Ning thought for a moment. Keep aside the idea that one could get seriously hurt in a battle against a beast, Ning didn't see any problem with the match system itself.
However, if he were to be part of it, then a problem would arise.
"You said it was back to back right?" he asked.
"Yes. One after another we send the beasts to fight as soon as one of them is unsummoned. Or at least that's the idea," Ning said.
"What if one simply won't lose?" Ning asked.
"One will always have to lose," the boss said. "You're not god to keep going forever."
"But what if I could?" Ning asked. "What if I could fight forever and ever without losing? What then?"
"Well… then we make the most money as the odds will continue to be against you," the boss said.
Ning rubbed his chin in thought. "I wouldn't mind being the first one to do so then," he said.
"Great! I will start preparing everything then. It should be done in a few days," the boss said.
"Alright, let me know when it's ready," Ning said. "If you don't have anything else, I will be leaving."
"Okay, and thanks again." The boss returned back to his work while Ning walked out of the arena.
Ning went through the streets, straight to the palace on the western end of the island, and entered.
While he was about to go search for Janice, one of the servants told him that the King was calling for him.
"Hmm, is it to thank me for helping his daughter bond a beast?" Ning wondered. "That must be it."
Ning walked straight towards the palace hall where he had to wait for a few minutes before he was called into the room.
The room was rowdier than ever with all the big, beefy men talking amongst each other. However, they seemed more civilized today than any of the other times he had seen them.
Ning wondered why that was for a moment before seeing the person next to the king.
'Ah, they're civilized because they're in the presence of the queen,' Ning realized.
"My friend, Ning, you are finally here," the King spoke up suddenly when he saw him. "Come, come. You have finally come to the celebration," he said.
Ning was suddenly handed a clay mug full of alcohol by someone who themselves were full of alcohol. Only then did Ning notice all the mugs by their side.
'They're all drunk, huh?' Ning thought.
"Here's to our friend, Ning. Cheers!" the king shouted and everyone shouted along with him.
Ning raised his mug as well and drank the mug full of beer in a single chug. The alcohol tried to do something to make him drunk, but his body was impossible to get to that level anymore.
It would just heal the parts that weren't meant to be that way.
"It's no problem, your majesty. I only did what I was hired to do," Ning said.
"Huh?" the king looked confused for a second before saying, "oh yeah yeah, good job on teaching my daughter to bond with a beast, but that's not what this celebration is about."
Ning was the one to be confused this time around. "It's not?" he asked. He thought the king would be ecstatic about his daughter becoming a summoner, but that didn't seem to be the main reason for this celebration.
"Then… why am I here?" Ning asked.
"Eh? You healed my wife's legs, didn't you? Look, in all the times I have been in love with her and then married her, she was always with her troubled legs. However, now she's finally healed," the king said. "Not only that, she had become a summoner again too."
"Ooohhh! Right, I did do that," Ning said. He had completely forgotten that he had healed the queen's legs. That had been such a small part of the overall shenanigans he had to go through in the last 24 hours that it was just a blip in his memories.
"Right, how's the leg, your highness? Do you have any trouble?" Ning asked just to keep them from realizing that healing such a thing had barely needed remembering on his part.
"It's good, very good. I'm quite surprised that I'm not even anorexic despite not having walked for nearly 8 years now," she said.
"I'm glad," Ning said. "Cheers to your health, your majesty."
"CHEERS!" the court officials once again started drinking like there was no tomorrow.
Ning drank with them for a few minutes before slipping out of the room and going towards the princess' quarters.
He quickly found Janice who was clearly in a bad mood for some reason.
"What's wrong, Janice?" he asked, getting closer to her.
"I'm angry at father and mother," she said with a cute little pout on her face.
"Angry, why?" Ning asked.
"They are having a party without me," she said as she crossed her arms angrily.
Ning had trouble keeping his face from cracking up while Joann simply shook her head in the corner of the room.
"They are having an adult party. There is alcohol in there, so you can't go," Ning said.
"But I want to," The princess grumbled as she started jumping up and down, throwing her little tantrum.
"No, you don't want to drink alcohol, it's bad for you," Ning said.
"Then why do my father and mother drink it all the time?" she asked.
"They… they are drinking it only after summoning a very strong beast that won't let them be hurt by the alcohol. Can you do that?" Ning asked.
The princess quietened down quite a bit. "No, I can't. How long will it take me?" she asked.
"Not very long," Ning said.
"How long?" she asked again.
Ning sighed and thought for a bit. "You can drink once you summon Occy," he said in frustration.
The princess's eyes went wide, not in surprise, but in glee. "I can do that right now."
