272 – [5] 3Rd place, 2nd place, 1st place
#272
* * *
The rain fell endlessly.
As time passed, it became more and more intense, which led to the award ceremony ending early.
I was really fortunate.
Because I no longer had to listen to the host’s harsh remarks.
In that way, only traces of something opening were left in the square.
It was removed in a hurry, so although there were no chairs, the platform remained.
If the rain continued like this, it would probably be flooded.
Just like it was a while ago.
For the company that lent the equipment to this award ceremony, there could be no greater disappointment than that.
But what can I do? The Earth-God is telling me to stop the event quickly.
In the end, we left the square and headed to somewhat higher ground.
It would have been better to go through the lowlands to take the shortest route, but since it was sinking, the highlands were better.
“Hehe, you’re the Prime Minister… ….”
“Do you like it?”
“Of course it’s good! “Who in the world wouldn’t like it when they win an award?”
“That’s right.”
Shannon flirted while holding an award certificate with a waterproof coating.
Her eyes were shining brightly.
I turned my head and looked at the thousand birds.
Cheonma-ri also had a similarly smiling expression.
“Hey, this is life. “It’s Jiang Shi, isn’t it?”
“Well, that’s true… ….”
“I have lived and won awards in places like this. Even the products are pretty good.”
“I guess I like it more than I thought?”
“Of course I like it! Hey, honestly, I rode this with skill, so why wouldn’t I like it?”
That was it.
Because of this, she hugged her award certificate she received.
Although it came in 4th place, it was still an incredible achievement considering that thousands to tens of thousands of people participated.
In some ways, it could be said that it was better than ranking first among 100 people.
“Kang Xian, like me, you’re not the kind of person you don’t like, right?”
“… ….”
She smiled coquettishly.
Then he placed his hand on my shoulder.
He looked completely different from me, who was almost expressionless.
Is that why I felt so envious of her?
“Umm…… ? “Do you really not like it?”
“Hang? “Xian, don’t you like this award very much?”
“No, well…” … I’d like it too…….”
I stared at the listing.
I couldn’t help but sigh.
“Tsk.”
I felt like I was vividly recalling the events that had happened earlier.
Obviously, I expected that the next one to win the thousand-maly award would be one of Shannon and I.
The prize we caught was on the podium, and 1,000 fish were awarded, so this was a reasonable expectation.
Although there was one other group besides us in the top 3, we never imagined that we would receive 3rd place.
I submitted the best one, so I expected to get at least a Shannon award.
But the problem was that the momentum of the ‘product’ we submitted was greater than expected.
I looked back on the past.
* * *
Time goes back to about an hour ago.
It was just before the announcement of third place.
“3Rd place, the person who will receive the fancy box is…… !!! This is the ‘Anhui Province Freshman’ team made up of first-year cadets Nangong Xiaoran (南宮小冉/Nangong Xiaoyan), Yuan Zilin (Wen Jae-lin), and He Yi-fei (何亦菲/Ha Hae-bi)!”
“Huh? Chinese?”
“Huh? We’re not in third place…… ?”
The result was so shocking that there was no match, the scene.
Third place was not for us, but for a Chinese women’s team.
Why, it’s a team other than Shannon.
Of all the countries, the Chinese team is the only one.
Was making a wish too powerful?
In a situation where my ancestors seemed to have applied too much force, I had no choice but to suppress a sigh.
After all, it is not okay to have two ancestors.
It was only then that I realized that one family was enough.
I’m going crazy.
Really.
“Oh, ooooo!!!”
“Syaoran! We won! Kyaaaaah!”
“Huh? Uh oh…… Okay… ….”
However, the third place winners were not all that pleased.
From what I heard from the side, one person’s voice was particularly weak compared to the other two.
I feel like I regret it rather than like it.
Still, they expressed everything in English as if they wanted to express their feelings.
I turned my head with a sigh.
But, why?
I saw a black pot lid.
It was a type of hat worn on top of the head.
“… ….”
It was a very familiar item.
When I looked down a little, a familiar faceplate caught my eye.
Let alone the fact that they were wearing hunter overalls at the awards ceremony, who on earth are they?
Why do I feel such a sense of déjà vu?
“What is it? I think I saw this somewhere. “Shannon, have you ever seen those people?”
“No, me too…… Huh?”
“Huh?”
“Wait a minute. “Aren’t those Chinese people who took the placement test shortly after entering school?”
Assignment test.
The marathon test, which could have been either an ultra-short distance or an ultra-long distance, was conducted as soon as I entered school.
The Chinese who participated at that time?
But why do I remember…… Huh?
“At that time, while we were solving the problem, the kids followed Su-ah into the sky. “Looking at them dressed up, I can tell it’s them.”
“Ah!”
It finally occurred to me.
While we were struggling to solve the problem, these people cowardly followed Su-ah and went straight ahead.
They were the ones who showed what the true grand alliance of China was.
And I remember following it like that was a trap, and I was really doubtful as to whether I had completed it properly.
If you look at how it was flying in the sky at the time, it would seem that it flew from start to finish using light techniques.
If that were the case, there was a high possibility that a very bad result would have been obtained.
Of course, looking at the results of this hunt, they didn’t seem like they had zero skills.
“What, they? Ah, well, there aren’t many kids at the academy who are worthy of wearing a pot lid.”
“What on earth did you catch to end up in third place?”
From Noble mtl dot com
Three women going up to the podium.
The moderator pointed to a huge horn among the trophies listed in the corner.
