Chapter 19 : Sierra City (5)
“Okay.”
Ariel readily accepted Selly’s proposal to spend the day together.
Since she planned to stay in the city for a while anyway, spending a day like this didn’t seem like a bad idea.
“Ta-da!”
Selly came back with a bunch of desserts.
She claimed it was a reward for sharing the strawberry tart, but to Ariel, it seemed like Selly just wanted to eat them herself.
Although the strawberry tart was Delight’s most popular item, the other desserts were delicious enough.
“Geez!”
While Ariel was munching on a blueberry muffin, Selly wiped the crumbs from Ariel’s mouth with a tissue.
“How can you eat so messily with food all over your mouth like that? I guess elves aren’t much different from humans after all.”
Ariel silently looked at Selly, feeling a little wronged.
She wasn’t usually this messy.
The reason was that she was inhabiting the character of Ariel, whose mouth was smaller than her own.
Besides, Selly’s mouth was also covered with cream.
Ariel took a tissue and wiped Selly’s mouth, and Selly flinched, looking away in embarrassment.
“Ahem, ahem. Anyway.”
Selly turned her gaze to the window-side table where Carl was sitting.
“Why has Duke Carl been looking over here since earlier? Are the rumors really true?”
Ariel tilted her head.
“Rumors?”
“Yeah, the rumor that Duke Carl proposed to an elf and got rejected! The way he’s been glancing over here since earlier… You’re the elf from the rumors, right, Ariel?”
Ariel gulped down her milk silently.
She had never heard of such a rumor.
More importantly, she was starting to feel drowsy, and her eyelids were getting heavy.
She was experiencing post-meal drowsiness.
“Hmm~ Poor Duke Carl. Judging by his expression, it seems he’s already completely smitten with you, Ariel. So, what’s going to happen with the princess now? This could be quite a serious issue… Ariel?”
Selly, muttering to herself, blinked as she looked at Ariel.
“Ariel, are you… sleeping?”
Ariel was sleeping while sitting upright.
Unlike other noble ladies, Selly wasn’t interested in the opposite sex.
She hated dressing up meticulously or pretending to be prim and proper at social parties.
The only reason she attended social parties was for the food.
There were always delicious foods in abundance!
While Ariel slept, Selly eagerly devoured the desserts.
Thanks to this, Ariel could rest peacefully for a while, and it wasn’t until Selly had completely finished the desserts that she stood up.
“Ariel, wake up. It’s time to go have some fun!”
Selly gently shook Ariel’s shoulder, and Ariel slowly opened her eyes.
Though it was impossible to avoid feeling sleepy after eating, she was quick to wake up if someone nudged her.
Of course, waking up didn’t mean she was fully alert.
Ariel swayed as she stood, her eyes half-closed, as if she were drunk.
“This way, this way, Ariel. Oh dear, you’re just like a child.”
Selly diligently took care of the still half-asleep Ariel.
Looking closely, Ariel’s hair was completely tangled, and her clothes were in disarray, with buttons fastened incorrectly and sleeves folded unevenly.
It seemed she had run to Delight right after waking up in the morning, resulting in her messy appearance.
“Are elves usually like this?”
Selly muttered to herself as she brushed Ariel’s hair neatly and straightened her clothing.
“There, let’s go.”
Ariel, half-asleep, was dragged along by Selly as they left Delight.
As soon as the two of them disappeared, Carl, who had been sitting at the window table, stood up as well. There were no signs that he had touched any of the desserts on his table.
Celly dragged Ariel around every corner of the city without pause.
Usually, Selly didn’t have any free time, so today she was determined to make the most of it.
Fortunately, several festivals were taking place in the city of Sierra, so there were plenty of things for Selly and Ariel to enjoy.
“Ariel, let’s try that!”
Selly pulled Ariel along toward a place where a crowd had gathered.
There, a muscular man was sitting at a table, and the surrounding signs read:
[Arm Wrestling Challenge! Feel Free to Compete!]
The entry fee was one silver coin.
If a contestant could last 5 seconds against the muscular man, they would win a lizardman leather wallet.
If they lasted 10 seconds, they would receive premium-grade minotaur meat as a prize.
“What do you get if you win?”
Selly tilted her head as she looked at the sign.
There was no prize listed for winning the arm-wrestling match.
“Maybe they think no one can beat them? That’s a lot of confidence.”
Selly smirked.
