Lord Baby Runs A Romance Fantasy With Cash [EN]: Chapter 127

☆ Chapter 127 ☆

After a minor squabble, we entered the Diluculum Hall.

The hall, already magnificent, was breathtakingly beautiful today.

The vast hall was filled with people.

Since it was the last day of the festival, all nobles above a certain rank could attend without an invitation.

The center of the hall was empty, where people gathered in small groups to chat, but the edges were lined with tiered seating.

The seating extended not only to the first floor but also to the second and third floors.

Our family also had seats in the VIP boxes, which resembled opera boxes.

But my destination wasn’t those box seats.

‘Let’s see, the participants go this way…….’

As I looked around, I made eye contact with that jerk, Ackrin, who was entering.

“H-Hik……!”

Ackrin flinched and cowered as soon as he saw me.

‘Hehe, my Diamond Egg Crushing must have left some sharp memories.’

I proudly puffed out my chest.

Ackrin had been absent from the dawn festival for nearly a month due to personal reasons, but he seemed to have forced himself to come today since it was the last day.

Ackrin, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, looked gaunt.

‘Quirell Young Lady should see this.’

As I thought that, Ackrin’s gaze subtly shifted past me.

A little higher than me…….

When I looked up, I saw my family.

‘Why is he more afraid of my family than me?’

Ackrin, who had been cautiously backing away, gasped again, “Hiiiik!”

Wondering why, I saw Sid standing there.

“……?”

Ackrin, with terror-stricken eyes, looked back and forth between my family and Sid before quickly fleeing the Diluculum Hall.

‘Suspicious…….’

I narrowed my eyes and looked at my family and Sidrian.

But the six men faced me with nonchalant expressions.

Ares even winked at me.

‘Hmm.’

There was an inexplicable sense of closeness between Sid and my family.

No, it was too bleak to call it closeness, but the atmosphere was much better compared to when Sid came to the Duke’s mansion to pick me up, as my partner.

At least my brothers weren’t hell-bent on killing Sid right away.

‘Weird.’

Well, it’s better than them growling and fighting.

I tilted my head and waved to my family.

“I’m going to the Aurora candidate waiting room.”

“Have fun.”

I waved goodbye to my family and headed to the waiting room with a spring in my step.

I was nervous because it was the first time competing in front of my family.

‘I have to do well and show them a great performance!’

* * *

As the final competition of the dawn festival began, the floor of the Diluculum Hall transformed into a giant screen.

Mirror crystals were installed on the floor, allowing live broadcasts of the participants’ competitions.

The crystal mirror reflected a miniature model of the actual terrain.

Inside, dolls made with magical tools were busily waging war.

The young masters who had advanced to the dawn festival finals were conducting mock battles with dolls on the model terrain.

Since everyone was allocated the same number of troops, only one thing mattered in this mock battle.

The commander’s ability!

It was truly a game suitable for testing individual skills.

However, those with higher rankings had the privilege of choosing their starting point, giving an advantage to those who had performed well so far.

Therefore, when Sidrian, who was in first place, chose his starting point first, everyone sighed in disappointment.

It was common sense that high ground was advantageous in war.

But Sidrian chose a low point, and the high ground went to Esteban, who was in second place.

“Of course. What can a guy who hasn’t received proper education know? This is where high-level abilities are judged.”

The Empress chuckled and sipped her wine.

She felt good that Sidrian had chosen a path to ruin on his own without her having to do anything.

“Hasn’t Esteban been losing to that ‘guy who hasn’t received proper education’ until now? I’m curious as to why he lost first place to someone he looks down on so much.”

The Empress frowned at the Empress Consort’s words but quickly regained her smile.

After all, it was clear that her son would ultimately be the winner.

Esteban was brilliantly neutralizing the troops of other young masters from his high ground.

“Oh my, our Esteban has eliminated all of Ackrin’s dolls. His Majesty must be so proud to have such an outstanding prince as his successor.”

The Emperor frowned at the Empress’s subtle mention of succession.

“It’s too much of a fuss to just defeat Ackrin. Ackrin hasn’t been properly participating for about a month. I don’t know where he’s been distracted today, but to call that a strategy…….”

