BXBX NOVEL Chapter 30: Festival (3)
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Chapter 30: Festival (3)
We didn\'t sign a contract with [Yeondan Society].
The reason was simple.
‘Contracts are for [Gold] and above.’
What we needed wasn\'t a contract, but their influence.
“...I see. I understand.”
After explaining the situation, Mino seemed to grasp my intent and nodded.
“In that case, let\'s proceed as planned.”
Normally, he would have had to go back to the company for approval, but he approved the important matter right away, perhaps because he had taken a more senior position in the meantime.
Well, there was nothing wrong with speed.
In fact, I appreciated Mino\'s quick decision-making.
“You’re quick to understand, I like that.”
“Thank you. Then, since we have other preparations to make, how about we part ways for today? Oh! I understand you’re participating in the parade. To make sure there’s no trouble on your way, I’ll assign two 7th-grade employees to accompany you.”
He really caught on quickly.
Ah, right.
Now that I think about it…
I mentioned a previous promise to Mino, who was about to leave.
“Didn’t you say last time that you would make me some kind of Awakening Elixir?”
He had promised to make a mid-tier Awakening Elixir, which is better than a Vision Elixir, for our next meeting.
‘An Awakening Elixir is something that [Silver]-level people could never get their hands on.’
Now that I understood the scale of this tournament, I wanted to get it before it started, if possible.
‘That way, I’ll have more strategic options.’
Every item I could use would increase my range of choices.
“You don’t have to worry about that. I’ll make sure it gets delivered when it’s ready.”
Mino smiled as he continued speaking.
“I’ll make sure to get it to you at least during the tournament.”
During the tournament, huh…
Not bad.
I nodded in response to Mino’s words.
Then, Mino left the room, leaving behind the two employees.
-Clank.
As soon as Mino left, Beryl, who had been standing awkwardly, mumbled in a low voice.
“...So, what do we do now?”
What do we do? It\'s obvious.
I got up and gathered my gear.
“We go to the square.”
We were going to watch the parade.
‘Time to see what’s really coming out.’
* * *
The sun set, and the night deepened, adding to the excitement of the festival.
‘…Seeing it like this, it really does feel like a festival.’
The familiar places I had seen countless times on screen, and the recognizable graphic buildings, felt different when experienced in person.
“Wow, so many people now.”
Among the bustling crowd, Mari clung tightly to me, either to avoid getting lost or to hide from Luci, who was right beside her.
Since we were about to reach our destination, I pushed Mari away.
“Let go. You’re in the way while I’m trying to find a spot.”
At that, Mari shivered and hid behind me.
“No way. If I leave your side, Luci will pick on me.”
On the opposite side of where Mari hid stood Luci, smiling like a snake eyeing its prey.
‘So it was the latter…’
Indeed, Luci never bothered Mari or the other employees when I was around.
‘Or rather, she never gets within a certain distance from me.’
I wasn’t sure what had happened between Luci and Mari when they were left alone, but it wasn’t a major concern, so I gave up on pushing Mari away.
Soon, we found a good spot on higher ground.
The parade was about to begin, after all.
[The parade will start soon!]
“Ohh, is it finally starting?”
“Waaah!”
With the cheers of the crowd, knights bearing the banner of Camelot approached in the distance.
Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. Clomp!
In perfect alignment, the knights marched flawlessly, befitting the name of a parade.
“...The first group is knights?”
“Any notable features?”
As I watched the knights march by, murmurs reached my ears.
[LordIce (Diamond)]
[DuplicateName (Diamond)]
[…… (Diamond)]
[…… (Platinum)]
……
As expected, all the [Diamond]-level companies were attending this parade.
Occasionally, you could spot some [Platinum] or [Emerald] classes, but they seemed to just be there to enjoy the parade.
Clop. Clop. Clop. Clop.
The first procession passed, and soon the second one followed.
Though it was the same procession of knights as before, something felt different.
‘...Aren’t those guys Nice’s closest aides?’
Among the ordinary knights were some strikingly prominent figures.
[White Bear (3rd Rank)]
[Black Iron Knight (3rd Rank)]
They weren’t ordinary knights, each armed with their own special weapons.
I grimaced as I watched Nice\'s closest aides pass by.
‘…If they’re being mobilized, this must be really serious.’
Even among 3rd Rank personnel, not all were the same.
Nice’s aides, who assist him in his duties as Executor, are strong enough to take down most 2nd Rank personnel.
In other words, Nice’s closest aides, who had pushed their growth to the limits, were true 3rd Rank elites.
This meant that the creatures entering the tournament were at least between the 6th and 4th Ranks.
Of course, the problems didn’t end there.
“Insane.”
“What kind of tournament is this, anyway…?”
Wails of despair were heard from all around the parade.
It was because Nice himself had appeared in the final procession.
‘As if my head wasn’t already pounding…’
What is this now?
For the tournament participants, Nice’s appearance was like a bolt from the blue.
“...Even the Executor is being mobilized?”
Usually, parades were conducted using floats that highlighted the characteristics of the creatures.
This time, it was just a simple march.
Still, it wasn’t like I couldn’t gather any information at all.
‘…The difficulty seems to be roughly between the 2nd and 5th Ranks.’
I turned my gaze to the knights marching through the main gate.
Their procession seemed to extend all the way beyond the walls of Camelot’s stronghold.
‘The battlefield is Camelot.’
Given the scale of the deployment, it had to be a manifestation-type creature.
And considering the tournament’s gathering place was by a lake, it was reasonable to assume that something might also be in the lake.
However, there was simply too little information to draw any further conclusions.
“Damn. What a waste of time! On top of that, I even had to see those [Silver]-class trash faces. Nothing\'s going right today.”
