Chapter 262

TL: Zimmings

Come to think of it, the application for participation in the competition seems to have been extended out of the blue.

The Duke of Amity, who had no intention of participating, could not refuse the emperor’s request and applied for participation in the competition, which was five days before the competition.

‘Why?’

At that time, engelot was not given as a prize. In the first place, no one knew about it.

‘If I knew this would happen, I should’ve asked why before.’

The Duke of Amity always seemed reluctant to tell me about the turmoils in the empire. And so, I didn’t dare to ask because I didn’t want to be hated by him.

I regretted it a lot. However, it was too late.

The next day, Johann returned after completing his application for participation in the competition. Dad, me, and the three older brothers sat down and discussed our next plan.

Henry said,

“First of all, the most important thing we need to do is to prepare and train the knights. The other families finished applying for participation three months ago and already prepared for the competition, so we have to hurry up.”

Isaac put his chin on his arms.

“It’s easy, but what about-”

Just then,

“Your Excellency!”

“Lady!”

Nos and Seria rushed in.

“Excuse me, Your Excellency. There’s something urgent-”

“I’m sorry, lady. I’m going to tell you this in a hurry.”

At the same time, Nos and Seria, who stood by the open door, saw each other and opened their eyes wide.

“Are we talking about the same thing?”

“Did you hear about that as well?”

What’s wrong with them? They’re in such a hurry. Dad allowed both of them to enter without saying much. Nos and Seria started to talk.

“Your Excellency, it’s about the Nathan Plain, the prize for the competition before engelot.”

“Yes, lady. In the abandoned land that was purified last year…”

Seria added Nos’ words.

“Elsa tree sprouts have grown!”

“A large amount of magic stones were buried there!”

The two who said it at the same time with puzzled expressions.

“No. Surely the elsa tree… no way?”

“No. A large amount of magic stones… by any chance?”

I opened my mouth wide. Did they just said that the sprout of the elsa tree grew and even a large amount of mana stone was found?

At that moment, I heard my heart beat fast in excitement.

There was no such thing as a coincidence.

The elsa tree is a divine tree that can give us a little divine power when we go nearby, and its parts have various uses, even meria grass grows on the base…… that tree is literally a gift from God, no part is wasted.

And the magic stones? Like blue spinel, magic stones could be used as magic tools. Unlike blue spinel, however, which needs to be charged with divine power, the mana stone itself already had a lot of divine power. On top of that, mage could also fill up their divine power using that.

I got up to my feet.

‘Ah, that’s right. So it was like that!’

That was the reason why all five dukes participated in the battle. If the land was given as a prize, everyone’s eyes would be on it.

‘The Duke of Amity probably participated at the request of the emperor.’

The emperor must’ve pointed out the prize out of whim, but he couldn’t retract back his words. When it was known that the abandoned land held such treasures, he tried to bring the Duke Amity, who was not greedy, to participate and win. Later he told him to voluntarily return the prize back to the Imperial Palace.

‘It’s weird that Amity won, not Dubblede in the first place!”

Even if Amity had a large number of outstanding knights, it was no match for Dubblede.

The emperor must have helped Duke Amity to win against Dubblede.

Isaac clicked his tongue.

“It’s going to get chaotic.”

It wasn’t wrong. Indeed, the situation will be chaotic. All kinds of families submitted applications for participation in the virtual battle, and the emperor hurriedly brought the Duke of Amity to the capital.

With two weeks left before the battle, most families were burning with enthusiasm.

***

My family sat around the table and started talking about the virtual battle preparations.

“Excwept for Gwimoire, the three dukes applied for participation, right? (Except for Grimoire, all three young masters applied for participation, right?)”

“That’s right. Shuheil, Marquis Beryl, Wiltro, Dimonte, and even Grand Duke Locard, who boast excellent military power, have completed the application.”

Even the grand duke, the son of the godmother? Well, the Nathan Plain was something that even the godmother would want.

Nos briefly explained the rules of the battle.

“The commander of the battle is usually the successor of each family. There are cases where the head comes forward himself, but it is considered disgraceful. Only in families without descendants does the head come forward.”

