TL: Yuki

ED: Filip

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「Compared to yesterday the number of people today is bigger than what I’ve expected.」

 

The next day, the stadium was filled to the brim with people, making yesterday’s emptiness feel like a lie. It seems like some people have talked about the events that happened yesterday to others who didn’t hear about it.

 

『It had become a topic. That 『Peach of Blooming Ice』, is it going to appear tomorrow?』

「Since that was super embarrassing, can I go home now?」

「Nope」

 

Un… I got another weird name. I can understand why the Blooming Ice part, but why did they add a town? Are they referring to my hair when they say peach? Where they thinking I came from Valhalla?

 

「From what I’ve heard, it seems that Master’s beauty was way beyond what a human would ever possess. Adding the way you’ve created those Ice Blossoms. They added that, since you might have come from a phantasmal land or something like that」

「Kuah~ why did they seriously have to think about that」

 

Oh god, enough of this already. I’m already being called the 『Goddess of White Waters』 in Haval. It did not spread so far yet in this country, but news will probably reach here soon. If it will come to that I will definitely escape as soon as possible from this country and go to other countries.

 

「Well, I wonder what surprises will they show to us today~」

「Please stay calm for the time being Master~」

「Neva~Gib~up~!!」

 

◇――――――――――――――――

 

「Aidle-dono」

 

When I went to the waiting room, a participant immediately spoke to me. If I’m not mistaken, his name was supposed to be Genkaku or something. He looks like a samurai you could usually see in TV shows in my previous life, but seeing one in front of me now felt quite surreal. Not to mention about his sword, it was hung on his back.

 

「Well if it isn’t Genkaku, what business do you have with me?」

「For the things that you have done during the first round, I would like to offer my thanks. Because of you Aidle-dono, more people came to watch today, the stadium became livelier and the cheering for the participants is stronger」

「Oh… I see. Well I only did what I wanted to do at that time, seeing that there was no one else who tried doing something like that」

「I see, then may we see each other once more on stage」

 

After saying those words, he left and went to his designated area. I wanted a sword like that so it would probably be good to hear more about his country. I will try and call out to him once again when the tournament ends.

 

◇――――――――――――――――

 

『Today is the second batch of matches for the second round of the tournament!! It seems that more people from the kingdom have visited us today unlike how it was like two days ago!! All of the audience seats have been occupied and there are even people standing to watch!! As for the players, everyone is probably expecting of something amazing, right? Well then, for our first match!!』

 

Onore was a person who was covered from head to toe with green armor along with claws on both his hands probably as a main weapon. He seems to be quite excited and was displaying his horned helmet for all to see. In comparison, Genkaku appeared in a quite simple manner while holding his wakizashi.

 

『A few years ago, he came out from a certain forest with an outfit that made him look like a demon… How far will his claw attacks, which he relied on when protecting the forest, take him!! It will be against the participant Genkaku, who is holding a never before seen sword!! Who of the two will be able to climb up!! Now then, for the second batch of the second round’s first match!! Let the game Staaaarrtt!!』

 

Genkaku stayed in place while taking a Iai stance. Onore who didn’t know about that rushed towards Genkaku while roaring and pointing his claws towards his target. The distance between them was around 30 meters, but that distance was easily closed in, taking only about 2 seconds. Genkaku moved when his target was within his reach.

 

Gakkin!!

 

The sound of something being pulled and slashed was heard.

 

But to the audience who was watching, it only looked like Genkaku was only in a stance and didn’t move. But that flash reflected by the blade was certainly noticed by the audience, even if only for a bit. But they didn’t see which direction the attack was delivered, but immediately after that they understood what happened.

 

It was all sliced. The claws that Onore was using were all cut from their roots.

 

「Impossible!!?? Nuuu!!!!」

 

Onore who lost his weapon tried attacking using his horn after recovering from his shocked state but,

「That’s already useless」

「Eh!?」

Even though he tried to thrust his head, he noticed that his helmet felt weird and touched it. Then he found out that the horn that was supposedly stuck on his headgear was now missing, and then he noticed the horn that already fell on the ground. Onore who lost any means to attack raised his hands to surrender.

 

『The victor has been decided!! Between the exchange of Genkaku and Onore, all of were not even aware of what exactly happened!! Still, with overwhelming strength, Genkaku has shown us proof the he is qualified for the quarterfinals!! The victory was overwhelming!!』

 

◇――――――――――――――――

 

Genkaku sure was strong. That’s something that status alone won’t be able to achieve, and is probably a characteristic of his skills. It seems that it gives a boost to him when he is equipped with specific equipment.

