The Free City.
From the moment Dark entered, Aurora had been observing him at close range through Cynthia's Magic Mirror.
Aurora was not a girl overly obsessed with looks, but who wouldn't like a beautiful person?
As for Dark Demon's appearance, even the strictest person couldn't pick out a single flaw.
His meticulous, focused demeanor during the match, his calm composure when his Magic Guide Spirit met danger, the gentleness and reliability with which he would ask his Magic Guide Spirit's opinion upon receiving a challenge, his victory-without-arrogance when he gained the advantage, his unruffled ease in the face of malice—all of it was genuinely on display over the course of this match.
Impeccable.
He was simply not the same person as the one in the rumors that kept drifting in from outside in recent years.
It even made one feel that those rumors were all malicious slander someone had deliberately fabricated.
But judging from the information revealed in her mother and the Principal's conversation, that didn't seem to be the case either.
"Can a person really change so much in such a short time?"
Thinking back to around the time she'd begun to understand things at age five, Aurora felt it was still possible.
But this version of Dark Demon instead gave her a faint sense of unfamiliarity.
The betrothal partner she'd always carried an impression of shouldn't have been like this.
Aurora watched patiently, bit by bit replacing her old impression with the image before her eyes, a faint melancholy in her heart.
There were only a few months left until she became a first-year student at St. Marian's Academy.
Soon she would leave her familiar surroundings, bid farewell to the mother who loved her, and go off to study in a strange, faraway place.
It wasn't that Aurora felt no resistance at all.
But as one grew older, a child always had to leave the cradle of its parents—it was merely a matter of sooner or later.
In her future academy life, that boy who had been bound to her since childhood would very likely occupy a large part.
Originally she had been quite confident—integrating herself into Dark Demon's life, doing well everything she ought to do.
By then, without overthinking it, things would naturally carry on.
Wasn't there a saying, "affection grows with time"?
Aurora had always felt that five years should be enough for both sides to grow accustomed to each other's existence.
By the time they graduated and married, it would all fall into place naturally.
But now, she felt somewhat at a loss.
Dark Demon was far more outstanding than she'd imagined—so outstanding that she no longer knew how she could ever insert herself in.
Let alone integrate into his life.
And such an outstanding, charismatic partner would surely attract people who liked him too, wouldn't he?
Aurora's gaze fell upon the girl walking shoulder to shoulder with Dark Demon.
This made her pupils contract slightly, ripples stirring in her heart.
She was a very cute girl, with silver hair similar to her own, and in her big eyes a soul seemed to dance with joy.
A first-year, probably twelve years old, a year older than her, but with a younger-looking face.
Perhaps she herself still looked a touch older?
And unlike her, who couldn't quite laugh freely, this was a very cheerful child whose smile was extremely infectious.
Being together with a child like that, surely every day was filled with countless joys?
From an outsider's perspective, one glance was enough to see this girl's fondness for Dark.
Aurora couldn't help lowering her head to glance at her own chest, growing all the more hesitant.
"Can I really do this?"
...
City Lord Montielfali was actually a person rough on the surface but careful underneath.
She saw through her daughter's thoughts at a glance, and promptly asked, feigning casualness: "Cynthia, who is that child? Also a first-year?"
Principal Cynthia revealed a faint smile: "Dianna Greatbear, the Pearl in the Palm of the Giant Bear Family."
"That Giant Bear Family? You're not mistaken?" City Lord Montielfali's deliberately calm face instantly failed to hold.
Well, what could you do—every single member of the Greatbear family was a veritable "giant bear," after all.
City Lord Montielfali had even fought in the same trench as Viscount Greatbear, and she simply couldn't imagine that such an adorable child could actually be a daughter of the Giant Bear Family!
"Could it be an atavism? No wait—even if it were atavism, wouldn't she turn into a bear?"
City Lord Montielfali couldn't help clutching her forehead, somewhat befuddled.
Principal Cynthia said: "She's Camilla's child."
City Lord Montielfali's eyes went wide: "That Camilla?"
