Confident? - 51
"Don't worry. You can do it too."
Marc smiled brightly at those words.
"Marc's right," Juro added. "That's pretty impressive of you."
Bell immediately with a confident smile.
"I know, right? I guess I really am just that good of a genius."
"Mhm! Mhm!" Marc agreed enthusiastically.
..
Juro smiled and ruffled both Bell's and Marc's hair before laughing.
"Hahaha! Seems like everyone here is ready."
Bell immediately moved Juro's hand away and fixed his hair.
"Let's get our stuff back."
He walked over to the bench, with Marc following closely behind to gather his belongings as well.
Juro watched the two of them before asking, "Want me to hold those for you two in the meantime?"
Marc smiled.
"Yeah, that's a good idea."
He handed Juro his wooden figurine, mana crystal, and Lupan horn. Juro took the items and placed them safely inside his jacket pockets.
Bell, however, shook his head.
"I'm fine. I can manage."
Once they had finished gathering their things, they made their way toward the door. But just as Bell reached for it, the door opened from the other side.
Noria and Brea stood there with their mothers.
Both princesses smiled.
"Ready to go?"
Marc grinned.
"Yeah, let's go!"
As the group made their way out of the castle, Heler looked toward Juro.
"Are you really participating in the Adventurer Guild competition with just the three of you?"
Juro simply smiled.
"Yeah. This could be a good experience for the kids too."
Bray smiled.
"Then we'll be watching and cheering for you."
Heler nodded in agreement.
When they reached the castle gates, a carriage was already waiting for them.
Marc stopped and stared at it.
"Woaaa..."
He rubbed his eyes.
"Did the carriage just get bigger?"
Noria chuckled.
"Since there's quite a few of us, we called for a bigger carriage."
"Ooo, that makes sense."
One of the knights opened the castle gate while the royal coachman bowed his head to greet the queens and princesses. He then opened the carriage door for them.
Everyone climbed inside.
The interior was noticeably more spacious than the previous carriage, and Marc once again couldn't stop himself from looking around in admiration.
Soon, the coachman lightly pulled the reins.
The carriage began moving.
Juro leaned back in his seat, relaxing as the castle slowly disappeared behind them.
"What about the king himself? Is he going?"
Bray shook her head.
"He said he's going to be busy, so he couldn't come."
Heler added, "He actually sounded excited about wanting to watch, but unfortunately, he still has his duties as king to attend to."
Juro nodded in understanding.
...
By the time they arrived at the Adventurer Guild, crowds had already begun gathering outside. Guild staff moved around the area, informing people where they needed to go and directing the growing number of spectators.
The royal carriage's arrival quickly caught their attention.
Several staff members immediately approached.
The coachman opened the carriage door, and Queen Heler stepped out first, followed by Queen Bray. Noria and Brea came next, with Marc, Bell, and Juro following behind them.
The guild staff froze for a moment.
The queens themselves had appeared at the Adventurer Guild.
Their presence didn't go unnoticed by the crowd either. Several adventurers turned their heads, curiosity spreading as they noticed the royal family.
One of the staff members quickly stepped forward.
"G-Good afternoon, Queen Heler and Queen Bray. What brings you to the Adventurer Guild?"
"We're only here to watch the competition, nothing else, so please treat us normally," Heler responded.
The guild staff were slightly surprised by her words, but they quickly understood and nodded.
"Of course. Then please follow us."
As they began walking, Marc looked up at Juro.
"Where are they taking us, Teacher Juro?"
"Most likely the arena, or some kind of battleground where the Adventurer Guild holds its fighting events," Juro replied.
"Ooo, I see. That makes sense."
Before long, they arrived at a large open area owned by the Adventurer Guild. Multiple benches had been arranged around the space, while the center consisted of a wide stretch of flat ground that would serve as the battleground.
Marc looked around at the growing crowd.
"Woaa... there's quite a lot of people gathering."
"Probably because the queens of this kingdom are present," Bell commented. "Their appearance likely attracted more people than they expected."
They began walking around, looking for somewhere to sit. As they did, more and more people recognized the queens.
"Queen Heler!"
"Queen Bray!"
People waved excitedly toward them, and the two queens warmly waved back.
"Ah! Queen Heler! Queen Bray!"
One of the citizens stood up and called out to them.
"Please sit here! It's one of the best spots to watch the competition!"
Queen Bray looked pleasantly surprised.
"Oh my, are you sure about letting us take your spot?"
The person simply smiled.
"It'd be an honor to help the royal family."
The queens thanked him, and he bowed before moving to find another place to sit.
Once everyone had finally settled down, word slowly began spreading throughout the area.
The queens were here to watch the competition.
More adventurers began gathering around, while citizens who had heard about the event also stopped by to watch.
The crowd continued growing.
Marc clenched his fists, barely able to contain his excitement.
"I'm so excited! We get to go out there and fight other adventurers!"
