CH 127

Episode 127 – Abnormality

“….This is Lewin’s win, right? More importantly, are you okay, Porta?!” (Lyra)

After declaring my victory, Lyra immediately rushed over to Porta. I followed Lyra’s lead and quickly went to his side as well.

“Porta, are you okay? You’re not injured or anything, right?” (Lyra)

“….Yes. I’m not injured, it’s just that my body has reached its limit, and I can’t put any strength into my body because I ran out of magic power. I’m sorry, Lewin. We were just getting to the best part, too.” (Porta)

“No, no, there’s no need to apologize. Just as I was saying to Nina earlier, we still have three days left for this time’s plant gathering trip, so we can always properly settle this another day!” I promised Porta, who was sprawled on the ground. With this, I ended up as the winner of the mock battle tournament on the first day. It was a bit difficult to say from today’s result alone if I would be the overall winner of the mock battle tournaments at the end of this trip, but earning 3 points here was a big step to achieving overall victory.

Well, I did feel a bit uneasy about every match being so close today. Today, I fought Lyra, Nina, and Porta. It wouldn’t have been out of the question for me to have lost every single match. I managed to emerge victorious today, but I would have to focus and work hard for the remaining days. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to emerge as the overall winner of the mock battle tournament this time. In order to make sure I stayed in good shape, I decided to drink a Recovery Potion before going to sleep.

★　　　★　　　★

The next three days on Mount Cornello flew by, and in no time at all we were about to descend the mountain and head back to Grezesta. Incidentally, for the results of this time’s mock battle tournament… after winning on the first day, I kept my momentum and eventually became the overall winner of the mock battle tournaments. Even though every single match was close, I ended up being the winner on all four days, resulting in my first overall win since starting the mock battle tournaments a year ago.

“Haaah…. Maybe it’s time to have Lewin be the one escorting us now…” (Lyra)

“In the end, my muscle pain didn’t go away until the last day… I feel kind of sorry about that since Lewin even gave me recovery medicine.” (Porta)

“You said this on the first day already, so I don’t really see why you would need to apologize. But… I’m glad you can move normally now.” (Lewin)

“I still feel a bit beaten up in some places, but thanks to you at least I’m able to swing a sword properly.” (Porta)

Porta and I were talking as we cleaned up. Ignoring the other three who were in low spirits, after we finished packing and cleaning up the area, I suggested that we immediately descend the mountain. I wanted to get back to Grezesta as soon as possible and tell Kirty the results of this time’s mock battle tournament.

I wanted to express my gratitude to Kirty for training me and receive her praise. Recently, since I haven’t been receiving any compliments lately, I found myself hoping for her praise. Thinking about Kirty, I started to descend the mountain with the three dispirited fellows in tow.

No matter how low their spirits were or how negative they sounded, the members of [Iron Gear] were still pro adventurers. They fulfilled their escort duty perfectly, and we returned to Grezesta safely. But I was still thinking that it would be nice if an Angry Wolf were to show up since I still wanted to get my revenge on them.

When we arrived at the gate of Grezesta to go through the entry procedures as usual, there was some sort of commotion going on. The place was overflowing with more people than usual, and, after taking in my surroundings, I could tell that something had happened. There were a large number of soldiers on horseback coming out of Grezesta.

The one leading those soldiers was… Kirty? It was hard to tell because she didn’t usually wear a helmet, but I recognized the armor that belonged to the Knights of the Royal Order. As I passed by, I got the feeling that the person that I thought had been Kirty had exchanged a look with me.

“Strange. Weren’t those the Knights of the Royal Order? Did something happen…?” (Lyra)

“It’s really noisy around here; something must have happened. For now, let’s finish the procedures and ask around in Grezesta.” (Byrne)

Normally, I would part ways with [Iron Gear] in front of the gates of Grezesta, but I was curious as to what was happening and tagged along with them this time as we entered the city.

As I followed the four of them, we continued along until we arrived at the Adventurer’s Guild and headed inside. It was noisy in Grezesta, but the Adventurer’s Guild was even louder. It had always been boisterous in the Adventurer’s Guild, but this time there were twice as many people packed in here than usual.

“Looks like something happened… This is my first time hearing noise of this level in this place, so there really might be something serious going on.” (Byrne)

“…Let’s ask the receptionists. I’m sure that as C-rankers, we can get some information quickly.” (Nina)

I followed them to the receptionist desk.