Overpowered Archmage Doesn’t Hide His Talent
Chapter 74: 10,960 Times.

Chapter 74 – 10,960 Times.

The morning of the elimination round for the hunting festival finally arrived.

The music of the musicians filled the campus, and the Merhen Academy was soaked in a festive atmosphere.

“Lord Flan… Lord Flan… He’s nowhere to be seen today. Where are you~ Lord Flan~”

Meanwhile, Yushia was busy roaming around the campus.

Adventurers, magicians from the magic tower, merchants, royal officials… The human crowd gathered at the academy was diverse.

All these things were fascinating to Yushia’s eyes.

“Can we drink already? Aren’t you going to sleep during the match?”

“But… how can we resist. Can you?”

“That’s true. We can’t.”

Even though the sun had just risen, they were making noises with eating and drinking.

The appetite-stimulating smell was too much for Yushia.

Her current interest was, first of all, Flan.

“There are too many people here. Your Highness, if you need anything, it would be better for us to procure it for you.”

Yushia was not alone today.

The royal treasurer was disguised as an ordinary tourist and stayed by her side.

But the girl tapped her badge on her chest.

“Mr. Treasurer? I’m also a student of the academy.”

“Yes. But you must not forget that you are the third princess.”

“I won’t forget, but today I’ll be a student~!”

No matter how much the treasurer was, he couldn’t win against the princess, so the treasurer eventually sighed and protected Yushia’s side.

“Newspaper~ Newspaper~”

Someone was handing out newspapers to the students who were bustling around. Yushia also took one.

[ Magic Department Without a Flan… ‘Flan Missing’ ]

“Where on earth is Lord Flan…”

The girl sighed deeply.

She wanted to meet him in person and give him a word of encouragement before the elimination round started.

“Mr. Treasurer.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Mr. Treasurer, you will also look for Lord Flan with me.”

“Yes…”

The treasurer reluctantly nodded.

Flan, Flan, Flan… The name that had been mentioned a few times in the palace.

Now it was enough to make his ears ring.

But then.

“Did you bet? Did you do as I told you?” “Hey! While you’re at it, bet on mine too!”

Yushia’s footsteps stopped at a shop that was unusually crowded.

The sign said ‘Prediction’.

“Oh…”

This shop, which was only set up during the hunting festival period, was actually a legal gambling place that predicted the outcome of the matches, but it was enough to attract the interest of the third princess.

“Prediction… What do you predict…”

Yushia peeked her head out and muttered, and two male students stuck to her.

“You might not know if you’re a freshman~ Shall we tell you?”

“You’ll definitely win money if you do as we say. Wanna hear?”

But their greedy whispers were quickly stopped.

“…”

With the sharp gaze of the treasurer, the two sweated and quickly backed away.

“There are so many people here… How fun!”

Thanks to the treasurer’s help, Yushia was able to push through the people and move forward.

When she came to her senses, she was at the front row.

[ Prediction of the Final Ranking of the Elimination Round ]

[ Prediction of the Detailed Results of the Elimination Round ]

[ Prediction of the Hunting Time of the Elimination Round ]

Yushia’s sparkling eyes examined the letters carefully.

There were three items in total.

The girl asked the shop owner.

“Excuse me, how do you do this?”

Then, the people around looked at Yushia with strange eyes.

That was understandable, since Yushia was probably the only one who didn’t know the rules here.

The shop owner answered sullenly.

“You can predict one or bundle three and get extra dividends if you get them all right.”

“Ah! Then I’ll bundle three and get them right.”

At the same time, the treasurer’s expression turned stupid.

When he came to his senses, Yushia had already taken three papers.

The treasurer whispered urgently.

“Your Highness… Are you thinking of participating yourself…?”

“Yes. Because it’s Lord Flan’s match.”

“Isn’t it enough to just cheer for him? This kind of thing is too gambling. You should stay away from it.”

But Yushia stubbornly picked up a pen. There was no hesitation in her movement of choosing the items.

Not long after, she handed the papers to the shop owner.

“Let’s see. No, what kind of prediction is this…”

The shop owner narrowed his eyebrows as he took the papers.

He looked at Yushia as if he was dumbfounded.

“Magic department advancing to the main round as the final first place, detailed results are winning against the four siblings, and hunting time is within 10 minutes for each stage… Are you really going to do this?”

At those words, the noisy shop quieted down a bit.

Looks of disbelief, ignorance, and curiosity… All of them were directed at Yushia.

