TFPAW 08

Chapter 8. The Goal Is First Place

The all-time record for finding Holy Flames was 45.

The person who had achieved that record was the Archbishop Nagrim Hilloriven, who was known as a once-in-a-generation genius.

The record immediately below his was 43, set by Lian’s father, Raylaik Ludersk.

In other words, assuming that all of Lian’s flames were genuine Holy Flames, his current record was effectively on the level of a Cardinal’s record.

“Lian! In terms of quantity, he is overwhelmingly in first place!”

““Waaaaah!!””

However, almost no one believed that all the Holy Flames Lian had collected were genuine.

“Hey, isn’t 45 exactly the same as the record set by Archbishop Nagrim Hilloriven?”

“Wow, that’s incredible.”

“What are you talking about? It’s only incredible if they’re all real.”

“Since he’s a Ludersk, isn’t there a high chance that most of them are genuine?”

Even those who gave him a high chance of success didn’t think they could all be genuine.

“I think they’re all duds. He’s just throwing them in randomly.”

“But he looks like he’s checking them before putting them in.”

“Can’t you tell just by looking? He’s only pretending to check them. Tsk, tsk. He’s just a kid, but he’s already so crafty….”

Some people even badmouthed Lian for using a sly strategy.

Opinions were divided, but the overall public sentiment was negative.

The children participating in the Holy Flame search felt the same way.

After all, a broadcast screen had been set up where the children could see it too.

‘I wondered why he was collecting them so quickly. He’s already at 45?’

‘There’s no way all of those are real….’

‘Ah, maybe I should’ve just thrown a bunch in too.’

‘So that’s how you get everyone’s attention.’

More than anything, the children envied how often Lian’s face appeared on the panel.

“Now then! Lian may be overwhelmingly ahead, but Lionel Rondo is also showing an impressive number!”

That was true.

Even though there was a difference of twenty between first and second place, Lionel Rondo’s 25 was still an absurdly high number.

“This is only the midterm check! And right now, Lionel and Lian are moving at almost the same speed!”

At first, Lionel had spent some time figuring out what the genuine Holy Flames looked like.

Once he got the hang of it, however, he immediately increased his speed.

His eyes flicked toward the panel, and he sped up even further.

“Ahhh! That’s right! Because the number of genuine Holy Flames is limited!”

There weren’t an infinite number of genuine Holy Flames.

Once everyone had gotten the hang of distinguishing them, the competition became a race against time.

“Lionel! He’s starting to pick up the pace!”

‘Is this enough?’

Enough or not, there was nowhere else to put them.

The cage was already completely full.

-Eeeeng~! There are still more!

-That’s right, that’s right!

There was nothing I could do even though the spirits were disappointed.

I couldn’t exactly carry the Holy Flames in my hands and submit them separately.

‘I should leave some for the other kids too.’

My eyes turned toward the blue-haired head darting between the children, effortlessly picking out only the genuine Holy Flames.

‘Wow. That kid is seriously something.’

I had the advantage of my spiritual sight and the spirits, which made things easy for me.

But that kid?

He was a genuine prodigy.

‘His name was Lionel Rondo, right?’

I had heard of the Rondo family too.

If I remembered correctly, the head of the Rondo family was the Supreme Commander of the Holy Knight Order.

Kyaa!

A sharp scream suddenly pierced my ears.

The future cold-hearted handsome man!

It was Ely.

I wondered what was wrong, only to realize that Lionel Rondo had stopped running and was staring intently in this direction.

‘…? What?’

His black eyes swept around the area several times before he abruptly turned his head away.

Huh?

‘What is it?’

I think he saw me.

‘Huh? You said there aren’t any spiritual eyes here.’

Yeah, that’s true. That’s why it’s ambiguous. Our eyes didn’t meet completely, but his gaze vaguely drifted toward where I and the spirits are.

She said he hadn’t actually looked directly at us.

‘Maybe he just has good instincts.’

Maybe? Anyway, Lian! Try becoming friends with him. Seriously, that kid is a jackpot lottery ticket that doesn’t even need to be scratched!

Good grief.

I shook my head and headed toward the place where the cages were being submitted.

The spirits had stubbornly continued bringing Holy Flames even after the cage was full, so I’d managed to cram two or three more inside.

“Are you submitting it?”

“Yes.”

“You’re the first to submit!”

Somehow, I had even managed to be first to submit my cage.

Good.

I’d decided on my concept.

‘Today, I’m going to be first in everything.’

“Hey! Did you really submit everything?”

A brown, curly-haired head.

It was Lumiel.

“Yeah. I was first.”

