---

The face of the victor is quite a sight—more tragic than triumphant, but if you call it a glorious scar, it’s not entirely unseeable…

Hmm. I tried to package it nicely, but this is just too much.

Fortunately, as soon as the victor was confirmed, a swarm of people who looked like healers rushed up from the side of the stage to attend to the two.

Some of them flocked to Anne, while others approached the still-lying Runeza to begin treatment.

They seemed to be high-ranking priests, as divine magic brushed over their faces, and the swollen lumps around their eyes gradually diminished, while the droplets of blood that had been dripping from their lips soon stopped.

Even the hand that had been clutching at her side, likely due to a rib injury, was now at ease, suggesting that most of her wounds had healed.

Similarly, Runeza, who had been lying on the ground, sprang back up as soon as she received treatment. She must have just collapsed from exhaustion; it seemed she wasn’t actually unconscious.

Runeza didn’t look upset despite losing the strength contest she was confident about, instead sporting a big smile that gleamed just as brightly as Anne’s. So much so that the priest treating her even used divine magic on her head, seemingly concerned she might have suffered a head injury.

Though I could barely hear from a distance, Runeza was murmuring something while reaching out her hand towards Anne, who was waving at me.

Anne responded to Runeza with a nod, and they exchanged light handshakes. Ah, this must be what they call camaraderie born from battle.

“Hero? Shall we head out soon?”

As the call from the event staff for the award ceremony came in, Mariel stood up first, reaching out a hand to help me up.

“Since my friend has won, I’d appreciate it if you could bestow a blessing in a splendid manner as promised.”

Some might say it was favoritism through a friend, but isn’t all human interaction based on connections anyway? If you’re jealous, then become the Saint’s friend.

“Alright, alright. Though it’s usually extra charges for sparkle and halo options, since you’re the Hero’s friend, I’ll do it for free.”

“…Were you really taking money for that?”

“Hehe, who knows?”

Pausing to ponder whether Mariel was serious or joking, we walked on until we reached the end of the passage leading to the stage.

While waiting as instructed by the staff, I observed that the stage, which had been left in shambles from the earlier clash between Anne and Runeza, was now miraculously restored, likely thanks to some magic—just in time for a rather impressive-looking podium to be set up.

“You can go up now.”

Following the staff’s instructions, as Mariel and I stepped onto the wide-open stage, murmurs from the audience gradually grew louder.

“Eek! Hero! Please look over here!”

“Saint, you’re so beautiful!”

The murmurs quickly transformed into cheers, amidst which I could hear all sorts of strange requests.

“Hero, please marry me!”

Amidst various voices, a deep one also called out, but I tried to ignore it and matched my pace with Mariel, continuing forward.

If only that proposal had come from a woman, I wouldn’t have minded so much. But now that I’ve become a woman myself, where would there be any ladies saying such things?

As I stepped onto the podium set up in the center of the stage, Anne, who had been standing in line per the rankings, spotted me and waved.

Feeling a bit shy to acknowledge her in a public setting, I simply returned a smile in her direction.

And thus began the award ceremony.

There seemed to be no additional prizes for third or fourth place, as the awards for the joint third-place winners were presented first with trophies and necklaces.

Though the prizes were humble in comparison to the scale of the tournament, for those two, an even brighter future awaited. Being ranked in the Heavenly Martial Arts Contest meant they had become coveted talents across the continent.

Next was Runeza, crowned as the runner-up.

As I moved to her side, I couldn’t help but feel the towering height she possessed.

I had to look up quite a bit just to meet her gaze.

“Congratulations. May blessings be upon your path.”

Mariel attempted to present the necklace while congratulating her like the previous awardees. However, due to the vast height difference and Runeza’s armor from earlier, Mariel was stretching her hand up and struggling.

After observing that amusing struggle for a bit, Mariel then bent down to fit the necklace around Runeza.

“Really… You did it again last year…”

“It’s a shame to think I won’t be able to see this sight next year when you graduate.”

From the conversation I overheard between the two, Runeza’s teasing seemed to be something that had been going on since last year.

