CH 11

When climbing up the stairs to the audience area, I found mom waiting for me.

「I found a good seat to watch. I think it was around that area. There, that place should be good enough」

She must have been searching the audience area until she found a good place. I thanked mom then continued climbing the stairs, and then we went towards the seat that she found.

「I also have been looking forward to this」

Mom is feeling much better now compared to before, and also her adventurer’s blood seems to have awakened.

Looking at the pocket watch that mom lent me, I confirmed that it is about time for the first batch. But there sure are a lot of empty seats and only handful of people could be seen in the audience.

「Why many vacant, watching don’t like?」

When she heard me muttered such thing, mom tilted her head.

「It’s because it’s only in the qualifying match, people don’t really keep their an eye out for the qualifying matches」

「I see」

While we were having a conversation, the challengers came from the entrance gate of the arena and climbed up the ring shaped stage which looked like a huge disk.

There were muscular people and some carried huge weapons like a big battle axe on their backs. There were also some slim people equipped with rapiers or daggers at their waist. There were also female swordsmen wearing bikini armor with a lot of exposure.

The total number of participants was 12 people, and also the battle style was battle royal.

「Hmm, for this first round the winner will probably be that person」

「Well yeah, I guess it will be Cliff the B Rank guy. He has the advantage here」

I was listening to the voices of the people seated near us, and it was the voice of an uncle that I clearly heard. I wonder if these uncles have a mania about adventurers.

「B Rank, who?」

I looked at his back and asked. The uncle who didn’t really get bothered by me pointed towards a person on stage to answer me.

「The first in priority would probably be Cliff, that sword fighter wearing a green cloak」

「Green… , Oh, I see」

He should be in the late 20’s, and his body type is not too buffed and not too thin, not too tall and not too skinny. There was a sword hanging at his waist in a scabbard with strange shapes, but I don’t know if there’s anything special about it. He was a blonde swordsman with blue eyes which was making him stand out.

「B Rank is the ranking of adventurers」

When I was staring at Cliff, the uncle-san answered my inquiry. Adventurers have ranks, and seems like they go from F to A (I’m referring to the normal alphabet in my brain without permission to make it easier to understand). F ranked would be considered beginners, those are just starting, while the B Ranks would be upper veteran class. A Ranks are be considered top notch and would even have titles based on their achievements. And of course the height of their rank should also reflect their combat ability.

「Why say that this round is not interesting, because everyone is an adventurer and they are pretty much from around here」

「If the knights were included, then there might be changes in the results, but with this current lineup the end results would be very obvious」

「What about him?」

As the two uncles were talking, I pointed at a man whose body is filled to the brim with muscles and was really giving off quite an impression when I first saw him. I thought that he seemed strong, that he has enough strength to fight using his two battle axes with one axe in each hand. Despite being battle axes, they look small in comparison to his muscular arms. He has what can even be called muscle armor.

「It’s pointless, that’s Gonzales a D Rank. His attack power is certainly high, but the problem lies with his skill which could only be used in fighting lower rank monsters or ones with low intelligence. If it’s against adventurers, what you need more is to know how to properly deliver an attack, rather than just brute strength」

「On a side note, that guy, thanks to his physique you won’t imagine him being popular with children, but he is actually quite a gentle person and likes children a lot… Well, this has nothing to do with fighting though」

「I see」

Even if he doesn’t win he will still be popular is it, so it’s something like that.

「Then, this fight, only Cliff?」

「Well, that’s how it is. If you want to focus on someone then it should be Cliff. It will probably be fun since you would can also see how they fight one-VS-many」

「Got it」

The Game finally began, and the adventurers were now clashing with each other.

The adventurer named Cliff, the now famous bet, was fighting against four other adventurers, right as the game started. Despite the disadvantage in numbers, he parried the attacks easily and calmly, sending kicks as counters to those that fought him. Not only that, but he also used sword attacks, and like that the numbers of participants dwindled slowly.

Even though Gonzales was also a bit showy with his double battle axe, he was easily disabled when his arms were cut after his attack was blocked by a sword and reacted with 《Seriously!! What is with that attack!?》 but after being judged as defeated, his hands were successfully reattached as if nothing had happened to it.

I don’t really know how far restoration magic has developed in this world and if it’s a common setting, since this is something like a fantasy world and I was thinking like, 《Maybe, it can be reconnected if it was immediately restored》 or if 《If it was completely disconnected for some time it won’t be effective.》.

However, such happening was really a surprise for me along with this festival, and I was secretly getting more hyped up.

