Echoes of Fire and Shadows

Chapter 64: Before the Tournament Continues (Part I)…

-----Julius’s POV-----

After the preliminaries ended, thundering roars and cheers from the masses echoed endlessly through the arena. Most of those thundering roars and cheers cried out my name, proclaiming and celebrating that I had qualified for the main tournament, much to my embarrassment. Most of the people that were celebrating were commoners just like I was.

However, despite the embarrassment I felt from thousands of people calling my name and cheering me on, I was focused on some other issues.

“I can’t believe it! I’m not even in the top 3!” Felicia growled in annoyance while stomping the ground angrily…

“Well, to be fair you did start throwing all of those guys toward me at one point and then some others started to run in my direction because they were terrified of you.” I said trying to calm down my teammate.

After Felicia and I decided to have a truce to take care of the guys that had attacked us, the tournament ended with me somehow being the one with the most confirmed eliminations.

Although I say somehow, I do know how that happened. Before Felicia and I teamed up, my elimination count was 38. That number quickly rose to 66 eliminations as soon as the fight began and Felicia started throwing hands with the guys on her side of the arena. They were certainly not prepared for what was about to happen to them. Those who managed to survive her onslaught soon decided to abandon ship and tried to join those who were fighting against me, which was not a good decision on their part, to be honest. Mainly because Felicia also came chasing after them after a while.

In the end, after an interesting yet easy fight, only Felicia, Myria, and I were the only ones to be left standing in our coliseum. Before Felicia and I could resume our duel from before, Ophelia proclaimed the preliminary phase of the tournament.

The thirty-two participants for the main tournament had been decided. Oh, I also got a new title out of that, so I am now [Admired by the Smallfolk]. I think it is a neat title.

Though the only thing [Appraisal] says about this new title of mine is that other fellow commoners are more prone to like me. So, as I said, neat.

“You still managed to take down 30 participants. I think that is very impressive.” I patted Felicia’s back.

“I don’t need you to comfort me!” Still, despite my efforts, she was pretty angered. She continued to stomp the ground in annoyance.

“At least you two were able to do something… I just stood there doing nothing and watching the whole time…” Myria spoke awkwardly while hiding behind me. She seemed a little uncomfortable because we were currently the center of attention of the masses.

“I wouldn’t say that you did nothing. You really helped us back there with your barrier and you were also covering my back when I was fighting, weren’t you?” I turned my head and smiled at the dwarven girl.

“Ehh? You saw that…?” She looked a little embarrassed.

“Yep. I totally watched how a small lone priestess of the Goddess of Virtue was more than enough to take down that tall muscular brute with her wooden staff. I was pretty stunned when I saw you hit him square in the jaw and make him fall unconscious after a single hit.” I grinned a little after telling Myria what I had witnessed. “Truly a sight to behold, my lady.” I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“You make it seem like I’m some kind of barbarian…” Myria soon blushed and averted her gaze.

“What I’m trying to say is that we all did our part and we did pretty well despite being our first time together.”  I smiled at Myria and then at Felicia despite her still being mildly pissed off.

“Working together with you was not that bad... I would even say that I had a good time. I’ll give you that.” Felicia nodded in agreement. “But, that doesn’t mean that our duel is over. With all my honor on the line, I fully intend on taking you down in the tournament. I will be this year’s winner! Just watch!” Felicia declared while pointing at me.

“Your words honor me, my lady. I also enjoyed fighting by your side.” I kept smiling at the wolfkin. “But you’re right, we need to finish what we started. Let us both give our all in our duel, this time without any interruptions.” I said with confidence as I offered Felicia a handshake.

For a moment, Felicia just stared at my hand looking a little conflicted, however…

“Despite the way we met and the way we ended up fighting side by side, I’m glad that it ended this way. Let us both do our best to beat each other then!” A glint of excitement appeared in her eyes as soon as she shook my hand.

“I’ll be looking forward to our battle.” I was pleased with Felicia’s response.

(Jeez, you just can’t help yourself huh… You end up becoming friends with every girl you meet. That is why we keep teasing you and shipping you with them, you know?) Thiasis said with a lot of amusement in her voice.

