Chapter 1063: The Game Began!
Neverwinter held its first National Sports Meeting on Victory Day.
Roland had stripped the proceedings down to their essentials — no opening ceremony, no commentary — and it hadn’t mattered at all. The city organized itself around the event without being asked. By early morning, people were already staking positions along Kingdom Main Street: stools, felt cushions, whole families settling in. Peddlers moved through the crowd behind baskets of snacks and drinks, calling their wares. The smell of roasted chestnuts drifted past the heads of ten thousand people.
The finish line was at the midpoint of Kingdom Main Street. Roland had set the start time at two in the afternoon, thinking the spectators would need the morning to make their way there. He had been wrong. By noon the section nearest the stand was already packed, and the crowd was still growing.
As king, he wasn’t required to sit among them. The Ministry of Construction had built a viewing platform the day before — around a hundred seats, reserved for Neverwinter’s senior officials, with First Army soldiers stationed at intervals below.
“Your Majesty, here is the roster of the 1,462 participants.” Scroll approached with a thick stack of papers. “Registration time was short, so the categorization is only preliminary. If I’d had two more days—”
“It’s fine.” Roland waved off the apology. “We’re holding this to raise morale before the expedition. Any delay would cost more than it saves.”
He glanced through the pages. Whatever Scroll called preliminary, it was thorough enough: every participant’s address, background, and basic history, organized cleanly. He doubted anyone else could have assembled it in the time available.
Familiar names surfaced. Yorko — his old acquaintance. Ring, Lucia’s younger sister. The three alchemists from the former capital’s workshop. He was quietly pleased to see them in the list, even knowing none of them had a realistic chance against the trained runners. They had understood what he meant with the phrase he’d put in the announcement: the most important thing is to participate.
The names at the top of the first page were different. Ferlin Eltek. Carter Lannis.
“Do you think the champion will be Morning Light or my Chief Knight?” he asked Scroll.
She smoothed back her hair and smiled without answering.
“Your Majesty, it’s nearly time,” Barov called from the seat below.
“Let’s begin.” Roland set down the roster and reached for the telephone.
Guelz wore his desert fighting robe and was loosening his shoulders before the start. He asked Rohan: “Do you know how the Great Chief plans to get both groups running at the same time? The two starting lines face opposite directions — everyone running toward the center. In a holy duel, fairness is everything. Any unfairness damages the judge’s honor.”
Who knows, and it doesn’t matter, Rohan thought, and said instead, with some embarrassment: “Father… could you take the headband off? And the fur around your waist…”
He had not anticipated what a single magic movie could do to a man.
They had paid a considerable sum to watch The Wolf Princess, and since then his father had been changed. He spoke of Lorgar’s beauty repeatedly and reproached himself in equal measure — for years of asking her to conceal her wolf ears and tail, for the cowardice that had dressed itself up as fatherly concern. The film had apparently crystallized something he’d been carrying guiltily for a long time.
Rohan understood the feeling. What he struggled with was the execution.
Guelz had stitched a pair of toy wolf ears onto a headband and was wearing it over his tattoos. A strip of fur dangled from his waist as a makeshift tail. He was the chief of the Wildflame clan.
If anyone from Port of Clearwater sees this and it gets back to the clan, Rohan thought, how do you look the other chiefs in the eye?
“This is my compensation to her,” Guelz said, catching his expression. “Don’t ask me again. The courage she showed in that film put me to shame. I taught her — stick to your chosen road and let no one’s judgment move you. And then I spent years violating my own teaching.” He straightened the headband with care. “The best answer to criticism is to confront it directly. If enough people see this look and accept it, they’ll stop thinking of Lorgar as a monster.”
Rohan opened his mouth. He closed it.
“I heard you doubt the fairness of this match.” A voice came from behind them. “You’re not from here, are you? You’ve no idea what His Majesty is capable of. He invented something called a telephone — it sends messages instantly over any distance. And did you notice those cylinders up there?”
Rohan followed the man’s pointing finger. Two large black tubes jutted from poles above the crowd.