Principal Cynthia pursed her lips and nodded with a smile.
City Lord Montielfali bit her lip: "That Camilla actually married into the Giant Bear Family, and bore a daughter like this?"
Aurora had been listening quietly all along, and only now lifted her head to ask: "Mother, which auntie is Camilla?"
City Lord Montielfali turned her head: "Silver Wolf Knight Camilla, a shameless woman. Aurora, you absolutely must not lose to her daughter, understand?"
"Oh." Aurora nodded reflexively, then immediately sensed something was off. "Isn't the Silver Wolf Knight Father's—"
City Lord Montielfali licked the corner of her lips, a crimson fire seeming to burn in her eyes: "That's right—she's your father's half-sister, same father, different mother."
Aurora suddenly understood: "Then Diana is my cousin?"
...
"Diana, Diana's really somethin'!"
In the Kingdom Capital, Alvit watched the receding figure of Diana, who had vanished into the passage entrance together with Dark, and couldn't help blurting it out.
Ever since she'd seen her at the last Rookie Tournament, she'd felt this child was very talented, cute too, her eyes full of innocence.
"Diana and Anna—both are Anna."
But the Third Princess, Angie, sprawled across the Valkyrie's thigh, secretly reaching out to grab the white cat figurine in her hand.
Alvit gently moved the Gatomon figurine aside, thinking of the letter from Montielfali she'd received a while back, with a photo of her daughter tucked inside.
The Aurora in the photo looked rather similar to Diana.
Aurora's reputation was also very good; it was said that by the age of ten she had already begun helping her mother manage affairs, and that when she grew up she would surely make an excellent supportive wife.
For her precious son, who deeply detested such affairs, having such a capable helpmeet at his side would make the days ahead relatively easier.
At the time, Alvit had felt Aurora was really quite good.
But human nature is inherently greedy.
So-called contentment is also built upon a foundation of reason.
And now, Alvit felt that Diana was also quite good.
This gave her a happy sort of dilemma.
As for the two little princesses beside her... they were still a bit too playful.
...
After Dark Demon and Diana arrived together at the ring zone, they quickly found Rose.
But he immediately noticed that beside Rose, an as-yet-unopened Easter egg occupied the one empty seat.
This left him a little bit awkward.
Diana, however, didn't think that much of it; in a few quick steps she ran up in front of Rose and happily recounted her own experiences in the qualifier battle royale.
When Dark walked over, she shifted her little bottom, squeezing Rose to the very edge, freeing up three-quarters of a seat, and winked at Dark.
Dark wavered for a moment, but still sat down in the empty seat.
The three children huddled close together, their smiles very warm.
...
The breath of spring came along with the spring breeze, yet in the Kingdom Capital a fine, ceaseless drizzle had begun to fall.
Because she had observed the coming of this rain in advance, Eldest Princess Eliza had long since moved her public address from the square indoors.
People sat in the warm interior, listening to her speak eloquently.
Among those seated in the spacious hall, men and women were each half.
The Eldest Princess mainly spoke on the grassroots, the future, children's education, the building of houses, as well as rule of law, security, women's liberation, and so on.
She didn't come across as domineering; making use of advantages unique to women, she kept her tone as warm and approachable as possible, drawing people into her ideas and getting them to follow her line of thought.
On the other side, meanwhile.
First Prince Charles, however, did not do it this way.
He merely had people hand out raincoats as the drizzle was about to arrive.
And he himself addressed the crowd while bathed in the rain, using this to play up his commanding presence.
But his address, in fact, apart from the topic of women's liberation, wasn't much different from what the Eldest Princess spoke of.
As for the rejection of foreign races and the discrimination against the Demi-human Species, he didn't mention it at all.
He naturally couldn't talk about such things at an address aimed mainly at winning favor.
But unlike the Eldest Princess's core approach of "internal development," he leaned more toward "external expansion," using "achieving merit and glory" and "expanding territory" to appeal to hot-blooded men.
The two sides' addresses were roughly the same, each attracting a particular crowd.
And the atmospheres were relatively different too.
