Group A

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The low rankers fought with blunt weapons. It was a battle royale with fifty people in all. Everyone was your enemy. While you fought the man in front of you, the woman behind you may take you down. If you tried attacking with magic with a wide area of effect, you might find people uniting against you.

It was hard to know what would lead a person to victory in this scenario. But as long as they fought, there would be losers and winners. There would be no draw. And the person that won would get through and move on towards the real battle.

 

“That one in the silver armor is impressive.”

“Such ease of movement.”

 

The fighting style of the man we were staring at was rather cowardly. But some would call it cunning.

…Who knew if it was right or wrong. What I did know, is that it drew attention.

 

“Oh, again…”

“A great eye…”

“For weakness, it seems…”

 

There was an Adventurer with a spear and one with a sword. The one with the sword seemed to retreat without closing the distance between them. Running away here would mean a stab in the back. And the spear-wielder advanced as if he had no intention of allowing the opportunity to go to waste. The spear was in range now…it was at that moment, the man with the sword was kicked from behind. He had been distracted by the spear that was poised to attack him at any moment. The spearman was also surprised, after all, the man had come flying towards him.

The newcomer quickly attacked and drove the spearman back with his sword before slamming his weapon in the back of the first swordsman as he tried to get up. In a flash, the newcomer had the advantage.

 

We were watching this newcomer. A man in light armor that was easy to move in and a blue bandana.

 

“I bet he’s going to make it to the end.”

“Hmm… I don’t like his style, but it’s probably a good strategy for the preliminaries.”

 

It wasn’t the most appealing, but it was smart when surrounded by enemies.

 

“Hmm…see anyone else that’s interesting…?”

“Senior Asagi, look at that dual-wielder over there.”

“…Huh…”

 

I looked at the contestant that Lemon had pointed at. He was wielding two swords, which he expertly used to bash anyone in his way and out of the boundaries. I was pretty sure that meant they were disqualified. That’s why the area was limited. It was an interesting way of doing things.

 

Even now, he used his left sword to parry the attack of an axe-wielder, and struck the attacker on the knee with the sword in his right hand. And then he kicked the attacker who had lost his balance. Out of bounds. Yes, it was well-done. I could see that there were already about ten people sitting on the ground behind him.

I guess they had nothing better to do but watch from there, now that they were out. It was amusing how quiet they were.

 

“…Really, just those two.”

“Yes. I think it is them that will move on.”

“What? Both of them?”

“Of course. The top two of every group. Senior Asagi, did you not hear the rules?”

“Haha… I overslept.”

 

Actually, I had planned to come at this time. It just seemed like I could ask about such details later. Besides, I wanted to sleep.

 

“Oh, you really are hopeless, aren’t you?”

“I couldn’t be more embarrassed.”

“Very well then, I will tell you all about it!”

“Thank you, I knew I could count on you.”

“Hehe. I have no choice.”

 

See. It was easily resolved.

 

And so junior Adventurer Lemonfrost briefed me on the main rules of the Imperial Sword Tournament.

 

Two people would move forward in the preliminary game that were currently underway. As for the rest, well, they could try again next year. As it was a nonlethal battle, those who don’t win either surrender, are knocked unconscious, or exit the boundaries. The dual-wielder was making quite a lot of people do the latter.

There would be three more preliminary matches after this before the real ones started. The eight fighters who survived the preliminaries, those with recommendations, and the previous winner would then fight. According to Lemon, three people had recommendations. Me and Daniela, plus one other person. Who was it? Well, there would be twelve of us in all.

The main tournament would have similar rules. Surrender, become unconscious or leave the boundary. Of course, there were sometimes unfortunate accidents. But the Empire would apparently supply us with magic decoy tools… That may sound safe, but I did not want to get anywhere close to dying. I had seen the tool used before when fighting against Eve. It took the damage of a lethal blow for you… I wonder how much they could cost?

 

“…Well, that’s basically it.”

“I see. I see. Very interesting. Thank you.”

“No, no! I’m glad to be of service!”

 

Lemon said with a laugh. It was so blinding that I found myself patting her on the head. Maybe I was starting to feel like a senior.

 

“Uh…Asagi?”

“Think of it as a show of gratitude.”

“Ve-very well…”

 

She nodded and blushed. It was hard to believe that she was older than me… Well, she was probably younger in human years. Maybe being someone’s senior wasn’t always bad… Oh?

 

“It seems like the battle is finished.”

“Yes. It was those two after all.”

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Isekai ni Kita Boku wa Kiyoubinbode Subaya-sa Tayorina Tabi o Suru Jack of all Trades