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Translator: Barnnn
Asley had spent the past few moments gazing dully at the clouds, but the disturbance in the courtyard drew his eyes back down.
Irene and Warren had appeared.
Positioned on the diagonal farthest from Lylia, who had been wary of her opponents’ invisibility, the two unleashed a barrage of Fire Lances. Naturally, Lylia moved to target the opponents before her, but they vanished just before her strike connected. In the spot where Lylia had stood a moment ago, Lina and Fuyu appeared, casting their spells.
“Ngh…!”
Lylia pursued them, but like the first pair, they too disappeared at the last second.
<“This is a brilliant strategy! It seems all the participants, except for Lylia, have been colluding from the start!”> Betty exclaimed.
<“HAHAHAHAHAHA! That’s some relentless determination!”> Bruce cackled.
<“Don’t worry, everyone — this is not in violation of any rules,”> Itsuki added.
Gradually, Lylia’s stamina began to wane.
Lina, Fuyu, and Tifa took turns launching their attacks, while Irene and Warren relentlessly targeted Lylia without respite. Haruhana waited patiently for her moment — Her role was to deliver the decisive blow to Lylia. Sharpening her senses, Haruhana was poised to strike with unparalleled speed. That was the plan.
However… Lylia stopped all movement before they could make their next move.
She abruptly stopped tracking the appearing and disappearing mages.
“Heh… You all really are tough. Though, I suppose it’s in part thanks to Giorno helping you…”
Murmuring to herself, Lylia lowered her stance.
In that instant, Haruhana, closest to her, felt a chill run down her spine.
“E-everyone! Jump now!”
Haruhana leaped as she shouted, but the other mages did not react in time.
“HORIZONTAL CUT!”
Lylia’s swing cut through the courtyard, the force of her attack devastating.
Her sweeping strike gouged everything around her in a flash.
The Perfect Invisibility, while rendering one completely invisible, also prevented the release of any arcane energy.
Thus, despite Haruhana’s warning, the others could not evade in time or mount any defense. The five mages reappeared and were all slammed against the castle’s inner walls.
“You’re the only one left, Haruhana…”
“Ah.”
Lylia caught up to the airborne Haruhana and tapped her head with a wooden sword.
Haruhana landed, clutching her head, tears welling up in her eyes.
Simultaneously, Bruce and Betty shouted triumphantly.
<“”WE HAVE THE WINNER!!””>
Under the loud cheers, Itsuki’s comment rang out,
<“It seems there was no major upset. Medical team, please attend to the participants’ recovery.”>
Natsu and Lala promptly ran around, healing everyone.
Seeing this, Asley breathed a sigh of relief, knowing everyone was okay.
“So Lylia won, as anyone would expect… Well, the plan wasn’t bad, though.”
“No, it was a VERY GOOD plan,” Bright corrected Asley.
“Huh?”
Asley tilted his head, and the announcer, Betty, proclaimed,
<“This match’s winner is Miss Lylia! She earns seven points, and Haruhana gets six points!”>
“What the–!? It’s a point system!?” Asley exclaimed in surprise.
<“Wow, those five really pulled it off nicely…”> Itsuki sighed in admiration, praising the five who had lost.
<“A strategic victory! Well done, well done! Hahaha!”> Bruce laughed.
“What… what are they talking about…?”
Asley turned to Bright.
Bright handed Asley a sheet of paper, seemingly to clear up his confusion.
“These are the rules. Read the fifth item from the bottom.”
“Hmm, let’s see… ‘If participants rank the same, points corresponding to that rank will be awarded…’ Ah! So, the first five to lose are–“
<“The rules dictate that Lina, Tifa, Fuyu, Irene, and Warren all rank third. Therefore, each of them gets five points!”>
<“Hahaha! Miss Lylia missed the best chance to place herself ahead of everyone else. Things are getting interesting!”> Bruce laughed again.
<“The mages exploited the rules to all aim for third place. Well done. This bodes well for the next challenge.”>
Asley understood their explanation, but another question arose.
“…Huh? There’s another round?”
Asley tilted his head in confusion. Meanwhile, down below, a new scene unfolded.
Lala and Natsu brought in a plethora of ingredients — fresh vegetables from Lala Farm and freshly hunted meat from the mountains.
Even Asley, usually slow on the uptake, understood what the next competition would be.
“They’re doing a… cooking contest…?”
<“Yes, a cooking contest! The time limit is fifty minutes! You can make any dish, but just one! And the judge will be none other than the Devil King himself!”>
“What!?”
