Chapter 368: Alicia’s Little Problem

The Challenger Cup didn’t play a vital role in Eyes of the Chronicler.

It was also described to be a tournament with immense significance in the game, but there was hardly any attention on it. But again, the Eyes of the Chronicler was a gal game and not a fighting game.

Paul’s ass has caused a divergence from the game, which is good news since something is happening, but how will it help me save Astrid?

Roel gave it some thought and eventually concluded that he would probably have to participate in the tournament himself and achieve spectacular results there. It was common knowledge that the winner of the Challenger Cup would receive handsome rewards, and there might just be something amongst the rewards that might be of help to Astrid.

The good thing was that he was definitely eligible to join the Challenger Cup, be it his identity as one of the Ringbearers or his internal ranking amongst the First Grade students. He was currently third place amongst his peers, and he would probably remain so since he wasn’t planning on fighting against the other two ahead of him.

The first place was Nora and the second place was Charlotte.

What was funny about this was that Roel’s third place came about without him fighting a single battle. Ever since the ranked battles started, all of the opponents he challenged surrendered to him without even putting up a fight. Those who didn’t know better would have thought that he had bribed them in advance.

Most of the students had already known about Grandar’s existence by this point, and none of them had the desire to cross blows with that formidable skeleton giant, resulting in a streak of easy wins for Roel. He soared up the internal ranking as if he was riding on a rocket ship, only coming to an abrupt halt when he encountered Nora in the semifinals.

This time around, it was his time to surrender.

He wasn’t the competitive type to get too bothered about rankings anyway, and he wasn’t able to bring himself to fight seriously against Nora due to their personal relationship. Besides, he had no intention of publicly revealing his trump cards. It was with such considerations in mind that he chose to surrender.

What was worth mentioning was the intense fight that broke out between Nora and Charlotte when they met in the finals. In the end, Charlotte was cornered by Nora’s relentless aggression and was forced to admit defeat, thus giving a peaceful conclusion to their fight.

Most students wouldn’t go to the extent of putting their lives on the line for the internal ranking, but the same couldn’t be said about the Challenger Cup. For money, reputation, and a bright future, almost every single fighter would do everything they could to achieve victory.

In order to simulate real-life combat, the Challenger Cup had very little restrictions in terms of means. Even automated offensive magic tools were allowed as well.

“Chief, the lava milk ice cream is going to be finished soon. Are you really not going to try one?” asked Geralt.

“!”

Roel snapped out of his thoughts. He eyed the enticing volcano-shaped ice cream in Geralt’s hand, followed by the swiftly running out supply in the cold dessert area. Without a second of hesitation, he gracefully speed walked over.

Tsk, who cares about the tournament when there’s good food in front of me? We can leave the thinking for tomorrow.

Before the allure of good food, Roel decided to shut down his brain and relish himself in the delicacies that Leinster’s top chefs had to offer. In this joyous atmosphere, the celebratory banquet finally ticked down to the end.

…

An hour later, Roel walked down a wide street all alone.

As the leader of the Bluerose Faction, Roel should have led his faction members back to the Azure Manor after the banquet came to an end, but special circumstances hindered him from doing so. He ended up leaving the banquet alone.

He took a long detour before finally arriving at the staff members’ high-class residential area.

His destination was an exquisite two-storey house located in the middle of this residential area that belonged to the only staff member that he was close with, as well as a potential future family member—Chris Wilde.

Needless to say, he wasn’t visiting her house in the middle of the night just to bid her goodnight. Rather, there was a compelling reason that left him with no choice but to do so.

It had been days since he had returned from the northern region, and his life slowly returned back to its usual joyous but peaceful state. He had bade farewell to the threat of the Magician King and the snowy lands of the Eirbower Dukedom, but there was one person he was unable to bid farewell to.

Alicia.

Ever since they returned from the northern lands, Alicia insisted on following him to Leinster and adamantly refused to leave later on. Roel had talked to her about this matter for many times now, but Alicia had already thought up an excuse to label her action as ‘work’.

