Chapter 233
We walked Lemon back to her inn before continuing on to our own . The cool wind felt especially nice on our hot bodies after so much drinking . Lemon’s inn was quite fancy . Daniela had already been jealous, but her face was full of despair once she saw the building for herself . I asked her about it later, and it turned out that it was one of the places that had turned her down . Right…I would have felt the same in her shoes .
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“The nights are getting colder . ”
“It will really start to freeze once the Imperial Sword Tournament is over . ”
“I see…winter, huh . ”
A lot of time had passed since I came here . As there hadn’t been anything as hot as summer, I had assumed that there was just one season all year round . But apparently, they had winters . This was good because I hated the summer . And I had the ice attribute as well .
“Winter… Is that what they call it where you are from?”
“Yeah . A season where the temperature drops, plants die and the snow falls . ”
“Hmm…”
So they didn’t call it that here then . It seemed like the kind of thing that Heroes of the past might have spread… But maybe not, since they didn’t have summers .
“We call it the Icesnow Phase . A harsh time when water freezes over and all is covered in snow . ”
“Then I’ll call it that too . People will understand me . ”
When in Rome, as they say . There are many times when it is best to follow the customs of the land .
We talked about such things on our way back . The clear sky above was filled with beautiful stars .
The next morning, I forced Daniela to get up with me and head for the arena . The food stalls were early this time, as it was the second day of the preliminaries . We had been eating a lot of street food recently, and so I restocked our supplies before going in through the same entrance as before . The same guy greeted us .
“Good morning, Mister Asagi . ”
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“Ah, good morning . I’m back again . ”
“Yes, thank you . ”
We submitted our status cards and were granted permission to enter .
“Miss Daniela, yes . Good luck in the main event . ”
“Thank you . ”
We took our cards back, bowed and moved along . There was just one door and then we were inside with the other spectators . Yesterday, it had been hard to find a seat . But today…
“Hey! Over here!”
The trusty junior Adventurer had secured seats for us . We sat down with Lemon between us . Yes, they were good seats .
“Thank you, Lemon . ”
“Oh, I am just so happy to be of use to you, Miss Daniela!”
Last night, Lemon had offered to save seats for us and so she had . And this was in spite of the fact that her room was much further… But Daniela’s refusal to wake up on time gave Lemon a distinct advantage . I could have abandoned Daniela and reached here first, but the consequences for that were too scary to imagine .
“It’s about to start . The C and D-Rankers will be fighting today!”
“I see . There are only four days, so they have to do some of them together . ”
“Um, but it was in the instructions…?”
I put on an expression of pure ignorance and she looked at me with exasperation .
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“E and G are on the first day . C and D on the second . The third day is B-Rank . The fourth and final day is for Rank . ”
“So it’s balanced out then . ”
“Yes . The differences really show themselves at B-Rank . ”
They really put a lot of thought into this . I mused . Just then, the audience erupted into cheers . The fighters were now entering the arena . Like yesterday, there were about fifty of them . I would have been among them had I not ranked up . But then again, maybe not, since I had the recommendation .
“At this point, skills and magic have really started to develop, so you can expect them to be faster . I would pay close attention!”
“If you say so…”
I closed my eyes and concentrated . Then I slowly opened them . They were now a different color . It was Eyes of the God Wolf . A skill I had received from Rachel . All-seeing eyes .
“Huh . Was your eye color always like that?”
“It’s a unique skill . It allows me to see far away . ”
“Amazing…!”
Her excitement was rather adorable . If I adjusted it correctly in conjunction with Jack of all Trades, Master of None, I was able to see the fight as if I was just outside of the boundary .
But Rachel hadn’t taught me to use this skill, so it was still difficult…
I wasn’t able to focus properly without using Jack of all Trades… I would need practice . Maybe I could do it while looking out of the window in my room .
“And it feels odd not being able to hear things that appear to be close to you . ”
“Stop whining . We have to strain our eyes to see . ”
“Oh…I’m so sorry . I will get you better seats tomorrow…”
“Ah, it is not your fault, Lemon . I did not mean to hurt you . ”
“Miss Daniela…”
“Hey, it’s starting . ”
I ignored the odd atmosphere to my left, and looked towards the center of the area, where the fight had begun . The crowds cheered once again as I stared hard at the scene .
It had only just started…but a lot seemed to have happened at once . Fireballs, ice attacks, and thunder flashed . The attacks were unleashed on a small scale, but magic was magic . I wasn’t an expert on much of it, but I could see that the ice magic being used was very basic . It was more like tossing ice blocks than a magic attack . Well, they were the size of basketballs, so it would still hurt if you got hit .
“There is something very exciting about seeing magic . ”
“Yes . But the last day will put this to shame . ”
As Daniela and Lemon said, it did seem like the audience were more thrilled than they had been the previous day .
“Who is that…”
“Hmm? Which one, Asagi?”
“The woman in the corner to the right . ”
She had a great staff that left no question about her being Sorceress . She was surrounded by four other fighters . But for some reason, they had their backs to her . What did this mean?
“Are they…protecting her?”
“It sure looks like it . ”
Daniela and I looked on with puzzled expressions . Lemon explained .
“Oh, she is a noblewoman . ”
“A noble?”
“Yes . They become Adventurers for the experience… Often younger brothers and sisters without inheritance do it to find their own path… As nobles, they are highly educated . Swordsmanship, magic and the rest . They can hire instructors to teach them what they need . ”
“I see…”
I hoped none of the Adventurers I had beaten were nobles . I somehow doubted you could keep your good manners for long once you become an Adventurer . It changed you .
I thought back on my early days with a sigh . Just then, the noblewoman raised her staff and began to use magic . The color of the magic energy was a deep blue . So it was ice, just like me .
“Huh…”
I couldn’t help but stare . The magic she had used was Frostheim . This magic involved sending energy into the ground in order to freeze the enemy’s feet . She just tapped her staff on the ground and it activated, though, not over a wide area . Those who were suddenly caught by it either tripped or bumped into one another . Some of them lost control of the magic they were in the middle of activating . People were being hit by stray bullets and explosions . It was a great way of creating chaos in a battle royale . Hell, I was thinking about using it myself . I don’t mean to boast, but I was sure that I could freeze the entire arena floor .
And with that, her shield-bearing guards attacked the trapped enemies . They bashed their shields and swords against them until they either lost consciousness or surrendered .
“Woah…”
“It’s a dirty way to play, but I guess it isn’t against the rules . ”
“There’s always someone like that each year . Of course, I was in Arkaroid, so I’ve never witnessed it . ”
Lemon said that she had heard the stories from merchants and Adventurers . You learned a lot when you were a town guard .
Ultimately, the noblewoman won the day with her strategy . Magic attacks came her way ever so often, but the shield-bearers protected her as she launched her counterattacks . It was usually blocks of ice, but she shot out an ice arrow once .
There was one time that she was in danger . A man who used fire magic had unleashed a most impressive ball of fire at her . The panic in her face was very visible, but the shield-bearers came to her aid yet again . However, she also lost them, as they were blown out of the area . She might have been in trouble, except by then, there were only two left on the stage . And so the game was finished .
“So the winners are both magic users . ”
“That was quite incredible…”
“She would have been out if there were just one other fighter . ”
We left the arena but continued to talk excitedly about what we had witnessed .
I walked behind them and thought back at what I had seen through Eyes of the God Wolf . Even when her face had gone pale, there was a strong resolve there . Almost as if she was ready to use some hidden trick… I was curious, but I guess I would find out if we ended up fighting each other . I looked forward to it .