The Return of the Iron-blood Sword Hound

Chapter 252: Aftermath (3)

The next day.

Vikir attended the awards ceremony where the rankings of the first round were announced. It was a monumental event that the first-year students of the Colosseo Academy surpassed students from other schools’ second and third years, securing positions within the top 30 rankings.

Among them, Vikir, Sinclaire, Highbro, Middlebro, Lowbro, and Granola claimed spots within the top 10 rankings. Now, if they successfully completed the second-round individual tasks assigned to the top 10, they would be awarded the rare artifacts from the treasure vault jointly managed by four schools.

Artifacts like the “Talking Window,” “Hourglass of Time Stop,” “Money-Eating Hat,” “Love Shield,” “Sane Bead,” “Eyeball-Tipped Arrow,” and more awaited them in the warehouse—priceless treasures that couldn’t be obtained even with a fortune.

The top 10 rankers who completed their assigned tasks could enter the treasure vault, and undergo a selection process for the artifacts.

‘But before that, there’s a quest we need to deal with,’ Vikir thought as he walked towards the stage for the awards ceremony.

Meanwhile, when Vikir, ranked 7th, appeared, cheers erupted from below.

“Kyaa, it’s Vikir!”

“Oppa, please look here just once!”

“We love you!”

The cheers came from students of the Temisquira Women’s College. Even when Lovegood, the Rank 2 and the student council president of Temisquira, appeared, the cheers weren’t as enthusiastic.

…But Lovegood didn’t express any displeasure towards Temisquira’s students because she referred to herself as a ‘successful geek.’

Lovegood stood closely beside Vikir, laughing heartily.

Soon, the professors’ speeches would end, and then the students would have to go up to the stage. Amid the strangely heightened atmosphere, Lovegood spoke to Vikir.

“Oh, Vikir-nim. Your fan club was formed yesterday.”

“?”

“The fan club’s name is ‘Lrr.’ Pronounced as ‘GRr,’”

“Cause your sexiness makes everyone here go *Grr*”

“???”

Vikir was slightly taken aback by the girl’s boldness, but Lovegood looked at him with eyes full of love, as if finding Vikir’s confusion adorable.

Perhaps her heart-shaped pupils made it seem even more so.

Suddenly, a roar came from behind. Temisquira’s female students had started sending jeers.

“Woo, president stop monopolizing him!”

“Condemn the dictator!”

“Share Vikir-nim!”

“If you’re the president, shouldn’t you prioritize public welfare over personal desires?”

“Know your age, old lady!”

“Impeach her! Impeach!”

In response, Lovegood frowned arrogantly, looked at her supporters, and said with a pursed mouth, “Shut up, you girls. Can’t I experience love too? Isn’t it pitiful for me?”

“Woo woo woo woo! You can’t be the only one who dates him? We’re struggling too because it’s an all-women’s College! If that’s the case, let’s go co-ed!”

Lovegood’s nonchalant explanation only added fuel to the fire. Eventually, she sighed and turned to Vikir, saying, “Um… Vikir-nim. Would you consider going on blind dates after this College league ends? With students from Colosseo and Temisquira.”

Blind dates involved selecting candidates from each major to meet and interact with, and it wasn’t originally in Vikir’s areas of interest. However, it seemed to be quite an interesting topic for everyone else except Vikir.

“I’m Vikir’s right-hand man!”

Tudor was the first to raise his hand.

“I’m his Left-hand man!”

And Sancho did the same.

“I’m his left-leg man!”

Figgy raised his hand too.

Following suit, other male students gathered around Vikir as the center.

“Vikir’s right leg is mine, O-Oh, I mean I’m his right leg man!”

“Then Vikir’s left eye is mine!”

“I’ll take the right eye!”

“I want the left ear!”

“Is the right ear reserved already?”

“I claim Vikir’s heart!”

“I’ll take the upper part!”

“I’ll take the lungs!”

“I want the spine!”

“Vikir’s stomach is mine!”

“I claim the chest!”

“The waist!”

“Then I’m in charge of the buttocks!”

“I am… well, I can’t disclose which part I’ll be in charge of, but it’s undoubtedly the most important part everyone can agree on!”

Vikir was being disassembled in real-time, shattered into pieces.

And then.

“Please stop this. After the professors’ speeches, the award ceremony will begin shortly. We need to go on stage, so any further disturbance is prohibited,” Dolores appeared and pushed the crowd back.

As the students from Colosseo stepped back, those from Temisquira also hesitated. However…

Zing—

Lovegood was somehow sending a Threatening gaze towards Dolores. When Dolores, who usually had a good relationship with her, showed a puzzled expression, Lovegood spoke.

“Even if we lost the 1st place in the College league, I won’t lose VIkir-nim. Just because you’re from the same school, don’t get too complacent.”

“…?” Dolores raised an eyebrow, and Lovegood shouted again.

“Don’t play innocent! I heard everything you said on the terrace yesterday!”

Dolores looked genuinely puzzled. Unable to comprehend, she tilted her head. Then, Lovegood mocked Dolores with the words she said to Vikir yesterday.

