When we went over to the Margrave family’s seating area by the stage to greet Fina-san and her older brother, it was her brother—wearing an inexplicably grim expression—who came out to meet us.
Huh? Did something happen?
“Shun, about Ao’s opponent—you’d better be careful. He’s the son of a noble from the royal capital, and he’s been pestering us for a while now, insisting that Fina should marry him.”
“I don’t like that person.”
“Eeh?!”
We were assigned to the blue corner this time, but standing over in the red corner was that unpleasant noble we’d already encountered at the reception desk.
I mean, seriously—he looks like he’s in his thirties, and yet he wants to take eight-year-old -san as his bride? Isn’t that basically picking a fight with the entire frontier margrave family?
Just then, Sue seemed to recognize our opponent.
“Could it be… the heir of Count Ooak?”
“Ah, yes. That’s the one. He keeps insisting Fina should be his legal wife, but the man already has multiple mistresses and even children. He’s a spendthrift as well, so he’s probably aiming for both. Well, impressing Fina and getting his hands on the prize money for this tournament.”
Judging by his name alone he already sounded like a terrible noble, but his behavior was even worse than that. If he was targeting Fina-san, it was surely because he had his eyes on the frontier margrave family’s fortune.
“Ao-chan, make sure you beat that guy, okay?”
At Fina-san’s and Pearl’s request, Ao waved her tentacles in eager agreement.
Ao then headed towards the blue corner together with Shiro and the others. As they moved, the Madam approached Shiro and the group, speaking to them about something in a low voice.
Since we weren’t registered as seconds, Sue and I borrowed a section of the Margrave family’s seating area.
By the way, the attendant who came with us was here to look after Fina-san and her older brother. He was actually doing his job—replacing Fina-san’s drink and such—so there was no problem at all.
Alright then, let’s take another look at Ao’s opponent. If anything, he certainly looked like a noble—wearing plate armor layered over chainmail. He hadn’t put on his helmet yet, but his defenses were clearly top-notch.
There’s one more thing that bothered me. Sue seemed to have noticed something about the heir’s equipment as well.
“That armor… I’m fairly certain it’s a magic tool. The sword as well.”
“I can’t say for sure about the sword yet, but the armor probably has some kind of physical enhancement spell. I can feel a faint trace of mana coming from him.”
Magic tools—those things that show their true power only when used by a mage.
If his equipment was really that kind of artifact, then Ao might actually struggle a bit. But then a small doubt occurred to me.
“Wait… wasn’t this tournament supposed to ban magic tools?”
“Oh—that’s right.”
“In martial tournaments, magic tools are prohibited. Magic itself is allowed, but the battle must be fought purely on one’s own ability. That is precisely why magic tools are forbidden.”
Fina-san’s brother explained.
He was absolutely right. If someone used powerful magic tools, personal skill would no longer matter at all.
And that heir wasn’t just using a magic weapon—his entire body was covered in enchanted gear. It wasn’t just a violation, he was so far past that line that it was almost refreshing in its brazenness.
“Even so, there’s no way Mother wouldn’t notice that the heir is using enchanted gear. If she still chooses not to reprimand him… well, that tells us everything.”
“In other words, even if he openly breaks the rules, he still won’t be able to beat Ao.”
“Exactly. No matter how good the equipment is, it’s useless if the one wielding it is incompetent.”
The Madam knew that heir all too well. And because she knew him, she was intentionally letting the violation slide. Which meant one thing: the heir’s chances of winning were already gone.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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