Under the fine autumn weather, nearly 50 people were gathered at the center of an arena stage.

Despite so many people being gathered here, it was easy to understand how spacious the area was from the fact that there was plenty of room for everyone to move freely.

On a stage like this, the participants of qualifying block C waited for the starting signal while keeping each other in check.

The audience seated around the arena filled the air with cheers.

Even though the tournament had only just begun and it was the first day of the qualifying rounds, the seats were nearly filled.

No, it was probably because it was the first day of qualifying rounds that there were so many spectators.

Many people had come to bet on who would survive the qualifying rounds.

There were also those who had just come to see strong fighters.

Those people were here to watch the adventurers, soldiers, knights, and mercenaries. People who you normally wouldn’t be able to see their strength.

The only times you would see their strength inside cities would be if a fight broke out for some reason. However, most of those involved in such fights weren’t as capable as they claimed to begin with.

There were also a number of nobles who were looking for strong people.

To them, this was an opportunity to hire strong youths to serve them before they became famous, so it was only natural.

As a wide variety of audience members gathered with their own agendas, a voice echoed out.

『Now then, qualifying block C is about to begin. In qualifying blocks A and B, Exembrum, the B rank adventurer known as the Ice Noble, defeated many monsters with his brilliant rapier. Other participants, including Adlet, the Crusher, also performed wonderfully. I’m sure the audience could see with their own eyes many others who weren’t as famous but had solid skills.』

A voice echoed out in the stadium.

Hearing the voice, Rei had a strange expression for a moment before realising something.

Rei already couldn’t understand how this legacy of an ancient magical civilisation where one wouldn’t die from ordinary injuries worked.

Since that was the case, it wasn’t that surprising for a system that allowed live broadcast and commentary to exist.

As he thought to himself, Rei felt the gaze of the man who had been glaring at him in the waiting room earlier.

No, it wasn’t just the man’s eyes who were directed at him. Many other participants who had joined from the same or other waiting rooms were also looking at Rei.

The reason was obvious.

(No matter what it could possibly be, it’s almost certainly this.)

Rei glanced at the Death Scythe in his right hand.

The scythe, which easily exceeded Rei’s height, gave of an overwhelming feeling of intimidation to those around him just by looking at it.

Of course, there were basically no people who could use such an unwieldy weapon like a scythe.

Within the Bestir Empire, he was famous as a scythe wielding adventurer, so Rei’s scythe immediately reminded people of Crimson, who had run rampant during the Spring War.

However, the majority of rumours had portrayed him as a massive person, so those in the qualifying block were at a loss as to who Rei really was.

Naturally, there were some that honestly believed what the rumours were saying……

「Hey, boy. Or, is it girl? Either way, what do you plan to do with such a fake looking weapon? You won’t be able to use something like that unless you’re Crimson. Don’t try bluff too much. Don’t you think you’ll just end up looking stupid?」

The person who said that to Rei was a 2m tall man.

His hair was cropped tightly and his muscles clearly bulged out from his leather armour.

The weapon the man was holding was a hammer.

The hammer was so big that if Rei wasn’t here, the hammer would have been the most noticeable weapon present.

「……」

Rei glanced at the man for a moment before looking away, thinking that it would be a waste of time dealing with him.

That seemed to annoy the man. He yelled out loud enough for everyone else around him to hear.

「Are you speechless because I saw through your bluff? Haah!? You can avoid a lot of embarrassment if you just withdraw from the competition like a grown up, so just listen to me!」

Some people nodded in agreement at the man’s words, some looked at Rei with pity, and others laughed at the man’s words. There were many different attitudes in response, but those who had seen what Rei had done earlier in the waiting room were filled with disbelief.

It was because they had seen with their own eyes, that Rei wasn’t just a man of words, he had real ability.

With that information and the fact that he had a scythe taller than him, there was a possibility that Rei was really Crimson……or, even if that wasn’t the case, he still had a certain level of ability.

『But there’s more, more, more to come! You’ll be surprised when you hear it, and even more surprised when you see it!』

The commentators voice raised the tension in the stadium as he stirred up the audience’s excitement.

『It’s often the case that big names join in to fight in the tournament and, of course, there are some in this qualifying block as well. Who do you think it is? Honestly, I couldn’t believe it when I heard it. You could say I didn’t want to believe it.』

Not just the spectators, even the participants became agitated by the excitement.

It was no wonder. After all, only three people would leave this battle royale at the very end to participate in the main tournament. 3 out of 50 people was a very limited number.

The other participants must have honestly wished that the big names could have given the other participants a break instead of fighting for one of the already limited slots.

Each of them looked around carefully, trying to figure out who the big name was.

Even the big man who had called out to Rei was no exception, he looked around completely ignoring Rei.

Some of the people who were in Rei’s waiting room looked at him with expressions of disbelief.

They probably instinctively understood at this point that Rei was an opponent at a different level to them.

Tensions on the stage rose alongside the anticipations of the audience.

And, when the tension and anticipation reached a climax, the commentator’s voice echoed throughout the stadium.

