Chapter 375 – RIGHT NEXT TO YOU

“…Having prejudice is one thing but hurting people because of your blind belief is another.” Veronica’s voice was soft but her words were sharper like a sword.

The participant’s face paled. “I know I offended you. I’m sorry. Yes, I believed that women were weak. You changed my mind today. I’m sure many will change their minds after today.”

He gulped as his mouth was dry and then asked, “May… may I be your friend? I’d love to have a friend with an amazing archer. My name is Lothar.” He reached out his hand.

Veronica looked at his hand. ‘He came clean. As long as he is sincere, there is nothing wrong with shaking hands with him,’ she told herself.

She reached out and captured his hand. While shaking hands, she introduced herself, “I’m Monalisa.”

Lothar scratched his cheek. “You have a nice name. But it somehow doesn’t suit you. I’m not sure why. Who gave you the name? Your father?”

Veronica answered, “I gave it to myself.”

“Huh? But how…? What about the name your parents gave you?”

“My parents never had the chance to give me any names. So, I gave myself a name,” Veronica replied. When she realized that he couldn’t understand her answer, she explicitly stated, “I’m an orphan.”

“Oh! I’m so sorry,” Lothar immediately apologized. 

“It’s okay. I’m used to it.” Veronica shrugged. “Can I just stay alone for a moment? The second round will start soon.”

Lothar panicked. “Did I offend you? I’m sorry I don’t know how to talk to a woman.”

“I know.”

“What?”

“I know you can’t talk to women.”

Lothar didn’t talk to her anymore. Veronica had five minutes to cool her head before the second round started.

In the second round, only fifteen participants remained. The participant who complained at first about Veronica was also there. 

When he entered the room, he glared at her through his blonde locks but said nothing. Veronica pretended not to see him either.

In the next round, all the archers stood in one line. This time, the boards were one hundred meters away. And, they were moving.

“Is this the last round?” Veronica asked Lothar.

“Last time there were three rounds. Looks like this time they want to wrap it up quickly,” Lothar replied. 

“It’s not that. It’s just… someone showed some lame moves that the judges thought that they should give us harder goals to deal with.” The blonde participant sneered.

‘So, it’s my fault? He seemed pretty annoyed,’ Veronica thought. “I’m sorry. It’s all because of my ignorance.”

“I’m glad you know.” The blonde gave her a black look.

Lothar stepped between them. “Hey, this isn’t a bad thing, is it? It’s not that we can’t shoot arrows. It has become more fun. Or do you think you lack the skills to beat it?”

The blonde gave him a dirty look. “You can say what you want after you win the game.”

“Right, it’s just a game,” Lothar smirked. His eyes were covered with his brown locks.

The boards were moving from right to left. Each participant had one board. While the board moved, they had to shoot their arrows. 

If they hit the target, they would win. If they couldn’t hit the target or hit the target of another participant’s board, they would be disqualified.

Veronica didn’t make any mistakes this time. This moving board was nothing for her. 

The second round winners were three out of fifteen – Veronica, Lothar and the blonde.

“You did great,” Lothar complimented her after they went back to the room. 

“You did great too.” Veronica smiled. “This was actually nothing. The movement was predictable. It was easy to count.”

“Just wait for the next round,” the blonde muttered. 

“Dude, chill out. It’s not like any of us lost the game. We are here till now. We can beat the rest of it and win it together,” Lothar stated.

“Do it yourself.” The blonde left the room, going to the field for the third time.

Veronica and Lothar exchanged glances. 

From the audiences’ seats, Darius was clapping after the second round had ended.

“Unbelievable! I think I saw something forbidden. Was Veronica always this powerful? Maybe I will take her under my wings and make her my disciple.” He couldn’t stop complimenting her.

“That’s never going to happen,” Arthur firmly rejected.

“Huh? Why?” Darius complained. “Look at her. She is killing it out there. I won’t be surprised if she wants to join the knights.”