The effects produced thereby were probably quite different as well.
But as the rain grew heavier, this Easter address event would most likely wrap up around midday.
The Eldest Princess planned to hurry to the St. Marian dueling branch hall after it ended, thinking that perhaps she could even have lunch together with her two younger sisters.
The First Prince, meanwhile, intended to head straight home.
But amid the heavy rain, someone relayed a message to him that made his expression shift slightly.
...
The second qualifier battle royale of the Easter Dueling Festival was held as scheduled.
The 171 contestants from the fourth to sixth years took the stage one after another.
Compared to the somewhat less-renowned first- to third-years, among these fourth- to sixth-years there were a great many star contestants.
Especially eye-catching among them was the "Dark Night Baron," who had reaped a massive fanbase by relying on the "Crimson-Ridge Black Dragon"—a fifth-year Knight House student.
As for why a Knight House student would have the nickname "Baron"...
That was of course because he really was a baron.
He had been ennobled in his third year.
The "Dark Night Baron," while being a star duelist, was also a young hero who had defended his homeland in a disaster; he had thereby risen from a knight to a meritorious baron without hereditary qualification, and had been promoted as a model example, becoming greatly famous.
It was just a pity that the "Dark Night Baron's" looks couldn't be called handsome, so his personal popularity still fell a bit short.
Therefore, even though the "Crimson-Ridge Black Dragon" and the "Skyvault White Dragon" were equally popular...
the popularity of the "Dark Night Baron" and the "Silver Dragon Maiden" as Magic Guide Masters differed somewhat.
But with the "Silver Dragon Maiden" absent for now, the "Dark Night Baron's" popularity was still enough to hold up the scene.
As for the sixth-year star contestants...
Most of the sixth-years were already preparing to graduate—some weren't even at the academy anymore—and at this point they had no mind to take part in this kind of heavily entertainment-oriented competition.
In short, after the spectators discovered to their shock that the "Silver Dragon Maiden" hadn't taken the field, they had no choice but to make do with the "Dark Night Baron."
Of course, there were quite a few popular contestants among the other students as well; their fans had come specially, and the banners they raised covered an entire area like a rolling dragon.
The fourth- to sixth-year qualifier battle royale had a completely different atmosphere from that of the first to third years.
The fan support groups of each side directly shouted out the star contestants' names or pet names, the atmosphere fierce enough to rival certain historic-level concert venues.
Dark and the others, affected by the atmosphere, watched with ever-greater absorption too.
When the match began and the Magic Guide Spirits took the field one after another...
he suddenly thought: in a battle royale like this, if some star contestant's Magic Guide Spirit were suddenly sabotaged, or deliberately ganged up on and killed, wouldn't it cause a riot?
"I wonder if there are Magic Guide Masters holding "Silence" Cards in each of the branch halls..."
...
The upper-years truly lived up to their name, powerful Magic Guide Spirits emerging in an endless stream.
Before long, someone, even amid this pack of wolves circling all around, directly summoned a third-tier Magic Guide Spirit.
That Flame Giant Python, over ten meters tall, sprayed a thick pillar of fire downward from on high, sweeping out a great swath in one go.
That Magic Guide Master's points instantly skyrocketed, climbing to the very top.
But in less than half a minute that followed, that Flame Giant Python was drowned in a tidal wave of Ultimate Moves, blasted to bits amid its wretched screams.
The first-place position was replaced in the blink of an eye by another student's name.
It was even an unknown, never-heard-of name.
But this name didn't hold first place for even half a minute either.
The upper-years' qualifier battle royale was fiercer than imaginable; first-tier Magic Guide Spirits simply had no room to survive.
The contestants used all manner of inconceivable methods to summon high-star Magic Guide Spirits, and used all sorts of Magic Guide Cards and ritual cards to dodge the damage of group attacks, continuously wiping out opponents, then switching Magic Guide Spirits to keep earning points.
The rankings on the big screen went up and down like a train chugging along.
The shouts and screams of the spectators at the duelists' brilliant performances rose and fell one after another, creating a scene like a sea of people.