The Duke of Amity participated himself. He had no children, only two adoptive daughters, both of whom were children of fate.

If Mina participated, the temple would have protested, while I was completely ignored. So it was not a strange situation for him to go forward as the commander.

“Will brother Johann be the commander?”

“That’s right.”

“I see, go ahead and continue.”

“Unlike virtual battle for children under the age of 17, there is no limit to the age of knights. However, the number of knights is limited to 40. And we can replace them during the game.”

‘It’s like a real war but with a limited number of people.’

Thinking so, I raised my hand.

“Tweacher, I have a question!”

“Say it.”

“If a replacement is possible, what about the elimination?”

“That’s a good question.”

Nos said to me passionately.

My family laughed at our little banter.

“All the participating knights wear straps on their shoulders. If one person is eliminated, the number of soldiers will decrease to 39, and only the 39 soldiers can be replaced.”

“I see.”

“A family that lost the straps of 40 knights or loses the family crest will be eliminated.”

“The last remaining family wins?”

“You’re a smart student.”

Nos was so pleased that I raised my chin arrogantly. We immediately entered the selection of participating knights.

And two weeks later. The battle began.

***

The heads of each family, nobles who did not apply for participation, and envoys from neighboring countries gathered one by one at the imperial palace. They are gathered to watch the battle through a magic tool, like the last virtual battle.

Honghae, who calmly walked inside, looked around.

“Juliet! You’re invited too?”

Juliet, who was holding a glass of champagne with a look of annoyance, nodded.

“My father usually uses me for these kinds of occasions.”

“Me too.”

“You and I have suffered huh?”

“Jin, East and West are also here.”

Jin, who saw the two, came towards them with East and West.

“How have you been? By the way, East and West, both of you have made up with each other right?”

East nodded as West lowered his head sullenly. Although these two twin princes have made up with each other, they were still awkward because of the past incident.

Just then, Duke Marche and Duke Dubblede entered the room, all eyes focused on them.

“Lord Dubblede.”

Theodore, who was walking with a bored look, glanced back at Duke Marche, who greeted him.

Duke of Marche said,

“You’re everywhere these days.”

“You too, duke. But you’re getting older, you should mind your age”

“Haha, you kept joking around like usual.”

“I’m serious.”

The two had a casual conversation, but the atmosphere around them was cold. At that moment people began to chatter,

“Oh that’s Duke of Amity.”

“Why did he come to the viewing hall instead of in the battle area?”

“You didn’t know? The second child of fate will be on the battleground today.”

“Really? Oh my god… how did the temple agree to this?”

The Duke of Amity lightly greeted the Duke of Marche.

“Hello there.”

“It’s been a while since you came to see the capital.”

After a short greeting with Duke Marche, the Duke of Amity turned to Theodore.

“How have you been?”

“I’m fine until I see you”.

“You still haven’t learned any manners even as you get older huh?”

“Why do you keep mentioning the past?”

Duke Marche cleared the mood with a grin.

“The battle hasn’t even begun yet, yet the fathers fight the war first? I think His Majesty gave us a big gift this time. When else would many people gathered?”

His voice was pleasant, but his eyes were cold. Of course, the gaze of the Duke of Dubblede and Amity were no better.

The emperor, who received the ferocious gaze of his subjects, turned his head with a stern expression.

And soon after, the screen came in. It was the beginning of the battle.

There was a person on the screen. Johann wearing a red robe with a Dubblrf4 pattern, and…….

“Is that girl the second child of fate?”

“You’re right.”

“The second child of fate is more….”

She didn’t say the end of her sentence, but everyone understood what the lady said. That girl from another world was beautiful. She had a black hair, big shiny eyes like deer, sharp nose and smooth lips.

On top of that, she had a bright and cheerful smile that made the viewer feel better.

It was Mina, she said to someone.

[Let’s fight fair and square!]

She raised her arms toward her opponent.

“Etwal!”

Someone let out a scream. It was a treasure of the temple and a gift from God for the chosen one.

It was that Etwal. Etwal, that the first child of fate didn’t have, is in the second child of fate’s hand? The people were greatly shaken.

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