As dusk settled in, Lian got off the carriage on a bustling street in the North Market District.
She held a slip of paper with her competition venue written on it, double-checking the street signs along the roadside when a little girl ran over and tugged at her sleeve.
“Hmm?”
Lian lowered her head to look and found it was a child who looked like a newsboy.
The girl wore an old cotton cap and slung a huge canvas bag—inside, only one newspaper remained.
“Miss, hello! Would you like to buy a newspaper? This is the last one I have for sale today… If you buy it, I can finally report back to my boss.”
“Newspaper? Oh… Even things like this exist now.”
The little newsboy’s deliberately pitiful expression made Lian laugh despite herself.
She pulled a bill from her pocket and gently patted it on top of the newsboy’s cap.
“Thank you for your patronage… Ah, Miss, you’ve paid too much! Let me get your change—”
The newsboy first handed her the newspaper, then took the bill from her cap to check the amount.
It was a banknote marked with a “10” and the portrait of the fairy ranger Iyue Naierfu, enough to buy twenty of her newspapers.
“Keep the rest as your labor fee. Could you show me the way? Where on this street is the place written on this note?”
Lian smiled kindly and handed the slip of paper to the girl… Maybe it was because she’d been called “big sister”?
Somehow it didn’t feel as awkward as when she had to act cute in front of Bert and the others at Xīlong Pavilion.
So, the newsboy started leading the way.
Lian walked along, unfolding the newspaper she had just bought from her.
“Oh, ‘Northern Times: Crown Festival First Day Special Edition’… They’re really making it look official—wait, it is official!”
The paper still smelled faintly of fresh ink; it must have been printed this morning or at noon.
Besides the name and issue number, the biggest headline blared:
“‘Princess appears at Aifulaimu Tavern on Lian’en Street, North City—martial arts tournament causes street traffic jam’… Haha.”
Lian let out a dry laugh and folded the newspaper shut.
She confirmed once more with the newsboy that the street she was on was not the same as the one sharing her name, then finally relaxed.
Apart from contestants from special organizations, ordinary participants in the Preliminary Competition were generally assigned to dozens of venues across the city for random bouts.
And Lian had learned from Sephy some related information… That was, when Vera had taken the liberty to sign her up, she had not registered her as a member of any specific organization or Honglian Palace.
That had been a relief—surely Milin, as a princess, wouldn’t foolishly participate in the Preliminary Competition like a regular contestant, right?
At least, that way she wouldn’t run into her during the Preliminary Competition…
“No, that’s not right. For her, this is exactly what would make sense.”
She was well aware that the words the girl had said that night were sincere.
She was confident in her own strength, and during their first sparring session, it was obvious that she genuinely enjoyed dueling…
But she probably wasn’t planning to bump into me in the Preliminary Competition, was she?
There are so many venues, and even if we got assigned the same one, by the rules, we’d hardly have to face each other…
“Miss, we’re here. See the sign that says ‘Aisland’… Isn’t that the name of the tavern you’re looking for?”
As she was recalling the rules for the Preliminary Competition, the newsboy tugged her sleeve again, pointing at the signboard of the building ahead.
“Yes. Thank you. Still, ‘Aisland’… That’s really a name you can’t forget, even if you want to.”
Because that was the name of the sword Vera, that insufferable woman, used—that Frosted Demon Sword.
Those epic poems and tales the bards spun had already bound her to that sword.
And those people who loved those stories would probably never know that this sword, true to its name, had nearly turned Vera into a frozen corpse.
If only I’d found a chance to steal it and break it in half back then.
Thinking this, Lian waved goodbye to the newsboy. After the girl disappeared joyfully into the crowd, she too entered the tavern.
It was a tavern with a spacious backyard serving as the activity area—the martial arts tournament was being held right there, under bright lights.
At the center of the yard was the Arena, surrounded by a noisy crowd of contestants and patrons.
Lian finally squeezed her way through to the Registration Table in front of the Arena.
“I’m here for the tournament.”
She spoke to the attendant seated behind the Registration Table.
“You?” The attendant, legs crossed, glanced at the slender, refined young woman before him, then at the two burly men currently fighting fiercely on the stage.
“This isn’t a place for little girls like you to mess around. Did you pre-register? If you didn’t, you can’t participate—”
“I did register.” Lian tried her best to hide the vein bulging on her forehead from being called a “little girl.” “My name is Lian Ashus. Please check the sign-up sheet—you should see my name.”
This was the surname Lian often used when she needed an alias on her travels—her mother Meliya’s maiden name, which was quite common in the Northern Lands.
Vera knew this, too, so she’d used it to sign Lian up. But Lian had only learned this herself later, after asking Sephy to check the entry form.
“Lian Ashus… There really is such a name.” The attendant uncrossed his legs and checked the registration form.
“You’re actually registered as a Challenge Target?… My apologies. Please wait over there in the Waiting Area.”
The attendant’s attitude became much more respectful.
That was because the Preliminary Competition, while not restricting contestants’ strength or background, did administer some physical or magical ability tests at registration, dividing entrants into two groups based on ability—the Challenge Group, who must win three bouts, and the Challenge Target, who must withstand three challenges.
For example, Milin, who’d fought in the morning, had also been placed in the stronger Challenge Target group, so she’d immediately faced Deno, who had already won once in the Challenge Group.
I was put in the Challenge Target group? Lian herself hadn’t undergone any physical or magical test, so she was puzzled why she’d been judged as a stronger contestant.
But, either way, she’d have to fight three times… so it didn’t really matter.
So Lian sat in the Waiting Area beside the Arena, wanting to see how strong the current contestants were—
“That person… looks familiar?”
She squinted.
That contestant’s back was to her, and he had the gaudiest golden hair imaginable.
He twirled a flashy rapier like a butterfly, constantly polishing the huge axe of the big man facing him.
“Isn’t that Young Master Bert?”
Lian felt her head start to ache.
Trouble, Trouble.