“That’s a loudspeaker. Amplifies sound by dozens of times. There’s another one near the starting line in Longsong District — both connected to His Majesty’s telephone. He can give the signal to every runner at once, on both sides of the city, simultaneously.”
“Ah!” Guelz clapped his hands. “A fair duel after all. Then I’ll compete in earnest.” He grinned at the man. “And tell me, friend — aren’t you cold? It’s only just past winter.”
The man laughed. “By the way, uncle — that headband with the wolf ears—”
Here it comes. Rohan braced himself. His father would bristle, or worse, swing. Either outcome would make a bad impression in the Great Chief’s city.
“You’re cosplaying the Wolf Princess, aren’t you?” the man said, eyes bright. “That’s a great look. Where did you buy it?”
What.
Rohan could not have been more stunned if the man had offered to run the race barefoot.
“Hahaha — this outfit—” Guelz began.
A sharp electronic whine tore out of the loudspeakers above them. The crowd went still.
“Good afternoon, everybody… sizz… I’m Roland Wimbledon.”
The noise of ten thousand people collapsed into nothing.
“I’m sure you know the rules. I just want to say — the result is not the most important thing. You came here to challenge yourselves. As long as you give your best, you’re your own hero, whether you reach the end or not. Don’t obstruct your opponents, don’t resort to tricks. Focus on your own race, and win any prize you earn by your own strength.”
“I’ll be waiting at the finish line. I wish you all well.”
“Now — get ready.”
“Set. Go!”
Chapter 1063 - The Game Began!
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
Neverwinter held the first National Sports Meeting on the Victory Day.
Roland had simplified the process of the game, so there was neither an opening ceremony nor a running commentary on the match. However, this could not stop it from becoming a major event in the city.
Early in the morning, everyone spontaneously rushed to the Kingdom Main Street with a little stool or a felt-padded cushion in hand, since they all wanted to grab a nice position to watch the game. Most of them went out with all of their family members. Such a huge stream of people attracted lots of peddlers. They carried snacks and beverages on their backs, peddling along the way.
Considering that most people in the city needed to walk at least 28 kilometers to the middle section of the Kingdom Main Street, where the finish line was located, Roland decided to start the race at 2:00 pm. By doing so, he could allow more time for the spectators to get ready. Still, beyond his expectations, he soon found out that he had underestimated their enthusiasm for this game. By noon, this place had already been tightly surrounded by about 10,000 enthusiastic spectators, and more people were still coming here.
As the king of Graycastle, he did not have to huddle together with the common people. The Ministry of Construction had built a stand next to the street a day before. There were around 100 seats on its platform, which were reserved for the senior officials of Neverwinter. Some soldiers of the First Army also were placed around the stand to ensure their safety.
“Your Majesty, here’s the roster of the 1,462 participants.” Scroll came up with a thick stack of papers in hand. “But due to the limited registration time,
I only categorized the information and analyzed the data rudimentarily. If I had two more days…”
“That’s alright.” Roland waved his hand to stop Scroll. “We are holding this sports meeting to boost people’s morale for the expedition. We can’t afford any delay.”
When he glanced through the roster, he found out that Scroll was just being modest. In such a short time, she found out every participant’s address and resume and recorded all the information in an orderly way. Roland believed no one else could do a better job.
In the roster, he came across some familiar names.
One was his old buddy, Yorko.
Another one was Lucia’s younger sister, Ring.
He also saw the three alchemists from the former capital city’s Alchemist Workshop.
He was happy to see them approve the sports meeting’s proverb, “the most important thing is to participate”, as none of them had any chances of winning the game, even though there were no witches involved in this match.
The names of the participants, who were more likely to win the race, were on the first page.
Roland saw that the top two names were Ferlin Eltek and Carter Lannis. He asked Scroll, “Do you think the champion is going to be either the Morning Light or my Chief Knight?”
Scroll smoothed back her hair and replied with a smile.
“Your Majesty, it’s almost time.” Barov, who was in a seat below, reminded him.
