Last Gun Alchemist

Days passed.

The Royal Academy’s 300th Club Tournament finally arrived.

”Gooooooood morning, Britannians!!!”

A man holding a microphone leaned slightly backward, gripping it with both hands as he shouted with enough energy to carry his voice across the crowded entrance.

”My name is Patrick West! Yes, it’s me, here and ready to show you all the amazing displays and crazy presentations the students of the Royal Academy will be showing us during today’s Royal Academy 300th Club Tournament!!”

Patrick waved one hand toward the entrance of the Mix Arena, a bright smile spread across his face.

The cameraman immediately moved the camera, following the direction of Patrick’s hand and giving the people watching the live broadcast a clear view of the massive entrance.

”Join our live broadcast of the whole event through the BNC Broadcasting Group’s Linsta account!”

Patrick leaned toward the camera and pointed directly at it as if he were speaking to the viewers on the other side of the screen.

After saying his piece, he moved into the Mix Arena with his broadcasting team following closely behind him.

At the same time, numerous guests continued arriving to watch the tournament.

Some came as family members of the students.

Others were simply non-noble and noble class citizens who had heard about the Royal Academy’s famous Club Tournament and wanted to see the displays and presentations for themselves.

The flow of people continued without stopping.

Royal Academy Guards stood at the entrance of the Mix Arena, watching the arriving guests and guiding them toward the security checkpoints. Other Guards had already been stationed around different parts of the arena, remaining alert as the crowd gradually grew larger.

Almost every minute, they communicated with the surveillance team, which were inside a nearby surveillance room. Several staff members watched the movement of the crowd through different holographic screens displaying various parts of the Mix Arena.

The images shifted from one location to another.

The entrance.

The stadium.

The club booths.

The crowded walkways between the buildings.

Everything was being watched.

Different broadcasting groups also moved through the Mix Arena with their own teams, interviewing some of the guests. Some of the people being interviewed were family members of students, while others were simply visitors who had come to enjoy the tournament.

The entire Mix Arena was already packed with the loud noise of people moving from one place to another, stopping at different club booths and looking at the displays being prepared around the arena.

There were many things to see.

And even more for the guests to involve themselves in.

Boom! Boom!

Boom! Boom!

Small fireworks exploded above the stadium center, bursting into visible flashes of light.

”Wooooooo!!”

Excited cheers immediately rose from the crowd.

More people continued making their way through the security checkpoints before entering the stadium, while others gathered around the nearby club booths.

All the club booths had been placed outside the stadium, allowing guests to visit them before or after watching the main presentations.

The Royal Academy had clearly put a great deal of preparation into its 300th Club Tournament.

***

”Welcome to our esteemed members of the Royal Family.”

Liliana Galehart stood at the center of the stadium stage with a bright smile on her face.

The large stadium was slowly filling with Nobles and Non-Nobles from different parts of Britannia. Many had traveled from far away to watch their children and see the displays the students had prepared for the tournament.

As she spoke, the cameras moved toward the members of the Royal Family who were present in the stands.

The First Prince, Alaric Aethelmont.

He waved lightly with a calm smile on his face.

The First Princess, Brenda Aethelmont, sat beside him and also raised her hand in a light wave.

The other members of the Royal Family seated in the front section of the stands followed with their own greetings.

”The members of the Duke Houses who were able to make it to this amazing day.”

Liliana continued welcoming the important guests.

The cameras shifted toward the Duke House members.

Several of them waved lightly toward the crowd and the cameras.

They were all seated in an arranged order with each Duke Houses occupying one row and column on the stands.

”And finally...”

Liliana turned toward the executive side of the stadium, where the entire section was closed off by tinted glass.

No one outside could see the VIPs inside the room.

But it wasn’t difficult to guess who was present there.

”Let’s honor the Dukes, Duchesses, and the Queen herself! Yes, the Queen of Britannia!”

Liliana raised her voice, her smile becoming even brighter.

