What just happened? How?

Those were probably the questions many in the audience had.

The questions would have come to mind as they watch Anasel being carried off the arena.

Fortunately he didn’t have any lasting injuries, but Anasel didn’t regain consciousness even after leaving the arena.

If he had been injured, his wounds would have closed instantly, or if he had been put to sleep with magic, the effect would have disappeared as well.

However, in Anasel’s case, he was straight up knocked out, so he didn’t immediately regain consciousness.

As they watched Anasel be carried away by the tournament management staff, many people in the audience were struggling to understand how things had turned out like this.

Because of this, they started to discuss the results with the people around them.

「H-Huh? Why is Anasel, who was the one attacking one sidedly, knocked out?」

「No, I mean, he took a body hit, right?」

「No, that’s wrong! No, I mean you’re right, but Anasel had the advantage, how could he lose so quickly?」

「Doesn’t it just mean that Crimson was being patient and waiting for an opportunity?」

「But then……」

Among the audience were quite a few people who had watched the tournament for many years or were former adventurers, mercenaries, soldiers, or knights, so they could see right through what Rei had done.

「You’ve got to be kidding me. Continuing to put pressure on his wrists by timing his attacks with his opponent……no, it’s not hard to do that once or twice, but……」

「Yeah. Continuously doing it is something else. And he did that to most of the attacks……no, maybe all the attacks, is that right?」

「I guess so. I should say, as expected of Crimson, but……is he really human?」

It could be said that those words had inadvertently hit upon the truth.

Hearing to the discussion between former adventurers, the surrounding audience finally understood how the match had ended in such a way.

Of course, they didn’t fully understand. If they did, they were probably quite skilled themselves.

Even so, they understood that what Rei had done wouldn’t have been possible for someone with only a half baked level of skill. Shocked voices spread throughout the surroundings.

And, the surprise wasn’t just in the general audience seating. In fact, the nobles in the VIP seating were even more surprise.

Being nobles, many of them were more skill than the general audience and they also had bodyguards who could explain to them what Rei had done.

「So……you mean that everything was within Crimson’s hands from the beginning?」

A noble, who until just a few minutes ago had been in a good mood, wondering what Crimson was going to do, asked with displeasure.

This was partly because he had shown his lack of foresight and also demonstrated it to those around him, shaming him greatly.

However, the thing that made him the most unhappy was that Crimson, someone who could be considered a mortal enemy of the Bestir Empire, was as strong as he was rumoured to be.

Close combat and magic. If he was weak in either of them, they could still deal with him.

In fact, there were very few people who were good at both, which was why they had made the same assumption of Crimson……that was what they had thought, but it had turned out to be an optimistic prediction at best.

「In the first place, the reports state that Crimson used a scythe in close combat during the Spring War. This is what happens to those who equate their wishes to reality……」

「Don’t say that. It’s fine to guess he has a certain level of combat proficiency, but it really is hard to gauge his ability past that. It’s a good thing that he’s made those people who concern themselves with fighting over power in politics aware of his danger.」

Several nobles a short distance away from the unhappy noble nodded in agreement with each other as they exchanged words.

Their tone was calm, but there was a hint of contempt.

The unhappy noble had been so carefree because he didn’t understand anything about actual combat. That said, he still understood some of Crimson’s danger despite his attitude, so the other nobles thought it was ultimately a good thing.

As they discussed among themselves, preparations for the next match began.

Hearing the commentators voice again, the eyes of those present turned back to the arena.

 

 

「……Alright.」

Rei, who was walking around the stadium after his match, checked that no one was around before muttering to himself.

There was a strong hint of satisfaction in his tone. To the audience, it might have seemed like he had a difficult time in his match, lowering his evaluation, but Rei didn’t seem to care.

No, in fact, Rei didn’t really care for what the people of the Bestir Empire thought of him.

It would have been a different story if Vihera and his other acquaintances were involved, but he didn’t care about what every Tom, Dick, and Harry thought of him.

In fact, he thought that the lower his evaluation became, the more money he would earn when people bet against him in the tournament

Right now, his thoughts were on improving his skill, even if just a bit, rather than on such small details.

Based on the tournament match ups he had seen, he wouldn’t be fighting Noiz unless it was in the finals.

As there were a total of 128 participants, in order to make it to the finals, he would have to win five more matches.

(Well, to be more precise, there are only five more battles left.)

Naturally, he hadn’t been neglecting his daily training. However, it was also true that experience gained in actual combat was vastly different from experience gained in training.

……That said, this was still a tournament. The actual danger to life was extremely small due to the ancient relic, so it wasn’t quite the same as actual combat.

(Still……I need to build up my strength before I can fight Noiz. To that end, I’ll have to ask the others to become my whetstones. ……Sorry about that, Rhodes, Vaycul.

Rei thought to himself.

If the tournament followed the current schedule, he would fight Rhodes in the third round, and then Vaycul the round after.

But only if those two could make it that far.

(Rhodes aside, it will probably be hard for Vaycul.)

(As a thief, Vaycul’s pure combat strength wasn’t that high.)

Her rapid dagger attacks that took advantage of her agility, unique to thieves, was certainly a threat. However, after seeing Anasel’s sword dance, he didn’t consider it to be at the same level.)