“You are right. Ackrin’s charge just now was suicide, not an attack. It’s not something to brag about defeating…….”

The Empress Consort quickly added, glancing at the Empress, and tapped her lips with the end of her fan.

“Ah, well, I understand the Empress’s pride. Considering the abilities Esteban has shown so far…….”

“Empress Consort!”

The Emperor sighed at the Empress’s shout.

“Both of you calm down. I don’t know why you’re being so sharp on such a good day.”

The Empress gritted her teeth.

She knew that the Emperor was supporting Sidrian these days, but this was too much.

‘Hmph, I’m looking forward to what he’ll say after our Esteban sweeps away all of that bug’s troops.’

The Empress scoffed and looked back at the crystal mirror.

But.

“Goodness, what kind of strategy is that?!”

“Waaah?!”

Exclamations erupted from all over the audience at the unexpected development.

Esteban’s troops, who were trying to strike Sidrian’s rear, had fallen into a trap.

“That was a swamp?! You can’t tell just by looking!”

The highly mobile knight dolls were all stuck in the swamp.

Before they could defeat the troops that hadn’t fallen into the swamp, magic exploded from the left and right.

A clean shot that took out the mages and archers capable of long-range attacks in order.

“……?!”

“Wow, he hid his troops. He deliberately lured them in.”

The troops visible beyond the swamp were an illusion created by mages to increase their numbers.

Esteban, who had been trying to catch Sidrian’s tail, had been caught instead!

“Wait, did Sidrian know that it was a swamp and deliberately choose that spot?”

“I was disappointed that he chose the wrong starting point without knowing that.”

“No, but he knew that it was a swamp and immediately came up with this plan?!”

Belatedly, Esteban tried to turn his troops around, but it was already too late.

* * *

‘Damn it, damn it, damn it!’

Esteban, who was controlling the dolls, cursed inwardly.

‘Using such tricks! Cunning bastard!’

Dolls have no will.

The dolls that were going ahead don’t turn around and run away or act arbitrarily just because they fell into the swamp.

Of course, Esteban had to give the order, but he wasn’t that quick.

If he had quickly retreated the remaining troops as soon as they fell into the swamp, it wouldn’t have come to this.

Thanks to that, Sidrian was very smoothly massacring Esteban’s remaining troops.

But Esteban blamed others rather than blaming his own mistakes.

‘You should fight fair and square! Treacherous bastard!’

When Sidrian first chose the low point, Esteban sneered, calling him a ‘stupid guy who doesn’t even know the basics of strategy.’

After the war started, he realized his mistake, but even when he sent out scouts, Sidrian didn’t show much movement from his starting point.

‘Hmph, scared, huh? Do you get it now? You chose wrong. You can’t beat me.’

Thinking that, he fought a few times with the young masters who were nearby.

Esteban, who continued to win, gained confidence and even invaded Sidrian’s base.

He knew that waiting at the high ground was more advantageous, but his caution disappeared and arrogance took its place due to his continued victories.

He was going to win spectacularly here and pay back all the humiliation he had suffered!

That’s what he thought.

But

Thud!

Esteban, who had no dolls left to control, slammed the table.

A complete defeat.

Esteban gnashed his teeth.

* * *

“It’s amazing. I heard that Sidrian hasn’t received any military education.”

“Is that what it means to be born with it?”

“On the other hand, Esteban made too many mistakes. Other than the fact that he was advantageous because he occupied the high ground…….”

“If he had occupied an advantageous position, he should have just stayed there. The outcome might have been different if he had kept waiting. He was too rash.”

“Hmm, did Sidrian take Esteban’s personality into account?”

“It seems so, judging by how he chose his starting point. That kind of strategy requires a lot of patience. It’s clearly different from Esteban.”

“It’s patience that you wouldn’t expect from a boy in his early teens. Usually, people of that age think that fighting flamboyantly is cooler than this kind of persistent strategy.”

“But what’s most important in actual warfare is how much you can eliminate the enemy’s troops without losing your own.”

The murmurs from the audience were conveyed to the box seats where the imperial family was sitting.

The Empress clenched her fist tightly.