(Hey, is not like I intended for this to end like this… I just had fun and did my best.) I replied, a little annoyed that she was making fun of me.

(I think it is cute!) Catris said before giggling. 

(Yeah, I can agree with that. Though must admit that I think it is way funnier how everyone in your family reacted to your victory, especially Bruno. If you look above at all the private boxes, you’ll see what I’m talking about. It is priceless.) Thiasis seemed a little excited.

(Above?) I did what she told me, and unfortunately, she was not lying…

Since Ophelia had originally invited us to watch the tournament with her, all of my family watched everything from the private box that belonged to Ophelia and her family. I was too far away from there to actually hear what they are saying, but I could see everything clearly.

At first, I was able to see Bruno screaming at the top of his lungs while being restrained by my Dad who was laughing like a lunatic… Near those two, my mother, my sisters, and my fiancée were all standing at the edge happily smiling at each other while holding a huge banner that said: “Julius #1!” in the boldest and biggest letters I had ever seen in both of my lives.

Of course, I couldn’t forget about my fellow reincarnators, Laura and Sarana, and their friends. All of them were standing beside my mom, looking down at the arena in disbelief, almost as if they were completely shocked by my performance. Elissa, Neris’s friend was amongst them too, also at a loss for words while my brother-in-law, looking all smug like he had already foreseen that this would happen.

Also, I was not sure if my mind was playing tricks on me because of the distance, but I also saw a blurry figure moving in the air at obnoxious speeds above everyone’s heads up there… That probably must have been Leaf, so my mind was certainly not playing tricks on me.

It didn’t take long for all the people in that private box to notice my gaze… Almost immediately, they started waving their hands and cheering me on…  For me, the cheers of my family were louder than the ones of the audience by far. 

I swear that the sight almost made me tear up a little… I really love these guys…

“Your family?” Felicia asked.

“Yeah…” I smiled proudly while looking above.

“I can understand why they look so excited. You blew away the expectations of everyone in this coliseum, myself included. Seriously, who would have thought that you were so unbelievably strong? I feel like an idiot for getting worried about you...” Myria said awkwardly while patting my back.

“You’re talking as if the tournament has already ended, Myria. The real battle begins now.” I said before looking back at the dwarf. “But thank you for the compliment. I sure did have some fun looking at everyone’s reactions.” I grinned from ear to ear.

“Well said! This is just the beginning!” Felicia said with excitement, still not letting go of my hand and shaking it nonstop…

After that interaction, we had a small chitchat until the headmistress finally decided to continue with the event. By this point, the thundering roars and cheers had finally died down so everyone was eager to continue.

<Alright, I believe we have allowed our dear participants to bask in the glory of the victory for long enough. It has been fun and an incredible honor narrating the event so far, but it is time for me to step down and hand over this role to someone else. Ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm welcome to my dear husband and vice principal of the Blaise Academy, Raphael Vergil Nebandia as well as our respectable professor Dante Phillip Smotia!> Even though she was announcing that was going to step down as the announcer for the tournament, Ophelia maintained the excitement that characterized her throughout the event.

As soon as she made her announcement, two people came through one of the doors leading to the arena.

One was an old man with long white hair and a beard to go along with it as well as a wooden staff similar to Myria’s but with a lot more ornaments and precious jewels embedded in it. He was also wearing a grey robe filled to the brim with enchantments and runes. But the thing is that his appearance was not real… At least, not entirely. There was an illusion spell covering the apparently wise old man. I don’t know what he was hiding, but I could tell that the white hair and beard were genuine.

Because of his appearance, anyone from Earth that saw the man would immediately think about two particular mages from two particular popular fantasy movies back home. Not gonna say any names.

(Hehe, now that you mention it… He does look like them.) The usually stoic half of Lia let out a small chuckle in response to my observation.

In contrast to the previous fake old man, the other one was a young man with long blonde hair and clean-shaven who carried a small and simple wand in his hands. He was wearing a common green tunic with little to no accessories nor crests from any noble family, as well as a pair of brown pants and leather boots. The man looked quite depressed and sleep-deprived…

I wonder which one of them is Ophelia’s husband… I really can’t tell. Also, Dante and Vergil? Jeez, if it wasn’t for the fact that I’m supposed to be the one with the demon blood here, I would scream like a fangirl.

