Sierra City (6)

Thud.

The man's arm fell over, his hand hitting the table. In the end, the man was defeated by Ariel.

"Woah! The elf girl won!!"

The spectators cheered, and Selly hugged Ariel tightly.

"Ariel! You did it! You won!!"

Ariel released the man's hand and stood up. Honestly, from Ariel's perspective, it was a trivial match. She barely used any strength.

If Ariel had really tried, the man's hand would have been crushed to powder.

"Haha..."

The man let out a dejected laugh. As unbelievable as it was, he had clearly lost.

'And so easily...'

While the spectators didn't realize it, having arm wrestled Ariel directly, the man could be certain.

Ariel had only applied a tiny bit of force at the very end to push his arm over.

Before that, when the man was exerting all his effort, Ariel hadn't used any strength at all.

So it was a complete defeat.

There were no excuses. If they did it again, he would definitely lose. The man looked at Ariel with a tired face.

"Miss Elf. You asked what you'd get if you won?"

A resigned smile formed on the man's lips.

"Take whatever you want. A lizardman leather wallet, premium minotaur meat, or even take the whole money pouch with the entry fees if you want. You beat me fair and square after all."

The man laughed ha ha while massaging his aching arm.

"I guess days like this come too in life. I really shouldn't judge by appearances, huh? Who knew this petite elf girl would be so monstrously strong."

As the man cleanly admitted defeat, the people cheered even more fervently.

"Woah! So cool!!"

"What an amazing match!"

Ariel approached the man and whispered what she wanted in his ear.

"...What?"

The man looked perplexed.

"A lizardman leather wallet? Really, that's what you want?"

"Yes."

"But...I said you can take anything, right? Your red-haired friend seems to want that premium minotaur meat."

The man pointed at Selly. Ariel looked at Selly, and Selly just shrugged.

"I didn't win, Ariel did. Take what you want, don't worry about me."

"Lizardman leather wallet."

Seeing Ariel's firm tone, the man scratched his head.

Honestly, a lizardman leather wallet was worth far less than the entry fee of one silver coin.

With one silver coin, you could buy ten lizardman leather wallets.

'And yet she wants that...'

Though perplexed, the man still handed Ariel the lizardman leather wallet.

He had agreed to give her whatever she wanted, so he couldn't force her to take something else.

In a way, he was relieved. If Ariel had taken the whole money pouch with the entry fees, the man would have had to go hungry for days.

'Did she consider my position...?'

The man smiled awkwardly.

"Thanks, Miss Elf. Come play again next time. But then...don't enter, okay? I need to eat too. Hahaha."

*

"See you next time, mister!"

"Take care, ladies!"

Watching Selly and Ariel depart, Carl stood up from beside the fountain.

His legs were numb from crouching by the fountain for so long.

"...What happened, Sir Shane?"

Carl asked Shane, who was also getting up beside him.

Ever since leaving Delight, Carl had been tailing Ariel.

Thanks to that, he had witnessed the entire arm wrestling match from his hiding spot by the fountain.

"For Ariel to win against that big man in arm wrestling, is that even possible?"

"Hmm..."

Shane stroked his chin.

It was certainly perplexing.

Looking at the arm wrestling man's bulging muscles, it seemed impossible for the slender Ariel to beat him.

Yet Ariel had effortlessly claimed victory.

"I'm not sure either. But one thing's certain - no magic was involved."

Shane was an exceptional knight. He could sense the flow of mana.

If Ariel had used magic, Shane would have noticed.

"The elf girl overpowered the man with pure physical strength. Perhaps she underwent rigorous training beyond her looks. Maybe there are special elf training methods... No, more than that."

Shane glanced sharply at Carl.

"Young master, this is clearly stalking. If others see..."

"Let's go, Sir. Ariel is moving."

Carl didn't even listen to the end of Shane's words before starting to walk.

"..."

Feeling a headache coming on, Shane followed after Carl for now.

The lord of the northern province is trailing behind an elf girl!

