These are Fake! - Chapter 228



Only Krnovel

228. Changed Martial Arts Tournament Match Format

Noisy!

Boom boom!

On the way to Savara.

There was a huge crowd of people waiting in line.

Because tomorrow, the main tournament of the Dylan Kingdom’s martial arts competition will be held in Sabara.

As a result, the crowd was endless and it was incredibly noisy outside of Sabara.

“Haa, really… … .”

“What the hell is going on with this kid?”

“… … .”

Three men and women were standing around with anxious expressions on their faces near the Sabara Castle Gate.

They were all familiar faces, but one of them was Kirk.

Kirk was fidgeting and stomping his feet as if he was in pain.

Right next to him stood a beautiful woman, sighing, and oddly enough, she was wearing a rapier at her waist.

She was none other than Lacey, who represented Cecil Academy in the Badgley Estate Martial Arts Tournament.

For some reason, she was with Kirk.

But there was one more character that I didn’t understand, the one leaning against the wall with his arms crossed behind him.

The man with silver hair and a gloomy air was Heden, known as the Axe Murderer.

Kirk, Lacey, and Haden.

For some reason, three people were standing in front of the gate, waiting for someone.

“Kirk, did you really say you’d come back today? You haven’t been back for days.”

“Then would I have lied? I told you that Astin clearly said he would come right away after getting the alchemy materials needed for Elle.”

“But what happened? Why haven’t you come back yet? If this continues, both Heden and I will be eliminated.”

“Oh, this is driving me crazy. I’m also frustrated. I’m worried that he’ll get eliminated if this keeps up.”

They brought up the martial arts tournament for some reason.

It’s obvious that if you don’t arrive on time you’re eliminated, but why are Lacey and Heden also eliminated?

While the two were bickering, a person was approaching the castle gate.

A person whose whole body is covered in dust and who strangely covers his eyes with a cloth.

Because of that, people who were waiting didn’t pay much attention to him, thinking he was blind.

“Hey, isn’t that Astin?”

At that moment, Heden, who was leaning against the wall and looking ahead, caught his gaze.

“Astin!?”

“Astin?”

Kirk and Lacey, who had been bickering, turned their gaze to him.

The two of them also looked at the approaching man.

“Astin!”

Kirk recognized it and immediately shouted.

As Heden said, the man was none other than Astin.

Astin looked towards Kirk and then approached the guards first.

After that, I proved that I was a contestant in the martial arts competition and was immediately passed.

As soon as Astin entered the gate, three people approached him.

“Hey, Astin! What happened to you? Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for you? I thought you weren’t coming, you punk! By the way, why are you covering your eyes? What happened?”

It was Kirk who spoke first.

Astin shook his head at Kirk’s barrage of questions.

“Hey, Kirk. I’m out of breath. Why do you have so many questions? And why are Haden and Lacey here?”

Lacey was surprised by Astin’s question.

“Oh, Astin. Can you see us? Is that a beach? I don’t think so.”

“Oh, I can see it. But what’s going on?”

“Don’t you know that? Oh, you don’t? Because I left Sabara before the announcement?”

“presentation?”

Astin tilted his head as if to ask what he meant.

Then Heden said.

“Wait a minute. Let’s talk on the way. It’s too complicated here.”

The city gate is already crowded.

Everyone decided to do as he said and started walking.

At that moment, Astin walked away from the gate and let out a sigh of relief.

Because we arrived in Sabara just in time.

* * *

I wanted to go back quickly and rest.

Fortunately, I am recovering little by little, but my eyes are not completely healed yet, and my body is tired.

But the presence of Heden and Lacey, who were there to greet me, made me suspicious.

I understand, Kirk, they’re my friends, but there’s no reason for them to wait for me.

So I had no choice but to listen to the story, and we headed to a nearby restaurant together.

It was a welcome change for me, as I had not been able to eat properly.

So when the food came out and I took a bite, Lacey brought up the reason why she had been waiting for me.

I couldn’t help but be surprised when I heard that.

“The fighting competition format has changed?”

“Yes. Not as an individual battle, but as a team battle.”

I stopped eating.

I felt like this was more important than eating.

“Why did the match format suddenly change to a group match? Weren’t the martial arts tournaments originally individual matches?”

“That’s right. But the tournament headquarters changed it because of the invasion of the Eta Kingdom. Since there was a war, the martial arts tournament had to be changed accordingly. The martial arts tournament was created because of the war.”

“… … .”

At first glance, it seemed like a valid reason, but something was fishy.

Shouldn’t this have been announced long before the start of the competition, not just a few days before?

It felt strange to suddenly announce something like this.

“What are the criteria for a group? Could it be that they are all in the same territory?”

“Yes. That’s why we’ve been waiting for you, Austin. There’s one team of contestants representing the territory, and if even one person drops out, you’re eliminated. So we have no choice but to wait for you. Oh my, what a mess this is.”

Lacey shook her head.

She doesn’t like this situation either.

“Now that you’re here, it’s okay.”

At that moment, Heden said something from the side.

“Well, that’s true. Now that you’re here, it’s okay.”

Lacey nodded without much objection.

