"Your Highness, it seems our duel will begin very soon."
Merlin must have gone to see Laurie last night. The moment Laurie met Maggie outside the dueling arena, he gave her a polite smile that was hard to describe.
"I'm really looking forward to it too."
Maggie nodded politely in response, her eyes calm.
She had been observing Laurie for the past few days, but had not seen the water elemental spirit that should have been by his side, which made Maggie more cautious in her actions.
If she doesn't let him reveal a weakness and ascertain the situation of the elemental spirits, Maggie won't easily reveal her true intentions.
In other words, only those who conceal their true intentions and goals will ultimately be the winners.
Besides, in this duel, the only winner can be her.
When Laurie heard Maggie's answer, she gave Maggie a deep look, unsure whether she was surprised by Maggie's courage or admired her mindset.
A mid-level mage dares to accept a duel request from a high-level mage, especially when it comes at the cost of the temple's honor.
The competition has begun. Starting today, the competitors have been divided into four groups, with Witt and Lowry each assigned to one of the two groups.
As expected, Laurie broke through all obstacles with unstoppable momentum and won first place in the group.
And Witt, despite looking shaky and not very strong, also managed to get first place in another group.
This made Maggie, who had been quite calm, look a little more serious.
Ever since Maggie learned that Witt was Susie's boyfriend, her attention to Witt has skyrocketed. Now, with Laurie facing off against Witt, she suddenly finds herself in an awkward situation.
As part of the plan, Maggie definitely needs to ensure Laurie wins first place, but Vittoria...
Things have become complicated.
Even though Witt doesn't seem like she can beat Laurie, there's no guarantee that something unexpected won't happen. If Witt wins, her plan will be ruined.
An unexpected possibility.
Maggie gently touched her forehead, a faint look of trouble on her face.
The vice president of the Continental Magic Guild, Nydia, was the first to notice Maggie's reaction. She turned to look at Maggie, her charming tone carrying a hint of concern.
"Does Your Highness have something troubling you?"
Nydia's voice was very distinctive; it could melt even the toughest man into a soft, yielding heart. Just listening to it made one's bones melt, let alone when she asked in a concerned tone. In an instant, it brought Maggie back to her senses.
"Um?"
Maggie turned to look at the vice president. In the past few days, she hadn't had much interaction with Nydia, just a casual nodding acquaintance. She hadn't expected Nydia to notice her emotions.
"Seeing the sorrow on His Highness's face is truly heartbreaking."
Nydia covered her mouth and giggled, a hint of allure emanating from her brows, which, combined with the expanse of snow-white skin on her chest, was dazzling.
Even Maggie's gaze involuntarily drifted downwards for two seconds.
"The magicians in this magic competition are all very powerful. After watching their duels, I'm even more worried about my own strength."
Maggie, of course, wouldn't reveal her true thoughts, so she used a more humble approach.
"But I think that's probably not what Her Highness is worried about."
Nydia leaned forward, her tone a mix of playful banter and probing.
"What does President Nanitia think I'm worried about?"
Maggie slightly composed herself, looked directly at the vice president who had come to probe her for some unknown reason, and asked in a half-smile.
Even though her beauty was alluring, Maggie could only appreciate it without losing her mind.
"Just kidding. Your Highness, who do you think will come in first place among the remaining four?"
Nydia's attempt to change the subject was too abrupt, leaving Maggie somewhat disappointed. She had thought Nydia was a shrewd person, but it turned out she was nothing special.
Maggie calmly turned her gaze to the sidelines. At that moment, Laurie was talking to Merlin. Only Laurie looked like a nobleman on the field; the other two, including Witt, looked like greenhorns.
There was another rather unusual one, a wood-type fairy mage, who was currently flying around the entire area, seemingly very curious.
Laurie Frank.
She gave a straightforward answer: of the four people present, he was indeed the strongest, and her choice was reasonable.
Although the fairy race seems very strong, due to their racial characteristics, their chances of winning against someone like Laurie, who comes from an ancient family and has a wealth of knowledge, are not very high. Even if this fairy comes from the Silver Wheel, it won't work.
"Then I will trust Your Highness and bet on Young Master Laurie."
After saying this, Nydia suddenly took out a card from her pocket and handed it to the servant beside her. The servant respectfully accepted it, turned around and left, not knowing what he was going to do.
Maggie's gaze swept over the card, and she was slightly shocked.
I had thought the continental magicians' guild would be rich, but I never imagined they would be this rich. A single purple-gold card contains the equivalent of 100,000 gold coins, enough to exchange for a high title in any kingdom on the continent of Coral and live a peaceful life.
What is she going to do with so much money?
Maggie watched the two of them the whole time, feeling uneasy.
"President Nidia is incredibly wealthy."
She exclaimed in seemingly unintentional admiration.
"No, no, no, this is not my personal treasury. It belongs to our chairman. He just asked me to place the bet."
Nydia waved her hand, indicating that she could not resist the Saintess's admiration.
"Bet?"
Maggie was puzzled.
"It seems that Your Highness is unaware that there are nobles running betting operations outside the dueling arena, betting on who will win and who will lose, and the lower the winning probability of the side, the higher the odds."
Nydia's words made Maggie fall into deep thought; she hadn't even noticed that there were gamblers in such a competition.
There are too many things to do every day, so I have no time to pay attention.
If I had known, she would have placed bets on a few with a higher probability of winning, and expanded her savings.
Maggie was starting to regret it.
etc....
So the reason Nydia was testing her earlier was probably because someone outside was pressuring her and Laurie to see who would win, which made the vice president eagerly come to her to see how confident and certain she was.
Such a simple and unpretentious reason left Maggie, who had just been speculating about conspiracy theories, somewhat dumbfounded.
Seeing that Maggie looked enlightened, Nydia stopped trying to hide it and nervously leaned close to Maggie's ear, whispering a question in her ear.
"The odds of you facing off against Laurie are as high as 1 in 500. I'm doing this on behalf of the president. If you're really confident, why don't you tell us a little something? It would be fine to split the final spoils 50/50 with Her Highness the Saintess."
Although Maggie had guessed that fewer people would bet on her to win, she was still a little surprised by how few.
Does she really look that bad?
Few people dared to put pressure on her.
"Your Highness, what do you think? Our leader is very sincere."
Nidia spoke again.
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