When the "Dark Night Baron" successfully summoned his third-tier Magic Guide Spirit—the "Crimson-Ridge Black Dragon"—the wave of sound throughout the entire Open-air Dueling Arena reached its peak.
"So this is the nine-star Magic Guide Spirit—the "Crimson-Ridge Black Dragon"?"
Dark looked up at the Western black dragon with a crimson blood-line running along its spine, sensing the faint dragon's might it naturally exuded, and at last gained a preliminary understanding of this nine-star Magic Guide Spirit.
To be able to transmute a ninth-star Magic Guide Spirit while still in the academy required both strength and opportunity coexisting.
Basically, the transformation-type skills of various low-star Magic Guide Spirits, along with low-tier spells and rituals, would not have much effect on this "Crimson-Ridge Black Dragon" with its magic resistance.
And it needed only a dragon's breath with an extremely short cooldown to burn first- and second-tier Magic Guide Spirits to ashes.
The same type of Ultimate Move, in the hands of a high-star Magic Guide Spirit, would also display greater power than in a low-star one.
But on the battlefield of the upper-years, the nine-star Magic Guide Spirit "Crimson-Ridge Black Dragon" was far from invincible.
When the fans cheered at the appearance of the "Crimson-Ridge Black Dragon," they probably never imagined that an enormous "Dragon-Slaying Sword" would suddenly materialize in the sky.
The "Dragon-Slaying Sword," hung high in the sky, by virtue of its powerful restraining effect against the dragon species, severed half of the "Crimson-Ridge Black Dragon's" neck with a single stroke, cutting it down from the air to the earth.
Immediately after, a dazzling white light suddenly erupted from the ground; a light cage rising into the sky firmly imprisoned the fallen black dragon, and from the gaps of the light cage divine spears of light fiercely stabbed in, piercing this powerful, handsome black giant dragon full of holes.
Even though the "Crimson-Ridge Black Dragon" forcibly endured the damage and afterward relied on the "Dark Night Baron's" Magic Guide Cards to turn the tables and counterattack, its initial momentum had already been utterly shattered.
Before long, the "Crimson-Ridge Black Dragon," having become the target of all, was ganged up on and killed on the spot.
The spectators' wails of grief and furious curses mingled with the cheers, going on and on.
One could only say...
The upper-years' waters ran far too deep.
...
In the end, the Dark Night Baron actually fell from grace in the qualifier battle royale, barely qualifying with a hair's-breadth eighth place, making both the commentators and the spectators drop their jaws all over the floor.
That upper-year-group commentator who had boasted big for the "Dark Night Baron" right at the start practically wished he could burrow into the ground.
Fortunately, the qualifier battle royale format was newly introduced, and the betting merchants couldn't gauge the odds, so they hadn't set up any betting pools—otherwise those gambling addicts greedy for a sure-bet payout would probably have jumped off buildings over this.
"Perhaps this is the very essence of the qualifier battle royale."
The commentator's bitter laugh echoed long over the dueling arena.
...
With the two qualifiers concluded, the excitement had yet to fade.
There were those who praised wildly, and those who cursed up a storm.
Checking the time now, it was already nearly ten o'clock.
Dark, Diana, and Rose chatted and laughed, animatedly discussing the upper-years' qualifier battle royale, the mood quite pleasant.
But as the contestants of the upper-years' qualifier battle royale gradually exited, the senior in charge of hosting this competition snapped her fingers smartly and chuckled into the Magic Guide amplification device: "The upper-year group's qualifier battle royale has come to a close with a relatively unexpected result, but there are still eight contestants who successfully qualified—all right, no more jokes.
Now please welcome all sixteen qualifying contestants from both the upper- and lower-year groups onto the stage, to offer their blessings to all the spectators present."
"It's about to begin." Diana nudged Dark in the side, teasing mischievously.
Dark gave a helpless smile, then straightened his attire and stood up: "I'll head up, then."
The arrangement for this segment had most likely been announced in the waiting room.
He had come straight to the spectator seats of the ring zone after the qualifier battle royale ended, so he hadn't known.
