I Reincarnated Into A Single-Celled Organism! - I Reincarnated into a Single-celled Organism! - Chapter 127

“I suppose you want to know about the name?” Sammy asked, “And why I was hiding my face?”

The pair of us were heading towards the tournament grounds. They had been constructing them just outside of town for the last week, and now the crowds were all heading in that direction. Unlike the driver, we had reserved a play in the tournament prior and thus were in no hurry. The tournament consisted of several different circuits, and the martial circuit only occurred later in the day.

Since revealing his face earlier, Sammy had worn a serious expression on his face, his body moving with a sober grace he didn’t usually have. He also hadn’t touched his flask of alcohol either. I gave him a side look as he asked his question.

“Not particularly.” I finally responded. “Not asking questions was one of the best parts of our relationship.”

He let out a soft chuckle. “Well, like I said, it’s not like things are secret. I’m the son of Lord Edison, the former lord of this province. Eight years ago, when I was an up-and-coming paragon, Lord Nikola overthrew my father. My father was killed, and to keep me from becoming a danger, my evolutionary path was crippled, keeping me from being able to evolve any further. Many called this a kindness, but I would invite them all to try it…”

A dangerous flash appeared in Sammy’s eyes as if he could see something from his distant past. I also noticed that his hand was tightening on his hilt like he wanted to draw his sword.

“Is that why you want to win this tournament?” I asked.

“This?” He blinked, and then shook his hand laughing. “No, no, it’s nothing so deep. I just thought I’d like that award money. Although it doesn’t look like it, I used to be a genius before my evolution was blocked. I became a flawless at seventeen. Even though it’s been eight years since I could further my evolution, that is only one form of strength. I’ve refined my strength over the years, and I’m curious what a fossil like me is capable of without the benefit of evolution.”

“Then, I guess we’ll both just have to try our best.” I gave him a disarming smile.

After a moment, he nodded his head. “Yeah, let’s.”

The pair continued forward, and the crowds grew until it was just a long trail of those heading to the tournament. Most were heading toward the spectator stands, which seemed to be set up in a way that best took advantage of the tournament spaces. They seemed to allow an incredibly large number of people to sit and even seemed to defy what I would have considered basic architectural laws, yet they seemed stable.

We split off heading into a staging area for the tournament. As I stood among the waiting contestants, my eyes couldn’t help but wonder over a specific direction. Several of the spectator seats were raised higher and given nicer seating. Most of them contained middle-aged men and women, which were probably the noble families. Naturally, I looked toward the Capala seating. There were two women and one man sitting there. I recognized Lady Capala, but the other two I didn’t recognize. Standing beside them at the ready was Mara though. She was looking my way and biting her lip.

I wasn’t the only one looking up at her box. Lady Capala seemed to be attracting the attention of many of the men. One or two even dared to try to call her, although she didn’t respond to anyone. Sammy’s eyes moved between me and the Capala spectator stand.

“Don’t tell me you’re seeking Lady Capala’s marriage proposal.” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” I noticed Lady Capala suddenly looked my way and then raised her nose and sniffed.

She could have been giving that cold look to anyone, but for some reason, it felt like it was targeted at me. I shot Sammy a glare, and he raised his hands as if to retreat, but his eyes still held some level of suspicion. I didn’t care that much though. I was just there for the money. As for whatever promise she might have made, it had nothing to do with me.

This exchange wasn’t just noticed between us though. With so many eyes on Lady Capala today, and many of them the heads of various powerful local houses, it was no surprise that they noticed that exchange.

“What is it, Father?” Destiny asked when she noticed her father frowning.

Her father was a powerful and handsome-looking man with sharp eyes and long eyebrows. When his daughter spoke to him, his features couldn’t help but soften as he smiled at her.

“There are just some who lack in Destiny.” He chuckled.

She puffed out her cheeks. “What is that supposed to mean? I’m right here.”

“And so you are… my Destiny, although I’ll likely need to give you up one day.”

“You’re not talking about Shui again!” She made a face. “I told you everything he did!”

He let out a soft sigh as he reached out and patted her head. “Shui is still young, as are you. Mistakes happen, but in the end, didn’t he bring you back alive?”

“At the cost of a f-friend! It was Spirit who saved us. All Shui did was run!”

“That’s right, the commoner you spoke about.” He frowned slightly. “Well, I did investigate and couldn’t find anything about him. If he had family, I would have sent them a small sum, but it seemed he didn’t leave anyone behind to miss him.”

Destiny looked away, her voice speaking lowly enough that it was clear she didn’t intend anyone to hear her. “I miss him.”

The man’s expression tightened slightly. “You’re young. You’ll become used to loss. It’s the way of us warriors.”

Destiny hadn’t seemed to notice me standing in the crowd, but I still was using my hood and skills to obscure my features, so it wasn’t all that surprising. She was also trying to avoid looking at the stage because a short distance from me was Shui, who was doing his best to try to get her to look his way. This only seemed to irritate her, but he seemed clueless to the effect of his pandering.

Destiny’s conversation was just one of dozens of conversations I could pick up with my ears. People were having all sorts of conversations. Some were discussing who was the strongest and most likely to win. There was betting going on, and so odds were being discussed. Of course, a lot of talk was interested in who would win Lady Capala’s heart.

I was able to listen to all of these conversations using Parallel Thinking even though it would just sound like noise to someone else. Sorting them out wasn’t all that easy, but I had spent countless nights practicing this very skill in the tavern and could sparse out any conversation. That’s when I found something even more surprising. There were some stages that I couldn’t hear at all.

It wasn’t that there weren’t people talking. I could see their mouths moving, but not a single sound could be heard. Some of these places had sound at first, and then someone would wave their hand and the sound would be cut out like they hit mute. This seemed to occur mostly among those higher realm paragons.

I realized that they must be able to use some kind of magic to block sound. This was certainly something I hadn’t accounted for when I developed my sentinels. Perhaps, I’d have to go back and modify my plans, but my mana was too low to come up with a successful way at the moment. At least, no current methods of changing the sentinels came to mind. I’d need to do further testing.

Either way, it meant all the private conversations, such as those that might help reveal the killers of Mara’s parents, were outside of my access for the moment. I’d have to come up with another means of spying.

Destiny wasn’t the only familiar face I discovered. I also notice Grandmaster Bai sitting up with some of the nobles. There was the Lady Giselle I met on the way there, who seemed to have her own special seating. There was the lady I followed home to her mansion, Lady Stride. Among the participants, Shui was standing there as well, trying to get Destiny’s attention.

At that moment, the crowds finally started to quiet down as a man came out onto the stage. He was a somewhat powerful paragon for the crowd here, a champion. He was wearing a fine suit and seemed to be comfortable even under the eyes of the spectators, many of which were flawless or champions.

When the crowds finally quieted down, he casually spoke. He didn’t make any attempt to project his voice, but the sound seemed to fill the space almost like he was everywhere at once.

“Welcome to my city, Stormberg.” he declared. “For those of you who traveled from far away, I am Magistrate Elding, the elder placed in charge of this city by our Lord Nikola. Every year, we have this tournament to decide who is first among our youth. This tournament is a chance for you to show off your talents in front of the echelons of the city. Please join me in the 117th annual Stormberg tournament!”