Chapter 220 - Round One (1)
When the group got back to the inn, they had realized that they are missing one room. There were nine participants and Lance came with them.
Luck has no room inside the inn.
"That's okay," Luck said. "I'm going to sleep in another inn, enjoy a woman for the night. Been a long time–"
"Just go," Midnight scoffed. "How pathetic."
The front door of the inn opened and a little girl came in. There was a maid following her and three Adventurers stood by the door, one came inside with the kid while the other two stationed outside.
The little girl had light brown hair that looked like it had a tint of red in it. This reminded Elliot of Minos's reddish black hair that he usually wore slicked back.
"Is that…" Elliot trailed off seeing Midnight walk past them and into the child.
"Oh, you're here," Midnight cheered. "How are you Cecile?"
"I am doing good, Midnight," the child grinned. "How about you? Are you doing fine?"
"Yes, I am," Midnight chuckled. "Lance call Minos. Cecile is here."
"I'll do it," Elliot offered. "I have to talk to him about something too."
The little girl tilted her head and nodded, "Okay. I permit you to do so."
Elliot nodded and chuckled. Cecile looked very cute and she acted all bossy. He walked upstairs and found himslef standing in front of Minos's room not a minute later. He took a deep breathe and was about to knock when the door flung open by itself.
"Oh, hi," Elliot greeted. He was especially surprised when it was Minos himself who opened it. Aquarius was now sleeping in his bed comfortably.
"I felt you through the door, so I just opened it," Minos said. "Come inside."
"Oh, no I just want to come and check on you," Elliot smiled. "And Midnight said Cecile is here."
The look on Minos's face said how much he loved his daughter. The mere mention of her name put a wide smile on his lips that he excitedly exited his room, slowly closing the door as to not disturb the sleeping Aquarius.
"She's early," Minos chuckled as they walked down. "I know Lance told you about me and my best friend, but I bet he didn't tell you why we drifted apart."
"Yeah," Elliot nodded. "Why is that?"
"Cecile's mother is actually Aquarius's older sister," Minos said. What he said shook Elliot to his core but how Minos delivered it nonchalantly was beyond amazing. "He was angry that I slept with his sister when we said we should never do that. Because, you know, best friend things."
"I thought you two drifted apart because of your fathers' deaths," Elliot confessed. "But I was so wrong."
Minos sighed and chuckled, "When our fathers died, we actually got closer. We were young then and we were lost. Sasha, Cecile's mother, was betrothed to another man in another city. Then I was so lost that I ended up getting her pregnant."
"But what happened to her?" Elliot asked. "Was she not your girlfriend that you brought recently?"
"Sasha died giving birth to Cecile," Minos flattened his lips. "Sasha's mother is the one raising her now since she decided that I was incapable to do so."
"Wow," Elliot let out. "Nobles are really something else."
"Tell me about it," Minos chuckled and shook his head.
When they got to the bottom of the stairs, the little girl was already running to her father's arms, "Daddy!"
"Hey, my little lollipop," Minos cooed. "How have you been doing?"
Minos picked his daughter up and let her sit on his large arm. It was almost the size of her body so Cecile had no problem sitting on it comfortably.
"It's been months since I last saw you, daddy," Cecile pouted. "Good thing you wrote often or else I would've been very angry."
"Don't worry about it, love," Minos kissed her forehead. "Wanna watch daddy play tomorrow? I'll do my best."
"Yes, I want to! Granny also said I could," Cecile cheered and clapped her hands. "You better knock them all out or else I will be very upset."
"I will, my love," Minos chuckled. "I will."
–
It was the day after and it was almost nightfall. The skies were painted with a beautiful array of orange and purple colors. The wind started to blow coldly and the lights from the streets and stores lit up one by one.
His body was restless and he could feel his body itch with a mixture of fear and excitement. Elliot stood in the line to the entrance of Round One's venue, which was the city's square itself.
"Round One is at night?" Elliot asked. "Won't that be dangerous?"
"It's not going to be," Lance said. "Royal Guards are stationed at every corner. Don't worry about it."
The city's square was covered with a large pillar-like forcefield. It was a cylindrical forcefield that was put up by the Heaven's Son Religion by the order of the Holy Crow himself.
Elliot could see that there were about five hundred guilds participating. It only dawned him how many guilds were there in Alorde, and how many were unknown since they couldn't reach the Top 100.
"Next!" The guard stationed at the entrance yelled. He was calling for their guild, the group making their way into the entrance without Lance.
"You better not get eliminated," Lance warned.
Elliot smirked and shrugged, "Who knows?"
The guard checked the pins of the guild members one by one. Two more guards checked if the participants were carrying illegal or unreported items with them.
To the participants, the rules of Round One was still unknown. They were only told that they should not bring in any items that they did not report beforehand.
"Oh, sir, I use Spatial Magic," Elliot said. "Do you want to see my items here?"
The guard quirked his brow and shook his head. He tapped Elliot's other side of the waist and leaned in, "That's your secret weapon. Don't just say it out loud."
Elliot formed an O with his mouth and turned to his friends. It seemed like they didn't hear the guard, to which Elliot returned his gaze at.
"W-What? Sir, but–"
"All clear!" The guard announced and let Elliot pass through. The boy was still shocked that he was able to get past the inspection just like that.
He was looking at the guard who seemed unbothered by it. Like nothing had happened at all.
"Elliot! Look!" Connor said excitedly and pointed inside. When Elliot turned to see where he was pointing, he could only gasp when he saw the floating islands inside the forcefield.
Adventurers that were already inside started occupying the islands, some were still in awe about it. The forcefield seemed to be glowing too, bringing light inside the venue like there was a white sun in around them.
"Welcome to Round One!" A man on a floating island said. His voice was amplified so that everyone in the venue could hear him. His island was the only island that moved, floating around the venue and watching everyone.. "Adventurers of Alorde, this is Round One of the Championship of the Greats."