by Hiro Ainana
The other kids had gone to buy snacks at the nearby stands, so the only ones left in the luxury seats were Miss Karina, her maid Pina, and myself.
The seats were open to the stadium grounds but walled in on the other three sides, with refined decor in muted hues. Given that it was for the use of nobles only, it was no surprise that the furniture was proportionately luxurious.
Miss Karina was looking out at the stadium from the balcony. She turned to me and responded.
“I-indeed. The lower seats are terribly crowded.”
Just as she said, the general seating was jam-packed.
The areas closest to the grounds were especially full of people, to the point where the onlookers seemed liable to spill onto the field.
The area where the combatants would be fighting was an elliptical shape, around the same size as an average running track. The pamphlets in the premium seats explained that the stadium was ordinarily used for jousting.
“Lady Karina, please be careful not to lean over the balcony too far.”
The drop from our seats to the general seating was about ten feet, so Karina’s maid Pina looked worried.
Just then, the door slammed open, and Mia and Nana returned from their shopping.
“Satou, ‘aah.’”
Mia put one of the candies she held in both hands into my open mouth.
…Syrup candy.
Taking the stick from Mia’s hand, I saw that this confection was colorless, unlike the light-brown malt syrup candy I’d eaten with Zena in Seiryuu City. It was probably a starch syrup made from rice and sugar.
“Master, I have taken custody of these apple larvae, I report.”
Nana had bought a basket of candy-size apples called “dwarf apples.”
“Could I have one?”
“Affirmative.”
Nana held out the basket, and I brought one of the fresh dwarf apples to my lips.
As soon as I bit into it, juice flowed into my mouth, along with the tart sweetness characteristic of the fruit. A moment later, the scent of apples filled my nose.
“Very tasty.”
“Yes, master.”
It did seem a little lacking in sweetness, but that was probably because I ate the syrup candy right before it.
“Mrrr?”
Mia, who was also tasting the apple right after the candy, furrowed her brow in a similar reaction.
Next, Lulu came back with Pochi and Tama in tow.
“Octopus skewerrrs!”
“And squid skewers, sir.”
An appealing smell wafted over me from the large bag the two beastfolk girls were carrying.
“I thought most people didn’t eat octopus and squid here?” I asked, vaguely remembering something I’d heard.
“Really?” Lulu answered. “There were commoners buying them at the stands.”
I guess it’s mostly nobles and people from other territories who don’t like them.
As she spoke, Lulu set up the folding table that was in the corner of the luxury box and expertly arranged the skewers on top.
“We’re baaack!”
“Master, we have returned.”
Last to arrive were Arisa, Liza, and Karina’s maid Erina.
“Man, that was rough,” Arisa grumbled. “The chicken and meat skewer stands were really crowded.”
“Right? Not to mention all the fistfights and pickpockets about.” Erina nodded.
With help from Lulu, Liza added the chicken and various kinds of meat skewers to the table.
Aside from the meat, there was also a modest stack of baguette-shaped bread loaves decorating one end of the table.
“Look, look! I got boiled edamame and peanuts for Mia, too!”
“Arisa. Thanks.”
“Huh, that looks pretty good.”
Snacking on the edamame and peanuts made me crave a nice cold beer.
While we were sampling the various snacks, the time came for the matches to begin.
The copper gong rang out, and an announcer’s voice echoed through the stadium.
“Match one: Magic Swordsman Tan, the Bloodiron Explorer, versus Zi-Gain Master Kajiro, the Samurai of the Saga Empire.”
Most of the group turned to watch the two combatants enter the grounds, but Arisa and Mia seemed more interested in something else.
“That announcer sounded a little muffled. Are they using Wind Magic with a speaking tube, perhaps?”
“Mm. Those.”
Mia pointed to several huge tubes sprouting up among the audience seats.
According to the AR display, they were magic tools called wind speaker towers. Arisa’s guess was right, but she’d already moved on.