Well, as long as it let me enjoy Mariel’s cute reactions, I couldn’t be more grateful.

And finally, it was time for the last award.

Standing center stage, even Anne seemed to recognize that it was her turn, a nervous look on her face.

Just not long before the contest, she had appeared completely relaxed, so seeing her all tense was quite amusing.

So Anne does get nervous too, huh?

As Mariel and I stood before Anne, she seemed even more anxious now, licking her dry lips.

I could even hear the sound of her swallowing cutting through the cheers of the audience, highlighting just how nervous she was.

“Anne Klein. The Goddess shall surely take pride in your bravery. May blessings be with you on your path.”

“Yep.”

Once again came the trophies and necklaces. But this time, Mariel approached her, leaning in to lightly kiss Anne on the forehead, directly presenting her with a blessing instead of just words.

Did she remember the promise made to me? With the added effect of divine magic, the cheers grew even louder around us.

However, despite Mariel’s extravagant blessing, Anne merely responded with a casual tone, her expression appearing quite formal, missing any signs of joy.

I clearly recalled her expressing excitement about receiving Mariel’s blessing yesterday. What could possibly be bothering her?

Anne’s eyes were glancing toward me as if demanding something more. But even if I wanted to give her something to satisfy her greedy nature, I hadn’t prepared anything.

Having delivered everything I could, I couldn’t just stand still, so I tried to proceed to deliver my final light congratulatory speech; however, in the moment, Anne held out her hand to me, revealing her palm.

Caught off guard by her sudden gesture, I noticed that she was avoiding my gaze, possibly disappointed that I hadn’t prepared a gift.

What could her gesture mean? If there’s nothing to give, perhaps she wants that so-called blessing?

Translating that more gently, it seemed she was signaling that this would suffice for her forgiveness.

It was a good deal to calm down sulking Anne with just a blessing, so I smoothly knelt down in front of her as if it had been planned all along, gently raising her hand and kissing the back of it.

Thankfully, that seemed enough to lift her spirits, as Anne turned back to me, now beaming with a smile.

She appeared satisfied, and since we no longer needed to prolong the moment, Mariel and I moved on to wrap up the ceremony with closing words.

There was a script prepared in advance by the event staff, but if I simply recited that, the audience would likely fall asleep from boredom, so I summarized it in my own casual way.

Mariel chuckled at my spontaneous actions, while I could see the host off in the distance shaking their head, forming an X shape with their arms as if to say not to do that… but if they’re upset, they can try being the Hero themselves.

*

“A toast for the victorious Anne!”

“Yay!”

Leaving the cleanup of the stage to the staff, I soon returned to the dormitory room with Anne.

As I walked in, Selian, Yuli, and Linne were already there, having prepared a surprise celebration, bursting fireworks the moment I entered to congratulate Anne on her victory.

Though we had planned to have a party after the closing ceremony tomorrow, that didn’t mean we couldn’t have one today. In fact, celebrating Anne’s triumph was far more important than having a party just for the closing ceremony.

At our age, we sipped on refreshments instead of alcohol, letting ourselves get carried away in merriment as we spoke louder than usual.

No matter how effective the soundproofing magic was, if the dorm supervisor caught wind of us being this rowdy indoors, they’d surely scold us and dish out penalties—but that wouldn’t deter us in the least.

“Oh, speaking of which, I’m sorry about earlier.”

“Huh? What about?”

I called out to Anne, who was joking around with Linne while holding onto a drink.

“Back at the award ceremony. I think you were expecting a gift, but I didn’t bring anything, so I’m sorry about that.”

“Ah…”

Finally coming to terms with what I had said, Anne didn’t seem angry or sulky.

“No! I… received enough…”

Fortunately, I managed to defuse what could have been a sulking situation with just the Hero’s blessing.

Hmmm… I’m not quite sure what significance the Hero’s blessing holds, but I’ve learned that if Anne’s pouting, a blessing will smooth things over.

I pondered whether this would work similarly for Selian or Yuli, but… they aren’t simple-minded like Anne, so that’s unlikely.

 

---