The stadium was silent.

On the stage, Rei looked around as he held the Death Scythe while the two other remaining participants, who happened to be outside the ranging of his flaming arrows, were dumbfounded by what had just happened as they looked over at the collapsed participants.

They couldn’t believe it. Those were their honest feelings as they stood on the stage.

Fortunately, the magic power contained in Rei’s magic was less than what he would usually put into a Flaming Arrow Rain.

Because of that, the participants who had collapsed on stage suffered various degrees of burns, but none of them had died.

「…….I believe this is the end of the qualifying block, so what’s going on? Do we keep going?」

Rei’s voice broke the silence.

After hearing that, the referee finally came back to his senses as they loudly declared.

「Qualifying block C is over! The three participants to make it to the main tournament are Rei, Aust, and Dolph!」

The referee’s voice echoed through the stadium.

That seemed to bring everyone else back to their senses as well. The cheers were small at first, but quickly grew louder.

『UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH-!』

As the cheers rang out, about 30 tournament management committee members came up to the stage to carry the fallen participants away.

As they left the stage, the horrible looking burn scars faded from their bodies.

But, even so, only a few were able to get up and walk away on their own.

Although their physical wounds were gone, the mental wounds were evidently not erased.

『Amazing……what, what was that! This is Crimson, this is Crimson, this is Crimson! I’ve been doing live commentary for many years, but it’s rare to see such flashy attacks in the qualifying rounds! Honestly, I have a lot of mixed feelings about it, but I have to admit it’s a strong method. The other two qualifiers can only be considered lucky in various ways, but Crimson’s true potential was on full display, proving his worthiness of his title! I mean, I don’t understand why there were rumours about him being a giant or something!』

He must have been very excited to see Rei’s magic. Rei could help but tilt his head as he heard the commentators voice, yelling out with the highest level of excitement.

It was true that the magic he used was flashy. However, he couldn’t understand why he was being praised so highly when the magic he used was something other fire mages could use as well.

Seemingly noticing Rei’s doubts, one of the two remaining participants……a man with a halberd, called out to Rei.

「You look a bit puzzled.」

There was no hostility or rivalry in the way he called out to Rei.

Did he have no feelings towards Crimson? Or was he just not expressing it?

Either way, the man continued speaking with a smile on his face.

「Using magic usually requires an invocation. However, if you use an invocation in a crowd like this, you would normally be crushed by everyone nearby. With that in mind, magic is rarely seen in the qualifying rounds, or only short invocations if it is used……which means the magic wouldn’t be very strong. But, you still used a flashy spell, didn’t you?」

「I see.」

Rei nodded back, knowing that although he had told Mosst to carry a dagger with him as a countermeasure for anyone who got close, it was still something difficult to deal with.

「Well, that aside, I would like to thank you for letting me reach the final rounds safely, I’m really happy about it. Look, that guy over there seems like he also wants to say something, right?」

Rei turned to look at the other remaining participant and found him staring at him..

His gaze was powerful, but Rei couldn’t sense any malice from him.

『……』

After a few seconds of silence as they stared at each other, the other participants were finally all carried away and the referee came over to the three of them.

「This is the end of the qualifying block. Regarding the main tournament, I believe that your place of accommodation will be contacted once the rest of the qualifying blocks have finished, did you all clearly state your accommodation when registering your participation?」

「Hm? Yeah, I’m fine.」

The man with the halberd answered the referee’s question and the man who had been staring at Rei looked over at the referee before silently nodding.

Rei had joined the tournament past the registration deadline through the Prime Minister, but as a member of Daska’s party, he also nodded to indicate it wasn’t an issue.

Seeing that the three of them had no particular issues, the referee spoke up to confirm a few final details.

「Just so you know, if you have a change of accommodation during the wait, please notify the arena staff or the tournament management committee. Now then, that concludes qualifying block C. Block D will start soon, so if you have anything else you want to do, please do so elsewhere.」

The referee seemed to be quite busy, leaving after saying that to Rei and the other two.

At Rei was about to leave the stage as well, a voice spoke up.

「Next time……I won’t lose.」

The muffled voice belonged to the man who had been staring at Rei earlier.

For someone who had trained to take part in this tournament, it must have felt humiliating to make it to the final rounds due to Rei’s mercy, or his own luck.

(To be young again.)

The man with the halberd couldn’t help muttering to himself.

Regardless of their circumstances, the he had nothing to really complain about.

However, the other person to make it through aside from himself and Crimson seemed to have different thoughts.

「I see, then I’m looking forward to you winning in the main tournament.」

That was all Rei said before leaving the stage.

Even though the three of them had made it to the final rounds, it was clear that there were some winners and some losers.

 

 

「Here, this is your share.」

Elk handed over a bag full of gold and silver coins to Rei with a smile.

It was the money Rei had given to Elk to bet on himself.

「……Well, this is more than I had expected.」

When Rei looked at the contents of the bag and muttered out loud, Elk gave a sigh and nodded as if it were only natural. Dask, who was standing next to Elk, spoke up.

「People probably knew that there was someone called Rei among the participants, but I don’t think any of them would have guess that you were Crimson. Take a look around, there’s a lot of resentful and bitter looks directed at you.」

Looking around at those words, Rei could see many people looking at him with resentment.

