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The Lifting of the Girl’s Curse Marks the Beginning of a New Era – Part 01

Although the incident during the tournament resulted in numerous injuries, there were no fatalities. Gerhardt suffered the most severe injury, but despite being past his prime, his superhuman endurance and Paula’s initial treatment managed to save his life. If either of these two factors were missing, he would not have made it.

The Ruler’s Rumble Tournament was resumed the next day—jumping straight to the finals.

“Who could have seen this coming?! It’s the finals! Regrettably, yesterday’s incident resulted in many candidates being seriously injured. Then the other candidates chose to withdraw from the tournament, leaving only these two to compete for the championship!”

Hikaru, sitting in the audience seat, let out a gasp of amazement. He never thought that the rings representing the four attributes of fire, water, wind, and earth were a kind of magic item. The rings started to move and merge together, forming one enormous arena.

“Your first fighter! Yesterday, he was on the brink of death, but today he appears completely healthy. Reigning leader of the Confederacy of Einbiest, Lord Gerhardt Vatex Anchor!”

Thunderous applause erupted. Gerhardt strode up, holding his right first up high, and beckoned a staff over.

“Hmm? What’s this?”

The staff dashed to the broadcaster’s table.

“A message from Lord Gerhardt?” the announcer said. “I’m reading it out loud. ‘I caused concern to everyone yesterday, but as you can see, I’m fine now. You may have felt anxious after what happened, but watching today’s battle will ease those fears.’”

The crowd roared in response to his reassuring words.

“But wait, there’s more! ‘The Healer who treated me yesterday has disappeared. I would like to thank them for their help, so please help me find them.’ They wear a hood and a mask. Hmm? A hood and a mask? That sounds familiar.”

“Please forget about me!” Paula mumbled beside Hikaru, who had his Group Cloaking on, preventing her from being seen.

Paula initially treated Gerhardt, and when he recovered to the point where he wasn’t at risk of dying, the medics took over. Paula then returned to the inn with Lavia in the chaos.

Gerhardt was staring at the area where Hikaru was sitting. He shouldn’t be able to see them.

We should be invisible… I think. Right?!

He looked like a straightforward and hearty, but tenacious man. He even told Jillarte Kouga’s last words when he was on the brink of death.

Paula might need Stealth too, Hikaru thought. In this world, living inconspicuously was not easy.

“Now, let me introduce the other finalist! Who would have thought she would make it this far? No, who would have guessed that she would even be in this tournament?! Please welcome Jillarte Kostenlos Jäger!”

The swelling cheers stopped abruptly.

She was wrapped in the same light armor as yesterday, and wearing the same short swords on both sides. But something was different.

“What a surprise! Don’t you all agree?! I, too, doubted my own eyes, but it’s most definitely Jillarte herself!”

A stir ran among the audience, turning into a loud murmur.

“Allow me to explain. The Dragonfolk are characterized by dull scales and cloudy eyes, which were said to be the result of a drakon’s curse. However, in yesterday’s battle, Jillarte fought and defeated her father, Kouga—yes, the previous leader, Lord Kouga, who died in this arena twelve years ago. And then, the curse was lifted! Her power to overcome the past broke the curse of her race, and all of the Dragonfolk shed their scales!”

The murmurs grew even louder. The audience turned their gaze to the reserved seating for the Dragonfolk, and their tone changed.

The Half Dragons removed all their hoods at once, revealing normal skin and clear eyes. They were human.

A sort of rumble, not a cheer, rose. The excitement of having witnessed a miracle.

As she entered the arena, Jillarte, her beautiful red hair flowing, raised her right fist high in the same manner as Gerhardt’s.

Explosive cheers went up. Men enamored by her beauty were particularly loud and enthusiastic.

Gerhardt watched with a forced smile. It was the perfect performance to change the impression of the Dragonfolk.

The two exchanged words in the middle of the arena, but no one in the audience could hear them.

Hikaru, however, didn’t need to hear anything. Knowing Jillarte, she probably said something along the lines of “I’ll beat you today,” with Gerhardt, wearing a daring smile, responding, “Them’s fightin’ words.”

