Ryu's expectations were betrayed, and the Village chief was smiling as he continued explaining
"So the contest is a headband snatching one, the person who will have their headband on at the end will win. "
Jue was moving his legs in the village chief's lap, and Ryu was thinking
'Why it couldn't be like an anime!? Just give your skill to me normally'
Although he thought that he was listening to whatever the Village chief was saying carefully, as he began to explain the rules
"The rules are as follows Ryu:
First, skills, especially those that can harm others, cannot be used directly upon others
Second, everyone can only carry a single simple weapon
Third, each person for himself or herself not teaming up
Fourth, the moment the headband is taken from you, you are out of the game
Remember, these well"
And Ryu nodded while trying to find anything advantageous from the rules, but all that came to his mind was
'What in the hell!? Technically seen, if a 5-year-old like me uses skills, it will be suspicious, and then glyphs will also be sensed by any mage, isn't it like super unfavorable,'
Looking at a Ryu with a clearly displeased look Grandpa chief spoke with a smirk.
"What happened Ryu? Are you excited about the contest?"
'He!! He is enjoying it, isn't he, come to think of it…' thought Ryu as he asked
"Grandpa chief, why are you not giving this Bestowal skill to Geld? Won't it be helpful when he becomes the town's lord?"
As soon as he said this Village chief said with a serious expression,
"It is something that Geld could never have; I will explain to you if you won the contest"
Ryu had never seen this nostalgic and serious expression on Grandpa chief's face but his expression changed as he patted Jue and he added
"I've already talked about Lina, Hina, and Geld about you taking part in tomorrow's contest so don't worry about permissions… although it was shocking that Geld was being the hardest to convince. "
Ryu sighed in relief as this was one problem down from his shoulders and looking straight in the eyes of the Village Chief he asked with a questioning, serious expression,
"Can I use them?" leaving Ryu only Village chief who helped him gain skills know about his skills,
"I think [slash] is still explainable but [daggers swipe] is a big no people will doubt how this small kid knows an Assassin's skill"
[Dagger swipe] was a skill that was taught by the Village chief to Ryu last year in a straightforward manner in name of self-defense, it is a skill that lowers presence for a few seconds and reinforces the slashing power of the dagger if attacking from behind it is a beginner assassin skill back when Ryu was being taught the skill he thought,
'Where is self-defense in it!?' but didn't question because he knew that learning it is a plus in any case,
"Okay Grandpa chief, I will only use [slash] then," Ryu said.
"Good. Now go home and prepare for tomorrow," Grandpa chief said with a thumbs up,
Ryu left the garden after that he met Hina who was just coming back from the Orphanage
"I will be cheering Ryu, many adventurers from the adventurers Guild will be taking part. I heard, all the best for tomorrow!!" Hina said,
"I left Jue with Grandpa chief, Hina sister" Ryu replied frowning as he excused himself, earlier he tried calling Lana and Hina auntie due to age difference but he was opposed heavily, at last, they settled for sisters although Ryu still calls them auntie sometimes because it is fun,
After that Ryu went home straight and had a night's dinner where Lina told him to be careful tomorrow and to give it his best but not worry much about winning as he is just a kid.
Late at night when everyone was asleep Ryu was awake making a victory plan, he was sure there is a way of winning otherwise Grandpa chief won't make him participate, he makes many simulations inside his head of the actual game and also think about the rules again and again,
'What advantage could a kid this small have on those older adventurers?' he wondered. He thought about using glyphs but it was too dangerous if he got caught.
'The only advantageous thing is [Detect] skill I got' he thought about his advantage. He kept thinking, reconsidering his options and rechecking the rules inside his head.
It goes for a few times until it finally clicked the sure way of his victory.
'I knew it, with this method there is an only advantage!!' Ryu thought as he laughed,
'After all this me can't lose when there is a clear path!' as he thought about this part, he realizes that this was something he wouldn't have thought in his last life 'this pride', and smiled to himself
'Ahh we both actually did combine Mictian' he thought as he went to sleep,
The next day he was awoken earlier than usual by Aiena,
"Ryu, are you really going to take a part in it?" she asked with a concerned look and Ryu was like
'Who asks a vague question first thing after waking someone up!!?' but he answered,
"Aiena, I will be okay and I will win too!!" with confidence,
'What if he got hurt? Is it fine for a 5-year-old to participate' Aiena thought, but then looking at Ryu's confidence she thought,
'… but I learned Miracle for this!!' and proclaimed to Ryu,
"Ryu, give it your best. If you got hurt, I'll heal you instantly," Aiena spoke with confidence, but all Ryu could think while thanking her was
'I will prefer not to get hurt in the first place!!'
