I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 283

When Lily, who had lost consciousness from drinking, suddenly came to her senses, she was on Godhand’s back.

‘Huh?’

For a moment, she wondered if she was dreaming due to being drunk, but it wasn’t a dream.

Lily was leaning against Godhand’s broad back, and Godhand was carefully carrying her across the city.

‘Gasp! What, what is this!’

Lily was so surprised that she almost screamed, but when Godhand turned around and asked,

“Lily? Are you awake?”

she quickly closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep.

“Umm… hiccup, Godhand, you dummy…”

She even slipped in a bit of her true feelings in her sleep talk.

“…”

Godhand, looking at Lily with pity, adjusted her position on his back and started walking slowly again.

“I’m sorry, Lily.”

An apology came from Godhand’s mouth.

Lily almost made a ‘hmph’ sound. So, he knows he should be sorry?

“Um… it’s a bit awkward to say this, but this is my first time dating… so I’m probably very clumsy. After our kingdom fell, I was so busy trying to survive that I never even thought about dating.”

“…”

“My squad members are like younger siblings who follow me, so I’ll have to keep taking care of them. I might make things difficult for you in the future.”

Lily’s arms, wrapped around Godhand’s neck, tightened.

Should I choke him? No, hold it in, my inner fire mage… Lily barely managed to suppress her impulse and let out a sigh.

“But, the, my feelings for you are genuine… So, I really…”

“…”

Lily perked up her ears.

Really? Really what?

“Hoo… this isn’t it.”

Godhand let out a long sigh.

“I thought I was good at talking, but why am I so clueless when it comes to dating…”

“…”

“It’s a good thing you’re asleep, Lily. If you were awake, I’d be too embarrassed to even… practice this.”

I’m awake, you idiot! I’m awake!

Lily’s tightly closed lips trembled. No, fine. Let’s pretend I’m asleep! Then say more of what you really feel! Just spill it all out!

“…”

But Godhand just glanced back at the (pretending to be) sleeping Lily once more, then quietly closed his mouth and continued walking.

Lily’s accommodation was inside the alchemy workshop. The alchemist guild had made special arrangements for her because of her leg problems.

Godhand walked straight into the accommodation without hesitation.

Unaware of Lily’s pounding heart, Godhand carefully placed Lily on the bed, laid her down, and covered her with a blanket.

Then, Godhand sat down next to the bed and quietly looked down at the (pretending to be) sleeping Lily.

“…”

His face got closer and closer.

Though she had her eyes tightly shut pretending to be asleep, Lily, who had become very sensitive, could feel his breath getting closer.

‘Wh, what? Is, is he going to kiss me? Is he trying to kiss me? Whoa?!’

Lily was secretly anticipating it, but then,

“…You’ve got something on you.”

Godhand reached out and casually removed something (probably a snack) that was stuck in Lily’s hair, then stood up.

“Sleep well, Lily. See you tomorrow.”

Then, with a good-natured smile, he tried to leave Lily’s room.

“Hey-!”

In the end, Lily exploded.

Lily, who had suddenly sat up, flung her arms out and wrapped them around Godhand’s neck from behind. Godhand, suffocated, was shocked and turned around.

“L, Lily?! When did you wake up…”

“You’re so clueless! You’re really clueless! Ugh!”

“Kuh-huh! Lily! I can’t breathe…”

“You’re such a dating idiot, you don’t deserve oxygen-!”

Crash! Bang-!

Sounds of something rolling violently, Godhand’s screams, and the grand sound of fire magic exploding leaked out from Lily’s room.

“…”

“…”

The head and deputy head of the alchemist guild, who were drinking in the workshop next door, calmly nodded and poured each other drinks.

“They’re having a good time.”

“It’s a festival. A festival.”

Bang! Poof!

Ughhhhhh…

Godhand’s pitiful death cries eventually faded away.

The first night of the autumn festival was passing like this.

***

The next day. The barracks.

I came here in the morning to watch the martial arts tournament.

“Hmm… is it just my imagination…”

I broke out in a cold sweat as I looked at the crowds of people on the streets.

“It seems like… there are a lot of people…”

Even just by glancing, there seemed to be more citizens than I saw in Crossroads yesterday. What’s going on?

Damian, who had been following me, yawned widely and replied.

“Didn’t you know, Your Highness? The Winter Silver Merchant Guild apparently promoted the Crossroads Festival in nearby cities.”

“What? Really…?”

“Yes. Since the martial arts tournament starts today, people from nearby cities seem to have started coming to watch in earnest.”

So that’s why the number of tourists suddenly increased.

I was amazed by Serenade’s incredible initiative. When did she even do the promotion?

The martial arts tournament was held in the training grounds inside the barracks. The training grounds were surrounded by a cloud of spectators who had arrived early.

My seat was prepared in the best spot. Long live the lord’s power.

I made space for Damian to sit next to me, and I sat down and looked around.

“By the way, where are the other members of our party? Where did they go?”

“Juju said she was resting because she drank too much yesterday. Miss Evangeline is a participant in the martial arts tournament, so she went to prepare…”

As we were talking, a soldier approached us and handed us a piece of paper. It was the soldier from the martial arts tournament registration desk we saw yesterday.

“Lord, this is the list of participants for today’s tournament.”

“Ah, thank you.”

I glanced at it and saw a lot of familiar names. Many of my subordinate hero characters had entered.

“Were they that greedy for the martial arts tournament prizes…?”

As I muttered, the mercenaries sitting around me nodded in unison.

“Unlimited use of the stalls for 5th to 8th place? Can’t pass that up!”

“Gift certificates from the Winter Silver Merchant Guild for 3rd and 4th place? It’s as good as cash!”