His face turned bright red as he huffed angrily.

“Damn it… I even lost the submission race.”

“You came to submit yours too?”

“Yeah!”

I took a quick look.

It seemed like he had well over twenty.

‘Oh. He’s pretty good.’

As expected, he had decent ability.

“You—you! Just you wait! Once we enter the academy, I’ll be number one!”

“Yeah, yeah~.”

Why was this kid so obsessed with treating me like a rival?

I turned around to leave, but he followed me and continued chattering away, practically nagging me.

-Oh! He’s that kid from earlier!

-Should we open his cage again?

Oh, no.

At this rate, he’d lose some Holy Flames right before submitting his cage.

“Hey, hey. Hurry up and submit it. You’re going to lose second place too.”

“Ah!”

As Lumiel hurriedly ran over to submit his cage, I used the opportunity to move farther away.

I don’t like him.

‘What don’t you like?’

His face doesn’t match well with Lian’s. Go talk to that blue-haired cold handsome man from earlier.

‘……’

I’d thought she was going to say something important.

But apparently not.

Time passed.

By the time everyone had finished submitting their cages—

“Everyone! Are you all enjoying yourselves?”

““Yeeees!””

“Hahaha! I love that excited cheering!”

The bishop acting as the MC kept the atmosphere lively and continued speaking without letting things drag.

Ah.

I had a bad feeling.

‘Is this baptism ceremony going to take forever to finish?’

And sad premonitions were never wrong.

“Now then! All of the candidates have finished submitting their cages! While we wait for the results to be tallied, how about we have a little talk session?”

Of course.

There wasn’t even a hint that the actual baptism was about to begin.

“I know you all have plenty of questions too!”

““Yeeees!””

“Wahaha! Then let’s conduct interviews in the order of the candidates who performed best during the midterm rankings!”

Huh?

Let’s get Lian’s interview!

The MC bishop walked toward me with a bright, beaming smile.

I had no idea where the cameras were filming from, but my face appeared in a huge close-up on the floating panel in the air.

Shing—

I instantly changed my expression.

‘Time for the capitalist smile!’

Kyaaah!

Judging by Ely’s reaction, I’d nailed it perfectly.

‘A simple interview like this is child’s play for a former celebrity shaman.’

To make the most of my handsome young face, I gathered every ounce of cuteness I could muster, all the way down to the tips of my toes.

The corners of my eyes curved into perfect crescent moons.

Behold!

This was the capitalist smile of someone who had survived Korean variety shows!

Kyaaah!

““Kyaaahhh!””

Ely’s and the audience’s screams echoed from every direction like surround sound.

“Wow! You certainly have a lot of fans, Lian! I hear you were also the first to submit your cage! Is that right?”

As soon as the MC bishop finished his question, a small round sphere floated over and stopped in front of my mouth.

‘A microphone, I guess.’

So this was the fantasy world’s version of a microphone.

“Yes, that’s right.”

I deliberately answered like a shy little child.

A five-year-old boy with smiling eyes, bashfully blushing cheeks, and an adorable, lovable expression.

There weren’t many adults who could look at a child like that and find him unpleasant.

“You ranked first in the midterm check. How do you feel about that?”

“Um… Of course I’m happy! I think it’s the result of working hard. My mother always tells me that I have to do my best.”

“As someone who has experienced the baptism ceremony myself, I know how difficult it is for a five-year-old to distinguish genuine Holy Flames. How were you able to identify them so quickly?”

“Ah, it’s nothing special….”

I deliberately paused.

This was the moment.

“The Holy Flames came to me.”

What moment?

The moment to make my appeal, of course.

“If you put it another way, I didn’t choose the Holy Flames. The Holy Flames chose me.”

I smiled with an innocent expression.

For a moment, silence fell over the entire venue and the audience.

“Wow, waaaah! Everyone, did you just hear that?! Lian! What incredible confidence!”

““Waaaaah!””

“Wheeeew!”

Saying that the Holy Flames had chosen me was essentially another way of saying that Elysian had chosen me.

‘With this, I’m first in the interview too.’

There might be people who thought I was being arrogant.

But what could they do about it?

I was five years old.

“That’s awesome! Lian Ludersk!”

A heavily bearded man shouted from somewhere in the distance while whistling.

“Hahahaha! He’s certainly popular! Now, let’s move on to the next interview—”

I’d definitely managed to attract attention.

When I made eye contact with Lumiel in the distance, his eyes blazing with jealousy, I gave him a little smirk.

His face turned as red as a tomato.

‘Was Lumiel in seventh place during the midterm check?’

He probably wouldn’t make it to the interview stage.

