The guest seats are lined up as if enclosing the round stage.
It isn’t the famous Roman type though.
At the outskirts of the academy, there’s a giant arena for the tournament. It surprises me to see this enormous construction, which could pass to history in the future, as a facility of the school. When looking at the conduct of the students and the teachers of Rotsgard Academy, there are times when one would think that this is a second-rate institution you could find anywhere. Even so, when looking at the facilities and its scale, it reminds you that this is the highest academic center of the hyumans.
“What was Rembrandt-san hesitating in saying?” (Shiki)
“His daughters’ safety… is most likely not. It looked like he was heading to the merchant guild today regarding that case. Might be a considerable problem” (Makoto)
“The Hopelace pressure?” (Shiki)
“It could be” (Makoto)
I was completely underestimating the stratum called noble.
It may have been for only one night, but just in case I had Shiki posted. In the meal of the store that they first went to, there was poison that would make them lose their sense of balance; in the water that the waiter provided at the dormitory, there was poison that induced diarrhea and stomachache; at night, there were several assassins. It was truly a full-course of actions to obstruct their participation in the tournament. Listening to the report, while it was in the range of my expectations, it still amazed me quite a lot.
At the appointed day, or so to say, today, I thought it already finished and was feeling relief.
‘Do nobles go that far?’ Is what I thought.
This is a school, and no matter what his family is, he is still one student. In other words, the methods of poison and assassins that I made a guess of, were the worst methods. Because you know, even if it is a tournament, it is just one event in the school festival.
“I am surprised he could go this far…” (Makoto)
I look at the chart of pairings in my hands.
The warrior category and the magician category are divided the same. After several steps, it is made so that the categories clash at one point.
And the ones participating are the ones that passed the preliminaries, in total, there are 40. By the way, after the individual battles, there will be team battles, so there aren’t many people participating in the individual battles.
The students that are only participating in the team battles can put a front saying that they are scared of injuries that might happen in the individual battles, to pull back from participating. How well done. Tte, I unintentionally ended up thinking about it in the bad direction.
By the way, Jin and the others will be participating in both. And the second son of the Hopelace household will be as well.
“The first matches will be Jin vs Misura, Daena vs Yuno. The winners will be clashing later. In the magician category: first match is Amelia vs Sif, and the winner will clash with the seeded, Izumo. So he can even manipulate the tournament chart…” (Makoto)
“Meaning, it will be a battle between Waka’s students. I am looking forward to it” (Tomoe)
“Tomoe… What an incredibly positive way of thinking. I am simply surprised. Isn’t it an ‘everything goes’? He can even put his hands on the rules” (Makoto)
Maybe Tomoe doesn’t understand what this implicates, she speaks something out of point. What I am trying to say is that the rules are futile to nobles. Even when he is still a student, he is still able to push this much authority.
This is too incredible.
“It seems the Hopelace household has more authority than I thought, and the academy is not a place of fairness huh. That bunch over there too…” (Makoto)
I look at the people sitting on the guest seats that are far away from the general seats of us.
There are several people close to the Academy principal, whose only thing I know of is his face. They are probably people from the four major powers. In other words, Limia or Gritonia. Sitting in a place a little away, is the Adventurer Guild’s head, Root. In the line of people related to the church, there’s the priest I met before, and there’s also the big-shot of Lorel, Sairitz. They most likely don’t know that this matches were fixed by a mere student. But my students have suffered damage from it, so in my eyes, they are reflected as having the same offense.
… Now that I think about it, since the time I came here, I have been lying a lot. That has been piling up bit by bit, and I feel like it’s beginning to turn troublesome. To protect the lie, make a lie. There’s no end.
“Waka?” (Tomoe)
“That is… now, after all this time of moving around huh. This is probably the limit. Hey, Tomoe” (Makoto)
“Y-Yes?” (Tomoe)
Why are you stuttering Tomoe? Is it bad for me to do a serious face?