The gong signaling the start of the final match sounded.

---

“Hngh… What the hell is wrong with that freakin’ place?!”

Selyse laughed. “I don’t think that’s the kind of language a lady should use.”

“You’re okay with this?! First, they tell us to go win the tournament and now they want us back! Worse, they’re cutting our reward because we dropped out halfway?! The disrespect!”

“Hmm. Sending Sophie and Sara was the right choice.”

Selyse and Serika remained in the hotel room. Serika’s anger was understandable. After the mass appearance of Undead monsters, Selyse managed to regroup with her other party members, who helped in the evacuation of the spectators. But what awaited her was a message from the Adventurers’ Guild: the commission had been terminated.

The Kingdom of Ponsonia had sent Selyse and the knight East to win the Confederacy of Einbiest’s Ruler’s Rumble tournament in order to recapture the fortress city of Leather-elka. The upfront payment for the commission was 10 million gilans, and the reward for completing it was a whopping 100 million gilans. After terminating the commission, however, the kingdom said, “Normally, there would be no completion reward, but we will pay you 10 million gilans for the trouble of traveling to Einbiest. Return to the kingdom immediately.”

From the perspective of the government, victory in the tournament would be nothing more than harassment since Leather-elka had been recaptured. They considered Einbiest to be just a remote region with no political value. It was easy to imagine that they suddenly became stingy now that Leather-elka had been retaken.

Selyse was so irate that she considered winning the tournament anyway, but she didn’t want to work for free, so she withdrew, citing her injuries as the reason. Sophie had already healed her completely, though.

Ryver was arrested, and Selyse and Silver Face withdrew, so when Jillarte decided to go straight to the finals, the remaining candidates—the Beastmen—also announced their withdrawal because they wanted Gerhardt at full strength.

Since it wasn’t a good idea to have an irritated Serika, and Selyse, who withdrew from the tournament halfway through, walking around outside, Sophie and Sara headed to the guild to process the termination of the commission.

“What are your thoughts, Serika? Should we depart from our beloved kingdom?”

Selyse’s tone shifted to be more feminine. There was no need to pretend among peers.

“Of course! That place sucks!”

“Language, dear. Never mind.”

“Not that this place is any more stable! Above all, the food is awful!”

Agriculture in Einbiest wasn’t that great, and the diet was hardly nutritious. The country itself was definitely unstable.

“I’m curious about that announcement yesterday.”

Two days had passed since the appearance of the Undead monsters, and one day since the finals of the Ruler’s Rumble tournament.

“The Beastmen won in the end! So boring!”

Jillarte managed to push Gerhardt into an unfavorable position, but in the end, the latter’s power prevailed. Gerhardt sent Jillarte flying out the ring, rendering her motionless. He then walked up to her, picked her up, and carried her to the medics, giving the impression of a reconciliation.

Afterward, a ceremony was held to reappoint Gerhardt as Leader of the Confederacy, during which he talked to the audience about the Undead from the previous day.

Caddie Fullblood had summoned the monsters in case Ryver was on the verge of being defeated. Her reason for interfering was understandable, but she caused too much damage, and above all, Ryver’s arrow almost took Gerhardt’s life. Furthermore, Ryver entered the tournament using a slot for the Beastmen.

The Beastmen themselves were not a monolith, and there was widespread unrest among the citizens of Einbiest.

“Did the Beastmen really nominate Ryver?!” Serika wondered.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Beastmen respect their lineage! It’s weird that they would give a slot to a human! I sense someone else is behind this.”

“You mean not just a different faction among the Beastmen?”

“I don’t think they would just kill Gerhardt like that out in the open!”

“That is certainly strange.”

Serika’s conjecture was actually right on the mark. In the subsequent interrogation, numerous letters from Bios were found in Ryver’s luggage, all highly encrypted. The Theocracy of Bios served as the headquarters of the Church, an organization with branches all over the world, and was considered the center of religion in this continent.

