My Glasses

Chapter 191 – Glasses boy and the hunting festival – part thirteen

“You should have told me! Why didn’t you tell me!?” Chace exclaimed.

“How many times do I have to explain it!? It’s because he was in disguise!” Lisse replied.

“Why did you need to hide it from me!?” Chace asked next.

“You should have realized it yourself! I saw through it and so did Cherry!” Lisse told him.

Chace and Lisse were arguing in the background.

I was walking in front of them while pretending to have nothing to do with them, because I really didn’t care about their argument.

It just didn’t matter to me, even if I was the cause of their arguing. This still has nothing to do with me.

They were quarreling because I participated on the hunting festival while hiding my identity. Chace only found out that I was the maid girl who hunted the Dragon Fish yesterday night, and he has been like this ever since.

Right now it was a bit before noon of the day after the hunting festival. The three of us were walking along the crowded main street.

This road was as busy as ever today too. It may be the day after a huge festival that many of Krozheit’s residents participated on, but now common folks and merchants alike are back to their usual routines.

Well, some people seemed to be quite pale though, perhaps because they’re still hungover from drinking too much yesterday.

Either way, our destination was Beckenberg’s mansion in the Glory District, as Chace and Lisse were going there to collect their rewards.

******

(Noon of the previous day)

(Beckenberg’s PoV)

(Note: Hariatan registered to the hunting festival under the pseudonym of “Haria” and will be referred to as such in this section)

A dozen of hunters or so were called to a simple tent that was blocked off from the surrounding area.

They were listening to me while I was attended by my beautiful secretary as I explained what would happen from now on.

We had announced the end of the competition, so, now, it was time to announce the winners.

I showed them the podium next to the tent. The one that I was going to use to give a speech and announce the winners.

As for the reasons why there weren’t many hunters here, part of it was because some hunters were injured during the competition and needed to rest.

Another was because some hunters were enjoying the festival and sent only a representative to the tent.

Then there were those who realized that they had no chance of winning, so they decided to just drink to their heart’s content and not bother with the award ceremony.

But the biggest reason was that many hunting teams were disqualified for cheating.

And then there was also one person who went missing, so I had to send a search team to look for him.

This situation was a pretty unusual one.

But either way, there were more than 50 participants yesterday, but today only this few were here to listen to me.

“The winner will be Elle, who hunted the Dragon Fish. No matter how you look at it, she’s the obvious winner.” I told them.

Unsurprisingly, nobody complained about it. Everyone knew that she was going to win. Her prey spoke for itself.

“Second place will go to the Haria team who hunted the Vajra Ape.

“It was a bit hard to decide on the exact rankings of the second and third placements, but by using our pre-determined scoring system, we arrived at these rankings.

“I can’t say for sure which of the teams is more skilled, but these were the results of the competition.” I said next.

It had been previously announced that the teams that got the three best rankings would receive a reward, so there was a bit of a buzz when I announced the second place.

Still, they seemed to understand it after I reminded them of the scoring system.

That said, while this wasn’t made public yet, we had already decided in advance that everyone who participated and wasn’t disqualified would still receive a decent reward.

I didn’t tell them in advance because some people would surely hunt some Destroyer Horses or Demon Pigs just for the participation award if I did.

But when I looked at the teams who didn’t get a good enough score to get a top three placement, I became even more certain that this was the correct decision.

They hunted a big game, so they deserve to be rewarded for their hard work. They deserve to receive the appropriate amount of renown and respect for their accomplishment.

Of course, the cheating teams won’t get anything. That was the whole plan from the start.

After all, I’d like to host a festival like this again in the future, and I’d like those hunters to participate in those festivals as well.

Even if the audience is extremely pleased with the results, if the hunters start hating or distrusting me, then it will be impossible to host this again.

Therefore, this expense is necessary.

“Third place goes to Chace’s team, who was able to hunt the Ash Cat. Like I said earlier, it was a bit hard to figure out where exactly they should place.” I said.

It was hard to decide because of the scoring system.

The Vajra Ape is certainly stronger than the Ash Cat, so it gives a higher score.