Fortunately, he was there in person.
When he got near the stage, he ran into the second-year Senior Ma Li Bond, and very naturally walked over to stand together with her.
Among the lower-year group's qualifying contestants, he was probably only fairly familiar with Senior Mike Owen.
But this Senior Ma Li was clearly someone easy to get along with at a glance.
So he prepared to mooch off her a little.
Dark, having walked up close, greeted her first: "Hello, Senior."
Ma Li had seen Dark approaching from afar, and promptly nodded: "What is it? Is there something you want to ask?"
Dark gave a dry chuckle and stopped beating around the bush: "It's like this—I didn't go to the waiting room just now, and I wanted to ask what this going-on-stage-to-greet segment is all about."
Ma Li thought for a moment, then said: "It's just a formality. After all, it's an official competition; the spectators need to know who it is they're watching. When it's your turn, just say 'Happy Easter' and that'll do."
Dark mulled it over, then said: "Thanks, Senior."
Ma Li smiled: "It's nothing. If I run into you in the main matches later, you'd better go easy on me."
Dark turned to face forward: "How could I? When the time comes, Senior, please don't go easy on me."
Ma Li laughed "ha-ha" a couple of times and gave his shoulder a hard pat.
Dark felt a jolt of pain.
What on earth was going on these days?
Why was each girl stronger than the last?
Could boys catch a break or not?
...
The senior in charge of hosting was named Judy, and she also referred to herself as "Judy" while hosting.
Senior Judy was probably the type with a full figure that looked slim in clothing; she had light brown curls, quite exquisite makeup, and a few strands of bangs drifting down—very charming.
Once all sixteen qualifying contestants had taken the stage, Senior Judy used her gift of gab to build up the atmosphere, then introduced them one by one, starting from the upper-year group's first-place qualifier.
Without the contestants having to speak for themselves, she narrated smoothly, not letting them feel the slightest awkwardness.
At the end, she would hand the microphone to the contestant, have him give an Easter blessing to the spectators, and then it was the next contestant's turn.
Dark wasn't much interested in any blessings, but he took the chance to gain some understanding of the upper-year seniors.
These seniors might very well become his opponents in dueling competitions in the future, so learning a bit more about them was all to the good.
The upper-year group's introductions quickly ended, and in a blink it was the lower-year group's turn.
Starting from first place, Winnie Skadi, Senior Judy gave a brief introduction; when she mentioned the "Sage of Winter," it provoked a great response among the spectators.
Immediately after, Senior Winnie stepped forward and casually rattled off a string of blessings, making the several contestants before her, who had been going through the motions, avert their gazes.
And in second place was Tom Nixon, a third-year Fool's House student.
Tom, who came from the slums, had black hair and black eyes, his face hidden behind his bangs, somewhat gaunt, with protruding cheekbones.
After his magic power went out of control and caused a panic, he was brought into St. Marian's Academy by a professor who is now in the third year, and each month he could even receive a specially established scholarship from the academy.
Of course, while at the academy he had no need for money, so he sent all of it home.
He counted as a model of someone who, through his own diligent study, made his family prosperous.
A student with this kind of background of course had great promotional value, but the academy hadn't done so—it merely brought it up in passing during dueling competitions.
Next was third place, Noble House, Stuart Fawn.
Fourth place, Noble House, Mike Owen.
Fifth place, Knight House, Paul Dulles.
The top five qualifying contestants were all third-years, with students from all four houses present: the Magic House held the top spot, the Fool's House had built up over time and let loose, the Noble House had the most members, and the Knight House was steady and solid.
Then sixth place was also Noble House, the second-year Elsie Kevin.
Seventh place was again Noble House, the first-year Dark Demon!
Eighth place was still Noble House, the second-year Ma Li Bond!
Counting carefully, one would find that a full five Noble House students had successfully qualified.
The Noble House, with its rich heritage, did indeed have a great advantage in the lower years.
"Next up..."
Dark's mind drifted for just a moment, and Senior Judy had already come before him.
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