“No matter what happens, she doesn’t need a master. I think her previous master is more skilled than any of us,” Roxana commented.

“That’s why I need to meet him or her, whoever it is. As far as I know, no human was more skillful than us,” Darius remarked with a serious face.

“Jealous much? Do you think someone more powerful than you were there all along but never got the credit for it?” Roxana smirked.

“I’m jealous.” Darius didn’t hide his feelings. “But more than that, I want to fight that person. I want to see who is more powerful.”

“If that person is a good archer, how can he or she fight you?” Catherine asked. “Do you think that person would be good at ax fighting?”

Felix explained, “It’s because of Veronica’s movement. She is too skilled. Her movements are flawless. She seems like a professional who got to touch her weapon a few months ago. Normally, it takes weak people years to master their weapons. She is different.”

“Yes, she even makes me jealous,” Zinnia admitted. “I keep wondering if she has been learning archery since she was born.”

“That’s not possible.” Catherine shook her head. “Weapons aren’t allowed where we used to live before. If she tried to pull off some tricks, she would have to stay with the children. And she absolutely hates children.”

“She hates children?! Why?” Roxana was stunned. She didn’t know Veronica’s past.

Catherine told her, “That’s because children always played pranks on her and always disturbed her. She had a hate relationship with them. The worst part was, she couldn’t teach them any lessons. If she tried to scold them, she would get bullied by them later on.”

“That’s terrible. You guys faced hardship. I hope things are better for you now,” Roxana tried to comfort her.

“Oh yeah, things are a lot better. Who doesn’t love freedom?”

The third round started soon. This time, along with the board, the ground went up and down. 

When Veronica entered the field, she was astonished. She wasn’t expecting it. 

The boards were practically running inside the field. Their moves were unpredictable. There was no chance to stay in one place and wait for them to come to the participants. 

If the participants tried to stay in one place, they would be knocked out. So, standing in one place wasn’t an option.

“We got one board to shoot. The one whose three arrows would be in the board wins,” Lothar explained the details.

“Um… there are at least ten boards. Which board is for us?” Veronica looked around. She was so anxious that she didn’t hear the emcee explaining the rules.

“I can’t tell you that. It won’t be a competition anymore.” Lothar laughed.

“Show a bit of sincerity by using your brain,” the blonde walked past while talking to her.

“Sorry,” Veronica bit her lower lip. ‘I think I owe them a big apology. If it wasn’t for me, things wouldn’t be this troublesome. But I’m enjoying this.’

“And it begins!” the emcee announced.

Veronica, Lothar and the blonde dashed to three different paths. Veronica scanned the area. She could hardly stay still. The plates under her were going up and down. 

She saw colorful boards and got confused. ‘Red, purple, blue, yellow… which one is mine?’ she wondered. ‘What is Lothar doing?’

She glanced over Lothar. He was running behind a brown board.

‘Why is he running toward brown?’ She was puzzled. She then noticed the blonde was going after the yellow board.

‘How can they know which boards are theirs? Wasn’t it supposed to be one board?’ She looked at her weapons. ‘I have five arrows. I have to shoot three arrows. Then what are those extra two arrows for? two chances?’

“So generous after putting us through this much… ohh!” The plate under her suddenly moved and she fell. The plate next to hers lifted and her body slammed there.

“Ouch! That must have hurt!” Darius groaned. 

“…” Ovior looked at Arthur clenching his fists till his fingers turned white.

Veronica was definitely hurt. Her face smashed on the plate. The helmet crashed against her soft face. She whimpered. For a moment, she saw darkness in her eyes. 

‘This is nothing. I’ve gone through worse.’ She wiped her face and stood up. She took off her helmet. Her wet stands covered her cheeks. She pushed them back. While doing so, she suddenly thought of something. 

‘Oh, wait, Lothar and the other guy are going after the same board that matches their hair colors. Should I go after red?’

She raised her head and looked at the flags which were used to decorate the place. The flags were in a triangle shape.. Their colors were red.