Juro smiled.
"Well, once we're out there, our names will slowly become more recognized by the people of Nerlarnd and the other adventurers too."
Brea noticed Bell's calm expression and looked toward him.
"Bell, you look quite composed. Aren't you excited?"
"Ah, no, I am." Bell gave her a small smile. "I was just planning things in my head."
"I see." Brea smiled. "Just do your best out there. We'll be cheering for all of you."
Noria nodded beside her.
"Mhm!"
"ALL PARTICIPANTS, PLEASE HEAD THIS WAY!"
One of the guild staff members called out to the competitors.
Juro looked toward Bell and Marc.
"Looks like that's our call."
The three of them stood.
The queens and princesses immediately waved toward them.
"Good luck!"
Marc, Bell, and Juro waved back before heading toward the staff member who had called for the participants.
The staff looked at the three of them.
"Ah, are you three participants in the competition?"
"Yup!" Marc exclaimed.
"Very well. Go down these stairs. They'll lead you to the waiting area with the other participants. There are also seats down there, so you can rest or plan around while waiting."
The three nodded and headed toward the stairs.
As Marc descended, his expression was impossible to hide.
He was practically smiling from ear to ear.
Bell and Juro followed him down.
By the time they reached the waiting area, several adventurers were already there, sitting and waiting for the competition to begin.
Since most of the adventurers waiting inside were newcomers themselves, the atmosphere wasn't particularly tense. Several groups were talking and laughing together, while others had gathered with their teammates, quietly discussing strategies for the upcoming matches.
"Woaaa... look at all these adventurers..." Marc exclaimed happily as he looked around the room.
A woman nearby noticed the three of them and approached Juro with a smile.
"Those are some cute kids you've got there."
"I know, right?" Juro replied proudly. "Hahahah!"
The woman glanced around.
"Where's the fourth member?"
Juro shrugged casually.
"Fourth? Nah. It's just us three."
Her expression shifted slightly in surprise.
"Oh? Just you and those two kids are participating in this team competition?"
"Yup."
"Are you their mentor?"
"Yeah, you could say that."
"I see." The woman smiled. "You must be teaching them through real combat experience against other people. That's good. And I assume you're letting them experience some discipline and hardship too, right? Once this competition is over, they'll probably be even more motivated to become stronger next time."
Juro looked at her for a moment.
Then he smiled.
"Yeah, that's true. I'm letting them experience combat against other people."
He paused.
"But I think there's something you're mistaken about."
The woman tilted her head.
"Something I'm mistaken about?"
Juro crossed his arms.
"We're going to win this whole thing without even fully trying."
Her eyes widened.
A few nearby conversations slowly began to quiet down as others overheard what he had just said.
The woman stared at him.
"Win? Just one adult and two kids?"
"Yeah? And?"
Juro glanced toward the surrounding adventurers.
"I bet these kids won't even need me to give it my all to win this competition."
A confident smirk appeared on his face.
That smirk seemed to hit a nerve.
The woman's expression twitched slightly.
"Hah... aren't you being a little too full of yourself?"
"Am I?"
Juro's gaze shifted past her and toward her party members.
He looked them over.
Then scoffed.
The atmosphere around them changed.
One of her teammates immediately stepped forward, clearly ready to confront Juro, but the woman quickly stopped him.
She kept her eyes on Juro.
"We'll see if your confidence still lasts."
With that, she turned around and left with her party members.
Marc, who had been standing beside Juro throughout the exchange, looked a little nervous.
"Uh... Teacher Juro, did you really have to say that to her? Wouldn't that just make us the bad guys here?"
Juro smiled and ruffled Marc's hair.
"Nah, don't worry. In competitions like this, it's good to have some people fired up enough to give it their all."
He removed his hand from Marc's head.
"I'm just making this competition more interesting."
"More competitive, huh..." Bell added.
He glanced around the room.
"I can feel their stares directed at us. Especially at you."
Juro simply laughed.
Before anyone could say anything else, a loud trumpet suddenly sounded throughout the waiting area.
The conversations immediately began settling down.
One of the Adventurer Guild staff entered the room and began calling out the first two adventurer parties that would be facing each other. They also started explaining a few details about how the competition would proceed.
Bell walked over to one of the boards presented by the guild staff and studied it.
"Hmmm... there's a total of thirty-one adventurers here and eight parties."
He glanced toward the others.
"So we're basically the only party with three members while the rest have four."
"Meh, it's just a small competition," Juro responded casually.
He looked toward the entrance, where the sounds of the growing crowd could faintly be heard.
"Although, thanks to the two princesses and the two queens, there's quite a crowd here."
"Woaaa... thirty-one adventurers?! That's a lot of people!"
Marc clenched his fists, determination and excitement filling his eyes.
"I'll do my best to get us into the next match!"
Then—
A bell rang.
The first two parties were entering the field.