[Book 2] That time I got reincarnated as a slime,no, a DRAGON?

CH-9 Setting the Stage

Tia's POV

"Both of you did a good job. It was a fantastic fight." The demon lord said.

Good fight? They nearly died! Just what's wrong with everyone here? No one seems to be concerned at all. Is this normal here?

"As promised, Liscia will move on to the the top 4. Ria, you will have to fight your way to the quarter finals." The demon lord continued.

""Hai.""

"Here, I promised this as well." The demon lord said as she appeared right in front of Liscia.

Teleportation magic?!! I thought it was a lost art. How? No. She is the demon lord, after all. This must be the ace up her sleeve. But then why is she not hiding it? Is she trying to scare us humans by showing that it is nothing to her? That must be it. Yes.

3rd Person POV

Tia had guessed correctly that it was nothing to Ciel. Yep what she didn't realise was that Ciel used it because it was simply convenient. In reality, Ciel had already noticed that Tia had entered the room, but decided to ignore her.

"Right. I did promise to give something to the loser as well, didn't I?" Ciel asked in a fake tone, as if she had forgotten all about it.

"I wonder what I should give to you? Hmm.... Well, I guess this should do." This entire time, Ria didn't dare to look up at Ciel. She was embarrassed to have lost to her sister, especially when she is clearly the stronger one amongst the two.

"Here. Take this sword. It should help you cover your weaknesses. Especially in long range." Ciel said as she gave a sword to Ria. It was only now that Ria steeled her nerves and decided to look up.

What she found in Ciel's hand was a sword, yet at the same time, not a sword. The sword had a red glow coming out of it. Both of its edges were sharp, but the sides were smooth. There was a hole at the opposite end of the sword when seen from the hilt. It had a small trigger, which easy to guess, was to shoot the projectile. That's right. This sword had the properties of a gun instilled into it. As such, not only could it be used in short range, but also over longer ranges.

"As much as I would like to talk to you both a bit more, I believe he would be much more eager, wouldn't he?" Ciel said as she glanced back at Benimaru.

"Benimaru. I believe you should spend some time with your daughters. Give some words of encouragement to them. You are dismissed for the day, so spend some time with them alright?" Ciel said as she started to move out of the arena. Benimaru just let out a smile and entered the arena from the spectator's seats and talked with his daughters, congratulating Liscia and trying Ria not to give up.

Soon, everyone left. Everyone but one person. Tia was still standing there. Too afraid to move at all. That mahes sense as well. After all, even though she had missed the fight, she had seen one of her opponents, Liscia's brutality.

Tia's POV

I have to fight her?! No way. No way! No way!

She'll kill me before I even move. There's no way I will make out alive. I have to do something. Maybe I can ask Grim to take her out. But that would be risky as well. What do I do?

"-ine? Ti-......ke up." As small voices keep pestering me in my thoughts, I am given a ride awakening from them, as someone shakes me by my shoulder.

"Huh?" I finally come out of my daze, only to find Ruthdord in front of me.

"Ruthdord-sama? What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?! That should be my line! Why are you here in the arena?"

"Huh? I just came here. I thought I would see what was going on here."
"That's fine. Then why are you still here? More than an hour had already passed since everyone left."

It was only then that I looked around to realise that apart from us two, there was no one in the entire arena. How long was I in my thoughts? No. That's not important. As the one chosen to represent Ingrassia, do I have to take fight that monster? What's this? What kind of nightmare is this? If Ruthdord, Dion and Grim were with me then I might just have won, but now, it is nothing short of suicide.

"Let's go, Tia. Everyone is waiting." Ruthdord said.

"Hai." I said as he followed him quietly while sinking into my own thoughts.

Ciel's POV

After I leave the arena, there is still one more thing left to do. And that is to get Alicia to fight in the competition. In reality, fighting against Tia in the competition, in front of so many people would be the only way to prove her point.

I make my way towards a nearby cafe, which was built inside the campus. The campus of the academy is much more like an entire city in and of itself. There's shops, recreational facilities, libraries, cafes and even adventure parks. All of these can be used using a special currency applicable only inside the academy. The way to gain this currency is simple. Do good in your classes, obtain it from others via borrowings, or bet on duels. This is quite elaborate, but it teaches the students about the real world. Well, atleast a part of it.

As I arrived, Alicia was already sitting there. Noticing that I had entered, she stood up and bowed.

"No need. Sit down." I say before she could speak."
"H-Hai."

A waiter then comes to take our order.

"A tea for me. Oh. And a shortcake as well." I say.
"Understood. And for you?" The waiter asked Alicia.

"Just a tea. Thank you."

The waiter nodded and left.

"What did you want to talk about Ciel-sama?" Alicia asked, straight to the point.

"Straight to the point, huh? Well, of that's the case, let me tell it to you straight. Take part in the competition this year." I state and let my message sink in.

"Huh? Eh? Wait..... What? Why?" She seems quite confused.

"Simple. I want you to defeat Tia by your own hands. By doing so, not only will you remain your honor, you might be able to calm yourself down."

"Eh? Calm myself? But I don't really care about what happened anymore."
"You may say that. But you are only deceiving yourself. I have checked your academic reports. You aren't half bad in fighting. You will stand a chance to reach the quarter finals. If you do, I will make sure that you're matched up with Tia for the quarter finals. Feel free to exact your revenge on her then."

"But..."

"Also. Take this. This will allow you to enter the labyrinth free of cost. Feel free to practice there is you want. If you somehow manage to meet a floor guardian, you may even ask them to help." I say as I get up. With this, everything that I had to do had been done.

It was only then that our orders arrived. We continued to talk as I ate my shortcake. Well, it was mostly her questioning me regarding the entire event. With a month till the competition left, I wonder what will happen.

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