noffsinger Chapter 319: The unlucky idiot
Chapter 319: The unlucky idiot
Xarion ground his teeth as he glared at Vangar.
"Vangar, do you even have any shame left?! I didn’t beat you at all. You deliberately lost to me. That doesn’t count."
A dignified Imperial Marshal actually resorting to something this shameless...
"Losing is losing." Vangar absolutely refused to become the first partner because he knew very clearly that he simply wasn’t suited for that position.
Looking at Xarion with complete seriousness, he said solemnly, "Xarion, there’s no need to say anything more. I, Vangar, can accept defeat."
He paused, then added with a straight face, "My Rank Twelve is honestly pretty weak anyway. Losing to you is perfectly normal."
Xarion was boiling with irritation.
Weak? Weak his ass!
Vangar’s Rank Twelve had been forged through countless battles on actual battlefields.
If he counted as weak, then there wasn’t a single powerful beastman left in the entire interstellar empire.
Faced with such shamelessness, Xarion no longer even wanted to curse him out. Instead, he immediately turned toward Rory to complain.
"Female Master! Don’t listen to Vangar’s nonsense! He deliberately lost to me!"
Xarion pointed furiously at the massive claw wound across Vangar’s back, which was already beginning to heal.
"Female Master, judge for yourself! Vangar is the strongest Rank Twelve Marshal in the Empire. Even my backlash ability doesn’t work properly on him. How could I possibly injure him? If he wanted to dodge, I wouldn’t even be able to touch a single hair on his body."
"But what did he do? He stood there like a damn wooden post and practically shoved his back into my claws—"
The more Xarion spoke, the angrier he became. At this point, he genuinely felt like the biggest victim in the entire beastman world.
"If that’s not a scam, then what is?! Vincent wanted to dump the position of first partner onto Vangar."
"Vangar realized what Vincent was planning, so he played along and immediately shoved the blame onto me instead!"
By the end, Xarion’s eyes had actually reddened slightly from grievance.
"Female Master... you know me. There’s no way I can handle the position of first partner."
Unlike Vincent, who could at least pretend to be tolerant and composed, Xarion couldn’t fake that kind of thing even if his life depended on it.
The moment Xarion accused him of scheming against Vangar, Vincent immediately defended himself.
"Rory, I never schemed against Vangar."
His tone was utterly sincere, flawless enough that not even the slightest trace of dishonesty could be detected.
"The difference in strength between the Marshal and myself already exists objectively. He is a battle-hardened Rank Twelve. I am Rank Eleven."
Vincent lowered his eyes slightly.
"Though I’m unwilling to accept it, acknowledging that I’m weaker is still the truth. I merely followed the beastman world’s principle that the strong stand above the weak and honestly accepted my defeat."
He looked calmly at Xarion. "How does that qualify as scheming? Or does Xarion believe I lack even the courage to admit defeat?"
Every word Vincent spoke was airtight. Not only did he calmly establish the undeniable difference in strength, but he also elevated his own actions into proof of noble character, making himself appear completely open, dignified, and innocent.
As expected of the Second Prince of the Firebird Clan. His speaking skills were truly terrifying.
After hearing Vincent’s explanation, Vangar also began defending himself earnestly.
Looking at Xarion, he said seriously, "Xarion, you can’t just say whatever you want. I never schemed against you. And I definitely wasn’t pulling a scam."
After speaking, Vangar forced himself to turn around despite the pain, revealing the horrifying wound across his back to Rory in full view.
"Female Master, look..."
His weakened voice carried traces of pain that made him sound genuinely pitiful.
"Are these injuries fake? The wound goes all the way to the bone. I still hurt badly even now."
Vangar took a slow breath before continuing.
"I admit I underestimated him. I thought I could dodge easily, so my reaction slowed. But I absolutely did not intentionally lose to Xarion."
As he spoke, he deliberately inhaled sharply through clenched teeth, his handsome face showing restrained pain.
"Female Master... you have to believe me. I truly never schemed against Xarion. And I didn’t know what Vincent was planning either."
One insisted he was genuinely weak.
The other insisted he was genuinely injured.
The two of them worked together seamlessly, perfectly synchronized in their shameless performance.
"You two really have no shame whatsoever now, huh?"
Xarion was so enraged by their blatant distortion of reality he nearly coughed up blood.
"One says he’s weak. The other says he’s injured. Keep acting. Go on."
His cold laugh dripped with sarcasm.
"At this point, if the two of you don’t enter the entertainment industry, it’ll honestly be a waste of talent."