“YoU’rE sPeCiAl. If not, there’s no way you’d catch my eYe anytime.”

“?” Dolores was confused.

“OpEn The DoOr TO yOur HearT, LET mE iN!”

“???” Dolores’ face turned pale. Did she really say those things yesterday?

‘…I think I might have.’ But she didn’t say it with that intention.

It seems like there was some misunderstanding.

Hastily turning her head, she noticed the narrow, suspicious gazes of the Colosseo students.

Panicking, Dolores stammered, “Oh, it’s a misunderstanding. You shouldn’t just focus on those lines; you need to consider the overall context of the conversation…”

However, timing wasn’t on her side. The chilly voice of Professor Banshee echoed.

“Over there, noisy award recipients, move forward now.”

With the professors’ speeches concluded, the award ceremony had begun.

* * *

In this National University league, the top 10 students with high scores stepped onto the stage.

1st place, Dolores L Quovadis;

2nd place, Merelini Lovegood;

3rd place, Bakilaga Juragio;

4th place, Highbro Le Baskerville;

5th place, Middlebro Le Baskerville;

6th place, Lowbro Le Baskerville;

7th place, Vikir;

8th place, Sinclaire;

9th place, Granola;

10th place, Hohenheim.

Standing in front of them, Professor Banshee from Colosseo Academy, represented the faculty.

Despite the outstanding performance of Colosseo’s students, Professor Banshee did not seem particularly pleased, for reasons unknown.

“Congratulations. Now, it’s time to receive your individual tasks.”

Professor Banshee’s speech was extremely dry and brief, but for the students, it was a welcome brevity.

Soon, the time for selecting tasks arrived. With the students facing a set of scrolls in front of them, the apprenticeship system of the seven great clans and the royal family.

It was important for the Universities to give students practical experiences.

The University league was an extension of this process.

Several scrolls were laid out in front of the 10 students. Each had to choose different tasks, and Vikir, too, reached out towards the scrolls before him.

‘With this, I’m getting even closer to Decarabia.’

Now, he just needed to go to the clan written on the scroll and perform the quest requested by that clan.

The 10 students unfolded the scrolls. Sinclaire, ranked 8th, chose the Quovadis Clan, as she mentioned before.

On the surface of the scroll, the Clan’s name and the difficulty level of the quest were displayed, aiding in the selection.

[Faithful Quovadis: ★★★☆]

A difficulty level of three stars.

When Sinclaire unfolded the scroll, a brief description of the task was written.

Quovadis Clan / Difficulty [★★★☆]

The current empire is groaning under the increasing influence of heresy and cults.

In this situation, from the perspective of the Quovadis’ Inquisition, propose a method to eradicate heretics and cults, elevating the status of the Rune Religion.

Task related to the ‘Inquisition’ of the Quovadis Clan. Sinclaire will likely perform duties under the supervision of ‘Mozgus Quovadis,’, The main Inquisitor of Quovadis Clan.

Now, Sinclaire only had to go to the Quovadis family and complete the request.

“I knew this problem would come up,” Sinclaire smiled as if she had a plan she had been thinking about for a while.

Tudor, Sancho, Figgy, Bianca, and others seemed curious and asked, but it seemed too complicated to explain verbally, so Sinclaire merely shrugged and continued to think about her task.

Meanwhile, Dolores, ranked 1st, also picked up a scroll.

[Industrial Clan Bourgeois: ★★★★]

A difficulty level of four stars.

Even before unfolding the scroll, it was evident that this was a challenging task.

[Industrial Clan Bourgeois: ★★★★]

A difficulty level of four stars.

The Mint has recently issued high-denomination banknotes and has been plagued by an increase in counterfeit banknotes.

Choose a product that would benefit from a currency reform and suggest a new product or an improvement to an existing product from the Bourgeois family’s perspective.

The Imperial Mint is directed by Count Damien Bourgeois.

It could be considered a task that required more brains than brawn.

Apart from this, everyone unfolded the scrolls containing their tasks.

Highbro received a task related to maritime monsters titled ‘Subjugation of Maritime-type Monsters’ issued by Donquixote Clan. The difficulty level was ★★★, a relatively manageable difficulty where they only needed to slaughter numerous monsters.

Middlebro, on the other hand, received a rather brutal task titled ‘Chasing Escaped Demons from Clinical Trials’ from the Ruthless Reviadon Clan. The difficulty level was ★★★★, a challenging task if one lacked resistance to poison.

For Lowbro, there was the labor-intensive task of ‘Preventing the Mansion from being flooded’ issued by the Usher House. The difficulty level was ★★, relatively easy but very time-consuming and tedious.

Moreover, several multiple tasks assigned by the royal family were evenly distributed among them. Originally, since there were more scrolls than just ten, everyone could choose a task they liked.

However, amid all this, there was an incident that shocked everyone.

Thunk!

One hand rose above the crimson scroll.

Vikir, without any hesitation, picked up the scroll located in the most secluded corner.

It was…

[Iron-Blooded Sword Clan Baskerville: ★★★★★]

Baskerville Clan.

The Toughest Clan, the worst difficulty, the worst quest that everyone avoided.