Crushing flags and claiming the Villainess - Chapter 125

Chapter 125: Chapter 124- About the tournament
Later that night, as promised, Valerie arrived in his room.

She was slightly hesitant, considering her Lord was tired, and they had parted ways just half an hour ago, so she was not sure if she should visit him or not.

That’s why she decided to check on him, and if he was sleeping, she would have left.

However, the moment she jumped from the tree to land on his window,

“Hello, beautiful.” With his elbow resting on the window frame, and his face pressed on his curled fist, Austin greeted her.

Valerie was startled to see him here, nearly missing the mark and slipping—only for her Lord to catch her arm and hold her from falling.

“Did I scare you? Sorry~” Austin smilingly pulled his beloved into the room. Well, waiting for her like that might not have been the best idea.

Valerie thanked him as she landed in his room and exhaled a long breath, “I thought you might have fallen asleep.”

Austin teasingly smiled, “Can’t be helped, my blanket isn’t warm enough.”

The implication of those words made Valerie’s face warm as she averted her gaze slightly and asked, “W-Well, maybe I can help.”

“Sure you can…but if you are okay then let’s talk for a bit.”

Valerie blinked in perplexity, but she instantly nodded.

Austin went to the small kitchen he had and brought two cups of hot steaming coffee for both of them.

Inviting the girl to sit on the bed, he took a chair and handed the cup to her.

“Thank you.” She thanked him before inhaling the aromatic scent of freshly crushed beans. Ah, he really knows what she likes.

Austin nodded as he sat down across from her, and began the conversation, “Val…can you tell me more about this tournament? Like how does it happen, and how many matches do we need to play?”

He had knowledge of the game; however, very vaguely everything was explained since the game only focused on the Protagonist and her matches. A few glimpses of her harem member’s matches as well, but that didn’t give enough evidence of what this was all about.

And since the original owner of the body never assumed himself participating in the tournament, he didn’t pay attention to it.

It wasn’t that he lacked the strength or confidence to be selected, but the real Austin knew becoming an Elite was out of his reach. And if he couldn’t participate alongside Rhea as an Elite, the original Austin saw no reason to care about the tournament at all.

Valerie hummed, before she asked, “Can I get a paper and pen?”

Austin nodded, “Yeah, sure.”

Valerie got up from the bed and reached the table.

Austin offered her a chair and the things she asked for.

Both of them sat while facing each other as Valerie first finished the coffee—she couldn’t let the beverage get cold, which was prepared by her Lord—and then she started writing.

“So the tournament is divided between two divisions: Rookie and Elites. Eight students will be participating from each division, so counting all the students, it would be one hundred twenty-eight from eight academies?”

“Hmm? Eight? Aren’t there like seven major nation’s academies?”

Valerie nodded, “Yes, but every year, the council allows one academy from an underdeveloped town or city to participate in the tournament. They want to encourage them to improve and eventually earn a rightful place in the competition.”

“Kind of like underdogs, huh? Well, continue.”

Valerie nodded as she began writing in two columns, “We don’t get to hear what matches we would be playing until we reach there, so no academy could get to practice beforehand. However, the Council never changes their pattern of matches.”

Saying so, Valerie wrote ‘Stage One’.

“Forget about the Rookie division since their challenges would be completely different and more fun-related. The Elite division would be distributed into two squads from each academy, and they would be facing the squads from different academies. There will be a team-based round in the beginning, which would eliminate half of the Elite division by the ninth day.”

Austin’s brows elevated as he registered every word she spoke, before asking, “You mean failing here means one won’t be allowed to continue?”

Valerie nodded, “Yes, and, the next round can only be played by the squad that won—replacing members and bringing someone from the defeated squad is prohibited.”

Austin’s brows drew closer as he asked, “So if you are placed in a group of idiots which becomes a reason for you to lose….Valorian Academy would lose their best students in the initial phase, huh?”

Valerie smiled, “I might be strong but I am not the best, Austin.”

That elicited a hum of questioning, as he asked, “What do you mean?”

“Experience does matter here. You cannot win the tournament with brute force. That’s why the President, who participated as a Rookie two years ago, is the best pick for this tournament.”

Austin scoffed; he didn’t believe that. For him Valerie was the best and someone who would bring Valorian Academy to glory.

Valerie smiled helplessly, seeing the reluctance from her Lord, before she continued, “So by the ninth day, we would be left with sixty-four participants. At this stage, we would be grouped as a duo—making sixteen teams.”

She spoke as she wrote, “Thirty-two teams and one round would be held between four duos, and only a single pair would come out victorious. That’s why, by the fifth day we would be left with sixteen remaining people.”

“Hmm…but there is a chance that more students from one academy would remain for the second round, and some academies might no longer be participating.”

Valerie nodded, “Indeed, that’s why there is a chance we fight against the people with whom we participated with.”

Austin smiled as he held her hand and said, “Well, we will be together so I ain’t worried.”

Valerie smiled fondly, “Me too. But we need to make sure that we get into the same squad as well.”

Austin nodded—these team matches would be difficult considering his reputation in the academy.

‘That’s why the headmaster said that I might face severe difficulty…’ He was feeling a headache approaching

Valerie continued, “Then comes the individual rounds where one has to play four rounds against the others to reach the finals.”

She drew the whole chart of how the rounds would flow and how one could tread through all the challenges to stand at the top.

Austin looked at the semi-finalist brackets as he asked, “So, there is a chance we can face each other in the final round.”

Valerie slowly moved her head left and right, “Possibly.”

Austin looked up, a crisp smile on his face as he said, “And if that happens, I won’t be holding back so make sure you don’t let your feelings become a reason for your defeat.”

Valerie also looked back with her left eyebrow elevated as she said, “I want to impress my fiancé so surely I will win.”

“That so~well, let’s see.”

The challenge was on.

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A/N:- We are diving into this unexpected and full of twist arcs. This is so gonna be unexpected for many. Drop a comment