Imperial Sword Tournament – Preliminaries

I came out into room 316 of the lodging facility. The place I had been in. Daniela was still in her hangover stupor.

"…Hmm. It's the same as two weeks ago."

It was kind of maddening, but I would get used to it.

In any case, the first thing to do after my return was to crawl into bed. This was the first day of the preliminaries for the Imperial Sword Tournament. There would likely be a great opening ceremony first. And it probably wouldn't start till 10 o'clock if not later. Daniela's eyebrows narrowed as she slept. I would have to wake her up… Ah, but I really was tired… I could barely keep my eyes opened…

"Hahhh…just a little…just a little…"

I adjusted the position of my pillow and then gave in to the demon of sleep.

I was very glad that I had adhered to a strict schedule up until now. I woke up at 11. As I had slept at around 8 o'clock, that meant I had gotten three hours of sleep…hmm, wasn't much.

However, I wanted to check out the compet.i.tion, and so I slipped out of bed and made my way to the arena, the Radelia Shvein Arena, alone. Daniela was too ill to come.

While there were procedures to take in entering the place, people who were fighting in the tournament were allowed to enter through a separate gate.

"Good morning."

"Good morning. Are you fighting?"

"Yes."

I said as I pulled out my status card.

Name: Asagi Kamiyas.h.i.+ro

Race: Human

Job: Adventurer(Rank: A)

Alias: Silvergreen

LV: 89

HP: 850/850

MP: 835/835

STR: 463  VIT: 481

AGI: 936  DEX: 482

INT: 455  LUK: 39

Skills: 'Jack of all Trades, Master of None', Legs of the G.o.d Wolf, Eyes of the G.o.d Wolf, Single-handed Sword(9/10), Short sword(6/10), Spear(3/10), Archer(2/10), Greatsword(6/10), Presence Detection(8/10), Presence Block(4/10), Nighteyes(5/10)

Magic: Ice(9/10), Water(8/10), Fire(2/10)

Quest: Imperial Sword Tournament

Party: Daniela Villesilf

Equipment: Armor

                   Head: none

                   Torso: None

                   Arms: None

                   Legs: None

                   Feet: Sand Lizard Boots

                   Weapons: Glampanzer

                         – None

                         – None

       Clothes: Bewitching Black Cotton s.h.i.+rt

"…Yes, everything's in order. I see you'll be fighting in the main matches."

"Uh, yeah."

"Good luck."

"Thank you."

You needed to show that the 'Imperial Sword Tournament' was displayed on your status card. It was like a ticket. 

While it was a different entrance, I was going to the same place as the spectators, as I wanted to watch. Perhaps very popular fighters were seated somewhere else… I could imagine the chaos that would ensue if someone here was popular.

"AHHH! It's the great Adlus!"

"Look over here!"

"Oh, Adlus…how n.o.ble…!"

Ohhh. So there was someone very popular here. Someone called Adlus. Let's see…

"Huh…"

A handsome man was waving his hand with a friendly look. Graceful and with pearly white teeth. Woah…he looked like some kind of prince…how n.o.ble…

"…Hm?"

There was something distinct about him. The pale skin and platinum blonde hair.

"The eyes…are gold."

Was he a light elf…yes, he must be. I've never seen a light elf other than Daniela before… I see, so light elves usually had gold eyes. Daniela's unique skill made her eyes a beautiful green. It complimented her skin, but a golden-eyed Daniela would also be…

As for this Adlus, he was wearing white clothes and had a silhouette that seemed almost blurred. Actually, he was so bright that my eyes hurt just looking at him. I didn't know if it was strategy or some religious thing, but I put him on my list of people to watch out for. Adlus. Light elf. Handsome. n.o.ble.

It seemed that the opening ceremony had just finished, and the emperor was now leaving after having made a speech. If this were a comic book, the emperor would have likely been some cute little kid, but the person I saw was clearly an adult. He looked strong too. In the prime of his life. I had the suspicion that there'd be some kind of exhibition match after the tournament.

I wandered around after the beloved emperor had left, and searched for an empty seat. I found one between a very fit young man and a girl with ash-colored hair.

"…Huh? Miss Lemonfrost?"

"What? Oh!"

So it was. Lemonfrost…something.

"It's Lemonfrost Grasilf! Ugh. Are you always so forgetful, Mister Asagi?"

"Uh, sorry about that. It's been a while. How have you been?"

"Ah, good health is the one thing I always have!"

She was a guard in the swampland town of Arkaroid. She had been bemoaning the fact that she had not been able to find time to come to the capital.

"What about your job?"

"Oh, that! I quit!"

"Huh."

She quit! …Well, it was probably a good thing, as they were terrible and never gave her a day off…

"And I decided to make the most of my newfound freedom by becoming an Adventurer!"

"Huh, an Adventurer. That's great."

"It is! I expect you to give me lots of good advice. Senior Asagi."

"Uh, sure."

Adventurer Asagi Kamiyas.h.i.+ro and his junior. And I just became A Rank the other day.

I wasn't quite sure how to react to this, but my ears were suddenly filled with a roar so deafening that my heart nearly stopped.

"Wh-what!?"

"It's about to begin!"

I looked at the center of the arena. There was a raised platform where the fighters were now standing on. These were likely group A. From what I heard, two hundred people had added their names to the list. These two hundred were to be split up into four groups.

"Today's preliminaries are for G to E-rankers. Those who win will go on to the main match!"

"…Are there preliminaries for the other ranks as well?"

"Yes. From E to A. Of course, people above that are not allowed to partic.i.p.ate. The fight would be a joke and the venue would probably get destroyed."

"Oh…So I guess I barely got in then."

"What? Mister Asagi, you're Rank now?"

"Just recently."

"That's amazing…! You must be famous!"

"No…hehe…"

I chuckled bashfully at her praise. But then I thought of something.

"Hey, Miss Lemonfrost."

"You can call me Lemon."

"Fine, Miss Lemon. Are the main fights divided into ranks?"

"The preliminaries are, but everyone partic.i.p.ates in the main matches together."

"But wouldn't that put the lower ranks at a disadvantage?"

A G-Ranker who just barely got through would then have to take on a group of Rankers! It sounded like bullying to me.

"Well, it is a tradition."

"Tradition?"

"Yes. The winner of the first-ever Imperial Sword Tournament was a G-Rank Adventurer. Some people made fortunes off of this unexpected 'giant-killing,' and those people became n.o.bles. People love the unpredictability of the games, you might say!"

"I see…so that's why hopeful Adventurers join, even if they have a low rank."

"Exactly!"

Giant killing… So it meant I would do good not to underestimate anyone. I would have to stay on my guard. I clenched my fists and swore to myself that I would not lose.

"Ah, it has started!"

I looked up as Lemon shouted. The Adventurers had scattered out and were closing in on their targets.

The Imperial Sword Tournament had begun.