Chatting during breakfast, Snow told she will not be taking part in the contest and is assigned by the Village chief with a few other adventurers to the task of making sure rules are being followed and watching over the security of contestants during the contest,
The time passed Ryu and others went to the venue set in Adventurer Guild's Training Ground. Ryu took a breath seeing a square set up on the ground to serve as a game stage. There were many adventurers in the place where contestants were registering,
The smallest contestant after Ryu was a 12-year-old, who was constantly mocking Ryu
"Hey kid, what are you doing here lost" Ryu just gave him a shrug as he thought,
'He will know when he'll lose' and said all the best to him which made the 12-year-old irritated,
After a wait Village Chief and Ryu's family came to the stage where he announced while nodding to Geld,
"By the end of this year, our Village of Zerah will officially become the Town of Zerah!!"
Everyone was cheering and clapping, Village chief gestured for them to stop as he continued
"From today's onward I am not your chief instead, Geld my son will be the one who will lead you," then Geld gave a short speech about the future of the town,
Once the pedestal was passed back to the Village chief, everyone knew what comes next is today's main event.
"Today I have hosted a game! One like what we used to play as a child" and with a pause in which many could be heard gulping for they knew what's coming next.
"The winner will inherit my Bestowal Skill,"
The village chief explained rules to everyone and everyone was checked once by Snow and other adventurers who were checking for hidden weapons or anything unsafe, while Snow came to check Ryu, she said in a low voice
"All the best!!" while clenching her fist and Ryu nodded with resolve clear in his eyes,
After 15 mins everyone was on the square stage with headbands on their heads, a shout from the Village chief mark the beginning of the event.
Ryu thought 'this is it I'll win for sure' as he took a step back activating [Dagger swipe] and getting behind another adventurer but surprisingly instead of attacking he just hide himself using the temporary effect.
Everywhere adventurers use different types of skills to get other's headbands removed, the swords slashing with each other, one guy ripping other's headbands with his bare hands using his big body, there were magicians drawing glyphs to make others fall it was a mess in simple terms,
A guy touching headbands with a red-hot sword without touching people's burning headbands to ashes, there was also that 12-year-old crying in the middle of the mess which made Ryu smile remembering his earlier mocking.
'I knew this would happen,' thought Ryu, laughing seeing the chaos caused by adventurers on stage, and people cheering from the audience. He has a grin on his face as he saw that because he knew in his heart,
'The one winning today is me'
Soon the number on stage started to decrease in plain sight everyone could see that Ryu didn't have his headband and was fallen on stage with a few other adventurers who also fall for various reasons, but no one took a notice of it because it was only natural for a child to get exhausted,
In the end, only one person was left standing on the stage the warrior known as the leader of Phoenix Gate's party the only A-rank party of Zerah Village. He kneeled in the middle of the stage, sure of his victory he thought,
'Now bestowal skill is mine, and I am sure I looked cool' but his expectations were betrayed, his headband was pulled right out of his head as he was kneeling.
'Who is it!!' he thought because he made sure only, he was left with a headband before kneeling in the pose, then who it could be? Everyone was quiet, only Village Chief was the one smiling.
The one standing behind him was non-other than Ryu, who seemed perfectly healthy without a hint of exhaustion still without the headband.
"What are you doing, kid? Game over, you already did not have your headband"
"You sure?" Ryu said with a smile as he moved his shirt a bit up, revealing the headband tied to his belly under his shirt like a belt.
Seeing this, the mind of the warrior was baffled as the Village chief was steps away from announcing the winner. warrior shouted
"Wait!!, this is not right headband is supposed to be worn on the head this is foul" there were murmurs everywhere something no one could expect had happened, but Ryu with a sly smile spoke,
"Where?" warrior looked towards him and he continued
"Where? Is it mentioned it rule that one could only wear it on the head?"
"It is common sense kid!!" shouted the warrior back but louder than his voice, Village Chief's voice came from the main stage,
"The winner of the contest is Ryu!!!" and the people began shouting and cheering, but again warrior shouted in a louder voice, shutting everyone down,
"What the fu@k!? this is bullshit! This kid did a foul"
"As Ryu said, where is it mentioned that one may only wear it on the head?" The village chief said Ryu's whole plan was based around the fact that no rule mentioned wearing the band on the head and it said you are out of game, not stage.
'After all, this is the plan I made after studying all the rules many times,' thought Ryu as he smiled devilishly, as the the the Village chief continued
"It wasn't Ryu who broke the rule, but someone sure did carry a magic sword on stage. Seems like you even bribed the people in checking staff… I will make sure you are fined properly,"
Humiliated, cheating being found out the warrior's mind was a mess when he shouted
"Do you know who I am…" before he can speak further, Ryu said in a disgusted voice
"Whining of the loser", the humiliated warrior rushed towards Ryu with his sword at full speed…
-To be continued