149-Chapter 9-8 Namitaro?

What do you think of the food?

Yes, it's all good.

That's good to hear.

The dinner party started and we had just eaten some food when Hana-san arrived with Sana-san. Originally, it was supposed to be Viscount Lobo who came to my place with Hana-san, but it seems that Viscount Lobo had some kind of excuse and Hana-san was forced to come with her. Amur, who tried to come in place of Sana, was stopped by Viscount Lobo. At that time, he heard a glimpse of his words, "Those who have a chance of winning the tournament should not get along with each other. Amur didn't seem to be convinced, as he should be, but because of Viscount Lobo's persistence, he couldn't change with Sana.

I've tried serving some of the stronger habits than the other day, but it seems to have worked out okay. Even so, I served some things that many people in the south don't like, but you managed to eat them well.

While saying that, Hana-san pointed to the sashimi and kusaya (...). Both were served in small portions at first, but since I ate them without problems, they were added to the menu several times.

As for the raw fish, I've had something close to it a few times, and this kusaya? As far as I'm concerned, I've eaten something more habitual and smelly than this.

Well, the main reason is that I have eaten it in a previous life, but in fact, I have eaten raw fish frozen a few times as a vitamin supplement since Namitaro taught me fish that could be eaten raw before (when I left the village of Kukuri), and the kusaya was the same kind of preserved food (not too bled-out) in a country village. I've eaten some animal meat that wasn't preserved (i.e., meat that wasn't preserved in salted or germicidal herbs and other liquids). Incidentally, the preserved ones tasted very bad because the main premise is nutrition and long-term preservation. Compared to that, this kusaya was pretty.

It's no surprise that if you live in a different place or for a different purpose, you'll end up with all sorts of unfamiliar things, but it's hard to believe that there are things that smell worse than this.

'I'm a little curious but I don't think I'd want to put it in my mouth first if it was actually put in front of me.

Hana-san and Sana-san showed interest in the food I mentioned, so we got to talking, and she asked me what I had eaten so far that was good.

I asked her what she liked best about the food she had eaten so far, and she replied, "There were a lot of things, but... if we're talking about food, the best is the white beef, and the second best is the bicorn.

The reason for limiting myself to food is because the food I made is basically better than the food I made myself, due to the differences in cooking methods between my previous life and this one, etc., but I'm a little embarrassed to praise myself for the quicksilver. Other than that, what my mom made would be the best, but I was even more embarrassed to say it. Incidentally, the best other than those would be the food cooked by the old man at the Mantei.

Both of them are very high quality ingredients. I've never had them before.

Speaking of which, Amur said, "I took a shot at a bicorn in Seigen!

Sana muttered, and Amour and Blanca shuddered as they sensed something.

'Yes, after I beat them, I had a barbecue with some of the people I knew, so they ate it too. You chewed the meat around the bones with gusto.

There was no point in telling a lie, so when I told them that they had also eaten bicorn, Hana and Sana looked at them with envious eyes. There seemed to be some black emotion in their eyes, but it was probably just my imagination.

''There are still some bicorn and white wild beef left, so shall I give you some for Hana-san and the others to eat?

At this suggestion, Hana and Sana put on a cover, "Please! I replied in unison with my voice. I think it's unfair to give them raw meat right here and now, so I promised to cut it up and give it to them later.

Hmph. In that case, although it's not a return gift, I'll have them bring you the main dish soon.

Oh, that fish dish. Temma would be so surprised.

At Sanna's suggestion, Hana looked a little devious and signaled to the waiter.

'Main?'

The one who responded to their words was Amur, who outwitted Viscount Lobo. After all, he said, "It's embarrassing for a member of the house not to greet the invited guests, so I'll go greet them as a common-sense person (...)". By the way, of course, Viscount Lobo, who tried to stop Amur, had no choice but to see him off quietly in front of his subordinates.

It's a good thing I'm a good friend of mine. When it was caught in the net, it put up a big fight against the net, but the chief of the village stopped it while he was stunned with a blow between the eyes. This morning, he brought it back to me as a token of his gratitude.

It's so big. It was over three meters long!

Hana-san and Sana-san excitedly told me the story, but me and Amur, and even Grandpa and Blanca, who could hear them, stopped moving as well.

''A three-meter class fish........''

I have a bad feeling about this...

No way, Nami...

Don't say it, Amur!

I hurriedly covered Amur's mouth with my hand to prevent him from raising the flag, but I had a bad feeling just like my grandfather since I heard the story. I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this as well.

''Everyone seems to be very concerned about it!

'But sis, is it just my imagination that you seem somehow more anxious than you are expecting?

It's all in your head! Oh, here they are! Sana, Se~no, no, I'll take the cloth off with the 'no'.

Okay.

Ignoring us who froze, Hana and Sana stood at both ends of a giant fish dish hidden by a cloth.

Se-no!

I took the cloth in. The result......