(Is that so? Then the answer might surprise you!) Thiasis seemed like she was about to burst out laughing after reading my thoughts.

(Is it the old man?) I asked the goddess.

“It looks like the professor does not seem particularly happy about being here…” Felicia said while looking at the two.

“He also looks more depressed than usual… He really hates to work, doesn’t he?” Myria nodded in agreement.

So, if professor Dante is the one that looks depressed then that means that Ophelia’s husband is the old man who is also the vice principal of this academy… I’m not particularly shocked. After all, who am I to judge?

While having those thoughts in my mind, the vice principal and the professor walked past us, only acknowledging us with a nod before walking to the center of the arena. While those walked there, the coliseum remained completely silent.

“Ahem!” The old man, or rather, Ophelia’s husband Raphael coughed to get everyone’s attention. Since he was using wind magic, that sound reverbed in the coliseum. “Thank you for your attention. I also must thank my wife for the wonderful introduction and the amazing job she has done until this point. Please let us give our headmistress a round of applause.” Raphael said while pointing at the balcony where Ophelia, Eliana, Marina, and Alicia were standing at.

While everyone in the huge coliseum clapped at Ophelia, both Marina and I made eye contact… There was a myriad of emotions in her eyes and she also seemed like she had a lot she wanted to say to me, but one thing was clear… She was definitely happy about my victories so far.

I suppose I’ll have to really give my all for that smile to remain on Marina’s face. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Thank you very much for the applause. Now, before we continue with the tournament, all remaining participants must gather here in the main coliseum. Here, you will receive new bracelets to replace the damaged ones in your possession as well as potions, new weapons, new armor, and even drinks and food, if you desire any of that. I will explain the rules and make the brackets for the next phase as soon as everyone has arrived.” Raphael said while looking at us. 

“Hehehe! We don’t have to move from this arena, how convenient!” Felicia said happily as she started stretching while walking towards the vice principal and the professor.

“It seems like we will have the advantage of fighting at home.” I joked around for a little before following Felicia.

“We just need to wait for our opponents to trip with all the craters you and Felicia made. Easy win!” Myria said jokingly while sticking as close as she could to me. She seemed really comfortable with me while following me around. 

It didn’t take long for the three of us to reach the vice principal and the other professor. It didn’t take long for Raphael to begin talking again.

“In the meantime, while our participants gather, allow me to entertain you with small a speech about the history of our esteemed academy.” Raphael said while brushing his beard with his hand.

“It seems like the vice principal is a little inspired today. How fortunate of us…” Myria said before letting out a sigh.

“Oh, gods no…” Felicia looked to the ground and shook her head. “We are going to be here forever, aren’t we?” She looked very scared.

“Gods, what have we done to deserve this…?” The professor, or Dante, said with a tired expression.

(Erm… It seems that you’re gonna be standing there for a while… Sorry.) Thiasis seemed to feel bad about me.

(Why are you sorry? I’m going to get a free history lesson.) I replied with a bit of excitement. Things had turned out better than I expected. 

“Today is the twenty-seventh day of the third month of the year 1,171. A thousand one hundred and seventy-one years after the Marcelian Calendar was established, three thousand one hundred and seventy-one years after the defeat of the Demon King! 

In a day very much the same as this one, the Blaise Academy and Imperial University, now known as the Imperial Academy were established by our forefathers four hundred and seventy years ago. 

This institution has seen most if not all of the most prominent members of the nobility and the royal family, the ones who had shaped our society to be what it is today! This very academy, as its name implies, was established to honor one of Rokkshar’s companions, the Sage Blaise, whose eternal thirst for knowledge is remembered even to this day. 

The main focus of our academy is to engrain into the minds of the future rulers and nobles of the Empire all of the values our nation upholds and the knowledge they will require to take care of Rokkshar’s legacy and make our country flourish. To being with…-” Without caring for the opinions of others, Raphael began his long speech.

