The Doctor Cured the Villainess and Ran Away

35 – Martial Arts Tournament (1)

“I will handle them one by one. First, let’s start with the martial arts tournament.”

Asella carefully skimmed through the report I brought.

“When did this order of knights…”

As Asella was about to inquire about the details, she stopped speaking.

Camilla Hwangbi is watching. She must have sensed that there is no good in showing our hand.

Tak, Asella, who covered the report, leisurely sipped her tea.

“You did well as commanded. I will use the additional 120 knights for the martial arts competition.”

“120? Where did you bring such a force from the royal court?”

Camilla exclaimed in surprise.

120 is a battalion. Four battalions make up a regiment, and each regiment defends the east, west, south, and north walls of the palace grounds.

The emperor and the direct knights of each palace are separate.

In the martial arts competition, knights from both the faction’s palace knights and some of the royal knights participate.

Although the imperial army moves when the emperor moves, it is not possible to leave the palace empty.

It is estimated that a faction heir will have at most 200 available knights.

Adding the 20 knights of Wolgwang Palace, it becomes 140. It is enough to rival other faction heirs.

“Oh my oh my oh my.”

Asella declared to Camilla.

“You will see me win the competition without any support this time.”

“This…!”

Camilla couldn’t contain her anger at Asella’s words.

You heard the declaration that you are no longer needed, so you can only get angry.

Outside the door, the two people’s conversation was roughly heard. The second prince, who had been trying to provoke Asella’s anxiety and causing all sorts of trouble, returned as a failure.

“Hah, how long will you stick with that useless rascal! Even if you are Gottberg, you shouldn’t do this, especially getting involved with such a schemer!”

Camilla lifted the hem of her dress with both hands and quickly left the room.

After she left, Asella seemed to relax as the tension eased, and she let out a small sigh.

“You planned this scheme without my permission.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“Do you think it looks like a compliment? Why did you increase the size of the knights on your own without saying a word to me?”

Asella glared at me threateningly.

She didn’t seem to like this plan very much.

“I just wanted our faction to become stronger.”

“That’s my job. You’re the political adviser.”

“And the fiancée.”

For some reason, Asella grimaced at the word “fiancée.”

Ascela, who had finished her thoughts, spoke.

“These articles can be put to use. Since we are bound by a contract, we won’t betray each other over just one battle, and these articles are originally easy to handle.”

Ascela looked up at me and asked,

“Gongja, what do you want?”

“If it’s in return, how about approving the contract behind it?”

“Hmm.”

It’s the patent for masks.

It doesn’t matter if ordinary masks are produced. I only applied for a patent for the modern design I created.

“It’s a contract that distributes the guarantee of using the design in a 7:3 ratio. How about using 3 as the budget for Wolgwanggung?”

“You mean masks.”

Ascela had a displeased reaction to something.

“Gongja said that Raou made the masks.”

Ascela opened her eyes wider.

It was a threatening gaze that I haven’t seen in a long time.

She hasn’t been bothering me lately, so why is she acting like this again?

“Did you hear that?”

“It’s basic to observe the movements of other successors. But…”

Her tone became lower.

“They looked exactly the same as my masks.”

“The sizes are different.”

The masks look similar.

Only now can I say that the ones I made are genuine.

…What is this? The probability in the status window is changing frantically.

[No. 077: Incarnation of Jealousy 14% → 62%]

Did a bug occur or something?

Why did it change so dramatically as if I did something wrong?

Suddenly, my chest became damp with cold sweat.

When I noticed Ascela’s mood, it felt as if a wave of cold air swept through the previously warm weather.

“Gongja.”

“Yes.”

“Why did you keep the fact that you made a mask for Rau a secret from me?”

We saw it together just now.

If it’s a mistake, it’s a mistake… right?

It could be seen as an act that could benefit another faction without consulting Asella.

Did they even consider it as betrayal?

Is she really the princess with such extreme thinking?

I was relieved after hearing Rau’s words, saying he would talk to Asella, but I let my guard down.

In the end, since it also helped the finances of the Moonlight Palace, I thought there wouldn’t be any problem.

“You misunderstand, Your Highness.”

“What? I don’t think I misunderstood anything.”

I can’t persuade Asella who is already stubborn.

I hope she falls for this at least.

I took out the item prepared in the royal bag and presented it to Asella.

“What is this?”

“It’s a new mask for Your Highness.”

“So now you want me to wear something like Rau?”

“No. If you look closely, we embroidered the symbol of our Moonlight Palace on the bottom right.”

At the mention of embroidery, Asella turned the mask over to check.

“Hmph.”

With a snort, Asella flipped the mask open and started using it.

She commanded her chambermaid to bring a mirror and looked at her reflection.

“How many of these masks do you have?”

“I just made them today. I prepared only three for you to use for now, Your Highness.”

“From now on, make them exclusively for me.”

“As you command.”

She glanced at her status screen.

[No. 077: Incarnation of Jealousy 62% → 14%]

Phew, back to normal.

Since wearing a mask makes it difficult to see her face, I had prepared samples with the Moonlight Palace emblem for easy identification, and thankfully, it worked.

I narrowly escaped the charge of betrayal.

