Chapter 328
Chapter 328
«I have never seen such a tense atmosphere at the forest tournament. Everyone is arguing with, shouting, making noise. Another moment, and they will be at each other’s throats…» – A smart looking lady in a long dress said, watching indifferently the commotion. It was Jezzaya, the respected principal of the first ranked school in Athens (1). A person of her level was superior in authority to any elder of the Grand family.
«I guess it all comes down to the main prize. I wonder what is the reason for such generosity of the imperial government?» – A stately man rubbed his chin thoughtfully. It was Kael, the respected principal of the first ranked school in Liberia (2). He inspired awe, giving the impression of a calm, reasonable person, worthy of his high position.
«But we understand that this dispute will lead nowhere. May the strongest and the most successful win, be it the three princes or Haya Ferus, my dear student.» – Jezzaya said pompously, holding her hand.
«I totally agree with you.» – Kael shook her hand with a smile.
The conversation between the two most authoritative principals sounded peaceful and carefree, but it clearly implied that the possible victory for the other five schools was never on the table. Their complete disregard for the rest of the rivals was nothing more than passive neglect, but the other schools did not dare to object. It was crystal clear that the winner would be one of the two leaders.
Kael noticed an effeminate man standing nearby and approached him to express sympathy: «Principal Nulan, I can’t imagine what it feels like to lose Artemis Grand, the third-ranking student. Please accept my sincere condolences.»
Nulan nodded grimly. Artemis’s parents were absent, mourning over their son’s death, but the principal was worried about something else, something personal.
Suddenly, everyone heard the greeting hymn. A luxurious golden carriage pulled by four beautiful white horses approached the stands.
A hush fell over the stands. Everyone focused on the approaching carriage.
«It’s the new king of the Iron Throne!» – One of the spectators screamed enthusiastically.
The citizens of the kingdom burst into loud applause to welcome the new king. Everyone was glad that the imperial authorities had ignored despicable Prince Charles and gave the title to the one who deserved it more than anyone else.
The king stepped out of the carriage. His virile posture drew everyone’s gaze like a magnet. Greatness and fervor were written all over the king’s face. The audience greeted Vladimir Grand, the former head of the investigation department. The imperial authorities had at least three reasons to give the crown to him: his extensive management experience, his relation to murdered Michael, and his unconditional and extensive influence in the Iron Throne.
Since Vladimir had expelled the demons from the empire and eliminated the three issues of the kingdom, albeit with the help of his subordinates, every Bostoner knew, loved and respected him. However, the former head of the investigation department understood that he had become the king thanks to his secret brilliant masked investigator. That’s why he was immensely grateful to Kyon. Vladimir’s resentment at him for letting demons escape execution soon seemed irrelevant and insignificant.
The only drawback of the new status was losing his power in the department. A hundred years ago, Empress Lanatelle excluded the Ministry of Justice from the royal families’ influence to avoid possible betrayal and conspiracies. In other words, Vladimir had no more connections with his former place of work.
When Prince Charles saw the new king, he lowered his head and clenched his fists in a fit of helpless anger. The title should have been his by right of blood, but heaven was unfair.
Vladimir greeted the citizens, the principals and took an honorable place in the Royal Box. He was eager to know what Kyon, aka Dick Baker, was up to. He didn’t belong to this tournament with his weak cultivation after all.
After several hours of waiting, one of the spectators suddenly exclaimed: «Look who is coming!»
Immediately five thousand glances darted towards the forest. A tall savage was approaching the stands. Animal pelts served him as clothing. His body was covered with dried mud and caked blood. His eyes shone with primal madness. He was quickly recognized as the second prince of Liberia.
Many spectators opened their mouths in shock. Who could have robbed the hefty prince? Who was so merciless to deprive him of his clothes?
The second prince approached the stands, his face red with shame. He had tried to take clothes from other participants, but they were too small for him, so he had no choice but to come here in the hides like a wild barbarian. He decided to be first to arrive, or he would have died of shame among the smartly dressed participants.
«What happened to you? Who did this?» – Kael came up to him, visibly worried.
