Promise

"Yes, I lost."

Avila lowered her head, her face hidden beneath the thick hood. Josh could not see her expression, but her voice was unusually low.

Josh shook his head. Anyone would be upset after losing a match. If Josh had lost, he would probably have felt much the same. After all, that would have meant losing ten thousand gold coins!

"Can you tell me why you fought so desperately? Surely it wasn’t for honor?"

Since Avila had already taken the initiative to admit defeat, Josh had no reason to stay tense. He stretched lazily and asked casually.

This woman was indeed strong, and stubborn as well. Ilka had already stepped in and said she was no match for him, yet she had still insisted on continuing. Although the outcome had turned out as it had, Josh was still curious.

"What about you?" Avila did not answer Josh’s question and instead asked one of her own.

"Me? Originally, I was planning to just make it into the top eight, because I had an agreement with someone. But after I learned about your father’s reward, I changed my mind."

"That ancient gemstone?"

"Mm, more or less. My teacher really wants to study that thing. But I don’t care much about it. I’m not interested in it. What interests me is the ten thousand gold coins your father is offering."

By then, Josh’s Seraph had gradually disappeared. Smiling, he walked over to Avila and extended a hand, intending to pull her up.

He was very happy right then. He had won the match, which meant those ten thousand gold coins were his. Nothing could have made him happier.

Josh had not been lying, either. In his eyes, those ten thousand gold coins were far more appealing than the gemstone Akathosh cared about.

Ten thousand gold coins! Who knew how many things Josh could do with that money? At the very least, it could keep his territory’s finances secure for a long time.

"Those ten thousand gold coins? Why?"

"Well, if you ask your brother, you’ll understand. Never mind. It’s because I’m a lord. If I want my territory to develop better, I need enough funds. What about you? Why were you so unwilling to admit defeat? You knew you weren’t my match."

"Sigh."

Avila sighed. After hesitating for a long while, she finally reached out and took Josh’s hand, then stood with his help. If Vison had been there, his eyes would surely have fallen out of his head. When had this aloof princess ever had such contact with anyone else?

"I was also doing it for a promise."

"Oh? A promise to your family? Your parents wanted you to win this match?"

"No."

Avila shook her head. Her promise truly had nothing to do with her family.

Ilka had never forced her to win anything. In fact, the entire country had never forced anything upon the Elf Empire’s royal family. They believed in their nation, believed in the contestants, and believed they would do their best.

"Then what was it?"

Josh scratched his head, still completely confused. A promise? Why did that sound so similar to him?

Hadn’t Josh fought tooth and nail to reach the top eight in order to fulfill his promise with Natasha? Now, it seemed he had exceeded expectations. Stroking his chin, Josh even began wondering how he could get Natasha to compensate him for the extra effort.

While Josh let his imagination run wild, Avila fell silent.

Honestly, she did not know how to begin. As the eldest princess of the Elf Empire, she had grown up under the attention of all the elven nobles. The most important reason they watched her so closely was that she was a woman.

For women in this era of the Muya Continent, having high status depended on their personal strength. If they were strong enough, their status would absolutely not be lower than any man’s.

If they were weak or not even professionals, then they could only hope to marry a sufficiently good man.

Naturally, Avila could not possibly fail to become a professional. Yet as the daughter of an emperor and a princess of an empire, she encountered many things that irritated her.

The most important of them was the matter of her future marriage.

A princess of an empire, even in a place like the Elf Empire, could not escape the competition among nobles.

Of course, the primary goal of those elven nobles was to make Elf King Ilka more inclined to favor or support their views, whether in matters of people’s livelihood, government affairs, or military matters.

For that reason, many noble families hoped that the younger members of their families could win the heart of the Elf King’s daughter. Even if Ilka would not let that affect his decisions, it would at least bring them closer to the royal family.

Elven love was free. Even a commoner might end up with a noble.

Thus, for at least ten of Avila’s twenty-some years, she had been "harassed" by different male elves. Though it was not truly harassment, merely normal interaction.

Elves would not do anything disgusting, but Avila deeply disliked the feeling.

Although she knew those boys who approached her did not have any ulterior motives, she could not help thinking of the complicated families behind them.

This was all thanks to her ranger mother. To be honest, her mother had merely told Avila about everything she had seen and heard while traveling the continent, whether kind and beautiful things or ugly and vile ones.

Her purpose had only been to give Avila better judgment, but even she had not expected Avila to interpret it somewhat incorrectly.

It had been fine at first, but by the time Ilka and his wife discovered Avila’s problem, it was already a little too late.

