Chapter 1523

"She" gently repeated the conversation taking place in the tent for Xia De:

【Eric Follen said: That group of people from the Mirror Association is really bold. Are they crazy?】

【Charles Follen said: Brother, they lured that relic here; what exactly do they want to do? The Mirror Association hasn't always been dedicated to finding spaces suitable for human survival outside the material world, right? Although they were identified as an illegal Ring Ringed Ringed Shushi organization by the Church of the True God because their methods were extremely radical, they are not crazy people who kill at will.】

【Eric Follen said: Since last spring, the entire material world has become abnormal. No matter what they want to do, it has nothing to do with us. After today's competition ends, the communication with Delarion regarding the time, location, and schedule of the negotiations will be over soon. Let's leave Tobesk City as soon as possible.】

【Charles Follen said: That's fine too. The negotiations for Green Lake City and Michaela Furnace City are about to start. I don't know what the result will be. From the perspective of the family's interests, if a local, controllable small-scale war can really break out, it would actually be a good thing... Speaking of which, Green Lake...】

Because it was "She" who was retelling it, Xia De could only hear the sound and did not know the specific tone. "She" paused for a moment, and then Xia De actually heard footsteps inside the tent.

"The Silence Charm has been retracted; they are coming out!"

He hurriedly retracted his finger and turned to leave the Follen brothers' tent area.

"However, the Mirror Association? During the Battle of Pantanal, they cooperated with the Pantanal Voodoo Society. During the Battle of Randall Valley last month, I also heard they sent people to hinder the Church's activities."

On the way back, he was still deep in thought. Would the entry of this organization he had never directly contacted into Tobesk affect his peaceful life? Then he realized that the president of the illegal Ring Ringed Ringed Shushi organization 【Mirror Association】 was the "Mirror Hider," a thirteenth-tier mage rarely seen in the material world of this era.

Xia De wanted to tell Yiluna about the "Mirror Association," but he could not directly contact the seventeen-year-old girl. Therefore, after returning to his tent, he could only tell Dorothy and Tifa what he had just heard, asking the girls to be careful this afternoon and try to stay in the tent and not walk around at will.

Just like that, time came to 1:30 in the afternoon. The writer lady, who had been holding a pocket watch to prevent Xia De from missing the time, urged Xia De to put on his helmet, and then Tifa and she sent Xia De to the entrance of the arena together.

Because this was the last match of this year's competition, and it was the first time in recent years that real swords were allowed for fighting, even people who couldn't get tickets were very excited, flocking to the fence at the entrance of the arena, trying to find a good position to see inside.

And after Xia De, Tifa, and Dorothy left temporarily, Xia De's opponent, who should also have entered by now, that Sir Hells from Coldwater Port, unexpectedly appeared near Xia De's camp.

Everyone around seemed unable to see him; no one greeted him. And when the expressionless Sir Hells walked through the crowd preparing to enter the arena entrance to watch the competition in a strange, cross-legged walking manner, and arrived at the entrance of Xia De's tent, even the Witch's followers could not detect the arrival of a stranger.

"Meow?"

But fortunately, the cat, who was taking a nap on the box containing 【Night Watcher】, vaguely sensed that the box beneath her was shaking slightly, so the cat, who was awakened, closed her eyes and first tried to shake her body to match its frequency to achieve the goal of not shaking anymore. After discovering it couldn't be achieved, she stood up, sleepy-eyed. Because Tifa and Dorothy would only be gone for a short while before returning, Xia De left her in the tent temporarily. After all, with so many maids helping to watch, he wasn't worried that Mia would run around and get lost.

The orange and white cat stepped on the box and looked around. Then, in her large amber eyes, Sir Hells, whom no one else could see at the tent entrance, was reflected. The small cat didn't care about the stranger and looked around again, but didn't see Xia De's figure. So the cat turned her head again and looked at the stranger standing at the door. The person and the cat stared at each other for a few seconds, and Mia even licked her paw during this time.

Finally, the alert cat realized that this was a stranger with ill intentions, so she instinctively made a predatory threat to protect herself:

"Meow~"

Although the cat's meow wasn't very loud, it was enough to arouse the vigilance of the maids. They still couldn't see the person who appeared at the door, but Xia De had mentioned the miraculous aspects of this cat many times in a boastful tone, so the female sorcerers immediately gathered to prepare to meet the enemy and soon looked toward the entrance of the tent following Mia's line of sight.

Looking carefully, in the noon sun, the air at the entrance of the tent actually appeared to twist unnaturally. But when the ice-blue beam shot from the fingertips of a high-tier Ring Ringed Ringed Shushi passed through that unnatural twist and left a small area of ice on the ground, that twist had already disappeared.