However, Chace’s team finished the hunt faster and with less people.

If it was just a normal hunt, then it would be obvious that the ones who went after the Vajra Ape got the best result, but as the scoring system took other factors into account, things weren’t that simple this time around.

At the end of the day, their scores were almost exactly the same, so we even wondered if we shouldn’t bend the criterias a bit to get the faster team on top, but… We eventually decided to just stick to the pre-determined scoring method, which led to the victory of Haria’s team.

This scoring system also worked to the detriment of the fourth team.

“Seviarow’s team was ranked fourth, unfortunately.

“If the number of Demon Beasts hunted was considered, then they would have gotten a much better placement… It’s a shame.” I said next.

Seviarow and Tyran from the brothel district seemed to have encountered a swarm of four Blood Spiders, and they hunted all of them.

Even a single Blood Spider was extremely dangerous and hard to hunt as is, but they hunted four of them. It was quite the feat.

We ended up displaying all four of those Blood Spiders in one of our warehouses, and their corpses piled up on top of each other was a very impressive sight.

“With this out of the way, I will announce the top three winners in front of the audience.

“Please follow me instructions when the time comes, but wait here until you’re called.

“I won’t announce anybody else in front of the crowd, but you’re free to watch the ceremony from here or from wherever else you want to.” I told the hunters.

One could see the podium clearly from here, so this was a good place to watch the ceremony from.

Some may want to give a heartfelt congratulation to the winners, while others may just be too frustrated and want to simply drink alcohol to their heart’s content, so what they’ll do now is up to them.

That was essentially all I had to say, so everyone was starting to relax.

But then, “Can I have a minute?” Elle, the winner, raised her hand.

“What is it…? A question?” I asked.

Nothing good comes whenever this girl is involved… I’d rather not deal with her at all.

But ignoring her here would be even worse, so even if I was wary of her, I listened to what she had to say.

“I want to be disqualified and not be awarded as the winner.” She said.

******

(Noon of the previous day)

(Beckenberg’s PoV)

In front of the large attentive audience, I declared the end of the hunting competition, then proceeded with the award ceremony as planned.

However, the audience had quite the impressive reaction in response to the announcement of ‘no winner.’

Still, I will not let that stop me.

“Shut up!” I exclaimed with the full power of Agitator to counter all their swearing.

The crowd instantly fell silent, so I forced a cough, then continued my speech, “The girl who hunted the Dragon Fish was disqualified for fraud.

“She cooperated with other hunters of Krozheit to take down this Demon Beast, but then she claimed that she was alone when she hunted it.

“Think about it. Could such a small girl really hunt such an immense Demon Beast by herself?”

Certainly, if one thinks about it calmly, they can very easily reach the conclusion of, ‘There’s no way that girl did it by herself.’

So, I continued, “She herself confessed about her collusion with the hunters of our country, so she was disqualified due to breaking the rules.

“However, it is certainly true that she did hunt the Dragon Fish.

“Therefore, the team that got second place in the competition refused the offer to be moved up in the rankings and become the new winners, as they did not feel like they deserved the first place.

“Hence why there is no winner to this competition. I apologize for it, but there was no way around it.”

There were a bunch of issues with this whole thing, but I will push forward with this narrative.

******

(Noon of the previous day)

(Beckenberg’s PoV)

Everyone in the tent raised their voices in dissatisfaction when the girl said that she wanted to be disqualified.

“Calm down, calm down.” I silenced the noisy hunters.

Everyone here saw the Dragon Fish.

It was easy to see that it was not hunted by a large number of people.

The more hunters are involved in eliminating a prey, the more different types of wound the prey will have, as different weapons will have attacked it.

This was particularly easy to notice on large Demon Beasts, so… From the wounds of the Dragon Fish, it was clear that it was hunted by either a small group of people, or by a single person.

It didn’t matter if one couldn’t even imagine how it was possible to hunt this enemy by themselves. In these circumstances, it was still easy to believe it if someone said that they were alone when they killed this Demon Beast.

“Why? Don’t you want to win this?” I asked her.

