Chapter 240
I felt tired the next morning . Something must have made Daniela more passionate than usual . In any case, she was very thorough in her lessons that night, and this resulted in me only having three hours of actual sleep . The sun had already risen in the sky, and the room was filled with a refreshing energy that I did not feel a part of .
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I had laid down a blanket over our sheets last night, as an extra precaution . The bed itself looked clean enough as I folded the blanket and put it back in the bag . Daniela’s pale form slept soundly on the bed, the perfect image of contentment . It suggested to me that you could not go wrong with indulging in your urges, whether they were hunger, lust or sleep . At least, in her case .
Phew . I got off of the bed and went straight to the washing room . It was nice when you had no need to take your clothes off .
There, I washed my filthy body and looked at myself in the mirror . It was definitely not the same face I had in my past life . At least, I thought so . I had that scar, after all .
“Back then… Things had been hard . ”
I had tried to avoid thinking about my future . My past as well . However, it was very hard when you spent so much time alone . I had not put enough effort into living while I was a student . And I felt the harsh results once I started working . I had nothing but regret as I imagined what my future would look like .
“Though, the manager who visited in the morning was always there for emotional support…”
I thought as my attention drifted to the length of my hair . She always tried to get me to cut it as she touched it from behind . It always scared me, but I suppose it was her way of communicating . It made me feel better when I thought of it like that, anyway . Most managers would have shouted and forced me to get it cut . It was a pretty relaxed environment, and I think I was cut some slack because they knew how hard it was for me .
“I’ll have to cut it soon . ”
I chuckled while my finger ran down my neck .
The manager wouldn’t like it .
A not quite awake Daniela entered a while later, and so we washed each other . Once we were done, we went out to the north district to find something to eat . I had suggested that eating in the north district would be nice for a change . After all, we had those priority passes from the intelligence people . It would be a shame not to make the most of them . I’d have to also go and find Mister Tames so I could thank him .
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The dining hall was just a short walk away from the lodging facility . It was a place where soldiers ate .
“Hello . We’ll have two of the breakfast sets . ”
We flashed our bracelets while talking to the old man in the kitchen .
“Understood . Find yourselves some seats and wait . ”
It was amusing to see the military manner in which he talked . Daniela and I sat down at a table and killed time by talking about yesterday’s game, when suddenly, I felt someone staring in our direction . It was like being stabbed in the neck . I turned around to look, but no one met my eyes .
“What is it?”
“Hm? Uh…it’s nothing . ”
I thought it was just me, and so I turned back to Daniela and continued our conversation . After a few more minutes, a young man, who was clearly new to the job, came up to us and set our food on the table .
“Th-thank you for waiting! Here are your breakfast sets!”
“Thanks . ”
That’s a lot of rattling… He did, however, give a perfect military salute before disappearing . My gaze went down to the food .
Hmm . It seemed like a classic breakfast . Bread and beans . Fruits and a drink . And what was this white stuff? It looked like that stuff that grumpy cooks violently poured into the protagonist’s bowl in military movies . And then the protagonist would have an equally grumpy face as he brings it to his mouth .
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“Let’s eat . ”
I tasted the mystery food first . Hmm…the texture was…terrible . The taste was…terrible .
“Asagi, your eyebrows . ”
“Taste this stuff . You’ll be making the same expression . ”
Now I knew why they always looked unhappy . This was not good . I tried eating it with the beans… It tasted even worse .
“Hmm…”
“See?”
“This…seems very healthy . ”
She said, as if she were a reporter on air and could not give her honest opinion on the dish . Still, I highly doubted it was that nutritious .
Ultimately, my eyebrows remained firmly narrowed as I finished my breakfast . I somehow managed to eat everything and wash it down with water . Several people were staring at us with smirks on their faces . I was annoyed at first, but realized that they didn’t mean anything by it . It was more of a ‘bad, ain’t it?’ So I chuckled as I reached for the fruit .
“I saved this one for last . ”
Everyone else laughed .
After breakfast, we found ourselves walking towards the arena for no particular reason . While I was practically dragging my feet, it seemed like there were a lot of people passing us by .
“Isn’t the game tomorrow?”
“It should be . ”
And yet it was oddly crowded . Puzzled, we continued to walk until the arena came into view . It was the most crowded place of all, and we soon found out why .
“I see . The tournament bracket . ”
“So this is why there was a day in between . ”
I had assumed that we’d find out on the day of the fight . However, now that it was up, the reason for it being today became obvious .
“Come here to place your bets! Get in line!”
Yes, gambling . It seemed that it was a part of the Imperial Sword Tournament . And on further inspection, it was a military man who was managing it . The country ran a casino, in a way . Perhaps that was their way of keeping it fair . The icesnow season would be approaching soon . There would be fewer things you could do then . So perhaps this would have a positive effect on the economy in the meantime . There would be more tourists and people loved to bet money .
“So, who will we be fighting against?”
“Hmm…”
I stood on my toes in the far back . While my toenails were sacrificed, I was able to acquire the needed information . There were twelve fighters . Rank and B-Rank had two fighters each, while C, D, E and F-Ranks each had one fighter . Then there was Daniela and me in the recommendation bracket . And then Adlus, as the previous champion .
As for our opponents…
E-Rank ‘Macadenia Nikke’ —— B-Rank ‘Bandi Ree . ’
Rank ‘Levee Badi’ —— C-Rank ‘Alenbia Ef Quingeria . ’
F-Rank ‘Baz Rockwell’ —— D-Rank ‘Newt Erangute . ’
B-Rank ‘Neyti Miniado’ —— Rank ‘Daniela Villesilf . ’
Rank ‘Kapricorn Shteiner’ —— Rank ‘Asagi Kamiyashiro . ’
Rank ‘Adlus Brasilf’ —— Rank ‘Henrich Azsilf . ’
Hmm . I didn’t even know what to make of it . And so I decided to focus on my opponent . Kapricorn Shteiner… Well, it was memorable, I suppose . This was the person I would be fighting . Since the person was Rank, that meant they had won yesterday’s game . So was it the woman with the ice sword or the person with the short sword… I would have to ask someone .
“Uh, excuse me . Who was that woman who fought with the ice sword yesterday?”
“Hmm? Ah, that woman . She’s Levee Badi . A veteran Adventurer with the alias, ‘White Dew . ’”
“I see . Thank you . By the way, who are you betting on?”
“Levee, of course . She’s incredible . ”
“Really?”
“Aye . Didn’t you see? Those precise thrusts! They say she can hit the dewdrops that fall from the morning leaves!”
“Is that where her alias came from?”
“It is . …Oh, I better be going . See you . And take my advice and place your bets on Levee!”
“I’ll remember that!”
The young man waved and walked away . Interesting . ‘White Dew’ Levee… Well, my bets were on Daniela . I would have liked to hear about the person in the recommended bracket too…
Oh, well . The name sounded elvish .
In any case, it seemed that I, Kapricorn, Adlus, and Heinrich were going to fight three times until we reached the finals . As for those who got through the preliminaries, they would have to fight four times .
“That makes it seem like Adlus had an advantage…”
Regardless, I was going to fight the person with the short sword . Which was unfortunate…because I hadn’t been watching that fighter at all and didn’t know their fighting style . And I had been so careful to observe up until now… Hmm, this was bad .