“Ooh, Tan might be a weird name, but he sure is handsome. And this Kajiro fellow is wild and unshaven—like a real warrior!”
Peering through one of the luxury box’s longscopes, Arisa relayed some utterly useless information.
I used my “Telescopic Sight” skill to take a look at the competitors myself.
The tall and muscular Kajiro was shouldering a longsword that was more than six feet long, waiting quietly for the match to begin. He was barely wearing any armor, so maybe his style was “victory to whoever makes the first move.” Befitting his introduction as a samurai, the man was wearing a kimono and hakama. Since he was blond with Italian facial features, it called to mind a foreign Japanophile. As a native of the Saga Empire, famous for its hero summoning, he was probably influenced by Japanese culture in his upbringing.
Meanwhile, Tan was equipped with a one-handed mithril sword and a buckler and clad in glossy armor made from the shell of some kind of beetle monster.
Tan was level 42, while Kajiro was level 39.
Both exceptionally high levels, which was probably to be expected in the semifinals—too high, in fact. Both were in the top five of the tournament competitors.
So they’re matched up so they can crush each another before reaching the finals… No, maybe that was overthinking it.
“Hmm, I can’t see their stats from this distance.” Arisa grumbled discontentedly, then offered her predictions aloud. “From what I hear, Tan’s probably going to win, since he can use magic.”
“Arisa, that is quite premature. In addition to Sir Kajiro’s large frame, one must not underestimate the range and power of that enormous longsword. No doubt the match will be decided by whether Sir Tan is able to use magic before he is struck down.”
Ooh, that’s an unusual amount of talking for Liza.
Tan seemed to have a few levels on his side, but Kajiro was more of a pure fighter, so he could probably make up the difference easily in a swordfight.
“Whoa, tacky.”
“Yes, his garments rather lack refinement.”
The subject of Arisa’s and Liza’s appraisal was the referee, who’d just walked into the arena in brightly colored clothes, holding large red and white flags as well as a horn.
The combatants entered two circles outlined on the ground, about a hundred feet apart.
This appeared to be the starting position. At this distance, a magic user probably wouldn’t be able to finish a lengthy chant before their opponent attacked.
The referee blew a horn and shouted that the match had begun.
“The warrior man charged, sir!”
Before the sound of the horn had faded, Kajiro sprang forward. His white blade flashed down toward Tan.
“… Instant Shield Hirameki Tate!”
A defensive barrier spread from Tan’s shield like a ripple of light, repelling the longsword’s attack. It reminded me of the reactive armor you’d see on a tank.
Before Kajiro could swing his lengthy sword back around, Tan’s one-handed blade lashed out toward Kajiro’s face.
Kajiro contorted to dodge the strike, only to face a triple lunge from Tan.
“Oh, he’s moving away, sir!” Pochi flailed her now-empty skewer stick.
“Mmph! Mmph mmph?”
“Tama, try to finish eating befo
re you speak, okay?”
Tama tried to join in on the commentary with a mouthful of food and was met with a light scolding from Lulu.
Gaining some distance, Kajiro slid his feet to adjust the space between them, while Tan used a short Body Strengthening chant to power himself up.
“Strengthening?”
“I guess he’s using some kind of buff spell.”
Mia and Arisa listened keenly to the chant, trying to predict its effects.
“But why doesn’t Kajiro attack while he’s invoking the chant?”
“Arisa, that is precisely what Sir Tan wants him to do. If he fell for it, he would likely be met with a severe counterattack.” Liza knew her stuff.
“Master, the samurai unit’s movements are strange, I inform.”
“Yes, that’s a slide step…”
As I started to explain the move to Nana, the fighters went back into action.
No one was listening to my explanation, so I returned my attention to the match as well.
Unlike the previous bout, this time they were exchanging blows in rapid succession, their blades creating noticeable sparks.
“Wow. He hasn’t stopped chanting for a second, even while he’s deflecting all those sword blows.”