“For your information, the Anhui Province fresh team is the team that hunted the dragon hatchling, as you can see here.”
Dragon hatchling.
It wasn’t a difficult enemy, but on the other hand, it wasn’t an easy enemy either.
“That was on the Shareltea campus…” … ?”
“Because the dragons’ home was originally here…… But wasn’t it all swept away? “I didn’t know it was still there.”
Anyway, they caught a hatchling.
There was no way the Academy wouldn’t have done at least some verification, so this must have been true.
“Why are they a three-person team when they have such skills? Instead of splitting into one-person teams like me, Kangsi, and Shannon.”
“Could it be that you haven’t come across information related to the trick? “It seems quite possible that this will happen if the ability to collect information declines.”
There were many other questions.
It was all meaningless.
That’s how their award ceremony ended.
The Chinese team had a ‘gorgeous box’ on paper.
Next was the second place award.
The only people left were Shannon and I, but it was somewhat clear who would take second place.
Sword Expert submitted by Shannon is intermediate level.
On the other hand, the Sword Expert I submitted was an advanced level.
“The second place winner, who will receive a talking sword, is 1st year cadet Shannon Redmond!”
That’s right.
Shannon received her award certificate from her podium, wagging her tail as if she was in a good mood.
Final first place.
Unlike other rankings, the lighting moved brilliantly.
“First place in the long-awaited competition! Here are the first-year cadets who received the highest scores in this competition!”
The moderator pointed to the prison containing one Sword Expert.
The prison was where the Sword Expert, who had been particularly rampaging a while ago, was housed.
“It is even said that he is the cadet who ranked first in his group in the first semester! “You must be a cadet with a bright future ahead of you!”
A rhetoric that other people have not heard.
The host turned his head and looked this way.
Soon, a glance came to me.
“Please welcome everyone with applause! “Kang, Si, An!!!”
Weak applause followed.
I couldn’t tell if it was because it was obscured by the sound of rain or if everyone wasn’t clapping properly.
What is certain is that the others did not even receive applause.
I was the only one who received it.
I got up from my seat.
I headed up to the stage like everyone else did.
The person sitting at the head of the table, not the host, stood up.
According to the introduction earlier, that person was the president of the academy.
With the Academy going bankrupt, it is doubtful whether he will retain his position next year.
That’s why I didn’t remember it much.
I just smiled, shook hands, and talked back.
The president responded to this with a similar smile.
“Advanced Sword Expert, you were truly a great hunter.”
“This is too much praise.”
“No. He wasn’t just a high-level sword expert, he was someone who held some confidential information. “How can it be said that it is not a great prey?”
Yes, I see.
Confidentiality was such a great hunt.
It was probably meant to be something people would enjoy hearing.
What’s the point in saying it’s confidential at the level of a Sword Expert, let alone a Sword Master?
It’s all about securing the location of the secret base and some fragmentary plans.
“People like you are the driving force that drives this academy. “There is no need to be too humble.”
“I understand.”
I nodded and nodded again.
The president patted my shoulder as if I had done well.
“And I think we’ll see each other again in the future. I will definitely remember your name. “I look forward to seeing you in other competitions as well.”
“Thank you.”
I lowered my head.
After receiving the certificate, I received applause once again.
There was nothing special.
When I turned around, I saw many people looking at me.
“I thought you were a human, but you turned out to be an elf, right?”
“What? Advanced Sword Expert? “No, how on earth did you catch it?”
“Did those results come about by catching people, not monsters? What on earth did you come up with…….”
“When can I become that strong?”
“Wow, but. It’s really amazing. “Knock off a high-level sword expert during the tournament.”
Gossip, gossip.
However, their faces could not be seen clearly because of the heavy rain.
But this would also be the same for them.
The exception is people sitting in the front row.
Among them, there was a Chinese team wearing a pot lid.
For some reason, the people there were looking at us with their eyes shining.
It was a different perspective from the people around me who looked gloomily in the rain and said, ‘That’s right, you’re number one.’
“Is that him? “It’s really the same.”
“Wow…… Syaoran, can we catch an advanced sword expert?”
“Well, that’s right. “I’m not sure.”
However, the woman who appeared to be the leader had a subtle expression.
Although it seemed like it was shining, it felt like there was still a lot of regret.
That could be true.
I’m in 3rd place, but wouldn’t it be possible to look at 1st place?
“If I had been able to catch it, I would have been able to win the prize that Syaoran said he wanted… ….”
“It’s okay. Well, what can we do when the gap has widened like this?”
But, the product you said you wanted?
I looked at him with a puzzled look.
This meant that there was nothing he really wanted right now.
And it also meant that what you truly want is from others.
I listened carefully to what exactly they wanted.
Unfortunately, what followed was nothing more than a bickering and did not come out openly.
* * *
That’s what happened.
The story so far was that after the award ceremony was over in the heavy rain, I took a large photo and quickly walked back here.
Now all that’s left is to go home.
But do we have similar thoughts on heavy rain days?
A familiar silhouette caught my eye.
Beyond the front, in the middle of the hill.
Three women buying something at a corner store.
“Still, I’m glad that the prize money I receive this time will cover my living expenses.”
“Phew, that’s right. But isn’t Tsurin eating like someone who has starved for too many days?”
“Hurry up and eat Xiaoran too! “This is incredibly delicious!”
A familiar voice.
Familiar clothing.
There are even names that come up in conversation.
“Huh?”
For some reason, the 3rd place team in the competition was right around the corner.
I felt like I could never miss it.
No matter how your acquaintances react.
My steps moved quickly.