The treasurer was the first to ask anxiously.

“Hey, how much will you get if you do this?”

“The payout…”

The shop owner flicked the abacus beads at a fast speed.

“10,960 times. If all three hit, it’s 10,960 times.”

10,960 times.

…In other words, it was almost impossible.

Laughter erupted from the crowd.

“If you have that much money left, just give it to me~” “Wow~ One gold coin is enough for ten thousand. Ten thousand.”

Was there anything more fun than watching someone lose money?

Their faces were filled with anticipation.

How much money would Yushia lose─ That was their expectation.

The instigator of the commotion calmly handed something over.

“Here, gold coins.”

It wasn’t just a few gold coins, but a whole bundle.

It was a large amount that was hard to imagine a freshman would offer.

The spectators’ mouths gaped open.

“You’re betting that much…?”

“How serious are you?”

“Don’t cry or make a fuss later. It won’t help.”

The shop became noisy in an instant.

The shop owner was also surprised.

“What kind of gold coin bundle…”

He shook his head and returned the bundle.

“We can’t handle such a big payout here.”

His attitude, which had become a bit more polite, answered.

“Then how many can you take?”

“10,960 times… One. Just one.”

Then Yushia took out one gold coin from the bundle.

“Here it is!”

In her golden eyes, sincerity sparkled.

◈

World of Painting, 1:59.

“Ah… Ah…”

Becky collapsed on the floor.

“Oh my… I’m dying…”

“Do you want some water?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine… I don’t have the strength to drink water…”

Ivan offered his water, but Becky shook his head.

She later lay down on the floor.

With this, Becky also completed Flan’s order of ‘manifesting magic a thousand times’.

“So annoying.”

“Ahaha… All three of them did it. A thousand times each.”

Trixie spat out with a dissatisfied expression, and Louis nodded with a faint smile.

“…The training intensity of the magicians is amazing.”

Ivan muttered softly.

Flan answered right away.

“It’s hard to compare. It’s different from what the knights think.”

“I realized that now. I reflect on it again.”

Ivan nodded quietly.

He was summoned by Flan today and visited the World of Painting.

She came with the intention of training herself, but she ended up watching the training of the other magic students.

Flan looked at the three who were sitting down and clicked his tongue.

“Do you have a feel for the manifestation now?”

The usual cold tone.

The three students nodded right away.

They had memorized the theory that Flan had written down from 1:58.

Thanks to the summoned creatures that acted like real humans, this process was relatively easy.

They somehow managed to reach 1:59 in this world…

But the next schedule was ‘manifest a thousand times’.

Who would have imagined that?

…But they did it.

A thousand times. Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ n0vᴇl(ꜰ)ire.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Not ten, not a hundred, but a thousand.

They couldn’t help but get a feel for it.

Becky looked at her palm as if she couldn’t believe it.

“A thousand times is really amazing… I thought I could never achieve this speed of manifestation in my life…”

Theory, the formula based on it, manifestation.

They were able to do these three things as if they were one action. It was an unimaginable achievement.

Louis opened his mouth cautiously.

“Flan, I know what you want to tell us. Gain the upper hand with overwhelming speed of manifestation. That’s it, right?”

“Add purity to that.”

Flan added.

“A pure element that manifests at a very fast speed. If you have that, you don’t need any follow-up attacks.”

“Hmm…”

Louis nodded his head slowly.

Flan’s words were right as always, and they pointed out the core of the matter concisely.

Why would they need a follow-up attack if they could land a very fast and powerful blow? They would have already won.

“Okay, Flan.”

But Louis still had a question.

“I’ll do as you say. But I’m curious how much time we have left. The time in the outside world must be passing by now.”

He stopped mid-sentence and shook his head.

“No, I need to change the question. How much time is left… Well, more than that.”

Louis’s expression was serious.

“Can we, make it before the preliminaries of the Conquest Festival?”

It was a realistic question.

He had never learned so efficiently or tried his best in his life… But the fact that the preliminaries of the Conquest Festival were imminent was another matter.

No matter how well they grew, if they didn’t meet the deadline, they would be eliminated.

“…Did you, ignore what I said.”

“Hmm?”

Flan answered calmly.

“Today’s training is until two o’clock, no exceptions.”

“When is two o’clock? I still don’t know how the time flows in this world.”

“Do I need to explain it as simply as possible?”

Flan winked at Ivan.

“When you guys draw at least with Ivan.”

