“...You didn't come here without even knowing the rules of the competition, did you?”
Lynn “Hardheaded” Reinhardt nodded straightforwardly.
“Oh my god... You... You...”
Veronica covered her face and pressed her hand to her forehead. “Forget it, I never expected a muscle demon to have any brains anyway.”
“So, let this lady show some mercy and explain it to you. Listen carefully!”
She cleared her throat and held up three fingers.
“First, all participants will be teleported to the Dragonforge Snow Mountain on the border of Count Gunier's domain via magic scrolls, and they will compete within a designated area. Once a participant is heavily injured or uses it voluntarily, the scroll will automatically rupture, teleporting them back.
“Second, this competition uses a victory point system. By hunting magical beasts in the snow mountain, you earn victory points based on their strength. The points will be calculated at the end of the competition, and the one with the highest points wins.
“Third, infighting among participants is discouraged, and victory points cannot be transferred between participants in any way.”
After all, this was a triennial friendly competition. If they actually held some kind of deathmatch, plunder, or infighting... never mind the future of the North or harmony.
If someone actually died and the higher-ups held them accountable—Landon made it clear he couldn't take the blame for that.
Didn't you see that the slogan this old fox put out was “Friendship first, competition second; building a better future for the youth of the North together”?
“Veronica, generally speaking, how many victory points does the first-place winner need?”
“Eh...?” Veronica was a bit surprised.
It seemed like this was the first time this guy had ever called her by her name.
Usually, he just called her shorty this, shorty that. This sudden change was actually a bit hard to get used to... No, wait, Veronica, what on earth are you reminiscing about?!
She shook her head to clear her thoughts and tapped her lips. “Based on previous years, probably around five hundred points~”
“But for a powerful, beautiful girl like me, a thousand points is just a walk in the park~”
“Oh, then I'll just get two thousand points,” Lynn said, nodding understandingly.
“?” Veronica's beautiful eyes widened.
Bastard!
She gritted her teeth slightly and gave a fake smile. “Then I'll get three thousand points.”
“I'll get four thousand.”
“I'll get five thousand!”
“Six thousand!”
“Seven—”
“You bastard...” Veronica clenched her fists. “Since you're so confident, why don't we make a bet? Let's see who can take first place in this competition.”
“Sure. What's the stake?”
She took a hairpin off her head. “This hairpin is a Tier 5 magical artifact...”
“I don't want it...” Before she could finish, Lynn waved his hand to interrupt her, saying with disgust, “Hey, shorty, do you really think I'd lack something like that?”
He suddenly covered his mouth and feigned an apology. “Ah~ Sorry, sorry, look at my big mouth. For the es~teemed~ Saintess, this is probably your entire net worth, isn't it~”
“You!”
Veronica glared at Lynn indignantly. “Then how about we add a condition?”
“Oh~?” Lynn showed a bit of interest.
“If you lose, you have to admit that you can never surpass the great Miss Veronica, and for the next three years at the magic academy, you must obediently be my loyal lackey!”
“If you win, I will unconditionally grant you one request!”
“Oh~ That's a very tempting condition...” Lynn dragged out his tone, then suddenly changed his demeanor. “But I refuse.”
“?”
“Don't get it twisted, shorty. This so-called unconditional request—it's impossible to begin with, isn't it?”
Their identities made it impossible!
“What if I asked you to betray the secrets of the Holy Cathedral? Would you tell me?”
“...”
“See—when you encounter a difficult question, you go silent again.”
Or perhaps... Lynn sized up the girl's delicate face. “If I made this or that kind of request—”
“You... you pervert!”
“Shoo, shoo. A little brat with no curves, you wish~”
“See, isn't that right? You can't do this, you can't do that, yet you dare talk about an unconditional request?” Lynn let out a bored yawn.
Back in his previous life, when reading web novels, he always hated this kind of plot. The male lead and a girl would fight to the death over a bet, only to end up with a promise that turned out to be "you can't do this, you can't do that."
In the end, they would either make a completely ordinary request or "generously" let it slide, earning a few words of verbal praise from the girl.
As a Sigma male, Lynn naturally wouldn't repeat the mistakes of his transmigrator predecessors!
“I've always... valued fairness. Since you want me to pay a price, you should at least have the corresponding resolve, shouldn't you?”
Lynn grinned and snapped his fingers.
“It's very simple. Whatever you want me to do if you win, you have to do the exact same thing if you lose.”
“You want me to be a lackey for a pervert like you?!”
“Look at you, getting anxious again. Have you already assumed you're going to lose?”
“You...!” Veronica's face flushed red. Her beautiful eyes widened as she slammed her hand on the table. “Fine! I agree! Let's do this!”
She stared at Lynn with deep resentment and spoke sinisterly, “If the future Grand Duke carries my bags and massages my legs... won't that be a bit too embarrassing for him~”
“That is indeed a bit of a worry~ After all—” Lynn paused, a serious expression on his face. “If the Saintess lines up in the early morning every day to buy me breakfast, wouldn't that attract a bit too much attention?”
“...”
The noisy bickering suddenly ceased, interrupted by a thunderous rumble from the floor.
The two of them looked up.
“Hey! Warriors of the North!”
Landon, striking a pose on the high platform, laughed heartily and opened his arms wide.
“By tradition, this old man should be rambling through a massive opening speech.”
“But today, let that damn tradition go to hell!”
The magic book floating in front of him flipped through its pages with a rustle before suddenly exploding into a sky full of scrolls, turning into beams of light that flew toward every participant.
Before everyone's astonished eyes, the teleportation magic circles had already activated.
“Now, this old man declares that the Northern Hunting Competition—has begun!”
“Hey, hey, seriously? It's starting just like that?”
“Mmph (choking), I... I haven't finished eating yet...”
“Ahhh, I'm getting fired up!”
Among the whispering crowd, the Saintess waving her folding fan smirked with disdain, the fat guy hanging his head and gritting his teeth had a venomous look in his eyes, and the pink-haired girl obsessed with desserts looked up in dazed surprise.
The golden-haired, golden-eyed youth remained calm.
Rate on N.U.