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The parade hadn’t ended, but an irritable voice rang out from behind me.
Turning around, I saw a man who looked like trouble.
He was dressed like a third-rate thug, with trinkets and ornaments hanging all over his body.
“What, not going to lower your eyes?”
The thug-like man blatantly picked a fight, smirking with his colleagues from the same company.
[Madari (Diamond)]
Upon seeing the thug-like man, an employee of [Yeondan Society] opened his eyes wide and whispered to me.
“That’s him. The 4th Rank employee from Madari... It seems he really intends to participate in the tournament.”
Unlike the nervous [Yeondan Society] employee, I sighed in relief, not taking it too seriously.
“…Is that so?”
I wasn’t the type to fall for such a third-rate provocation in the first place.
‘This place is under the Executor’s authority anyway.’
They couldn’t act recklessly, and I had no need to stir up unnecessary trouble.
‘In situations like this, it’s best to ignore them.’
I calmly pulled back Khan and Beryl, who were ready to step forward.
“Cowards.”
Seeing that I didn’t react to his cheap provocation, the thug lost interest and began to walk away.
The other employees from [Madari] followed him.
Once they were gone and the tense atmosphere eased, the [Yeondan Society] employee wiped his sweat and let out a sigh of relief.
“…Whew. I was worried there might be a conflict, but thankfully nothing happened.”
“You must have been offended, but thank you for holding back. We at [Yeondan Society] have no way to handle a company like [Madari]. Ahem, my apologies.”
The [Yeondan Society] employees scratched their heads awkwardly and bowed their heads apologetically.
“Well, it’s fine. He wasn’t anything special anyway.”
The reason I thought this was simple.
‘They probably just bought their way to that position.’
Looking at his muscles and posture, it was clear that the 4th Rank employee from [Madari] hadn’t grown through proper training.
‘His official rank may be 4th, but…’
In reality, he was probably at the level of a 5th Rank—or at best, just barely able to compete with 6th Rank.
‘Lucky for me.’
Still, thanks to his gaudy equipment, he likely had the strength to match someone at the 6th Rank.
For us, who had just reached the upper ranks of the 7th Rank, he was still a troublesome opponent.
I didn’t have much time to dwell on [Madari]’s departure, though.
Boom!
Suddenly, a tremendous explosion echoed through the air.
Boom!
A massive roar echoed through the air.
Beryl and Khan quickly ran to my side, taking defensive stances.
It was partly due to the earlier confrontation, but they were also preparing for any potential situation.
“What, what’s going on?!”
“Something exploded!”
The people gathered in the plaza were confused as well, but being employees of a [Diamond]-level company, they quickly assessed the situation.
Someone pointed toward Camelot\'s fortress and shouted.
“Over there!”
“The fortress is on fire!”
Just as the employee said, the massive fortress was ablaze.
“This can’t be…”
Khan stared at the burning fortress with a hollow expression.
‘It’s been a while since I’ve seen a scene like this.’
Everyone was panicking, but I’d experienced something like this before, so I knew.
‘Is this where the show ends?’
This was all part of the parade.
Ssshhk.
Nice, who had exited the city, suddenly appeared, slicing through the air.
The crowd\'s attention shifted toward him.
“Everyone, calm down. You might be startled, but this is all part of the parade. The burning fortress is just an illusion, so there’s no need to worry.”
Nice swung his sword through the air.
Immediately—
[The parade has ended.]
The blazing fortress returned to its original, untouched state as if it had never happened.
“I believe those with sharp observation skills may have already realized that this tournament is anything but ordinary.”
No one dared to speak hastily.
Everyone quietly waited for Nice to continue.
“The difficulty has far surpassed the standards set by [Headquarters], so we’ve decided to present you all with a surprise gift.”
With a snap of his fingers, dozens of colorful boxes appeared in midair.
“These 100 boxes contain various items ranging from S-grade to F-grade, which will assist you in the tournament. The selection will proceed fairly, starting from companies with lower rankings…”
I stared at the floating boxes, lost in thought.
‘Items inside the boxes?’
—This is a transparency elixir. It\'s all I can give you right now, but...
A sudden thought crossed my mind, and I pulled out the red elixir from my pocket.
[Transparency Elixir (Low Quality)]
—An elixir made using various herbs and special blood. When consumed, it allows the user to see through objects for 3 minutes.
Normally, this would be an impossible method to attempt in the game.
‘But it’s worth a try.’
There was no way the company hadn’t prepared countermeasures for this, but there was always a small chance of success.
And to seize that success, you always had to reach for even the smallest possibility.
‘In the first place, a parade is just a cutscene, so players can’t issue commands…’
Obviously, during a cutscene, you can’t move your character, use skills, or items.
“We’d like to inform you that companies without a representative present in the plaza will have their turn postponed.”
I had enough reasoning.
I swallowed the elixir immediately.
At the same time—
“Now, let’s call up the first representative.”
I was already facing numerous boxes.
Glancing at them, I smirked.
‘It works!’
I could see the contents of the boxes.
“Please make your selection.”
[Knights’ Equipment Set (A)]
—A set that provides all the equipment of Camelot\'s knights.
[Command Authority (S)]
—A right to command the knights.
[Camelot Map (F)]
—A map containing information about Camelot.
[Knights’ Longsword (C-)]
—A longsword forged by Camelot’s master craftsman.
[Knights’ Armor (C+)]
—Armor crafted by Camelot’s master craftsman.
There were countless other items, but I didn’t bother looking any further.
‘…Hiding it like this, huh?’
Without hesitation, I reached out and chose a box.
It was a small, ashen box.
[Camelot Map (F)]
—A map containing information about Camelot.
There were a few S-grade items, but for this event, nothing would be more valuable than this.
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