I was reborn as an orphan, But I won't let that stop me

Chapter 49

( The next day.)

Annette is in the tournament arena queue to register and get her participation number. She arrived very early but the queue was still very large, to the point that she didn't even see where the beginning was. By this one can tell how popular this advent is. Peapole from different cities and even countries participate. Ofcurese most that participate as a mage are almost all of noble descent. As either there are from this kingdom almost only nobles have a high attitude toward magic. And peapole who participate in that are from other countries need to have the money and free time to travel abroad. So only a few of them are of common birth. The knight side of this is different, most who participate in this category are actually mercenaries and adventures and most of them are of comment birth. That is not to say that there aren't many nobles who participate in this category in fact the ratio is about 60 40. With the commoners being about 60 %. This is a tournament that is very famous and of high prestige so it is normal that nobles would want to attend even if they are given the same treatment as commoners. No one gets special privileges in this advent as that would sully the tournament's reputation. This is after all a place to show your talent in swordsmanship or battle magic. 

Winning for nobles means honor. Winning for commoners means money and a possible promotion. Nobles who watch may see their skills and want to hire them as either knights or bodyguards. It is a win-win situation for both stations. Of course that doesn't mean that conflict between both stations doesn't occur as nobles like to look down on commoners and commoners think that nobles are over-privileged. But because such things are forbidden in this advent they do it in the dark instead, which the organizers turn a blind eye to unless it goes too far. Fortunately, bribery doesn't work here as evry time they put out a magical item called Oath binder. The oath binder looks like a palm-sized cube with an eye on it. This item is considered a high-grade magical item as it is hard to make and it requires a lot of magical energy from all the magic types. As such there exist only 50 in the world and in this kingdom, only 2 exist. One with the royal family. It is this one that is being used now as the king hands it out for evry tournament. The second one is with a nomadic tribe that has been given to them by the late king as a diplomatic peace treaty between its peapole and the kingdoms after a 30-year-long war 170 years ago. As such is considered an A-rank magical item. The way the oath binder works is that you put your hand on it and say an oath and if that oath is broken then you will receive punishment. As such this is used on every staff member and competitor so that no foul play is being done. Considering that many talented peapole gather here in masses and with how popular and large-scale the advent is. It is the reason why the king and the kings before are willing to leave it out evry time. After all, here is a good place to scout peapole for them to use and if bribery is going on then they will get the wrong person to hire. They don't want useless people after all. 

Finally, after 2 hours Annette registered and was led to her restroom together with 10 other competitors of the swordsmanship tournament. One of them happens to be Clyde Icenfrost. 4 of them seem to be knights with noble blood while the rest seem to be mercenaries. But seeing Clyde Annette wonders if he can recognize her as she is no longer clothed as a man. Although they have not spoken to each other much she can not help to wonder. She doesn't know why, but she does. But she doesn't show it as she sits down calmly like she has not seen him. Clyde on the other hand has not even noticed that someone has walked in. She stares at him and wonders why he is thinking so hard that he has become unaware of his surroundings. But she soon looks away and she waits.

One of the knights approaches Clyde and starts to speak to him. " Sir. Icenfrost, my name is Gildyen Swart. Second son of Viscount Lilcon Swart and vice-captain of the Starfaild platoon. May I have the honors?" Hearing the flattering tone of the man, Clyde instantly doesn't have a good impression of the man. The Starfield platoon is the second strongest platoon of the royal family and his being Vice-captain is an honorable position but with the way he acts, he knows that this man wants to butter him up to get something. Most likely they want to have a connection to the heir of the Icenfrost grand dukedom or want to please him. in order to get to his father. He has been in this situation many times so much so that he can't go out for a day without someone to do this to him. He is sick of it, but it is improper to simply brush them off with disdain. After all, it is politics and while he hates it he can't avoid it with his position. Unless his father has a ligament son somewhere as his mother can no longer give birth he is stuck. But that doesn't mean that he can't reject someone whom he has no use for. " Sir, your position is an honorable one." He says coly but the man thinks that he has left a good impression and is being praised. "Thank you, my lord. Now..." He says but Clyde interrupts him and says with intense cold pressure that makes the man shiver in fear. " That is why I wonder, why are you acting like a bootlicking dog? Did you really get into our position through ability and not connections?"

Hearing this the man blushes with embarrassment and anger but he can't do anything. After all, Clyde is the next grand duke and he can destroy his family with just one word. So he can only bite the arrow. But then he notices Annette in the corner of his eyes and snorts. " Sir, no matter what my ability is still proficient and is worthy to face the tournament. Unlike others who think that this is a game. If not why would a woman enter the competition?" He would not have said this if his pride wasn't shattered by Clyde. But now that it has he wants to bring someone down with him so that there is someone worse than him. So he foolishly thought that Annette was a perfect target. Hearing this Clyde can not help but look toward her and he finds her familiar but can not put his finger on it. Annette on the other hand heard this and looked at the man mockingly. She stands up and walks towards him. " Sir, a good dog should know not to randomly offend anyone." She says with a sarcastic smile. " You... who are you calling a dog?!" He shouts in anger. " Oh my, did not the next grand duke say that you are one? I even saw you acting like one so you must be one." She says gloatingly. " You, how dare a woman like you..." hearing him blabbering she interrupts him and says. " I was right, you only know how to bark, assuming that you are someone great. But are you really, you don't look that capable to me. You said that I treat the tournament as a game. Is it because of that I am a young woman? Then I need to tell you, if we ever face each other in the arena I will show you who thinks this is a game." She threatens. Normally she would ignore such a man if he did not confront her directly but she has needed to put off some steam because of Alzid's pestering. So happens to be a convenient target. " You... hope that it never comes to that, because I will not go easy on you." He threatens. " Oh, my did I not just say that I hope that it comes to that? So forgetful."

"Ha, someone doesn't know which mountains that they should not cross." He spits out and walks away with suppressed furry. Seeing this she just laughs it off. " Miss, have I met you before?" Clyde asks curiously. Hearing this Annette looks at him and says: " Sir, if I was someone else I would have misunderstood that you were hitting on me." Hearing this he freezes slightly not expecting her to say this to him. " I, that is not my intention. I just think that you look familiar." He says. " You have a good memory, we have to meet breathly at the young lady's Evernight's coming of age ceremony. I am her personal aide." She says honestly and he looks at her with astonishment. " Isent her aide a man?" He says. "Let's just say that the Grand Duke Evernight likes to pull pranks on peapole." She says. " Ah, so that's how it is. I look forward to facing you in the arena. After all, you must be highly skillful if you are Miss Evernight's aide. After all the Evernight has many enemies. " He says. Hearing this Annette smiles at him and says: " Thank you, likewise but I have to say that I am not as good with swordsmanship as I am with magic, so I entered order to train. But my ranking should not be low." She admits, for some reason, she feels a little comfortable talking to this man. " Knowing the grand duke, I think that your skill must at least grant you third place. He would have no less." He says with a slightly warmer tone than usual. He seems to think well of Annette. " We shall see wont we." She says with a smirk. " Yes, we shall see." He agrees.