"King Albert?!?!?!," they exclaimed in surprise.

  The man beside Her Majesty the Queen was Albert Estella San Fulgen, the current King of the San Fulgen Kingdom. Upon seeing Her Majesty the Queen and King Albert, they immediately bowed in respect.

  "Enough formalities, now tell me what you two were doing earlier?" asked Queen Kayana.

  "Nothing, Your Majesty. Just a small matter," said Duke James.

  "Is that so?" asked Queen Kayana.

  Duke James nodded. However, Commander Asier immediately raised his hand.

  "Permission to explain, Your Majesty," said Commander Asier.

  "Please, Commander Asier," said Queen Kayana.

  "Earlier, Lord Duke James asked me why I was here and not guarding his territory. I told him I was taking the day off to watch the academy tournament match today. But he said it was a waste of time to watch this match. Then he ordered me to return to San Angela and guard his territory. And I told him that he had no right to order me because the only ones who had the right to command me were Commander Oliver and the royal family. Only then did the things Her Majesty saw happen," said Commander Asier.

  "I see. I did receive a report that you requested a day off today, Commander. Commander Oliver and I have also approved it," said Queen Kayana.

  "That's correct," said Commander Oliver.

  "Therefore, you have no right to stop a commander from requesting a day off and order him to return to his territory, Lord Duke James," said Queen Kayana.

  "My apologies, Your Majesty. I didn't know you and Commander Oliver had already approved the day off request," said Duke James.

  "Please accept Lord Duke James's apology, Kayana. It's not good for us to continue making a fuss about this matter here. The atmosphere here is getting tense because we're the center of attention," said King Albert.

  "Hmm, fine if you say so. I accept your apology, Lord Duke James. But next time a similar incident occurs, you must confirm it first before acting. And your actions must not be excessive. You too, Commander Asier," said Queen Kayana.

  "Roger, Your Majesty," said Commander Asier and Duke James.

  "Then Lord Irwin, Lord Duke Remy, and Lord Duke Darwin, you three should try to stop Commander Asier and Lord ?Duke James. The aura they exude is frightening everyone in this academy, both guests and students. If I hadn't come to stop them earlier, they would have done something even more dangerous. If that had happened, who knows what would have happened to this academy, and there could have been casualties," said Queen Kayana.

  "My apologies, Your Majesty. I promise not to repeat my mistake if a similar incident occurs again," said Lord Duke Remy.

  Lord Irwin and Duke Darwin also apologized.

  "Alright, I apologize for seeming angry. Then, we'd better head to the tournament venue now, as things are getting lively here," said Queen Kayana.

  Her Majesty the Queen then walked towards the tournament venue, followed by the Dukes and Duchesses. Lord Irwin and Commander Asier remained in the academy lobby, continuing their conversation.

  When Her Majesty the Queen and the Dukes arrived at the entrance to the central building, they were greeted by Senior Sophie and Senior Florian.

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  "Welcome to San Fulgen Akademiya, Your Majesty the Queen, King Albert, the Dukes and Duchesses, Commander Oliver, and the other knights. Let us escort you to the tournament area," said Senior Florian and Senior Sophie.

  "Thank you for your welcome, both of you. By the way, I just realized you two were assigned to greet us. Usually, Vyn greets us at this hour," said Queen Kayana.

  "Ah, about that, the chairman is supposed to greet the guests himself if it's still before 8 a.m. But today, the chairman has decided not to greet the guests. He wants to focus on the final match," said Senior Sophie.

  "I see," said Queen Kayana.

  Then they all walked into the central building, escorted by Senior Sophie and Senior Florian.

  -

  Several hours later.

  It was 10:00 a.m., and the third-place match and final round were about to begin.

  "Good morning, everyone. Today is the start of the third-place match and the final round of the San Fulgen Academy Tournament. Before the match begins, I would like to represent the academy and thank Her Majesty the Queen, King Albert, and the three Dukes and Duchesses for taking the time to attend this match," said Mr. Alan.

  Mr. Alan bowed and saluted Her Majesty the Queen, who was in the audience.

  "And again, I'd like to inform you that today's match order will be different from previous ones. Previously, the mens match started first, followed by the womens. For the third-place match, the order remains the same as before, with the mens' match starting. However, for the final, the womens ?final will begin first, followed by the mens final. That's all I can explain. Without further ado, let's get started, starting with the mens third-place match," said Mr. Alan.

  The match schedule was displayed. The mens third-place match was between senior Darryl and the fourth-year student who had been defeated by senior Vyn in the semifinals. The two entered the tournament arena and prepared to compete.

  -

  About 20 minutes later, their match was over. Senior Darryl had won the match with considerable difficulty and secured third place in the mens tournament. Several staff members arrived at the arena and carried the fourth-year student, who had been defeated by senior Darryl, to the treatment room.

  Senior Darryl was also taken to the treatment room because he also suffered quite serious injuries. After that, because the tournament arena was still filled with the sea of ??sand created by Senior Darryl, the next match was postponed for a few minutes.

  -

  In the participant waiting room.

  "Darryl won third place, huh? That means the first through third place winners in the mens and womens academy tournament will be Elevrad members. Since all of us remaining here are Elevrad members, regardless of who wins or loses, Elevrad members will win first through third place," said Senior Gretta.

  "You don't seem too stressed in this final match, Senior Gretta. You're still acting as usual, while the others seem quiet and silent. They're focused on the books they're reading," I said, looking around.

  Senior Vyn, Senior Alisha, Senior Nadine, and Irene were all engrossed in what appeared to be a book about some technique or magic.

  "Well, if you say I'm stressed, of course I am. But if I think about it too much, I lose focus, so I just relax. You're like that too, aren't you, Rid? Even though the chairman who will be facing you in the finals seems to be preparing for your match by reading that book, you look like you haven't prepared yourself," said Senior Gretta.

  "I've been preparing myself last night and this morning. And I think that's enough," I said.

  "Very confident," said Senior Gretta.

  Then, from the projection screen in the participant waiting room, Mr. Alan appeared in the arena.

  "Since the tournament arena is back to normal, let's move on to the third place match next," said Mr. Alan.

  The match schedule was displayed. Irene and Senior Nadine looked at the projection, then they both immediately walked to the arena.

  "Good luck, both of you," said Senior Gretta.

  "Good luck, Irene," I said.

  Irene didn't say anything, but she nodded after I said that.

  "It looks like they're both trying to focus. Well, whatever it is, this is an interesting match. Because it's a match between members of the San Lucia family," said senior Gretta.

  -

  Back to the tournament arena.

  "As you can see in the chart in the projection, the participants competing in this third-place match are Irene Emerald San Lucia from the first year and Nadine Emerald from the second year. Let's welcome these two participants," said Mr. Alan.

  The audience began to applaud and cheer for Irene and senior Nadine.

  Then the two of them entered the tournament arena and began to face each other.

  "By the way, this is our first time competing at this academy, isn't it, Irene?" said senior Nadine.

  "Yes, you're right," Irene said.

  "In this match, I won't hold back, Irene. I will defeat you and win third place in this tournament," said senior Nadine.

  "I should be the one saying that, Nadine," Irene said.

  -To be continued