“A full set of equipment crafting rights for 2nd place?! If you can resist that, you can’t call yourself a mercenary!”

“Ummm… but you guys are subtly skipping over the 1st place prize?”

These guys are only talking about the prizes below that. The winner gets the chance to become my knight?

But when the topic of 1st place came up, the mercenaries all made a ‘woooooo~!’ sound and booed.

“We don’t need a 1st place honor!”

“What we want are tangible rewards that we can hold in our hands!”

“Maybe the final will be a fight over who gives up first?”

“Kyahhh! You guys!”

I was disgusted by the mercenaries’ mercenary-like honesty. You bastards! I’ll remember your faces! I’ll get you later!

As we were talking, the opening match began. Let’s see who the opening match contestant is…

‘Lucas?’

I saw Lucas walking onto one side of the training grounds. Why does it have to be you for the opening match!

“…Ah.”

Lucas, who had made eye contact with me, looked embarrassed and silently bowed his head. Feeling awkward for no reason, I made an ‘ummm~’ sound and scratched my chin.

Lucas’s opponent was one of the N-rank heroes from our front line’s sub-party.

He clenched his fist in front of his chest with a very nervous expression.

In this martial arts tournament, all weapons are prohibited. Not only wooden weapons, but also magic and skills are all sealed by special magic circles.

Only pure physical strength.

The competition is decided by fist against fist.

The game is set if you declare surrender, get ringed out, or get knocked down twice.

Even though it’s a tournament with a strong event-like nature, priests are waiting right next to the training grounds in case of an emergency.

“Both contestants, get ready!”

Aider, who was the referee, shouted loudly. I wondered what that director was doing during the festival, but he was playing here.

Lucas and his opponent stood at opposite ends of the training grounds and bowed their heads lightly. Aider flicked his hand down and shouted.

“Start-!”

Thud!

Lucas suddenly kicked off the ground and rushed forward.

Whoosh-!

Lucas, who had charged with tremendous force, threw a punch forward. The opposing mercenary was horrified and rolled on the ground to barely avoid the punch.

Thwack-!

A gust of wind rose from the end of Lucas’s missed punch.

It wasn’t a joke, the wind really whipped along the trajectory of the punch. The hair of the spectators was ruffled for a moment.

I gaped. Hey! If you get hit by that, you’d be out for weeks!

“I, I surrender! I surrender!”

The opposing mercenary, his face pale, immediately raised both hands above his head and gave up.

Lucas silently lowered his fist and released his fighting stance.

“Winner! Sir Lucas~!”

Aider grabbed one of Lucas’s arms and flicked it up.

Ooooooh!

Clap clap clap clap…!

The spectators all started clapping.

The match was decided in an instant, but the impact of that wind from the punch was so great that the audience was satisfied.

“…”

Lucas bowed to me and then went down from the training grounds.

I crossed my arms and nodded. Since you’ve entered, I hope you win, Lucas.

The martial arts tournament progressed quickly. The next match was immediately prepared. The next contestant was also a familiar face.

Perhaps the most advantageous class in this martial arts tournament’s rules.

It was the bandit king, Kuilan.

“Kuilan!”

I was so dumbfounded that I shouted when I saw the huge red-haired man warming up as he walked onto the training grounds.

“Why did you enter?”

“I heard the Winter Silver Merchant Guild’s gift certificates are as good as cash?”

Kuilan grinned and cracked his knuckles.

“I need to gather money to reclaim my homeland! Hahaha! 3rd and 4th place are mine!”

No, aim for 1st place, 1st place!

And the person who came up as Kuilan’s opponent was… huh?

A small figure wearing a robe – a girl.

‘Who is it?’

I was flustered and broke out in a cold sweat as I looked at the small figure of the girl. She looks even smaller than Evangeline? Who is she?

The martial arts tournament is open to anyone who can prove their basic strength. That girl must have passed the minimum standards.

But in front of the muscular Kuilan, who was over 2m tall, the small and slender girl didn’t even look like a match.

“Hey, kid. Why don’t you give up? I don’t have a hobby of beating up kids.”

“…”

Despite Kuilan’s warning, the girl remained silent. Kuilan smiled bitterly and took a martial arts stance.

“I can’t help it then. I’ll try to subdue you as gently as possible, but don’t cry if it hurts…!”

The match started.

Crack-!

Kuilan, who had stepped forward, rushed towards the girl with terrifying force. He seemed to be planning to end the match in one go.

The girl, who hadn’t moved in front of him, slowly reached out her hand, gathered her fingers, and then-

Tap!

She flicked her fingertips against Kuilan’s forehead.

Then.

“Kyahhh-?!”

Kuilan, who had charged, was knocked backward. What the heck?!

Kuilan’s huge body floated in the air and rolled awkwardly on the ground.

When the rolling giant stopped, Kuilan’s face, foaming at the mouth and unconscious, was revealed.

‘One-hit KO?!’

I gaped and was shocked.

No, even if he’s a ‘glass cannon’ Kuilan in human mode. How can he be sent flying like this with just a light flick of a small girl’s finger?

Moreover, the use of magic is sealed in the training grounds right now. She made Kuilan like that with just a pure finger flick?

Whoosh-

At this unexpected situation, everyone in the audience was frozen. At this moment.

The shockwave from the finger flick caused the girl’s hood to fall off.

Above the ebony black hair that flowed down from under the hood, a silver crown was placed, and below the hair, two amber eyes were emitting a playful light.

Eyes with pupils that were vertically slit like a reptile.

Dragon eyes.

“Ah-ha.”

Revealing sharp teeth like a shark’s, a playful smile leaked from the girl’s lips.

“Isn’t this festival of a foreign land quite enjoyable!”