While Myria and Felicia looked quite annoyed and even some displeased grunts were made by the public, I made sure to listen intently to each and every single word that came from Raphael’s mouth. Knowledge is power after all.

-----Lilia’s POV-----

“Oh, c’mon! Begin the goddamn tournament already! I want to see my great-grandson kick the asses of all those spoiled noble kids! Do you want me to die here out of old age, you senile old fart!?” My grandfather continued to scream and throw kicks at the empty air while my husband held him in place.

“Grandpa, would you please stay quiet? You have been screaming obscenities for a while now, don’t make me send you to see granny. You’re going to embarrass Julius if you keep this up.” I frowned as I was already tired of his antics. 

Ever since the tournament began, my dearest grandfather has been screaming at the top of his lungs cheering on Julius, and trash-talking pretty much everyone. Had it been any other commoner and they would already have one step in the grave, but since my grandpa has always been involved in a great number of businesses with the aristocrats of our country, everyone learned to just tolerate his foul mouth because of the respect they have for him.

“Also, Ophelia’s husband is merely 45 years old. You are the senile old fart here.” I said to my Grandpa.

Ophelia’s husband, Raphael has always been a little insecure. I met him when I was studying in the academy, and back then he had a lush red mane and his face was always shaven. Unfortunately for him, by the time his wedding night with Ophelia arrived, his hair had already turned white. 

Because of his insecurity, he decided to embrace the wise old man persona he created for himself. Ophelia told me that ever since they got married, he casts an illusion on himself to look more like an old man every time he goes out. According to him, he does it because "who would want to be the young man with full white hair that looks old and everyone makes fun of instead of a wise old sage?"

It literally makes no sense... Based on what Ophelia has told me, no one has ever made fun of his white hair. Why would anyone? Eliana has white hair too and that jerk is respected by mostly everyone… When she’s not trying to kidnap their children!

Whoops… It seems I got a little carried away and showed a bit of my resentment…

In any case, Ophelia has tried everything she could to help him with his insecurity and this whole old man charade Raphael has going on, to no avail. 

“Little Lili… You’re breaking your grandfather’s heart… Calling me senile… I’m still pretty much a youngster!” Fake crocodile tears soon appeared in my Grandpa’s eyes. He was pretty much throwing a tantrum.

“Jeez… Bruno, can you stop squirming for a second? You’re gonna make me spill my ale!” My dear husband said with a frown… Right before downing the whole mug by himself.

Dammit… I wanted some too… 

“Grandpa, you don’t fool anyone with those fake tears.” Laura said to our shared grandparent. 

“Tsk…” Grandpa clicked his tongue before falling silent and focusing on the events below at the arena.

“Well, since it seems like we have some time to process the events that just transpired, I only have one thing to say and I think this goes for all of us here… WHAT THE HECK DID I JUST WITNESS?” Laura said while looking stunned. Sarana and her friends also nodded in agreement.

While I was worried about not being able to have some of my husband’s cold ale, it seemed like my little sister was worried for an entirely different reason.

“What are you talking about? Didn’t you all see him fighting a few days ago against Gideon and his friends?” I said with mild annoyance as soon as I mentioned the ones who had mistreated my daughters. That annoyance disappeared as soon as I remembered what Julius had done to them.

I have been pampering him a whole lot more these days because of his actions.

“Yeah, I know what I saw… But I wasn’t expecting him to be strong enough to knock out a little more than half a hundred students while barely using magic!” My little sister seemed very baffled.

“This baffles you? Hahaha!” My husband laughed in an obnoxiously loud manner, as he usually does. “The boy hasn’t even begun to get serious. Barring the times when he was sick and recovering or the few times when Tiria and I were drunk out of our minds, he has been fighting either me or Tiria every single day for the last three years. If this was all my son could do, I wouldn’t have allowed him to participate in the first place considering all the risks for him here in the capital. He still has plenty of tricks up his sleeve, like his new Job or that funny scarlet scythe of his.” Fred said as he looked below at the arena. He was looking at our child with admiration in his eyes.

Hehehe! No one here is ready to see what my son has to offer. He already has this tournament in the bag!