After thinking about it, he suddenly realised something.

As his match was over, it wouldn’t be long until it was Rhodes’ turn.

「That’s right, I should watch that match. I also need to collect the money I won on my bet.」

Needless to say, Rei had asked Elk to bet on him in this match as well. Unlike the qualifying rounds, the fact that Crimson was now much more well known lowered his odds. But still, as a mortal enemy of the Bestir Empire, there were still many people who were willing to bet against him out of support for the Empire or due to grudges they held.

As a result, bets were still open for him, although not to the same level as the qualifying rounds.

「……Well, in the case of Noiz, they probably won’t be opening bets.」

Noiz was one of only three S rank adventurers in the worlds, even if they did open betting, everyone would just bet on Noiz, so it would be a fair bet. As Rei thought about that, he walked to the guest seating where Daska and the others were.

 

 

As soon as Rei entered the guest seating, he was met with everyone’s’ stares.

Most of the stare contained astonishment.

Naturally, a few also contained some hostility.

The guest area was designated for distinguished guests from other countries, so it wasn’t like only guests from a single country were present.

During the qualifying rounds, the number of nobles was still small, so only foreign dignitaries were present. But, now that the main tournament had become, even the Emperor and his family had come to watch in person.

Because of that, the Bestir Empire’s nobility couldn’t afford to not attend themselves without a very good reason and, as a result, there wasn’t enough VIP seating for all of them.

Because of that, quite a few Bestir Empire nobles, who had different thoughts about Rei, ended up watching the tournament from the guest seating.

Only nobles above a certain rank were provided with private rooms.

(Well, this is as expected.)

Ignoring the gazes directed towards him, Rei headed over to where Daska, Elk, and Min were.

No one would be there with them anyway. That was what he thought, but unexpectedly, there was an unfamiliar figure close to Daska.

The other party was wearing high quality clothes, so they were probably a noble themselves and no a servant of a noble. That was what Rei thought of their appearance.

「Hm? Oh, Rei. You’re back. Thanks to you, I was able to earn a tidy sum of money today as well. The way the match unfolded was quite like the style of an expert.」

Daska seemed to notice Rei’s approach and smiled happily as he raised his hand.

「I see, I’m glad I won. So, who might this be……?」

As he replied, Rei turned to look at the noble he didn’t recognise.

Seeing Rei’s actions, the noble smiled as he spoke up.

「Hello, it’s nice to meet you. I’ve been hearing rumours about you for a while. My name is Tangu Otos. I am a baron.」

「Baron Otos? Nice to meet you too, my name is Rei.」

Rei gave a bow as he introduced himself.

At the same time, he looked over to see what kind of person Tangu was. He seemed like he was still in his early to mid 20s.

The fact that he already held the title of baron at his age was proof that Tangu was a capable person.

「Baron Otos is here for you. You’re not currently working for me, so why don’t you talk to him for a bit?」

Rei felt a little disgruntled in his mind at Daska’s words.

The name Crimson held a lot of value and, after the qualifying rounds, many people had tried to get to know him through Daska.

Of course, Rei had basically refused anything of the sort, saying that it would be too troublesome. But, as it was Daska, who he owed much to, asking him to do it, Rei couldn’t refuse.

Also, considering that Daska told Rei, who hated meeting with nobles, that he should meet with one, meant that someone special was probably going on.

「I see, I understand. Fortunately, it seems like Rhodes’ match is yet to start.」

Rei turned to look at the arena as he spoke.

A man armed with gauntlets was currently fighting a woman with a spear.

From the looks of it, the woman with the spear seemed to be making the most of her advantage in reach.

「Alright then. There’s quite a bit going on here, so let’s head elsewhere. I’ve prepared a small room for you.」

「Another room, you say? ……Understood. Then, let’s go there.」

Seeing Rei accept his invitation, Tangu left the guest seating area.

At the same time, Rei was surprised to see someone in the guest seating, who seemed to be from the Bestir Empire and had been glaring at him hatefully just earlier, give Tangu a small glance.

(Does that mean that baron was also a noble from the Bestir Empire?)

He might also be a noble from another country, someone important like Daska.

That was what Rei thought, but considering who most of the dignitaries from foreign countries were, it was more likely that Tangu was a Bestir Empire noble.

As they walked down a hallway in silence, they suddenly heard cheers.

Something big had probably occurred in the earlier match Rei had saw, but he couldn’t pay any attention to it right now as he continued to follow the baron.

That said, the baron also seemed somewhat interested in the cheers. He looked in the direction of the noisy audience for a moment before speaking.

「Sorry about that. You’re also curious about the match, no?」

「That’s right. There’s also upcoming matches with people I know.」

As for Rhodes and Vaycul’s matches, judging by the skills of the participants in the main tournament, it wouldn’t be an easy victory for them.

That was Rei’s immediate impression after fighting Anasel.

If he were to face someone as strong as Anasel, Rhodes’ chances were 50/50 at best. That was why Rei had predicted Vaycul’s chances of winning to be low.

Maybe, if he were able to breakthrough during his match……as Rei thought like that, he noticed Tangu, who had been walking in front of him, stop before a room.

「Well, here we are. Come in. You can watch the matches from here anyway.」

Saying that, he opened the door to the room.

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