I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 281

Two days passed in a flash, and the morning of the Autumn Festival dawned.

Around noon, I stopped by the base camp and called back all the personnel who had been dispatched.

In addition to stabilizing the base camp, they had been working on installing the teleport gate that was completed a few days ago at the forward base and clearing the surrounding area.

I told them to stop everything and rest for the three days of the festival. It’s too much to make them work while everyone else is enjoying the festival, right?

“Wow~! City air! It’s been so long!”

Kuilran stretched his arms high and yawned.

Since it was close to the new moon, all five members of the penal unit’s beastmen had returned to their normal human forms.

As Kuilran had once compared it, it felt like they were shedding their fur like dogs every season…

“It smells delicious!”

Hannibal, who had returned with Kellybay, shouted with an excited face.

The old dwarf blacksmith and his young assistant walked together towards the city’s blacksmith shop.

“It’s been a long time since a festival. It’ll be fun, right, Lily?”

“……”

Godhand, who was pulling Lily’s wheelchair, spoke kindly, but Lily didn’t answer, her face sulky and pouting.

Godhand was sweating profusely, trying to appease Lily.

I watched them for a while, then approached Bodybag and Burnout and asked.

“What’s wrong with them again?”

The two young elves shook their heads.

“They fought… because Godhand kept helping other women at the base camp…”

“……”

“It doesn’t seem like Godhand had any bad intentions… but from the side, it’s a bit frustrating.”

Their relationship really doesn’t seem to be going smoothly… I hope they can resolve it and have fun.

“And, the others who came are…”

I had invited all the NPCs [Non-Player Characters] from the base camp, but not many responded. Only the members of Berdandi’s Holy Grail Exploration Team came.

Jackal refused, saying he wasn’t ready to go out into the world yet. Old Granny Coco refused, saying she was busy with other things. Unnamed hasn’t been seen since then.

The other NPC parties are still wary of me. Well, I understand their feelings.

“Thank you for inviting us, Ash.”

As soon as we came out of the teleport gate in the backyard of the lord’s mansion, Berdandi bowed deeply to me.

“It’s been 100 years since I’ve been out in the world.”

“Rest well, eat lots of delicious food, and heal.”

The members of the Holy Grail Exploration Team looked much better than before, but they still had dark circles under their eyes.

I hope they have fun at this festival and recover their mental state.

After letting them unpack their luggage in the guest rooms of the lord’s mansion, I spread my hand towards the city of Crossroad.

“Alright, it’s the festival! Let’s have fun for three days!”

***

The city of Crossroad was bustling.

The streets were filled with the delicious smells of food being grilled or fried at the stalls.

There were already drunkards sitting around, passing around drinks. Lucky them.

Merry songs could be heard from everywhere from midday. Children with snack crumbs all over their mouths ran laughing through the alleys.

“Out of all the scenes of Crossroad I’ve seen since I was appointed here, today seems the brightest.”

“Of course! It’s one of the few festivals of the year!”

Evangeline jumped up and answered my muttering.

“There must be a lot of people who have been waiting for today! I’ve been eagerly waiting for today for the past few days too!”

Ummm. Certainly.

Not only the citizens, but even Damian and Junior, who were standing on either side of me, were grinning and holding snacks in both hands, looking happy.

I was out having fun with the main party members.

Gathering together and wandering around aimlessly, having snack time.

It was so peaceful that the intense battles we had fought seemed like a lie.

Looking back and forth between the smiling faces of my party members and the lively scenery of the city, I muttered blankly.

“Indeed, festivals have a magical power to lift people’s spirits.”

“It’s fun even if there’s nothing special. Ah! I want to eat that!”

Evangeline, who had spotted a sweet-smelling pastry being baked at a stall in front, ran towards it with shining eyes.

I quickly took out a coin from my pocket and threw it to her.

“Hey! Buy four!”

“Okay!”

Evangeline, who had snatched the coin, quickly bought four pastries like a flying squirrel. It was something similar to Korean hotteok [a sweet pancake filled with brown sugar syrup].

‘There’s no way it wouldn’t be delicious with something sweet between the carbs.’

As I was blowing on the hot pastry and eating it, Evangeline tilted her head and looked around.

“By the way, where’s Lucas?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen him since the day before yesterday.”

I told him not to resume his escort duties and to focus on recovering from his injuries. He disappeared after that, looking dejected…

“Is he resting in his room?”

Evangeline shook her head at my words.

“He wasn’t in his room? I knocked on his door before I came out.”

“Really? Then is he getting treatment at the temple?”

This time, Damian tilted his head.

“No, Your Highness. During the festival, the temple only operates the intensive care unit and the emergency treatment center.”

“Really? Well, the priests need to rest too.”

“Yes. Especially the Saintess, she threatened to go on strike if she didn’t get a vacation during the festival…”

“Hmm…”

Margherita… she had a lot pent up… she did suffer during the last defense battle…

“Then where did Lucas go?”

I wanted to enjoy the festival with my main party members, and also reconcile with him.

It was unsettling not seeing him.

Without the guy who was in charge of the bulk among the main party of five, it felt like the size had shrunk…

At that moment, Junior, who was eating sugared tomatoes with a spoon, narrowed his eyes and pointed his hand forward.

“Huh? Isn’t that Lucas over there?”

“Huh?”

“Oh, it’s really him!”

Looking in the direction Junior was pointing, it was indeed him.

It was Lucas, wearing a robe and a hood, but his identity was obvious because of his protruding blond hair and his unique physique. What is he doing there?

Lucas, who was looking around, carefully entered the barracks entrance and headed to a window guarded by several soldiers.