“Yeah, sorry but I don’t think I would be crazy enough to spar with freaking Skull Crusher of all people every day… I, unlike him, appreciate having my head intact.” Douglas, the usually grumpy dwelf said while shaking his head.

“I appreciate the compliment. I’m sure that the boy would feel the same way.” Fred smiled at Douglas.

“I don’t think that was a compliment… Though I understand where Douglas is coming from. One good smack from Mr. Fred would be enough to send him directly to the realm of the Goddess of Death! Either that or he becomes even smaller than Leaf.” Emily, the adorable sheepkin giggled while nudging Douglas.

“I’ll murder you in your sleep, Emily.” Douglas replied before letting out a sigh. He soon returned to his seat and pulled out his sketchbook. “Laura, weren’t you and Sarana teaching him Spatial Magic, Summoning, and Spirit Magic? Julius never showed you the full extent of his abilities?”

After the whole ordeal with those kids, their parents, and the Laurent thugs, Julius started to learn some new magic under my cute little sisters.

“I mean… He did pull some ridiculous stunts in the short time he studied under us…” Sarana said while rubbing her chin.

“Like?” Felix, the cute catkin tilted his head. “Ah! Don’t tell me that already mastered all of those three disciplines! No way” He looked completely dumbfounded.

“I would give up ever becoming a master if I had to compete with him…” Laura said. “No, even if he really is an obnoxiously fast learner, he only learned how to see spirits, the basics of summoning, and how to teleport.” Laura explained while pinching the bridge of her nose.

“In just four short days? Amazing… I never even imagined such a small boy had that kind of potential…” Mark, the responsible young dogkin said while looking at my son with newfound respect.

“I wouldn’t call him small or short in his presence if I was you… Laura and I had to learn that the hard way.” Sarana giggled in response.

“Duly noted…” Mark nodded 

“Please do not speak another word of what happened…” Laura blushed and averted her gaze.

“So, are you gonna tell us what were the outrageous things that he managed to do?” He asked awkwardly.

“Well, besides managing to teleport a few meters away and landing upside down at the top of a tree near the old house, he quite literally summoned me.” Sarana explained with an amused expression.

Huh? He summoned Sarana… I was not aware of this… I thought that one could not summon a living person… Animals and monsters are one thing, but a person? Wait a minute… Sarana is a half-spirit, so it would make sense for him to be able to summon her since spirits can also be summoned. Interesting!

“That was pretty shocking, yeah.” Laura nodded in agreement. “Still, that doesn’t even compare with the shocking sight we got after he learned how to learn spirits… I had never seen so many spirits clinging to one person… It was like watching a rainbow being made right in front of my very eyes...” Laura then looked down at the arena, carefully watching Julius from afar. There was a weird spark in her eyes that made me a little suspicious of her.

Both she and Sarana have been acting a little odd since the incident with the Laurents…

“Hehehe! Are you amazed by our son? You can praise him a lot more you know?” I said proudly.

“Yes. Please don’t be offended, but I think your son is either a god in mortal flesh or he is, and I’m gonna say it plainly, quite ridiculously overpowered…” Douglas said while sketching in his book. 

“Or perhaps both.” Laura said with a strained smile.

“I think he might just be an unbelievable genius!” Sarana said happily.

“What can I say? All of my children are little geniuses!” I replied playfully before walking towards the handrail where my two daughters, Mia, Elissa, Klein, and Leaf were standing at.

“Oh! There’s Neris! She had some amazing fights back there!” Elissa pointed at Neris who had just reached the main coliseum.

Hmm… I have to agree with Elissa. Neris proved to be way more capable than she made it seem back when we were traveling together. I’m actually a little inclined to accept Ophelia’s offer after this. She must have certainly planned all of this… Even after all this time, she’s still the same devilishly clever girl I used to study with.

“Do you think Julius and Neris will have to fight each other? Who do you think would win?” Klein asked Elissa while standing as close to her as he could.

“Hard to say… Several days ago, I would have said that Neris would win without a doubt even after knowing what happened to those bandits, but now…” Elissa shook her head in response. “I also don’t want to see any of them lose, so I’m hoping they end up fighting other people, at least until the finals…” She smiled awkwardly.

