Chapter 121

Looking at Ludger's sad expression, Alvera and Elviira thought that he was feeling pity for the Vice Master, Keres that they were talking about. Because they thought that Ludger was a man who would try to help every woman in this world. Of course, they also thought that even if she was trying to harm him he would forgive her and show his kindness to her. And the other females in this city will think a similar thing when they talk about Ludger.

"Mmm, ...That... Right! I almost forgot to tell you that your friends are waiting for you in the second training room because they want to see it. How about we go there together?" Alvera said as she wanted to change the topic as she felt awkward.

"Oh, alright. Let's go together. Right now, I want to ask about what will the Fan Club will do at the Winter Tournament. Do you want me to give them a special prize if they are able to win? Or maybe something similar to a one-day date? It should be enough for my fan service price, right?... Huh?!!" Ludger just joking when he says it but both Alvera and Elviira stop walking, their body trembling and their eyes and mouth are wide open.

"D-Da-Date!!! A-Are you serious?! If you are going to do that, I will also participate in the tournament!" Alvera said as she looked at Elviira who looked at her with a similar gaze.

"I will not lose even if I need to defeat you!" Elviira said as she glared at her twin sister.

"Wait! Both of you, stop! It was just a joke so..." Ludger said to stop them but before Ludger was able to say anything, he was stopped by Elviira.

"But it was possible to have a date as a prize because you need to fulfil the winner's wish, right?" Elviira said with a determined expression.

"Huft..., so it was really possible. Then, I will definitely win it!" Alvera sighed and declared.

Both of them started to look at each other like an enemy and began their banter while Ludger could only hold his head which started to hurt. 'I never thought that my joke would cause this kind of result. I admit that when I became Ludger, I made sure that my appearance would look handsome. But I never thought that they would act like this even though I said Ludger was a twelve-year-old boy, isn't he still too young to be someone's boyfriend? Or is this because the people in this world mostly marry at a young age?'

As the two of them make a fuss, people become interested and come closer and see the three of them as the source of the fuss. More and more people look at them with confused expressions. As if they were asking for some explanation, they look at Ludger who feels troubled because he has a bad feeling that if the matter about the prize is known by the others and causes more trouble for him.

But to hide it was not as easy as he thought...

"'Lord Ludger', how about the meeting? Did they ask you to have a date with them if they win the Winter Tournament?" Leona suddenly asks with a loud voice.

  "What! A Date!" Most people in that place suddenly said in a surprised tone and looked at Ludger.

"T-That...I..." This was the first time Ludger was so speechless that he didn't know what he should say.

'Damn! I should never said something like that in that meeting. If it was just spending time together, then it was alright. But... people's definition of date are sometimes have done different meanings... What kind of trouble will this prize will cause? Will the Duke help me to solve it, he will only laugh as he sees how troubled I am.' Ludger tries his best to think about the solution to his situation. 

"I will be the winner of this year's tournament and win the date with 'Lord Ludger'! Don't ever think I will yield to you this time!" As if betraying all of his hope, Alvera suddenly shouted at Elviira. 

Everyone in that place heard it and around half of them looked at Ludger with shining eyes that reminded him of hungry predators. Ludger feels afraid and pressured by they gaze that seems to want him to say that it was true. But Ludger really doesn't know what he should say to them. Or more precisely that he realized that if he said something wrong they might become like the twins.

"I..." Ludger stops himself from saying something that will cause him more trouble and looks around to find at least a person who could save him.

"Ludy, what happens? Did something wrong happen at the meeting and they force to do something that you don't want to do?" Rainold suddenly comes and gives Ludger a helping hand in his current situation.

'If I explained it carefully, maybe they wouldn't misinterpret it as 'date'!' Ludger suddenly thought and opened his mouth. "About the meeting...(Ludger explain the detail of the meeting)...I was only able to make it so that I would only join or help them for one day because if I declined they said they would attack us or have a guild war. And I also give them the condition that they need to win the tournament and fight against me before able to get the prize...But when I think again about it, I might be too reckless to say it." 

"What! How could they say that?! But that means the winner will be able to spend their time together with you for one day, right? Hmm, then did you have any way to prevent them from winning?" Rainold feels angry at the other guilds' unreasonable words and asks Ludger to make sure he would be able to have his freedom.

"I have some plans but I am still not sure if it will work. Besides the current situation might become more chaotic than what I thought before. Besides, everyone are able to participate in the Winter Tournament. So I can be sure about what might happen right now." Ludger explained what he was thinking.

But the people around them who eavesdrop have a different understanding from Rainold who acts normally to it. Especially when the fans hear about it, they seem to have a similar conclusion as Alvera, Elviira and Leona who said it was a date. And they started to fuss about it. 

"To spend romantic time with 'Lord Ludger'!!! That was practically a dream come true!" A female adventurer suddenly said with an excited expression.

"But doesn't that mean that we need to fight against the elite from other guilds and also the two of them? Do you think that we will be able to surpass them in such a short time? It is only a month and a half before the Winter Tournament preliminary round, how could you get strong in such a short time?" One of the male adventurers said.

"Hey, don't you dare to say that it is impossible! What if I was able to use the power of my love to 'Lord Ludger' and create a miracle?" Another female adventurer said with a red face.

"I think I need to go and train myself harder from now on!" Another adventurer said as they ran to the training ground as fast as possible. 

"You can't cheat me!" Another adventurer said and chased him to the training ground.

"No, my love is much more bigger than you!" Another adventurer said and ran in the same direction. 

As they started to decide to start their training to prepare for the Winter Tournament, that place is only left with Ludger and some people who didn't have any interest in the prize like Rainold, Einar and some male adventurers who didn't want to become the fans' enemy. Edgar also stays at that place but his condition is different from Rainold's. 

"No, it was not possible...I had swear that I will only love her...should I participate too? Right, I just wanted to help my friend so it was not cheating on her, to right?" Edgar mutters in a small voice.

'Haa, maybe I should just go back to Red Dawn and think about the solution. Oh right,  before that I need to meet our Guild Master to give some of them the punishment for trouble me like this. I won't forgive them for causing me to have a headache.' Ludger thought and ran to the Guild Master room.

"Wait, Ludy! Where are you going?" Rainold chases Ludger while pulling Edgar's hand.

"I need to meet the Guild Master and ask him to punish some guilds and make them regret from doing what are doing right now." Ludger said as he kept running till he arrived at the Guild Master room.

Bang! 

Ludger opened the door and quickly found the person who he wanted to see. "Mr. Hudson, I want you to ban all of the nominated requests for me that came from the guild of all of the people who attended today's meeting. If they asked for the reason, just answered them that I was too busy because I needed to prepare myself for the Winter Tournament."

"Well, it was quite lucky that we did not tell them that you accepted it because I was too busy with my work...Hmm?! What are you planning to do now, Boy?" Hudson is doing all the work for the Winter festival.

"What about the two of you? Did you also have some problem, newbie?" Hudson, ask the two who were just able to catch up with Ludger.

"We..."