«Principal… I don’t want to talk about it…» – The tall prince hissed through his clenched teeth, shivering as if he were cold.
The guests from Athens smiled maliciously, giggling quietly. Who else could have left the mighty prince like this? Princess Haya, of course! It was as obvious as the fact that the fire was hot! No one else was capable of this.
When Kael saw an arrogant smile playing on Jezzaya’s lips, his world seemed to turn upside down, but he remained imperturbable. He felt unbearably hot with humiliation. The hypocritical snake! She said one thing but meant to say something else! A moment later, this woman showed her true attitude towards her opponent. No matter how reasonable and reserved she tried to seem, it was hard to keep calm when her favorite student proved to be the best of the best, especially at the grand forest tournament, where the honor of the kingdom was at stake.
«Principal Kael, I am warning you for the first and the last time that unauthorized persons are strictly prohibited from approaching the participants before the results are announced.» – Principal Nulan hissed coldly. This rule protected against cheating. What if someone decided to hand over extra keys to the participant.
«I am sorry. My bad.» – The principal from Liberia nodded and walked away.
When another hefty savage in pelts came out from the forest, the guests from Athens could not help laughing. It was the third prince of Liberia! It was ridiculous! Did a fragile girl rob these two thugs? It meant that their kingdom was going to take first place! No one from Athens could restrain the unbridled joy and triumph.
Principal Jezzaya could not hold a jubilant smile, too. However, principal Kael was so gloomy that it hurt to look at him. He was burning with shame. Two best students of his school screwed up, and Princess Haya, their main rival, got all their belongings.
«You too?!» – The third prince was surprised to enter his school zone and meet his elder brother there. He thought that he would be the first to come, but his brother was ahead of him.
«Me too.» – The second prince mumbled grimly.
The two brothers blushed with embarrassment: five thousand people were looking at them standing there in animal hides, awkwardly shifting from foot to foot. Clubs in their hands would have completed the image of cave morons. It was all because of Dick Baker! The princes hated him with all their hearts.
By a “lucky” coincidence, the huge first prince of Liberia was next to arrive. He was also dressed like a primitive hunter.
The guests from Athens burst into loud laughter at once, almost falling from their seats. Even spectators from other kingdoms couldn’t help smiling. Heaven must have arranged this funniest joke ever! What a coincidence! The princess had found and robbed all three of them, but they were first to come to the final ceremony!
A fat, pale man with drooping cheeks interrupted everyone’s laughter with a loud scream: «Gods! Don’t tell me that the forest curse really exists! I don’t want to die!»
«What forest curse?» – Everyone started whispering. The laughter quickly subsided.
«Didn’t you hear? Legends say that a carnivorous fungus lived in the forest five hundred years ago! Its spores penetrated into the lungs and then through the blood into the brain, devouring them from the inside! Everyone who fell under its influence lost their minds, turning into bloodthirsty madmen, and then died!»
«It can’t be true!» … «It’s terrible!» … «Is it really happening?» … «А-а-а-а-аh! I need my brains. I have so much to do!» – Someone ran away with a hysterical squeal.
«Silence!» – Vladimir’s loud voice calmed down the starting panic. – «There’s no brain-eating fungus. Someone had robbed the princes.» – The king said and frowned thoughtfully. Who could have done this atrocity?
*countless sighs of relief*
Some time later, participants from other schools began to appear properly dressed. They gave their tournament bracelets to an authorized person and went to their school zones that were in full view of all the stands. Everyone was shocked to see the three princes in pelts.
When it was less than an hour before noon, someone yelled:
«Look! The first princess of Athens is coming!»
Five thousand spectators focused their eyes on the brilliant girl who had single-handedly robbed the three hefty princes, but soon everyone seemed to be petrified. She… She was also wearing animal hides… Just like the princes. The beautiful young barbarian timidly stepped out of the shadows of the trees.
Prince Charles snorted excitedly and led his slave somewhere away from the stands.
The guests from Athens dropped their jaws. Principal Jezzaya’s beautiful face turned into an icy mask, her eyes gleaming with horror and confusion. Was her favourite genius student also robbed? How was it even possible? Who did it? She wasn’t seeing things, was she?