I really can’t get along with this maid… Everything she says causes me a headache.

She then proceeded to give some plausible explanations, like how it would ruin the reputation of this country’s hunters, or how she didn’t need the renown because she was leaving the city soon.

I didn’t know if those were truthful reasons, but as the organizer, I would rather avoid a situation where no winner was present during the award ceremony.

We would essentially be left without a main character at the most exciting point of the festival. It would be the most boring conclusion possible.

However… My profit margin would increase considerably if there was no winner.

To begin with, nobody has bet on there being no winner for this competition, so everything that they invested would end up going directly to my pockets.

Unless the second place was moved up in the rankings…?

No, we did not make any sort of promise about ranking changes in case of a disqualification.

Therefore, it’s possible to profit from this. I can keep all the money from the bets, and won’t even have to award the prize money meant for the winner!

“Are you sure? You won’t get the rewards meant for you if we go through with that.” I told her.

“Ah, yeah. I don’t need any prize money.

“Instead, can you just give back whatever money the manager of the brothel district bet on me? That’s all I ask.” The maid replied.

Now that I think about it, Adyll did bet a large sum of money on this girl.

… And I’d have to return all that to her.

I hate this.

I’d really like to get the upper hand on that old lady every once in a while, but… I would be in trouble if I prioritized that right now. If I refuse this girl’s request, she might end up saying that she is fine with winning.

Honestly… I’ve dealt with many people before, but I still struggle with reading this maid.

I can never predict what she’ll do, and we seem to be pretty incompatible, overall.

So… It’s probably a bad idea to drag this out by bargaining with her.

I will earn a large sum of money if I accept her proposal, and will lose a lot if I refuse… Thinking about it logically, there is only one answer I can give her.

“Very well, I understand. Then, Elle has given up on being the winner of the competition.” I declared.

“Will everyone else move up in the rankings?” One hunter asked.

“They won’t.” I immediately answered, “Think about it. If I put someone as the winner when they didn’t hunt the Dragon Fish, will the people be fine with it?

“Everyone will quickly start gossiping about how the new winner is the ‘lucky bastard’ who won despite hunting a prey that was inferior to the Dragon Fish.

“Of course, they’ll also be congratulated for it, and their friends will only tease them for it at first.

“But as time passes, the teasing will become heavier and heavier. No matter what else you accomplish, you’ll always be labeled as that one ‘lucky bastard’.

“If you want to continue being a hunter in this country, it’s for the best that you give up on the first place for the time being. Otherwise, you’ll only lose money and reputation in the long run.”

I was pretty good at this kind of negotiation where I needed to convince people of my view, so I gave whatever reasons came to mind that would make people accept the idea of ‘no moving up in the rankings’.

“But the team who placed second was a team of outsiders. I don’t know if they are planning on being hunters here in the future.” One hunter said.

The representative of the Haria team was indeed an unfamiliar face. Someone not from this country.

“Then let’s ask him. Do you want to be moved up in the rankings and get the first place?” I asked Haria.

“I don’t need a victory that came from someone conceding! Second place is fine to me!” Haria replied.

There! The answer I wanted!

“If that’s the opinion of the person who placed second, then it can’t be helped. I can’t put the ones who placed third as the victor, after all.” I told the hunters.

It was the perfect conclusion. I was able to declare that there would be no winner while also hinting that I was willing to move people up the ranks if they so desired.

This should leave a good impression on the hunters who were here in this tent and saw the exchange.

Even if some rumors start spreading about how I cheated the hunters, they would fundamentally be shallow rumors without much strength, so they won’t harm me.

In fact, my position may even be strengthened when people share the truth of what happened here.

This is a clearly advantageous position.

People may still be unhappy about the final results, but their opinion will surely change in a few months or so.

Fools are forgetful creatures, after all.

They will forget their outrage over the fact that there was no winner and will instead remember all the fun they had during the festival.

The award ceremony will be a let down, but there will still be many people who will hope for a festival like this one to be hosted again.

This was more than good enough.

So, with everything settled, I went to the podium to declare the end of the hunting competition.