“I’m glad to hear you say that, Elissa! Let’s support the two of them with all of our might!” I patted Elissa’s back and smiled at her.

“Consider it done!” Elissa simply smiled back and nodded

“Juli will not lose! I like Neris a lot, but there’s no way my humie will lose!” Leaf suddenly flew towards my shoulder and stood there proudly.

“You seem very confident about it, Leaf. I feel a little sorry for Neris and everyone else participating in the tournament.” Elissa giggled in response before poking Leaf’s belly. “Mayhaps I will be able to buy some of your support for Neris with some of my homemade snacks?” Elissa decided to bribe the little fairy.

“Okay, but only a bit of my support! Juli obviously gets the rest!” Leaf agreed almost immediately.

Hehehe. Such a cutie. I really like watching her when she’s stuffing her mouth like a little squirrel.

After witnessing that interaction, I turned around and focused on a small group of silent girls. 

After we hung the banner we made to motivate Julius, both Liliana and Luna stayed at the same spot looking down almost expressionless. It was obvious that they were very much lost in their own wonderous thoughts. As for Mia, she was sitting beside the twins drawing a very exaggerated and unrealistic sketch of her future husband. It was still cute.

“You three are surprisingly quiet… I wonder what you are up to.” I said with a teasing expression.

Unsurprisingly, I was ignored by my two daughters. Mia was the only one to meet my gaze.

“Don’t mind them, they are just waiting for the right time to run as fast as they can down to the arena to declare their undying eternal love for Julius and whatnot.” Mia explained with a smile before returning to her drawing. 

“Is that so? Quite cheesy, isn’t it?” I spoke with a teasing tone while tilting my head. “Have you girls gotten him a ring yet? Maybe a bouquet of flowers for when he wins? Do you have any specifics for your plan? Maybe mommy can help!” I said to my dear daughters in an easygoing manner.

My little teasing had been more than successful as the two twin girls started blushing almost at the same time. They were trying to avoid my gaze.

“They did try to make a ring, but it all ended up going horribly wrong since it was made with wood. Their dad ended up sitting on it because they left it on the couch by accident. You can imagine what happened next.” Mia explained.

Oh, my! I was just kidding but they actually tried to make one! How cute! 

“M-Mia! Don’t mention that!” Liliana spoke up, her whole face red as a tomato.

“That explains why they were mad at me two nights ago…” Fred looked at the twins as soon as everything clicked in his head.

“Ugh… It was a blunder of mine… It was supposed to be a practice model before we started making the real one…” Luna looked a little dejected. “Making accessories is harder than it seems… Julius makes it look so easy…” She said while looking down.

“Jeez… These little girls.” I giggled before sitting down right in between the two. “Do you still have that wooden ring?” I asked my daughters while patting their heads.

“Yeah, just a few pieces that we managed to save…” Liliana looked at her dad with mild annoyance. “It is back at the house though.” She added.

“Sorry…” Her dad quickly apologized while scratching the back of his head. He was clearly feeling awkward.

“Good. Then we’ll make do with what we have.” I smiled at the two while pampering them.

“But it is broken beyond repair… And it is not even a good ring… It didn’t even look like a ring at first.”  Luna argued while pouting.

“Do you really think your beloved Julius would care about something like that?” I couldn’t help but tease them a little. “If I’m honest with you, I’m certain that he would accept to marry the two of you even if you proposed with a piece of candy.” I said before giggling.

“Are you sure about that mom?” Liliana asked.

“Am I sure? I wonder…” I smiled before looking down at the arena. I was watching a certain black-haired boy in disguise who was paying close attention to Raphael’s speech while the other students looked horribly bored.

I know I have teased Julius and the girls a lot about this topic and that I got my hopes up ever since he started living with us that he would take care of my little girls after the three of them grow up, I am aware it was just some selfish thoughts from this nasty old lady. I recognize that. But I would have never forced anything Julius, Liliana, and Luna never wanted for themselves.

Even if Julius didn’t see the twins in the same light as they do (which he does), it is not like I would stop treating him as my son or anything like that. No matter what, he will always be my little boy.

