Driven by Jealousy, Marine Enters the Tournament
I skipped class and ran straight for the Knight Faculty building.
“Ooh! Thank you so much, Lord Hendel!”
“I’ll enjoy every drop of that cola!”
Students I’d never seen before kept calling out to me, probably still riding the wave from the tournament. Seriously, I had no clue what was happening…
On the path to the Knight Faculty, the dormitory came into view. The cola delivered with help from the Carde Magic Tower still stood in a five-story tower, but a full fifth of it had already vanished. A massive banner hung across what remained.
Cola (Limited Edition Lime Flavor) — Approx. 10,000 units
Anyone caught touching without permission will be expelled.
“…”
It was a gift I’d given Serina, so what she did with it was her business. Still, I’d naturally assumed she would sell it. Even in bulk it could have brought in tens of thousands of gold…
“Portraits! I draw portraits~! Twelfth-ranked artist from the Academy Arts Department will draw couples, groups, or individuals. No request refused!”
“Taste the first-prize cola before anyone else~! The Carde Magic Tower is offering student discount pricing at just eighty silver per bottle!”
The place had turned into a full-blown tourist attraction. Students swarmed around the cola tower, buzzing with excitement, while couples commissioned artists to paint them with the stack as their backdrop. The Carde Magic Tower, with its supernatural nose for profit, had even rolled in a dedicated sales wagon.
I let out a long sigh and approached the cola cart.
“First time trying the lime flavor?”
“My friend who got one for free yesterday told me I absolutely had to try it. Said it was amazing.”
A long line stretched out from the sales cart. Since I had a special relationship with the Carde Magic Tower, I ignored the queue and slipped around to the back.
Inside the wagon, a mage from the tower was grinning ear to ear as he counted gold coins. A mage blinded by money—truly the perfect character for some much-needed re-education.
“Huk! Young Master!”
The mage jumped up in a fluster the moment he noticed me. I didn’t recognize his face, but he clearly knew mine. He rubbed his hands together, slinking closer with a deep bow. The very picture of a sycophant.
I was about to ask what was going on when the mage beat me to it, launching into a full-blown ode of praise.
“Haha! Young Master, you are truly a genius! To think of raising your own image while promoting the cola at the same time—what vision!”
“…”
I stayed quiet and listened. Apparently it was better to let him finish.
“Sales of the cola that went on the market last night have already surpassed three thousand units, and the promotional effect is off the charts! The impact we’ve gained from the tournament far exceeds the tens of thousands of gold we poured into traditional advertising!”
It seemed the Carde Magic Tower had decided I’d organized the entire tournament purely to promote cola. I really hadn’t known a thing about any of it.
“When you suddenly requested delivery of sixty thousand bottles, the entire tower was in an uproar debating it. But now everyone is singing your praises, Young Master!”
“…”
“In response to your noble will, we at the tower are preparing a truly enormous investment for this tournament! Please look forward to it!”
“Uh… yeah. Do your best…”
With them praising me so enthusiastically, I couldn’t exactly admit I had no idea what was going on. I ended up fleeing the scene.
Sign up now~
Buy now~ —Carde Magic Tower—
—Academy Student Council—
“…”
Banners hung across every street. Without realizing it, the tournament I had casually started was growing far beyond anything I had imagined.
Knight Faculty building.
I didn’t need to go looking for Serina.
A long line snaked through the interior of the Knight Faculty building. Seeing the endless queue of students hoping to enter the tournament, I realized there was no way I’d be able to meet Serina today.
I sighed and turned around. Whatever. Serina would handle things on her own.
After finishing her lecture while lost in her usual daydreams, Marine frowned at the long line stretching ahead of her. To someone who hated noise with every fiber of her being, this place was pure hell.
She was hurrying to escape the building when snippets of student conversation reached her ears.
“You know that cola they’re using as the tournament prize? I heard Lord Hendel gave it to Serina as a present. There were apparently around fifty thousand bottles originally.”
“Fifty thousand? Wouldn’t that be worth about twenty-five thousand gold?”
“There’s no way you’d give a friend a gift on that scale. So the rumor is that Lord Hendel has actually fallen for Serina.”
“Wow. After the Second Prince, the next Blue Tower Master, and now even the Edgar County heir… She really is a demonic woman.”
