Chapter 77
“Yaaahhh! Win! Win!”
“Oh come on! You couldn’t dodge that? Idiot!”
While the noisy shouts filled the arena, I quietly observed the people in the audience.
Some wore metal helmets, but most of them had the visors up, except for one person.
That one person was wearing a helmet with the visor still down and sitting in a very stiff, awkward way.
I walked over and waved my hand in front of the helmet.
“Are you trying to hide in plain sight? Like, under the lamp it’s darkest?”
“Haha… Since it’s just a practice game, I thought I’d give it a try.”
A low laugh echoed from inside the helmet. When he took it off, I saw the familiar knight with messy brown hair—Sir Arden.
I tapped his shoulder and asked, “Sir Arden? It’s really you, right? Are you going to die now?”
“It’s an honor you remembered my name, Lady Izana. But even as a kid, I preferred being a hunter over being prey in tag.”
Sir Arden stood up, dusted off his pants, and took off running excitedly.
Watching him, I felt a little excited too and started running—until I got winded and almost threw up.
“Huff… huff… ugh…”
Once again, the Emperor cleared his throat loudly, trying to get my attention.
“Sir… Elain? Are you going to die now?”
Thanks to his signal, I found another knight hiding behind a feeding trough for horses.
After the Emperor shook his head, I knew there was no one else left outside.
So I jogged into the indoor training area.
It was cooler inside without sunlight.
“I’m so thirsty…”
Since I hadn’t brought a water bottle, I decided to head to the dining area for a drink first.
As I climbed the stairs, when I reached the second floor, I heard shouting and laughter from inside.
The voices sounded familiar, so I walked toward the noise.
In front of the changing room, a small group had gathered.
“I had a feeling this might happen!”
There, I saw Sir Elain trying to pull Baron Sudden out of a trash can—like pulling a radish.
“What’s going on, Sir Elain?”
“Oh, Lady Izana. I have no idea how this idiot got himself in there, but I just can’t pull him out!”
Baron Sudden was stuck waist-deep in a small trash can and looked like he was in pain.
“It’s just a practice game… isn’t this a bit much?”
Hearing my muttering, the Baron smiled awkwardly and said, “I don’t do anything halfway!”
He looked completely serious even while buried in trash.
Sir Elain eventually gave up and shouted, “Forget it! You’re just dead now!”
“Wait! I can’t feel my legs!”
“Lady Izana, let’s go! Leave the stinky fool here!”
“Lady Izana! You can’t do things halfway! You have to pull me out!”
He waved his arms at me pleadingly.
I looked at him with pity and said, “You’re right, Baron. That’s why I can’t waste time here. I’ll win and come back to save you! Just hang on!”
“Oh…”
The Baron looked shocked, then tears welled up in his eyes. He gave me a thumbs-up.
“That’s the right attitude!”
I nodded and ran off with Sir Elain.
“Lady Izana! Sir Elain!”
We heard Sir Mob’s voice from far away.
He came running toward us.
“I think we’ve found everyone except one!”
“Who’s missing?”
“The boy with the vanilla-colored hair… what was his name again…”
“I think it’s Joseph, my brother,” I answered.
I looked out the window and checked the magical clock.
“Six minutes left.”
“Looks like all the prey chose to join the taggers. That might make finding him easier.”
“There’s no one left in the outside arena. He must be inside now.”
“How can you be sure…?”
“Let’s just say… I have my ways.”
Mob and Elain glanced at each other, then chuckled.
“Alright. Let’s split up. Sir Boris and Oscar are already checking the 1st and 3rd floors. Elain can search the wide 1st floor, and Lady Izana, you and I will search more of the 2nd floor.”
“Sounds good!”
Mob and I began searching every corner of the second floor.
At one point, he even gave me a piggyback ride so I could check the ceiling vents.
“No one here!”
I poked every trash can just in case—even in the women’s changing room—but Joseph was nowhere to be found.
“Go, team!”
From the hallway, Baron Sudden—still stuck—called out sadly, trying to get attention.
But Mob and I were too focused on finding Joseph to care.
I opened an old-looking metal door and asked, “What’s this place?”
A musty smell and darkness hit me as I opened it.
“That’s where we store extra equipment—training swords, jousting gear, even polo tools. But there’s no one in there. I already checked.”
Inside, the room was packed with all sorts of stuff.
“…Phew. 30 seconds left. Your brother is really talented at this game. We’ll have to be more alert in the next round.”
Just then, I noticed something strange: a huge metal armor suit standing by the wall.
It looked like a medieval knight’s armor. Something about it caught my eye.
“This armor is used for training to take direct hits from swords or arrows,” Mob explained. “But as you can see, it’s empty.”
The helmet’s visor was up, so it looked like no one was inside.
But I frowned.
“Joseph is way smaller than you, Mob. I don’t think he’d even reach this armor’s chest.”
I stepped closer.
“And the palace always keeps visitors down. Why is this one up?”
Beep! Beep! Beep!
The clock suddenly started ringing loudly—time was up.
And then… I heard a familiar voice from inside the armor.
“You know… I’ve been thinking. We might actually think a lot alike.”
The mob jumped back in shock. He quickly lifted the armor’s chest piece and peeked inside.
“Oh my gosh—he’s really in there!”
Mob pulled the top half of the armor up and stared in disbelief.
“How did you even get in there by yourself?”
“There are ways. But yeah… 20 minutes was tough.”
Inside, Joseph stood with a calm smile, though his cheeks were flushed from the heat.
Since the armor was for adults, he was basically hanging inside rather than standing.
Mob helped him out, and Joseph brushed his wet bangs aside.
“You look so surprised, Izana.”
Joseph won.
Actually, he was the only one who won.
I shrugged. “I didn’t know I was this competitive. If I’d been a little faster, I could’ve won. It’s frustrating.”
“You did great, especially for your first time. Honestly, I was surprised you figured it out. I didn’t think you’d catch on.”
Joseph’s brick-red eyes looked a little colder than before.
“I just thought… if I’d realized earlier how similar we are, things might have been different.”
Then he smiled kindly again and gently patted my head.
“You were so close. Maybe you’ll win next time. This game’s more fun than I expected. I’m looking forward to the next round.”
Anyone watching would think we were always a perfectly friendly brother and sister. His smile and tone were that natural—it was almost creepy.
“I see,” Mob said behind us, placing the armor back.
“If the visor’s up, everyone assumes it’s empty. So he did that on purpose, didn’t he?”
“Yes,” Joseph nodded casually.
“That was a smart move. Wow… I can’t believe I fell for a trick made by a kid…”
The mob walked over and gently patted both our heads.
“And Lady Izana, you were amazing too—figuring it out just by looking. I’m a little embarrassed I missed it.”
He smiled awkwardly.
Then, the three of us headed back to the outdoor arena.
Mob led the way, while Joseph and I walked side by side.
“I knew you were coming today, but I didn’t expect you to arrive so early,” I said.
“Oscar said if I was coming anyway, I should come early and play. But he ended up training with his sword for two hours straight while I stood there bored. So I was actually glad this happened.”
“You two seem really close.”
Joseph paused for a moment, then said quietly, “Oscar told me something really important.”