"'Thank God it's not Namitaro.

Sef!

It was. The giant fish had been roasted, and although it looked close to the color of the Namitaro at first glance because it was charred in some places, it was clearly different in shape. This huge fish seemed to be a "salmon" or "trout" while Namitaro's was a "carp". It was probably the same kind of fish I had caught on the way here.

Grandpa and I sat down, but Amur was the only one with his hands outstretched like a baseball referee. Who told them what that pose and meaning was? Well, it would almost certainly be a reincarnation.

'Huh? What's going on with everyone?

Hana-san and Sana-san looked at us unconsciously slumped, and they looked at us curiously.

Mom, Sanna, you know, actually...

Amur, the only one who was unconcerned, explained to Hana and Sana about Namitarou. They listened to Amur's explanation and said, "Come to think of it, there was a report that there was a demon like that on Tenma's (the winner) team.

'Normally, there's no way someone who can do something about Namitaro wouldn't be able to participate in the tournament.

Amour said, but

'When I met Namitaro again, he was caught and sold by a regular fisherman who couldn't seem to do anything about it. He's pretty dumb, you know...

Mmmm ... certainly undeniable.

After hearing my story, Amour seemed to have a lot on his mind about it, so he crossed his arms and was convinced.

Well, we'll hear about it later, but let's eat it before it gets cold. Because these things are best eaten when they're hot.''

With that word from Sana, the waiters who had been waiting to serve us started carving up the giant fish one after another. I was a little hesitant to eat it at first because I was aware of the Namitaro earlier, but when I tried it, it was quite tasty. Furthermore, the dashi-zuke (soup stock made from fish bones instead of tea) served as a final touch was the best.

Temma, about the tournament, we have a rough idea of what to expect. The tournament will be held in five days, and the finals are scheduled for a maximum of sixteen players, including Temma. The other rules are that weapons must be bladed, weapons must have a special cover at the end to ensure minimum safety, no biting, blinding or target practice. The rules are almost similar to the one in King's Landing, but to save time, only the first weapon brought in is banned. The winner is decided by the referee or off-site. There is one main referee and two sub referees. And three assistant referees as well as a recorder and three reserve judges.　

There are also other rules that prohibit the use of tools other than weapons and protective gear. A preliminary referee is a referee who can only give his or her opinion if the referee is unable to make a decision. For more information, the rules will be handed out at the registration desk two days before the tournament (the day before is the qualifying day).

The current number of participants is about 80, and it is expected to exceed 200 at this rate. Well, even if the number increases, it has nothing to do with me, as I am exempt from qualifying, but Blanca and Amour looked bothered.

Four days after that dinner party.

Easy!

That was awful...

Amur, as he said, won the qualifying round with an overwhelming victory, while Blanca had a pretty hard time.

''Why are all those guys gathered at my place alone........''

According to Blanca, there was a level of fierceness in the group that said that if the guys who lost to him were assigned to another group, they would win the final. Some of them seemed to be so unsure of whether Amur could win, and when Amur saw the members of that group, he silently clasped his hands together towards Blanca.

''I'm telling you, I didn't alter anything except for separating Amour and Blanca.

Yeah, that's right. If you say you messed with that, all I can think is that you wanted me to lose.

If there is a ranking of strength in the southern autonomous region, Hana-san is ranked first, Blanca is second, Viscount Lobo is third, and Amur is around the eighth, but in addition to Blanca, there are a few others who are said to be in the top twenty in addition to those who are said to be in the fourth to seventh place. (SCOFFS)

The only thing that helps is that I don't think they're all trying to hurt me.

The qualifying rounds were held in a battle royale format, but since each of the top players went first to their rivals, it was only the clearly inferior ones who rushed to Branca.

In the end, the ones who beat their rivals rushed to Blanca's side, and all the rest of them laid down their weapons in a fist fight, with Blanca, who had the most power left, being the winner. Currently, Blanca's face is swollen and battered.

As for Amur's opponents, they are clearly inferior to Amur, and although they all took on Amur, they were easily beaten back.

Since the division of the qualifying round was decided by public lottery, it was impossible to do anything other than try to divide Amur and Blanca. Therefore, every time the strongest players were assigned to Blanca's group, the cheers of joy at seeing the strong players fighting each other, the voices of disappointment at seeing the strong players crush each other, and finally, the voices of laughter at not knowing what would happen to them as they gathered too much.

Looks like the lottery is about to start.

After the last qualifying round, I was taking a break in the area that served as a waiting room when my grandpa came in to tell me that the lottery for the main game was about to begin. Grandpa had made up the title of my manager during the qualifying round and was watching the match from the officials' seat.

Hearing Grandpa's words, Blanca stood up dully and took a few deep breaths to get fired up and walked off with a firm gait. From a distance, it would look like there was no damage, but looking at it up close, it was clear that his legs were trembling. Probably, in order to not show weakness to those who will become enemies from now on, they are trying to be skinny.

