Please Bully Me, Miss Villainess!

Chapter 257 : Little Knight 4

"That one seems to be from the Smollett family..."

"The one engaged to the Second Prince?"

"It appears this future princess is quite the unconventional young lady..."

So... so nervous...

Countless eyes from the spectator stands turned towards her, their gazes piercing her back as she sat astride the dragon. Yvonne unconsciously adjusted her posture. Despite the low temperature at the venue, her palms gripping the reins were involuntarily sweating.

Among the array of blue-gray swift wind dragons, only Sphinx, with its silver-white scales, stood out conspicuously.

Add to that the fact that Yvonne, riding it, was the only girl in the competition, and naturally, all eyes in the arena focused on her.

It wouldn't be good if something went wrong in this situation...

Although internally very uneasy, to reassure her family who had come to watch the competition, little Yvonne smiled and waved to her excited old father in the stands.

"Alright, Sphinx... we need to do our best from here on out! I'm sure I can do it this time!"

Yvonne leaned down to whisper in Sphinx's ear, her little face flushed with excitement and nervousness, looking more like she was trying to encourage herself.

"This time, I definitely won't let you throw me off so easily!"

"............"

Sphinx's eyes moved slightly, glancing at the girl on its back. That look seemed to say, "Are you sure?"

While it was indeed a dragon that understood human nature, even though it now allowed this girl to ride on its back out of gratitude, it still retained the innate pride of being a dragon.

For it to view Yvonne as its true master, it would need to acknowledge the qualities within her.

"Now then—ladies and gentlemen—in just a moment, our highly anticipated New Knight Competition will begin!"

"Our contestants are already in position on the track—judging by their demeanor, they all seem very confident about this competition—it looks like we're in for an exciting race! Who will ultimately claim the championship?"

Elsa observed the group below her from mid-air.

What an impressive lineup...

The grandson of the Commerce Guild Chairman, the Third Prince of an allied country, the son of the Military Commander, the disciple of the High Priest...

Although it was just an exhibition race, under this hereditary system, a large portion of the next generation who would have the most say in this country's development were gathered here.

Their still youthful faces all radiated a fighting spirit.

Children born into noble families are instilled from a young age with the belief that family honor trumps all else.

Although this was just a competition between children, such a public contest was also a clash of noble powers.

Winning the race would bring fame to one's family, while losing would provide others with opportunities for disparagement and mockery.

Thinking of this, Elsa grew increasingly impressed with Yvonne. To bear such pressure at such a young age must not be easy.

"Ready—3, 2—!!"

The countdown began. The mage responsible for firing the signal flare at the starting line raised his hand holding the wand. Light began to gather at the tip of his wand, and in a few seconds, the small fireball spell serving as the start signal would be launched.

Yvonne noticed that the arrangement of scales on Sphinx's body had subtly changed, becoming more conducive to wind flow. Its hind claws also dug more firmly into the ground.

It seemed that this time, the child was also prepared to give it their all!

Seeing this, Yvonne quickly lowered her center of gravity, both hands firmly gripping the reins.

"—1! Begin!!"

With the sound of the magical fireball exploding in the air, the race officially began.

⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱

So fast!!

As soon as the race started, Yvonne felt as if she were sitting on a rocket, the speed incredible and still increasing.

Although she had previously suspected that Sphinx was an excellent swift wind dragon, being able to prove it in such a competition still filled Yvonne with pride.

It had nearly become one with the wind, even its footsteps when landing were indistinguishable, as if treading on clouds and cotton, silent and comfortable.

According to modern common sense, the faster one runs, the greater the air resistance—but such common sense could be broken by magical elements here—for swift wind dragons adept at manipulating wind elements, the existence of 'wind' would never be an obstacle to progress, but rather become the driving force and fuel propelling them forward.

All Yvonne could hear was the howling wind passing by her ears and her own nervous breathing.

The rough reins chafed her palms painfully, and from gripping so tightly, Yvonne felt as if her arms might be pulled off.

She didn't dare look back to check the situation behind her, but she could roughly deduce from her peripheral vision that she was in the lead.

At this point, Yvonne was already exerting all her effort just to avoid being thrown off.

"What on earth is that... it's too fast!"

"I've never seen a swift wind dragon like that before!"

The other riders had basically all been left far behind by her and Sphinx, trailing by several body lengths.

In terms of endurance, Sphinx was also not at all inferior to its slower kin.

Even entering the fourth lap, its speed showed no signs of diminishing.

"Just because you picked up an unwanted cripple, don't get cocky!"

A gray-scaled dragon, as bulky as its rider, was steadily closing in from behind.

The person catching up using the curve was Baron. He didn't want to give up like this and reached into his pocket for the prepared artifact.

This is bad—

Realizing that the chubby boy really intended to use the Wind Thunder Pearl, Elsa's heart sank.

The race didn't prohibit the use of magic, after all, children of this age could at most conjure water balls the size of a fist, but a magical artifact of this level was clearly beyond the scope.

"You fool—using it in a place like this will cause major problems!!"

Elsa had thought that thing looked familiar earlier, and only now did she finally remember what kind of monster that pearl had dropped from.

That thing was the natural enemy of dragon species—the eye of Garuda, a legendary S-class monster that preyed on dragons.

Elsa cried out anxiously from the side, but to no avail.

She was now merely an observer, unable to change anything that had already happened, and could only watch anxiously as a blue-green light emanated from the Wind Thunder Pearl in the chubby boy's hand.

"Aha—watch me overtake you in one go!!"

Baron had no idea of the grave mistake he had just made.

With the boost from the wind power, he accelerated all at once and overtook Yvonne and Sphinx, but the gray-scaled swift wind dragon beneath him began to act strangely.

The inherent aura of the dragons' natural enemy spread rapidly.

The clouds in the sky quickly turned gray, and the darkest part even transformed into the shadow of a giant bird.