Despite having been waiting for me so eagerly, the two of them didn’t seem to have any major complaints about the change to a group match.

In the end, team battles are all about the skills of the team members.

Both of them trust me.

It made sense, since he saw me fight in the martial arts tournament and fought alongside me against the Eta Kingdom advance team.

‘And I wouldn’t mind if they were a team too.’

Lacey’s rapier skills were of a considerable level, and Heden’s skills were needless to say.

I was confident that if I fought these two together, I wouldn’t lose easily.

I asked him something else.

“Okay, so how does the battle proceed? Do they come out one by one and fight? Or do they all fight 3 on 3 at once?”

“The whole team comes out and fights together. It’s not 3 vs. 3, it doesn’t matter how many people there are.”

“What do you mean it doesn’t matter the number of people?”

“In big cities like Sabara, the number of participants is different. Up to five people participate. So when you play against a team like that, you have to fight at most 3 vs. 5.”

“what?”

I frowned.

Isn’t that such an unfair condition?

Lacey, who had anticipated what I was going to say, spoke first.

“Yes, it’s very unfair. That’s why the lords of each territory who came to Sabara for the martial arts competition protested about it. They said it was a ridiculous rule. But soon everyone accepted it.”

“You accepted it?”

“Yes, His Majesty the King has approved it.”

“ah.”

If the king approved, it was over.

If the king says so, who would object?

“The reason His Majesty the King accepted it was because he thought the opinion of the headquarters of the competition was valid.”

“opinion?”

“The tournament headquarters said, ‘In war, you don’t fight according to the number of opponents.’ In other words, they are going to conduct the martial arts tournament as seriously as a real war.”

“… … .”

Why does Count Contner’s Raven suddenly come to mind?

I had a feeling that he was doing this with me in mind.

“Have we decided on our opponent?”

“That will be decided on the day of the competition tomorrow. Let’s hope the big city teams don’t get caught.”

Then Heden asked.

“Are your eyes really okay?”

Everyone’s eyes turned back to me.

I heard he’s fine, but I’m worried because we have to fight together.

“Don’t worry. It won’t be a burden at all.”

“I see. Okay.”

Heden answered like that and left the restaurant as if his business was over.

“Then I’ll go now. See you tomorrow.”

Lacey also got up from her seat to say hello, and Kirk and I also parted ways after our meal.

* * *

After a while, I arrived at Sadie’s house.

“There’s no one here.”

As soon as I arrived, I looked around the house, but there was no one there.

Sadie and her sister didn’t seem to have arrived yet.

“I was hoping to get some help from Sadie, but I was wrong.”

I was dirty from the long trip, so I took off my clothes to wash.

Then he took off the cloth that had been covering his eyes.

“As expected. I still can’t see it properly.”

It’s gotten a lot better, but it’s not perfect yet.

It was a situation where everything in front of my eyes was blurry and I couldn’t see anything clearly.

It seems like it will take a few more days to fully recover.

Finally, I closed my eyes again and activated the Eye of Kesan ability.

After washing my body in the familiar gray world, I lay down on the bed.

I’ve been running for several days using Kesan’s Eye ability.

I was so tired that I closed my eyes and quickly fell asleep.

* * *

“Brother, it’s me.”

“Come in.”

The mansion of the Count Contner family in Savara.

Rayburn, the younger brother, entered the office of the owner, Donovan.

Rayburn sat down across from Donovan and spoke with an excited look on his face.

“I just got word. That guy Astin is back.”

“Tsk. Are you so excited about that?”

“Of course not. I can’t tell you how anxious I was that he might have escaped like this. I worked hard to deal with him and created this situation. Isn’t it the same for you, hyung?”

“Tsk tsk.”

Donovan clicked his tongue softly.

But secretly, deep in his eyes, there was a light of empathy.

Because he also put in effort to make this happen.

“Okay, so what happened to what I said?”

“Haha, who would I be? I’ve already made up my mind. No matter how the draw is made tomorrow, Byron Estate will be the opponent of Badgley Estate.”

Byron Estate.

One of the major cities in the Kingdom of Dylan, from where four contestants were selected.

That means that Austin, Heden, and Lacey have already been decided to face off against a four-person team.

“Well done. If this goes well, Lord Flint of Byron Estates will repay your debt, so do it well.”

“Just trust me. There’s absolutely no way anything could go wrong. But can you trust the skills of the contestants from Byron Estate? No matter how well I prepare, if they mess it up, isn’t it all for nothing?”

“Don’t worry about that. General Barton’s son is there.”

“Oh, really? General Barton’s son?”

General Barton.

He was one of only four generals in the Dylan Kingdom, and was an extremely powerful figure within the kingdom.

The family was also a renowned family of knights, so much so that there was no one in the kingdom who did not know them.

“Hahaha, then it’s over. The son of General Barton is going to fight. That bastard Astin has been escaping like a loach so far, but this time he will absolutely not survive.”

“Haha.”

Donovan didn’t respond to Rayburn’s ramblings.

But I agreed to it with a small smile.

So in the dark, Astin’s opponent was decided, and day broke.

The day of the finals of the Kingdom Martial Arts Tournament.