“Very calm.”
Arisa and Mia crunched away on their snacks as they provided a magic user’s perspective on the match.
Then, whether it was thanks to the level difference or the Body Strengthening, Tan slowly began to take the lead.
The battle was so intense that the cheering audience lapsed into silence, watching with bated breath.
“Ah!”
A loud clang resounded through the stadium as Kajiro’s enormous weapon snapped in half.
“Kajiro!”
I heard a woman cry out from the passage leading to the stadium’s waiting room.
She must be a member of his family.
Even with his sword broken, Kajiro refused to give up the fight, swinging toward his opponent in a last-ditch attempt at a comeback.
But Tan was ready for him and blocked with his own sword wrapped in purple lightning.
A static-like ZAP! boomed through the stadium, and Kajiro fell to the ground.
Tan must have paralyzed him with an electric shock.
Tan held his sword point to Kajiro’s neck, then looked to the referee to pronounce him victorious.
Bloodthirsty voices rang out from the audience.
“Kill hiiiiim!”
“Death to the loserrr!”
Uh, no, this isn’t a Colosseum death match.
It was only a few dozen men, not the whole stadium by any means, but the scattered jeers calling for Kajiro’s death were painful to hear.
But Tan simply shrugged as if to dismiss the demands, refusing to rise to the bait from the ill-mannered spectators.
This gesture appeared to go over favorably with the ladies; shrieks of admiration rose from the crowd.
“Winner: Magic Swordsman Tan!”
When the referee finally declared Tan’s victory, an uproar rose from the crowd that drowned out the unpleasant jeers.
Naturally, we joined in to applaud the excellent bout.
While we waited for the next match to start, we munched on snacks and discussed the previous battle.
“Was that a hakama? What a wonderful piece of equipment. I did not expect it to hide his footwork so well.” Liza seemed impressed with Kajiro’s Japanese-style outfit.
Tama and Pochi were both attempting to mimic his footwork, but they couldn’t quite get the hang of it.
“This is haaard.”
“I can’t help lifting my feet, sir.”
“Here, try it like this.”
Taking off my shoes, I demonstrated the slide step for them. Of course, since it was mostly based on what I’d seen in manga, I had no idea whether I was doing it right.
Explaining the basic move was easy enough, but showing them how to fine-tune it with their toes was harder.
Tama and Pochi crouched on the floor, squinting at my toes.
“Wiggle, wiggle?”
“Like a slug, sir.”
Taking a liking to the movement, Pochi sprawled out on the floor and began shunting herself around like an inchworm.
Should I tell her that’s not how a slug moves?
Just as Tama was about to start doing the same, Lulu cut in, “Pochi! Good girls don’t roll around on the floor in their best clothes, you know!”
“N-nooo, this is different, ma’am. Lulu, I didn’t mean to, ma’am.”
“How is it different, exactly? Now, what do we say when we do bad things?”
“I’m sorry, ma’am.”
Shoot. I guess I should’ve scolded her.
Pochi knelt down in a suitably apologetic pose.
“Pochi baaad.”
Tama shrewdly scurried over to Lulu’s side, putting on a reproachful look.
You were about to worm around, too, weren’t you?
I gave Tama a pointed look, and she hurriedly switched to the same “apologetic” pose.
Okay, that’s better.
The next match was a fierce swordfight between two beastfolk.
This time, both combatants ended up bleeding. It wasn’t very pleasant to watch. In fact, the way they were slashing at each other with fierce grins on their bloodied faces was terrifying.
“Master, they’re whacking each other, sir.”
“Liza could wiiin.”
“While I would by no means go down without a fight, I somehow doubt that I could defeat either of them.”
Both beastfolk were level 30, so from a numerical standpoint, Liza would probably lose.
“Oh! What a move!”
“Twiiirl?”
“My head is spinning, sir.”
“Mm. Wow.”
The younger group raised a chorus of admiration for the acrobatic fighters.
