Chapter 72 – Awards Ceremony, and…
Unbeknownst to everyone present, a small boat had arrived just outside of Port Rock. Everyone had gone to the finish line to watch the winner of the race.
「OK, it’s all right now Reiko.」
A naked Reiko boarded the ship and put on her clothes swiftly without worry.
「Father, we should take these golems to the Event Officials as soon as possible.」
「Ah, yes, please.」
「Yes.」
Reiko hauled the golems and began to carry them since they couldn’t move. Jin helped out and did the same as well.
「Hm? What? What is it?」
「What’s that? Huh?」
Most of the residents were paying attention to the compet.i.tion, but we still stood out.
Because Jin intended to leave this town soon, he began to act serious.
At the finish line, a thunderous cheer could be heard.
「Athlete number 35, now, GOOOOOOOOAL!」
Jin was reminded by the especially loud announcement that Marcia had taken first place.
「Well done, Marcia.」
Thought Jin as he made his way through the shifting ma.s.s of people who were pushing and shoving to catch a glimpse of this year’s queen, Marcia, who donned a tearful face.
A slightly joyful Reiko commented -
「Congratulations, father. Well, it’s natural since it’s father.」
「Ah, if it isn’t Jin. Congratulations on your victory. By the way, what is Miss Reiko carrying?」
Jin ran into Reinhardt while he came down from the VIP seats to thank Elsa for her service. Fortunately for Jin, Reinhardt noticed the two figures carrying golems.
「Oh, Reinhardt. About these two golems, they appear to be sent by a third party who wished to interfere with today’s event.]
「What? Is the Control Core safe?」
「Of course. Even though I can confirm the details myself, I’d like an Event Official to be present.」
「I’ll never forgive anyone that defiles the compet.i.tion that should be fair. Hey, official!」
Although Jin was an uninvited guest, because of Reinhardt’s influence and position as an aristocrat in another country, the Vice Chairman of the event came over immediately. The chairperson seemed to be occupied by managing the awards ceremony.
「There is someone who attempted to cheat with these golems.」
「What!?!?」(ED: NANI???)
「When we investigate the control core, all the supporting evidence will appear. Watch, !」
Reinhardt works his magic on the control core. Instead of the higher ranking , it is the easier to understand .
「This is… !」
Light begins to flow and forms letters in a line. When read,
「This part “interfere with all ships except for athlete number 1’s” can be read.」
「This says “Destroy athlete number 35 and ****”. **** is not readable, but they want it destroyed. What is this thing?!」
The golem was damaged when Reiko disabled it, so not everything was preserved perfectly. This being so, enough information was kept intact in an understandable condition.
「In other words, this golem was sent out for… !」
The complexion of the vice-chairman changed, but Reinhardt remained calm.
「No, we shouldn’t come to conclusions too early, as it could possibly be an excessive supporters efforts.」
「Anyway, we’ll have to bring this up in the Official Event Governing committee!」
As he finished the evaluation, an order was given to a subordinate that had them carry the golems to a secure location for safekeeping.
「Oh? In such a place.」
When Jin relaxed his shoulders and murmured, Reinhardt was in high spirits.
「I saw Jin and Miss Reiko row out and leave from before. Adding up the events that happened afterwards, sending an invitation for you to visit my country seems more and more appealing! When I go back home, do you wish to accompany me?」
As Jin thought about the proposal, Reinhardt told him about his plans for travel.
「I’d like to travel with you immediately after this compet.i.tion, but unfortunately I have other things that I need to attend to. I intend to go visit the other regions, and in doing so, pa.s.sing through Elias kingdom will probably take around another 10 days.」
Because he thought Jin would provide him with inspiration and ingenuity, he gave a grace period of 10 days for convenience.
「If that’s the case, I’d be happy to go together.」
「Oh, I see! My Randall family will definitely welcome you to our country. Then how about I send someone to meet you here in 10 days?」
When Jin said he’d like to go, Reinhardt was pleasantly surprised.
「In that case, that’ll help. Oh, how much baggage can I bring?」
「If it’s 1 carriage, it doesn’t matter.」
There didn’t seem to be a problem, so Jin thanked him.
The Central Harbor was decided on as the meeting place and Jin received a handkerchief with the crest of the Randall house on it.
This will allow the person who’s going to escort Jin to identify him.
