to participate in the weapon contest carries with it a certain risk: After the weapons contest, Princess Kelly asked Ulrich to kill the elf who humiliated her. Ulrich agreed because he wanted the weapon that Xiu made. The first War God did not fail. Xiu was forced to shift into his undead form to be able to shrug off death. This was the time when Ariel contributed her soul to save Xiu.
Therefore, when Xiu handed over his registration form, some silly, cute person suggested to Xiu: “Don’t do too good.”
Xiu seemed a little surprised. Du Ze continued: “Don’t place first, second place is better.”
In the novel, Xiu took second place and could take one item from the Light Empire’s treasury. Because of the protagonist’s halo, Xiu found an interspatial treasure that had an almost limitless storage capacity – this space was the perfect match for the Moe Lord.
Du Ze saw Xiu’s lips curve up slightly. Xiu stretched out his hand and stroked the back of Du Ze’s neck.
“I don’t want her.”
For a moment, Du Ze was too stunned to react since his words seem to have been ambiguous but when he looked at Xiu’s slightly upturned lips, the words wouldn’t come out.
The black haired young man hung his head slightly, like a cat with his fur flat.
(Translator’s note: A cat with his fur raised/puffing up is an angry or frightened cat. The opposite is when the fur is flat. That means the cat is relaxed and happy.)
The weapons contest was held in the middle of the month.1
In the preliminary round, experts weeded out the defective weapons and chose the higher quality items that would be allowed in the finals. Xiu brought a sword that he said was from the Gnome Ruins. Du Ze doesn’t know a thing about weapons so he can’t tell the good from the bad, but he thinks that the sword looked very elegant. As to what quality it was, Du Ze doesn’t know since Xiu said that it was not a very good experimental product, so it should not be a magical artifact.
The sword passed through the preliminaries without any suspense, and when they left with the sword, Du Ze could see the judge’s hands shaking and the shock on his face.
Du Ze tried to confirm it again with Xiu: “This sword is not good?”
Xiu nodded.
Some silly, cute person was immediately relieved.
The preliminary round of the weapons contest was held for three days. The final round was the highlight of the event and the Light Empire’s important guests would be watching it. In the finals, the contestants will take their weapons and display their capabilities, allowing the judges and guests to look at the final top three winners.
Du Ze sat in the auditorium while Xiu sat in the contestants’ area. Xiu drew the number 99 – there were 100 weapons in the finals so Xiu will be the second to the last to go up on the stage. Du Ze looked at the guests’ platform where the Emperor of the Light Empire has appeared. He had a red beard and on his right side was a middle-aged man with an aquiline nose – the first War God Ulrich. On the Emperor’s left side was a beautiful girl with curly red hair, Princess Kelly.
Of all the sisters, the one that hurt Du Ze’s heart the most is Princess Kelly. When Princess Kelly made her debut, the proud princess looked down upon all civilians. Xiu was recognized as a genius in the School of Magic and his fame surpassed that of Princess Kelly’s, so she would often bring a bunch of people with her to bully him. At that time Du Ze was still naïve. He just thought: ah this is just her way of flirting, Princess Kelly is just tsundere. He totally did not expect that she would repay kindness with ingratitude and do evil to someone who had been good to her. Because of her betrayal, Xiu never had a chance.
“… and now, please welcome the Son of God and the Holy Maiden.”
At that moment, Du Ze could not describe his feelings as, with an honor guard of knights, Eric and Vivian appeared. Du Ze finally got a glimpse of the novel’s female lead. She looked like a perfect girl. Both her appearance and temperament are so dazzling that it’s difficult for people to look at her directly since to gaze at her felt almost blasphemous. Eric walked beside her and, even in the light cast by Vivian, Eric did not look in any way inferior. The two people walked together and looked like the perfect couple.
Du Ze saw Xiu staring at Vivian at the VIP area and he thought: now we will know who has to give up all hope.
After the introduction of Eric and Vivian, the master of ceremonies announced the start of the weapons contest. One after the other, contestants showed off their weapons.
