When the royal family announced the news of the fighting competition, it caused a stir in the entire royal capital.
Not in a bad way but in a good way.
The nobles who had packed up their bags for their return changed their plans and decided to stay in the capital for a few more days, and even the people who were dejected by the tragedy of the royal capital regained quite a bit of their strength.
āBecause this place lacks entertainment.ā
At Judeās words, Cordelia nodded a few times and looked back at the bed in front of her.
Jude and Cordelia were now looking at furniture in a luxury furniture store on the royal capital.
Because the mansion they would receive from the royal family had finally been decided.
āHmmā¦ā
As Cordelia took a serious look at the king-size bed, Jude sent a <Message> magic.
[Just pick a good one. We wonāt be able to use it for a while anyway.]
This world had ready-made goods, but most of the furniture of the nobility were usually ordered and crafted by hand.
The bed was also a sample product, but only when it was actually ordered do the store begin to make a completely new one, so it took as little as 15 days or even a month before they receive what they had ordered.
āMoreoverā¦ā
Because this is a bed that weāll have to share in one bedroom.
Isnāt the day weāll use it really far?
But Cordelia just groaned as she thought and pondered about it.
āThe bed is too expensive!ā
Each piece of furniture was ridiculously expensive, but the bed felt particularly expensive.
She thought that she could buy a decent four-horse carriage with the money to buy this one bed.
But it was natural for it to be expensive in a way because it was the bed in a bedroom of a countās mansion.
āIt seems like youāll get a fever at this rate.ā
āUgh.ā
Cordelia groaned again before she plopped down on a nearby sofa, and Jude sat down next to her.
āWeāre going to rest for a moment. Can we have some tea?ā
āOf course, Count. Please wait a moment.ā
The clerk of the furniture store smiled and bowed before ordering another employee to serve them tea and refreshments.
Jude and Cordelia were literally VIPs from the furniture storeās perspective because they had to completely renovate the mansion, but despite being counts, the two spoke respectfully and behaved politely, so the clerk was very pleased with their polite attitude.
āHaa.ā
In any case, as Cordelia stretched out on the couch as if she was going to melt anytime soon, Jude smiled and took out a piece of paper.
[Take a look at this.]
[Whatās that?]
Instead of answering, Jude pushed the paper a little towards Cordelia, and she blinked her eyes and accepted the paper. Her eyes soon widened in surprise.
[Wait, whatās this?]
[Multiplier table?]
[I know what this is, okay? But I clearly said it, right? Gambler-]
[No, Iām not the one who brought it, okay? Scarlet was the one who brought it to me, okay?]
Cordelia narrowed her eyes in suspicion at Judeās words, but she soon nodded. Because she found Scarletās signature on the corner of the paper.
[Anyway, look at it.]
As Jude tapped the paper, Cordelia looked at the multiplier table again.
It was a very simple multiplier table where you could see how much you would get if you bet on a group in the competition, but a puzzled and angry expression spread on Cordeliaās face as she stared at it.
[Wait. Why is this so high?]
The amount you could get if you bet on the north was 2.1 times the amount of the money you bet.
It wasnāt such a huge number, but it was inevitable for Cordelia to feel bad.
Because the numbers were greater when betting on the south or the center.
[What the, do they think that the south or center are more likely to win than the north?]
[I guess so?]
[Why?]
Cordelia looked at Jude with an expression showing that she couldnāt understand why.
[My Judeā¦ No, noā¦ Anyway, arenāt you from the north?]
Judeās the one who won the Banquet of Swords and stopped the Lord Protector, but why do they think that the south or center have a higher chance of winning?
Cordelia was extremely angry at the numbers written that assumed the north couldnāt win, so she was fuming after reading the multiplier table.
[Woah, woah, calm down.]
[Arenāt you angry?]
[No, Iām not angry. The multiplier table makes sense after all.]
[What do you mean?]
[No one has seen me fight.]
Cordelia blinked her eyes at Judeās words and soon understood it. Because it was true.
[Because no one has seen me fight the Lord Protector. To be frank, if you think about it objectively, would it make sense for two teenagers to beat the Lord Protector even if he had declined from age? Youāll just think that they somehow got lucky in stopping the Lord Protector with the power and help they received from others.]
If one took a step back, his words certainly made sense.
Moreover, Jude was a weak boy who suffered from an illness and couldnāt go out of his house just half a year ago.
[Perhaps they think that youāre stronger than me. Well, thatās what I think so too.]
If it werenāt for Cordelia, he wouldnāt be able to force the sixth door open.
It was also Cordelia who dealt the last hit.
[W-why are you suddenly complimenting me?]
Cordelia hmphed and snorted, but when he looked at her face, he could tell that she was actually happy.
But her happiness didnāt last long. Because she was still upset that Jude had been ignored.
[But there was the Banquet of Swords.]
They definitely saw his fight against First Sword there, right?
[Even if they saw itā¦ First Sword had become a traitor now. So my evaluation ended up decreasing a lot.]
Obviously, First Swordās betrayal didnāt mean that Judeās skills had suddenly decreased.
[I still donāt understand.]
[Thereās one more reason here.]
[What is it?]
[Because this is a group battle.]
The fighting competition regularly held by the king was not a one-on-one tournament.
It wasnāt a tournament that went up step-by-step from 32 to 16 to 8 people and so on. It was close to a battle royal wherein all the participants were gathered in one place and made to fight for one round only.
