Chapter 73
Chapter 73
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: Friendly Match Day
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Only after pressing our heads together so closely that no one else could hear our voices did I explain the plan I'd come up with.
With this, we can definitely win.
Florian, who had been listening intently the whole time I spoke, gave a faint smile.
"......Yeah. In that case, you'll need me."
A glimpse of fighting spirit flashed across his porcelain doll-like face before vanishing.
He usually seems so meek, but when he spars with Dietrich occasionally, you can see Florian has a hidden fiery side. I knew he wouldn't turn down an opportunity like this.
We have to succeed in this friendly match...
I swallowed my thoughts while gazing at Florian's pale profile.
Some things can wait until after we win.
Right after barely finishing the shadow knight registrations, the day of the friendly match arrived.
To make it easy for the spectators to tell teams apart, the red team tied red ribbons around their wrists, while the blue team used blue ones, filling the waiting room with splashes of color.
The friendly match venue was an abandoned hunting ground near Kalena Castle.
It had been closed for ages and was only used now for large events.
After the team leaders tossed a coin, the red team's base was decided as the wooden cabin by the small pond, and the blue team's as the one in front of the collapsed cave.
"We have to win, Marc. Got it?"
"Yes, Uncle!"
Marc replied to his uncle—who had placed a hand on his shoulder—with utmost confidence.
And why wouldn't he? The seventeen-year-old apprentice shadow knight he'd brought was a bear of a man over two meters tall, covered head to toe in muscle.
If not for the youthful innocence still lingering on the bear's face, I'd have thought Marc was pulling a scam.
What a shameless kid.
The retainer kids on our team were already looking deflated just from seeing the opponent's size.
And it made sense—our team's shadow knight was Florian, draped in a robe, and tall as he was, he barely reached Dietrich's height.
"If you're scared, you can forfeit."
The one who spoke was Saskia from the blue team.
Stefan's little sister and Count d'Vayer's second child.
I flashed a bright smile at Saskia, who was pretending to be rational after having seen me somewhere before.
"Saskia scawed of Mani?"
"Why would I be scared of a stupid friendly match like this...!"
"I not scawed eithuw! You just say dat cuz you scawed!"
"You little—!"
The moment Saskia raised her fist like she was about to smack me, the door behind me swung open.
Using violence before the match starts was a foul.
Hit me, hit me!
Someone effortlessly scooped up my body as I subtly leaned my head toward Saskia.
From the familiar touch and scent alone, I knew it was Dad.
"My daughter's name is Mariella, not that."
Saskia, who had been staring up at Dad's expressionless face, quietly lowered her fist and backed away.
Instead of further intimidating Saskia—who had hidden behind her brother Stefan—Dad turned his gaze to me, Dietrich, and Florian.
His hand gently ruffled Dietrich's and Florian's hair once each.
"I'll make sure we win today, Father!"
Dad chuckled softly at the fired-up Dietrich.
"Play without getting hurt."
"Yes!"
"Mariella too."
"I won't get huwt! Mariella's fists supew stwong!"
"Please be careful as well, Your Highness. I'll keep watch over everything else, so no need to worry. His Grace is watching too, so just focus on not getting hurt."
There might be a chance for the uncle or aunt to pull something while the adults are distracted... but with Dad and Grandpa keeping an eye out, it should be fine.
Florian met Dad's eyes and slowly nodded.
Guess he's finally decided to trust our dad at least.
To think a kid abused by adults could trust them again so easily.
It was touching, but also heartbreaking.
But today wasn't the day to get lost in sentiment. It was the day we could flatten Marc's nose in front of Grandpa.
Shortly after Dad left the waiting room, uniformed guards entered.
"Blue team, follow me. Red team, go with that guard. We'll escort you to your bases."
Once both teams reached their bases and fired signal flares, the match would begin.
I took a deep breath, then stepped out through the open door.
Blinding sunlight poured down.
And in the towering spectator stands, adults watched us intently.
Their expectant gazes burned hotter than the sun.
My eyes briefly met Grandpa's, seated at the highest point.
"Let's go, baby."
The entire hunting ground-turned-battlefield was scattered with small spider-like monsters trapped in specially treated glass boxes.
These monsters were called Araneos.
Araneos had exceptional eyesight and lived in hives centered around a mother, with offspring forming the colony.
Which meant...
The offspring's senses are shared directly with the mother Araneo.
Chrrk!
The massive mother Araneo—large enough to fill the center of the spectator stands—writhed once, and the chains binding her body let out an unpleasant screech.
With that, an image of the hunting ground projected onto the Araneo's eyes.
True to claims that it shared not just sight but all sounds, the mother Araneo's mouth gaped open with every noise in the grounds, emitting a voice mixed with scraping sounds.
...Just like a scoreboard and a busted radio.
The spectators' eyes glued to the fuzzy monster felt somehow creepy, so I tore my gaze away.
Then, without hesitation, I led Florian, Dietrich, and the red team kids toward our base.
Screeeee—!
A flare shot into the sky with a bird-like scream, bursting into red sparks mid-air.
Almost simultaneously, a blue flare exploded on the opposite side.
The match had begun.
"Even though it's the friendly match we see every year, it still gets my nerves going anew."
"Last year, wasn't it Young Master Marc, the vice-duke's legitimate son, who won?"
"Showing such talent from a young age. You must be proud to have such a fine son."
Dominic smiled warmly amid the retainers' flattery.
His eyes flicked toward Leopoldt, who sat silently.
"This year, with Brother's second son Dietrich participating, who knows what'll happen."
"Dietrich? ...Ah, that ordinary second young master."
"I hear his homeschooling grades aren't great either. Apparently, he always takes dead last in quizzes."
"Vice-Duke, you worry over the strangest things."
A ripple of mocking laughter spread through the crowd.
At that moment, the view in the mother Araneo's eye at the center of the stands shifted abruptly.
There were three possible routes between the bases.
The first skirmish appeared in the Araneo's eye along the shortest path straight to the enemy base.
Marc's group numbered eleven, abandoning their base to advance as one pack.
In contrast, the spotted red team had just two members.
The fight wrapped up in seconds, and red ribbons were torn from the captured kids' wrists.
"Look there. Seems the red team dispatched teams of three or two along each route."
"Yeah. So will those six on other routes reach the blue base first?"
"Blue has eleven advancing. At this rate, sheer numbers give blue the win."
Marc's blue team had captured the two red team members as hostages.
Even if the hostages escaped, without reclaiming their wrist markers, it wouldn't count toward the final score.
Aware of this, Marc grinned smugly on the screen.
When one retainer kid asked, Marc flashed a toothy grin.
As last year's winner, Marc already knew the friendly match rules inside out.