"I can't believe Vyn lost to a first-year student. Moreover, that first-year student is just a commoner and not of noble descendant. This is an insult,"

  "Yes, how could a noble descendant lose to a commoner?"

  "Amazing, young man. You're the first person to win this tournament while still a first-year student!"

  "Good job, young man," the audience said.

  Their reactions varied after I was announced the winner of this final match. I could sense quite a bit of hatred directed at me, especially from around the audience seats where Her Majesty the Queen was. With my victory, it seemed they hated me even more.

  Moments ter, several staff members began arriving at the arena. They immediately rushed to Senior Vyn, who was seriously injured. They then carried him on a stretcher and took him straight to the treatment room. Meanwhile, two other staff members came over to me. They seemed to have come because they saw the wound on my right shoulder. My right leg was actually injured after being stabbed by a sword that appeared in the arena when I stomped my right foot to create an ice area, but I don't know if they knew about it or not.

  After they came to me, they offered to take me to the treatment room, seeing my injury. Since I'd hidden the fact that I could use healing magic, I went with them to the treatment room.

  -

  After I left the competition arena to head to the treatment room, Mr. An also walked toward the arena. He walked leisurely across the frozen arena and then stopped in the middle.

  "We have witnessed the third-pce match and the final of the tournament for womens and mens. However, the tournament is not over yet, as there are still prize-giving sessions for the first- and third-pce winners and the closing ceremony of this academy tournament. However, because the tournament arena is currently damaged, we must repair and restore it to its original condition first. Considering that some participants are still recovering, the prize-giving session will begin at 2 p.m. I hope the audience will still be willing to attend the academy tournament until it concludes,"

  "Now, since it's lunchtime, the audience is welcome to leave the arena for lunch and return at 2 p.m. That's all I can say for now. Thank you for your attention," said Mr. An.

  Mr. An then left the arena. The other spectators also began to leave one by one.

  -

  Meanwhile, in the hallway connecting the 10th floor to the bleachers,

  Senior Florian and Senior Sophie were seen chatting, oblivious to the passersby.

  "I can't believe the chairman would lose to Rid," said senior Florian.

  "I didn't expect it either. That means, wouldn't Rid officially be the strongest student in this academy?" asked senior Sophie.

  "Maybe so," said senior Florian.

  "If you were to fight Rid, would you be confident of winning against him, vice president?" asked senior Sophie.

  "I don't know. But I always avoid participating in tournaments where the president is participating because I know I can't win against the chairman. If I were to fight Rid, who can win against the chairman, logically speaking, I would definitely lose to him. Even so, I'm still not sure if I would lose to him or not," said senior Florian.

  -

  In the audience seats where Charles was.

  They were still sitting in the audience seats even though the other spectators had already begun to leave the tournament arena.

  "I did know that Rid was very strong, but I didn't expect him to defeat the senior chairman ?and win this academy tournament. He's only a first-year like us, after all," said Noa.

  "Well, we're talking about Rid. It looks like we'll have to get used to what he'll be doing in the future," Charles said.

  "I guess so. Since it's lunchtime, let's have lunch together," Noa said.

  "Chloe and I have lunch pnned for today with my father and mother. So we both apologize for not being able to eat with you," Charles said.

  "That's right, Her Majesty the Queen and His Majesty the King are also attending the final match. Well then, no need to apologize, Charles," Noa said.

  Then Charles and Chloe left first, leaving Noa and the others behind.

  "Let's go too... but wait a moment. I feel like I've forgotten something," Noa said.

  -

  In the audience where the upper-ranking nobles were seated.

  "I-I didn't expect Vyn to lose. W-would his father be angry if he saw Vyn lose like that?" asked Duchess Arnett.

  "I don't know," said Duke Remy.

  Duke Remy, Duke Darwin, and Duke James seemed to be contempting something after the match was over. Not only the three Dukes, but King Albert also seemed to be contempting something.

  "I didn't expect him to really be able to use the ~San Fulgen Art~ as you said," said King Albert.

  "Now you believe it after seeing it in person, right? He's truly an outstanding student, able to win this academy tournament as a first-year student. I think this is a new record," said Queen Kayana.

  "You're right, I understand why Irene fell in love with him. But are you okay with this? Someone who isn't a member of the ~San Fulgen Family~ ?can use the ~San Fulgen Art~?" asked King Albert.

  "It's okay. As long as he doesn't use that technique for criminal purposes, I won't have a problem with it," said Queen Kayana.

  "Ok, if you say so. Anyway, let's go have lunch with Charles and Chloe," said King Albert.

  "Ah, you're right," said Queen Kayana.

  King Albert, Queen Kayana, Commander Oliver, and the knights escorting them left the tournament arena.

  "Let's go eat first, Lord Darwin, Lord James. We can think about what to do next after we eat," said Duke Remy.

  -

  In the uppermost bleachers.

  The bleachers were deserted, and only two people remained.

  "In the end, Senior Vyn lost to Rid," said Enzo.

  "Rid, he truly is a monster," said Princess Amelia.

  It turned out that the two people still in the bleachers were Enzo and Princess Amelia.

  "If you're talking about monsters, we're both monsters because we use Mana cores from other races as our Mana cores, and so is Senior Vyn. I wonder if Senior Vyn unleashes all his power and uses up his Elf Mana core, can Senior Vyn defeat Rid?" Enzo asked.

  "Isn't the answer obvious? If Senior Vyn uses his Mana core and unleashes all his power, Senior Vyn will win. Rid might even die if he fights Senior Vyn in that condition," said Princess Amelia.

  "Well, enough with the assumptions. Now that Senior Vyn has lost to Rid, it seems the Dukes are thinking hard about how to get rid of Rid," Enzo said.

  -

  In the first-year treatment room.

  Irene and I were chatting after receiving treatment in this room.

  "How are your wounds, Irene?" I asked.

  "I've fully recovered. What about you, Rid?" Irene asked.

  "Me too, after all, my wounds were only minor, so they healed quickly," I said.

  "You can heal the wound yourself, so why did you have to come to the treatment room too?" Irene asked.

  "You knew I was hiding that I could use healing magic, right? That's why I decided to come to the treatment room," I said.

  "I forget. By the way, congratutions on winning this academy tournament, Rid," Irene said.

  "Thank you, and congratutions on getting third pce, Irene," I said.

  "Thank you," Irene said.

  "With me winning this tournament, people will no longer have any doubts about us dating. Since I'm strong enough to win this tournament, it's only natural that you'd be interested in me and ask me to be your girlfriend, regardless of my social status. At least that's what they think," I said.

  "You've really thought this through, huh, Rid? By the way, while I was still being treated in this room, someone came to visit me and said they wanted to meet you, Rid," Irene said.

  "Meet me? Who is that person?" I asked.

  Just as I was about to ask Irene about the person, the door to the treatment room suddenly opened. Then an adult man wearing a long robe entered the room. Behind him was another adult man accompanying him. I could see a small fox pattern on the front of his robe.

  "Hello, Irene's boyfriend, this is the first time we've met. Let me introduce myself. My name is Asier Emerald San Lucia, and I'm Irene's older brother," said Commander Asier.

  "Irene's older brother?" I asked, slightly surprised.

  "I have a question for you. Can you really defeat the Dragon?" Commander Asier asked.

  -To be continued