"Sir Hells" turned and left, walking quite rapidly.

"Meow~"

Seeing that the guy with ill intentions had left, Mia lay down again. Her body lay on the box that had already been warmed up, while her small cat head hung down at one end of the box, her amber eyes staring at the tent entrance, looking forward to when Xia De would return.

The maids didn't quite understand what this meant, but they still gathered around the cat in a way that didn't affect the cat's vision. Fortunately, the danger had passed.

And Xia De, who was being missed by Mia, had already bid farewell to Dorothy and Tifa at the entrance of the arena and entered the arena leading his horse.

Sir Hells hadn't arrived yet, and the audience who saw Xia De enter first shouted his name with the greatest enthusiasm. Xia De squinted his eyes and looked at the high spectator stands, then waved to the people according to etiquette.

The heavy armor made even the action of lifting his legs sluggish, and the warm sun made Xia De in the armor feel stuffy in his chest. Although this final duel allowed horseback riding at the beginning, in fact, even if one fell off the horse, they were allowed to continue the match. The match would end after one party lost consciousness or voluntarily conceded. Of course, out of knightly demeanor, there was no need to worry about anyone using the rule of not being able to kill to make trouble.

The longsword used in the competition was provided by the Royal Family. It was a steel sword slightly longer than 【Night Watcher】, forged from the same material as the core furnace cabin of the military steam engine. Both the hilt and the scabbard had the Cavendish royal emblem carvings. Pulling out the longsword, the blade had just been maintained with sword oil, and the oil smell was heavy, but it could also shine in the sun.

This was a quite good steel sword.

"I don't know if I can ask to take this sword back if I win."

While Xia De was swinging the longsword to adapt to the length and weight of the blade, Sir Hells from Coldwater Port also led his horse into the arena from another direction. His way of walking had become very normal, but he didn't speak to Xia De, nor did he approach Xia De. Instead, after taking his weapon, he stood aside and waited quietly while holding his sword.

Xia De, who was swinging his sword, glanced at him in surprise, feeling that this old knight from Coldwater Port seemed to be a bit different from the morning. He trusted his inspiration very much and intentionally wanted to investigate what was going on, but when he wanted to walk over, he was stopped by servants arranged nearby to help contestants prepare horses and replace weapons.

"Mr. Hamilton, sorry, according to the competition rules, before the match starts, to prevent accidents, the two contestants cannot have direct contact."

"I have a feeling I'm going to be very unlucky."

Xia De muttered in his heart, glancing at the knight who didn't look at him at all, and the sense of unease in his heart became stronger:

"Are the methods given by Helen and Grace really going to work?"

Meanwhile, Tifa and Dorothy did not go to the spectator stands like the previous days, but returned to the camp according to Xia De's instructions. They had just entered the camp when they discovered the nervous expressions of the maids, but before the maids left behind could finish speaking about Mia's strange performance just now, hurried footsteps sounded from outside.

The writer lady and the head maid looked toward the tent entrance together. Yiluna hurried in with three Ring Mages:

"Where is Xia De?"

The seventeen-year-old girl asked with some panic. Dorothy frowned slightly:

"The match starts in two minutes; of course he has already entered. Miss Beiyasi, has something happened?"

"Ladies, may I ask if any strangers have been here just now?"

Captain Moody Luo Binsen beside Yiluna asked in a deep voice. Tifa and Dorothy almost immediately realized what Mia's abnormal performance just now was because of. And Yiluna saw some things from the expression of Mia standing on the 【Night Watcher】 sword box and looking around.

"There shouldn't have been."

The blonde writer shook her head and told a lie, then asked:

"May I ask, what exactly happened?"

The identity of a Ring Ringed Ringed Shushi could not be exposed. Yiluna pursed her lips and said very uneasily:

"Our security company's superior cooperative department discovered the knight's body five minutes ago, but just now there was a report that the knight had already entered. Therefore, someone replaced Sir Hells and impersonated his identity to enter the arena. The other party's purpose is to win the competition as Sir Hells, and then make some remarks unfavorable to the unity of the kingdom when being awarded the championship title by the King and Queen."

"Yes, the other party is a spy from the Karsenrik Gray Glove organization. We are worried that he will take action against Mr. Hamilton in advance."

Squad Captain Mr. Luo Binsen added.

According to the characteristics of the "Faceless Man," Dorothy and Tifa both understood that the other party's purpose should be to ask everyone about the whereabouts of his younger brother during the speech, and then forcibly trigger his own curse characteristics.

Dorothy took a deep breath to make her tone normal:

"We watched Xia De enter the arena; no one took action against Xia De outside the arena in advance. Since someone violated the rules to compete, stop the match now!"