(Part 2 )
By the time, Mururu and Solnea finished eating their hotdogs and we had entered the arena, almost half of the spectator seats had already been filled. Sitting on the stone seats, Mururu and Solnea sat to my left and right. Feirona sat done on the other side of Solnea.
As I held on to the skewered orc meat in my hand, I recalled watching baseball matches like this back in my original world. Just then, Mururu, who was also eating the same thing moved her sights. On following her gaze, I saw Ms Francesca wearing her blue school uniform. She was currently standing at the entrance to the main stage. It must be her turn next.
“Fran, she’s there.”(mururu)
“So it seems. Aah, she really seems nervous.”(renji)
I could tell even from this far away that she was extremely nervous. She seems to have a sword as a weapon as she held it, while inside the scabbard, tight to her chest. Moving my gaze, I looked at the two who were currently fighting in the arena right now. Maybe because the number of applicants was great, the selection process was being done through survival battle method. Around 10 or less participants will fight at the same time and only the last man standing would go to the next round. Except for the 2 fighting, there 5 other participants currently lying on the ground groaning in pain. At least they’re not dead.
The skill level of the two currently fighting was…….not really high. No, maybe I’ve simply gotten a bit used to seeing higher level battles due to watching the training fight between Masaki-chan and Souichi. Compared to the adventurers of this world, these guys seem to have average skill. One of them was using a large sword, as tall his own height, and the other was using short swords skilfully in his both hands.
But seemingly uninterested in their fight, Mururu continued to be focused more on the meat in her hands. Is that fine with you?
“Don’t overeat. We’ll go for lunch with everyone later as well, you know?”(renji)
“No problem. I can eat that as well.”(mururu)
“…….You’ll get fat.”
When I said that, she began to touch around her chest as if checking something.
[Maybe we should let her get fat for once?]
“That’d be troublesome on its own though.”(elf)
It was Feirona who answered to Ermenhilde’s suggestion. Certainly, for Mururu, who was the vital point of the vanguard of the party, to get fat would indeed be troublesome. Though I’m not sure if he was just joking or was actually serious. I gave laugh hearing him.
Not paying any attention to our conversation, Mururu continued patting her chest. I have heard that a girl’s chest grows bigger on massaging but that’s just a superstition. Utano-san had clearly verified that. I don’t know what she’d do to me if she heard that though. Solnea on the other side just was in some kind of daze, wondering about god knows what. As usual I guess.
The main arena was cylindrical in shape and surrounded by a stone wall. That stone wall had countless scratches and cuts marked on it. The ground had many parts still blasted out and there were even some broken weapons lying here and there. All of this was an indication of the intenseness of the [show] that takes place here.
It was at least 200m in diameter, I think. Pretty big, in my opinion. It closely resembles the colloseum we see in movies. At the very top of the spectator stands was place covered in high quality cloth. It was the place from where the royalty would sit and watch the arena. Right now, we were currently directly opposite to that area. The other spectators were excitedly shouting and enjoying the fights in the arena right now.
The fighting tournament was the main event that takes place at the end of the year. The winner gets a reward of 5 silver coins, and other than that, if one gets acknowledged they might even get appointed as a Knight or a court magician as well. Not just that, it was also the best place to test your own strength. In this world that lack ways of amusement, there were many people who’d work hard all the year round just to take part in this tournament. In a way, it was considered an honor to just get to take part in this tournament.
“Will I also grow as much as Fran one day?”(mururu)
“It’d be great, if you do.”(renji)
“Yeah.”
I decided not to ask ‘growth’ of what exactly. That’s my way of being kind. Unlike Ms Francesca, imagining a flat grassland, I said that. Soon, Mururu returned back to eating her meat. By the looks of it though, the one thing you’d grow right now is your stomach rather than chest. Well, considering the her body movement as a beastwoman, she probably won’t gain much fat. In fact, I feel like I’ve never seen a fat beastman.
In the meantime, the battle in the arena seemed to be reaching its climax. The adventurer using two swords began to fight in a more aggressive state suddenly as the crowd went wild with cheers. As if being powered up by those cheers, he dealt out a combo of attacks with actual skill and not just random movements. But the man with huge sword was blocking that combo very well.
“Who will win?”(sol)
“Hm?”
That question came from Solnea sitting beside me, still looking straight at the arena.
“Probably the one using the large sword.”(elf)
It was Feirona who answered. I also nodded at his unhesitating answer. The dual sword wielder had the momentum but the large sword user had more stability and solidness. He’s defending against the flurry of attacks with ease. Anyone with even slight experience could tell that it’s only a matter of time before the dual wielder runs out of stamina.