“Well, let’s get started.” Roland put down the roster and picked up the telephone next to him.
…
Guelz wore a desert-style fighting robe and was warming up before the game. He asked Rohan, “Do you know what the great chief is going to do to make all the participants in the two regions start running at the same time? The two starting lines are on the opposite sides of one another and all of us will run toward the middle of the street. Fairness is the most important thing in the holy duel. If this race is a little bit unfair, it’ll damage the great chief’s reputation.”
“Who knows. That doesn’t matter at all.” Rohan complained in his heart before replying with a little embarrassment, “Father… Could you please take that headband off? And the fur around your waist…”
He had never expected that a magic movie, The Wolf Princess, would’ve influenced his father so deeply. They had spent a large sum of money to watch the movie, and since then, his father had become obsessed with the Wolf Princess. Recently, he had repeatedly praised Lorgar’s beauty and reproached himself for asking her to cover her wolf parts to avoid criticisms. The movie made him realize how stupid and cowardly he was and regretted that he had not done his fatherly duty which was to accept and protect his daughter.
Rohan understood his father’s feelings, but he felt really uncomfortable seeing him dressed like this. Guelz wore a headband with a pair of toy wolf ears stitched on it. He also wrapped a strip of fur around his waist as a wolf tail.
“You’re the chief of the Wildflame clan! If someone from the Port of Clearwater were to see you dressed so silly and if they were to pass it on to the Mojins, how would you face the other clan chiefs in the future?” Rohan yelled in his heart.
“This is my compensation for her. Don’t ask me to take them off again,” said Guelz seriously. “The courage she displayed in the magic movie made me feel ashamed. Stick to the road of your choice and never let anyone else’s opinion shake your resolve. That’s what I taught her, but I myself failed to do so. The best way to cope with criticism is to confront it. If more and more
people are willing to accept this look, they won’t think of Lorgar as a monster.”
“…” Rohan opened his mouth only to find out that he was lost for words.
“I heard you question the credibility of this match.” Suddenly, a voice came from behind. “You aren’t from here, right? You’ve no idea how talented His Majesty is. He’s invented something called the telephone to exchange instant messages with people from far away. And did you notice those things above?”
Rohan turned his gaze toward the place the man pointed at and saw two big black cylinders up there. He could hardly think of how they were going to pass messages to the race participants.
“It’s called a loudspeaker! It can magnify the sound by several dozens of times. There’s another loudspeaker near the start line in Longsong District. They are both connected to His Majesty’s telephone. In this way, he can give an order to all the participants at the same time,” the man explained proudly.
“Oh! That’s great!” Guelz said while clapping his hands. “As long as it’s a fair game, I’ll try my best to win the match!”
“By the way, uncle. Your body’s really strong… The winter’s just ended so it’s still quite chilly. Aren’t you cold in that short robe?” The man looked at Guelz with interest. “And this headband with wolf ears—”
“Oh no, here it is…” Rohan closed his eyes in embarrassment. He assumed that the man was going to ridicule his father’s outfit and that his father was going to feel awkward or furiously beat the man up. If that were to happen, they would inevitably make a bad impression on the great chief.
“You’re cosplaying the Wolf Princess, aren’t you? I like your outfit…” The man said. “Can you tell me where to buy it?”
What! ?
Rohan could not believe his ears.
“Hahaha, this outfit…”
When Guelz was about to answer the man, a harsh sizzling noise suddenly came out from the loudspeaker—
“Good afternoon, everybody… sizz… I’m Roland Wimbledon.”
All the people in the street fell silent.
“I’m sure you already know the rules of the game well. I just want to remind you that the result of the race is not the most important thing. You came here to challenge yourselves. As long as you do your best, you’ll be your own hero, whether or not you make it to the end. Remember not to disturb your opponents or play any other tricks in this race. Just focus on your own journey and try to win a prize with your own strength.”
“I’ll wait for you at the finish line. Wish you all do well in this game.”
“Now, please get ready.”
“Set, go!”