“What do you guys think? What are your real feelings for him? Are you sure you want to spend the rest of your life with him? That’s a really long time, you know?” I asked my daughters, this time taking everything a little more seriously.

“What are you even asking at this point!? The answer should be obvious!” Liliana said while pouting. She looked a little annoyed by my question

“I do.” Luna replied seriously with no hesitation whatsoever.

“I see…” I was pleased with their answers and I just nodded. “Then I believe you  two have absolutely nothing to worry about.” I said while observing the little boy who had changed all of our lives.

He might get annoyed or pissed off whenever I brought up the possibility of the twins loving him more than he thought, but he can’t deny that he also loves them way more than he thinks, just as much as he loves Mia. Otherwise, he wouldn’t go out of his way to pamper them, make them happy, and take care of them.

Well, he also stated quite plainly before leaving our home that he really wanted the twins to be by his side forever and that he would marry them if they had feelings for him.

So the result of my daughters’ confession is pretty much already set in stone. That much is clear to me.

“Are you sure?” Both twins asked in unison. The two of them were clearly more nervous than they were letting on.

“Of course I am. Who do you take me for? I might tease you a whole lot about this situation, but I would never play my the feelings of my baby girls.” I hugged the two of them tightly.

“Thank you…” Luna said while hugging me back.

“I love you, mom.” Liliana said while blushing a little. She was hiding her face behind my shoulder.

“I love the two of you and a whole lot, you know?” I couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear. “One thing about confessing your feelings. Are you sure that you two want to confess in front of thousands of people? One slip of the tongue and everyone might remember it forever.” I tried to resist my urges, but I ended up teasing them again.

“Mom, you just ruined the moment…” Liliana frowned in response to my teasing.

“Sorry! I couldn’t help myself, dear!” I hugged my oldest daughter as tightly as I could.

“Umm… On second thought, we might have to rethink this whole idea…” On the other hand, my youngest daughter was sweating bullets.

“Ehh! But you said that you wanted to make our confession as shocking as possible! This is the most shocking thing we could do!” Liliana argued.

“Sure, you could make it shocking. But is it really worth it? What about if you wait for a little so we can make everything perfect? I’ll help you out with getting a real ring and all.” I gave them an innocent suggestion.

Much to my surprise, both twins vehemently denied my suggestion.

“It has to be today!” Luna said in a very stubborn manner.

“Can’t you see that he already became friends with those two girls? I won’t fall behind any newcomers!” Liliana crossed her arms and looked at me with an overly serious expression.

“Sheesh, you do seem a little jealous… You’re not putting it easy for me.” I let out a sigh before getting up and turning around. “Douglas, how much would your father charge us for making three small rings for today?” I asked the dwelf boy who was also drawing something in his sketchbook.

As soon as I said that, both my daughters looked at me with confusion.

“Not cheap. I can assure you that.” Douglas replied with a straight face.

“But he can have them done for the end of the tournament, right?” I asked.

“Of course. He would most definitely get offended for making such a question and tell you that he can make the most beautiful rings in the world in just an hour.” Douglas let out a sigh after nodding in response.

“Laura, can you summon a familiar and send it to Douglas’s father to tell him the details and get him to work? I’ll pay him what he asks and even a little extra for the trouble.” I pleaded with my sister.

“Sure thing.” My sister agreed. “I suppose I’ll even pitch in and help you pay for the rings since thanks to a certain genius that is not currently present here, we are finally free of debt!” Laura smiled before walking towards the stairs. She undoubtedly looked as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

“Good!” I waved at her as she left before looking at my daughters. “If you’re really in a hurry, I suppose it is only fair that we do things properly, don’t you think? Let’s give Julius the shock of a lifetime!” I smiled at my two daughters.

“Yes! That’s what I’m talking about!” Liliana stood up and looked completely excited.

“I’ll do my best. I won’t let this chance slip away.” Contrary to her sister, Luna simply stared down at her beloved down at the arena with determination. She was undeniably fired up.

Now that Laura reminds me of it, I’m still seriously pissed off about that… Mostly at Grandpa for being such a moron for getting into a stupid debt with the parents of the kids that bullied my daughters and by extension, the Laurents, but I’m also angry at Sarana and Laura for not saying anything to us in order to not worry us. 