 

• Iaido

『Skill than can only be used with specific sword equipment. The right stance, timing, and precise positioning will increase or decrease the power depending on the quality of the weapon used. Specific Skill: Iai-Kasumi』

 

Is that supposed to be a type of unique skill? It seems like it would be really difficult to master, not to mention imitating it would be impossible. I’m not really using a sword of that type anyway… Let’s absolutely visit Wado in order to buy a sword like that.

 

◇――――――――――――――――

 

『Let’s move on to the next match. Participant Sylvester and Participant Jasper come on stage!! Hey, hey Jasper be sure to stay firm~~!!! Because everyone is watching~ Don’t show your nervousness~~!!!』

「Shut up, don’t bother me, Senial!!!」

 

Laughter was released from everyone on the venue when Jasper was mentioned. The young man that entered was yelling at the announcer intervening with her announcements. As Jasper went into the stage, his face was clearly flushed. There were also a lot of cheers from adult women, but when the announcer noticed them she puffed up her cheeks in anger.

 

『Hmmph!! Then let’s ignore Jasper and introduce the next participant. The next participant is Sylvester who is a long sword user. How will you deal with fighting against a long sword user!!』

 

The announcement somehow turned into one that was concerned about Jasper. Sylvester who climbed up the stage only gave off a wry smile. Jasper who bathed in sympathy and compassion ignored his surrounding and only focused on his opponent.

 

「Well… Hang in there…」

「Ahh…」

 

『Hai, hai, then Begin the Match!!!』

「Oi, you’re blushing」

『Shut uuup, Just hurry up and fiiiight!!!』

 

A voice filled with coldness and mockery came out of Jasper’s mouth, but the audience only laughed at him. After that, the two participants prepared their weapons.

 

(A long sword you say, isn’t that thing way longer than a short spear not to mention it’s weight should be quite considerable… But won’t his movement be dulled by such a ridiculous weapon… He’s also holding it with only one hand… I should probably probe his skills by attacking him for a moment.)

 

「Uuuuoohh!! Toooahh??!!」

 

The long sword he was holding was quickly swept close towards Jasper’s neck. Barely avoiding the attack with a momentary dodge, Sylvester delivered a kick towards his stomach. While rolling on the ground after dodging, he soon got up and rebuilt his posture.

 

「You are still within my range!!」

 

Pursuing Jasper with his long sword, another quick attack was delivered. Jasper who crouched once again barely avoided the attack and was trying to find the pattern from that attack.

 

(Attacking from afar I will face the long sword, closing in I would face the kicks… Still, there’s no other way for me but to close in on him somehow. If I can do that, that longsword would be useless.)

 

When approached, Sylvester tried delivering a kick. Jasper prepared his sword to deliver an attack straight towards Sylvester’s face while responding to the kick.

 

「You see, I don’t like playing fair, just so you know!!」

「What!!??」

 

Although he got hit, Jasper managed to grab Sylvester’s feet then locked it in a grappling move. It is a typical move used by fist fighters to lock their target. Although Sylvester struggled to escape, he wasn’t able to because of Jasper’s higher skill level on Joint Lock Skills.

 

Bakkin!!

 

「Gaaaaahhh!!??」

He broke his bones without hesitation. He then picked up his sword and points it to Sylvester who was still suffering from his broken injury. As long as his enemy didn’t give up he didn’t pull away his sword that was aimed at Sylvester’s head.

 

「Now this huh, I won’t be able to properly stand up or counter with this intense pain… I surrender」

「…Fuu… I will call a recovery magician immediately, sorry for breaking your leg」

「Don’t mind it, I just didn’t realize how strong the pain of having your bones broken is… Sorry, and thanks」

 

『Gyaaaaahh!! He actually wooooonnnn!!!』

 

「「「「「………」」」」」

 

『E, eetoo… Superb Battle Performance!! Being able to take down Sylvester who was a strong opponent!! It’s Jasper’s Victory!! He will be advancing to the quarter finals!! Ups, ehehehe!!』

 

「Do your work properly, stupid announcer!!」

 

◇――――――――――――――――

 

『I wonder if they were acquainted? Maybe they were from the same party?』

「I’m thinking that they might probably be lovers though? Just look at that innocent smile. I might only be imagining things but I have witnessed people who were also like that」

「Ah, Mama?」

「『We(I) will be Arena’s Mama(-ja!)!』」

「But I want to be a Mama too~~♪♪」

 

◇――――――――――――――――

 

Part 2

 

『Let us begin the next bout!! The participants of the third battle, please enter』

 

The silver haired grandpa Alleid was walking slowly using his cane. Mathew, also an old man, was seemingly excited while approaching the stage at the same pace as Alleid.

