Martial Arts Tournament (2)

1.

North of Breeze Town.

A circular arena overflowing with people.

Swordsmen.

Magicians.

Various classes of professions are visible.

People confident in their skills gathered, warming up their bodies.

The tournament is about to begin.

Currently, there are a total of 70 participants.

The first round is a survival format where all participants enter the arena and fight until 16 survive.

They are subtly sizing each other up.

Who looks weaker.

Who looks stronger.

Trying to gauge each other’s strength.

Some were already conspiring in the corners.

Even though the tournament itself is an individual competition.

Forming a team is more advantageous in the first round.

That’s when a strange tension was swirling in front of the registration desk.

“Haa…! Haa…!”

A girl came panting into the registration area.

A new participant?

Everyone’s eyes were on the girl.

Small height.

Delicate body.

She doesn’t look like she’d be good at fighting.

And the fact that she’s wearing a nun’s habit suggests she’s not a participant.

Probably a Sister who heals the injured.

Just as everyone was about to lose interest in the girl.

“Is registration closed?”

The girl looked up at the receptionist and asked.

The registration desk is taller than her, so she’s standing on tiptoes, which is cute.

“There are still 10 minutes left.”

“That’s a relief.”

The girl clapped her hands.

“Then I’ll apply too.”

At the word ‘apply,’ everyone’s eyes turned to the girl again.

“This is… a martial arts tournament application…?”

“I know.”

The girl nodded confidently.

“Here.”

The girl submitted the application form she had prepared in advance.

“Uh, uh?”

The moment the application form is submitted, it’s as good as approved.

There was no right to reject the application.

There are no special conditions for participating in the martial arts tournament.

Age, gender, occupation.

Anyone can apply regardless.

There was no reason why a little Sister couldn’t apply.

“Are you really going to participate…?”

The receptionist got up from her seat and whispered to the girl.

“Yes.”

Is she stupid?

Is she reckless?

Even if participation is free, she’ll probably give up as soon as she experiences the brutal atmosphere.

There are kids like that sometimes.

Full of adventure.

Full of curiosity.

There are countless children who participate in the martial arts tournament with foolish courage, only to burst into tears.

The martial arts tournament is not a children’s game.

It’s real combat.

You can stab someone with a knife.

You can burn someone’s arm with magic.

“Think about it again.”

The receptionist tried to dissuade the girl.

She’s highly likely to be the first to be eliminated.

She didn’t want this pretty child to have a rough time.

“No matter how many times I think about it…”

The girl smiled, looking at the other participants.

“Why bother? I’m going to win anyway?”

It was a wide-area provocation.

With the girl’s one sentence.

The majority of the participants thought of giving the arrogant girl a taste of her own medicine first.

“Can I borrow a practice sword?”

Oh, my goodness.

She doesn’t even have a weapon.

“I can lend you one…”

Practice swords are really just for practice.

They’re trash in real combat.

Looking at the shiny weapons of the other participants, it was clear that it would break as soon as it collided in a head-on clash.

The receptionist handed the practice sword to the girl.

A one-handed sword.

The girl is too short to give her a two-handed sword.

“Hmm… not bad.”

The girl touched the sword hilt a few times and nodded as if satisfied.

“What time does it start?”

“It’ll start soon.”

“I’ll be back in a bit.”

The girl headed towards the exit.

That’s when it happened.

“Hey! Little Sister!”

Someone called out to the girl.

The girl realized that they were calling her and turned to look.

There were men drinking in a group on one side.

A group of adventurers with a mix of Gold and Silver ranks.

Among them, a man with a huge two-handed axe on his back grinned and waved at the girl.

“Don’t run away. You have to win.”

The other men drinking with the man burst into laughter.

Other participants snickered.

“Yes.”

The girl answered plainly and left the waiting room.

2.

She secretly slipped out of the cathedral and even finished applying for participation.

Now there is only one goal.

Finish the tournament before Sister Bertina finds out.

Maybe she’s already been caught missing, but.

She had thought of an excuse in advance.

“Where… then…”

She put on a robe.

“Shall we see how strong the young folks are these days?”

She entered the circular arena.

Loud cheers hit her eardrums.

The participants were scattered around the arena.

Everyone was ready for battle.

The energy of Magical power was surging wildly.

So full of vigor.

I picked up the practice sword I borrowed from the registration desk.

It wasn’t properly maintained.

There were patches of red rust here and there.

But it didn’t matter.

A craftsman doesn’t blame his tools.