******

(Present time)

(Eil’s PoV)

“Then, I’ll wait here.” I said as we arrived at the doorstep of Beckenberg’s mansion.

I was in my usual clothes today, not in a maid’s outfit, so I can’t accompany them inside.

Even if I were to appear in front of Beckenberg, he has only seen ‘Elle’ and only while wearing a maid outfit, so he would just ask a, ‘who are you?’ if I went there.

… Either that, or he would actually figure it out. He is pretty shrewd, after all.

But regardless of that, I already declined my position as the winner of the tournament and was not invited to his mansion, so I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t even be able to get past the door anyways.

“There are way too many things I want to say to you!” Chace barked.

I calmly nodded in response, “Okay, but do it quickly, because Cherry and Florentine are waiting for us.”

I don’t really want to hear what he has to say, to be honest.

And well, after being reminded that there were people waiting for us, Chace begrudgingly decided to leave it for later.

“I don’t want to go there. Meeting Beckenberg would be bothersome, so I think I’ll just wait here.” Lisse stated.

She was probably very wary of Beckenberg, since he deceived her pretty badly not too long ago.

“Don’t stay here.” I plainly told her, “Chace is stupid and unused to this kind of thing. He needs to be accompanied by someone smart.”

“Hey.” Chace said.

“You’re right. This guy will definitely be scammed and get his prize money reduced for some reason if he is alone.” Lisse nodded.

“Hey.” Chace said.

I mean, Lisse was deceived before, but… I decided to not say that.

In fact, she probably said those things specifically because Beckenberg deceived her earlier.

“I’ll be worried if Chace doesn’t have a trustworthy person with him, so please accompany him, Lisse.” I told her.

“Hey, come on, you two.” Chace said.

“I guess it can’t be helped… Then, I’ll be going.” Lisse sighed, then started running towards the mansion.

“Hey, wait! Don’t go in before me, wait!” Chace said as he ran after Lisse.

******

Chace and Lisse were now going to collect their prize for getting the third spot in the competition.

One can’t exchange large sums of money in public in Krozheit, so Beckenberg is going to deliver the money today instead.

But regardless of that, last night at the orphanage, I told everyone that I was the maid, ‘Elle’, which was how Chace came to know of my whereabouts.

I also told Florentine about it since I was at it.

She was quite surprised, as she had seen me as ‘Elle’ for a whole day, but wasn’t able to see through my disguise at all.

It was worth it to dress as a woman. Her surprised, ‘What the hell!?’ was absolutely incredible. It was a great reaction.

And well, to celebrate that all members of our group had reunited, and also because Chace and Lisse were going to get a prize, the five of us decided to go to a famous restaurant of Krozheit. Chace’s treat, because he is the oldest.

But right now, while I waited for the two to come back from the mansion, I looked up to the sky in thought.

Sorichika’s assignment said I should be the last to enter the Tower of Bryne, but I’ll probably be able to go inside it soon.

I’m basically ready to go at this point, so I guess I should just take a bit of time to think if there’s anything I should take care of before I enter.

Let’s see… I kinda wanted to get back at that pervert I met the other day, but… I really couldn’t find out who that person was.

I saw nobody who matched their silhouette, nor did I hear any rumors that pointed me towards them.

What else…?

I have yet to get Adyll’s letter from Lisse, because Chace raised too much of a fuss yesterday, so I didn’t find the right opportunity for it.

Well, I should be able to take care of that today.

And then there is the existence of the Gift Seal.

It’s mostly something I’m curious about though. Because well… It’s an item that can seal my precious Glasses away. It would be weird if I didn’t care about it in the slightest.

Besides that… There was one other topic. There may be other things that I might have forgotten, but this one thing is what I’m worried about the most right now.

… Zett has yet to come back from the forest.

A search party was apparently sent for him yesterday in the afternoon, but they returned by night with no news of Zett.

I don’t think Zett would have been killed by any of the Demon Beasts near Krozheit, so he is probably wandering about somewhere.

… But being lost in the forest is painful and terrifying, so… I couldn’t help worrying about him.