And as expected, the momentum of his attacks soon began to fall. But still, the large sword user didn’t take action. He must be aiming for the momentum when his opponent is completely out of stamina……… I guess he’s the type that lays importance on dealing attacks with max certainty. His way of thinking wasn’t wrong either as the moment the dual wielder stopped his attack, the large sword user blew him away along with his 2 swords in a single swing. As large roars of cheer rose, the man gave a bow an went back to through the gate having earned his pass to the next round. Seems like an unsocial, or rather, boorish guy. Very manly indeed. Even his weapon is large sword.
“Looks like Feirona was correct.”
“Anyone could tell that. Didn’t you predict that as well, Renji?”
“Well, you can’t tell the result till the battle’s finished after all.”
“fumu, you’re not wrong, I guess.”
[The next one’s starting.]
At the same time, cheers rose again.
The fainted participants had been carried away by the staff personnel. At the same time, the next batch——Ms Francesca and others appeared.
“It’s starting.”(renji)
” n, I know.”(mururu)
Quickly finishing the food, Mururu’s gaze turned towards the arena. 7 participants. But only one will be the winner. The names of the participants began to be announced and the first one was Ms Francesca. The announcement echoed in the minds of the spectators directly through magic. I’m pretty used to it thanks to Ermenhilde but it still feels a bit weird to hear someone else’s voice directly inside your head.
Except Ms Francesca, everyone else seemed to be adventurers from either the capital or the Tactics City, making everyone close combat type fighters. A magician like Ms Francesca actually might win it if she could position herself well and avoid direct battles.
“Can she win?”(sol)
“We’ll know soon enough.”(renji)
As I answered that, the participants started to spread over the arena. Maybe too nervous, Ms francesca was taking deep breaths. Adventurers used to fighting won’t overlook her like that. A troublesome magician, and since she’s nervous, she’d be the first one to get targeted. It’s easy to understand how their mind works even without being actually there on the battlefield.
Mururu seemed to be equally nervous but she kept looking at Ms Francesca without even blinking.
[So it begins.]
“Yeah.”
And the sound to begin the fight echoed. Even without the use of magic, it felt like the sound echoed all over the arena.
At the same time, all the participants began to take action. You’d think they’d go for the closest opponent but two of them went for Ms Francesca. At first, a baldy sword user and a dwarf axe-user attacked her from the front. She probably didn’t expect that to happen as her reaction seemed to be one step too late. It wasn’t normal for two contestants to team up like this, especially when they haven’t even met beforehand.
But Ms Francesca had also gained a lot of experience since the first time we met. She was only surprised for a second, the very next instant she lightly kicked the ground and the baldy suddenly fell to the ground face front. It was a pitfall trap, a skill we were already used to seeing. She had created a small hole that wouldn’t be noticed easily. Only big enough for someone to get his foot stuck in it and trip over. Since that man was holding his sword with both hands, he was unable to even recover from the fall quickly. Seeing the one beside him fall like that, the dwarf’s movement also stopped for a second. The next instant, the dwarf was blown away by a invisible magic ball—–an air ball. Next she hit the baldy, who was groaning in pain from hitting the ground with his face, with her short sword, while still in the sheath, into his stomach. Since there was no danger of cutting him, she hit him with all her strength and the man fainted. The dwarf, know to be one tough race, unsteadily stood up but another contestant used that chance to hit him in the head and knock him out. Ms Francesca wasn’t the only opponent, showing an opening like that would result in loss.
Now only 4 remained. While Ms Francesca was dealing with those two, another one had been taken out. One magician, 2 swordsmen, and one using his barehands. Probably a martial arts user or a dark vessel user. Ms Francesca had the advantage in reach of attacks but I doubt the other 3 would give her such an opening. The deadlock remained for a few ten seconds. The first one to move was one of the swordsmen. Using daggers in both hands, he faced the barehanded warrior. He swung a slash towards the enemy’s flank but that man dodged it with minimal movement and struck the sword user’s torso with his fist. Even though he was wearing leather armour, it seems like the attack was too strong as he dropped his daggers and fell to the ground.
“Only 3 remain.”
“Right.”
I nodded to Mururu’s words. The fight’s going in the right direction, I think. At first, when those two attacked together, I thought it’d be over but she did well to beat them. The announcement had introduced her as a student, but due to that first battle, others are now wary of her. In terms of fighting experience, Ms Francesca is nowhere near the other two. But the fact that she’s still maintaining the pressure, not allowing the other 2 to team up against her, is because the first ambush on her failed. Also, they have yet to see the pitfall as well. This is a great advantage to her. Basic magic includes fire or air balls or rock and ice arrows. The pitfall magic isn’t really included in the common sense of magic in the people of this world. At the most, the only info around would be that the Grand Magus and one of the heroes, Aya sues such a magic. Even after an year, I doubt many magicians have started using such a magic. At least I have not heard of any such magician. Then, that pitfall might become her trump card.