Rei was currently at the space reserved for distinguished guests.

Since this was where they were, there was no doubt that the people looking at him with such gazes were people who had been invited over by the Bestir Empire.

But, despite such gazes being directed at him, Rei realised that, strangely, they weren’t filled with hatred, unlike those from the Bestir Empire.

「This is……」

Min seemed to notice Rei’s reaction. She had been reading a book, as if it were a pain to get involved in the men’s stupid conversation, but explained to Rei in a low voice to avoid others hearing her.

「The people here were invited by the Bestir Empire and are not nobles of the Bestir Empire. In other words, unlike those from the Bestir Empire, they don’t hold any grudges over dead relatives…… Well, that should apply to most of them, but I can’t say for sure.」

「I see.」

Rei gave a brief reply to Min before letting out a sigh of relief.

Even though he didn’t care about it too much, it still didn’t feel good to be glared at with hatred.

「Well, that aside, most of them are just jealous of your winnings.」

Maybe an adventurer they had brought along or were sponsoring had lost. Elk continued Min’s words.

Hearing such behind the scenes information, Rei had no choice but to accept it.

「Looks like the next qualifying block is about to begin.」

Min muttered as she closed her book.

As block C had just finished, the next block was naturally block D.

And, there was a reason why Min was paying attention to the block D qualifying round.

「Oh, Rhodes has come out. Now, I wonder how far my stupid son can go.」

Yes. As Elk said, Rhodes was in block D.

Elk suddenly turned to Rei, who was sitting a short distance from Daska.

The bag of gold and silver coins that Rei had won through betting had already been stored into the Misty Ring and was nowhere to be found.

「So, what’s going on? I heard that you’ve been training with someone called Luzi for a bit……」

「Yes, that’s right. It annoys me a bit to say this, but he’s definitely your son, his talent is real. His skills have been improving day by day.」

He seemed quite happy to hear his son praised. An uncontrollable smile appeared on Elk’s lips.

Next to Elk, his wife, Min, was also smiling happily.

Idiot parents. Rei kept those thoughts in his mind and didn’t voice them as continued to speak.

As a side note, Daska, who was close to Elk and Min, thought the same thing as Rei, but being a noble, he continued to listen without showing it on his face.

「So, regarding the qualifying rounds……I don’t know. The distribution is completely based on luck, so if there are strong opponents in the block, it might be a bit tough. However, considering that three people will make it out, I think he’ll be fine as long as their aren’t three or more strong participants.」

Even as Rei explained his thoughts, the commentary on the notable participants had already finished. With the referee’s signal, the qualifying round began.

「Good luck, Rhodes.」

Rei turned to look at the stage as he heard Min’s murmurs.

The melee that started was even messier than what Rei had experienced earlier.

For better or worse, Rei was the only person who stood out in block C.

Being wary of him, the other participants had no choice but to direct part of their attention to Rei to survive the melee.

However, in block D, there was no one who stood out as much, so it ended up turning into a full melee as Rei and the others watched on.

No, rather, this was how the qualifying blocks usually went. Block C was just an anomaly in the fighting tournament.

「Go, over there! Oh, you idiot. You’re being targeted from behind!」

As if he could hear Elk’s cheers, Rhodes jumped ot the side of the man who slashed towards him and used him as a shield as a man with a spear attacked him from behind.

「Alright, good job!」

Seing the tip of the spear get stuck in the man he was using as a shield, Rhodes sliced the spear apart mid shaft, destroying his weapon, before smacking the man’s head with the pommel of his sword, knocking him out.

「I guess he’s prioritising safety……but it’s quite the overkill.」

Daska muttered out loud.

However, contrary to his words, there was a grin on his lips.

It was true that once you stepped off the stage, the injuries on your body would disappear due to the relic of the ancient magical civilisation.

However, some things wouldn’t disappear, whether it was the fear etched into their hearts or the damage to their weapons and armour.

In other words, the man whose spear was broken would have his injuries erased, he had only been knocked out after all, but his weapon would stay broken.

Even though it was dangerous to leave weapons on the battlefield that could be used by others, it was still a harsh response.

「Oh, he’s quite amazing as well.」

Elk and Min, who had mostly focused on Rhodes’ actions, glanced over at Daska’s words.

Daska was watching a male Elf with a bow.

Bow wielder had also participated in Rei’s block. However, the Elf that Daska was paying attention to was clearly more skilled than those who had fought in Rei’s block and was even using magic.

「Spirit magic?」

It was Rei who spoke.

He recalled Firuma, the Elk who had been with him during his previous rank up test.

She had been a female Elf who used a bow and spirit magic. But, comparing her to the male Elf they were watching, the male Elf was clearly several steps higher in skill.

That said, the last time Rei had worked together with Firuma had been during the rank up test a year ago. Considering it had been a year since then, he didn’t know what Firuma’s current level of skill was.

(He has an extraordinary fighting sense. Considering his use of a bow and spirit magic from range, he probably isn’t working solo like I am……)

As he thought like that, the melee continued to progress before his eyes. In the end, there were only three people still standing on the stage, Rhodes, the Elf, and a man who seemed to be a thief, ending the qualifying block.

「Okay, well done Rhodes!」

As he heard Elk’s happy shouts, Rei decided to praise Rhodes for making it through with only minor injuries.

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