Amur occasionally lightly bumped into Blanca in such a state, feigning coincidence, but just before he left for the lottery hall, he was knocked off his feet. Because of this, Amour had to go out in front of people while holding his head in the hall.

When we appeared in the hall, the audience cheered loudly. Most of the cheers were for Blanca and Amur, but some of them were for my performance. Some audience members who saw Amur holding his head said that he was unharmed, but I was the only one who heard them, and I had to use my strength to hold back my laughter.

I was the first to draw the lottery, and I was the guest of this event. I stuck my hand into the box of lottery cards (not in a strange way) and grabbed the first wooden card that I touched.

'Number one,'

The number on the wooden tag was '1'. After making it visible to the spectators, I went to the leftmost place designated by the officials.

After that, they drew in the order of the qualifying group's number, and Blanca, the fifth, drew 'four'. In other words, if things go in order, you'll face me in the second round. Hannah and the audience were surprised at this combination, but surprisingly, Blanca was full of enthusiasm.

''I drew a good spot. I'm done with my shoulders in this one, and I don't have to worry about my strength.

These words made Blanca's opponent (the man who wanted Amour) blush and get angry, but the crowd loved it. But the one that surprised Hana the most was.....

"'Two'!

It was the fact that Amur had been chosen as my first opponent. This surprised Blanca and the crowd, but what was more surprising was the other players who had made it to the final tournament.

These players, all men, have been beaten by Amur in the past, but they seem to think that if they win, they will get Amur, and it would not be good for Amur to lose to me in the first round.

'I've drawn a good spot. Now I'm Temma's, in name and in reality.

Amour declares so high beside me, but it can be seen as a deliberate attempt to lose to me. That's why the other players, except for Blanca, complained, and the official came to ask the truth of what he had just said, but Amour

'If I lose, I will become Temma's wife. If I win, I will make Tenma my son-in-law. The stronger the couple, the stronger the children will be! Bye-bye, South.

The crowd was quiet for a moment as Amur spoke of his awfully incoherent plot, and the next moment, for some reason, they were cheering loudly. The higher-ups in the South (the married ones), who were in the same group as Blanca, were especially delighted at the possibility of more strongmen in the South.

'What are you talking about!'

Buoy! ....Hiccup.

"Huh?　

When I was about to complain about what I just said, Amour was hiccupping after showing a cheerful buoy sign. When me and Blanca, who were suspicious of the hiccups, approached Amur....

Shit!

Girl's getting drunk!

For some reason, Amur was drunk. When he was thinking about why he was drunk, Blanca started exploring his waist area.

I don't have my smelling salts!

I said. It's not possible to leave Amur up in the hall, so Blanca sent him to the waiting room with an appropriate excuse.

It's a good thing that you can't have a problem with this. It's also intended to numb the senses, so you have to use the lid of the vial to adjust the amount of alcohol you drink (even Branca, who is very strong and well-built, can drink a cap or two at a time), but the vial found later in Amur's pocket was less than half full.

The distraction potion itself was used often by Blanca, so Amur probably knew about it, but he didn't know what was in it. Normally it would have been dangerous, but fortunately he didn't suffer from acute alcohol poisoning, and thanks to his hereditary high resistance to alcohol and the speed of treatment, he will be able to participate in tomorrow's tournament without any problems.

When I interviewed Amour after he sobered up, he said that Blanca always drank the stuff to make the pain go away (actually numbing and stifling it), and he thought that if he drank a lot of it, the pain would go away quickly.

Other than the Amur thing, the draw was done without any problems, and all we had to do was wait for the tournament to start tomorrow.

On the day of the tournament, even before the first game, the voltage in the hall kept rising at an incredible pace. The reason for this was that the eliminated players from the qualifying round had been chosen to play the preliminaries.

It was a match between the top players from the Southern Region who lost to Blanca, so the level of competition was unpredictable. This meant that the bar had been raised for those of us in the main tournament.

In the midst of all this, I was smiling at the strange atmosphere around me, but I was facing Amur, who was a few meters away, untied, waiting for the referee's signal.

''Both sides, get ready! The rules, as presented in advance, are that any malicious foul play will result in immediate disqualification!

Hmm!

Yeah!

This time, the organizer has decided to prepare the participants' weapons, so they are all ready-made and edged. Amur chose a spear from among them as his weapon. It seems that this one is a little longer than the one he usually uses, but it wields it with no problem.

In contrast, I chose a sword. I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make the most out of it. However, since the strength of the weapon is inferior to that of a spear, it is a two-pronged style, with another sword of the same length lowered at the waist as a backup. It's a bit difficult to move around, but if push comes to shove, he's going to throw away his scabbard and fight as a two-fisted fighter... Fortunately, I don't think anyone here knows about the Ganryu Island legends, so he won't be interrupted....