Xarion immediately pointed at Vincent first, mercilessly tearing apart his act.
"You said you were weaker than him?"
"Vincent," Xarion sneered, "put your hand over that black heart of yours and swear to the Beast God that you didn’t deliberately lose to Vangar."
"You call this calmly accepting defeat? I call it calmly dumping responsibility onto someone else. And you dumped it beautifully too. So clean. So smooth. So righteous."
A cold laugh escaped him.
"As expected of a royal prince. Even when you throw someone else under the carriage, you somehow manage to make it look elegant."
After tearing into Vincent, Xarion immediately turned his fury toward Vangar.
"And you, Vangar." He pointed at him furiously. "You’re unbelievable."
"I thought you were some honorable, iron-blooded warrior. Who knew you’d be even better at pulling scam tactics than anyone else? You underestimated me? Your reaction was slow? You actually expect anyone to believe that bullshit?"
"You’re a Rank Twelve powerhouse. And you’re telling me a Rank Eleven like me managed to sneak up on your back?"
The more Xarion spoke, the angrier he became.
"That little counterplay of yours was really impressive. Vincent tossed the burden at you, and not only did you refuse to catch it—you turned around and slammed it straight onto my head."
"What the hell did I even do? I was just standing nearby watching the show, and suddenly the burden falls from the sky onto me. You two—one throwing responsibility around and the other passing it along—so what?"
"I, Xarion, am just the unlucky idiot born to carry everyone else’s mess?!"
His chest rose violently with emotion, grievance and rage twisting together until even his eyes had reddened.
Looking toward Rory, his voice carried deep outrage at having been so blatantly set up.
"Female Master, look at them! One has more schemes than a hornet’s nest. The other’s skin is thicker than city walls. They teamed up together just to bully one honest beastman!"
By the end, Xarion was practically roaring.
"WHOEVER WANTS TO BE FIRST PARTNER CAN TAKE IT! But this mess? I! WON’T! CARRY IT!"
"Rory, I didn’t—" Vincent immediately tried defending himself again.
"I didn’t either," Vangar added at once.
"Bullshit!" Xarion looked ready to strangle both of them alive.
Meanwhile, Rory simply stood there silently watching the three men.
At this point... She understood everything perfectly.
One was so angry he looked ready to explode on the spot. The other two were kneeling there shamelessly performing dramatic emotional theater.
All because none of them wanted the position of first partner.
Rory slowly crossed her arms. A cold smile curved across her lips.
Good. Very good.
If she didn’t straighten all three of them out properly today, then her name wasn’t Rory.
Her gaze swept slowly across the two men still stubbornly acting innocent on the ground before landing on Xarion, who looked moments away from combusting from rage.
Then, she laughed.
"Heh..."
The sound carried pure mockery.
Cold as icy wind laced with frozen blades.
In an instant, Vincent and Vangar stopped talking completely. Even Xarion froze. The three men all looked toward Rory simultaneously.
Rory slowly lowered her crossed arms. All traces of amusement had vanished from her face, replaced entirely by icy anger.
"Finished performing?"
She looked calmly at the three of them.
"One claims he was weaker. One claims he underestimated his opponent. And one claims he’s the innocent victim."
Her smile turned colder. "What a magnificent show. Truly entertaining."
Crap. Rory was angry.
Vincent’s heart sank instantly. "Rory, I—"
"Be quiet." Rory cut him off sharply.
She stepped forward two paces, looking down at them from above.
"I really want to ask all of you something. Is the position of my first partner some kind of terrifying disaster? Or maybe some unbearable burden nobody wants to touch?"
Her sharp gaze landed first on Vincent.
"Vincent. If you didn’t want the position, you could have told me directly. Why did you have to pull this kind of stunt and use the match to push Vangar forward instead?"
Then her eyes shifted toward Vangar.
"And you. Imperial Marshal. Decisive and fearless on the battlefield... But privately, all you know how to do is pull shameless tricks like this? Vincent schemed against you, so instead of handling it properly, you copied him and dragged Xarion into it too? Where exactly are your honor and integrity?"
After saying that, Rory drew in a deep breath, suppressing the anger surging through her.
Then she spoke through clenched teeth.
"So none of you want the position of first partner, huh? Good."
Her gaze swept across all three men as she spoke each word slowly and clearly.
"Since the position of first partner is apparently so unbearable... So unwanted... Fine. You don’t need to sit in that position anymore."
A terrifying silence fell. Then Rory delivered the final sentence coldly.
"As for the position of partner... You don’t need to sit in that either."