“Do you want the four seasons in Asora?” (Makoto)
“! Of course!” (Tomoe)
“… I see” (Makoto)
“Waka-sama, I found something interesting so I bought it-desu wa~~, just in case, I bought enough for three” (Mio)
“Thanks, Mio” (Makoto)
“You are now capable of being mindful huh, Mio” (Tomoe)
When I take the paper bag from Mio, a scent resembling basil tickles my nose. Today’s priority is scent? The heat transmits to my hands and tells me that this is a warm food. I’m looking forward to it. I hear a low ‘That’s unfair-desu’ from Mio while she bites her lips. I decide to act as if I didn’t see it and look at the stage. Now that they have come this far, Jin and the others just have to do what they can. There’s a lot of things to think about, however, I have no choice but to watch over it.
A voice announcing the beginning of the tournament resonates.
“Now then, the next match is between two of the highest levels participating in this tournament! Both of them are level 97! First, Jin Roan! While being a high grade department’s second year, in terms of practical skill, he is a prodigy that has already entered the highest ranking of all! Especially in his sword techniques, there are many that are paying attention to it! On the other hand, we have Misura Kasper! The vanguard that is the highest rated by magicians! His defensive power that can be called impregnable fortress, and the skillfulness in his ability to utilize even healing magic. He is a swordsman that possesses both of this!”
The high-tensioned voice clearly resounded.
A wooden sword that has a general size for one hand.
I didn’t give any instructions about fighting with wooden swords, and of course, this is most likely not their will. When you receive a different weapon from the one you originally had, it is understandable why they would have that kind of face.
“First of all, a word to everyone. This season’s tournament has several participants that have achieved levels over 90, so for the sake of making a balanced evaluation with the other students, a number of restrictions have been established”
Then just make a grade system for levels from the very beginning like the ones in judo and boxing to divide the ranks before doing the tournament.
Ah~, my head is rotting.
“The equipment they possess is only that one. It is in consideration of the other participants. Well then, before beginning, we will confirm the rules! The time limit of the battle is 10 minutes. The damage will be transferred to dolls and will substitute for the injuries the person itself takes. The destruction of this doll denotes incapacitation in battle, and at that moment, the battle will end. Also, in the battles of the warrior category, the use of attack and healing magic are prohibited, and the only ones that can be used are self-support related magic. In the case that someone steps out of boundaries, it will decrease points, and if the battle is not decided in the time limit, it will affect the verdict greatly”
‘Doll’, if it is prepared beforehand, this convenient item will shoulder the damage you should be receiving. It looks like a matryoshka of around 1 meter height. In this kind of tournaments it is sometimes used and it is extremely high priced.
I thought this was a tool that might increase in effectiveness when used in real combat, but for the doll to be useful, there’s the need of adjusting the place, and in terms of the effective time, it has a lot of restrictions, so it is in essence impossible to use in real combat.
In this case, they prepare the high priced doll and make a connection with it and the arena that will be serving as the stage, and while at it, they do the procedures between the students and the doll. And by doing that, it seems it is possible to shoulder the damage for around 15-30 minutes.
At any rate, this rules are like bullying Misura. Don’t use healing magic; finish the fight fast. Both of those are heavy constraints for Misura. In comparison, Jin practically doesn’t have anything binding him. Also, Jin is not the type to be merciful, so it will be a fight with him on the offensive till the fight ends. The verdict will also turn to, obviously, Jin.
“Well then, Jin Roan versus Misura Kasuba, battle start!!”
The spectator seats were slightly quiet, but when they received that signal, it changed into a high volume roar.
Jin immediately closed the distance and swings downwards at Misura. The unreliable wooden sword that is several times thinner than what he normally uses, was stopped by Misura. As expected of Misura who has the highest defensive ability, he didn’t break his stance even with the sudden attack. A combo of attacks that are fit to be called a rush were coming one after the other with low amounts of intervals towards Misura. Just as expected, against Jin’s swift attacks, Misura can’t throw an effective attack and is being forced to just defending.