Asley turned to Betty in shock.
<“No need to worry, Devil King — these utensil artifacts will neutralize any poison the moment the food touches them, so eat without fear!”> Bruce assured.
“No, Bruce… that’s not the issue…”
<“Let the cooking begin… now!”> Itsuki announced, taking charge.
<“Well, well… truly an abrupt beginning! Every second counts! Bring your completed dish here!”>
<“…Huh? What the… what is she doing?”> Bruce’s voice, tinged with fear, trailed off.
Betty and Itsuki followed Bruce’s line of sight to Lylia, the former Holy Warrior who had taken first place earlier.
They stepped away from the amplification Spell Circle to converse.
<“She’s chopping weeds with her sword…”>
<“Now that you mention it, we’ve never eaten Miss Lylia’s cooking before…”>
Bruce joined them, puzzled,
<“Why isn’t she using any of the vegetables…?”>
<“Maybe she’s being creative?”> Betty guessed.
<“Perhaps she is following an ancient recipe,”> Itsuki suggested nonchalantly.
Bruce wondered why the two were so calm, but the answer came to him in a flash,
[Oh, right. We AREN’T the ones who’ll have to eat it.]
The only one who would have to swallow whatever Lylia cooked was the Devil King.
Realizing this, the three quickly returned to the announcer’s podium.
<“Ooh! Lylia just tossed the weeds, dirt and all, into the pot! This is exciting!”>
“What’s so exciting about that, Betty!?” Asley yelled, about to launch another verbal attack, but Bruce interrupted him.
<“Well now, Devil King! Too much cheering can be considered indirect advice for the contestants, so keep it down a bit!”>
“Ngh…!”
Asley shot a glance at Itsuki, but Itsuki proceeded to ignore him completely.
<“Ah, Tifa is making a quite an interesting dish.”>
<“It’s… black.”>
<“It’s the void itself.”>
Betty and Bruce commented briefly, with Itsuki adding,
<“It is all gooey, too. This should be interesting.”>
“Itsuki, what–!?”
<“Silence, Your Majesty.”>
“Gah…!”
Asley finally realized he had no allies here.
Meanwhile, the clock ticked on, and the contestants steadily approached the completion of their dishes.
The first to finish was… Irene.
“Mm-hm.”
Irene presented her soup to Asley.
“Oh… is this onion soup?”
“You can see that, can’t you?” Irene retorted, slightly huffy.
Asley chuckled, then slowly dipped his spoon into the soup and took a sip.
“Wow… This is good.”
At Asley’s straightforward comment, Irene stiffened.
“O-o-o-of course it is!” she said, crossing her arms and turning away.
Asley chuckled again.
<“A high rating, I see! And that was Miss Irene’s dish, the onion soup! Next up is…!?”> Betty announced.
<“Everyone’s favorite, Haruhana!”>
<“Honestly, I’d like to try it myself, too,”> Itsuki added.
Haruhana approached Asley quietly, gracefully carrying her dish on a T’oued-style tray.
A faint, sweet aroma tickled Asley’s nostrils, prompting him to lean forward.
“This is a boar rice bowl,” Haruhana said, lifting the lid.
Steam billowed out, and Asley’s mouth watered.
“Whoa! It looks so tasty!!”
The bowl was filled with tender boar meat wrapped in a luscious egg, accompanied by translucent onions that made Irene’s soup pale in comparison.
With trembling hands, Asley picked up his chopsticks and dug in.
“Ooh! Wow, this is delicious! There’s no gamey taste at all! How!?”
Asley, savoring each bite, looked at Haruhana with blissful curiosity.
“Cooking it with sake and ginger removes the odor. Each piece of meat was carefully treated and skimmed to remove impurities,” Haruhana explained.
“But it’s supposed to be only to some extent, right? This has no gaminess at all—”
Before Asley could finish, Haruhana just smiled and placed a finger to her lips with a mysterious expression.
“It’s a secret.”
Asley was left dumbstruck, his mouth agape at her enchanting smile.
Barun pursed his lips, and Bruce chuckled.
“Absolutely terrifying…”
Leon murmured in awe of Haruhana’s every move, careful to speak softly so she would not hear him.
Haruhana lowered her line of sight, gave Asley a small bow, and left quietly. Not only the men but also some of the women followed her with their eyes.
“I swear, that girl keeps getting more and more attractive…”
<“Miss Betty, we’re on the amplification Spell Circle.”>
<“Eh, it’s fine.”>
<“Fair enough.”>
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