Chapter 184: Tournament Announcement

“Goddammit……”

“It’s an imperial decree from His Majesty after all……”

“Just give up already……”

Mimi and Elma comforted the fuming me from each side.

That f**kin emperor! What the heck was he thinking by announcing something like a『Let’s Duel Captain Hiro Everyone! Dokidoki ☆ Tournament』or whatever damn name it’s called? His Majesty’s ‘kindness’ has allowed us to stay in a guest room within the imperial castle, and now, we were all lounging around on a luxurious and comfy sofa.

“Whaddya mean by ‘kindness’!? Isn’t this just house arrest so they can make sure I won’t be able to escape!?”

“Hiro-sama! Shh! Shhh!”

“We don’t know who’s listening in on us, so don’t run your mouth, you……”

Mimi hurriedly tried to close my mouth in a panic, and Elma warned me in an offhand manner that didn’t bother to mask her weariness. What are you guys talking about? Isn’t this just a guest roo– Oh, okay? So you mean there’s a risk someone or something might be monitoring our every move while we’re in the palace huh? Okay. In other words, there’s no guarantee this room ain’t bugged even if it’s a guest room. Heck, we aren’t even sure if this really was originally a guest room.

“Anyway, I just want to change into my usual outfit……”

I loosened the tie that was wrapped around my neck and sighed. This outfit that Chris selected was definitely a fine-looking men’s formal outfit, but it felt really stiff and restrictive, unlike my usual mercenary get-up.

“Me too, Hiro-sama……”

“Clothes like these were what I used to wear every day in the past though……”

Mimi and Elma were also still wearing their fancy dresses and accessories, and it seems they were also comfier in their usual get-ups as well. Both of them carefully removed the accessories they were wearing and placed them on a table beside the sofa.

Mei already went back to Krishna to pick up our clothes. Actually, I tried to go as well, but Mei insisted that I accompany Mimi and Elma here instead. I’m not sure if she insisted primarily due to worry about Mimi and Elma’s fatigue or out of her consideration so I could rest up as well.

“What do you guys think?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean what do you think about the emperor’s intentions? Why’d he suddenly announce something like a tournament and confined us inside the palace? I really don’t get it. What’s his deal?”

Elma paused in thought at my question.

“I think he just wants to see the extent of your abilities during this tournament. You’re a mercenary who rose up from Bronze-rank to Platinum-rank in a surprisingly short period of time after all.”

“I see? He’s just being a damn nuisance though.”

“I told you to stop that…… Also, one reason for keeping us in the palace might be to prevent us from escaping, but it might also be to protect us from trouble. Didn’t you get picked on right after the ceremony concluded?”

“Ah, um…… That baron so and so huh. Yeah, I remember him.”

“It looks like you don’t… His name is Baron Crias. If we stay here, we won’t need to deal with that guy. And if you show your abilities in the tournament, you’d probably get picked on less in the future.”

“I see. That’s reasonable enough.”

“Well, um…… confining you here so you won’t be able to escape might still be one of his reasons though.”

“Yeah…”

I wouldn’t run even if I wasn’t placed on house arrest anyway. If I escaped after it was grandly announced that I would fight in matches to prove my worth, my reputation will take a major hit. Furthermore, the faces of the emperor who announced the tournament, the imperial military that awarded me the Gold Star, and the Mercenary Guild that promoted me to Platinum rank would collectively be sullied. If I threw mud at the faces of the emperor, imperial military, and Mercenary Guild at the same time, would it still be possible for me to work as a mercenary in the future? Of course not.

Therefore, it was already impossible for me to escape attending the tournament after the decree of His Majesty got issued.

“But a tournament huh…… I wonder what sort of competition format it’ll have? Will I be fighting in a battle royale against all the skilled people they can manage to gather?”

I honestly am tempted to just withdraw though.

“Rather, I wonder what kind of competition it will be? Don’t tell me I’m gonna compete in a swordsmanship tournament or something.”

“That’s possible, actually. That’s not all though. There are competitions using laser guns, power armor, and mock battles using starships too.”

“What the heck’s with that triathlon from hell……?”

Don’t tell me I’m really gonna have to duel with swords, engage in combat using my laser gun and power armor, and perform mock space battles using my starship? I’m gonna do all that? Me? Now I really wanna run away…

Once they’ve decided on something, the imperials are really darn quick, aren’t they? An hour after the emperor’s proclamation was announced – while the three of us were lounging around within the guest room – the Internal Affairs Bureau managed to complete the planning outline for the entire event, and three hours later, they’ve implemented the necessary groundwork. After another two hours, they already announced it to the public.

And thus, preparations went underway for the opportunity to challenge the latest Gold Star recipient and Platinum-rank mercenary,『Crazy』Hiro. It was widely publicized that the competition was implemented due to a direct edict by the emperor himself. It was also announced that if you manage to win against Captain Hiro, you will be granted very generous rewards. And so, many knights, soldiers, nobles, and mercenaries have signed up for the tournament in great anticipation.

“The number of applicants has already exceeded three hundred?”

I’m going to have to fight all of them? I’m gonna die, aren’t I?

