INAV 17

Chapter 17

Carrying on the Spirit of the World’s Archery Powerhouse!

“Listen carefully! There are four trial events! Archery, swordsmanship, spearmanship, and martial arts. You will freely choose three of them, and your combined score will determine whether you pass today’s preliminaries. Only those who pass may compete in tomorrow’s main round, and only those who succeed there will reach the final competition on the third day. Contestants, line up at the stations for the events you selected when registering!”

Inside the castle of Acticos, a wide plaza had been set up with arenas for each discipline, where heated matches were already underway.
The townsfolk, gathered around like it was a festival, cheered on the contestants with excitement.

Doomed. A thousand applicants… and only ten spots… Not even mixed-gender—how am I supposed to beat a hundred men and make it to the finals? God, why did you give me overflowing righteousness but not superpowers to save the world? Why?!

Hemena, mixed in with nine men in her group, stood waiting to take the archery trial, the first event, in despair.
Worse, instead of the rabble she had expected, the plaza was full of renowned knights from across the continent, all formidable and evenly matched.

“Next, Group Eight! Step forward!”

As Royce’s Group Seven finished their archery and stepped back, Hemena’s group was called.
Ten contestants lined up, each holding five arrows, aiming at targets sixty meters away. At the signal, they had to shoot simultaneously.

“Go, Brother Hermes! You can do it!”

Royce cheered from behind, but Hemena, still crestfallen, felt the target with its concentric rings looming impossibly far away.

“Ready arrows! Fire!”

Swish! Thud! Swish!

The muscular knights loosed confidently, their arrows striking the targets.
To her relief, Hemena’s arrow also landed squarely near the middle.

Phew, thank goodness.

“Whoa!”

But at that very moment, cheers erupted behind her. Startled, Hemena turned—
The crowd was roaring for a slim, golden-haired youth standing boldly among the hulking men as he drew his bow.

“Adorable young master! You’ve got this!”
“Handsome blond knight!”
“Looking good, pretty boy!”

Huh? W-wait. They’re… cheering for me?

As the saying goes, praise makes even a whale dance.
Hemena, always weak to flattery, suddenly perked up, her shoulders rising with renewed confidence.

That’s right! How could I forget? Flowing in me is the spirit of the world’s greatest archery nation—Korea! Well… okay, technically not the blood, but the spirit! Go! Fight! Win! Daughter of Daehan!

Her chest swelled as though she were a national athlete with the Taegeukgi pinned to her chest.

“Ready second arrows! Fiii—”

“FIGHTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“Ugh!”
“Argh!”
“Wha—!”
“Gah!”
“Eh?”

Right as the judge called the signal, Hemena bellowed at the top of her lungs.
Startled, the others loosed poorly, their arrows scattering wildly. Meanwhile, Hemena calmly released, her arrow sinking neatly into the target’s center.

“Hey! Why’d you yell like that?”
“That’s cheating!”
“Referee! Redo the round!”

The knights shouted angrily, protesting to both Hemena and the judge.

“Blond contestant #777! Yelling mid-match is a foul!”

But Hemena stood tall, booming back:

“Referee! We knights are meant to fight the beasts that threaten Granelfis! Do the monsters of Cataraits politely wait for us to draw our bows like rabbits or deer? No! They leap out screaming—‘KWAARGH!’ ‘SQUAWK!’ ‘KYAARGH!’ That’s why we must train our focus and composure not to flinch in any circumstance! Isn’t that right, everyone?”

“That’s true!”
“Well said!”
“Sharp lad, that blond boy!”
“Hear, hear!”
“Hurrah for the golden young master!”

The crowd roared approval, leaving the judge and contestants speechless.
Royce, bewildered, stared at Hemena—only for her to glare at him, mouthing something.

Yo-u do it.
Eh? What?
Thi-s time, yo-u do it.

When Royce shook his head furiously, Hemena mimed slitting her throat with fiery eyes.