It was not that she could not change, but with a child’s worldview already mostly formed, they preferred to let their children discover and understand the world for themselves rather than force their own views upon them.

On top of that, Avila’s talent was frighteningly good. Whether it was Battle Qi or magic, she could master it with relative ease. In the end, Ilka and his wife no longer wanted to interfere too much in Avila’s affairs.

Avila, meanwhile, threw all her energy into cultivation, and without realizing it, her strength grew to an incredibly terrifying level.

Later, to stop those irritating boys from continuing to "harass" her, she made a vow on her sixteenth birthday: she would only marry a man who could defeat her.

Her meaning was simple—if you could not even defeat me, what ability would you have to protect me in the future?

Sure enough, the moment this news was released, it caused an enormous uproar. Even Ilka had a headache because of his daughter.

Elves had long lifespans and plenty of time to cultivate and study. Avila devoted almost all her time to cultivation, while also occasionally defeating those around her age who had decent strength.

Vison was among them. What left a deep impression on Avila, however, was that although Vison lost time and again, he kept challenging her after every defeat.

He had even entered the Four Nations Invitation in order to gain another chance to face her. Unfortunately, Avila had not participated in that Four Nations Invitation.

As for this year’s event, Avila had not wanted to participate either.

But Vison had sought out Avila and asked her to take part. As the previous champion, he wanted to face Avila in the tournament. If he lost, he promised that he would never bother Avila again.

Perhaps because she had heard Vison’s final words, Avila, who had not been interested in the slightest, ultimately agreed.

Vison was strong. He had nearly beaten up every man who had previously harassed her, making them turn their attention toward Vison, focused entirely on defeating him before challenging her.

If she defeated Vison once more in the Four Nations Invitation, would that mean she could have some peace afterward?

With that thought in mind, Avila told Ilka that she wanted to enter the tournament. Ilka was somewhat surprised, but he agreed to her request.

But who the hell knew where Josh had come from? This Augustus prince, who supposedly could not use any Magic elements at all, had not only created a Magic Cinema that even made her blood boil, but had also defeated the prince of the Dwarf Empire, the prince of the Orc Empire, and even Vison himself along the way.

Thinking of that, Avila felt a little bitter.

She had not watched much of Josh’s matches, but every time she did, she felt Josh had already reached his limit. Yet only now did she realize that Josh had never reached his limit at all. His limits had already exceeded her imagination!

With a sigh, Avila spoke in a low but extremely serious voice. "Because I once promised that any man who defeated me would become—"

"Wait! Shut up! Don’t say it!"

Josh suddenly realized something and immediately told Avila to shut up!

Yes, shut up! His reaction made Avila frown. Although Josh could sense her confusion, his own mouth was already bitter.

What promise? Any man who defeated her would become what? Did she think he was an idiot? Josh had read thousands, even tens of thousands, of novels with this kind of setup. He had never imagined that just for prize money, he would end up causing himself this much trouble!

"Are you insane? You built your future happiness on strength? How much of a masochist do you have to be to think like that?"

Josh spoke with heartfelt anguish. Of course, the one he felt sorry for was himself. Josh neither knew nor wanted to know why Avila had made such a promise.

He had not even settled things with Natasha yet. He had absolutely no energy to get involved with another woman, especially one who entrusted her future to the question of "whoever is stronger."

Josh’s words and attitude made Avila feel that he was incredibly strange. No one had ever spoken to her that way before. She did not understand all the words Josh had used, but that did not mean she could not grasp his meaning. It was simply her promise, and she did not wish to say any more about it.

The atmosphere instantly became awkward. Suddenly, a dagger appeared before Avila—it was her dagger. She raised her head curiously and looked at Josh, but Josh had no interest in looking at her. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Let’s discuss something."

"What?"

"Later, hold the dagger to my neck and say that my magic power was exhausted, so you won in the end."

"Why?" Avila stared blankly at the dagger, then asked in a very strange tone. Josh had clearly won, so why would he do that?

"I have no interest in marrying a lunatic. No, I mean, I already have someone I like. But let’s make this clear first. You can take the championship, but the reward has to go to me!"

"…"

Avila suddenly did not know what to say. She was somewhat happy because this proposal truly could solve the problem of her vow, but for some reason, she was also a little angry. She did not even know why she was angry and could only respond with silence.

"Please, will you say something? Think the split isn’t enough? That ancient gemstone has to go to my teacher, no question about it. We split the money ninety-ten?"

"…"

"Hey, hey! Don’t be so greedy! Eighty-twenty! I get eight thousand, you get two thousand?"

"…"

"Damn, you elf are seriously greedy? Seventy-thirty at most! I can’t give you any more!"

"…"