“I am here to evaluate Chris’ personality and character,” she said.

Quoting her words, as the intermediary between Chris and Carter, she was obligated to investigate the old classmate who had been trying to send letters to Carter frequently over the last few months. It was quite a strained reason, but Roel found himself unable to say anything about it.

It was reasonable for Alicia to be concerned about Carter and Chris’ relationship considering that they were family members. Roel had been always extremely sensitive about excluding Alicia from anything out of fear that she would feel like an outsider, thus putting him in a tough position here.

Aside from that, Alicia was one of the key members of the Ascart Fiefdom’s intelligence network, so it was indeed part of her job to search for potential threats and investigate them.

What further complicated things was how Chris and Alicia surprisingly got along with each other. He had no idea what kind of conversation the two of them had in their first meeting, but the next time he saw them, they were already as close as sisters. Intrigued, he had tried asking them about it before, and their response was that they felt a sense of camaraderie with each other.

Before he knew it, Alicia had already moved into Chris’ house and adamantly refused to leave.

Roel would visit Alicia from time to time, but there was a special circumstance today. He looked at the note that was delivered to him via magic and let out a helpless sigh.

【My bed is broken. You take her.
—Chris】

“…”

Those simple words rendered Roel speechless. He couldn’t help but wonder on his way there: Is it really that easy for a bed to spoil even when one is using it alone?

With yet another sigh, he knocked on the door to the two-storey house. It was quickly opened by Chris. The edges of her lips inched upward upon seeing Roel, but she smacked her forehead and berated.

“You’re late. Alicia has waited very long for you.”

“My apologies, the banquet just ended,” replied Roel.

Chris looked at the bits of ribbon hanging on Roel’s suit and smirked. She swiped off the ribbon on his shoulders and offered rare words of compliment.

“You have done well this time around. Thanks to your accomplishment, I had a lot more to write in my letter.”

“Thanks for the compliment. Speaking of which, Miss Chris… may I ask how did your bed spoil?”

“Well, about that…”

“Lord Brother!”

While Chris was struggling to find a response to Roel’s abrupt question, a silver-haired figure suddenly dashed out from one of the rooms and leaped right into Roel’s embrace, thus interrupting the conversation between them.

“Alicia, your bed…”

“Lord Brother, I miss you.”

“… Haa, forget it.”

Roel was still intending to get to the bottom of this matter, but when he looked at the excited young lady snuggling up to him, his sis-con nature ended up kicking in. He knew that this was all an excuse, but he chose to condone her behavior anyway.

Looking at the sweet interaction between the duo, Chris subconsciously revealed a warm smile.

Well well, these two are truly…

Alicia secretly gave Chris an ‘okay’ gesture to show that everything had gone according to plan.

She had to seek refuge with Chris because there was a rule forbidding students from bringing outsiders into the campus with them. If not for this rule, the nobles studying in Saint Freya Academy would surely bring in armies of maids and butlers with them, which went against the academy’s aim of building up their students’ character and perseverance.

However, such a limitation didn’t apply to the teachers. Chris had the privilege to bring friends and family members over to live with her after registering them with the academy.

This was also how the two of them managed to get close with each other so quickly. Alicia was the bridge between Chris and Carter whereas Chris had the power to grant Alicia residency rights in Saint Freya Academy; they were able to fulfill each other’s needs.

They swiftly formed the ‘Conquering the Ascarts’ Men!’ alliance, and this was just the first of their many collaborations to come.

After thanking Chris for taking care of Alicia during this period of time, Roel and Alicia waved her goodbye before making their way toward the Azure Manor.

Oblivious to Alicia, who was feeling gleeful about the success of her plan, a posh carriage bearing the insignia of a sword and a shield had just arrived at Saint Freya Academy’s entrance. The coach raised his document and loudly declared the background of the esteemed individual riding inside the carriage.

“Knight Kingdom Pendor’s Cambonyte House. Open up!”