[The north, south, and center will each have 30 people, so 90 people will all be fighting at the same time. Itās good to have skilled individuals, but at this competition, the power of the group itself is more important.]
And in that sense, the evaluation of the north was worse than that of the south or the center.
Except for Lucas and Jude, their group had no other exceptional talents, and the overall age group of their group was also much younger than the other groups.
[To add to it, Iām also injured, right? Iāve been unconscious for days, so some of them probably judged that I still havenāt fully recovered.]
Jude had been unconscious for three days. By general standards, it would take at least a month for a person with such injuries to fully recover and be in their usual fighting form again.
[Are you really okay though?]
Cordelia asked with a worried expression, and Jude immediately nodded.
[Because I have a regenerative ability.]
[Haaā¦ Okay, I get it. Show them what youāve got, okay?]
[Yes, so I went all-in on the north.]
[Good jobā¦ wait, what?]
[I said I went all-in on the north.]
When Jude spoke with a big smile, Cordelia forgot her ban on skinship and touched Jude, or rather, she began hitting him.
[Gambler OUT! Letās break off our engagement! Letās break it off!]
[Ouch, itās not gambling. Itās an investment, okay?]
[Grrr, youāre not hurt at all even if I hit you, huh?]
[Huhuhu, my princess. Please calm down. You donāt think Iāll lose, right?]
[Wow, look at this guy talk. How arrogant.]
But what he said was also true.
Jude was much stronger than what the public thought.
[Donāt worry, itāll be a big hit. Iām the one who increased the multiplier in the first place, okay?]
Cordelia blinked at Judeās words. Because she felt like she had heard of something strange.
[Wait, what? Who increased the multiplier?]
[Me.]
[How?]
[Through rumors?]
Jude calmly said, and Cordeliaās face went blank before she understood it. What the words of Jude had meant.
[Hey, donāt tell meā¦]
[Yes, I created those rumors.]
I heard that Jude is weaker than we thought.
I heard that he isnāt skilled enough to beat the Lord Protector.
I heard that the wizard, Cordelia, did more than him.
I heard that he is still struggling with his injuries.
I heard that there are no exceptional talents in the north.
[I had a hard time making it look like inside information that was very reliable.]
Jude spoke as he puffed up with pride, and Cordelia had no choice but to think of the same word as always.
[Wow, you scammer.]
[Do you hate it then?]
Jude shrugged as he slyly smiled, and Cordelia hmphed before smiling.
[But are you sure of it? Itās not even confirmed that youāll win.]
[Hehehe, why are you saying that? Donāt you believe in me?]
[Didnāt you say that itās a group battle?]
Cordelia slightly disagreed, and Jude said as he crossed his arms.
[Then, letās make a bet.]
[What bet? A bet that youāll win the competition? I hate that. I wonāt win anyway, so Iāll just end up losing all my money, okay?]
[No, not that. Itās a bet on how many kills I can get.]
He didnāt really mean that he would kill people.
In the first place, the use of sharpened weapons was prohibited.
One was considered as having killed the opponent if they had sent their opponent out of the field, made their opponent declare surrender, or removed the band their opponent wore during the competition.
At Judeās provocation, Cordelia slightly raised her eyebrows before she asked as if to sound it out first.
[Tell me how many first.]
[20 kills?]
The number of enemies was 60 in total if you combined the center and the south, so 20 kills was a sufficient number.
But Cordelia shook her head as if it was not possible.
[Donāt you have to do that much in order to win anyway?]
[30 kills then?]
[40 kills.]
40 kills out of 60 people.
Considering that the center and the south would also fight each other, it was almost no different from asking Jude to kill them all.
āYouāll say that you canāt do that, right?ā
Cordelia thought she would be satisfied if she just hear one word of complaint from Jude.
But Jude gave an unexpected answer.
[Okay.]
[Huh?]
[Thatās good. If I get more than 40 kills, Cordelia, youāll grant me one wish. If I canāt do it, Iāll grant you your wish.]
[W-wait a minute. What wish are you talking about?]
[Hoh, are you scared? Itās just 40 kills, right?]
Jude provoked her with a sly smile, and Cordelia was unwittingly provoked, but she did not immediately answer back. Because she had past experience.
There was no way Jude would have said that if he wasnāt confident.
āI-isnāt it too much though?ā
40 kills out of 60 people.
That may be possible if Jude fought alone against a south and center alliance rather than a 1:1:1 group battle.
[You okay with 40 kills?]
[50 kills. Do 50 kills.]
If you say that you canāt do it, this time, Iāll be the one to tease and ask you if youāre scared.
When Cordelia complacently smiled and said, Jude immediately nodded his head.
[All right, 50 kills. Instead, youāll fulfill your promise, right? If I get 50 kills, youāll grant me any wish, right? Whatever I wish, okay?]
[W-wait a minute.]
[Why? Are you scared? Scared of 50 kills?]
[Argh, thatās not it, okay? I just have to mentally prepare myself, okay? I wonāt back down, okay? Iām going to make an unreasonable wish, okay?]
[Same with me then. Iāll also make a really unreasonable wish, okay?]
Cordelia unconsciously flinched when Jude said that with wide open eyes.
Because he was worried about it too.
āW-what the hell?ā
Whatās a really unreasonable wish? What did he mean by that?
Cordeliaās imagination began to run wild in her head again, and she blushed at some point.
[Y-you f*cking pervert.]
[W-wait a second. What? What did you say? Are you thinking of something weird?]