“Hmm, Sidrian is strategizing very efficiently. He hasn’t lost a single doll yet.”

No matter how advantageously Esteban fought from the high ground, he couldn’t avoid any troop losses.

He had tasted small and large victories while fighting several battles, but the number of dolls that had become combat-incapable was considerable.

“That’s right. I was surprised because I didn’t expect him to come up with such a strategy.”

“He deliberately held his breath and waited. So that other participants would fight each other and wear down their troops.”

The Emperor smiled with a satisfied expression.

“Look at the result. Now that the game is in the second half, Sidrian has the most troops.”

“His judgment to use the fact that the surroundings are hostile to each other……. It seems that Sidrian also has talent in political diplomacy.”

The Empress Consort smiled and praised Sidrian.

The more she did, the more the Empress’s expression soured.

But she couldn’t say anything.

She could only suppress this anger inside.

* * *

Although not as much as the Empress, the atmosphere in the box seats occupied by the Paeraton Duke’s family and the Tarenka Marquis was also not good.

“……He is persistent and knows how to wait for the right time. This means he is tenacious.”

“Tenacious people are usually obsessive.”

The Tarenka Marquis echoed the Paeraton Duke’s words.

The five men’s expressions twisted.

“Ha, we’ve got an annoying one stuck to us.”

“It’s troublesome that my younger sister is too cute.”

“I should be the only one who knows my youngest’s charm.”

For now, they were building a cooperative relationship with Sidrian.

In any case, the Paeraton Duke’s family was unable to attend internally (at least officially) while the dawn festival finals were being held.

So they needed someone to chase away the gnats inside, and there was already someone who was diligently squashing the gnats without them needing to instigate it.

That was Prince Sidrian.

Since Ruatisha had chosen him as her partner, they couldn’t completely block Sidrian’s approach.

So, under certain conditions, they decided to build a cooperative relationship with each other only until the end of the dawn festival.

“……I’m worried that we’ve brought in a lion to chase away a fox.”

The more he saw that guy using tactics, the more he thought so.

Even after achieving a great victory, Sidrian moved very cautiously.

A strategy to minimize damage and secure victory for sure.

Even in situations where he could win, he retreated if it seemed like a close battle would unfold.

But.

“……Did he have a grudge against the Delbartren Young Master? Why is he suddenly rushing in?”

As soon as Sidrian discovered Raphael’s troops, he threw away all his caution and rushed in like a mad dog.

Raphael, despite being only ten years old, put up a much better response than Esteban.

He blocked the charge with the troops in front and tied their feet with wide-area magic.

And the remaining troops retreated quickly.

It was a reasonable choice in a situation where there was a big difference in troops.

But.

“No, why are you doing this to me!”

Raphael screamed.

Sidrian had put up a barrier in advance as if he knew it would happen.

And he chased after Raphael with acceleration magic.

Raphael gritted his teeth and fought back, but he couldn’t avoid annihilation.

“Wow, Sidrian is good at head-on battles too.”

“It was a brilliant control. He predicts in advance how the opponent will come out and sets up a defense.”

People clicked their tongues.

They thought that Sidrian had caught Raphael to show that he had excellent abilities even in this kind of match.

Of course, only Sidrian would know the real reason.

* * *

‘Wow, amazing.’

I clicked my tongue as I watched the small crystal installed in Aurora’s waiting room.

Sid’s troops rampaging on the battlefield were shown largely there.

Sid-nim [honorific suffix] overturned the battlefield!

‘But I feel bad for Raphael. Why is he catching him so much?’

I should comfort Raphael later.

As I was watching with the feeling of watching e-sports, Quirell Young Lady spoke to me.

“Aren’t you nervous, Princess? Even I, who don’t even hope to win, am so nervous.”

Come to think of it, I was the only one leisurely watching the crystal mirror.

The other young ladies were waiting anxiously.

‘Well, it’s natural since they have to answer in a situation where so many nobles are watching.’

“I’m nervous too.”

“Liar.”

As Quirell Young Lady and I were whispering, the door opened and Count Chesia entered.

“It’s the young ladies’ turn now. Please come this way.”

At the guidance, I got up from my seat.

My partner had done well, so now it was my turn to do well.