 

『Participant Alleid proved to be a wonderful magic user, using precise shots when executing magic. Just as his age would suggest, he has accumulated a great amount of experience to back up his magic skills!! Grandpa is surely a strong competitor!!』

 

「Houhou, you sure are an energetic child」

 

Alleid, who was listening to the announcer, was full of smiles. As his mind was filled with something else, he wasn’t really focused on the competition anymore. However, there was still something that he wanted to confirm, so he planned to compete until the last minute and was prepared to go all out.

 

『And now we present to you Participant Mathew… is there something wrong? Hello, Participant Mathew, are you ok? Heeeyy!!』

 

「…….Oh, ah I’m fine… I was just, sleepy from hangover you see…」

 

『I see. Well then Participant Mathew is a local A Rank adventurer. There isn’t anything special to mention about him, but it is still a fact that even in his late 50s he is still quite powerful!! But just to be sure, recovery magicians!! Please take care of his hangover!!』

 

「Sorry about that. It’s just old age… Because something like that happened I was really depressed and have been only drinking in the past two days, I wasn’t even expecting that a lot of people would come today though~. Well, it was something like that」

 

「That can’t be helped. I also did that after all. Well, can’t you just do that without being too much intoxicated? We are already at an age where our youth have passed after all.」

 

『Are the both of you ready? Then for the third match!! Game Start!!』

 

「Clasp!!」

「Ooh?」

With Alleid’s no-cast magic, Mathew’s leg was quickly buried up to his ankles.

「Water, Fire, Earth, Wind」

 

A number of different elemental attacks were generated with Mathew as the center. Everything was turned into sharp objects.

 

「Ah, I sure got myself quickly in a pinch」

「And, pierce him」

 

Both sides smiled despite having their advantages both in an opposite directions. Then, Mathew started executing moves that knocked down all flying projectiles coming towards him. Alleid continued his assault while increasing the pace, but Mathew was repelling all of them with a nonchalant face.

 

The barrage of attack and defense lasted a while. It was Alleid who first stopped attacking. Mathew also took a deep breath, and then shattered the stone constricting his leg.

 

「Seems like I’ve underestimated you. What great coordination, it was quite impressive」

「Jii-san is also the same, so strong that calling you a monster would fit. If I was an ordinary adventurer, I would have probably been defeated 9 times over you know?」

「Is that nonchalant face of yours a habit? I wonder which one of us is the real monster though…」

 

The audiences were quite excited at the spectacular fight of the two. Especially to all adventurers who came to see the height of pure skill of Mathew, they were amazed. Mathew was famous for quite some time now, he was a man known to not move to fight. From some other adventurer’s perspective,  he was thought to be just a stupid man, 「An adventurer who doesn’t go adventures」 or 「A hawk with no claws」.

 

The only reason Mathew participated on today’s match was that 「I already ran out of funds」, and he was in fact planning to lose early in the game, but right now he was having fun with his fight against Alleid.

 

「Well then, It’s my turn this time, I will proceed with attacking…!!」

「Intercept!」

 

However, in this battle, Alleid was his opponent. He is a master of magic, whose power might even reach that of Heroes. He did not achieve the title of Sage for no reason. In the short amount of time Mathew moved to attack, bringing himself behind Alleid…

 

「Ah… Damn… I guess this is it for me… I can not go on any more than this…」

 

At the moment Mathew approached, Alleid covered himself with a thick layer of ice with spikes that pierced through Mathew, since he moved too fast. Mathew regretfully wasn’t able to dodge and got skewered, but he still managed to avoid fainting. After confirming Mathew’s defeat Alleid quickly removed the spikes and healed him without even waiting for the healers to come.

『Strong!! As expected of the old men!! They were too strong!! Still, the victory goes to Alleid!! He will be moving into the quarter finals!!』

While listening to the loudest applause being given that day, Alleid raised one hand and then moved back to the waiting room.

 

◇――――――――――――――――

 

「I wonder if I will have a hard time dealing with that. It’s kind of regretful that we didn’t witness their full power until the end of the match, as I have expected… I might end up like that」

「Vandalba?」

「It’s that, I have to be at least much stronger than that one. Well Master seems like she’s having fun. I wonder just how much difference is there between us.」

『Oh right… La Veil will be fighting the Hero soon, but it’s ok whatever the result may be because I will surely defeat her』

「It will be fine. Come now, it’s finally your turn now!!」

「Ooh, eating bread while watching the match at the same time is will be great~~」

『You are getting spoiled!?』

 

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Two people were playing at the audience area.

 

「Then 「Bulldog」, with this, it will be my win」

「Fluffy~♪」

「Then, Here a bit – There a bit – Draw a circle – and done!」

「Na~♪」

「That was priceless~」

 

After they finished they were cheerfully smiling at each other.