Beside Du Ze was a dwarf. Whenever a contestant took out a weapon, he always made a disdainful sound and the noble beside him would flatter him.
“Compared to your work, those weapons cannot be called weapons at all, they are just a pile of scrap metal.”
“Look, that knife can’t even cut the adamant,2 what trash!”
Adamant is the hardest rock in the Chaos Continent. Even a Sword Saint would find it difficult to break adamant. It is often used to evaluate weapons. When contestant number 96th went on stage, the dwarf stopped his disdainful grunts and stretched his neck up to see the demonstration.
“Shing!”
The silver-white sword was stuck in the stone, one-third of the way through. This is the best result of all the weapons so far and even Ulrich’s face showed a satisfied expression. Everyone can tell that, unless there is a big upset, this sword will win first place.
After number 96 finished his demonstration, the dwarf retracted his neck. Everyone could see that he was satisfied with the result but he still grunted and said coldly: “Your man’s strength was not enough to bring out its true power.”
The nobleman hastened to say: “True, true, the master’s sword should be able to cut through the adamant.”
Hearing other people praise his sword, the dwarf was very happy but when he saw the face of Du Ze, the dwarf suddenly became unhappy – the black-haired youth’s eyes were still indifferent. It was as if other people had laughed at a joke but one person’s reaction clearly showed that the joke is not really funny.
“Hey, what’s your number?”
The people seated in that area were related to the contestants so the dwarf asked which contestant he was related to. Du Ze was surprised that the dwarf was talking to him. Alas, some silly, cute person’s social barrier was just too strong so Du Ze just stared at the dwarf and his gaze wandered downwards – a good, thick beard, where is the mouth?
“Ignored” by Du Ze, the hot-tempered dwarf became irritated and was about to cause trouble when a commotion attracted his attention. The dwarf looked back at the stage and saw that a stunningly beautiful silver-haired elf was in the testing area.
The dwarf wanted to maintain his habitual cold, disdainful attitude but the snort he wanted to make was stuck in his throat and he opened his eyes wide. He stared disbelievingly at the sword that the elf held.
Too, too perfect – that’s simply God’s masterpiece!
Xiu pulled out the sword, pointed at at the adamant, and smoothly cut it. Everyone could see that the blade very easily cut into the rock, without resistance, like it was cutting a piece of tofu. Ulrich eyed the sword in Xiu’s hands, his eyes shining.
The audience watched as Xiu swung the sword with precision. The cut he made was one centimeter less than the previous highest record.
Everyone: …
Do you think you can hide the quality of the sword in your hand?
Du Ze can’t help but hide his face in his hands. The cheat has been discovered.3 This brother4 can be so brutal sometimes. Ulrich’s eyes narrowed dangerously when he saw Xiu pull out the sword at the end of the test.
“Elf, are you trying to deceive the Light Empire?”
The War God’s voice reverberated and many people covered their ears in pain. Xiu automatically looked for Du Ze and when he saw that Du Ze was fine, he retracted his gaze. He looked up at Ulrich and his normally cold voice was tinged with a faint displeasure: “I do not want first place.”
“Why?”
Xiu glanced above him at Princess Kelly. He didn’t care to remember anything and his eyes were ice-cold: “Too disgusting.”
The audience was in an uproar and Princess Kelly’s face became red. One after the other, people looked askance at her and she could not help but start crying. The emperor’s face also became ugly but before he could order an attack, Eric, in the VIP section, stood up. The blond son of the lord’s eyes were shining brightly as he looked at a particular place in the auditorium.
Vivian was a little surprised but after she and Eric exchanged a few words, the expression on her face also became that of pleasant surprise. As everyone watched, Eric walked down the VIP seating area and the Knights of the Temple of Light faithfully followed the Son of God.
Du Ze watched Eric lead a team of people to him. The Son of God of the Temple of Light went down on his knees, his voice full of piety.
“I’ve finally found you, Your Excellency, God’s Messenger.”5
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Eric is the Son of God of the Temple of Light. Has he been looking for Du Ze for himself or is it for the Temple of Light?