If this fact becomes known to the other nobles, not only Carl but the reputation of the Castarck family will completely fall to the ground.

Everyone will surely laugh at them.

'Please don't get caught...'

Shane prayed with sincere feelings. Since things had turned out this way, not getting caught was the best option.

"Ah... what is he trying to do this time?"

Not knowing Shane's feelings, Carl was busy chasing after Ariel.

His appearance was no different from a boy fallen in love, so Shane could only give a dejected smile.

After all, Carl was still a young boy, despite being the lord of the northern province.

'It might not be so bad...'

Shane thought so as he looked at Carl's back view.

Until now, Carl had been a bit too harsh on himself.

Well, it was understandable.

It was because he had the expectations of the north on his shoulders, so he tried to meet those expectations.

Watching Carl devote himself to training and studying to the point of seeming ruthless, Shane felt somewhat bitter for some reason.

At an age when he should be running around playing, Carl pushed himself too much.

But seeing Carl's boyish side like this put Shane's mind at ease to some extent.

'Well, it might be okay for a bit...'

Thinking that, Shane lowered himself and sat beside Carl. Ariel and Selly had already moved somewhere else to play.

"Ariel is trying to catch a goldfish, Sir Shane."

Carl said in a slightly excited voice.

"But with such a thin net... Oh, it tore. Sir Shane, Ariel lost the goldfish."

"That's too bad, we'll have to try a little later."

"I feel like I can catch one somehow."

"Good confidence. If you catch a goldfish, give it as a gift to that elf girl."

"No, that's... there's no need to give a gift..."

Seeing Carl's face turn red, Shane gave a warm smile.

*

Eventually, the sun was setting.

Selly, who had been energetically dragging Ariel around, was getting tired too.

"Ariel, how was today? Was it fun?"

Ariel nodded at Selly's question. She was a bit tired, but thanks to Selly taking her around here and there, it had been quite enjoyable.

Ariel quietly took out an item from her Inventory.

It was the lizardman leather wallet she had received as a prize for winning the arm wrestling match earlier.

She handed it to Selly.

Selly received the lizardman leather wallet with wide open eyes.

"This.., you're giving it to me?"

"Yes."

"Why? Didn't you want to keep it?"

"Not really..."

Ariel knew well how she had beaten the arm wrestling man.

With her infinite Strength stat, she couldn't help but win.

It was clearly an unfair match, and in that sense, she couldn't accept the premium minotaur meat or the money pouch with the entry fees.

Originally, she hadn't planned to accept anything, but the man admitted defeat so cleanly that she had no choice.

Since there were many people watching, she decided to at least accept the cheapest lizardman leather wallet.

But for Ariel, who had an Inventory, she didn't need a wallet.

"Thank you."

Selly gently stroked the lizardman leather wallet as if it was precious.

The outer surface being made of lizardman leather made it look a bit disgusting and repulsive, but thinking that it was a gift from Ariel made it seem like a precious item.

In any case, it was an item filled with memories.

"Really, thank you Ariel."

Selly quietly looked at Ariel. She didn't want to part with Ariel yet.

But the sun had already set, and Selly had something to do.

That was to attend a banquet.

Tonight in Sierra, there would be a banquet hosted by the mayor.

All the high-ranking noble families currently staying in Sierra had been invited.

Influential imperial families like the northern Castarck or western Baraton would all attend.

Selly's Matiel family, being a high-ranking noble family, had naturally been invited too. If she didn't go, her father would scold her severely.

"Ah."

Then Selly had a good idea.

"Ariel, would you like to come to the banquet with me? There will be so much delicious food at the banquet! Remember the strawberry tart from Delight earlier? It might not be that good, but there will probably be cakes just as delicious! Lots of other desserts too! Ariel, come to the banquet with me. Yes? Please!"

Ariel pondered for a moment.

Aside from going to the banquet, she felt she should return to the inn first. Ghost and Lu might be waiting for her.

When Ariel mentioned that, Selly smiled brightly.

"Then shall I go with you? I want to meet Ghost and Lu too."