Principal Kael laughed heartily, appreciating the irony of heaven. Suddenly, he stopped laughing and hastily covered his mouth with his hand, but it was too late. Everyone had already heard him, including Jezzaya, the old snake! Their eyes met for a moment, flickering with an evil, ominous spark.
The audience whispered, wondering what had really happened. It became obvious that something abnormal was happening at this tournament. Everyone was eager to figure out the mystery behind the chain of undressing!
With a crimson face, Haya came up to the stands to take off the bracelet with the help of an authorized person. Then she entered her school zone, shyly covering herself with her arms. The princess wished she could sink into the ground and never return. It was unacceptable for the first princess of Athens and the most brilliant girl rolled in one, but she couldn’t help it. Haya spent the recent days searching for other girls to take their clothes without using the tracking function – the last thing she wanted was to bump into the fat freak again – but she couldn’t find anyone in the endless forest. Today Haya set up an ambush at the exit from the forest, but no one showed up, so she had to come to the ceremony dressed like this. It was all because of Dick Baker, the wretched bastard! He was to blame for everything!
It was almost noon, the appointed time after which every latecomer would be disqualified. Almost all 140 tournament participants were already in the seven school zones, with the exception of the late Artemis Grand and some missing Cernos students.
The three hefty princes whispered among themselves, sharing the stories of their inglorious defeats.
«He hung you up by the neck and recorded everything? The fat son of a bitch! Well, as for me… He shoved a huge stick up my a… uh.. into my mouth… My jaw still hurts!» – The second prince hissed furiously, scratching his anus that suddenly started to itch.
«You were lucky, guys. Your stories are no match for mine.» – The third prince of Liberia said glumly.
His brothers looked at him with interest, waiting for the rest of the story: «So?!»
«Well… He painted me with lipstick.» – Unlike his brothers, the third prince told the truth. – «Why are you smiling, idiots? There’s no threat to your honor! And I would be a laughing stock of the whole kingdom if my recording is ever exposed! They will call me the Amazon Princess…»
The smiles on the elder brothers’ faces quickly faded away. The youngest one got off easy, but they…
The second prince cleared his throat: «We all will suffer if one of us screws up. The bastard only seems to be a complete idiot. The truth is, he successfully blackmails us! He might as well get away with it! What do we do?»
«Nothing. We can’t risk our honor. We should think about our safety.» – The eldest brother said emphatically and turned to his schoolmates. – «Listen to me and heed the order of the first prince. If any of you goes against Dick Baker, they will have to deal with me. Is it clear?»
«Yes, Your Highness!» – The participants answered in unison.
A situation like this happened in other zones. The princes and the princesses were so scared of Dick that they ordered their schoolmates not to do him any harm. In fact, it wasn’t necessary because every participant believed in their unique fake formation and meeting with the insidious fat freak. All of them decided it was better to be safe than sorry and kept silent. The story that an advanced phaser had robbed them would sound ridiculous anyway.
Princess Haya had no idea if she could ever take her revenge on the ugly freak in this lifetime. Even her personal knight was a few stages weaker. How else could she get her revenge? Apparently, she had to steer clear from him.
«One minute left.» – Principal Nulan announced and glanced at the forest.
All the participants without exception, especially princess Haya and the three hefty princes, prayed that Dick Backer would be late and thus disqualified. It would warm their hearts. However, they all were disappointed. The fat freak came out of the forest with a staff in his right hand, dressed in a white cape like a magician from fairy tales.
When the guests of the six kingdoms saw the outcast, they directed at him a barrage of offensive comments: «Look. It’s the clown from Cernos! Why is he still alive?» … «Ugh, the scum who tied the knot with demons is still alive! How could it happen? How could heaven allow this?» … «The beasts must have been afraid of being poisoned by rotten meat and didn’t eat him!» … «Ha-ha! Nicely put!»
The Iron Throners clenched their fists, willing to strangle the monster for his devilish vitality.
Only Vladimir chuckled with intrigue, wondering what the goddess’s messenger was up to this time.