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Two weeks after the meeting with Eve, the day of the selection arrived.
The day to choose the six people that would represent The Great Savannah in the battle for the mines.
Bloed and the girls boarded a carriage towards the arena. That was the place where the candidates will meet.
When they arrived at the arena, they were received by Eve.
"Mr. Bloed, Miss Regina, Miss Liu Ying, you are here." Eve greeted the group expressionlessly.
Bloed and the girls returned the greeting before following Eve inside the arena.
Once inside, they realized a big number of beastmen were already there.
Most of the beastmen were teens, but there were a few adult beastmen between them too.
What attracted Bloed's attention, however, was the young beastmen's aura.
Each one of them was a peak of B-Rank practitioners. Moreover, they emitted a powerful atmosphere worthy of their titles as geniuses.
They were the strongest B-Ranks in the beastmen countries.
"They look strong." Liu Ying grinned. It seemed she was already anticipating the battle.
Bloed nodded and smiled wryly.
At that moment, Bloed saw Javelin in a corner of the arena. He was about to call out to him when Eve brought three beastmen before Bloed's group.
A rabbitkin girl, a wolfkin young man, and a racoonkin young man.
"Mr. Bloed, Miss Liu Ying, they are Rana, Gorde, and Tyke. They are the other three B-Ranks Moonlight Glow nominated." Eve said.
Bloed and Liu Ying nodded to them
"Nice to meet you, you can call me Bloed."
"Name's Liu Ying~"
The rabbitkin girl put on a happy smile in answer and waved her hand.
"Hi! I'm Rana."
But when it came to the wolfkin boy and the racconkin young man, they ignored Bloed and Liu Ying's greeting and stared at them with a displeased expressions.
Bloed furrowed his brows. He did not remember meeting them before. Why were they showing so much animosity then?
But then, he understood.
It seemed like some people were not happy with Bloed and Liu Ying participating in this competition.
Bloed was not too surprised about that, though. Actually, he was expecting something like this already.
After all, he and Liu Ying were a human and a demon competing for a spot to represent the beastmen in an important battle. It was normal if some beastmen find something like that humiliating.
Eve also realized the strange situation. She frowned instantly and glared at the two young beastmen with dissatisfaction.
"Gorde, Tyke, I know what you are thinking, and I'm not asking you to agree with my decision. However, there is a reason I invited Mr. Bloed and Miss Liu Ying here. Show them the minimum respect."
"Understood." "Okay." The two beastmen nodded, but it was obvious they were not taking Eve's words seriously.
At that moment, the beastmen king appeared in the arena.
As soon as he appeared, all the people in the arena looked in his direction.
Using a microphone-like magic tool, the beastmen king moved his gaze through all the people in the arena and spoke up.
"Young beastmen. Each one of you is the pride of your respective kingdoms. The reason you are here is that your talents are recognized for your brethren, and they are confident your abilities will not shame the pride of our race.
"However, only six of you will be chosen to participate this time. The rest of you, unfortunately, will be unable to receive this honor.
"Now, I hope you remember the reason you are participating in this competition. Your mission is not to harm your brethren. Instead, it's to bring pride and honor to your people and your race. Thus, I hope during the competition you are careful to not kill your opponents, understood? I know that swords and blades have no eyes, but the people that wield them do have. Am I clear?"
"""Yes, Your Majesty!!!"""
"I hope so. Now, get ready. We will leave for the battleground in five minutes."
When the king finished speaking, an airship descended in the middle of the arena. It was the transport they were going to use to go to the place of the competition.
The young beastmen boarded the airship one after another. Bloed's group was one of the last to board.
In a side note, Regina was also allowed to board the airship as a member of Moonlight Glow.
When all the participants boarded the airship, the airship took air and flew towards the north.
At that moment, Javelin approached Bloed followed by a catkin girl.
"Bloed, you are here! Congratulations on your breakthrough."
"Thanks." Bloed smiled. "By the way, why are you here? Is it related to the girl following you?"
Javelin grinned. He then pushed the girl towards Bloed's group and introduced her.
"She is Aya Sharpclaw, my little sister. Aya, greet my friends."
"Hello," Aya said indifferently before falling silent. She did not seem very interested in interacting with Bloed's group.
Javelin smiled awkwardly. "… Sorry about that. Aya is always like that. You probably already noticed, but Aya is also participating in today's competition. Thus, if any of you meet her, I hope you can help me to take care of her."
"No problem," Bloed said.
"Okay~" Replied Liu Ying.
Aya frowned, probably displeased by her brother's words. However, she said nothing against him.
Aya was a very beautiful young girl. She was around fourteen or fifteen years old, with black hair and pitch-black eyes plus a doll-like body.
Her expression, however, was the complete opposite of Javelin and Madeline, her siblings. Javelin and Madeline gave out a casual and amicable expression, but Aya seemed cold and sharp, like an unsheathed dagger.
She gave the vibe of an assassin.
After Javelin introduced Aya, the group continued talking about several topics.
Mainly about today's selection.
"Do you know where are we going, Javelin?" Liu Ying asked curiously. She thought the selection was going to be in the arena.
"About that. I heard we are going to a nearby ruin. The king chose that place to realize the selection. I don't know the details, though. King Arlen made sure to not leak them."
"Is it so...? Well, I don't think I'm going to lose anyway." Liu Ying shrugged.
"You look confident, huh," Javelin asked in amusement.
"I am." Liu Ying asked calmly, causing the catkin girl, Aya, to click her tongue.
Javelin smiled wryly and patted his sister's head to calm her down.
"Well, I wish you luck, Liu Ying. You too, Bloed."
Bloed nodded and looked at Aya.
"Good luck to you too, Javelin's little sister."
Aya looked coldly at Bloed before looking away.
"... I won't need it."