Chapter 44: The Northern Empress’s Attention

“Hall has arrived, Marquis Chekhov.”

“So that’s Hall? He looks a bit languid, but the fact that he repelled the Xia Kingdom spies and saved the young lady of the Child family a while back is probably true. Such a person is indeed capable.”

“It seems Marquis Chekhov has a high opinion of him?”

“How can I not? The moment he walked in, Duchess Leticia’s eyes lit up, and Christine, who was previously chatting casually with Earl Lied, also shifted her attention. The rumors aren’t false. Regardless of this young master of the Faxtius family’s strength, just the fact that he’s captured the attention of the Child family’s princess and a saintess candidate, makes him worth cultivating.”

Hall stepped past the throng of reporters and formally entered the arena gates.

Everyone’s attention and conversation focused on him.

The delegation from the Kingdom of Cateline, with their mission, of course, observed him.

Himan was thinking that he hadn’t been late this time; not bad.

Dean Morgan hadn’t interacted much with Hall because he had been pursuing a higher realm these past few years.

But Hall was the son of a duke, and Dean Morgan walked up to shake his hand, and then briefly talked about the spy incident in the Sixth District Underground Street, praising Hall for his decisiveness, saying he had the demeanor of the old dean in his prime.

Then, before Dean Morgan could finish talking to Hall, Marquis Chekhov also approached.

The envoy from the Kingdom of Cateline did not speak directly to Hall, but instead asked Dean Morgan, “I see this young master’s bearing is outstanding. I presume he is the ace of your school in this swordsmanship exchange?”

This label made Hall a bit flustered. He was here to be a slacker, to make up the numbers. Why did he become the main character the moment he walked in?

And didn’t Marquis Chekhov’s eyes get worse with age?

The young gentleman standing next to Himan had a golden Holy Sword emblem and several medals of honor, obviously, he was the main force in this swordsmanship exchange.

Hall vaguely remembered him, as during the Himan route, when the player participated in the swordsmanship exchange, this NPC could usually be seen on the roster, as the competition was usually a three-person or five-person event.

His achievements were not bad, and he was an NPC who basically helped the Holy Light University secure a point.

Indeed, Young Master Andrei also felt that he should be the main character today, what was his level.

He learned swordsmanship at the age of seven, and at twelve he was sent by his father to the summer camp held by the Adventurer’s Guild, where he won the top three places, and then received the honor of [Throne of Holy Light].

At fifteen, he was selected as one of the top ten outstanding young adventurers of the year by the local Adventurers Association, and at seventeen, he received the honor of [Throne of Silver of Holy Light].

He did not choose the path of promotion to the White Knight Order, but instead actively participated in the pre-service activities of the Holy Light Knight Order directly under the church.

This was also related to his family background. Although his father was a Marquis, he was not from Saint Louis, but could only be considered a local noble.

Besides his own efforts, his selection to participate in this swordsmanship exchange was also an opportunity given to Young Master Andrei from within the academy.

He thought he should perform well and be the protagonist of today.

But when he entered the arena, he realized that things were not as he imagined.

Since entering the venue, besides Dean Morgan, who greeted him like a teacher meeting a student, everyone else basically ignored him.

The Cateline delegation did not come over to greet him, nor did the young lady from the Child family, nor did the saintess candidate who was there to observe.

Weren’t they supposed to observe today’s swordsmanship exchange competition?

As the strongest seed player, he should have gotten more attention, right?

Young Master Andrei’s self-esteem was hit, but he thought again that it didn’t matter. The competition hadn’t started yet, and if those honored guests paid too much attention to him before the competition started, it would somewhat indicate favoritism.

He should win the audience’s attention through his own strength.

However, now he realized that the situation was not what he thought. It was as if the moment that black-clad youth entered, the entire arena’s atmosphere completely came alive.

He wasn’t the protagonist today; instead, he was like a foil.

“Hall Faxtius.”

Young Master Andrei recalled the name of the young master who was going to compete with him in the swordsmanship exchange later.

But he thought, wasn’t this guy a second-generation rich kid?

Although he wasn’t familiar with Hall, he had still heard some rumors about Hall.

When he got the official list last night, Young Master Andrei thought Hall was there to make up the numbers.

For the sake of high emotional intelligence, the Papal State, for foreign delegations, usually left some room to win or lose.

Whether it was a five-round match or a three-round match, they would bring a young man from a noble family who wasn’t up to par to concede one round.

But why was everyone paying attention to the person who should “concede a round?”

Young Master Andrei was filled with confusion. He went over to join the conversation between Hall and Marquis Chekhov, hoping to express his determination to win today.

Unfortunately, the conversation between Chekhov and Hall happened to end at this moment.

He was also forced to say hello to Hall.

And then he received a perfunctory greeting from the other party.

“Let’s do our best together.”

Young Master Andrei was speechless. But he could only say the perfunctory words “Let’s do our best together” to Hall.

Then he saw Hall go off to a corner by himself.

Hall just wanted to be quiet, because the conversation between him, Marquis Chekhov, and Dean Morgan had let him know.

It wasn’t that the academy recommended him to participate in this swordsmanship exchange.

It was that the delegation from the Kingdom of Cateline had heard that Hall had repelled the Xia Kingdom spies and thought he was good, so they wanted to see his level.

This situation was very ambiguous.

Because the Empress of Cateline was also one of the heroines.

That heroine’s route was similar to Leticia’s, belonging to a route with a lower risk for the player. This heroine’s swordsmanship talent was [S]. After completing the achievement mission and awakening it could even rise to [S+].

The basic level in the early game was also high, she came with the Eternal Winter Holy Sword as her exclusive weapon, and could mobilize national resources at any time. Although she was very frugal, which meant that the player had no free assets.

But her Fame Value at the start of the route was equal to the value other heroines had later on, so items were cheap, and there was no difficulty in apprenticing and recruiting secondary characters. Even when borrowing from a bank, players could borrow at a super-low interest rate that was zero percent within a year.

However, compared to the Leticia route, the difficulty was slightly higher, and there were more tasks, so it wasn’t as leisurely as the Leticia route.

Theoretically, this heroine shouldn’t have any dealings with him, Hall.

But once the player goes on a power trip in the early stages, gives in to temptation, and chooses to declare war on a certain demon king at a certain point, or chooses to join forces with the Salvation Church to stir up trouble in the Papal State.

Then the difficulty of the plot dungeons would be immediately raised. The player would have to face one of the most difficult enemies in the game’s plot.

And if the player’s heroine team’s average training level was not high, or the main characters they recruited were not enough, then they would suffer.

Once they suffered, the system would, in various ways, frantically recommend him, Hall, to the player, and even create a plot where the Northern Empress would personally visit the Papal State, which would forcibly open the Saint Louis map for the player and have an encounter with Hall.

“Something’s not right, in the game’s early stages, the event of the Cateline delegation’s visit to the Papal State requires the player to make a choice… in other words, the Empress’s personal approval.”

Hall’s nerves were instantly pulled taut.

A chill ran down his back.

Was he being noticed by the Empress of Cateline?

Too early?!

But soon, a girl’s sweet voice interrupted his thoughts.

“My dear young master Hall, what are you thinking about all alone?”