『The title of the big name in this block is……Crimson!』

The moment the title was heard, everyone, audience and participants, fell silent for a moment before exploding with noise.

『Yes, everyone living in the Bestir Empire must have heard the rumours. An adventurer who was the main cause of the Bestir Empire’s defeat to the Mireana Kingdom at the Selemus Plains. A person who used his powerful magic to create a tornado of fire and wields a scythe taller than himself. An adventurer who earned the title of Crimson after just one battle. ……That Crimson has joined the Empire’s fighting tournament! To be honest, when I heard this from my boss, I thought it had to be a lie, right? I’m sure I’m not the only one to think that. Of course, everyone who’s come to this stadium can’t believe it either, right? I know, I know, I get your feelings all too well.』

As the live commentary echoed out, the eyes of the participants in block C all turned to Rei.

There, Rei stood holding the Death Scythe, taller than himself.

The eyes included the huge man who had be taunting Rei just a moment ago as well as the man who had attack Rei back in the waiting room.

『There are many rumours about Crimson that have spread around, but the most famous one is that he’s a giant man that everyone has to lift their head up to see. But look, look, look, look! That’s right, the only one in the arena holding a scythe right now is the one wearing a robe. No matter how you look at him, he’s not tall enough to be described as a giant. He’s someone who would be better described as petite!』

At the commentators words, not just the participants, the audience were all focused on Rei as well.

Feeling all the eyes in the stadium on him, Rei lifted the Death Scythe in his right hand……causing all the participants around him to instinctively distance themselves while the audience gasped……as he placed the Death Scythe onto his shoulder.

(I feel like it’s too much, but……well, I guess I should welcome it in the sense that it will focus the attention of the Bestir Empire’s upper echelons on me.)

As he thought to himself, he had a bad feeling in his heart that since the image of Crimson as a giant had been wiped out, he would probably face a lot more attacks.

『Yes, yes, yes! I had no idea that the Crimson from the rumours was so petite! However, the fact remains that it is Crimson! Everyone in the audience is looking forward to how Crimson will perform. Oh, I should make you all feel safe first. If you’ve come to see this tournament, you probably know that this stage is a special space created using the power of the relics from an ancient magical civilisation. Unless you die instantly, you can recover by leaving the stage, so no one will truly die.』

At those words, everyone on stage except for Rei seemed to let out a sigh of relief. It definitely wasn’t Rei’s fault.

『Needless to say, it’s against the rules to instantly kill someone. If you do something like that, not only will you be disqualified from the tournament, you will also be charged as a criminal, so please be careful.』

Those additional comments were definitely aimed at Rei……and only Rei.

That said, it was only natural considering Rei’s reputation within the Bestir Empire.

『Now then, both the audience and participants have been warmed up from my explanation. The qualifying round is about to begin. Referee, please take it away.』

Contrary to the commentator’s words, there was only a heavy silence on stage.

In particular, the man who had been taunting Rei earlier was trembling with fright to the point it was painful to watch.

A moment of silence filled the arena before……the referee appeared from the edge of the arena and shouted loudly.

「Qualifying block C, start!」

At those words, the participants all shouted loudly, half in desperation.

However, the target of their attacks wasn’t Rei, but the other participants.

If they attacked Rei, they would be knocked out without a doubt.

And, looking at Rei’s scythe, there was no doubt they would be seriously injured as well.

If they left the stage, the power of the relic would ensure they wouldn’t stay hurt, but while they remained on stage, they would feel the same level of pain as if they really had been injured.

Maybe if everyone attacked Rei, they might be able to do something. That thought naturally passed through the minds of the other participants, but who would chose to attack Rei first.

Because of that, most of them chose not to mess with Rei.

The fact that 3 people would make it out from the block and not just 1 probably also played a part.

A swinging long sword sliced of limbs, a club smashed into a person’s torso, knocking them out in one hit, and a spear quickly thrust out, piercing another body.

A halberd’s attack was blocked and deflected by a shield before the recipient slammed their amoured body back into their attacker, knocking them off balance and sending them flying.

A sword swung at a fist aimed at their face, cutting the arm off at the elbow.

Some people were using bows from a distance to avoid close combat but there was no way the other participants wouldn’t see them firing multiple arrows in successions. They were quickly collapsed on and slashed to pieces.

The audience had been temporarily silenced by the unexpected appearance of Crimson, but once the fighting started, each of them became engrossed in cheering for their favourite fighter or fighter they had bet on.

Although Rei’s name was present on the betting list, his name wasn’t that uncommon, so there were barely any bets on him.

The few who did know were the members of Daska’s party.

Normally, many people would bet on competitors who became famous in the various fighting tournaments held within the Bestir Empire or famous adventurers……for such people, the presence of an irregularity like Rei was unfortunate in more ways than one.

「……I can’t just not do anything.」

After seeing no one go after him, Rei decided that he couldn’t just win by doing nothing……in other words, he needed to do something that would draw the attention of the upper echelons of the Bestir Empire. Thinking that, he took a step forward.

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