BXBX NOVEL Chapter 430
Guessing all the students and villagers attending on the coin road or the heart of the island wasn’t an exaggeration.
On the stage, there were at least ten large canvases. Four of them were painted with different subjects. One had Kilo and on the other Vincent. Two more canvases had the Blackheart and the Lionheart the insignias.
The remaining canvases were blank. Beside them was a student or a villager. There was a small table with art supplies on it at the corner of the stage, indicating how they were most likely painters and their job was to paint an eventful moment.
They only had one canvas each to paint, making them paint when inspiration struck. Kilo probably thought the contest wouldn’t last longer than a painting.
Vincent and Kazumi could tell Kilo Blackheart went all out as the loser had to pay for everything. It was obvious Kilo wanted to add as many extra expenses as possible to ruin the Lionheart family both in reputation and funds.
With this thought in mind, the food and the chefs were most likely going to be the most expensive as possible if Kilo went to the event planners and suggested a change. Whatever strings Kilo pulled to make this event ridiculously costly, Vincent planned to make his cunning plan bite his ass.
The people noticed Vincent had arrived because of the paintings of him and his family insignia. They moved back and made a path for Vincent to walk to the stage.
It was an experience Vincent never imagined he would ever have in his life. All the gazes were locked on him. Vincent started to feel pressured and second-guess the plan to win by cheating.
.....
This was a new hurdle he had to overcome, or his plan to cheat in front of so many people was going to produce a mistake.
However, that was the tip of the iceberg. A newly built platform was at the side of the stage where a few familiar people were comfortably sitting to watch the contest. It felt like a VIP stand.
Maria was there, but she only looked at them. On the other hand, Biro, Ton, and Ollie waved at Vincent.
Darwin and Melissa were there as well. Both he and his daughter stood up and went in opposite directions. Darwin went on the stage while Melissa descended the stand.
[Vincent. Stop thinking about failure and believe in the training you have done to become a master in a food-eating cheating contest.]
Vincent felt better after hearing Kazumi’s voice.
The four wives behind Vincent trusted that he wouldn’t feel intimated. But they were putting him on a high pedestal because he was affected like any ordinary person.
Kazumi knew Vincent the most, and she could quickly perceive Vincent felt intimidated by all the people. She tried to help, and her plan succeeded.
Vincent took a deep breath and exhaled to relax his nerves. He raised both arms and shouted, “Vincent Lionheart is here to eat!”
*~WHISTLE~* *~CLAP~* The audience cheered when Vincent proudly introduced himself. The people who were on the coin road began to gather in the jam-packed area.
Melissa approached and said, “My father, the headmaster, has prepared seatings for Ester, Iris, and Lilith Lionheart. There are also seatings for Nikolai Graymoon, Clair Reddawn, and Jun Ye Rim. The servents and familiar can std beside you.”
Lupa felt like she was wronged, yet Lupa had to be treated as an ordinary familiar instead of a lesser noble. Lupa became unhappy. She lowered both her tail and ears and obediently followed Ester.
Vincent felt better to see his wives having a place to sit and watch him comfortably without the fear of anything happening to them.
The idea of being blackmailed during the contest didn’t pass through his mind because his focus was all on mastering the control over Soul Dimensional Storage.
On the other hand, Kazumi had already warned Ester, Lupa, Iris, and Lilith to stay together and make a commotion if anything happened. The more people there are, the more chances for people to help before the teachers arrive to help.
Vincent walked to the stage and stopped. “I will dedicate my with to you, my dear wives.” He announced his victory before the contest started.
Many who overheard his statement became surprised to hear how Vincent was married to multiple women. In front of him were a human maid and a hobgoblin slave. They began to wonder who was his second wife.
Vincent went on the stage, and a frown immediately appeared on his face.
“Looks like you had the guts to appear. Hehe. I wonder if you have the money to back the confidence you showed.” Kilo Blackheart insulted Vincent when their eyes met. He was brimming with confidence to win.
If one has confidence in their own victory, then one is confident in their ability to attain victory through their skills. If not, then one has the confidence in a foolproof plan to provide victory, no matter the tactics used.