Gerhardt speculated that the attempted assassination on both him and Jillarte were ordered by Bios. Regardless of which assassination succeeded, a rift would form in Einbiest, plunging the nation into chaos. The Beastmen were not united, and circumstances suggested that Ryver received his slot through force. Gerhardt believed that the faction behind this was connected to Bois.

However, it would be some time before the Four Eastern Stars learned of this information.

“Strange things abound, but let’s stay here for a few more days before we leave,” Selyse said. “I have a lot of business to attend to once we return to the kingdom.”

“Celebrity life sounds like a hassle!”

Selyse was fond of this black-haired, black-eyed girl who would dismiss everything with two words: a hassle. She was straightforward, frank, and positive. What’s more, she was smart, with a perspective that differed from Selyse.

“Selyse!” Serika called after a moment of thought.

“What is it?”

“Next time you see that Mage, do whatever you can to make contact!”

“Oh, that girl. Her magic was powerful.”

“I wish I was there to see it!”

Serika was talking about Lavia. She believed that Lavia—Silver Face’s companion, it seemed—was the same person who appeared in Cotton-elka and cast Fire Magic on the White Dragon.

“There’s so many incredible people out there, huh?” Selyse glanced out the window, a distant look on her face.

There were many people stronger than her, something she realized more and more as she continued her life as an adventurer.

But there’s no one here stronger than that man.

The strongest person she knew—Selyse’s aspiration, in a way.

The Sword Saint of the Kingdom of Ponsonia.

---

After suffering defeat at the hands of Jillarte, East quickly left Einbiest and came to the fortress city of Leather Elka, located on the border. Knights were temporarily running the city due to the absence of the governor.

Commander Lawrence D. Falcon was in his office, perusing countless documents with a bored face. His uniform looked too tight for his big, muscular frame.

“Oh, East.” Lawrence’s face lit up. “You’re back.”

“That I am, Sir.”

“Why the long face? Everyone envied your position. We reclaimed Leather-elka without much of a fight, and all that is left is paperwork and patrolling for security. Now tell me what happened. How was the Ruler’s Rumble tournament? I believe Gerhardt won again.”

Lawrence had already been informed of the results through a magic transmission, but he wasn’t privy on the details.

“Understood,” East said. “Silver Face also participated in the tournament.”

“…And?”

Lawrence’s face tensed up. He had received no information about the other participants. Feeling intimidated by his esteemed commander, East, trying his best to set aside his personal feelings—he believed his emotions led to his defeat—gave a report on what happened in Hopestadt.

“I see. So that’s what happened,” the commander said. “You don’t seem to know about the chaos that ensued the day after you lost.”

“What chaos, Sir?”

Lawrence was also informed about the appearance of the Undead monsters. East, on the other hand, only learned about it now.

“We have achieved our objective,” Lawrence said. “Your mission was just another way to reclaim Leather-elka. Don’t worry about your loss. Reflect upon your defeat and use it to better yourself.”

“…Yes, sir.” East gave a deep bow.

Lawrence himself was using his defeat against the boy named Silver Face as a stepping stone to reach even greater heights. A mere knight like him moping about his loss was outrageous.

“Einbiest will be chaotic from now on,” Lawrence said. “But it is unlikely that the kingdom will get involved in the turmoil. Now is the time to train and become as strong as possible. I want others to know that there are outliers like Silver Face out there.”

“I wouldn’t call him an outlier. How do I put it… He doesn’t fight head-on, so…”

“I know what you mean. Unconventional might be a better term. A Rule Breaker, if you will.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I feel it too sometimes. Up ahead…”

“Pardon, sir?”

“No, it’s nothing. Forget it. You must be tired. Rest today. You will be back on duty tomorrow.”

“Understood!”

East saluted and left the room.

“Up ahead is a realm beyond reason,” Lawrence mumbled.

Lawrence’s Soul Board had a Skill called Heaven Sword. He already had 1 point on it, but he himself was unaware.

He just had a feeling.

That there was something different at the end of this sword, something he had never experienced before.