There’s a reason why that saying exists.

The type of sword is not an important factor for a Sword Saint.

The presence or absence of a sword is important.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a big problem even without a sword.

“Thank you for waiting!”

A Magic Stone floating above the arena.

A loud voice echoed from the Magitech Megaphone.

The world has gotten better.

Back in my day.

Even if you used a megaphone, you could only hear mumbling sounds.

Now the voice is clearly audible.

I feel anew that the world has changed since I died.

“There are 71 participants in this tournament!”

Last year there were 50.

This time, the number of participants increased due to the prize.

Elixir of Growth.

It is a dream potion for those who want to become stronger.

Just by drinking it, Magical power or strength permanently doubles.

I have to win.

And I have to take the prize as well.

I think I’m strong now, but there’s no harm in getting stronger, right?

“The first round is a survival-style match. Until 16 people survive, you participants will fight each other to the death, no, until you’re on the verge of death!”

The atmosphere in the arena heats up at the mention of death.

People like stimulating things.

Even though they’ll turn cold in the face of real death.

Anyway.

It seems like the match is about to start.

She rolled her eyes and lightly looked around.

There are participants who are cheered on by the audience, and there are participants who look skilled.

And…….

That bastard has been staring at me since earlier?

The big guy who grinned and mocked me in the waiting room was waving at me.

No way.

Is he into girls like this?

No way. That’s a crime, you bastard.

“Then! Let the martial arts tournament! Begin!!”

The cheers of the audience shook the arena.

3.

The match began.

The audience each predicted the winner of this tournament.

“This time it’s the ghost of the eastern forest.”

“That guy is just fast, not that good?”

“Then who do you think will win?”

“Of course, it’s that adventurer. Look at his chest. He’s got a Platinum rank right there.”

The only Platinum rank among the participants.

In terms of objective combat power, he was the highest.

Because he is a rank that can clear a decent dungeon alone.

“Or maybe that Axe Giant will win.”

At the end of the finger pointed.

There was a man holding a huge two-handed axe in both hands.

He is a giant over 2m tall.

Axe Giant, Hocran.

Adventurer rank is Silver.

Lower than Platinum rank.

But he used to be a Platinum rank adventurer.

He was expelled from the Adventurer’s Guild for trying to rape a woman from another party and punching three people into cripples.

Now he has rejoined the Adventurer’s Guild by spending money behind the scenes and is lazily spending his time in the Silver rank.

His power.

And cruelty.

Considering those things, Hocran is likely to win.

“By the way, who is that little kid?”

A little kid standing near the entrance of the arena.

Whether it’s a girl or a boy.

It’s hard to tell because they’re covering their face by pressing down on their hood.

But you could guess that it was a girl from the long hair falling to her chest.

“Wasn’t there one last year too?”

“That’s right. There was a kid who participated thinking they were strong.”

“At that time, she was caught by a pervert and had one of her arms cut off.”

“That’s right. Will it be like that this time too?”

“Looking at the Axe Giant glancing at her, it looks like she’s going to suffer something more terrible. Like her face being crushed. Murder is not allowed… but I don’t know about that guy.”

They wished the girl good luck in advance.

Whatever happens to her is her decision and responsibility.

“Let’s begin!!”

The martial arts tournament began.

With the start, the participants began to move busily.

They rush at the opponent they had marked in advance.

“As expected…!”

Hocran kicked the ground.

Thump!

The ground sank and he charged towards the girl like a boar.

Just being hit by that would crush your body.

-Karrrr!!

The sound of the axe blade dragging on the ground is like the cry of a beast.

He’s big.

But he’s fast.

That girl will suffer a miserable fate without knowing anything.

That’s what everyone was thinking.

The girl jumped up.

The robe flutters like a butterfly’s wings.

Hocran passed underneath it.

She avoided the charge with a light jump.

The girl who floated in the air rotated her body.

She slowly swung the rusty sword.

Slow.

It’s definitely slow.

That’s how it looked.

The surface of the girl’s sword hit the top of Hocran’s head.

-Tok

It was a light blow.

Hocran touched his head and laughed.

“Oh, you’re quick? How far can you run…?”

Hocran’s eyes slowly rolled back.

-Thump!!

The giant fell backwards.

Seeing that, the girl clicked her tongue.

“Disappointing.”

The arena became quiet in an instant.

A strong candidate for the championship was defeated by a girl smaller than him.

In one strike.

“Too weak.”

The girl sighed, “Tsk.”