Kilo looked obviously to be on the latter. He didn’t gain one millimeter of fat in the past week. As if he didn’t need to expand the limits of his stomach to fit in more food.
The two participants. The two, planning to cheat to win, glared at each other.
Darwin walked on the stage and stopped in front of the two. He loudly cleared his throat and said, “The audience is waiting for an eating contest and not a staredown.”
Vincent and Kilo stopped promptly. Kilo went to take a seat while Vincent looked at the VIP stand.
Vincent saw Ester smiling at him. Lupa wagged her tail, and drool fell from her mouth. Iris looked at him strangely. She gave the impression of a person watching her idol taking the stage. Lilith didn’t look anxious after locking her sights on Vincent. Plow was comfortably sitting on Lilith’s lap.
Plow was licking her lips and acting liked Lupa. It appeared the wolf girl and little fox were expecting to eat a lot of good meat after the contest ended. Before their eyes weren’t Vincent, but a food delivery guy.
Darwin went to the center of the stage and invited a man from the VIP stand. He introduced the man wearing good-looking yet ordinary clothes as the presenter of the contest.
Darwin introduced him as the top presenter on the island with dozens of events and contests under his belt. Based on the reaction of the audience, he appeared to be famous around the island.
Darwin didn’t leave the stage yet. He looked at the VIP stand again and continued, “The presenter might need the help of a referee. Who from the academy staff members or Paradise Section Leaders want to participate?”
One man raised his hand the quickest, and he was accepted to become the referee of the contest.
“Isn’t that Duke Biro Hawkins? I bet no one will be able to cheat with him around.”
“I heard how there the usage of potions wasn’t banned. Doesn’t it mean cheating with potions is possible?”
Many of the audience gossiped when Biro stepped on the stage. Some thought no one could cheat in the presence of an upright person like Duke Biro Hawkins, while others thought he might close one eye to let the people enjoy the contest.
Vincent went to sit down on the chair. Fortunately, there was adequate sunlight for his plan to work flawlessly, even if Biro was going to be close and the VIP stand wasn’t too far.
The chair was placed at the edge of a long table. It appeared this was to let the empty plates or bowls be used to count the score. The long table was placed horizontally, making the plates collected look more impactful and entertaining. Furthermore, the audience could count the plates and be witnesses to the winner’s victory.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the eating contest between the Blackheart family and the Lionheart family is about to start. The first plate is a salad dressed with virgin olive oil and a pinch of rock salt.”
Two attractive women wearing maid outfits appeared near the stage on each side. Both maids pushed a metal tray cart onto a slope. One maid kept pushing the tray and parked it beside Vincent, while the other stood one meter away from Vincent to take the empty plate.
The tray cart had two sections, and on each section were four plates covered by a metal cover. One of the maids placed the plate in front of Vincent while the other removed the cover.
One of the painters became inspired after watching the four maids. He began painting immediately. The audience also liked how professional the contest looked. Between the live painters, presenter, maids, and presentation value, the contest looked like it was going to cost a hefty sum.
“Ladies and gentlemen. The food has made its appearance. But now is not the time to look at it. Now. It. Is. Time. ~TOOO~ EAT!”
Kazumi noticed Kilo consume a strange-colored drink before he began eating. She felt at ease knowing that it was highly possible Kilo was going to use potions to have the advantage instead of sabotage.
Even though potions weren’t considered illegal for the contest, receiving any kind of help to win is considered cheating in a way.
Vincent and Kilo soon took the first bite. The audience began cheering, yet more than seventy percent were cheering for Kilo Blackheart.
However, Vincent’s morale didn’t waver as he saw his wives looking at him silently with warm smiles on their faces. He didn’t need the cheering from people he didn’t
Ollie, Nick, Clair, Vivid, and Pussy wanted to cheer for Vincent to win, but they decided against the idea. Sitting on the VIP Stand were a lot of nobles, and they weren’t cheering either.
The high-ranked villagers chosen to sit in the VIP stand were enjoying the show rather than cheering as well.
Kazumi started to worry about the mixture of potions Kilo drank. She also noticed Darwin frown, yet he didn’t stop the contest. Instead, Darwin focused his gaze on Vincent as if he hoped Vincent had an ace in his sleeves.