Protection or Surveillance

At Egbert Fontana's urging, everyone took their seats. Professor Murray naturally put an arm around Wade's shoulders and led him toward the judges' table.

"Come on, Wade, sit beside me."

After Wade sat down, he found that Professor Murray and Chairman Fontana were seated between him and Madam Piquelly. Forget exchanging intelligence—they could barely even exchange a glance.

Madam Piquelly, however, seemed to have no objection to the arrangement. She gently thanked the staff member who pulled out her chair for her, smoothed her shawl, and sat down calmly.

Wade's gaze sharpened slightly.

There were several staff members near the judges' table. Earlier, they had been constantly moving about, sometimes guiding audience members who inadvertently approached the judges' table back to their seats, sometimes accepting invitations or letters from others on behalf of the judges. Wade had even thought the competition organizers' arrangements were remarkably thorough.

Now that the audience had mostly taken their seats, the staff members who could finally relax began to show their differences—

Most of them wore relieved expressions, as if they could finally rest. Some went to get water, while others slipped off to sit near the audience seats and take a break.

But there were two stern-faced wizards who maintained a measured distance from Madam Piquelly at all times. Even when they had been busy earlier, they had never moved far away, and now they did not take the opportunity to rest either.

Their posture did not resemble that of bodyguards, because bodyguards would surely be looking more toward the surroundings, watching for potential outside threats.

Yet those two men's attention remained faintly fixed on Madam Piquelly herself. They cleverly stood outside the other judges' lines of sight, while still being able to observe Madam Piquelly's every movement.

This was not protection... it was