41 Chiron

Well, there isn't much I can do to keep the tournament going. I'm injured, the royal twins are out for the count after being stabbed, and the only other team is totally suspected of treason. I mean... if you think logically, it makes total sense.

There is then also the fact that I could be suspected if they find out that I knew the identity of the two beforehand. The good news is lie detectors are much better than in the old world. Now, that might seem like a bad thing, but listen here, I can just say, "They were suspicious so I looked into their identity with no ill intent." and BOOM, I'm safe... I hope.

I mean, it's my chance of getting out of this not being an international criminal, so I'll take it. Man, I really need to stop putting myself in these situations. I can't wait to get some sleep, and also go to the hospital, I'm NOT well after all that's happened...

Suddenly some person started to walk onto the stage, the front of a human, human torso, human front legs, etc, but the back is different, it's that of a horse. Like a centaur with the front legs of a human. I can only think of one person from ancient mythology that matches that description. Chiron, and the current King of Sagittarius.

Now is probably a good time to mention the current prince and princess of the kingdom's full names are Kronos the IV and Philyra the V. Of course this is because unlike the mythology from the old world, these people are mortal. No matter how long their lives are they eventually die.

However, that is not the case for Chiron. The current King Chiron has governed this kingdom for ten thousand years. That goes to say just how strong this man is. The amount of MP required for a life that long is the amount I have... if you multiply it by five.

Goes to show how there will always be someone stronger than you. No matter how strong you are, or how well off you are, there will be someone ten steps ahead... Well, it's not like it bothers me, Chiron is known for his kindness after all, he's not going to go on a killing rampage, otherwise the world would be doomed.

By the way, this also means that Kronos and Philyra are his great-great-great-great-etc-grandchildren... yeah... I believe he does have a daughter named Endeis though, or something like that.

Anyway, back on track, Chiron is here? Why is the king at this place? He walks up to the two remaining teams, mine and the Dark Elves, and points to both of us. Suddenly green light envelopes all of us and we are all in perfect condition, seriously I feel like I could run a marathon! Was that Healing magic? I've never seen it so potent before!

Well, I should expect as much from the King. Something about his aura isn't scary though, I can't really explain it, but even though he is probably the most dangerous man I've ever met, he doesn't scare me.

Obviously, everyone in the stadium kneels, keeping their head down.

"Are you all the rest of the contestants?" So that's King Chiron's voice? Well, it's much less intimidating than I would expect a king's voice to be... but still demands respect.

"Y-yes... sir." This is not fun! I know I said he doesn't scare me, but the pressure of the king is still there! This is the leader of our kingdom! One wrong thing and I'm gonna be at the gallows! Do gallows still exist! I don't know!

"Please come with me..."

We are led by royal soldiers to the clinic, and there we see the prince and princess in perfect health, I guess Chiron must have healed them.

Suddenly, some royal general tells us, "The king has led you here because of the danger you are all in, until further notice, you are all going to be sent to a place where you can be adequately protected."

"Of course, the prince and princess demanded that we also protect you all, although you inferio- OW!" He's suddenly smacked on top of the head by the princess.

"They are in just as much danger as the rest of us! It also may be our fault, I couldn't forgive myself if someone got killed because of me!" Well, she seems like a good person.

"Princess Philyra, while that may be true, we can take them into protection somewhere else, not anywhere near you."

"Look, if you do that, I know you'll put no effort in to protect them!"

She seems like she's up and running, King Chiron's healing really works well. Well, whatever, I guess this isn't over yet. The competition sadly must end here for now, but hopefully, it will be resumed after all this is sorted out. After all, there isn't much left of the competition.

I call my parents and tell them everything that's happening, and how I won't be home any time soon. Who is this person trying to kill us?

===

Unknown POV:

"Why now! Suspending the competition, and protection! Why did those people have to be royals, now we're in this huge mess!"

"I know it's bad, but if the going gets tough, we can always use Mind magic to trick the guards."

"Are you crazy! How will that work! These royal guards are the most trained people in the country, countering an inexperienced Mind magician is something they can do in their sleep... literally!"

"I know, but they still don't know your identity, and if you're careful, you can accuse another team!"

===

Jess' POV:

Well, time to head to wherever they're taking us. I mean, it's not like I have much to worry about anymore. The protection offered by the royal guard is the best of the best, so if I'm near royals I'll probably not die unless I offend someone I shouldn't have.

Still, that wannabe murderer is still on the loose. While they suck at actually killing anyone, they are good at one thing, going undetected. I mean, if the royal soldiers are after them, and still haven't found out, that's super impressive.

Still, knowing that just in a car right over from me is the king of the entire kingdom, that's a little stressful. I also just noticed that I haven't heard anything from the prince yet. Well whatever, I can't do much about it.

If you just noticed that the royals don't have last names there is in fact a reason for that. At the founding of this kingdom ten thousand years ago, Chiron decided that the royals should discard their surnames in order to pledge allegiance to the country, why that is I have no clue. There is nothing about it in old mythology, so it's something exclusive to this world. In fact, this kingdom is nicknamed throughout the EUT as the No-Name Kingdom.

Some people theorize that the reason this is done is to show loyalty by throwing away a part of yourself, another is that the king just didn't like his birth family and wanted to get rid of his surname, but no one really knows.

Why am I bringing this up now? Because this car ride has been three hours long already and I'm bored. My vision is covered to keep the location of the place we're going a secret, and so I can't play on my phone or something, so I literally have nothing to do, I can't even look out the window!

Basically, I'm just doing random things like info-dumps to keep myself from dying of boredom.

Finally, we're here! They took off my headcover and I can see where we are! Wait, isn't this place a...

END OF VOLUME 1