Getting overexcited, Tama and Pochi started dangling themselves a little dangerously over the railing to cheer them on.
“You mustn’t lean over the railing, you two,” Liza warned.
The two backed away immediately, but each time one of the beastfolk landed a blow or executed an acrobatic dodge, they leaped right back on.
Finally, tired of telling them off, Liza picked up Tama and Pochi and held them like a pair of stuffed animals.
The foxfolk man swung his broadsword around like a shot put, using the momentum to let loose a spinning slash like something out of a manga.
Not to be outdone, the raccoonfolk man separated his sword vertically into two thinner swords and began whirling himself around as well.
“Three tuuurns?”
“My head is really spinning, sir.”
Tama and Pochi, still secure in Liza’s arms, whipped their heads back and forth dizzyingly as they watched the fighters. Between their flailing arms and tails, I was afraid something was going to go flying off.
Still, this is a martial arts tournament, right? Not, like, a circus?
It was definitely interesting, but something was off. All I could do was assume that as one’s level rose, the stat inflation allowed for moves that would normally be impossible.
“Master, can I move like that, too? I inquire.”
“If you use Body Strengthening well enough, I’m sure you can.”
Unfortunately, this comment also caught the attention of Miss Karina, who had been watching the match quietly.
“Why, in that case, perhaps I could do it, too.”
“Indeed, Lady Karina, it is possible.”
The intelligent item Raka blinked on Miss Karina’s chest.
The heated battle between the two beastfolk had the crowd worked up into a fervor, but shockingly, it ended in a draw when the fighters knocked each other out simultaneously. The rematch would be held the next day.
The final round of the morning was between a beastfolk spearman and a female samurai who appeared to be around twenty years old.
App
arently, she was a relative of Kajiro, the longsword-wielding samurai from the first match. She wielded both a polearm and a short sword.
Both combatants’ levels were in the mid-twenties, significantly lower than the fighters we’d seen so far.
“Just you wait, Golao. Papa’s going to win this tournament and get a government job.”
“I vow to restore Lord Kajiro’s pride.”
My “Keen Hearing” skill was now able to pick up the mutters of the combatants under the cheering of the crowd. It must have adapted to the loud environment.
I guess even after maxing out a skill, I can still improve its performance by using it well.
When the allotted time for evaluating the opponent was up and the match began, the spearman immediately went on the offensive.
“““Yaaaah! Kill herrr!”””
The audience was getting a little vicious. They must have been worked up after the previous fight’s anticlimax.
The edge of the spear’s cross-shaped tip sliced through the woman’s sleeve, and the other end bit into her arm. Blood sprayed into the air, agitating the audience.
“““Bloooood! Woooo!”””
I didn’t exactly love where this was going.
In the gamelike system of this world, blood loss seemed to result in continuous damage. The samurai’s HP and stamina bars steadily decreased as time passed.
“““Yeaaaah! Kiiiill!”””
The blood loss sent the woman staggering, and the crowd roared madly.
“Mrrr…”
“Weh…”
Tama and Pochi, still in Liza’s arms, curled up fearfully with their ears flattened and tails hiding between their legs. Even Liza, normally so stoic, had turned pale.
Something was most likely frightening them— Oh, no. Of course.
“Arisa, could you cast Calm Field on Liza, Tama, and Pochi, please?”
“Okeydoke!”
Arisa obeyed my quiet request without making a scene. The magic quickly took effect, easing the beastfolk girls’ panic. I caught them before they collapsed, bringing them over to rest on a sofa.
“What’s the matter?” Miss Karina asked.
“The intensity of the crowd seems to have gotten to them.”
But that wasn’t quite what had happened.
In all likelihood, the real cause of their distress was that the jeers of the crowd reminded them of the riot back in Seiryuu City. If the magic soldier Zena hadn’t stepped in to help, the three of them might have been killed. It made sense that the experience would have traumatized them.