“Ivan?”

“Two o’clock will come then.”

Becky’s mouth opened wide.

Wasn’t that saying he would make them spar with Ivan?

A draw with Ivan, who was called the Lightning Knight?

Sweat started to pour out of his body like a fountain.

“Hey.”

This time, Trixie intervened.

“But, why are you helping us?”

Her gaze was directed at Ivan.

It was a short question, but it wasn’t hard to guess the intention.

Why was Ivan, a knight student, helping them?

That was what she meant, and everyone understood it.

It might be a sensitive and rude question. Or, a difficult question.

But.

“…I just want to get stronger too.”

With a faint smile, Ivan answered like that.

They felt a strong will from that short sentence, and the expressions of the three magicians became a bit more determined.

They had to do their best too.

“We’re going to start the final training now.”

After checking everyone’s eyes, Flan opened his mouth.

“But, since it’s the last one, we can’t be sloppy.”

His red eyes turned to Ivan.

“Ivan, have you ever killed anyone?”

◈

Inside the corridor of the magic department dormitory, the reporters from the magic department spent the night here.

The reason was, of course, because of Flan.

At least it was inside the building, but the outside situation was even more fierce.

The outside was full of reporters from the knight department.

It looked like beasts had surrounded a rabbit hole.

“….”

A drop of sweat ran down Sephia’s forehead.

The deputy next to him opened his lips.

“Hey, chief.”

“What.”

“The Conquest Festival is much more important than the combat event, right?”

“Now you’re saying that….”

Sephia glared at the deputy.

It was indeed a monumental event that the magic department won the combat event. A ray of light had fallen on the long and dark era.

‘But it’s still not enough.’

They still had a long way to go.

They had to turn the ray of light into brightness.

The academy, all kinds of markets, the royal family… Everything was intertwined in this huge event.

If they achieved results, it would be a big step.

So it was important.

Extremely important.

But….

They had declared their victory so confidently….

‘Flan.’

Sephia’s mind was filled with thoughts of him.

“He hasn’t come out of his room for three days…”

Sephia muttered dejectedly.

The representatives of the magic department had not shown their faces for three days.

They didn’t even show up for training or meals.

The vice-president seemed to have given up.

“President, I think we’re doomed.”

“Shh! Don’t say that…!”

“That’s the situation. I mean, what have they been doing for three days…?”

“Stop. I get it, just stop talking.”

Sephia rubbed her throbbing forehead with her hand.

All the representatives were in Flan’s room.

Even Ivan, a knight department student, was there.

How was he supposed to accept this situation…?

But then.

“The door, the door opened!”

One of the reporters shouted.

At his cry, the people who had been waiting like wilted weeds jumped up from their seats.

“Flan! Find Flan!”

“How did you do the questionnaire? Didn’t you prepare it?”

“Student Flan! There, Student Flan!”

But a moment later.

“What, what the hell…”

“Why are they like that?”

The reporters who had run towards Sephia started to back away.

“…?”

Sephia pushed past the retreating reporters and moved forward.

And shortly after, she had a similar reaction.

“Crazy.”

What unfolded before her eyes was hell.

“I feel like I’m going to vomit… Ugh, ugh…”

“Haha… Me too. I can’t eat breakfast.”

“…My head hurts.”

Sephia blinked her eyes without realizing it.

The preliminary round of the extermination contest hadn’t even started yet. But they looked like they had already finished the match and were exhausted.

“Ugh…”

Becky leaned against the wall of the hallway and slumped down. Her open mouth and unfocused eyes were chilling to see.

“What the hell is going on…?”

As Sephia muttered that, Flan finally showed himself.

“?”

At the same time, the reporters’ eyes widened.

Flan was the same as usual.

His indifferent gaze, his well-groomed appearance, his own leisure.

Flan was still like that.

They left behind the things that looked like they were either alive or dead, and quickly headed towards Flan.

A barrage of questions poured down.

“Student Flan! Please answer some questions!”

“Today is the day of the preliminaries. Do you know that?”

Among the numerous questions, Sephia also said one.

“Student Flan, what did you do for three days that you look like this?”

Flan, who had been indifferent, reacted to Sephia’s question. His sharp eyes turned to Sephia.

“Don’t you know even after seeing this.”

How could she know from seeing this, Sephia was incredulous.

“No. I have no idea.”

Then Flan’s lips curved slightly.

“…Well, you’ll find out soon enough.”

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