Free Web NovelChapter 174: The Festival’s Opening Ceremony [2]
The crowd was in even higher moods after the King’s speech.
Whether he truly believed what he said or not was yet to be seen, but it didn’t change the fact that he said it well.
The herald wasted no time, immediately announcing the first introduction.
The Royal family’s response had barely died down before the doors to the chamber that belonged to the North opened.
Unlike the Royal family, the Grand Duke didn’t have to come with them, so Cedric and Renelle were the only ones who stepped out.
The moment they stepped out, they went rowdy again, especially the survivors, and they were extremely easy to spot, after all, they were the ones standing.
"I see you made quite the name for yourself, little sister," Cedric said with a small smile as they continued walking forward.
Renelle said nothing in response; instead, she just acknowledged the survivors, and they continued walking towards the officials.
This was all as a result of his butler, and she could very clearly see the curiosity of the others in the crowd as they couldn’t help but ask why the survivors were filled with enthusiasm.
Most of them still knew her as the daughter of the Grand Duke who was stalking the prince, so they were surprised to learn about her being the Ice Empress.
Cedric, meanwhile, handed the banner to a nearby official with a perfectly formal bow, and the crowd rewarded him for it generously.
With that, the siblings turned back around and walked towards the door that led to their chambers again.
Adrian watched this with a smile on his face, realizing that he didn’t have to do anything anymore.
This caused Noctis to let out a relieved sigh. After all, this crazy, obsessed contractor of its had finally come to his senses.
Turns out, Adrian was planning to even create a special fan group for her, with T-shirts and all.
Though he hadn’t completely discarded that idea just yet.
***
The South came next, and it was very clear that the home crowd had been waiting specifically for this.
Their cheers and stomps that created a certain rhythm were proof enough of this. The cheers that the others were giving seemed lacking compared to theirs.
Darius walked out and was immediately hit by the sound, causing him to just stand there and look towards them for a few seconds. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
Next, a wide grin appeared on his face, and the forty thousand people who recognized one of their own responded accordingly.
Orion also smiled at the reception, though he wasn’t showing as much enthusiasm as his little brother.
They also approached the officials, and while he formally handed their banner to one of them, Darius was busy waving to the crowd.
The two walked back to the doors that led to their viewing chamber
***
The West followed with a reception that was warm and appropriate.
It was also entirely forgettable compared to what preceded it.
But Linda didn’t mind, after all, she couldn’t deal with loud places anyway.
Then the East’s doors opened.
What they received were cheers that seemed controlled.
Most, at least those who knew or had interacted with him before, seemed to feel the change in Cassian’s demeanor, but they blamed it on the dungeon he had recently come back from.
Though they expected him to be a lot more reserved than he previously was, due to that, it seems the opposite happened.
He seemed more light-hearted.
It was almost as if he were a different person altogether.
***
The Church came last...well, they came just before the academy, and the arena did what it always did when the Church was involved.
It got politely quiet.
The crowd silently observed the two representatives slowly walk towards the officials and hand them their banner before turning back.
***
Finally, it was the Academy’s turn to present their representatives to the crowd, and the door opened, letting Adrian and Conan walk out.
The two had no expression on their faces as they calmly walked towards the officials, but unlike with the church, the crowd immediately went rowdy again.
Both the students of the academy that managed to attend the festival and survivors were cheering as loudly as they could.
The students, because they had seen exactly the kind of monster he was, that and the rumor about him beating Combat instructor Tess, whilst barely trying, was still floating around.
They had also seen what type of monster that first year was, especially after his spar with the second year.
So they were certain that the academy was bound to come out on top in this year’s festival.
The survivors, on the other hand, as much as Adrian had presented the Ice Empress as their only savior, they still acknowledged that he was one of the three who ventured into the dark sea.
And he was also one of their seven saviors, so even though they didn’t know Conan, they still cheered as hard as they could.
Conan formally handed the Academy’s banner to the official before turning around, but not before glancing towards the crowd.
And sitting among the thousands of people was exactly who he had expected.
Alvíss.
There was no way he was going to miss this event, after all, it was a chance to observe how his creation would fare against the so-called geniuses.
It was also the first time his invention would be presented to the world...well, second, but he wasn’t as proud of the vehicles as he was of Conan.
After all, deep down, he was still researching ways to merge magic tools with humans, and so far, Conan had been his only success.
"It seems the old man has developed a liking for you," Adrian suddenly said, pulling Conan’s attention.
"He’s just a year to observe how I perform," Conan answered, "that old dwarf is incapable of liking anything."
Adrian chuckled at that before shaking his head, "If that were the case, he wouldn’t have shown up today, after all, the festival officially starts tomorrow."
"I guess," Conan answered before glancing back at the old man, who seemed to have a permanent frown on his face, before chuckling,
"I still doubt that."