The arm muscles of the arm-wrestling man were definitely bigger than Selly’s head, but the lack of a prize for winning sparked her competitive spirit.
And that was exactly the man’s strategy.
He was trying to provoke people’s competitive instincts to increase participation.
“Next challenger, please!”
The arm-wrestling man said arrogantly, having just defeated a skinny man in a single second.
“Me!”
Selly stepped forward and shouted.
The arm-wrestling man glanced at her and smirked.
“I won’t go easy on a lady.”
“No need to. I only plan to last 10 seconds.”
Selly tossed a silver coin into the box next to the man and sat down opposite him, looking quite confident.
‘I’ve been working out so hard, how could I not last just 10 seconds?’
In the Martiel family, they never skipped a day of exercise to maintain their figure.
As a result, Selly’s arms were slender but quite muscular.
In fact, Selly had never lost an arm-wrestling match against a boy her age.
So, she thought, maybe she could hold out for 10 seconds.
‘I’ll hold out for 10 seconds and win the premium-grade minotaur meat to share with Ariel!’
Just the thought of premium-grade minotaur meat made her mouth water.
“Start!”
The arm-wrestling match began.
“No way…”
Selly got up from the table with a tearful face. She hadn’t lasted 10 seconds, not even 1 second.
It was, of course, the expected result.
The man’s arm was bigger than Selly’s head, after all.
No one among the crowd believed Selly would last more than a second.
“Oh… my premium-grade minotaur meat…”
Selly trudged back to Ariel’s side.
“Ariel, do you want to give it a try? It’s just for fun, anyway.”
At Selly’s words, Ariel gazed at the arm-wrestling man.
The man looked at Ariel and grinned.
“Oh, an elf? Interesting. For the elf lady, I’ll make it 3 seconds. If you can last just 3 seconds, I’ll give you the premium-grade minotaur meat.”
“Go on, Ariel! Even if you don’t last, it’s fine. Here’s the silver coin.”
Selly paid Ariel’s entry fee and gently pushed her forward. Eventually, Ariel sat down across from the arm-wrestling man.
From the outside, the size difference between the two was striking. A huge man versus a small girl.
“Go, elf girl! Beat that big guy!”
“Show him what you’ve got!”
People began cheering for Ariel.
“Alright, get ready.”
Somehow, Selly had ended up acting as the referee.
Ariel grasped the arm-wrestling man’s hand.
His hand was so thick and large that it seemed to swallow Ariel’s hand whole.
“Start!”
With Selly’s shout, the arm-wrestling match began.
“Oh, oh, oh…!”
The crowd gasped in astonishment.
They had expected Ariel to be defeated in a second, just like Selly, but surprisingly, Ariel’s arm didn’t budge.
“One second! Two seconds! Three seconds!!”
The crowd counted out loud, and Selly jumped up and down in excitement.
“Yay! Ariel! You lasted 3 seconds!!”
Meanwhile, the arm-wrestling man’s face turned beet red as he struggled with all his might to push down Ariel’s arm.
‘How… is this possible…?’
The disbelief was evident in the man’s eyes.
‘I can’t overpower her…??’
He was a former champion of an arm-wrestling tournament held in the imperial capital, where he had defeated hundreds of participants to claim the trophy.
For him, not being able to overpower a small girl like Ariel was simply incomprehensible.
“Argh!”
A fierce growl erupted from the man’s mouth.
Sweat beaded on his forehead, and thick veins bulged on his muscular arm. Yet, Ariel’s arm remained unmoved.
‘This can’t be…!’
If he considered the possibility of magic, he might have been able to accept it somewhat.
There were spells that could enhance physical strength.
However, the table where he and Ariel were sitting had a magic-sealing circle engraved on it.
This table, used in official arm-wrestling tournaments, prevented any magic from working.
In other words, Ariel was resisting the man’s arm with pure physical strength alone.
“11 seconds! 12 seconds! 13 seconds!!”
By now, it had gone past 10 seconds.
“Go, elf! Win!”
“Go, elf!!”
The crowd was ecstatic.
The atmosphere was electric.
It was thrilling to see a tiny girl face off against a man who seemed impossible to defeat.
‘Damn…!’
The man gritted his teeth, sweat streaming down his face. He was starting to lose strength in his arm.
‘Could it be… that I’m going to lose?’
Just as the man thought that, Ariel spoke in a soft voice.
“Excuse me.”
She asked the man quietly.
“What do I get if I win?”