“Ah, Your Highness. The left strap is tangled.”

“I see. Wait, I’ll fix it myself.”

Ashella quickly extended her palm towards me, signaling her refusal.

Then she carefully adjusted her mask and suddenly, turned her head towards me as if something came to mind.

“Gongja, did you also teach Lauga how to wear a mask?”

The flickering golden mana burned brightly.

I had a gut feeling that I should choose my words carefully before answering.

“Why would I? She was already used to wearing it.”

“So you didn’t need to put it on for her?”

“Would I dare to do that to another princess?”

“…I see.”

Only then did Ashella let go of all suspicion and loosen her guard.

She changed the subject, examining the first report and jotting something down in a notebook.

“With the increased numbers, we’ll have to drastically modify our strategy for this battle tournament.”

“Yes.”

“Gongja, do you have any strategies that could be helpful?”

“Are you asking me?”

“Yes. It seems you’re skilled enough to handle Goblin Shaman subjugation. Though you may not have much experience commanding knights?”

Did the Commander mention it?

I detest increasing my workload.

“Well, of course, the knights under the Royal Knights Order are more organized, so it might feel different, but I thought it could serve as a reference from a different perspective.”

“In the group mock battle, Lauga’s 2nd Princess Faction plans to scatter and annihilate Geoark’s 2nd Prince Faction.”

“…Please explain in detail.”

Ashella seemed pleased, smirking devilishly as she rested her chin on her hand.

***

“Next, prepare for the move, Princess Ashella.”

Following the guidance of the palace sorcerer, we ascended onto the teleportation gate.

It was Ashella, two escort knights, the Commander, and myself, totaling five.

As the sorcerers chanted and activated the teleportation magic, mana evaporated into the air like steam.

“We are about to cast the spell.”

The valley in the middle of the eastern mountain range, which is the destination, is a two-day distance even by horseback.

That’s why most of the troops have already completed their pre-mobilization and only the core figures of the royal family teleport back on the same day.

I understand this method too since teleport magic is so costly and difficult. The old emperor might have difficulty with long-distance travel as well.

Do we really have to go to such lengths just for flower viewing? But if they insist on going, what can I do?

If I were an enemy country trying to invade the empire, I would definitely take advantage of this time when the palace defenses are weakened.

“Ugh.”

After finishing the teleport, a sudden dizziness overwhelmed me again.

“Master, shall I support you?”

Tanya, who was waiting at the scene, asked, supporting me.

Tanya usually hides her expressions, but now I know.

She is teasing me and enjoying it.

“It’s fine. Did you think I wouldn’t be exhausted from teleporting countless times?”

“You seem really fine. It seems like you’ve been training your body hard.”

“Of course. I’ve been doing strength exercises for two hours every day.”

That’s a lie.

In reality, I made motion sickness medicine and took it beforehand.

I am actually working on boosting my stamina. Since I don’t know when the decrease will become noticeable, I’m trying to do cardio exercise regularly.

Trying to.

One day, while running up the hill inside the palace, I found a herb called “madness grass” along the way.

It was a material that could extract scopolamine, an ingredient for motion sickness medicine.

With this, I have overcome teleport magic.

“Welcome to the tournament venue. I will be your escort from here.”

“Great. Let’s see how well prepared you are.”

Outside, the personal physician must be within a radius of 100 meters from the royal family.

I followed Ashella while looking around the tournament venue.

“They carved out the entire mountain to build this Colosseum.”

It’s not quite in the countryside, but it’s an area that is quite far from the capital.

To build such a structure and incur such enormous costs for the movement of such a large number of people just because the emperor visits once a year.

Is this the scale of the empire?

At least among the money squandering I have witnessed, it was top-notch.

The life of the imperial emperor… What on earth could it be?

“The flowers are so beautiful.”

The entire mountain was covered in a light shade of blue, like magic.

When I picked up one flower petal from the ground, its texture and size were similar to the cherry blossom petals I know.

Instead, it sparkled and shimmered as if silver powder had been scattered on the water-colored base, creating a fantastic sight.

“They call it Euncheong flower. It’s a flower that only blooms in this region due to the climate and soil.”

In this world, there were indeed beautiful landscapes.

It was a sight I had never seen before my regression.

“Well, the important thing is the martial arts competition.”

As expected, Ashella, with fluttering petals, seemed uninterested and quickly entered the colosseum to explore the arena.

The martial arts competition progresses in several ways.

Although magicians also participate, it mainly consists of knight battles, so I don’t have much to do.

Just enthusiastically applauding next to Ashella?

A total of eight factions participate in the martial arts competition.

Four factions, including the other heirs, all participate, totaling seven, including the emperor’s cousins and nieces.

And us.

Well, this should be enough. Even if we rank around third place overall, it should be fine.

It’s Ashella’s faction, which hasn’t shown much presence until now, so we can leave a strong impression.

From Noble mtl dot com

“Gongja.”

“Yes, Princess.”

“We must win today’s martial arts competition.”

“Winning, you say. Of course, the knights will also make an effort, but even achieving third place should be enough…”

[No. 012: Empire’s Downfall 35% → 52%]

Correction.

The goal is to win.