There Is No Place For Fakes [EN]: Chapter 150

She had been predicting that Killian would choose arm wrestling as the first test.

There were about three reasons.

‘Firstly, he would be uncomfortable treating me harshly.’

Swordplay or mounted duels, which had historically been the main events in the first test, were out of the question.

If Philomel were to get hurt, it would incur the wrath of the Emperor and the Master of the Magic Tower. It was widely known that they cherished Philomel.

Secondly, they would think of Philomel as just a precious young lady, with the rumors being just rumors.

‘They would think that unilaterally defeating me in a duel would only damage Killian’s image.’

Thirdly, the temple wanted to produce a hero as soon as possible. They would want a simple method that could be completed as quickly as possible.

‘Arm wrestling is a match that meets all these conditions.’

Moreover, there was even a precedent in the distant past where a hero candidate who hated seeing blood chose arm wrestling as the method of competition.

At this point, it would be strange not to choose arm wrestling.

“The candidates, this way.”

Philomel and Killian each underwent physical examinations by the priests and headed to the platform. A table for arm wrestling was set up in the center of the platform.

The two sat facing each other across the table.

Killian spoke softly, just loud enough for Philomel to hear.

“You can give up now.”

“I refuse. I will become a hero no matter what anyone says.”

“Stubbornness…”

Killian grumbled and placed his arm on the table.

“Get ready.”

At the moderator’s words, Philomel also placed her arm on the table and clasped Killian’s hand.

A large hand covered in calluses.

At that moment, Killian shuddered and made a strange expression.

‘40%’

His favorability increased again. He seemed to be conscious of the physical contact with Philomel.

“Ready…”

The referee, who was checking if the two people’s hands were tense, shouted.

“Start!”

The next moment, an astonishing sight unfolded before everyone’s eyes.

At the same time as the start, Killian’s hand was pushed back. He barely managed to stop his hand before the back of it touched the surface of the table.

“Ugh.”

A difficult groan escaped from the man’s clenched teeth, his face red to the tips of his hair.

Even while straining so hard that the veins on his forehead were popping out, Killian’s face was full of question marks.

‘Why is she so strong?’

He seemed to want to ask this.

The answer was simple. It was all thanks to the Superior Strength Potion.

The potion, which she had secretly drunk before the match, allowed Philomel to unleash monstrous strength.

‘Sorry, but I never intended to have a fair match from the start!’

If they competed fairly, the hero position would be taken by Killian, who was head over heels for the fake Elencia.

Philomel basically tried to adhere to principles, but she also cheated in urgent situations.

Only when it was really, really urgent.

‘But it’s not easy after all.’

Killian’s arm seemed to be going down, but it didn’t completely go down.

To block her, who had taken the Strength Potion and even received arm wrestling training from Nassar. Indeed, he wasn’t called a hero for nothing.

Philomel licked her lips.

‘I didn’t want to use this card if possible….’

She called his name in a very small voice.

“Killian.”

As his eyes turned to her, she whispered.

“I like you.”

Momentarily, the strength in their clasped hands loosened.

Thud, his arm went down completely.

The venue was filled with silence. The first to break the silence was the priest in charge of the refereeing.

“T-The winner is Philomel!”

It was Philomel’s victory.

“That’s foul!”

Killian threw the chair roughly and jumped up from his seat.

“To use such foul means to win the match!”

His eyes and voice trembled relentlessly.

“Foul means? What are you talking about?”

Philomel pretended not to know anything.

“There’s no way you could have such ridiculous strength! You must have used some kind of foul trick…!”

“We both underwent the same physical examination.”

An examination performed by two or more priests with divine power. If she had received help from magic or drugs, they would have detected it.

The referee said sternly.

“The opponent is right. We did not find anything unusual in the physical examination.”

Of course. The Strength Potion was not an ordinary magic potion.

When Philomel first obtained Elencia’s potion in the past, even Le Guin had only detected the power of the system very faintly from it.

‘It would be difficult for an ordinary priest to notice.’

Especially if Philomel had already consumed the potion.

“But…!”

Killian seemed to have a lot to say, but he soon closed his mouth.

To continue questioning here meant that he did not trust the temple’s verification.

Thus, the first test ended with Philomel’s victory.

As Philomel was about to leave the venue after receiving congratulations from Nassar, Killian spoke to her.

“Putting aside the strength, the last words were truly foul.”

“The last words?”

“Th-That… Don’t pretend you don’t know!”

His face flushed with an emotion that was hard to tell whether it was anger or embarrassment.

