Helmut: The Forsaken Child - H.F.C Chapter 389 (Part 1): The Comprehensive Martial Arts Tournament

The Comprehensive Martial Arts Tournament was, at least in terms of scale, the largest of its kind. Madwin, a city large enough to be considered a major urban center, was bustling with spectators and participants alike.

The hospitality industry was experiencing a rare boom, with accommodations fully booked and some even resorting to sleeping outdoors. To maintain order amidst the influx of people, a large military presence had been deployed.

The organizers had gone out of their way to provide lodging for participants and had even set up additional magic circles to allow participants to stay in nearby cities and travel to Madwin on the same day.

Both Renosa and the Empire had ample experience hosting such events. As co-hosts, they had assumed that the preparation period wouldn’t need to be excessively long, and the event would proceed without major issues. However, the overwhelming popularity of the tournament had forced them to scramble to keep things running smoothly.

“Over a hundred participants have advanced to the main tournament alone. The number of preliminary participants was simply too large, so it’s unavoidable. The tournament will likely run longer than expected, especially since we can’t eliminate the loser’s bracket.”

The Crown Prince handed the documents to Charlotte while murmuring. His eyes, shadowed by dark circles from sleepless nights, betrayed his fatigue.

Charlotte—the swordswoman who wielded Vis—received the documents with a composed expression. This level of exertion was nothing to her.

“Still, it’s fortunate that the Comprehensive Martial Arts Tournament is being held so successfully.”

This event served as proof of the strong alliance between the Empire and Renosa. Charlotte was fulfilling her role admirably. She skimmed through the documents containing information about the main tournament participants.

“There are more mages than I expected.”

She had assumed that the number of mages advancing to the main tournament would be minimal, given the low number of applicants. However, over twenty mages had made it through.

While some were court mages who had been exempt from the preliminaries, the majority had fought their way up from the qualifying rounds.

Though swordsmen were generally considered to have an advantage in one-on-one combat, few of them had experience facing mages. Mages were significantly fewer in number compared to swordsmen, and they rarely engaged in unfavorable battles with swordsmen.

“In particular, one mage stood out with exceptional skill,” Charlotte noted as she found a page marked prominently in red.

The name “Violet” was written in bold letters.

“Ah, that mage. I’ve heard she’s remarkably young, beautiful, and incredibly skilled. I wonder where she came from. She’s quite intriguing,” the Crown Prince mused, his eyes gleaming as he rested his chin on his hand.

His gaze was fixed on Violet’s portrait in the document.

Charlotte already knew her true identity.

Not because Alea had told her, but because she had expected Alea to stand out. And of course, the description of an “incredible beauty” could only refer to Alea.

“Are you interested in her?” Charlotte asked cautiously.

She hadn’t forgotten Asuka’s warning that the Crown Prince was a womanizer. Whether it was true or not, his appearance certainly fit the description.

Alea is Helmut’s girlfriend, and she had no desire to be entangled with the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince, however, interpreted her words differently—in a way favorable to himself. He smiled meaningfully and replied, “Don’t misunderstand. There are plenty of beauties in the capital, and I have not forgotten my own status. Besides, I have a woman who truly suits me. This is merely an interest in her skills.”

“That’s a relief,” Charlotte said, picking up the documents again. The matchups had already been decided.

As she scrutinized the bracket, her brow furrowed.

“Is there a problem?”

“…It’s nothing.”

In any case, it was impossible for Helmut, Alea, Asuka, and Sian to all reach the finals. Even if they faced each other, someone would have to be eliminated.

That was simply the nature of the tournament.

‘Still, there are quite a few unexpected strong participants. This one… I can’t figure out who he is.’

Charlotte paused as she flipped through the documents, her eyes fixed on the portrait of a man with golden eyes.

She had heard about the participants who had dominated the preliminaries.

She had immediately recognized Asuka and Helmut, but this man’s origins were a mystery.

Based on his accent, he seemed to be from the Empire, but there were no records of such a person among the Empire’s renowned noble swordsmen.

Charlotte had taken notice of him because Alonso, the commander of the Black Wing Knights, had shown interest in him.

‘He’s strong.’

‘If Alonso says so… Does that mean he’s strong enough to join the Black Wing Knights?’

Alonso shook his head firmly.

‘I don’t call someone strong if they’re weaker than me. That said, I can’t definitively say he’s stronger than me either.’

From his ambiguous response, Charlotte realized that even Alonso couldn’t gauge the man’s strength.

The man had listed his age as twenty-four on the documents. How could someone so young possess strength that even the commander of the Black Wing Knights couldn’t assess?

Charlotte suppressed a growing sense of unease.

‘Even so, there’s no way he could defeat Senior Helmut.’

Helmut had already reached the pinnacle of what a human could achieve.

That was undeniable, thanks to the Seed of Darkness.

No matter how talented an ordinary human might be, without such a special element, they could never surpass Helmut…

The Crown Prince, noticing Charlotte’s pensive expression, casually remarked, “It must be disappointing not to be able to participate in the tournament.”

“…I’ll just have to hope for another opportunity in the future.”

Charlotte didn’t deny it.

Sitting idly and watching the strong compete made her hands itch.

She was a swordswoman. And she knew full well that she wished to be recognized more as a swordswoman than as a Grand Duchess.

“…This is difficult,” the Crown Prince suddenly muttered. Charlotte gave him a puzzled look, but he simply shook his head.

“It’s nothing. Let’s finish up and get some rest. Tomorrow’s schedule is packed.”

Otaku_Tensei

I'm currently Translating the following novel: Helmut: The Forsaken Child. If you want to support me and read more chapters please subscribe to my Patreon!

•