They don't want me to try anymore.

Perhaps this man is an exception?

"Woo~"

"Hey! Don't just kick, give me a hug too."

Watching Richard toss two bird eggs to the "juvenile" fire elemental to play with as balls, using them to help heat the eggs, Sophia felt a warmth in her heart for no apparent reason.

Then she asked, "Is it for the same reason that you rejected William?"

"It's half and half. On the one hand, I finally became a prince and I don't want another emperor to be above me. On the other hand, I also feel that I can't ignore the suffering Connaught people and enjoy my own happiness."

Richard turned and looked directly into Sophia's eyes, saying, "I am the prince of Connaught, and this body has grown up on the charity of half a million Connaughts. How can a child abandon his own mother?"

He used his Ghostly Thorn to carve out a rough wooden plate, placed an egg and a few mushrooms on it, and handed it to Sophia, saying, "Eat something first; magic potions won't solve the problem of feeling full."

"Oh, thank you..."

Richard then changed the subject, saying, "While you're eating, I'll also give you a piece of my mind. The competition isn't even over yet, why are you giving up already?"

"This one……"

"I've always believed in the saying that anything is possible. As long as William hasn't won the trophy yet, we still have a chance."

Richard said seriously, "Don't talk about the difference in strength here. You are the famous Winter Princess, you shouldn't be so hesitant and timid... I'll just ask you one question, do you still want to win?"

"If you still want to, you should struggle until the very last second!"

"……puff."

Looking at Richard's serious expression, Sophia suddenly remembered that this man seemed to be a few years younger than her.

So you're lecturing me now? Why are you acting like an elder?!

However, it does indeed match the hero's image in the simulation...

It seems like he's actually quite reliable...

"Yes, Mr. Richard."

Sofia swallowed the bird egg, which was barely bigger than a finger, and smiled, saying, "Since you think you can still fight, then let's fight to the bitter end!"

"Besides, I've said it before, the title 'Winter Princess' is just something the newspapers made up, right? Don't mention it..."

The reaction seemed rather muted.

Shouldn't you suddenly stand up, raise one hand, clench your fist, and shout to show that you are greatly encouraged and determined to fight to the end?

Honestly, it's not a shonen manga at all...

Richard curled his lip, then asked seriously, "Can you tell me in detail how you were defeated before?"

Sofia paused for a moment, then answered:

"Initially, Catherine and I planned that she would focus on defense while I would take the lead in attacking, using the properties of ice magic to gradually freeze and peel away William's body tissues..."

Richard nodded, agreeing that the strategy was reasonable.

While Catherine, as a Hospital Knight, can use some alchemical support magic, her main attack is physical, so the main DPS must be Sophia.

With her magical power inferior to her opponent's and no other advanced means to break his attack, Sophia could only try to sever William's control over her body by freezing him. Although the mage's body gained many benefits after becoming elementalized and granular, each part of the body was indeed more dispersed than before, making it easier to break free from the main body's control.

If it's a mind mage of the same rank, they can even directly use mental spells to interfere. Of course, Sophia can't do that, so they can only use ice.

However, while the strategy may be reasonable, its execution is another matter...

"Looking back, I did get impatient, but that was because William was changing elements too quickly. I had just frozen him a little bit when he turned into fire and thawed out. I tried several times without success and lost my composure."

Sophia chuckled self-deprecatingly: "In the end, he caught my weakness, unleashed an elemental torrent that backfired, and then, this is what you see."

Got it, the freezing speed isn't as fast as theirs to thaw, the strategy didn't work.

Sophia narrowed her eyes and asked softly, "So, Mr. Richard, have you come up with a good idea?"

"At present, the only way is to cut off control."

"Well, after all, our magical power is not as much as William's... but it's still difficult, and I can't help you now."

"That's not necessarily true."

Richard looked into the tunnel and smiled at a bubbling pool of muddy water.

"I have an idea..."