“Ah, that.”

Philomel smiled brightly.

“You said that a hero should not be swayed by any words. Could it be that you were shaken?”

Killian was left with a dumbfounded expression at Philomel’s brazen answer.

* * *

“Nassar, did you win a lot of money?”

Philomel asked on the way back to their lodging in the holy grounds.

“I bet the most amount of money on Philomel-nim [Miss Philomel, using a respectful title].”

Commoners might not know, but nobles and professional gamblers were almost certain of Killian’s victory.

“I made a lot of money, so I’ll treat you to dinner tonight.”

“Wow!”

As they shared such small and pleasant conversations, the two arrived at the lodging before they knew it.

“Could you include us in that dinner too?”

But then, a familiar voice was heard.

Philomel, upon confirming who was in front of the lodging, exclaimed in surprise.

“Lexion!”

It wasn’t just him.

“Phil! How have you been?”

“…We meet again.”

“Kardin and Jeremiah too!”

Lexion’s other brothers were also there. And….

“Come on, don’t hide because you feel bad, come out.”

At Lexion’s words, Kardin and Jeremiah stepped aside one step each. Then, the existence behind them was revealed.

“…Meow.”

The cat, which had been sitting with its back turned, glanced back at Philomel and meowed. The dining hall inside the lodging.

Thanks to Lexion renting the entire lodging for a considerable amount of money, the dining hall was theirs.

“Do you know how surprised I was that morning?”

Kardin complained, banging on the table.

“I woke up after sleeping well and you were gone, Le Guin was sulking and locked himself in his room, Jeremiah broke his leg, Lexion didn’t tell me anything….”

Listening to him, it seemed like Kardin had been struck by lightning out of the blue.

Philomel comforted him.

“I’m sorry. I felt a little bad about telling Kardin and leaving at that time.”

It wasn’t that he would recklessly stop her, but… honestly, Kardin didn’t seem to have much talent for keeping secrets.

‘It all shows on his face.’

Lexion picked up a piece of meat with his fork and ate it before saying.

“It’s noisy. Try to talk less when you’re eating.”

“Phil, and Lexion has become more irritable since you left!”

“What did I do.”

“See? He smiles less than before.”

Lexion gave Philomel a refreshing smile.

“Someone advised me that I don’t need to force myself to smile.”

“Haha….”

It was good that Lexion’s forced smiles had decreased, but his stinging remarks remained the same.

‘Before, his remarks were softened by his smile, but now only the remarks remain.’

To Philomel, it was honestly the same thing, but it seemed to be a big difference to Kardin, who didn’t think deeply about anything.

‘That’s right. Kardin was this kind of person.’

His simplicity made her feel drained.

Just until recently, she had been wondering whether the favor Kardin showed her was genuine or not, but now it seemed like a pointless act.

“All of you are just full of talk.”

Jeremiah grumbled and emptied his glass repeatedly.

“Hey, children shouldn’t drink alcohol. Here, have some milk.”

Philomel barely stopped Jeremiah, who was swinging his crutches at Kardin.

A boisterous time passed.

Lexion and Jeremiah still hadn’t reconciled and didn’t even talk to each other, but it wasn’t much different from their usual 모습 [mosup – Korean word for ‘appearance’ or ‘state’].

The three had come to support Philomel’s match and had arrived at the holy grounds this morning.

Philomel, who had been listening to their stories quietly, opened her mouth.

“…I guess I can think that Le Guin is also supporting me, right?”

Lexion shrugged his shoulders.

“It would be better to ask him directly. Le Guin-nim [Mr. Le Guin, using a respectful title] seems to be going to the rooftop.”

“I should. Excuse me for a moment.”

Philomel got up from her seat.

“Did Father also come? I didn’t see him.”

Only Nassar, who still didn’t know Guin Guin’s identity, was talking nonsense.

“I’ll tell you later.”

Saying that, she went up to the rooftop.

A cat was sitting on a bench, looking at the scenery.

“I’ll sit next to you.”

“……”

“You don’t even answer me now?”

“Meow.”

The cat stubbornly did not look towards Philomel.

“Le Guin.”

Philomel said, looking out at the sunset over the holy grounds.

“As I wrote in the letter, I can’t understand if you don’t tell me.”

“……”

“To understand each other, people need to face each other and have enough conversation.”

Still, the cat still didn’t look at her, so Philomel spoke in a slightly different voice.

“Actually, what Le Guin truly wanted was a child who could understand him, right?”

The animal’s small body trembled.