The conversation probably went: ‘This is also a part of luck, don’t think badly of me’, and ‘Even so, I won’t slack’.
“Well, what to say, this is quite the simple and one-sided match huh” (Tomoe)
Tomoe looks at the development of the fight with bored eyes. There’s no doubt that this isn’t a show one can consider interesting. But, in terms of technique, the people that specialize in swordsmanship and close combat should have something to look at. The way of chaining attacks, way of blocking; those kind of things should make minute differences.
“… In terms of body, I will take back what I said, but as I thought, if I was told this is something a lot of people gather to watch, I still wouldn’t be able to understand-desu wa” (Mio)
Sadly, it looks like it showed as a boring exhibition for Mio. Misura’s fighting style is centered in defense. A plain style to the taste of professionals. That she took back what she said, must be because she got a bit of a better opinion regarding their technique.
Shifting their bodies, opening the distance; Jin and Misura are truly fighting while thinking thoroughly. They are probably better than me at instant decision making already. They have incredibly good wit after all.
Misura is a boy that has the ability to even handle Jin using dual swords. Moreover, even in lectures or in his free time, he is doing mock battles. In terms of swordsmanship sense, he is without doubt higher than Jin. The experience is clearly defining his abilities and he is able to defend.
Misura is properly killing the momentum of Jin with the way he moves his body and the way he takes his distance. Even with that much flow and momentum killed, the attacks still continue probably because it is Jin. That guy
Both of them can’t do a winning move, so they have no choice but to clash a lot.
The moment Tomoe noticed that change, she narrowed her eyes and let out a ‘Hoh~’ as if in admiration. Looks like she sensed it. Even though it is an incredible fight, there’s something out of place. The impressions of the many people around are just as it looks. Those harmonious movements that give a strange out of place sensation are probably noticed only by people that have seen military exercises before and people like Tomoe, who have a decent amount of technique. By the way, I am of the former type. I have seen several serious military exercises with swords. Jin and Misura are giving the same kind of atmosphere.
I feel like Mio is also able to tell. She is watching the match with a bored look. The fast food in her hand and the match; her interest is probably divided 80% on the food and 20% on the match. Even so, the reason why I feel like she might respond with the right answer if I asked, is because Mio’s intuition has a scary rate of striking home.
“Hm, the match is over huh. Like this, the winner will be Misura” (Makoto)
“Right. In the end, there were practically no effective attacks. Jin, who has been in the offensive, will win by verdict, but in terms of the fight, Misura is the winner” (Tomoe)
“Winning the match but losing the fight huh. And yet, the venue is treating Misura as a coward. Ahaha, that Jin, he is making a pretty easy to understand face. Misura is also showing his sense of achievement through his face” (Makoto)
“Well, compared to the idiotic matches until now, I have enjoyed myself a lot more. As expected of Waka’s students. After all, the ones until now have been mostly: prepare their stance, attack, block or evade, fix their stance, counter-attack. Their actions and the execution of their next movement was so obvious that the stupidness was shooting out full-throttle. Honestly speaking, with that level of skill, just by having a good weapon, the match is decided. In a sense, I was watching with opposition” (Tomoe)
“Exactly. Jin and the others said that recently it has become hard to hide their strength in the other classes. I understand the reason why now. If they were to make those kind of movements in those classes, they would definitely… stand out. It seems they were taking me into consideration. It makes me happy to have good students” (Makoto)
“That’s a good thing. Fumufumu, for the time being, I will think of a reward for Misura. A bout, a bout, a bout… Well then, who should it be~?” (Tomoe)
… You are rewarding him with a slap.
The next match that my students will appear in is the magician category, first match and in the next match of the warrior category.
It doesn’t feel like it will be taking that much time, so maybe I should just stay watching like this.
l