"I am innocent, Your Highness," Elaine declared with a flat expression, trying to hide any emotion from Cassis. But her cool demeanor only served to outrage the crown prince even more.He closed the distance on her, grabbed her chin with a strong grip, and glared at her with fury."Don't let your temporary success in destroying that precious item make your head big, my sweet little sister. You have no idea what I can do to you now," Cassis threatened.Elaine laughed dryly, looking into Cassis' eyes with no fearful expression. What should she fear of?She knew that her mother's killer was right in front of her. "So that's how you forced my mother into obeying with your empty and nonsense words? Hah! I wonder who you inherited your bad traits from, Brother Cassis."Cassis seethed with rage, his glare intensifying. He wanted to slap Elaine that bad, but there were so many onlookers kept him from doing so.Shit! How unlucky!He hadn't expected such a crowd to gather.All Cassis had wanted

One month had passed.The sound of splashing could be heard as small children ran through puddles, their happy expressions shining through their red, yellow, and green striped clothes which matched the flags pennant installed along the road. A giant banner was displayed, its large writing containing the sentence:“The 25th Sylvan Cup Competition Has Started! Come to the Grand Hall and Support Your Favorite Players to Become a Champion!”Today marked the first day of the preliminaries for all Sylvan Cup participants, and Sylvandale was filled with countless people from various kingdoms. Most of them were players who took on the characteristics of the kingdom they lived in.Those who had lived in Torrenfield for a long time, for example, usually came with clothes full of accessories and brought armor trinkets. Meanwhile, players who came from Arktika, the winter kingdom in the north, wore thick furry coats, even though the weather in Sylvandale was not that cold. There were many more pl

BAM!"Hey! Watch your feet!" "I'm sorry!"A middle-aged man shouted in anger when Chisato accidentally bumped into his back while running through the alley. She had been running for fifteen minutes, trying to find the familiar figure that had caught her interest in the cafe. However, it seemed that her efforts were in vain as the shadow had disappeared, leaving Chisato with her unsatisfied curiosity.She stopped in the middle of the alley, leaning against the wall and biting her lower lip. "Am I mistaken? I thought I saw Nash earlier. I know him, and I can recognize him even from far away. But... it couldn't have been him, could it?"GOOOOOOOOOOONG--!GOOOOOOOOOOONG--!Two loud strokes from the giant bell hanging atop the Grand Hall interrupted her thoughts and reminded her that she needed to return to Hassan's place. The bell signaled the start of the preliminaries, and all the spectators and invited guests had to be inside the hall, including Hassan and Chisato.Chisato kicked a pe

"The meat! It's burning!" Nash and Elaine were half asleep when the girl realized their dinner was almost overcooked on the bonfire. Nash snapped from his short sleep and acted quickly, picking up all the meat skewers from the bonfire and putting them on a plate before taking a bite to make sure the meat was still edible."Well, not bad. Here," said Nash after tasting it, then gave the rest of the meat skewers on the plate to Elaine.Elaine didn't mind the taste too much and picked up three skewers at the same time to eat together. She almost choked because her mouth was full when Nash gave her water from the bottle."Ohok, ohok!""Hey, hey, take it easy."She chugged the water and felt relieved because she didn't die from choking earlier. "Thanks, it's delicious. Even though I eat meat almost every day in the castle, this time it hits differently.""Maybe it's because you caught it yourself?" Nash questioned back while raising one eyebrow, which made Elaine smile a little, feeling pr

As Nash found out that fighting monsters could help filling the power bars above Elaine’s head, he chose to do that as their training now, aside from usual physical training. Nash and Elaine continued their daily routine of training and hunting down monsters. Elaine was getting better and better at archery, her shots becoming more precise and powerful with each passing day. Nash was impressed with her progress, but he knew there was still more work to be done. "Good job, Elaine. Your aim is getting better," Nash said, as they returned from another successful hunt.Elaine grinned, feeling a sense of pride. "Thanks, Nash. I'm starting to get the hang of it," she said, patting her bow.Nash nodded, but then he had an idea. "You know, I think it's time for you to learn how to wield a sword," he said, pulling out a practice sword from his bag.Elaine's eyes widened in surprise. "A sword? I don't know if I can handle it," she said, feeling a little intimidated.Nash just smiled. "Don't w