What was written on the sign in front of the window was…

“……”

I, who was watching the scene from afar, broke out in a cold sweat.

“Uh… a martial arts tournament?”

“It’s tomorrow, right? The martial arts tournament.”

“No, but is it a tournament big enough for someone like Lucas to participate in…?”

After a while, Lucas, who seemed to have finished his registration, quickly came out.

He cautiously looked around, then pulled his hood down and ran away.

‘I should never entrust him with stealth infiltration missions.’

He’ll definitely get caught. Thinking that, we headed towards the martial arts tournament registration window.

“Ah, Lord!”

“You’ve arrived, Lord!”

The soldiers who found me saluted in unison. I nodded back and gestured with my chin.

“You’re working hard during the festival. Eat and drink moderately.”

“Haha, it’s not a difficult task. And we’re snacking while working, as you said.”

The soldiers showed the snacks they had hidden behind them, looking embarrassed. I chuckled and asked.

“How’s the martial arts tournament? Are there many participants?”

“Oh, yes! It’s a mess because of the new prizes that were added yesterday!”

“Prizes? They were newly added?”

“Yes! Didn’t you know? The Winter Silver Merchant Guild sponsored it and announced new prizes…”

“Oh, really?”

To my puzzled look, the soldiers pointed to a poster on the wall.

I looked over there. Let’s see, the new prizes are…

[5th-8th place – Unlimited use of festival stalls]

[3rd-4th place – Winter Silver Merchant Guild gift certificate (worth 5,000 Adel)]

[2nd place – Free request for a full set of blacksmith equipment]

[1st place – Appointment as a knight of the Lord]

“……?”

No.

Wait a minute.

Isn’t the 1st place prize a bit strange? What is this? Appointment as my knight? Who decided that?

“Hey, is this a prize offered by the Winter Silver Merchant Guild?”

“Yes, that’s right! The guild master came in person and posted it!”

“……”

I grabbed the back of my aching neck. Serenade! What are you doing!

While I was frozen in shock, I saw Evangeline’s eyes gleaming as she wrote her name on the application form.

“I want to be 5th! I want to eat at the stalls without limit!”

“Hey! This is not the time for that!”

Following her, Junior and Damian also slowly stepped forward.

“Hehe, I’ll be 4th…”

“Your Highness, please make me 2nd!”

“You guys too, this is not the time for that!”

I barely managed to stop Junior and Damian, who were sparkling their eyes and trying to write their names.

Hey, mage! Clairvoyance! You guys can’t! People will die if you participate!

“More importantly, you guys! Why aren’t you saying anything about the 1st place prize?!”

It’s a bit disappointing and awkward that you’re openly ignoring 1st place and only looking at the lower ranks! Look at the 1st place prize! Appointment as my knight, isn’t that a big deal!

Then Evangeline covered her mouth and chuckled, explaining to me.

“Ah~ that? It’s called the Honorary Knight of the Martial Arts Tournament. It’s like a title given to the winner of each year’s martial arts tournament. It’s an honorary award.”

“Ah… so it’s not giving a real knighthood?”

“Yes. Well, of course, if you’re the champion of the martial arts tournament, your skills are guaranteed, so there have been cases where they’ve been hired for the front lines or become real knights.”

What? So the 1st place prize is the same as it has always been.

Then the commotion wasn’t because of the existing 1st place prize, but because of the equipment crafting rights, gift certificates, and stall passes that the Winter Silver Merchant Guild newly added below it…

“Honestly, does an honorary award give you food, money, or equipment? We don’t need 1st place!”

“You guys are really the embodiment of materialistic desires!”

I was honestly a little happy thinking that participants were flocking to become my knight! But that wasn’t it! A tournament where no one wants to be 1st, it’s absurd!

Evangeline shrugged at my trembling self.

“By the way, what prize do you think Lucas is trying to get by participating…?”

“……”

I shut my mouth and looked up at the poster.

I felt like I knew why, but at the same time, it was so foolish that it left a bitter taste in my mouth.

***

The inn ‘Etty’s Honeybee’. The dance festival registration window.

Fortunately, the prizes for the dance festival were relatively mild.

From the start, they didn’t even rank the participants, and there were only awards like the popularity award, the big laugh award, and the cuteness award. It’s a competition to participate in for fun.

[Most Popular Award – The right to dance all night with the person of your choice]

The content of the highest award, the most popular award, was like this. Well, that’s better…

“This is also a traditional winner’s right that has been passed down through the Crossroad Festival.”

Evangeline said, pointing to the most popular award.

“If you win the dance festival, you get to dance with the person you want. Something like that.”

“Indeed…”

“Okay, then.”

Evangeline scurried forward and brought four application forms.

“Let’s all participate!”

“Huh?”

“What do you mean ‘huh’? You have to participate too, senior.”

Evangeline frowned and said with a pretentious tone.

“Isn’t it common sense to end the festival by dancing together on the last day?”

What is this, some Bollywood movie where everyone ends by dancing together?

More than anything, I’m a terrible dancer! I don’t know how to dance except for the social dance I learned from Serenade!

I tried to run away, but Damian and Junior had already grabbed me tightly on both sides.

In the end, I had to scream and forcibly sign the application form.

“This year’s dance festival! The Lord is participating!”

The clerk at the registration window shouted energetically and stamped the application form. The people around cheered and whistled in unison.

I clutched my head and screamed.

“If I dance, everyone will watch and laugh at me! Why are you dragging me into this again!”

“Why, you ask… well.”

Evangeline grinned mischievously and whispered.

“It’s a festival!”

…Come to think of it, that was a hundred percent correct.

Damn it!