Soon after—

“Everyone! The scores are finally ready! Please focus your attention on the screen!”

At the MC bishop’s words, everyone’s gaze turned toward the floating panel.

Ba-bam!

A cute sound effect played as the screen changed.

‘Wow! First place!’

As expected, I was first.

Every single Holy Flame packed into my cage had been genuine.

When the scores were announced, silence briefly swept through the venue before an eruption of cheers followed.

““Waaaaaaaah!!””

“Wow, waaaah….”

“Are those real?”

“Waaaaah! Lian! Lian! Lian!”

“Lian! I knew you could do it!!”

“No way!!”

The people’s cheers completely engulfed the venue.

And for good reason.

1st — 52 points — Lian Ludersk

2nd — 40 points — Lionel Rondo

3rd — 39 points — Viera Trevel

4th — 35 points — Hoshana Rinu

8th — 27 points — Lumiel Ludersk

My score had surpassed the 45 Holy Flames I’d collected during the midterm check!

‘Heh. The cage was too small, so I couldn’t put in any more. But even so, this much is—’

I couldn’t finish my thought.

“WAAAAAAAAAH!!!”

The MC bishop’s scream interrupted me.

“A-a-a-a-a new record!!!”

Huh?

“E-everyone!! The record for the Holy Flame search has just been broken!!”

““WAAAAAAAAAH!!””

“Seriously?!”

“This is insane!!!”

Waaaaaaaah—!!

‘Huh?’

Apparently, I’d broken the record.

Wahaha! Congratulations, Lian!

-Congratulations! Congratulations!

-Congratulation-poka!

I guess I’d worked a little too hard.

“We’ve never seen a score of over 50 in the Holy Flame search at the baptism ceremony! Everyone, can you see my hands shaking?!”

“Lian Ludersk! We are already incredibly excited to see how you perform in the next mission!”

Amazing.

‘Does this mean I can aim for Rookie too?’

I’d already known before coming here that a Rookie would be selected from among the promising candidates at the baptism ceremony.

I just hadn’t known the ceremony would work like this.

My eyes shifted toward second place.

Lionel Rondo — 40 points.

I didn’t know whether he’d collected exactly forty or had collected more and then been penalized.

Either way, he was no ordinary kid.

‘If I can beat that guy, I might be able to take both first place and Rookie.’

A little calculator began rapidly ticking away inside my head.

“WAAAAAAAH! I’m in last place!!!”

Then another scream erupted—one loud enough to rival even the MC bishop’s.

‘W-What the heck?’

That startled me.

Of course, we weren’t the only ones who heard it.

Unfortunately, the scream had been picked up by the microphone, so the entire empire heard it.

“Last place?”

“Isn’t that Corin Dallopes?”

“Dallopes? Is he Cardinal Dallopes’s son?”

Since everyone’s scores were displayed on the screen, it didn’t take long to identify him.

“H-Huaaah….”

Apparently realizing that too, he covered his face and lowered his head.

‘62nd place… -80 points?’

A negative score?

More importantly, if he’d gotten -80 points, didn’t that mean he’d put in at least forty Holy Flames and every single one had been a dud?

He might have even collected more than that.

‘Huh…?’

-Ah! I know that kid!

The spirits suddenly spoke up.

‘Huh? How do you know him?’

-He’s the one who picked up the flames we’d spit on!

…Spit on?

‘The ones you’d spit on? What does that mean?’

-Before we met Lian, we were playing around and rubbed some spirit power onto a few of the flames!

-But it was a very, very tiny amount!

‘I couldn’t sense it.’

Huh? I didn’t notice it either.

What?

Even Ely hadn’t noticed?

Sure, she was currently nerfed, but she was still a divine being.

-We only put a tiiiiny little bit on them!

So basically…

This kid had detected and collected every flame that had been marked with spirit power, even though the amount was so tiny that neither I nor Ely—with our spiritual sight and divine perception—had noticed it.

‘Isn’t that guy even more amazing than me?’

Of course, he’d completely misjudged what he’d found.

But in terms of pure perception…

What he’d accomplished might actually have been more impressive than what Lionel or I had done to place first and second.

‘That guy is another one to keep an eye on.’

I’d gained another candidate to watch.

The commotion soon died down.

The MC bishop skillfully changed the subject.

“Now! Shall we move on to the next event? The Holy Flame search was merely the appetizer. This is the true main event of the baptism ceremony!”

‘Isn’t the main event supposed to be the baptism?’

The MC bishop, completely unaware of my thoughts, continued.

“It’s time for carrying Holy Flames through the labyrinth!”