With the martial arts tournament drawing near, we decided to head to the square where the tournament will be held to confirm our entry.
We couldn’t bring Fina-san along this time, so she stays behind at the estate. She’d admitted she wanted to come with us, but she also understood why she couldn’t—it wouldn’t be safe. Instead, she said she’d stay by little Arthur’s side.
I made a mental note to bring her back a souvenir later.
With that thought in mind, we arrived at the square.
“Whoa, there are so many people!”
“They’re all lined up!”
“So many people!”
The crowd stretched as far as we could see. When we reached the square, I couldn’t help but stare in surprise. There were so many more people than when we’d first registered. Shoppers filled every street, and soldiers were patrolling in greater numbers than before.
Yeah… seeing this, it was clear why bringing Fina-san along would’ve been a bad idea.
In a crowd like this, the risk of something happening, be it an abduction or an accident is far too high. We weaved through the crowd toward the entry booth set up at the edge of the square.
“Hmm… it doesn’t look like there’s many people in line.”
“I wonder what it’s really like, though.”
There were only a few people lined up at the registration booth for the martial arts tournament. I couldn’t really tell how far the entries had progressed just by looking, so I decided to ask the staff directly.
As luck would have it, the same clerk who handled our entry last time was there.
“Um, excuse me.”
“Yes? Oh, you’re the one who came with the slime, aren’t you? Perfect timing, actually. I was just about to get in touch with you.”
Huh?
That was unexpected.
…What exactly happened?
“The main tournament will feature sixteen groups. But this time, we’ve had an unusually high number of entries. Because of that, we’ll need you to fight through two rounds of preliminaries before the main event.”
“Wait—so that means there are more than sixty participants?”
“There are some who only need to compete in one preliminary match, but yes, around that number sounds right. We’ve gathered nearly twice as many contestants as in previous years.”
It was probably thanks to the increased prize money—but still, two rounds of preliminaries sounded like a lot of work.
“Ao says she’s fine with it.”
“She’s ready to fight.”
“She’ll take them all on.”
“Oh~, that’s good to hear.”
Ao, for her part, was absolutely fired up. Still nestled in Shiro’s arms, she raised her tentacles into what could only be described as a fighting pose. Like a boxer warming up before a match.
The clerk, seeing this, looked visibly relieved.
“The preliminaries will begin two days before the main tournament. There will also be matches on the day before the main event, so please be prepared. The gathering time will be the same as for the main tournament.”
“Understood. Thank you very much.”
I had only come to check how many people had signed up, but it turned out to be worth the trip.
We’d be fighting from two days before the main event—but with Ao’s enthusiasm, I was sure we’d be fine.
With that, we bought a peach pie and a berry pie on the way home, and returned to the mansion.
“I heard about the preliminaries earlier as well. Of course, I’ll be leaving those to my son and daughter. I’ll be joining in from the main tournament.”
“I’ll do my best to help, too!”
When we returned to the mansion and reported the news, it turned out the whole household already knew about the additional rounds.
Apparently, the Margrave intended to start from the main event to maintain his dignity and prestige—so it would be up to Fina-san and her brother to carry the family’s banner through the preliminaries.
“I’ll help out with the preliminaries, too.”
“Madam will be helping out too?”
“Why, of course.”
She replied with an elegant smile.
“My mother’s amazing, you know! You’ll see when the time comes!”
That way of saying it definitely sounded like, “Just wait until the real thing!”
The Margrave gave a wry smile, which only confirmed my suspicion that there was something he wasn’t telling us.
Then, as if remembering something, the Margrave turned to us with a thoughtful expression.
“Three days before the tournament, our house will be helping prepare the venue. My wife and Fina will be going as well, so I’d like you and your group to assist.”
“Understood. We don’t have any plans before the tournament, so that should be fine.”
“Good. I’ll be counting on you.”
Most likely, he wanted us there not only to help with the preparations but also to act as escorts for his wife and Fina-san.
With that, our schedule leading up to the tournament was set.
All that was left now was for everyone to give it their best.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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