Argh, fine…

“Ready third arrows! Fiii—”

“KWWWAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!”

“Eek!”
“Wha!”
“Not again!”
“Damn it!”

Thud!

Hemena’s arrow struck the center once more while the others fumbled, startled by Royce’s forced monster cry.

Furious, the contestants all turned and glared daggers at him.

“I-I mean… th-the monsters, they… roar… like, krrrwang…” Royce muttered before hastily slipping away toward the swordsmanship arena.

Heheh. Perfect. Archery, cleared!

Hemena, grinning inside, landed the rest of her arrows solidly and finished with a high score.
She advanced in archery, swordsmanship, and martial arts, while Royce did well in archery, swordsmanship, and spearmanship. Both qualified among the top 200 for the main round.

Back at the inn, Hemena collapsed on the bed, groaning.
“Ugh, I’m dead. Royce—no, Rolex… massage my arms, will you…”

Royce sighed. “Milady, it’s not too late. You’ve proven yourself more than enough. Why not stop here and go home?”

“Young brother… you don’t understand… this noble body… must save the world… you’ll never… know… zzz…”

Muttering nonsense, she drifted into sleep. Royce, baffled yet also impressed by her grit and boldness, gently straightened her posture and tucked a blanket over her.

“Ha. Truly a strange lady. Rest well—tomorrow may be even tougher.”

“Good work, sergeant.”
“Ah, you’ve come, Commander.”

Cylian entered the main plaza with Wale to observe the trials.

“How are this year’s candidates?”
“Quite strong, sir. Many excellent ones, more than usual. Some are already wildly popular among the townsfolk.”

“Good. That bodes well.”

“Yes. Normally first-timers struggle at the start, but these ones adapted with surprising quickness.”

“Interesting. I’d like to see who.”

Just then, a roar erupted from the martial arts arena. Cylian turned toward the crowd.

“She won again!”
“Hermes, hurrah!”
“Kyaa! Handsome Hermes!”
“Hermes, so dashing!”

The cheers were for Hemena, who had just slammed a much larger opponent into the ground with a throw.

“Haha, looks like that Hermes boy again. Every arena he fights in, the crowd swarms. He’s small and scrawny, I thought he’d never pass prelims—but he’s fiercer than he looks. And with that pretty, almost girlish face, the ladies are going wild. Ah, you can see him now.”

At that moment, Royce lifted Hemena high in celebration, raising her above the crowd.

“…!”

Cylian’s pupils contracted. Beneath the short blond wig and boyish disguise, he recognized them instantly—Lady Hemena and her knight.

“Th-those…!”

“What is it, Commander?”

“You see them? Those two blond fighters hugging in the arena!”

“Yes, sir, I see them.”

“Then explain to me—why in the blazes are those blue molds in my castle?!”

“…Blue… mold, sir?”

“Yes! Those two! Don’t you know who they are?!”

Wale squinted at Royce and Hemena. “They just look like… blond brothers to me, sir.”

“What?! Are your eyes broken? That’s—”

“Oh! The Marquis is here!”
“Lord Thermos!”
“Welcome, my lord!”

Before he could finish, the townsfolk spotted Cylian and cheered, drowning him out.

Meanwhile, Hemena and Royce, basking in victory, suddenly locked eyes with him across the plaza.

“Gasp! L-lady—no, brother! The marquis is looking right at us! What do we do?!”

“Rolex, listen carefully. Don’t look away or act nervous. That’s what makes people suspicious. ‘Why are they avoiding my gaze? Something’s off!’ That’s what he’ll think. So instead, stare straight back—confident! Like strangers seeing him for the first time. Eyes wide open! Like me!”

“O-okay. Wide open. Confident!”

So, with eyes bloodshot from glaring, Cylian, Hemena, and Royce all stared each other down.

Why on earth is that girl here, disguised of all things? What in blazes is she after?!