As the conversation finished and everything was agreed upon, remarkably loud cheers came from the direction of the compet.i.tion venue.
「Oh, is the awards ceremony going to start soon?」
So Jin and Reinhardt traveled to the venue together.
On the podium are three extremely beautiful women.
Marcia, who wore a blue swimsuit was on the highest platform marked #1. Because of her narrow figure, it emphasized her other features, attracting the gazes of almost all of the male visitors.
Elsa was wearing a yellow swimsuit and was in second place. Because of her modest figure in spite of being 16 years old, and her being a viscount’s daughter, people were cheering for her less openly.
Standing in third place was Riche with her red swimsuit. Although she was pet.i.te, she had a glamorous figure which divided the popularity and attention between her and Marcia in two.
＊ ＊
The awards ceremony was over and Jin and Reiko were talking to Marcia in the waiting room. She had already taken off her swimsuit and was wearing her usual casual clothes.
「Jin, thank you, it’s thanks to you that I could win the championship. Thanks to you, I should be able to succeed as a shipwright.」
While saying so, she placed the bag with the 1 million torr prize money on the table.
「I was able to get the 100,000 torr prize for the design of the ship.」
Since the catamaran Cygnus was evaluated highly, Marcia appeared to show some more sincerity.
「Because of that, I got an award for uniqueness. This is your share, Jin.」
She put the bag of 100,000 torr in front of Jin. The waterwheel drive was also evaluated highly.
「Because of that, the division of the championship prize money will be equally divided according to our contract.」
「Um, I…」
「Ah, I understand. Because Jin contributed the most to our victory, I want to give you 3/4ths of the prize money.」
「No, that’s not it, I…」
Jin started to say that it was a joke, but decided to stay quiet about it, because his modesty could appear as excessive and devalue the victory due to being too reserved.
「Well then, half, if you please.」
Saying so, he opened the bag with gold coins and counted out 50 and left it to Reiko. Reiko then put it in a pocket of her ap.r.o.n.
「That was refreshing. What will you do now, Jin?」
Marcia asked with relief on her face.
「I was originally planning to go sightseeing in this country and see the different towns. Reinhardt invited me to visit also…」
「Is that so? Though I am disappointed, the contract is over and Jin is not from this country. Although it was short, it was definitely fun.」
Saying so, Marcia held out her right hand and Jin grasped it in return.
「I was also happy that I could team up with Marcia.」
After saying so and smiling, Jin and Marcia left the waiting room.
They were then promptly mobbed by people who wished to hire the two of them.
＊ ＊
「Excuse me, is it true?」
「Yes, Reinhardt, a VIP checked it in front of me.」
「Go investigate this immediately.」
The female feudal lord, Dominique de Firentsiano, was angry at the news that there was a third party who plotted sabotage with the golems and commanded that the issue be investigated immediately.
On that day, an aide to the feudal lord was found to have bought a large quant.i.ty of Magic Stones and that a magic formation of movement interference was discovered on the desk of an event official.
Furthermore, a merchant who used some materials and money made poor quality bronze statues of a specific visitor (they didn’t say it was Marcia) and was reported.
Another thing that was discovered was that one person who was arrested was a member of the garrison. He was the one who had snuck into the docks where the ships in the finals were kept and failed to steal a ship. As a result of interrogation, they found out that he was after ship number 35.
Further inquiry also found that Velntino had been persistently trying to make Marcia, the champion, into his mistress.
The final nail in the coffin was that they were able to identify the Magic Craftsman who programmed the golems that Reiko had captured. Naturally, the person who hired him became clear shortly after.
Although most of the evidence was circ.u.mstantial, the contents found within the programming of the Golems were definitive.
Valentino was cornered by the evidence. Lord Valerio who made the golem was also under suspicions, and a written protest was going to be sent to the Celuria Kingdom.
Although he was cornered, Valentino still held a fearless laugh.
Later through the day, the Event Officials had an announcement to make.
「This is a very regrettable, but a third party was found guilty of attempting to sabotage an otherwise fair event.
The party performed in favoritism of Number 1 Elias’s Glory.
The position of third place is revoked from Elias’s Glory’s team and given to team 28, team Seabird is now raised to 3rd place.
Therefore, as a result of this, we eagerly await for the response of all those related.」