The enxt one to move was Ms Francesca and the other swordsman. The man using longsword and leather shield faced the barehanded man. Ms Francesca used a chant-less ice ball and fired it at the bare handed man further helping the sword user. But maybe because he had incredible kinetic vision, or simply had too much experience, he easily dodged the sword swing and the fist sized ice ball. And after that, countered the sword user in the same way as before but ended up being the one falling down. He didn’t fall flat on his face like the earlier one but this opening wouldn’t be missed by the sword user. Since he was too close, he couldn’t swing his sword so instead he used his shield to hit him straight and made him faint.
Now it was 1 vs 1. Without any gap, the sworduser ran towards Ms Francesca. It showed that he was experienced in fighting against magicians. Magicians use long range, heavy firepower spells to take down their enemies, or so is the common image of magicians in this world. The best way to not let them concentrate and use spells is to rush them and enter close combat. Magic could only be activated by concentrating and heightening your powers of imagination. Reversely speaking, you could completely seal a magician if you don’t let them concentrate. It is a known fact.
A normal magician would here try to create space between them but Ms Francesca drew her short sword from the sheath. A light magical energy covered her limbs. Enhancement of physical abilities. I was a bit surprised seeing her use this as a trump card since I had never seen her use this magic before.
“That’s the way.”(elf)
I heard Feirona speak that. It was Feirona who taught Ms Francesca how to use a sword. The short sword and longsword clashed, and though slightly awkwardly, she handled the attacks. At the same time, she seemed to be even aware of not tripping over the fallen down other participants. The way of using the sword, the way of moving in a battlefield. She remembers to concentrate even while moving well. She has been taught really well it seems.
And, Ms francesca also had magic to help her. Did she start getting used to the opponents attacks, or did her opponent start panicking and making crude movements, he was barely able to fend off her attacks. She slowly became even able to completely fend of his longsword’s attack without much trouble.
“Compared to a lizardman, his movements are too slow.”
“Well, obviously.”
I agreed with Mururu who compared him with a monster. Monsters have much more physical strength and stamina than humans. It’s not even worth comparing.
Certainly, if she could face a more powerful humanoid monster, it made her skills easier to understand. Magician and swordsman. A rear guard job and the vanguard job. But even so, they were fighting on equal terms. Before I knew it, that newbie adventurer girl had already grown into such a competent adventurer.
After a few more exchange of attacks, the opponent began showing signs of exhaustion. On the other hand, Ms Francesca didn’t show any signs either conceit or pride. There was not even a sway in the magical energy enveloping her showing that she still had plenty of magical energy left. Finally, seeing her opponent make a big swing again, she used the gap to create a hole beneath him and buried his foot till the ankle. His attack met only the ground and his open side of his face was hit by her short sword. That’s gonna really hurt, yeah. The man rolled over the ground and twitched while laying there. Only his face had been hit but the impact of his body hitting the ground must have been hard as well. The blood coming from his nose shows how painful it must have been.
“fuu.”
“waah.”
It seemed even I had become nervous as I breathed out finally and heard the same kind of sigh of relief from beside me as well. Looking there, my gaze connected with Mururu’s. And at the same time, the voice directly coming to our heads declared the winner as Ms Francesca.
“She won.”(mururu)
“Yeah. Looks like we’ll need to celebrate.”
“Yeah.”
I smiled back seeing Mururu giving a rare wide smile as well. I felt my chest become warm seeing her expression.
Feirona didn’t show much change in her expression but I know he’s pretty happy as well. I wonder if he himself knows that the corners of his mouth are turned up much more than usual? Realizing my gaze, the handsome elf hid his mouth in a very casual manner. Since I’m always teased by him, I’ll definitely tease him later to my heart’s content. Definitely.
“She became victorious.”(sol)
But, only Solnea, like usual spoke that in a flat voice. I looked towards Ms Francesca once again. I’m guessing she is the most surprised with the result of her match. Even though she has been declared as a victor, she’s still staring at the short sword in her hand with surprise.
I wonder what kind of emotions are going through her right now, what is she feeling right now?
I became a bit curious so I decided to ask her later during the celebration. Till the official asked her to leave the arena, she remained standing there in surprise.