Deep wrinkles formed on Marine’s forehead. From what she had seen of Hendel and Serina last time, the rumor that he had fallen for her was probably false. It was just kind-hearted Hendel taking pity on poor Serina and giving her a gift. Even so, the fact that Serina had received a present she herself had never gotten left a bitter taste in her mouth.
The idea that Hendel’s gift would go to whoever won the tournament instead of to her was even more unbearable.
I’ll be the one to claim Hendel’s gift.
Marine, who had originally shown zero interest in the competition, quietly slipped into line.
Marine enters the tournament.
“Greetings, students of the Academy~ I am Del Kerdel, branch manager of the Carde Magic Tower’s capital branch, and I will be providing commentary for this tournament.”
“And I’m Jidan Adena, professor from the Knight Faculty.”
“Waaaaah~!”
The Academy arena was packed even though it was the weekend. The Carde Magic Tower had sent their branch manager in person, while the Academy had put forward a beautiful and highly skilled Knight Faculty professor as commentator. True to the tower’s heavy investment, promotional balloons floated through the sky and every single spectator had been handed popcorn.
Cola was being sold by roaming “cola girls,” a devious scheme to make everyone thirsty with popcorn and then push the drinks. I sat in the VVIP seats with an uncomfortable feeling in my chest, munching on popcorn as the event I knew nothing about continued to balloon in scale.
These Carde bastards really do make incredible caramel popcorn. I should suggest official sales later.
Just then a hand flew in from the side. I reflexively raised my own and swatted it away.
“Tsk…”
Cani clicked her tongue, looking disappointed. Her popcorn bucket was completely empty. This shameless maid had apparently devoured every last piece before the matches even started.
“Cani, who on earth finishes all their popcorn before the game even begins?”
“B-but it’s just so delicious!”
“Portion control is the most important part of eating popcorn.”
My own bucket, tempered by years of movie theater popcorn distribution technique, still had more than half left.
“Uuuu…”
Cani made a pitiful face. Too bad. This was reality. I ignored her desperate puppy eyes and refused to buy her more.
“Allow me to introduce the thirty-two warriors who advanced through yesterday’s preliminaries~!”
“The first participant is the magic faculty’s adorable sweetheart~ Miss Lena!”
“Kyaaaaah~!”
“Go for it, Leni!!!”
Carden stepped forward, fidgeting shyly.
“Wow, she’s so cute~”
“She’s the best!”
Surprisingly, Carden was wearing cat ears. Cani’s eyes widened the moment she spotted them.
“I figured something was up from how much red bean jelly she kept eating, but that girl has completely lost it.”
“…”
It looked like Carden had decided to draw on her demonic power after all. Those cat ears were clearly there to hide the horns that had sprouted. Goodness, my dear, no matter how much you love to eat, using demonic power in front of tens of thousands of people…
“Cat ears are the best!!!”
“Kyaaah, she’s adorable~!”
The students, of course, knew none of this and simply cheered with pure enthusiasm.
“Next up is the rising comet! Carnegie Railai of the Knight Faculty!”
A sleazy-looking man stepped forward, swinging his sword in what he clearly thought was a cool pose.
Srrrng.
“Kyaaaaah!”
“Oppa, you’re so cool!!!”
The female students screamed. The man struck a final middle-school-chuuni pose and delivered his line.
“Hehe, thank you for the cheers, cute young ladies~”
He even finished it off with a wink. Blegh.
Having witnessed something unbearable, I quickly turned my head and cleansed my eyes with the sight of Cani, who was at least cute on the outside.
“W-why are you staring at me like that… it’s embarrassing.”
“Sorry. I just need a moment to purify my vision.”
“Heek.”
“Booooo!”
Thankfully the loud jeers from the male students drove the Knight Faculty man off stage quickly. After finally catching my breath, I made a firm resolution.
That guy is definitely getting eliminated.
There was no chance Carden would lose while using her demonic power, but if that man somehow won, I was fully prepared to jump in and stop him myself.
After a series of ordinary introductions, the announcer’s voice rose again.
“No one expected this person to participate!”
Everyone in the arena turned to stare in shock at the final figure slowly emerging.
“The Empire’s guardian, the Deriposer family’s beloved daughter~ Marine Deriposer, leading candidate to become the next Sword Master!”
“Hmph!”
Marine walked out with a pouty, prickly expression. Cani and I sat side by side with our mouths hanging open in pure astonishment.