Chapter 122

Chapter 122

Did she just look like Sellen?

Was this her sister?

I felt an intense sense of wrongness as I wondered who this was.

The main problem was that my eyes were not so bad that I couldn’t recognize someone standing in front of me.

Isn’t she Sellen?

Surprisingly, she couldn’t even handle me staring at her and squirmed beneath my gaze...

It was refreshing to see her act like that while looking like Sellen.

“What is it? Why are you speaking so politely now?”

“Uh, uh... Right...! Yeah. Haha.”

Haha?

“The weather, today. It’s, good?”

“...”

How am I supposed to take this?

If I wasn’t hallucinating, if the person in front of me really was Sellen...

Then there were only two possibilities I could think of.

Either her personality had completely changed in the last four weeks...

Or she was acting.

Of course, if that was the case, I couldn’t tell whether the act was her timid and gentle behavior now or her rough and rude demeanor before.

“Hey, you—”

“Ah...! I-I just remembered something I have to do! I mean, I’m going! See you later!” Sellen said before quickly scurrying off.

It wouldn’t be hard to follow her...

But it would be way too rude of me to chase after her when she was obviously trying to get away from me.

Though, if someone asked how long I’d cared about being polite, I wouldn’t be able to give them an answer.

“I don’t know.”

My head felt numb, maybe because of the hunger.

Since Sellen was still here, the competition ceremony clearly hadn’t started yet, so I decided to go to the main house and eat something first.

***

The training camp.

That hellish event, also known as the Six Weeks of Despair, had finally come to an end.

“So this has day finally come...”

“Are you crying?”

“Yeah, I am crying. Fuck... I’m crying tears of joy.”

“I’m going to treat my mom and dad so well from now on.”

“That resolution won’t even last a month.”

The young heroes, who had endured those six weeks that had felt like six years, let out tears of joy and gratitude as the training camp finally concluded.

They were now being treated with a feast in the garden of Bednicker’s main house.

“Ah... I’ve missed this. Juicy steak...”

“What’s this? Are these fish eggs?”

“Woah... You can usually only eat this in port cities!”

“I heard this is butterfly wine. Did they put butterflies in it?”

“Ew. Definitely not drinking that.”

“It says here that this is great for recovering from mana exhaustion.”

“Woah.”

The grand feast presented on the table was befitting the name of Bednicker.

Even the nobles—with their picky tastes—went wide-eyed at all the food.

Of course, being forced to eat whatever was laid before them in the training camp was a factor.

Although the feast was smaller than the Blessing Ceremony’s afterparty had been, the energy and excitement were beyond even that event.

Most of the people here were descendants of Great Houses and thus nobles...

But, perhaps because of the six-week training camp...

Most of the young heroes present had stopped caring about etiquette.

No one was around to look down on them, so most of the young heroes laughed loudly and enjoyed the mood.

“...A drink for Rex.”

“He was a good guy. Damn it...”

Of course, some of them had lost people, either their teammates or just friends.

They stood a bit away from the feast, to not get swept up in the mood, and quietly mourned those they’d lost.

It’s really over.

Evan Helvin was still in a bit of disbelief.

He couldn’t believe that he had completed the training camp.

In truth, this feast was actually a trap prepared by the instructors, and there was one final test still left to complete!

...Evan still wasn’t convinced that wouldn’t happen.

Woosh.

The night winds, which had become a little warmer, caressed his cheeks.

The light from the lamps, the scent of the food, the voices of the young heroes... it all seemed pleasant to him.

With a dejected expression, Skull mumbled, “I-I was completely stripped of everything...”

“That’s because you hid the balls in your underwear like an idiot... With Charon’s blessing, you shouldn’t even think about hiding anything.”

“Argh. Stop talking about that while we’re eating.”

Evan’s expression was subdued as he listened in on the conversation.

Sharyl asked, “What do you think? Was what we saw a hallucination?”

“I don’t think so.”

The Luan Bednicker they’d suddenly met in the forest had given them three blue balls before disappearing.

During that exchange, he’d conversed with them.

Evan didn’t know much about magic, but he didn’t think that had been an illusion.

At least, that was what he’d felt when he’d seen and talked with Luan.

But later, he’d learned...

Other than his group, not a single young hero had met Luan in the forest.

It’s like a ghost story...

Evan shook his head.

“We can tell just by the results. It doesn’t make sense unless he was a hallucination.”

“That’s true. We don’t even know whether the balls he gave us back then were real or not.”

Charon and Hector, the two strongest people in the training camp had suddenly formed an alliance in the final test.

They had swept through the Forest of the Butterfly and stolen the balls of all the young heroes...

I understand Charon acting that way, but why would Sir Hector...?

Sharyl was confused by that.

The fact that the two of them had stolen all the balls meant that they’d wanted the ranks to remain unchanged...

Although it was understandable for Charon, who was in first place, it didn’t make sense for Hector, who should’ve been aiming to overtake Charon in the final test.

Yet the two of them had worked together to clear the forest.

It was as if they’d suddenly developed a sense of kinship.

According to witness testimonies from the young heroes who’d run into them, even when they’d quarreled, they’d still seemed rather close.

A young man with brown hair cleared his throat to reveal his presence.

“Ahem.”

It was the Instructor of Swords and Blades, Calzark.

He climbed the platform in the middle of the garden and shouted to the crowd, “Attention, all young heroes! We will now announce the final results of the 61st Bednicker Training Camp!”

The raucous crowd settled down as every young hero present gave Calzark their full attention.

Only the instructors knew what the point distributions were like after the final special test.

Right now, not a single young hero knew what their points were.

I know that Charon and Hector went around stealing everything...

But who knows? Maybe someone held on to theirs to the very end.

If I’m lucky, I might have made it into the top ranks...

As the young heroes nervously looked up at the platform, Calzark spoke.

“As you all know, the top three will receive a hero plate from Heroes and a gold reward. Now, I shall announce first place! Charon Woodjack!”

That meant there hadn’t been an upset.

Sharyl, who had been quietly rooting for Hector, was a little disappointed, but as a noble, she needed to be polite, so she offered her congratulations.

“Next second place! Hector Bednicker!”

“Ah.”

Sharyl was a little surprised.

Before the start of the test, Hector’s rank had been third.

So he did get to bounce back.

Although it was regretful that he hadn’t gotten first place, second was still pretty good.

Sharyl was clearly happy for him as she clapped.

It seemed to Evan that she was clapping louder for Hector than she had for first place.

“Maybe third place changed too?”

“Yeah.”

Sharyl thought about who could be in third place.

Probably Zeros or Sinbar.

Charon’s two subordinates.

If she excluded them, then maybe Sellen?

Sellen was sitting alone at a table, wearing a calm expression.

Sharyl was a little amazed.

Sellen’s classy etiquette hadn’t suffered at all despite the six weeks of training. She was so refined that even as a fellow noble, Sharyl couldn’t help but be amazed.

Look at her.

Even just the smooth movement of the wine up to her lips...

“Third! Luan Bednicker!”

“Yep!”

The moment Luan walked up to the platform from behind with energetic steps...

“Pfft!”

Sellen coughed up her wine.