Mixed Blessing System

"Oh? Where is that coming from? Is that just your opinion of him, or is there something concrete behind those comments?" Martin asked Caroline a little more seriously.

"Sigh..."

"It's just my opinion of what I could see in him, brother." She said in a sighing tone, thinking her impression was correct but having no facts to show her older brother.

"Tsk!"

"You shouldn't be so shallow, Carol." He shook his head in a disappointed manner. "I know girls your age are driven by looks more than anything, but think again before you pass judgment on someone like that."

Caroline then remained silent, observing the surroundings becoming crowded with people.

The most common areas of this coliseum, where the public could watch the competition, were already almost full. Only the areas of the noble families that would participate in today's event still had empty seats, as the participants were still arriving.

But due to the proximity of the start of the Linn Province Conference, the stairs and side aisles of this coliseum were quite busy, with many following in a hurry to their seats.

Meanwhile, the groups of VIP spectators were watching in the direction of the teams that would soon be competing, chatting about the potential ranking of the local powers on Sunday night.

They would be affected by the outcome of this event since these powers that would soon be competing were the ones that controlled business in the province.

So, depending on the final ranking, policies, projects, and conflicts, all that and more could change after this. Or not, there could be stabilization, and past movements would remain in the short term.

There was no way of knowing until the final ranking was released, and so many of the wealthy people from this province and even from other areas of the empire were discussing the matter.

While they were doing this, some bets were being made not only between the economically powerful but also among ordinary people.

Although the Province Conference was important for everyone, it was also an entertaining spectacle with potential for bettors.

So, that place, from the common area to the VIP rooms, soon became noisy, giving this place the festive atmosphere that events like this always had.

Meanwhile, a young red-haired man sat on the balcony of his VIP room and promptly looked in Lothur's direction.

Gulp!

'This person does have his family lineage.' He swallowed his saliva as he saw in Lothur the figure of a very relevant figure.

Fritz's bodyguards, who were seeing Lothur for the first time in their lives, also noticed the similarity of that fellow to the figure in their minds.

"Unbelievable!"

"He is the spitting image of..." One of them was about to comment when he was elbowed in the belly by his leader.

"Ouch!"

"Idiot! Don't say that out loud!" The red-headed man commented, sweating with fear. "If anyone hears you, who knows what might happen to us?"

"They're supposed to be enemies, but there's no guarantee that figure will handle this good-for-nothing!" Fritz clenched his fists.

Aside from the core of his family and a few trusted bodyguards, very few people knew of Lothur's identity. Not even the person they were talking to, who this young man supposedly looked a lot like, knew about Viktoria's husband.

So to avoid further trouble for them, Fritz could not allow one of his men to do something so foolish.

But that was not even necessary.

By the time everyone was already in their seats for the start of this event, an elderly man who climbed up the centering platform of that coliseum had sawed the figure of Lothur.

'That look... With that hair color... Could it be that he is a bastard of that person?' The eyebrows of this old figure frowned as he thought of the same individual as Fritz.

He continued walking down that platform and said to a young man beside him. "See what you know about that boy and tell me later."

"All right, master!" The young man looked at Lothur and marked such a person in his mind.

Meanwhile, the old man thought about the matter one last time. 'I will see if this fellow is related to him when I return home... But, for now, time to focus on this conference.'

He then raised one of his hands, indicating the people in this coliseum to be silent.

Then this elder began to speak in his calm, tired voice. "Welcome to another Linn Province Conference, this time in the year 490 of the Great Silence era!

"This is the emperor's challenge, the examination that will assess how the most powerful organizations in the province have fared in recent years. Those who have developed and become more efficient will naturally have their opportunities now, while those who have failed will fall to make way for the stronger ones."

"This is necessary to maintain the empire's power, so be prepared to defend your families. The competition is about to begin, and we will show no mercy to those who fall below the standard required by the emperor!"

Several people in that place, attending this event for the first time, got goosebumps upon hearing the introduction from that man, the main referee of the conference.

It was a tradition to show the competitors that the future of their families was in their hands and that nothing else would change that.

The emperor had established that noble families could benefit from this event, but the opposite was true!

A family could even lose its status as a noble house in this state by losing much of its grants, land, etc.

If a noble organization spent long periods in the bottom ranks of this competition, it would lose everything and eventually be replaced by an emerging organization.

That was how new noble families emerged in Leopoldine most of the time!

Conflicts leading to the destruction of powers rarely happened for this kind of reality to make room for new noble houses. So that was the most commonly used by the emperor to switch the 'chairs' in his state.

The old fellow then continued. "Let's talk briefly about the last competition and its results." Then, he began to read a sheet of paper with the results of such an event.

"On that occasion, the Waldauer family took first place, followed by the houses Frohberg, Klassen, Baier, in 7th, Becker... Then, in 15th, Frost..."

"We had 39 nine families ranked at the last event, with none falling on that occasion. So all the powers here are the same as before..." He looked in the direction of one family. "House Dohmen, this will be your last chance. If you come in last, you will lose your remaining titles and lands."

Gulp!

The group members were nervous, but their hopes were not over.

But then that old man brought good news. "Finally, I must announce that compared to the last competition, five new exploration areas will be passed on by the imperial family to the top three in the final ranking."

"Among them, a spiritual crystal mine will be the top prize for first place!" He said, making many people there open their mouths, positively surprised at the new prizes for this competition.

...