After some time thinking things, the battle area turned into a fighting frenzy… It won’t end up like how I expected, but the result might be just as the adventurer mania uncles said, and the one who will probably win the preliminary is Cliff.

There were still two people left on stage, one was Cliff and the other one was a teen girl who looked almost like a boy and whose attacks were all blocked, making it look like a close battle. But maybe this was just Cliff-san going easy on her, maybe showing something like 《This is to show what it’s like in real combat》 and when Cliff-san shifts to offensive, the match would probably end.

「That girl sure has a good form, but the roughness from her movements really stand out too…」

Is what mom muttered next to me as she watched the bout. It’s a first time for me to see mom like this, and so I realized that mom probably was quite a prominent adventurer during her time.

「It is certainly just as what she said」

「Right? Well, that adventurer was also probably aware of it, so it was easy to predict」

Just as the Uncle finished his talk, Cliff-san just like all the others he defeated before finally ended the match finishing this round.

◇―――――――――――――――――

In the second match, the pair of uncles also muttered that the fighters were all local adventurers, but since I’m not from around here, it was kind of fun for me. But for the others who have predicted the results, it was just boring for them.

「Come to think of it, I didn’t get a glimpse of any magician」

「That’s to be expected, especially a specialist fighting in cramped space like this would definitely be hindered. Well even an adventurer that could use magic wouldn’t have that much talent, because those who have superior talent in magic are in high demand, and probably won’t become adventurers」

「Well at least the first match didn’t include one of such, and if there was one that had mixed in, Cliff would have probably been given a hard time」

「Another thing to consider is the consumable items they need to use which are quite expensive considering how many they would consume throughout the tournament. Magic Items would be considered luxury items even for high ranking adventurers」

「Hmm」

The Uncle nods at mother’s explanation, and thinking about it, that would certainly fit the image of a magician or magic warrior. So I understood the reason for the lack of magicians, and beside that, warriors that can use magic should be extremely rare.

When we were about to end our chat, the second set has entered the arena. The one who stood out among them was a blond with a mix of white hair charismatic person, who raised one arm doing a victory pose.

「That person is Ceres, a C-Rank adventurer. Because there is nobody around his level in this match, it would be considered a victory by luck of the draw」

「Looking at it closely, you could say that this is just a bonus bout right before the main events. Ceres has certainly improved, but growth during a tournament would be really tough」

And as usual the evaluation was also bland this time. It’s not really a spectacular battle so we just continued chatting, but despite that I am still observing the fights by sending side glances. And I could certainly understand why they say it like that.

◇―――――――――――――――――

After the second set ended, the third round participants came up onto the ring.

I don’t really know anyone so I’m just waiting for the two old uncle’s commentaries which are both adventurer maniacs.

And I wait for that, I noticed a person clad in red armor.

「Is someone like that joining OK?」

「Hmm, oh, yes it’s alright. A few of the knights also participate in the tournament every year」

「Is that so?」

「Or more like they consider this a continuation of their training. Well, it would be really troublesome if everyone joined after all. And so this time, it seems like they have chosen a proper participant 」

「Hnn~ I see」

「By the way, since a while ago, the one who has been winning this tournament was the Knight Commander himself, and with him participating this time, many have already concluded the in the end he would win」

Would that really be good for a knight commander to do, and will he be entering as a seeded person or climb up too? Since I’m at the 8th set, I wonder if I would see him in the next matches. And there are also some others out there.

「This group is hard」

「Uu, I can’t predict」

See.

「Why do you thing so mom?」

「Well… I don’t really have confidence in this one, but that woman with black hair and the person whose face is covered in a black robe seems pretty dubious」

「Oh, that certainly is true Nee-san」

「Even so, I have already seen a lot of B Ranks since before, that one could probably be from a lower Rank」

「I see」

While I was looking for the persons that caught their eyes, mom and the uncles continued chatting.

Then on another side, I spotted a woman who was wearing a dougi style clothing, with the feeling and the image of a 《Ronin》 but not that absolutely. That person had a bundled black hair, wore something that resembled a hakama and paired with a long curved sword and a short curved one on her waist.

There was also an air of strength around her, making the other participants pale in comparison to her.

The other one was probably the man covered in a black robe that reached until the knee and covering him from his head.

I am a bit curious as to why his knees were slightly bent or more like the posture of his stance is low. If I was to describe his figure, it would be more of an assassin than a mage.

The Knight Participant was also considerably strong, is what they said, and the two adventurer maniacs were again confirming that this game would be certainly unpredictable.

While the surroundings was engulfed in an unusually tense air that has never been felt before, the signal to start the match resounded.