”Let’s all welcome the top existences of Britannia!!”

The applause increased immediately.

It became louder and louder as the guests throughout the stadium rose from their seats.

However, once the applause finally stopped, everyone lowered their heads and bowed respectfully toward the executive section.

Afterward, they slowly returned to their seats.

”Now, let’s first stand again and recite the Britannian Anthem, then ignite this event with the Royal Anthem.”

Liliana moved closer toward the center of the stage.

The cameras followed her movements as her figure appeared on the massive holographic screens around the stadium.

The crowd immediately rose again, as the reciting began.

A few minutes passed.

***

”Whose idea was this?”

Ezra said plainly as he looked at his reflection in the mirror placed inside the tent of the Craft & Research Seekers.

The tent had been divided into changing sections for the boys and girls, while the center had been left open for the club members to gather and check their appearance.

”Why are you talking like that?”

Agnes walked over to his side and placed a hand beneath her chin as she looked Ezra up and down.

”You don’t like the outfit? Well, I think you look drop-dead handsome.”

She gave him a thumbs-up.

”Yeah!”

Several girls immediately agreed at the same time, their eyes fixed on Ezra.

Ezra stared at his reflection.

He didn’t look bothered by his appearance.

In fact...

He quite liked the outfit a lot.

”Everybody looks amazing.”

Latisha said with a pleased smile as she looked around at the club members.

Everyone in the Craft & Research Seekers Club was dressed in stylish black and wine-red suits.

Their blazers had been designed to resemble short capes, ending around the waist while still keeping the structure of formal clothing. Wine-red buttons ran down the front, while the sides of the blazer-like capes had firm linings that caused the material to spread outward slightly instead of simply dropping down.

The result gave their clothes a more refined appearance while still making them look different from the other clubs.

Unlike the others, however, Ezra wasn’t wearing the usual black and wine-red color combination.

His outfit was completely black.

”It was my idea, Master.”

Lucy placed one hand against her chest, looking pleased with the work she had done.

”Nice one, Maid.”

Several female upperclassmen immediately gave Lucy a thumbs-up.

Their attention quickly returned to Ezra.

They couldn’t seem to take their eyes off him.

”All this for a Club Tournament.”

Cyrus walked toward the mirror where Ezra stood, adjusting the parts of his clothes that hadn’t been worn properly.

His head plugs rested around his neck, while the plugs themselves were in his ears. Although he wasn’t listening to any music, he could still hear every word being spoken inside the tent.

”Your club’s dress presentation is important in two different ways, Mr. Cyrus Burnwick.”

Latisha looked toward him calmly.

She raised two fingers.

”The first is that appearance attracts guests to our booth, and the second is that it is also scored during our main presentation inside the stadium.”

”Wait... now that I think about it...”

Cyrus suddenly became thoughtful.

”Willow Derlis and my sister are in the same group with some really good-looking people in the Royal IQ Club.”

He spoke with a serious expression.

He had finally understood what Latisha meant by the first reason why their appearance mattered.

”That’s a really stacked club.”

A few male club members exchanged troubled looks.

”But we have our own.”

Jeremy immediately pointed toward Ezra.

Then his finger moved toward Maxwell and Cyrus.

”And especially the two Flowers of Britannia temporarily in our club.”

”Ehn... you think I’m handsome?”

Cyrus rubbed the back of his hair while acting shy.

”Yes... you and Sir Maxwell, you really look cool.”

Cherry said, surprisingly excited.

She looked toward Maxwell, who appeared nervous beneath the attention of the other club members, several of whom had also realized that he looked surprisingly cool in the formal outfit.

”You look cute too, Cherry.”

Maxwell replied warmly.

”Ah...”

Cherry froze.

Her face turned red almost instantly, as if a short fuse had been lit inside her.

Both of her hands held tightly onto the sides of her black skirt.

She lowered her head.

For several seconds, she couldn’t move.

And she definitely couldn’t bring herself to look at Maxwell.