Chapter Ninety-Nine: Of course, we should pick on the weak first!

Deep in the mine.

Sophia withdrew the snow from her fair palm and asked softly, "Is this really okay?"

"...Even if we fail in the end, we can still disgust him thoroughly."

"That can't be denied."

Recalling how the stinging peppers had almost sprayed all over her, Sofia pursed her crimson lips, feeling a little lingering fear.

"So, what are you going to do next?"

“Going directly to them is definitely not going to work,” Richard said. “With Aaron and Damon around, even if we can handle William, we will still lose in the end.”

Sofia nodded in agreement.

Catherine has probably already left the field, and both she and Aaron on the other side are injured and unlikely to recover in the short term. All things considered, Richard is going to fight two against one, and he will undoubtedly lose if he goes head-to-head.

"We should pick on the weakest link. I think we need to clip William's wings first."

Richard stroked his chin and said, "And I suspect William and his men will split up."

Sofia blinked: "Oh? What do you mean?"

"Because Aaron is now a burden to William."

Richard analyzed, "Although William has obtained the key, his battle is not over yet, even without considering us."

"Firstly, he betrayed the dwarves and might not know the location of the dwarf king's treasury; he'll probably have to go looking for it. Secondly, I counted, and there should still be a small portion of the team alive. They'll come out at the last minute to stop William—even if they don't win the trophy, actively participating in the battle will improve their ranking in the post-match summary, indirectly increasing their future value."

After all, many contestants didn't intend to win the championship; they participated in the competition purely to gain more experience, just like college students actively participated in various competitions in the past.

"Mr. Richard, you and I are thinking the same thing!"

Sofia smiled sweetly and uttered her conjecture in a charming voice:

“Since there are still many troubles, given William’s fighting style and arrogant personality, which are not suitable for protecting teammates, he will definitely leave Aaron behind and let Damon take care of him.”

"Is such that."

Richard added, "If they split up, we can attack William first. If we get bogged down for too long, Damon, as a griffin rider, can arrive quickly. But if we attack Damon and Aaron first, it will be easier and faster, and William may not be able to come to their rescue in time."

"That's settled then~"

The next step is to figure out how to find Damon and the others.

Surprisingly, the problem was resolved within half a minute...

Richard and Sophia had just finished collecting their things and were about to return to the entrance when they heard heavy breathing coming from behind the wall beside them.

next second...

"Die, you traitors!"

A hidden door opened, and several dwarves wielding axes rushed out.

...Then Sophia slowed them down with a single breath, and Richard summoned earth elementals, one for each of them, and pinned them to the ground.

"You filthy..."

"Calm down, buddy, I'm on the dwarf side."

Richard recognized one of the dwarves who had led him there and quickly activated the [Newspaper Tycoon] ability, slowly saying, "The two traitors who led the orcs into the city and I are also enemies, and we're in cahoots with you."

"Nobody would believe you... Oh? It's you guys. Well... okay, maybe you're good people."

"Of course, you can't go wrong trusting me! If I lied to you, I'd be stuck living off a woman for the rest of my life!"

Huh? Is this considered a curse or oath?

For people with strong self-esteem, it seems so, probably...

The dwarves saw swirling mosquito coils in their eyes, and soon they all let go of their axes.

Sofia, standing to the side, raised her eyebrows slightly. Although she knew Richard was telling the truth, she still had the feeling of watching a fox seduce an honest man.

For some reason, I feel like I'm looking in a mirror...

I kind of want to step on his fox tail...

Richard pulled the dwarf to his feet, glanced at the hidden door, and asked, "Did you escape from the city?"

"Yes, the city was built on top of a mine, with many hidden tunnels underneath that the orcs couldn't find easily. We used this to escape."

"How's it going in the city..."

"Our king is dead, and the orcs have taken over most of the land and are looting and plundering."

As the burly dwarf in his iron armor spoke, a single tear rolled down his cheek in anger.

I just wonder if this is also paint...