It was the day after the ceremony. I borrowed Mimi’s tablet, read the news about the tournament, and complained vehemently inside my head. Just where did these three hundred people with too much free time sprout from anyway?

“I don’t think they’ll make you fight all three hundred of them. That’s why the competition is in a tournament format. They’d let them fight among themselves and whittle down the numbers first, right?”

“Maybe Hiro-sama will be included as a seeded participant in the tournament as well……?”

“No, that would go against the point of getting a chance to challenge me if I lose halfway though. Well, it’s that emperor after all. He might really do something like that……”

He might say something along the lines of ‘You won’t possibly allow yourself to be humiliated by losing halfway, right?’

Eh? The emperor in my mind is far too shady, you say? It’s impossible for me to look favorably at a guy who throws something this troublesome on me while spouting profound-sounding nonsense like ‘leaving his own mark on my turbulent destiny’ or something like that.

I absolutely won’t forgive that bastard.

When I managed to calm down a bit, I contacted Major Serena and explained the situation, but Major Serena only gazed back at me with a very sorry-looking expression on her face.

『So you guys have the strange ability to attract trouble after all?』

The three of us weren’t able to say anything back to the good major. How lamentable.

In addition, due to the decision to hold the competition at this time, the entire schedule planned by the imperial military was blown to bits. In fact, we were supposed to get interviewed by the imperial military’s public relations division after the ceremony. (It wasn’t an interview by a civilian company, so Space Dwerg’s priority coverage rights didn’t apply.) And that’s not all. I was also planning to take on the job of testing out the newly developed next-generation military small-class combat starship and carrier-based fighter, but that also splendidly went up in smoke.

The reason for this is because many participants in the competition were soldiers from the imperial military, so if I showed off my maneuvers, it might work in favor of them in the space battle portion of the tournament. That said, the imperial military was already in possession of my combat records during the battle with the crystal lifeforms, and Major Serena probably has a record of my battles with pirates, so I think they already have plenty of advantages though.

“Haa– I’m really screwed this time.”

“Really?”

Mimi tilted her head cutely when she saw me sigh in dejection.

“Aside from starship battles, I can’t say melee combat and sword duels are part of my specialty after all……”

I did manage to protect an undefeated record in melee battles back when I was playing SOL, but I don’t have any confidence that I can do the same in this dimension…… Well, I guess I can somehow perform the maneuvers and strategies I did back in the game in reality for some reason, but I’m pitifully lacking experience when it comes to fighting using my own body instead of a character in a game. I would probably be more assured while fighting inside a power armor though.

“I think you’ll be just fine though…… I’m not sure how you’ll hold up against the skilled people based in the capital though.”

“I don’t really have a dream of becoming the strongest in the empire or galaxy though. Or rather, my specialty is starship combat dammit! Don’t just dump me into sword duels and melee battles without any consideration!”

“It’s alright, Master. You will be fine as long as you perform like you usually do.”

Mei gave me her stamp of approval, but I haven’t managed to beat her even once though.

Well, I guess Mei was a super high-performance maidroid who boasts unparalleled specs, so there’s that. She could probably compete even with those specialized high-performance military combat bots, so trying to win against her without any power armor on might just be an exercise in futility.

“But don’t you guys think the time between the official announcement and commencement of the competition is too short?”

The first phase of the tournament – the swordsmanship duels – is already going to be held two days from now. Then we’ll get a three-day break, and after that, the second phase, melee combat, will begin. We’ll get another three-day break, and then, the final leg, the space combat competition, will begin.

“Imperial nobles are all trained in the sword from childhood after all. And once they decide to participate, they just have to cross the gateway and come to the capital. That’s probably why the time between the announcement and the beginning of the tournament is quite short.”

“That’s probably it. It seems there are lots of Drawn Sword faction members in the capital too.”

“Ugeh.”

I could only groan in lament.

“……Uh, how exactly would we fight in a sword duel anyway? You’re not telling me we’re gonna go at each other with real swords, right?”

“They probably won’t allow you to use real swords. They should provide you with blunt replicas and you’ll fight with those. Of course, even if they aren’t sharp, they’re still a big lump of metal, so they could still hurt you if you get hit by them.”

“How scary.”

“……But isn’t that the same thing as your practice matches with Mei-san?”

“……Come to think of it, you’re right.”

I’ve already experienced trading blows using blunt swords with Mei. Uh, in Mei’s case, it wasn’t a blunt sword but her personal weapon, the black baton made out of special metal alloys. But it certainly was pretty similar.

“Just relax and go for broke. Even if you’re a Gold Star recipient, I don’t think the Emperor is so unreasonable that he’ll insist on having you prove your skills in sword duels.”

“But you know, if you put it like that, isn’t that guy just planning on enjoying the sight of me getting beat up during the tournament?”

“……”

“……Um.”

Elma became quiet and Mimi couldn’t find any words to answer me. Hahaha. I see I see. So that’s how it is huh.

“Yosh! I’ve decided! I’ll send them all flying goddammit!”

Ok, ok. If that’s how you want to play it, then I’ll just have to get serious and beat the crap out of them. I firmed my resolution while remembering the f**king bastard emperor’s annoying grin.