And to top it all off, despite all of my protests and attempts to pay, Julius decided to use all of the money he brought from his savings to pay for their debt with interest included. 

That stubborn child wouldn’t have it any other way saying that he could just save more money from the business and now he pretty much spent 25,000 Des, half of his total savings, into paying Grandpa’s debt. I am very proud of him for that, but I also feel extremely guilty that spent his money when there wasn’t any need… Maybe I should have insisted on me paying until his ears started to bleed, but even then, I’m not sure he would have listened…

Sigh… My children are all really stubborn, aren’t they? It can be a great thing sometimes, but dear gods do I fear meeting my future grandchildren now…

“Umm… Sis, it seems we have a couple of visitors...” Laura returned unexpectedly quickly. Her voice was filled with tension and nervousness.

“And who these visitors might be?” I asked with a bit of caution. I was still very much waiting for a potential Laurent attack.

“Maybe the one letting you use her private box?” Ophelia said with a grin as she came into the room. “Plus some friends of your son and someone who apparently dying to meet him.” She said as she pointed to the door.

As for which friends Ophelia was talking about, it was obvious that it was the two princesses, Marina and Alicia. Both princesses looked so happy about their champion’s victory, that they were pretty much in their small little world. Much to my displeasure, Eliana was also with the princesses and Ophelia, however, she remained silent as if waiting for my reaction about something… Something more troubling…

And behind all of them, standing right by the door along with my younger sister, there was a familiar man with red messy hair, green eyes just like Alicia, and a carefree smile. The man in question was wearing pretty expensive clothes… A brown coat, a white shirt with a black tie below a dark blue vest, and a pair of leather boots with intricate carvings. He was more or less 1,80 meters tall.

“Greetings! My name is Klaus Rastek Caletro. The firstborn son of Duke Caletro and the uncle of the Ninth Princess, my dear Alicia. It is a pleasure to finally get to meet all of you!” The man quickly bowed and introduced himself while smiling warmly.

As soon as he did all that, I couldn't help but let out a huge sigh of displeasure… Eliana being here was enough to annoy me, but this man’s presence was enough to make me go from happy to wanting to burn this entire arena to the ground.

I had never met this man before yet he was capable of annoying me so much… Of course, this was a feat that only the man who has been incessantly trying to buy my son’s business could pull off… Now I could see why Eliana was silent ever since she came into the room!

“You… How very fucking dare you?” I asked while looking at Klaus. My annoyance had reached critical levels in just a few moments.

“Beg your pardon?” Klaus tilted his head, looking quite confused.

Chapter 64: Before the Tournament Continues (Part I)…

END

GodlyKamui

Heya! New chapter! How are you guys doing? I'm personally doing well. My vacation will end the day after tomorrow, so I'll be going back to work. I was able to relax and write a lot, I didn't travel at all but I did enjoy myself. It was a good vacation.

Onto the chapter! In case you have noticed, I finally introduced the calendar of my world. In case you didn't, Raphael mentions it during his speech. So, a few days ago I was doing a little work and you could say that I ended up with a detailed timeline of the story. Now, it is not fully complete yet as I intend to update it as more things happen in the story and there are some events missing because I haven't figured out a date that works for certain events. This raises the question, would you like the timeline in the glossary? Or... Would you prefer it as an extra chapter? Do you want the timeline at all? I'm hoping to get some opinions on this.

Raphael with his speech:

The participants and the public being subjected to Raphael's ramblings:

Lilia when she finally meets the person she hates more than Eliana:

Klaus not knowing what he did to piss Lilia off so much:

As usual, I do hope that you enjoyed the chapter, please don't forget to comment and leave some hearts since that motivates me to continue writing the story! Also, join the discord to talk about the story and see the new picrew/NovelAI character illustrations I'm working on! Here's the link: https://discord.gg/uH6APbzrFR

Buh-bye!

EDIT: Well, it appears that most of you voted to have the timeline in the glossary, but I've come across a little problem... The timeline is way too long to put on the glossary, so It will end up being an extra chapter... Sorry 'bout that.